I've not posted for awhile, and so there are a few quotes, exciting websites, and other tidbits I've stored up to share... just thinks I like or find interesting - read, skim, or skip. :)
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Print on demand rare books! Thanks to Cornell University, Google books, and Amazon.com, many books that are rare and out of print are now available as print-on-demand documents. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept - books are digitized, then printed and bound only when a copy is requested. It is more expensive than printing and binding thousands at a go, but more cost effective than storing thousands of copies of a book that will only sell a few copies a year. This particular program has the dual purpose of recording old books before they crumble and making those books available to interested readers. I saw little for the SCA period, but it is a cool book geek thing!
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Feb0
9/AmazonPOD.ws.html
http://bookstore.library.cornell.edu/pro
ject.html
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This is one of those words that people often confuse and/or misuse or simply misunderstand (as in the example context) and then miss part of the meaning of the scene.
wherefore \WAIR-for\ adverb
*1 : for what reason or purpose : why
2 : therefore
Example sentence:
"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet)
Did you know?
In our example sentence, Juliet is not inquiring into her beloved's whereabouts. Rather she is asking why it is that Romeo must be Romeo, a member of the Montague family and, therefore, an enemy of Juliet's own family, the Capulets. Yet, wherefore does "wherefore" mean "why"? Starting in the early 13th century, a number of new words were formed by combining "where" with a preposition. In such words, "where" had the meaning of "what" or "which," giving the English language such adverbs as "wherein" ("in what"), "whereon" ("on what"), and "wherefore" ("for what"). English speakers have largely dropped "wherefore" in favor of "why," but the noun "wherefore," meaning "an answer or statement giving an explanation," continues to be used, particularly in the phrase "the whys and wherefores."
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Night the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive.
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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I love this word. I don't know why. :P
feckless \FECK-lus\ adjective
*1 : weak, ineffective
2 : worthless, irresponsible
Example sentence:
Although Trevor was admired by his colleagues at the newspaper, he turned out to be a feckless reporter, and so he was reassigned to the copy desk.
Did you know?
Someone feckless is lacking in feck. And what, you may ask, is feck? "Feck" is a Scots term that means "effect" or "majority" and comes from an alteration of the Middle English "effect." So something without feck is without effect, or "ineffective." In the past, "feckful" (meaning "efficient," "sturdy," or "powerful") made an occasional appearance. But in this case, the weak has outlived the strong: "feckless" is a commonly used English word, but "feckful" has fallen out of use.
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And
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
gwyneth1362 is certainly a hottie and not "any old thing" but I thought
this was hilarious.
amused
calm
hopeful
pensive
indescribable