August 30, 2009

Today I learned that the word "pall" has about a bajillion definitions...or 11.

Definitions of pall on the Web:

• become less interesting or attractive
• daunt: cause to lose courage; "dashed by the refusal"
• cover with a pall
• cloy: cause surfeit through excess though initially pleasing; "Too much spicy food cloyed his appetite"
• cause to become flat; "pall the beer"
• die: lose sparkle or bouquet; "wine and beer can pall"
• chill: a sudden numbing dread
• lose strength or effectiveness; become or appear boring, insipid, or tiresome (to); "the course palled on her"
• burial garment in which a corpse is wrapped
• tire: lose interest or become bored with something or somebody; "I'm so tired of your mother and her complaints about my food"
• curtain: hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)

Today I also learned of the existence of this "fur toad" bag and "winkers," both hilariously horrid inventions.

August 23, 2009

Today I learned various things about the depression era public enemies/romantic heroes, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. This afternoon I finally got to see the movie Bonnie and Clyde, which I'd been wanting to finish after watching the first 15 minutes in one of my classes last fall. I really enjoyed it and wanted to know more so afterward I was off to ye olde Wikipedia! I learned that the movie deviated quite a bit from the true story (or at least what's known of the truth):
In the movie Bonnie wields a gun loads of times but even after her death most witnesses claimed that they had never seen her shoot (except for one witness who said she might have "once or twice"). Also, two members of the Barrow gang (as Bonnie and Clyde's group was called) were merged into one character, "C.W. Moss," which wasn't the real name of either of them. The movie makes it seem like none of the group ever got to see their families except for Bonnie who freaks out when she realizes she may never see her mother again. In reality many of the gang members got to visit their families a number of times after choosing their life of crime. The gang traveled around the edges of states so that if the cops came after them they were never far from state lines and out of the cops' jurisdiction (the movie did show this, in a pretty awesome car chase scene). However, after a while the cops picked up on this technique and figured out a pattern based on it and the gang's desire to visit their families, ultimately leading to the gang's downfall.
I also learned that Warren Beatty (who played a rather dreamy Clyde in the movie) approached Blache Barrow - the real-life wife of Clyde's brother, Buck Barrow - before filming on the movie started to request her permission to use her name in the film. She accepted but was later unhappy with her portrayal (I seriously don't blame her: Blanche is such an annoying character. I ended up yelling "shut up!" at my t.v. pretty much everytime she was on screen. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah). Surprisingly, though, she and Beatty remained good friends.
Another thing I learned that was included in the movie was the fact that Bonnie Parker wrote poetry. I read some of it here. The wikipedia page referred to it as doggerel but I disagree. Parker's poetry has plenty of merit! It's beautiful! The style is far from academic but that's what I like about it. She told her amazing story as well of the stories of others, giving an insiteful perspective on life in the depression, using the common language to paint a gritty picture of life (and death) in hard times.

By the way, I also learned the definition of doggerel, which I could tell when I read it was derogatory but wanted to know more about. After reading the doggerel wiki page I followed a link to William McGonagall, who sounds just so awesome! He's often referred to as one of the worst poets of the english language. Totally my kind of guy! I really want to read some of his poetry now. Also, I learned today that J. K. Rowling gave Professor McGonagall of the Harry Potter series her name because she knew about William McGonagall and loved the surname.

Okay, that was a lot for today, though I think it's kind of lame that all my information came from online. I'd love to read a biography on Bonnie and Clyde sometime if there's ever a time when I don't have library fines :P.

Hello, and Mission Statement

I definitely think it's true what they say: "You learn something new everyday." I also think it's good to keep track of these new things learned. Why? Well, my 10th grade geometry teacher, Mr. Johnstone, always used to say that the best way to remember something is to hear it once, then again 10 minutes later, and then once again 24 hours later. I've never bothered to verify his claim but I know that for me it usually takes a few times for something to stick. Having this log online will allow to look back at my recently acquired knowledge with ease. Also, I think it will be good for me to keep track of what I have learned so that even on days when I'm being lazy(such as today), I will at least feel like I've accomplished a little something.
In creating this blog I will attempt to come back everyday and record what I have learned within the most recent 24 hour period. Most of the time it will likely only be a few sentences, other times it might be a few paragraphs and/or include photos or links. Sometimes I expect what I learn will be trivial, other times it will be more profound.
I have an unfortunate tendency of not liking to admit it when I don't know something. I guess I just feel like letting people know what I don't know will make me appear weak. I will try to resist this tendency in this blog and share everything new I learn - as well as I can remember - no matter how embarrassing I may feel it is that I'm only just learning it.

The creation of this blog is very spontaneous, but I hope I will keep it up!

• Today I learned the definition of the world, denouement. It means "the outcome of a complex sequence of events " or "the final resolution of the main complication of a literary or dramatic work ."I've been wondering what it meant for a while now while I've been reading the 10th, 11th, and 12th A Series of Unfortunate Events books, in which there is a place called the Hotel Denouement. I only just remembered today to look it up. The author, Lemony Snicket, likes to make use of unusual words, puns, literary allusions, and alliteration in his books. Usually I get the joke, but this was a case when I didn't. "Hotel Denouement" now makes sense to me because the hotel is where all the main action of the 12th book takes place and is likely to be where the 13th and final book's action is held (no spoiler's please, if you've read it!).

• I also learned that at 20 years old I am apparently not to old to get obsessed with silly computer games. I saw a friend's score in"Typing Maniac" come up in my Facebook newsfeed and my curiosity was peaked. Soon I was punching out random words as fast I could (not very fast) and trying desperately to beat my lowest ranked friend's score. I comfort myself by knowing that as ridiculous as it may be to sit around playing Facebook-powered procrastination generators, at least this one could improve my typing skills.

Okay, that's it for today. See you tomorrow!