I have always been confused about the correct spelling of gray/grey. I’ve seen both and yet have resisted doing the research to answer which one I should use. The resistance comes because I suspect gray is more correct, but I like grey better.
It turns out, either one is correct! Gray is more common in the U.S. and grey is more common pretty much everywhere else. (Wow, what a surprise.)
So, I think I’ll go with grey. Which one do you prefer?
For fun, I’m going to brazenly steal from another A to Z blogger, BuddhaKat, and post some of the fractals I’ve made over the years. Fractals are mathematical constructs, but there is software available that lets the user create visual fractal patterns without necessarily knowing anything about the math.
For the following fractals I used the program Ultra Fractal, and did some post-processing in Photoshop or ACDSee to crop and resize the original fractal images. Click on the images for larger sizes.
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I got up on the wrong side of bed this morning. That’s a strange figure of speech. I always get up on the same side of the bed. How can the same side be right one day and wrong the next?
Actually, that’s not so hard to imagine. In a multiple-choice test, (A) might be the right answer one time and wrong the next. But in the case of bed-get-upping, I think sometimes the “wrong” side of the bed is really any side of the bed.
So today (well, tomorrow, technically) is E-day. It’s about ennui*, and about exiting before the end. Or, to recap the letters to this point: Abort! Belay that order! Cease and Desist! End this madness!
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Decisions, decisions.
So many D-words, so little time. Since I had a hard time picking a particular word, I’ve decided to include more than one. I think it’s okay, though, since I’ll do none of them justice so it will all balance out.
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Dream-places. Once in awhile, I’ll have a dream about a place that feels so familiar, it seems it must be a real place I have lived in or visited. But after I wake up and search my memory, I come up blank. It’s as if the place in the dream is a place I remember, but the memory is false. Or, maybe my memory is really of a place I’ve only been in my dreams.
Perhaps it’s a form of déjà vu? Have you had this happen? Is there a term for it?
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Deuteragonist. I just had to include this word after posting about agonist on A-day. Earlier today, I came across deuteragonist in an article about the video game, “Bioshock Infinite.”
According to Wikipedia, “the deuteragonist is the second most important character, after the protagonist…” In literature, the deuteragonist is often a “sidekick” character, but could also be a second antagonist.
I might argue that the “second most important character” should be the antagonist, but maybe I’m getting overwhelmed with all the agonists.
Have you ever heard of deuteragonist before? (And can it be a real word if it gets flagged by spell-check?)
Cerulean.
This post is really just a celebration of the word itself. Pronounced \sə-ˈrü-lē-ən\, the word is smooth, silky and soft. Every vowel, every consonant plays its role, none hiding in silence.
It’s a beautiful word, too. It starts with the softly curved C in its soft voice and eases into the second, strongest syllable, before the tall L partitions the word into two halves. Say the word. It almost begs to be savored.
Of course the word has meaning as well. It’s a blue color not so different from azure, and is especially useful for painting skies. In fact, I only knew of the word thanks to Cerulean Blue acrylic paint.
To round out this short, random-ish post, here are a couple facts about cerulean.
According to Wikipedia, “The first recorded use of cerulean blue as a color name in English was in 1859.” Also, cerulean was nominated by Pantone in 1999 as the “color of the millennium.” Pretty cool.
Why because? Because! That’s why.
If why is the question, because is the answer. The two go together like…well, like antagonist and protagonist. Or something.
Because precedes the reason for or the cause of.
Because also happens to be the key word in a story-building exercise I learned in improv called “Because of that…” I’ve played two versions of the game. Both have to do with cause and effect, but where one goes forward in time, the other works backward.
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Today marks the beginning of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. During April, I will be posting on each letter of the alphabet. As with last year’s challenge, I have no particular theme. Maybe it’s the Random in me that prefers to let the day’s letter inspire a word that inspires the post.
It all started with the word antagonist. Given my interest in reading, writing, storytelling, and improv, I naturally thought of an antagonist’s role in a story. However, when I looked up the definition, I remembered from exercise physiology that antagonist also refers to a muscle that opposes the agonist or prime mover.
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The leader of The Resistance sent out the word: Now! And so it began.
Dancer’s own role was simple. He watched ESS headquarters through binoculars to make sure no one came or went who was not part of the Resistance. But after two hours of watching, Dancer’s eyes were glazing over. Who knew a revolution could be so boring?
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Within three days of the posting of the edicts, all those who were rebellious, contrary and those who simply loved gum too much had been dealt with by the ESS. All but one.
Blitzen loved gum. He loved the taste and the texture. He even loved how he could form it into shapes like silly putty or stick it to things to annoy others. So it was that on the afternoon of the third day, Blitzen made a conscious choice and walked down main street chewing the biggest wad of gum he could fit in his mouth.
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Donner looked himself over in the mirror, made miniscule adjustments to his clothing and brushed invisible specks of imperfection from his fur. He glanced at the clock and saw it was precisely one o’clock. Satisfied, he grabbed his walking cane and headed out for his daily stroll.
He loved these walks as much for the routine as for the exercise. But today, as soon as his walk took him to the main street, Donner knew something non-routine was going on.
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