Random Thoughts (Pensees)

--I am shocked Donald Trump is president.

--I am shocked there is not more uproar among conservatives about the chaos he's caused.

--It will interesting--and scary--to see where all this leads.

--It will be exceedingly interesting to see how many conservatives rationalize the end result of Trumpism.

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Some Words

--cryptography n. Secret writing.

--nosology n. A classification or list of diseases.

--saxa loquuntur (Latin) The stones speak.

--spiky adj. Easily offended or annoyed.

--oubliette n. A secret dungeon with an opening in the ceiling.

--jabberwock n. Nonsensical or wildly incoherent speech or writing.

--disaffection n. The absence of affection or goodwill; estrangement.

--cause celebre n. Any controversy that attracts much public attention, as a celebrated legal case or trial.

--gastronome n. A connoisseur of good food; gourmet; epicure.

--cheugy adj. (Slang) Uncool; trying too hard to be trendy.

--shift n. 6. a. A straight, loose-fitting dress worn with or without a belt. b. A woman's chemise or slip.

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Some Nice Phrases

--"evoke the power and mystery of divine love" (Library Journal)

--the "violent repression of dissent" (Dan Collyns)

--"it has an oversupply of broken promises" (Mary McGrory"

"nuzzled into her specialty niche" (John Bardinelli)

--"a well-read, clever romantic who is also a bit of a cad" (The Economist)

--the "exuberant expertise" (Michael Dirda)

--"curmudgeonly in opinion, Olympian in pronouncement" (M. Dirda)

--"I wanted there to be hidden clues and auguries of things to come." (Mitch Hurwitz)

--"over-the-top penchant for double-entendres" (Patrick McGeehan)

--"a flim-flam man" (David Remnick)

--"her own ingrown instinct for suspicion" (David Remnick)

--"a journey of Dantesque visionary power" (Michael Dirda)

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More Quotes

 --Compassion for myself is the most powerful healer of them all.  Theodore Isaac Rubin

--Patience is a bitter plant but it has sweet fruit.  Old proverb

--The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.  Hubert Humphrey

--The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.  James Russell Lowell

--The essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.  Aldous Huxley

--Laws, like the spider's web, catch the fly and let the hawk go free.  Spanish proverb

--Comedy is tragedy--plus time.  Carol Burnett

--Hope is the poor man's bread.  George Herbert

--History is a vast early warning system.  Norman Cousins

--Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.  Plutarch

--Do not be too timid or squeamish about your actions. All life is an experience.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Some Quotes

 --Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion.   Arthur Koestler

--Speed provides the one genuinely modern pleasure.    Aldous Huxley

--A solemn funeral is inconceivable to the Chinese mind.    Lin Yutang

--And from the discontent of man/ The world's best progress springs.   Ella Wheeler Wilcox

--Civilization is just a slow process of learning to be kind.  Charles L. Lucas

--Every dogma has its day.  Abraham Rotstein

--Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.  Henry Adams

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