Category Archives: Essays

April 6, 2018

Mushyheaded – Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman

mushyheaded

Today’s word of the day at dictionary.com is “mushyheaded”. You can probably guess it’s meaning: inadequately thought out: mushyheaded ideas; having vague, unsubstantiated, or unrealistic ideas or opinions. Mushyheaded (easily duped, stupid) is an Americanism dating back to the mid 19th century. It’s a portmandeau as well (a combination of two or more words to make one word) mushy-headed. The term mush-headed (a stupid person) was also used in the mid 19th century. For reference, “mush”, another Americanism from the late 17th century, is the name of a dish where cornmeal is boiled in water or milk until thick, eaten as a hot cereal, or molded and fried.

As you know, I like to google these words of the day to see what else I can find. One of the first things that came up was the German translation for the word mushy-headed: schwachköpfig. I love German. Their words are colorful and often so descriptive of the thing they are describing. Schwachköpfig sounds like a word one would say with disdain. The English translation for Schwachköpfig is: dunderheaded, soft-headed, weak-headed, dull-headed, crack-brained, feeble brained, lamebrained. But what I found even more entertaining was the list of German synonyms for the word, schwachköpf: Affe, Armleuchter, Armloch, Blödarsch, Blödian, Blödling, Blödmann, Blödmännchen, Blödsack, Brausebirne, Brot, Brummochse, Butterbirne, Bähschaf, Depp, Doofkopp, Doofmann, Dorfdepp, Dorfhupe, Dorftrottel, Dubbel, Dummbart, Dummbartel, Dummdübel, Dummerchen, Dummerjan, Dummian, Dummkopf, Dummlack, Dummschwätzer, Dumpfbacke, Dussel, Dusseltier, Döskopp, Dümmling, Eimer, Einfaltspinsel, Esel, Feldweg, Flachkopf, Flachpfeiffe, Flitschbirne, Gaskopf, Gehirnakrobat, Gehirnamputierter, Geistesgestörter, Geisteskranker, Grützkopf, Hampel, Hansnarr, Hanswurst, Heckenpenner, Hirnamputierter, Hirni, Hohlkopf, Holzkopf, Honk, Hornochse, Hornvieh, Idiot (Substantiv), Idiotenkind, Irrer, Kalb, Kalbskopf, Kamel, Kamuffel, Kauz, Kindskopf, Kirchenlicht, Kohlkopf, Kretin, Licht, Narr, Nichtskönner, Nichtswisser, Nulpe, Ochse, Pampel, Pfeife, Pfeifenkopf, Pflaume, Pfosten, Pinsel, Psycho, Psychopath, Pörre, Quadratesel, Rindvieh, Ross, Schaf, Schafskopf, Schafsnase, Schmalhirn, Schwachkopf, Schwachmat, Schwachsinniger, Schöps, Simpel, Spacken, Spacko, Spast, Spasti, Spaten, Spatzengehirn, Spatzenhirn, Stiesel, Strohkopf, Stümper, Tolpatsch, Tor, Torfkopp, Trantute, Trantüte, Tropf, Trottel, Tölpel, Verrückter, Vollhonk, Vollidiot, Vollpfosten, Vollspast, Volltrottel, Wahnsinniger, Blödi, Blödian, Blödlackl, Blödmann, Depp (Substantiv), Dummbeutel, Dummerchen, Dummerle, Dummkopf, Dödel, Hirni, Hohlkopf, Idiot, Monk, Pfosten, Schwachkopf, Spaten, Trottel,Depp, Dummkopf, Hohlkopf, Holzkopf, Schwachkopf, Torfkopf (Substantiv), Blödian, Blödmann, Dummerjan, Dummkopf, Dummrian, Dämel, Idiot. Aren’t they positively scrumptious?!

The other reference that floated to the top of Google’s list of things mushyheaded was a link to a site called Mushyhead Comics, an online comic book store developed by two self-described nerdy comic freaks whose aim is to “show other comic nerds the love and appreciation they deserve”. I didn’t realize that comic book nerds were so maligned. The things one can learn by practicing the habit of researching just one word a week! Of course I’m happy to have you along for the ride.

And there may have been a few memes and t-shirt vendors using the term mushyheaded in reference to a certain orange wanna-be dictator…but I’m in too good a mood to go there! 🙂

Have a great weekend! Here’s a haiku for you…:)

sometimes my mind drifts
but i’m not mushyheaded…
they’re calling for snow

~kat

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Essays, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

April 1, 2018

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 1 April 2018

By Kat Myrman


My, my, but I was busy this past week. Spring is in the air and I am positively thrilled with, and inspired by, the sights, sounds and sweet scent of life in bloom!

Today is Easter Day for some as well as April 1st, a day to fool or be fooled. The sun rose this morning in the afterglow of this year’s second full, blue moon. Today a good day…a very good day to be alive. The air is electric; charged with new life. Even grey skies and April showers cannot dampen my joie de vivre! So…Happy Day of Celebration then…whatever the holiday! Have dessert before dinner, nap as long as you please, laugh until your sides ache…breathe…it is ever so good to be!

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 1 April 2018

shadows long, sun shaded,
sweet petal spray
maybe next time
we’ll miss cold come summer
where infinity and magic
restless sleep, pale moonlight
perched above in mourning
we got along just fine, I think.
everything would work out for the best
play for pay
spring’s fragrant, first breath
azure splashed, dappled grey,
ink collecting in the creases….
what secrets linger
sunrise sunset
we swoon, like sea tides do
rush toward the flame | i embrace it like a fool
it is life, running over, raw honey on my tongue
sometimes I think I can hear you thinking

~kat

A ReVerse poem is a summary poem with a single line lifted from each entry of a collection of work over a particular timeframe and re-penned in chronological order as a new poem. Unlike a collaborative poem, the ReVerse features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai, Week in Review

March 30, 2018

Sepulcher – Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman

sepulcher

A timely word for today’s dictionary.com word of the day, sepulcher or sepulchre is notably associated with The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, (from Wikipedia) also called the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, or the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, a church within the Christian Quarter of the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It was first built in the second century AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian to honor the goddess, Venus. Notably, it is said to have been built directly over the cave where Jesus is said to have been buried. It wasn’t until the year 325/326 when Constantine ordered that it be torn down and a church erected in its place. Constantine’s mother, Helena is said to have discovered the tomb. A freestanding chapel was erected to House the tomb. Recently the tomb’s housing was renovated, unsettling and revealing was has remained enshrined for centuries.

Dictionary.com explains: Sepulcher comes via French from Latin sepulcrum “grave, tomb,” a derivative of the verb sepelīre “to perform the funeral rites, bury, inter.” The Latin verb comes from the Proto-Indo-European root sep- “to honor,” extended to sep-el- “sorrow, care, awe.” The same root appears in Sanskrit sapati “(he) worships, tends.”The Greek derivative of sep- is the root hep-, which usually occurs in compound verbs, e.g.,amphiépein “to look after, tend to,” as in the last line of the Iliad, “Thus they tended to (amphíepon) the funeral of horse-taming Hector.”Sepulcher entered English in the 13th century.

1920px-The_Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre-Jerusalem

 

It is defined as a tomb, grave, or burial place; also called Easter sepulcher. Ecclesiastical (a cavity in a mensa for containing relics of martyrs; a structure or a recess in some old churches in which the Eucharist was deposited with due ceremonies on Good Friday and taken out at Easter in commemoration of Christ’s entombment and Resurrection); to place in a sepulcher; to bury the dead.

My google rambling revealed a few other uses for the word. A ‘whited sepulcher’ is described literally, as a whitewashed tomb, outwardly clean but continuing decaying corpses. One would call someone who is a ‘hypocrite’ a whited sepulcher.

There is also a legal term called “right if sepulcre”. It is a common law doctrine that human remains must be left undisturbed in their place of deposition. There is a gruesome case that invoked ‘right of sepulchre’ as it related to the remains of a young man killed in a car accident. An autopsy was prescribed and the coroner retained the young man’s brain in a jar for further evaluation after releasing the body to his family for burial. The family would have been none the wiser had the boy’s sister not discovered the jar, with her brother’s name prominently displayed, on a shelf, while she and her classmates were on a school field trip to the coroner’s office.

And finally, Marvel Comics introduced a superheroine named Sepulchre in its Quasar series in 1993. Also nicknamed “shadow-woman”, she was the alter ego of Jillian Marie Woods empowered with the ability to manipulate dark forces as a member of the Roxxon Energy Corporation Secret Defenders Shock Troop.

Sepulchre-Sepulcre-Defenders-Jillian-Woods-Marvel-Comics

Sepulcher is certainly an ancient word with relevance for this day, especially if you celebrate. Happy Easter Weekend to you if you do!

what secrets linger
in dark ancient sepulchers
for some light and life

~kat

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Essays, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

March 25, 2018

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 25 March 2018

By Kat Myrman

It’s been a wild week weather-wise. Springlike warm, cold grey, snowing, blossom laden trees, bent to breaking, forced resignations, faux news-hack hirings, stolen elections, widget tariffs, market crashes, reality show drama, porn stars, playboy bunnies, temper tantrums, vetoes, kids in the streets acting like adults, adults checked out, on recess, golfing, Lenten vespers swelling, alms of palm, stormy weather looming…blue skies dazzling, melting snow.

It’s been a crazy week for the weather. But spring is coming! It’s just a matter of time, they tell us…just a matter of time.

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 25 March 2018

seems odd, quite out of place
springtime’s first dazzling sight
magic is in the air
Are you kidding me?!
just one more minute’s snooze
equal parts luck and timing
lost hope and pipe dreams collect
the edge of lunacy
calendars say it’s spring
my favorite place…
weighed down, bent to breaking
the treasure was long gone
don’t say I didn’t warn ya’
the orange fool went mad
assimilation
beautiful roses
they’ve no place called home
diversity’s extolled,
clouds of grey, muted light
a thousand whispers
night lingering

~kat

A ReVerse poem is a summary poem with a single line lifted from each entry of a collection of work over a particular timeframe and re-penned in chronological order as a new poem. Unlike a collaborative poem, the ReVerse features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem, Shi Sai

March 23, 2018

Deracinate – Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman

sizedimage

Today’s word of the day at dictionary.com deracinate is a new one for me even though I am very familiar with the concept of being deracinated.

Deracinated means: to pull up by the roots; uproot; extirpate; eradicate, to force (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location, to isolate or alienate (a person) from a native or customary culture or environment, o liberate or be liberated from a culture or its norms.

It originated in the 1590’s from the French word, déraciner, “to pluck up by the roots”,  from Old French desraciner, “uproot, dig out, pull up by the root”, which which is linked to the Latin des- and racine, “root”, from the Late Latin, radicina, a diminutive of the Latin word, radix “root”.

Whether we’re talking about plants deracinated by the roots from the ground or people deracinated from their homeland, it is an unsettling word. Its very tone and tenor sounds harsh when I say it out loud. One can’t help but feel empathy for the deracinated. No one likes to be plucked from the roots and “liberated”, unless, of course, it is their idea in the first place. However we find ourselves plucked, there is a certain element of the unknown lurking in the shadows.

Even liberated, a synonym of deracinated, is a tricky word. I remember the first time I learned of a colleague’s firing. The management explained that “so and so” had been liberated from said company to pursue new opportunities. It almost made me feel hopeful and happy for my former co-worker. Liberated did not adequately describe the reality of the situation. No income, no benefits, unemployed. That does not sound liberating to me. but deracinated? Oh yeah…that’s the word for it. It’s a good word. An honest word. Deracinated is not a thing I’m eager to experience. It smacks of change after all, and who likes change? But it’ not necessarily a bad thing. Some people choose to deracinate themselves. And in that case, it is very liberating. At any rate, it is a word I am glad to know. For now, I’ve plopped it into a few haiku. Have a great Friday.

Deracinate

diversity’s extolled,
peace kept, deracinated
by don’t ask don’t tell

deracinated
by war and terrorism
they’ve no place called home

beautiful roses
deracinated from beds
wilt in sterile urns

expats are expert
at deracination to
assimilation

~kat

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Essays, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku