Da Doo Re Run Run Yet Again

I was a looking through the stats today and lo and behold found something that I did not expect. I was wondering about the post with the most hits. Turns out it is one of my favorites, but only because I got to use such a funny word. And plus also, I love making up stupid titles, and this was a greaty. So without further ado (which you know I am so fond of) NatureGirl proudly presents and encore presentation of Pardon My Flosculation! (Seriously, spell check doesn't even recognize it.)

I really like words.  Seriously, I use them all the time!  Reading, writing, quotidian colloquy. But I have recently heard some disturbing news.  I mean, I guess deep down inside I always knew, but until my worst fears were confirmed by an outside source, I held out hope that it wasn't true. There are words on the brink of expiration. The threshold of existence. Near their demise.  Falling, quickly and abruptly, into obsolescence!  Words that once served a purpose and held their places proudly and alphabetically in lexicons across the world, are now being tossed aside like relics of a bygone generation.  Deemed antiquated, outdated, useless and ineffective they are being removed from dictionaries to make room for new words like woot, edamame and subprime.  I get it. Really, I do.  I understand the necessity of it.  I mean, the only reason language exists is to serve the community that uses it.  It allows us to freely exchange thoughts, feelings and ideas.  If a word no longer performs this function, it will drop out of our vernacular naturally.  It just seems so harsh, you know, to take them out of the dictionary after all they have done for us.  Toiling away year after year until suddenly, when they are no longer needed, being torn from the very pages where they waited so faithfully for some amateur philologist to find them.  And, as usual, I digress a bit. The point is that someone even more passionate about words than I, has taken up the cause. Launched a formal protest even, and issued a call to action!  For those of us so inclined, we can adopt one of these vanishing words and try to resuscitate it.  How fun is that!?  So, please help Savethewords.I narrowed my choices to thural, coquinate, fallaciloquence, flosculation and ictuate, finally choosing to assimilate flosculation into my vocabulary. As part of my pledge to do so, I publicly take the oath of adoption: "I hereby promise to use this word, in conversation and correspondence, as frequently as possible, to the best of my ability."  Ah...one down!

Quote of the Day: "Language artfully used can make you happy to be alive."--Ben Yagoda author   (from If You Catch An Adjective, Kill It)

LinkUp: Leaping Lizards!

Leap day. A whole extra day for the year. What should I do with it? I went to the gym. But that was because it is Wednesday. Should I do something daring? Mundane? Out of the ordinary? Relaxing? Oh the choices. Don't waste this day. It won't come again for another four years! Oh the pressure! I guess I will just sit here and blog.

Leap. Leap Year. Leaping. Leap of faith. Leap Frog. Leaping Lizards. Leapt. Quantum Leap. A Giant Leap for Mankind. A Leap in the Dark. Look before you Leap. Hmmm. It has to mean something. But what to do? According to the movie Leap Year, this is the one day a year that Irish lasses are permitted to propose marriage to their lads. Don't worry, I confirmed this information with the source of all that is right and good, Wikipedia, it is totally true.

It also turns out that people born on February 29 (or Leaplings as they are called) are all invited to join The Honor society of Leap Year Day Babies. I only know one person born on leap day. I will call her today and ask if she is a member of the society. According to the Guinness Book of Records, there are world record holders both of a family producing three consecutive generations born on February 29 and of the number of children in one family born on the elusive day. Apparently it is considered unlucky in Scotland to be born today. The checkout lady at the grocery store yesterday told me that her parents' anniversary is leap day. Her dad said it was lucky because it saved him money on gifts. Plus also, he only forgets their anniversary once every four years I bet!

And how about those Chinese? They add a whole Month extra every three years. I am pretty sure that if I cannot figure out what to do with a day, I am not figuring out a whole month! The jewish calendar also has 13 months in a leap year, and is referred to in Hebrew as Shanah Me'uberet, "a pregnant year." I do not even want to think about the ramifications of that!

This leap day has been named Rare Diseases Day. Antonio Sabato Jr., Dinah Shore, and Jimmy Dorsey were Leaplings. My birthday is exactly one week after leap day. And the best news is, we have one extra day to procrastinate doing our taxes, and some of us may even get an extra paycheck this year! All because Earth takes a little longer than a year to travel around the Sun--364 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to be exact. But who's counting? Happy Leap day...Make the most of it!
In honor of the extra day Write on Edge is having a fun LinkUp. Go ahead. Go...Add your two cents. It could be fun!

Quote of the Day: "Thirty days hath September April June and November. All the rest have thirty-one excepting February alone. It has twenty-eight days clear, and twenty-nine in each leap year!

LinkUp: M Is For Mormon

I hope that our gracious and phenomenal teacher Ms. Matlock does not mind, but this blog post is going to touch upon a couple of things that I don't necessarily talk about a lot, politics and religion, so if you would like to turn away or read the post while peeking through barely separated fingers, by all means...do whatever necessary. I just feel the need to discuss this topic right now.

Let me just start by saying that this is not an endorsement of Mitt Romney. I have yet to endorse any one candidate, but rest assured that when I do, you will all hear about it at the press conference. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will likely vote for whomever the GOP candidate is in the general election, but I have not actually made my mind up yet as far as the primary election goes. This is also not intended to convince anyone that they should believe what I believe. It is however a bit about what I DO believe.

With all of this election business going on pretty much 24/7 I have been somewhat concerned and also a bit  disconcerted at the misinformation that I have seen and heard. Many people are discussing Mr. Romney's faith as he is a practicing Latter-Day Saint. So am I. I have not always been. I was not raised LDS, but I converted when I was 15 and have been a practicing member of the LDS church since then. And believe me, we have heard it all. Every misinterpretation and fallacy out there about Mormonism. But I would like to get just a bit of truth out there, you know...from the horses mouth. Wait...what did she call me?

Ok, so, I'm a Mormon. For the most part, I live my life like most folks. I don't drink alcohol, coffee or tea, and I abstain from tobacco products as well. I do eat chocolate and far too much Mexican food. I don't shop on the Sabbath or watch R-rated movies on any day of the week. I do attend church every Sunday for 3 hours, sometimes more. I don't buy lottery tickets. I do use stupid fake swear words like "fetch" even though I know it makes me sound silly. I do believe in abstinence before marriage and that families can be sealed together for eternity. I do have a huge crush on Colin Firth. My husband is aware of this.

I don't profess to be perfect, but I do believe that that is our ultimate goal. I do know that this perfection can only come through our Savior, Jesus Christ. I do believe in the Bible. I also believe The Book Of Mormon to be the word of God. I do believe in the Ten Commandments and quite a few others. I don't always act like it. I make mistakes. Big ones sometimes. I do pick myself up off the floor and try to do better each day.  I am a wife and a mother, a sister and daughter, a big mouth blogger, a gentle yoga teacher. My name is Leslie, and I am a Mormon. Thanks for listening....

Quote of the Day: “Try a little harder to be a little better.” Gordon B. Hinckley 

ListenUp: Flowers and Chocolate and Sondre Lerche

Happy Valentines Day to My amazing and extremely Hunky Hubby and to lovers everywhere who are still mad for each other...

Quote of the Day: "All you need is love"--John Lennon