Bloody Well Write

I was checking out the latest dish on some celebrity’s odd life the other day (don’t ask me who, for I’ve already forgotten) when I ran across a word that I’d never seen in print before. Nor do I recall ever having heard it:

relaysh

Sure, I could figure it out pretty easily; it looked like a hacked abbreviation of the word relationship. When I looked it up to see how out of touch with reality I have become, how completely out of the hipster loop I now am, I was pleasantly surprised — my favorite Web dictionary aid, OneLook, only produced one dictionary (and I use that term lightly here): Wordnik. So I am apparently not all that out of whack, linguistically speaking. Thank the verbal gods.

Relaysh is, in my opinion, a horrible-sounding, horrible-looking word, one that some poor soul thought would catch on. And who knows? Perhaps it still will. I’m crossing fingers and toes that it doesn’t, though, because I don’t think I’m alone believing that the human race would fare pretty well if it never heard that word out loud again.

But maybe that’s just me.

Happy trails!

SAK

Those who know me, and those who don’t but follow my new-house blog, know that I’m wading into the mystic waters of building a home. And my, what hazy waters this project is turning out to be!

No, I jest. I’m thrilled that my husband and I have the opportunity to create something pretty much exactly as we see fit. True, we’re not going to finish the basement immediately — we haven’t found that elusive money tree yet — but we’re getting the main living areas as close to ideal as we can and will complete the basement a little at a time.

In our efforts to make sure that we don’t overlook anything, we — OK, I — have been researching the fool out of every aspect of building a home. And one thing that I’ve come across that I’ve had to investigate further is the en suite.

I caught part of an HGTV real estate show highlighting a newly married couple searching for an acceptable residence in Dubai. They insisted on having two en suite bathrooms. The realtor and the announcer used the term en suite several times, and it sounded so posh to me that I had to verify exactly what it is. After all, my last French class was 25ish years ago.

Decidedly not an en suite (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sis/119849288/)

En suite. It sounds very French to me. Indeed, it is French. Its first use was in the early 1800s, and its modern-day meaning is “a bathroom or shower room that is attached to and only accessible from a bedroom.” In other words, it’s in the master suite, not in the hall.

Other bathroom terms include the shower room — a room with a toilet, sink and shower but no tub (in the United States, this is referred to as a 3/4 bathroom) — and the Jack-and-Jill bathroom — typically, a bathroom with a tub, toilet and sink(s) sandwiched between two bedrooms.

We’re building an en suite bathroom for us and a Jack-and-Jill bathroom for our two girls. So wouldn’t that technically be a Jill-and-Jill? Aha.

Happy trails!

SAK

If you saw or heard the Madonna interview with ABC News’ Cynthia McFadden, there’s a good chance that you’ve already thumbed through your hardback dictionary (are those still in existence?) or visited an online dictionary in search of the definition for reductive. No? Well, you’re in the right place.

Madonna was asked what she thinks about Lady Gaga, particularly about the similarities between Madonna’s song “Express Yourself” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” Madonna’s response?

“It feels, um, reductive.”

When asked if that is a good thing, Madonna replied, “Look it up.”

OK, fine. Here’s what Merriam-Webster has to say about it:

a procedure or theory that reduces complex data and phenomena to simple terms

And that’s the second definition — the one that makes the most sense in this context. So in essence (and correct me if I’m wrong, Madge), she’s saying that she is the original and Lady Gaga’s attempt at flattery or copycat-ery or whatever is a simplistic version, a dumbed-down version, a shallow version.

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

Don’t get me wrong: I think Madonna has had one hell of a career doing some crazy things, some smart things and some seriously questionable things. And I also think that she’s got more of it all coming our way. But her tone is dismissive of Lady Gaga’s success. Her crazy, smart, seriously questionable success. Her meat-dress-wearing, indulgent-Thanksgiving-show-performing, multisexual-bending success. And like Madonna, Lady Gaga is reaching audiences of varying ages, socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds and sensibilities.

To refer to Lady Gaga’s work — or anyone else’s, for that matter — as reductive only brings Madonna down a notch in my mind. If you haven’t something nice to say, don’t say anything, yes?

On the other hand, it could be said that she was simply expressing herself. Or perhaps she can’t help but say what’s on her mind — maybe she was born that way.

Happy trails!

SAK

Today is Dec. 22, 2011, which means that it’s officially the winter solstice at 12:30 a.m. EST in the Northern Hemisphere. Time to celebrate the rising sun!

What exactly is the winter solstice?

In a nutshell, it’s the day with the least amount of daylight and, thus, the longest night of the year. From then on, the daylight will gradually get longer as the sun climbs higher in the sky. In six months, the summer solstice will take place, and the reverse will happen — days will shorten again, and nights will lengthen.

As someone who favors warmth and sunlight over cold and darkness, I’m all for the winter solstice. It gives me the upcoming summer to look forward to, although I still have to get through the bitter Midwestern months of January through March. But that’s OK, because I can still look forward — in more light, no less.

An image of the 2010 winter solstice eclipse (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13422316@N00/5280906836/)

People the world over have celebrated the winter solstice for a long time — centuries, in fact:

• Ancient Egypt and Syria — They celebrated the Nativity of the Sun, with a ritual of the nativity — a play of sorts — taking place at midnight.
• Ancient Greece — Called Lenaea, or the Festival of Wild Women, the winter solstice in Greece included one very unfortunate man being chosen to represent Dionysus, the god of the Harvest. Said man was then ripped apart and eaten by a group of mad women. Later, a baby would be presented as the rebirth of Dionysus. Centuries later, the man-eating premise was replaced with a less hazardous celebration, at least for Greek men; instead, a goat was sacrificed. Definitely not so good for the goat.
  
• Ancient Rome — The god of the harvest and agriculture in Rome was Saturn, and his wife was the goddess of fertility, Ops (aka Opis). The ancient Romans honored them both with a celebration called Saturnalia. Sometime around 270 A.D., Emperor Aurelian combined many then-affluent pagan solstice celebrations into one, big event called the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.
• Ancient Brazil — Archaeologists uncovered an astronomical observatory consisting of granite blocks, with one block representing the sun’s position at the time of the winter solstice.
• Zoroastrianism — Iran’s first state religion, Zoroastrianism, was founded by Persia’s Zarathustra (aka Zoroaster). The religion that preceded Islam may have been the first monotheistic religion. Celebrants would sit around a table or bonfire and enjoy fruits while listening to stories.
• Islam — Modern-day Muslims observe the Fast of Ramadan, paying tribute to the lunar month in which the Qura’n was revealed by God revealed the Qura’n to mankind. They fast during the day and share small meals with family and friends once the sun has set. Because the Fast of Ramadan follows the moon, Ramadan falls in December every 30 years or so. Thus, although it fell in December in the late 1990s, it is not considered a winter solstice celebration. In 2011, for example, Ramadan began in the evening of Sunday, July 31, and ended in the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 31.
• Buddhism — While the Buddhist December celebration has nothing (I think) to do with the winter solstice, it does celebrate the day when Buddha achieved enlightenment, escaping the endless reincarnation cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

Mmmm — latkes are served with applesauce or sour cream (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohmeaghan/3805809896/)

• Judaism — Hannukah (aka Hanukah, Chanukah or Chanukkah — oy!) is the eight-day Feast of Lights (aka Festival of Lights or Feast of Dedication) that remembers the war fought by the Maccabees in the cause of religious freedom. Jews light a menorah, eat potato latkes, play dreidel games and open a present each of the eight nights of the festival. 
• Christianity — Since the official record of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth had either been destroyed or not been found, early leaders of the Western church chose December 25 — already a popular pagan celebration day throughout the Roman Empire — as the day to honor Christ’s birth. Over the following centuries, Christianity’s popularity spread:
  • 301 AD — Armenia created the first national church, becoming the first country to adopt Christianity as its national religion.
  • 375 AD — Eastern churches began to celebrate Christmas.
  • 5th century — Ireland’s monastic settlements emerged.
  • 8th century — parts of Europe adopted Christianity.
• Native American rituals — Across North America, Indian tribes celebrated the winter solstice (as well as the summer solstice). Much like in ancient Brazil, early Native Americans created structures, similar to calendars, made of stone which could mark the sun’s movements. Rituals across tribes included making prayer sticks, purifying the body and feasting.
• Kwanzaa — Celebrated in the United States between Dec. 26 and Jan. 1, Kwanzaa was created in the late 1960s by Maulana Karenga, a professor, scholar, author and philosopher. Kwanzaa, a Swahili word meaning “first fruits of the harvest,” honors the pan-African and American-African heritage and culture. Seven candles in a single holder representing the seven principles of African heritage are lit, and a feast and gift-giving are enjoyed.
• Nonreligious — Estimated between 13 and 20 percent of the population are nonbelievers, skeptics, humanists, rationalists, freethinkers, scientists and the like, who also celebrate the winter solstice as a time of renewal and rejuvenation. Many in this growing group gather with family and friends over a meal or at a party and exchange gifts in celebration of more daylight hours to spend with the ones they love.

Many think that the winter solstice is a time for people of all faiths to come together and celebrate the concept of rejuvenation. Others feel that their faith is the one and only reason to celebrate. What camp are you in?

My opinion (yes, I give my opinion on my blog, believe it or not) is that we should live and let live. Unless it hurts someone else, and as long as no one’s being forced to do something they don’t want to do, we should all be able to celebrate as we wish.

Happy winter solstice, everyone!

Happy trails!

SAK

Last year, I was invited to a cookie party. This meant that I had to take several dozen cookies and the recipe to the party with me, and I walked away with a bunch of recipes and samples from the array of cookies the other guests brought. It’s a fun concept.

Since I’m not a big baker, though, I had to do some research:

• What kind of cookie would I make?
• Would it be decorated for the holidays?
• Should it contain typical festive ingredients?
• Should it be pressed into seasonal shapes, such as a reindeer or wreath?

No — I’m not that kind of a baker.

So I scoured the Internet for a recipe that looked manageable, yummy and interesting. I found it at Kitchenelly.

The creator of these Mexican Chocolate Chip Cookies con Café, Kelly McCune, introduced me to the recipe’s star ingredient: Mexican chocolate. And oh, did I fall in love with that chocolate.

According to the Food Network, Mexican chocolate differs from “regular” chocolate in that it contains almonds, vanilla and cinnamon. That cinnamon spice is, in my opinion, what makes it stand apart from the rest. It gives the chocolate a warmth that soothes the soul. Mexican chocolate is also a bit more grainy than the smoother, waxier chocolate most Americans are used to. The Food Network recommends substituting 1 ounce of semisweet chocolate, ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1 drop of almond extract if you don’t have any traditional Mexican chocolate on hand.

A tablet of Ibarra Mexican chocolate (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedelicious/4132757772/in/photostream/)

One of the most popular brands of Mexican chocolate is Ibarra. Nestlé Abuelita, Carlos V, Chocolate Don Gustavo, Ricolino and Duvalin also make Mexican chocolate. The chocolate is available in tablet, bar or powder form. Some local grocery stores carry the Ibarra and Nestle brands; otherwise, check out any of the Hispanic markets, such as Tapatias on South Seneca, Super Del Centro on North Broadway or Carnicería Ana on North Arkansas.

Back to this amazing cookie for a minute. Kitchenelly decided that just a Mexican chocolate cookie wasn’t insanely good enough, so she decided to add some ground coffee into the mix — literally. And let me be the first to say: It’s flipping amazing. Give that recipe a try; you won’t be anywhere near disappointed.

BTW, I don’t feel it’s right to take the same cookies to the same cookie party two years in a row no matter how tantalizing they are, so I had to find another memorable recipe. And you know what? I did.

But that’s for another post.

Happy trails!

SAK

You are probably familiar with the phenomenon whereby a more-defined word (or word combo) is created to describe something that originally had a simple word attached to it until something else came along that mandated a more specialized word for that first something in order to differentiate that first something from the second something. Yes?

Come on, admit it. You know what I’m talking about: a retronym.

Here’s an example: guitar.

Guitars have been around for eons. Electric guitars, however, have only been in existence since the early 1900s — officially, since George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker patented their 1931 electrically amplified invention. Their new “electric guitar” meant that if someone said, “I heard him play a mean guitar,” someone else would now say, “Which guitar — the electric guitar or the other kind of guitar?” And who wants to talk about a guitar if they don’t sound like they know which end’s up? Exactly.

So the retronym is a new word (or, in this case, phrase) created to more-accurately describe something that was already in existence before the new-fangled something else came along to confuse matters. And in this case, the retronym is the acoustic guitar.

Electric and acoustic: yin and yang (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dagoaty/4320370266/)

Another example would be a watch. In the beginning, it was just a watch. But when the digital world took over time, everyone called the new watch a digital watch, so the old watch needed a fancy name: analog watch. Voila — a retronym!

The thing that’s been around forever gets a revamped name to better define what it is when a new thing comes along that’s similar, yet different.

And it’s a fun word, to boot: retronym.

Happy trails!

SAK

This one makes me laugh, if only because it hits close to home (see point No. 3).

Hangry means, according to the Urban Dictionary:

When you are so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated or both.

1. Whoever dreamed it up probably was referring to that feeling that takes over as you wait for a crazy mount of time for a table — perhaps seeing others who arrived after you get seated before you. Argh!
2. Or perhaps it occurs when you finally are seated and order your food, and you wait and wait and wait for it to arrive. Double-argh!
3. A third possibility is the physical feeling you may get if your blood sugar level drops low enough (and usually fast enough) to make clear thinking a thing of the past — when you start to sweat and everything becomes completely annoying and you can seriously focus on only one thing: getting food in your tummy. Triple-argh!

Being hangry is no fun. No fun at all.

Happy trails!

SAK

Perhaps it’s not that odd or freakish, but the word blog is one of those words that sounds funnier each time you say it, say, five times fast.

Blog blog blog blog blog.

Blog.

What is it? Webster’s New World College dictionary defines the noun:

A journal or diary written for public viewing on a website and consisting typically of personal reflections, commentary on current events, etc. arranged chronologically

Where’d it come from? It’s an amalgamation of “Web” (as in World Wide Web) and “log” (as in diary). Now, say that five times fast.

Web log Web log Web log Web log Web log.

Blog. Aha!

Bloody Well Write is my little language blog. It’s all my opinion, yes. It’s mostly based on research and underscores just about everything in the AP Stylebook (just about, not all, mind you). And it’s a fun, creative outlet that’s mine, all mine.

All You Create is my little “me” blog that’s recently morphed into my little new-house blog, so feel free to meander over there if you’re at all interested in watching the process of a new home being built. I’m going to attempt to chronicle the shenanigans and high-stepping acrobatics that take place in order to get it built according to our crazy ideas. Should be interesting — hopefully, not in a train wreck sort of way. The deeper you dig into this site, you’ll find repeats of Bloody Well Write posts, as well as some of my articles from Examiner (I’m their Wichita Healthy Living writer) and some other sites I’ve written for.

Happy trails!

SAK

I’ve heard of a blackout many a time. I even remember being part of one of the major ones that occurred July 13–14, 1977.

My family was sitting in a plane on a runway in New York, ready to go on vacation to who knows where (really, where we were going was vastly overshadowed by what I’m about to tell you). The plane was waiting to taxi out when, all of a sudden, the entire city lost wattage. It was blacker than the pot or the kettle that night without the necessary lights, so our plane dutifully taxied back to the terminal.

But wait — the lights came on. Yay! We taxied back out. Then the lights went out again. Back we taxied to the terminal. Then they came back on. By then, though, what seemed like every other plane in the U.S. was waiting to taxi in front of us. We were on the tarmac for a very, very long time. Hours. No, hours upon hours, really. Truly. Something like eight hours on a plane with limited bathroom functionality, little air movement and a sick kid on the plane — me — who needed her antibiotics to be refrigerated, which wasn’t happening because we were grounded and the fridges weren’t working if the plane wasn’t moving. Super-fun, super-memorable times.

Finally, we were so very close to being able to take off, it was unreal. But by then, the air crew had reached their limit for consecutive hours at work, so we taxied back again (!) to the terminal. You can read more about this crazy-awesome evening and send me some serious empathy vibes if you’d like.

How's the view for eight hours straight? (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/conchur/1580885393/)

Anyhoo — the point of this post is this: There’s a difference between a blackout (total loss of electricity over a large area) and a brownout (small temporary  reduction in voltage).

I hadn’t heard of the term brownout until I happened across it while flipping through my lovely AP Stylebook. When a random brownout occurs, you know it because your lights will dim for somewhere between a minute and an hour or so, then return to full brightness. Brownouts tend to be intentional in order to conserve electric power, usually 2–8 percent. They are implemented to prevent a total blackout, which can be the catalyst for such nasty things as looting and rioting, similar to what took place in 1977 New York City. Some people are weird that way.

I do my part to be electrically green by turning out lights as soon as I leave the room (assuming no one else is in there, of course) and using the new-fangled CFL and LED light bulbs. Yeah, I’m saving the earth — call me Wonder Woman.

Happy trails!

SAK

It’s All-Hallows-Eve, October 31, and time for all proper ghouls and goblins to show their neighbors what they’re made of. Share a few interesting points about Halloween among friends and fiends while enjoying a first bowl of chili this season:

• The term Halloween — or Hallowe’en — is a contraction of All-Hallows-Even, which is the evening before All Hallows Day (also known as All Souls Day or All Saints Day, on November 1).
• What’s come to be known as the jack-o’-lantern, a pumpkin with eyes, nose and a questionable mouth carved into it, began when the Irish and the Scots began carving turnips to represent the souls in purgatory.
• Trick-or-treating developed from the medieval tradition of souling, when the poor would go door to door at the beginning of November. They’d be given food in return for their prayers for the souls of the dead.
• Candy corn is a typical Halloween candy that contains all the colors of real corn kernels: yellow, orange and white. A bonus: They contain zero grams of fat.

• Want to host a Halloween-themed movie marathon? Some titles to consider: any of the “Halloween” series, “The Exorcist,” “The Omen,” “The Shining,” “The Lost Boys” and, perhaps my favorite if only because I get to watch Audrey Hepburn in it, “Wait Until Dark.” For a more lighthearted movie experience, fire up the popcorn and watch “Young Frankenstein,” “Ghostbusters,” “The Little Shop of Horrors,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” or “The Addams Family” — a classic with an all-star cast that includes Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christina Ricci and Christopher Lloyd.

Hope you all have a howlingly safe Halloween!

Happy trails!

SAK