Humor in Psychology

I just started reading a great book called, Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality, by Glenn C. Ellenbogen, Ph.D. I had read some of the book in the past and hoped at some time in the future I could read further.

The book has nearly 60 essays, all humorous. It's a delightful take on psychology. I hope to do some writing in this vein, because I think it will help me weather the current political climate (and maybe help others, too).

I've read only a few essays so far, but the first essay, "The Etiology and Treatment of Childhood," by Jordan W. Smoller, is excellent. Indeed, it seems like an article one might read in a peer-reviewed journal, just with a lot of funny stuff.

I don't know if laughter is the best medicine, but it surely helps.

***

Trouble Brewing

It seems more and more evidence is piling up against President Trump. So much so that the public (myself included) can't make sense of the deluge of information, and disinformation from the president.

Yet, out of this morass, one thing appears important to note. That there is much evidence that the president payed hush money to two women, "hush money" in the sense that if he did not pay out, he would have likely lost the presidency.

This is a felony.

No amount of sophistry or expert lawyering is probably able to eradicate this.

***

Touching to See

With the passing of George H. W. Bush recently, a number of nice stories have come out about him. Indeed, I think that is one thing missing from political debate--the commending of politicians of all stripes when some good act is done, whether it's a bipartisan move or just a kind gesture.

There was a story of the late president where he shaved his head in solidarity with a child who had leukemia. The child was the son of a Secret Service agent in Bush's security detail. The other agents shaved their heads for the child, so Pres. Bush did too. He said it was the right thing to do.

***

Tear Gas as a First Resort

I saw that the Trump administration is shooting tear gas at migrants at the Mexico border. I have not been keeping up with the story, but it does appear the president is becoming a doppleganger of some past dictators. I used to wonder how can these dictators and autocrats continue to rachet up their heinous deeds without numerous public outcries.

Now I know. The ones in power do it slowly. Each new act is barely different from the previous one. But it is different. And that difference adds up.

***

Writing to Learn

I have been reading a book by the late William Zinsser called Writing to Learn. I had read a bulk of it years back, but decided to pick it up again. A major point that I am discovering (which I didn't really get before) is that to write clearly you do have to think through issues. And by thinking through issues, you do get to understand the material much better.

I should have known this because I sometimes do an exercise I learned from Dr. James Pennabaker, a professor at the Univ. of Texas, Austin. The exercise is to write for 10 minutes on a topic you've studied, and not to worry about spelling, syntax, or flow. He said this is a great way to learn material, much better than the usual method of reading material over and over again.

It's all still quite surprising to me.


                                                                                   ***

Tough Times with Trump and Friends

Lately in my job as a therapist working with Medicaid patients, I have seen more and more adults and families who are struggling to provide financially for their families. I had never given much thought to how a family, say of a single mother and three children, would survive on minimum wage. It's virtually impossible. A person working full-time making minimum wage would make about $15,000 per year.

That's why it surprised me when Larry Kudlow, President Trump's top economic adviser, said we shouldn't have a minimum wage. To me that is shocking. So, in effect, he is saying a employer can pay three or four dollars per hour and the worker--and society--should be satisfied with that.

It would be interesting to see how many economists would side with him. Not many, I think. Hell, I think even the late Milton Friedman would burst out laughing at Kudlow.

***

Twitter and Questionable Amends

I recently saw a story in the news about the bomb suspect, Cesar Sayoc. It's been shown he threatened a number of people on Twitter, and the company did nothing. But now, with the company getting bad publicity for not abiding by its stated rules and regulations, it has taken down his account and made a quick, slick apology.

It's rather funny. I've seen so many businesses do this, with little repercussions. And in the case of Cesar Sayoc it wasn't just an oversight. There were a number of complaints and nothing was done--it had more to do with policy than with error. Yet, what does this say to the workers at these businesses, and the customers, and the public? Doesn't it say, "Don't trust us--we care solely about our image, not our workers, our product, or our customers."

                                                                                ***

On Climate Change

There was a recent report on climate change by an agency affiliated with the United Nations. The results were stark. The gist of it is major changes are required by society as a whole and individuals within that society. Yet, with our current president, this appears to be a no-starter.

I have been doing much reading (and some writing) on climate change and it seems to be near the top, if not the top, of issues the world needs to address.

Yet, the public doesn't presently seemed motivated to even hear what is being said. It may be one of those things where they say 100 years from now, "Why didn't they do something back then? What was holding things up?"

That is, if there is any "they."

***

Pres. Trump and the Sins of the Father

The New York Times recently published a story about how Pres. Trump's father and mother handed down a lot of money to the president and the president's siblings. The amount of taxes the parents should have paid is in the vicinity of half a billion dollars. How much did they actually pay? About 50 million.

Mmmh. One doesn't have to be a tax accountant to know the numbers, so to speak, don't add up.

***

Seymour Hersh

I just read a good piece on the great investigative journalist, Seymour Hersh, at https://daily.jstor.org/seymour-hersh-future-american-journalism.

He had some interesting things to say about the state of the media, society, and investigative journalism. Here is an insightful quote related to the president: "The bottom line is, when you got a guy like this, you have to remember, this is the guy, reviled for his ignorance, seemingly, and his lack of respect for most norms. This is the guy that took down fifteen Republicans, with an accumulated political experience of about 300 years. He put down two dynasties. The Bush dynasty. And the Clinton dynasty. And so to sell him short is a big mistake. He's not a moron, and I just think it's [a] big mistake for the Democratic party to keep    on attacking him for his lies and misstatements and his obvious inability to plan. And [the  Democrats] better offer middle America something. They lost that election because the white  working class walked away from them...So I think the Democrats have to come back, to stop    yipping about it. They're playing into his hand with the tweets. They're playing in his ballpark.    Why do that? Just go write about what he wasn't doing. And write about what's going on in the    communities because of the changes in regulations his people did. There's a lot of stuff to do."

Some good stuff in this article.

Postscript: I used this method of quoting this long piece because otherwise it would come out jumbled.

***

Trump in Trouble--Indirectly

Poor President Trump. It looked as if something was going to go smoothly and without incident for him. Alas, not so. His recent Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, is being swept up in much trauma and drama. It did seem to come out of nowhere.

Presently three women are alleging improper  sexual behavior from Mr. Kavanaugh. What seemed like a slam dunk is now a 50-foot three-pointer.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Bob Woodward and Fear

The renown investigative journalist, Bob Woodward, has just released his book on President Trump. It is titled, Fear: Trump in the White House. The reviews, overall, seem to be quite good. The material in the book is obtained on the basis of "deep background." This means that the sources cannot be made known.

To me, this allows most individuals to tell a true version of the events they are aware of. No doubt, there will be some participants who use the venue for their own benefit. Yet, it would seem most of the false stuff can be filtered out as more and more people paint the pictures of various scenes.

I look forward to reading it.

***

Understanding the Trump Era

I just read a good article titled, "9 essential lessons from psychology to understand the Trump era." It was published in Vox and written by Brian Resnick. It gave me more information on--and I'm still shocked he won--how Trump pulled out a presidential victory. Maybe it's sour grapes, but I want to find out all the psychology behind his win.

Some of the points noted include,

--"[R]ooting for a team changes your perception of the world."

--"Evolution has likely left us with an ideological immune system that fights off uncomfortable thoughts."

--"Leaders like Trump have enormous power to sway public opinion."

--"People can understand inconvenient facts. But it's very hard to make them matter."

I reason that knowing how the hat trick was pulled off, might mitigate us getting fooled again.

***

An Insightful Read

I have started reading an excellent book that takes a look at our current president. It probably will have lots of people feeling affirmed in their feelings and beliefs about President Trump.

It seems like more and more places are showing us the "writing on the wall" as it concerns our president. And I know it's been said that sometimes the writing on the wall can be a forgery, but in this case, so to speak, we have all the essentials, even down to the culprit's DNA.

The book is titled, How Democracies Die, by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.

***

Some Changes at Hand

It seems there is constant news concerning global warming. I got a taste of it recently. I had a flat tire and tried to change it--it was noon in the middle of August, in Greater New Orleans. Not to be melodramatic, but it was one grueling-as-hell experience, and I had to take about three breaks by getting in the car with the air-conditioner on. The reason it took so long was because I was turning the screws the wrong way. The heat will do that to you.

***

Marcus Borg

I have been reading some material lately by the late Marcus Borg, the religion scholar. I do miss him. I emailed him years back asking a few questions about faith and he wrote me a kind response.

I wrote to him because I think we had similar religious backgrounds. Yet there are some differences. I was heavily involved in Christian fundamentalism as a late teen and young adult and Dr. Borg's Lutheran upbringing overlapped some with conservative thought, but the teachings I was taught was more conservative and rigid.

Another commonality was that we both moved away from conservative teachings. But we are different in that Dr. Borg entered what the philosopher Paul Ricoeur called a second naivete and found a congenial faith; I have, to some extent, entered a second naivete, but the faith I have found has been much more tentative and halting.

In any case, he was a great scholar and a kind man.

***

Trump's Concerns

I've been reading more and more about the precarious mental state of our president. He has to know on some level that what will be coming at him from Mueller's investigation will be highly formidable. That is probably why his hue and cry as of late has been more raucous  than ever.

It will be very interesting to see this play out. The outcome of the investigative will be a political tsunami; it will make Watergate look like a mild riptide.

***

There are Resources

I just dipped back into a book I read years ago, unSpun: finding facts in a world of disinformation. It is written by Brooks Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson.

What an apt time to have found this book again. With our present political climate, this is an easy-to-read manifesto that can possibly mitigate the flood of disinformation.

Yet, all told, it will take a long-term, concerted effort to truly put up a defense against this tidal wave of "alternative facts." Those wanting to convince the followers of President Trump will need a multi-pronged approach. And I think the most important thing will be to empathize with his followers' views and gently show how he's done little for the people who put him in office.

***

Trump Seems More Off-Balance Than Usual

With the recent Trump-Putin meeting and some of the comments made by our president, President Trump has had to backpedal quite rapidly. This is the first time I've seen him essentially admit a mistake was made. It is kind of bizarre to watch. And somewhat uncomfortable.

The president has been testing his followers' patience. Will their patience and support finally run dry?

I don't know.

But I do know the president is going down. Miracles do happen, but I think it is highly unlikely he will make it to the four-year finish line.

***

One Brick at a Time

Today in the news we found out that 12 Russian military intelligence officers have been indicted by our government. It seems Robert Mueller is methodically moving in on the wrongdoers in this Russia-and-Trump collusion brouhaha. And, as I have said before, I believe President Trump is at the heart of this debacle, and I say that because of a book I read about one year ago: Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power, by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher (both writers work at The Washington Post).

Tersely--and bluntly--put, the book depicts our president as one who is morally bankrupt, has broken the law a multitude of times, and seems to see every interaction as a battle of biblical proportions.

One could almost say the book prophesies what is in store for President Trump--and the American people.

***

Depersonalization and Derealization

I just read about two interesting topics that are closely related, Depersonalization and Derealization. The first is where a person feels themselves to be alien to themselves. That is, they feel that they are looking on at their lives as if a spectator. It might be similar to what many people feel when they wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and there is a sense of feeling spacey and "out of it."

Derealization, which usually goes with the former, is feeling that the outside world is not-quite-real and "reality" seems different than usual.

I have personally dealt with both us these issues. My first experience started in high school. It was a mild version of derealization and I think most people have experienced it on this level; it became much more severe a few years later after I smoked marijuana a few times.

I'll write more about my experiences with both of these topics in the future.

***

A User-Friendly Book

I have been reading an easy-to-read book on mental health. It is called Mental Health First Aid USA. It is published by the National Council for Behavioral Health.

The book's primary goal is to help train people to respond to those who are going through a mental health crisis.

The chapter I find the most helpful is on depression. In there is a lot of interesting and informative facts, such as:

--"Depression often co-occurs with anxiety or substance use disorders" (p. 20).

--"Once a person has had an occurrence of depression, they are prone to subsequent episodes" (p. 20).

--"Those most prone to develop depression are:
     --People who previously have had an episode of depression
     --People who have family members who have had episodes of depression
     --People with a more sensitive emotional nature
     --People who have had a difficult childhood (for example, those who experienced physical,      sexual, or emotional abuse, neglect, or overstrictness)
     --Females" (p. 23).

--"Males are four times more likely to die by suicide than females, but women attempt suicide three times as often as men" (p. 24).

Indeed, it's a well written book.

***

An Interesting Website

I just discovered (or maybe rediscovered, because I think I visited the site years back) a enlivening website. It deals with humor in America. It is at humorinamerica.wordpress.com.

The article I read had to do with political cartooning and the current president. The author talked about how President Trump is the only political figure he knows of that has been portrayed so frequently as a fascist.

The article resonated with me.

***

A Rabid Spinmeister

The president has someone who is running spin preemptively, Mr. Giuliani. I must say it is almost saddening to see such a sight. It is like when Chris Christie did the bidding of President Trump. Such sights, to many, seem almost comical.

But I guess to people who want to work their way up the political ladder, it is a price they are willing to pay. Also, I would put the vice-president in this category. To me, considering the conservative views of Mr. Pence, to be on the same team as President Trump seems like treasonous behavior.

Before it's all over with, though, when the house of cards comes thrashing down, some of these false devotees will be scurrying for cover.

And when they write their books quickly thereafter, the message will be, "It seemed I was loyal to President Trump. But that is a misreading." And they will spend their entire books trying to convince everyone of this lie.

An Interesting Parallel

Having just read the column by Michael Gerson of The Washington Post ("Trump exposes the hypocrisy of Christian Republicans," May 28, 2018), I found an interesting story that reminds me of something Hermann Goring of Nazi fame once said.

Here's what Gerson said, "In the Oval Office, according to new reporting from The Post, President Trump boasted in February 2017 about how easy it is to appeal to audiences with an anti-immigrant message: 'Acting as if he were at a rally, he recited a few made-up Hispanic names and described potential crimes they could have committed, such as rape and murder. Then, he said, the crowds would roar when the criminals were thrown out of the country.' In the Post account, '[Stephen] Miller and [Jared] Kushner laughed."

And here's what Goring said, "...the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

Something that hasn't been said much explicitly is that we have Donald Trump as our president because he is an astounding salesperson. In the great American tradition of salesmanship, he sold us something we really didn't want to buy.

***

Trivia

I have been reading again from the book, Who Knew? Things You Didn't Know About Things You Know Well, by David Hoffman. It's a short, easy-to-read book full of trivia. I perused it again because I was looking for a way to converse with my two children on the way to their school in the morning.

It helped, some.

Possibly the material is geared more for teenagers and adults. Here is a sample:

--"The computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey was called HAL as a tongue-in-cheek reference to IBM. The name was derived from the fact that the letters H-A-L precede the letters I-B-M in the alphabet."

--"The stabbing sound the knife makes in the shower scene in Psycho is in fact the sound of a knife stabbing a melon."

--"A recording of a camel's moan was slowed down and used as the sound of the tornado in Twister."

--"There are approximately 1,750 O's in every can of SpaghettiOs."

It's kind of a fun book to read. (Also, my children really liked the the entry on SpaghettiOs.)

***

State Budget

Louisiana appears to be in dire straits related to the upcoming state budget. Over a 600 million dollar shortfall can do that.

To me, though, the puzzling part is that the only two areas that can be cut are health care, and I believe, higher education. Why so?

There may be good reasons for that edict. But in Louisiana, "good reasons" are rarely the answer.

I guess I've found an interesting project to delve into.

***

Words, and More Words

More interesting words I am learning (and relearning):

--Snollygoster n. (SNOL-ee-gos-tuhr) A crafty, lying person.

--Copper-bottomed adj. (kop-uhr-BOT-uhmd) Reliable; genuine; simon-pure.

--Hymeneal adj. (hy-muh-NEE-uhl) Relating to a wedding or marriage.

--Gobemouche n. (GOB-moosh) A gullible or credulous person.

--Black Dog n. Depression.

--Fabian adj. (FAY-bee-uhn) Avoiding direct confrontation; cautious; delaying.

--Highbinder n. (HY-byn-duhr) A swindler or corrupt politician.

--Jackleg (JAK-leg) adj. Unskilled; unprincipled. N. An unskilled or untrustworthy person.

--Stridulant adj. (STRIJ-uh-luhnt) Shrill-sounding.

--Monophobia n. (mon-uh-FOH-bee-uh) A fear of being alone.

--Sillage n. (see-AHZH) The scent that lingers from behind a perfume.

***

Blaise Pascal and the Donald

I do find it amazing (and amusing) the number of scrapes President Trump gets himself in. He seems constitutionally incapable of just being.

Maybe, like more and more people nowadays, he thrives on adrenaline, and without that potent stimulant, feels as though life is a sad, and oh-so-long melodrama.

Indeed, many people seem unable to sit still in a room by themselves, solely with their thoughts and feelings (Pascal talked about the consequences).

I struggle with this too.

Our culture doesn't hold that act in high esteem. It surely won't in the future.

***

Political Mind Games

I started reading an excellent book that delves into the psychology of propaganda. It's called Political Mind Games: How the 1% manipulate our understanding of what's happening, what's right, and what's possible, by Roy Eidelson, Ph.D.

The impetus for the book was the campaign and election of Donald J. Trump. Yet Eidelson covers other big incidents of propaganda.

The writer, so far, does an excellent job stating in non-technical terms the inner workings of President Trump's propaganda machine. Eidelson suggests that Trump uses psychological appeals to target five fundamental questions in our individual and collective lives: Are we safe? Are we treated fairly? Who should we trust? Are we good enough? Can we control what happens to us?

As Eidelson says, "These 'mind games' are carefully designed to defuse and misdirect our outrage. When they're effective, we lose our bearings about what's gone wrong, who's to blame, and how we can turn things around."

Very interesting stuff.

***

Words, And Well...More Words

I recently came across an intriguing website. It's called Word Spy and it documents and defines words that are not yet in the dictionary, but one day might be. The creativeness of the words are amazing.

Here's a sampling:

--Behaviorceutical n. A physical activity that improves mental health, particularly by reducing stress or anxiety.

--Failson n. An adult son who is under- or unemployed and lives with his parents, particularly one who has no goal other than to spend the day playing video games and watching porn.

--Starve the Beast v. To cut taxes with the intent of using the reduced revenue as an excuse to drastically reduce the size and number of services offered by a government.

***

"Keeping Up With the Trumps"

I have been trying to keep up with the Trumps (not the Kardashians). More specifically, Donald Trump, our president. It's a tall order. There's a lot to keep up with. But a recent event seems to be one of the key happenings during his presidency--the raiding of his lawyer's office.

I believe this truly got to the president in a visceral way. This will surely be one of the major events of his eventual downfall.

The dominoes are falling, and this one knocked down a whole lot of dominoes.

***

"Zombie" Raccoons

I just read an article at Fox News titled, "'Zombie' raccoons are terrifying Ohio residents in broad daylight with odd behavior." The article said that certain raccoons in this Ohio area may have "distemper."

Distemper "causes coughing, tremors and seizures and leads raccoons to lose their fear of humans." And the Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) warns online, "You should avoid any raccoon that is active during daylight hours, has lost its fear of humans, or appears uncoordinated, confused or listless."

I enjoyed reading the piece. It took my mind off of what has been in the news lately--politics. Yet, in a strange way, it reminded me of politics.

***

The NRA and Their Comeuppance

The NRA, in the wake of the March for Our Lives, is now less of a powerful, monolithic organization. The day has finally arrived that their foundation is starting to crack, and with that cracking, we will probably see a lot of loose-cannon responses. The first one appears to be the comment that the students from Florida are just the puppets of those who really hate the NRA and all of the good things it stands for.

The NRA has maybe met its match. And the other loose cannon, President Trump, I believe, has surely met his match in the Mueller investigation.

Two powerful entities that will be strangled slowly, albeit not without a dumpster-fire-like fight.

***

Closer to Home

Lately, in my work as a therapist, I'm seeing more people who are having, what some might call, financial struggles. When I hear the term "financial struggles," I think of families barely making it from paycheck to paycheck, but most of the situations I'm seeing are more severe. Of course, an outsider can't know with certainty if someone is telling you the truth, but these stories seem to be generally on target.

In any case, the point I wanted to make is that many policies that are coming out of Washington are surely not in the best interests of these struggling people. One could respond, "Well, hasn't it always been that way?" Well, that's true, to some extent.

But the reasonable response is to make it as "untrue" as possible.

***

Chaos? Anathema!

Recent happenings in the White House have led some to believe all is not well. Yet, the president has said there is "no chaos."

I found that interesting. With the number of departures recently at the White House, it is hard to believe there is anything but chaos there. It reminds me of dysfunctional work places I have read about (or experienced). Almost anything said from administration is taken to be spin, or a lie. Indeed, whatever is said at these places, the truth is usually the opposite of what is stated.

Trump and his administration are riding straight toward that big iceberg (i.e., Mueller investigation), and Trump is laughing and shouting "Full Steam Ahead."

When the ship sinks, there will be a massive amount of debris.

Flotsam galore.

***

Crack in the Facade

After the recent Parkland, Florida, high school shooting, some might wonder if things will change politically. That is, as far as gun policy is concerned.

I believe so.

I don't think things will change so much, necessarily, by having teenagers and young people directly causing the change. But sometimes, one thing, almost invisibly triggers other things. It's  just an intuition, but I think this could be the thing.

The only reason I can give is that the NRA appeared to be thrown off balance recently by the students from the Parkland high school. That may be the first real tearing down of the NRA's Potemkin village.

***

Trouble in Paradise

It seems President Trump and his administration are sensing a closing-in, so to speak. Robert Mueller and his investigation seem to be methodically taking pawns from Trump, and has started eyeing closely Trump's bigger pieces on the board. With the Communications Director Hope Hicks soon leaving and Mueller's team homing in on Jared Kushner's and Donald Trump's finances there is a sense that the investigation is shifting into a higher gear.

I sure hope so. Not to sound overly apocalyptic, but President Trump's day of reckoning is drawing nigh. And I predict, when it does happen, it won't be pretty.

***

Pessimism Run Amuck

I just read an interesting article on the ProPublica website titled, "How Political Pessimism Helps Doom Tougher Gun Laws." The piece makes the common-sense point that is often overlooked, that doing nothing on an issue will generally result in little headway. In fact, it can sometimes paralyze those who want change, yet don't realize how close it may be.

The author, Alec MacGillis, makes a number of good points. The one I will try to keep in mind is that the NRA's power is diminishing, albeit slowly. And on the opposite side--those who want substantial change in gun laws--is slowly being empowered.

That's not good for the NRA. One might say, there will be no prying of guns from cold, dead hands, but nonetheless, the NRA appears to be on the wrong side of this equation.

***

Taking a Page From America's Playbook

I just read an excellent article, "Why Israeli plan to deport Africans is facing growing Jewish opposition," in the Christian Science Monitor. The article, dated February 2nd, says the leader of the country, Benjamin Netanyahu, believes that nearly 40,000 Africans who fled their countries and came to Israel, are "illegal labor infiltrators."

But there are many in Israel who believe their past,of being refugees themselves, encourages them to always be for the refugee or stranger. But the plan is still scheduled to go into effect this April. Yet, as the article says, "Resistance...has come from pilots refusing to fly planes used in the deportations and from authors, playwrights, lawyers, doctors, and Holocaust survivors. All are united in their call to the government to see these people as refugees in need of shelter today, just as Jews have been in past generations."

I will attempt to report back on this story in the future.

***

Slightly Bemused

I didn't watch any of the recent State of the Union address. I rarely have watched any of them. I find--as I think many others do--that the main objective of presentations of that sort is to persuade through dubious means. I don't think it's always been that way, but since much of the presidency seems scripted since the time of Richard Nixon, it is hard to put the genie back in the political bottle.

Though, from the highlights of the address, it seemed the president talked in nebulous generalities and anything specific was verboten. It will be interesting to see where this presidency goes.

And I stand by my earlier prediction--that the president will be impeached before the bell tolls on four years. The longer Robert Mueller takes, the more it will be a slam dunk.

***

The Highly-Neglected Saga of the Burrito Attack

I recently read an interesting--and funny--story. Taken from The Advocate newspaper (1.24.18) I learned that in the workplace, anything can happen. Even battery with a burrito. "A Taco Bell employee angry about working the morning shift is accused of attacking a co-worker with a hot burrito."

Now I've heard of unusual altercations in the workplace, but I've never been privy to the attack of an employee with the weapon being a scalding flour tortilla folded around a filling.

What basically happened was the employee continued to complain about his work fate, "and kept getting into arguments with other colleagues, when she [a worker] told him to 'stop being a crybaby.'"

This irked the grousing employee who thereby "slung" a hot burrito at the other employee. The recipient of the hot projectile said "that when he [the burrito-wielding employee] threw the burrito, the melted cheese got all over her left arm and went all down her left side and leg."

The highlight of my workday was trying to disentangle three paperclips.

***

More Nice-Sounding Words

Some other words I like:

--Impecunious adj. (im-pi-KYOO--nee uh s) Penniless; poor.

--Iniquitous adj. (ih-NIK-we-tuh s) Unjust; wicked.

--Inveigle v. (in-VEY-guh l) To entice by flattery or artful talk.

--Irenic adj. (ahy-REN-ik) Tending to promote peace or reconciliation.

--Jobbernowl n. (JOB-uh-nowl) A blockhead; a fool.

--Kabuki n. (kah-BOO-kee) Done for show only; make-believe.

--Katzenjammer n. (KAT-suhn-jam-er) Anguish; distress.

--Kibitz v. (KIB-its) To talk to someone in a relaxed, friendly way.

***

Good Words

I'm taking a page from a good website that is no longer in existence, Vocabula Review. They had a section called, I believe, Good Words, or something similar. I would like to share some words I've come across that I like (yet, truth be told, most slightly-off-the-beaten-path words I find interesting).

--Plenitude n. (PLEN-i-tood) 1. Abundance, 2. The state of being full or complete.

--Suspiration n. (suhs-puh-REY-shuh n) A long, deep sigh.

--Escadrille n. (es-kuh-DRIL) A French squadron of aircraft.

--Rapprochement n. (rap-rohsh-MAHN) An establishing or reestablishing of good relations.

--Preta n. (PREY-tuh) A wandering or disturbed ghost.

--Perspicuous adj. (per-SPIK-yoo-uhs) Clearly expressed; lucid.

--Aberrant adj. (AB-er-ent) 1. Departing from the right, normal, or usual course, 2. Abnormal; exceptional. n. An aberrant person, thing, group, etc.

--Moira n. (MOI-ruh) A person's fate or destiny.

--Bedizen v. (bih-DAHY-zuh n) To dress or adorn in a showy, gaudy, or tasteless manner.

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Some Quotes for the New Year

Just some interesting and/or humorous thoughts:

--Where there's a will, there's a relative.    Ricky Gervais

--The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense.     Unknown

--Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.     Will Rogers

--No one really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while, you'll see why.                                 Mignon McLaughlin

--Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper.  Robert Frost

--Time is a great teacher, but it kills all of its students.     Hector Berlioz

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