If you’d like to exchange Valentines with me, and don’t feel comfy with the VAGG list..e-mail me at scottobear@livejournal.com, and I’ll give you my snail mail addy. 🙂

right now counting myself we’re at 62…i was thinking of breaking them up into 3 groups of 21 (if we get one more) or 4 groups of 12 (if we dont) or something around that area. i can definitely definitely say no one will have to mail out more than 20-25 tops. getting mail is good. paying for postage is not.

Wilfred Funk’s list of the most beautiful words in English: ASPHODEL, FAWN, DAWN, CHALICE, ANEMONE, TRANQUIL, HUSH, GOLDEN, HALCYON, CAMELLIA, BOBOLINK, THRUSH, CHIMES, MURMURING, LULLABY, LUMINOUS, DAMASK, CERULEAN, MELODY, MARIGOLD, JONQUIL, ORIOLE, TENDRIL, MYRRH, MIGNONETTE, GOSSAMER, ALYSSEUM, MIST, OLEANDER, AMARYLLIS, ROSEMARY. [Alysseum may be a misspelling of alyssum, but this is how the word appears in Paul Dickson’s Words.]

According to James Joyce, CUSPIDOR is the most beautiful word in English [Dickson].

In A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (page 86), Annie Dillard writes: “My friend Rosanne Coggeshall, the poet, says that ‘sycamore’ is the most intrinsically beautiful word in English” [Sarah Gossett].

The ten worst-sounding words in English, according to a poll by the National Association of Teachers of Speech in August, 1946: CACOPHONY, CRUNCH, FLATULENT, GRIPE, JAZZ, PHLEGMATIC, PLUMP, PLUTOCRAT, SAP, and TREACHERY.

According to Willard R. Espy, the ten ugliest-sounding words in English, excluding indecent words, are FRUCTIFY, KUMQUAT, QUAHOG, CREPUSCULAR, KAKKAK, GARGOYLE, CACOPHONOUS, AASVOGEL, BROBDINGNAGIAN, JUKEBOX [The Book of Lists: The ’90s Edition].

VICTUALS (pronounced “viddles”) is the ugliest word in the language according to Harry Golden [Dickson].

NYNEX was deemed to be the worst name of any company in America by the publisher of Advertising Age [Dickson].

The Tale of Custard the Dragon
by Ogden Nash

Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Now the name of the little black kitten was Ink,
And the little gray mouse, she called hum Blink,
And the little yellow dog was sharp as Mustard,
But the dragon was a coward, and she called him Custard.

Custard the dragon had big sharp teeth,
And spikes on top of him and scales underneath,
Mouth like a fireplace, chimney for a nose,
And realio, trulio daggers on his toes.

Belinda was as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chased lions down the stairs,
Mustard was as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful,
Ink, Blink and Mustard, they rudely called him Percival,
They all sat laughing in the little red wagon
At the realio, trulio, cowardly dragon.

Belinda giggled till she shook the house,
and Blink said Weeck! which is giggling for a mouse,
Ink and Mustard rudely asked his age,
When Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

Suddenly, suddenly they heard a nasty sound,
And Mustard growled, and they all looked around.
Meowch! cried Ink, and Ooh! cried Belinda,
For there was a pirate, climbing in the winda.

Pistol in his left hand, pistol in his right,
And he held in his teeth a cutlass bright,
His beard was black, one leg was wood;
It was clear that the pirate meant no good.

Belinda paled, and she cried Help! Help!
But Mustard fled with a terrified yelp,
Ink trickled down to the bottom of the household,
And little mouse Blink strategically mouseholed.

But up jumped Custard snorting like an engine,
Clashed his tail like irons in a dungeon,
With a clatter and a clank and a jangling squirm,
He went at the pirate like a robin at a worm.

The pirate gaped at Belinda’s dragon,
And gulped some grog from his pocket flagon,
He fired two bullets, but they didn’t hit,
And Custard gobbled him, every bit.

Belinda embraced him, Mustard licked him,
No one mourned for his pirate victim.
Ink and Blink in glee did gyrate
Around the dragon that ate the pirate.

But presently up spoke little dog Mustard,
I’d been twice as brave if I hadn’t been flustered.
And up spoke Ink and up spoke Blink,
We’d have been three times as brave, we think,
And Custard said, I quite agree
That everybody is braver than me.

Belinda still lives in her little white house,
With her little black kitten and her little gray mouse,
And her little yellow dog and her little red wagon,
And her realio, trulio little pet dragon.

Belinda is as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chase lions down the stairs,
Mustard is as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard keeps crying for a nice safe cage.

To balance the meme, here’s a link to my ‘100 things about scotto‘ 🙂 Originally posted last may. Some of them are no longer accurate. 🙂

(I may write a fresh one, if the mood catches me.)

Not much time left for VAGG!

January 17th is the last day!!

from the site –

lets face it. the coolest thing about valentines day ever was handing out those cards in school and seeing who gave you which cards back. but unless you have kids of your own, those days of valentine swapping are long over for you…SO YOU THOUGHT…

BUT GUESS AGAIN!!

through the wonders of modern technology and the co-operation of the US Postal Service we bring you Live Journal’s Valentines-A-Go-Go…a way to relieve the pleasures of the ancient art of Valentine’s Day “give and receive”

*whee*

Eunuch update

The Feds’ll come a-snoopin’.
Ever wonder how much leeway federal agents have when snooping through your e-mail or computer files?

The short answer: a lot.

The U.S. Department of Justice this week published new guidelines for police and prosecutors in cases involving computer crimes.

Oooh! I want in on this game show!
The Great Space adventure sounds like fun. 🙂

Super-soldiers Sort of like a bionic man, inside-out. Exoskeletons… nifty tech, I can think of some non-military applications, like construction… or firemen protection.

You the man now, Dawg!

Quote of the day, re: Temptation Island – “Nice show, Fox Network. Maybe next time you could just pay an island of unwed mothers to eat their young. “

Worried a bit about Ornj…*sending healing, healthy thoughts, and lots of love*

Got to work and much management was cut. We lost Basically everyone who was making money who isn’t related to the company owner.

My job’s still safe, but the company is teetering. He wants to get into web design and advertising… a bad time to shift company gears, even though that means my work slot is that much more secure.

Caught more folks in lies and half-truths today. *hiss hiss*. It’s going to bite them in the backside shortly… I see 4 folks here at the job who’ll probably get the boot, once the truth comes out. Ugly.

Upside, I have to get more blank CD’s. Kev brought in a *ton* of MP3 CD’s of old radio shows… Dragnet, six-shooter, and Suspense. Hours of good 40s and 50s radio goodness. 🙂

Need to cash my paycheck, and a gift check from a client from Christmas!

Got a good MLK vibe today.. not to fond of the weird advertising tie-in stuff on the radio though…

I was discussing some stuff with Ornj, and now I ponder… Is man basically good? A community based creature? Sinister, driven by crude instincts, that only civilization has put a veneer of gentility over?

I feel the average man has the capacity for great good, and great evil… do you think that man leans in one particular direction? I know some wonderful people, devoted and happy to make the world better and some people that are purely driven by a heartless force, greed and cruelty.

How have we gotten so far? Landed on the moon, global communication, pretty decent education… all driven because of competition and warfare. Most of out technological advances are due to warfare… medicine too. Does this make war a necessary thing? Even a good thing? I don’t know… I figure we’d have come across these advances, if a bit more slowly in peacetime.

Humanity is an odd thing… on deeper reflection, it seems that very many folks run on autopilot much of the time. How can a person go for a *DECADE* without having read a book? I suppose it’s easy to wax philosophic when you have the time too… if you’re too busy foraging for food, or making that ‘big sale’… some of the nicer things take a back seat.

If I ever feel work is more important than personal growth (social, emotional, whatever)… somebody give me a good shake, ok?

Bill Gates long dead. A CNN article, no less.

hm.

Thanks to tarpo and isis for taking scanning and putting up with me then!

Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness that’s sharing itself subjectively. There’s no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we’re the imagination of ourselves. Here’s Tom with the weather.

Finishing Cold Mountain… About 2/3 through it, and will finish it tonight, if I don’t get to see more of Ornj. (poor girl had to bail early, wasn’t feeling very well… :(( ) So send her happy good feeling vibes. 🙂

Victorian Flower Scent Symbolism and Meanings

Birch- Grace, Meekness
“The birch tree swang her fragrant hair.”–Tennyson.
Camellia- Reflected loveliness
Carnation- Admiration
Daffodil, Narcissus- Much Regard
For-get-me-not- True love
Heather- Admiration, solitude and protection
Heliotrope- Devotion, constancy, infatuation, “I turn to thee.”
Hibiscus- Delicate beauty
Hollyhock- Ambition, Fertility
Honeysuckle- Generous and devoted affection,”The color of my fate.”
Hyacinth- Unobtrusive loveliness (white)
Iris- Hope, power. Used in sachets for scenting intimate garments.
Jasmine- Amiability, sensuality,grace, elegance
Lavender- Distrust
Lemon Blossoms- Fidelity in love
Lilac- First emotions of love, youthful innocence
Lily of the Valley- Return of happiness
Lime- Conjugal love
Lotus- Eloquence, mystery and truth
Magnolia- Love of nature
Mint- Virtue
Olive- Peace and security
Pansy- Thoughts
Pink Rose- Simplicity, ambassador of love
Primrose- Early youth
Rose- Love unity, “Thy smile I aspire to.”
Rosemary- The herb of remembrance
Sage- Domestic virtues
Sweet William- Gallantry
Sweet Pea- Delicate pleasures
Violet- Faithfulness, steadfastness and modesty
Willow- Forsaken love
Wisteria- Welcome fair stranger

An apocryphal quote from a personal hero.

“Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I’m delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever.”
— Baron Karl Friedrich Hieronymous von Munchausen