Piya's Perspective

Tue, 01 Apr 2003 16:54:47 GMT

Yay! After a few weeks of inaccessability I'm finally able to start reading news and posting again.

Only new thing is my new cube at the new office building. My cube is in a corner with nobody across from me. This can be good and bad. Good is that I don't have to worry about people looking over my shoulder as I work, as there's no reason for people to come back here unless they need me. Bad is the possibility of noise from the breakroom and the men's bathroom - both of which are beyond the two walls I border. We'll see how this goes and I shall begin looking into some headphones.

Wed, 26 Feb 2003 18:06:56 GMT

To finally catch up with things, one last post. Unfortunately, not a happy one.

Yesterday, my mom e-mailed me to let me know that a good friend of my parents', my dad's workout buddy and a man I've known most of my life, had a stroke this past Sunday that affected the right side of his brain. I have no idea how bad of a stroke he had, but my dad apparently visited him last night and he was able to move his left hand and recognize people.

Wed, 26 Feb 2003 17:54:09 GMT

Well, Monday I finally went and checked out the Enso Center. After 3 years if talking about it, I'm finally getting back into martial arts. I spent a year in college studying Kuk Sool Won, but when I moved out here to Seattle, couldn't find the one black belt listed to continue. I recently decided I wanted to look into Hapkido, and after talking to a friend, I heard about the Enso Center and decided to check it out.

At Monday's class, I discovered there are 2 Kuk Sool Won black belts that moved out here about 8 months ago who are also studying Hapkido at the Enso Center. I was also happy to hear the Hapkido master highly suggesting I don't give up Kuk Sool Won - he not only stressed that I continue Kuk Sool, but had me show a couple of students anything I could remember (which wasn't much after doing nothing for 3 years), and started a video tape of the Kuk Sool founder demonstrating techniques.

The Hapkido class itself was very similar to the class style at college, so it was a very comfortable place to study, and everybody was friendly. With that said, I look forward to going back tonite. Part of the first class will be for black belt testing; and the second class is weapons. Should be interesting. It'll be good to get back into martial arts again...I've actually missed it. And, if we can generate enough interest, we might even start up a Kuk Sool Won group.

Wed, 26 Feb 2003 17:44:45 GMT

Busy day yesterday, so I'm catching up now...here are yesterday and today's words...

Word of the Day - Tuesday

ugsome (UG-suhm) adjective
Dreadful, loathsome.

From Middle English, from uggen, from Old Norse ugga (to fear). As in many typical stories where one child in a family becomes well-known while the other remains obscure, "ugly" and "ugsome" are two words derived from the same root -- one is an everyday word while the other remains unusual.

Word of the Day - Wednesday

gormless (GORM-lis) adjective, also gaumless
Dull or stupid.

From English dialectal gaum (attention or understanding), from Middle English gome, from Old Norse gaumr.

[A.Word.A.Day]

Mon, 24 Feb 2003 16:39:33 GMT

Word of the Day

scrofulous (SKROF-yuh-luhs) adjective

Of or pertaining to or affected with scrofula.
Morally corrupt.

From scrofula, a tuberculosis of the lymph glands, especially of the neck. The word scrofula derives from Late Latin scrofulae, plural of scrofula, diminutive of Latin scrofa (breeding sow), perhaps from the belief that breeding sows were subject to the disease. In olden times it was believed that a royal touch would cure the disease, which was also known as "king's evil". [A.Word.A.Day]

Fri, 21 Feb 2003 19:02:31 GMT

*sigh* One of the hard drives in our exchange server failed. We recently bought a new server that will take over when we move our offices, which would have made it so nobody would have ever noticed the hard drive failure. Unfortunately, that is not yet in place, so our e-mail is down (for over an hour now) and will be for at least another hour. And, of course, all the work I need to do is currently sitting in a few of my e-mails. This is turning into a very productive day...

Thu, 20 Feb 2003 18:09:10 GMT

Word of the Day

cockamamie (KOK-uh-may-mee) adjective, also cockamamy
Ridiculous; nonsensical

The origin of the term cockamamie is not confirmed. It's believed that
it's a corruption of decalcomania, the process of transferring a design
from a specially prepared paper to another surface. In the beginning, a
cockamamie was a fake tattoo, moistened with water and applied to the
wrist. How it took the sense of something pointless is uncertain. It's
perhaps been influenced by such terms as cock-and-bull or poppycock.

[A.Word.A.Day]

Wed, 19 Feb 2003 21:00:16 GMT

Word of the Day

indite (in-DYT) verb tr.
To write or to compose

From Middle English enditen, from Old French enditer, from Vulgar Latin indictare (to compose), from Latin indicere (to proclaim), from in- + dicere (to say).

Google for the term "was indited" and a few hundred citations show up where the writer clearly meant to use the word "indict". While that usage is incorrect, etymologically speaking, those writers are not too far off the mark. When someone is indicted, he literally has charges written against him. The word "indict" is simply a spelling variant of "indite" that acquired a distinct sense over time. Other words that derive from the same Latin root dicere (to say) are: dictionary, dictum, ditto, ditty, benediction, contradict, valediction, predict, verdict, and their many cousins.
-Anu

[A.Word.A.Day]

Wed, 19 Feb 2003 00:57:18 GMT

Got a bit behind, so it's time to play catch up with Word of the Day.

Friday: Rubicon (ROO-bi-kon) noun
A point of no return, one where an action taken commits a person irrevocably.

Contrary to popular belief, Caesar salad is not named after Julius Caesar. But today's term does have a connection to him. In 49 BCE, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a small river that formed the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. As he crossed the river into Italy, he exclaimed "iacta alea est" (the die is cast) knowing well that his action signified a declaration of war with Pompey. Today when an action marks a situation where there is no going back, we say the Rubicon has been crossed.

Monday: sobriquet (SOO-bri-kay) noun, also soubriquet
A fancy nickname or a humorous name.

From French sobriquet, from soubriquet (chuck under the chin). Probably from the fact that calling by a nickname affords one to cozy up to someone and tap under the chin.

Today: erudite (ER-yoo-dyt) adjective
Learned

From Middle English erudit, from Latin eruditus, from erudire (to instruct), from e- (ex-) + rudis (rude, untrained).

[A.Word.A.Day]