Word of the Day – Epigone

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Noun: Epigone
    1. an inferior descendant, follower, or imitator
  • Synonyms:
    1. adherent
    2. disciple
    3. follower
    4. apostle
    5. partizan
  • Usage:
    1. “Such impartiality redounds to the benefit of a candidate whose dictatorial ambitions are not merely performative. And where there will be dictators, there won’t be comedy — at least not the type of punch-up satire practiced by Stewart and his many epigones.”
  • Encountered:
    1.  While reading the MSNBC piece: Jon Stewart’s about-face on Trump jokes is quietly meaningful

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

Download as PDF

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #4,749

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

Robin and I were gifted a couple electronic fly swatters a few years ago.  See the article: Rev. Joe Uncovers an International Conspiracy

Sad to say, I found out I was a bit sadistic as there is a certain sense of satisfaction watching and listening to a fly fry on the surface of the zapper.

I was wondering, though, if the zappers will work against cicadas. If you believe the news, we are about to have the cicada apocalypse here in St. Louis. The way they are going on, it has started to sound like a trailer for a Hitchcock movie.

Just saying.

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley

Download as PDF

Vanity Plate for the Day – LTR G8R

Vanity Plate of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one in the wild that I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  When I was commuting from my home to downtown St. Louis and back, I was spending anywhere from an hour and half to two hours daily in rush hour traffic. I used the exercise of deciphering vanity plates to help pass the time… plus sometimes they are very clever and worth sharing.

LTR G8R

If you are of a certain age – a child of the 50s – you will recognize this as “Later Gator” with the usual response being “After while Crocodile.”  It was on the back of a bright blue Corvette convertible, one of the new models with the very European styling, driven by an older gentleman with very white hair.

To see more Vanity Plates of the Day use this link: Vanity Plates of the Day

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley

Download as PDF

Quote of the Day – Ernest Hemingway

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk: That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” ~~ Ernest Hemingway

Yeah, I know two quotes in a row, but I came across this one and it was too good not to share immediately.

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley

Download as PDF

Quote of the Day – Mark Twain

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it” ~~ Mark Twain

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley

Download as PDF

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #2,811

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

Sitting on the throne, reading a book of trivia, I just discovered that the average American spends 6 months of their lives waiting at red lights.

This made me wonder how much time we spend while online waiting for ads to complete before we can watch the content we were after.  Your video will start in 29…28..27… seconds.  More than half the time if the ad is more than 5 seconds I hit the back button, skipping the video, and if I don’t do that I turn the sound off.

I could not find any studies specifically aimed at my question, but then again I was not going to spend a lot of time on the search. There were a bunch of calculations on how much time we spend watching commercials on TV.  Scary.

The epidemic of advertising on the Internet has turned into a bit of pet peeve of mine. See: Internet Littering

Of course there is an easy solution…don’t go in the water.

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley

Download as PDF

Life is not ALL bad

The whole 16 years of our relationship, including the last 11 years of wedded bliss, Señora and I have slept in a queen size bed.  It was plenty of room for the two of us as we both like to touch at least a square centimeter or two of the other person’s skin as we sleep.

However, we both have back problems. Señora’s are logarithmically worse than mine.  We have swapped our three queen size mattresses around trying to find one that worked for our issues.  We even bought a new queen inner spring mattress shortly after I moved  back  to St. Louis from Memphis.  A year or so ago I bought a three inch mattress topper made of memory foam that was touted as being wonderful for back issues.  It worked superbly for me, not so much for Señora.  Plus it had the additional detriment of making it hard to turn over during the night.

So we started Continue reading “Life is not ALL bad”

Download as PDF

Don’t wear them short socks…

I was in Columbia, Illinois at the first convenience store you encounter when you cross the Mississippi River into Illinois.  I stop there as it is cheaper to buy a soft drink for my round of golf there instead of at the golf course.

As I was standing in line a fellow came up behind me toting a 12 pack of Busch Light and talking on his cell phone a little loud, which is what caused me to notice him, although there was nothing unusual these days in this.

As I stood in line I heard him say, “I don’t wear those short socks.”

“Well,” I thought, “that is a bit of a strange conversation.”

Then he went on, “They don’t hide my ankle holster.”

My new best friend…not.

The rest of the conversation was about preferred grips on pistols.

In Missouri it is a free-for-all on concealed carried, and you do not even need a permit.  Illinois takes a totally different approach.  So either he was a Missouri resident and/or an Illinois scofflaw.

My personal opinion is that this country has a terminal illness when it comes to guns. Hunting is one thing, but I have a hard time imagining why anyone would need a pistol, and especially why they would  need to carry one concealed.

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley

Download as PDF

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #7,799

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

Surely I am not the only male to look over at his woman’s side of the bathroom and be totally mystified.

Some of the devices, for all the world, look like they were dreamed up by a Catholic priest during the Spanish Inquisition.  And then there are the lotions and potions… most of which appear to have come directly from the laboratory of a medieval alchemist.

It always seems to me that it is a lot of work being a woman.

Just saying.

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley

Download as PDF