Words I Love

Does blogging about my homework make me a nerd? Possibly. But I got really excited about this English assignment today and thought it was worth sharing. We were supposed to write about how these words make arguments more effective... but I misread and started writing about why I love them. 

So, here's the window into my mind for the day:

1.      Petrichor

I love petrichor because the Doctor said it, and because it gives a name to the smell of something I love: rain.

2.      Amorous

Amorous is a cool word because it sound like “amour” with a tail at the end. It makes me think of a love fish swimming around the word it’s modifying.

3.      Façade

Something false, or the front of a building, sounds so much cooler when you say “façade.” It’s like you’re giving humanity to an object or a situation by giving it a ‘face’.

4.      Felicity

If I am lucky enough to have a daughter someday, I would want to call her Felicity. She would forever be someone whose company would be desired, for her very name would mean happiness – and I couldn’t exactly name her happiness, could I?

5.      Abhorrent

Guttural Germanic words don’t usually appeal to me, but abhorrent just sounds cool. It’s like harbor, but with a completely different meaning (unless you hate the sea).

6.      Verdant

Verdant is more than just green. It’s something living, moving, eye catching. It’s something that seems crystalized in time, subject to the past, the present, and the future.

7.      Glistening

Glistening sounds like it looks: light sparkling across of surface of something.

8.      Equivocate

Switching the meaning of words? Trying to be sneaking in an argument? You’re probably equivocating. Isn’t that better than saying you’re deceptive? I think so!

9.      Soliloquy

Sol-il-o-quee. What a wonderfully soft and squishy word! It feels good in my mouth… Whoops, am I talking to myself again?

10.  Vacillate

Vacillate sounds like equivocate, and it also means to go between two things. The difference is that vacillate sounds like you’re making vassals do things for you, which is cool - unless you know a vassal.

An Attempt at French Poetry

The foreign languages department is having an arts night next week that I'm really excited about. Since the semester started I've been looking for an opportunity - an excuse - to write something creative that I could share on stage. Poetry feels like a dirty, self indulgent pleasure sometimes. It feels like clumsily paintbrush in my writing hand; and yet, somehow, it comes out to be something not entirely terrible.

I wasn't planning to perform anything at this arts night. Anything I do would have to be in French, and I don't want to embarrass myself with my poor grammar and pronunciation. I'm growing as a speaker, both in French and English, but I tremble enough without the added pressure of rolling rrr's and silent letters. But after talking with some of the other French Club executives I decided I might give it a go.

So here's my attempt, titled: Je ne pense pas.
Note: Written first in French, then translated to English.

<<Je pense donc je suis, >> Dit le philosophe.  Mais si je ne pense pas ?  Suis-je rien ?  Je me sens la froideur de la nuit.  L’obscurité couvrit  Mon corps, mon esprit.  Je suis seul, et je ne pense pas.  Je regards la lune brille,  Guider les étoiles à travers le ciel,  Et me Guider à travers le monde.  Je suis mouton – je ne pense pas.  Je m’assieds au sommet des montagnes,  Regarder l’aube. Je m’entends des voix,  Douces et chaudes. Des amis ?  Oui, je pense qu’ils sont des amis véritables.

"I think, therefore I am," Says the philosopher. But what if I do not think? Am I nothing? I feel the night's chill. The darkness covers My body, my mind. I am alone, and I do not think. I look upon the shining moon, guiding the stars across the sky and guiding me across the world. I am a sheep - I do not think. I sit at the mountains' summit, Watching the sunrise. I hear voices, soft and warm. Friends? Yes, I think they are true friends.