Too Cute For Words...

 Happy St. Patrick's Day (late!)

Praying that your day is full of sunshine, green grass, tips of daffodils shooting out of the moist dirt, and other lovely reminders of the spring that's just around the corner! :-)

Because I am a Language Snob... ;-)

...I thought I would share a little something I looked up. ;-)  (Hopefully you won't get bored with it... there is a point at the end. ;-) ) (Definitions and quotations come from dictionary.com . )   

ep·ic

/ˈɛpɪk/ Show Spelle[ep-ik] 

–adjective Also, ep·i·cal.

1. noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style: Homer's Iliad is an epic poem.

2. resembling or suggesting such poetry: an epic novel on the founding of the country.

3. heroic; majestic; impressively great: the epic events of the war.

4. of unusually great size or extent: a crime wave of epic proportions.

–noun

5. an epic poem.

6. epic poetry.

7. any composition resembling an epic.

8. something worthy to form the subject of an epic: The defense of the Alamo is an American epic.

9. ( initial capital letter ) Also called Old Ionic. the Greek dialect represented in the Iliad  and the Odyssey,  apparently Aeolic modified by Ionic.

World English Dictionary

— n
1.	a long narrative poem recounting in elevated style the deeds of a legendary hero, esp one originating in oral folk tradition
2.	the genre of epic poetry
3.	any work of literature, film, etc, having heroic deeds for its subject matter or having other qualities associated with the epic: a Hollywood epic
4.	an episode in the lives of men in which heroic deeds are performed or attempted: the epic of Scott's expedition to the South Pole
— adj
5.	denoting, relating to, or characteristic of an epic or epics
6.	of heroic or impressive proportions: an epic voyage
[C16: from Latin epicus,  from Greek epikos,  from epos  speech, word, song]

epic definition

A long narrative poem written in elevated style, in which heroes of great historical or legendary importance perform valorous deeds. The setting is vast in scope, covering great nations, the world, or the universe, and the action is important to the history of a nation or people. The Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid are some great epics from world literature, and two great epics in English are Beowulf and Paradise Lost.

Note : Figuratively, any task of great magnitude may be called “epic,” as in an “epic feat” or an “epic undertaking.”

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(back to moi)  Okay.  Did you get all that?  Did you notice that not a single one of those definitions said "epic" means "cool" or "fun"?  :-P

Okay.  So don't say you had an epic time at your friend's house last night unless a ten-headed monster came and attacked your party and a dashing man of unknown origins burst in and, after a great battle across the whole town, eventually killed the monster and was crowned king... or mayor...and somebody wrote a long piece of poetry about it. (Or whatever.  Something like that.) (But definitely not playing volleyball and watching a fun movie.) ;-)

Sorry for the ramble. ;-D  I get so tired of hearing people use the word "epic" to mean cool or fun (just as I am even more tired of hearing people say "legit" to mean cool.  Look up the word legit/legitimate on dictionary.com too. ;-) )   "Epic" is such a huge word... it brings to mind a greatness and heroism too big for any other word.  I hate seeing it dragged into the host of other perfectly good words that now simply mean "excellent" or "good".    I know languages change over time, but really, we have enough words that mean "excellent" or "good", so let's enjoy using the other words the way they were meant to be used, okay? ;-)

*language snob bows and steps down from the podium* ;-)

Have a GOOD day, everyone!  Maybe take some time to take a break over coffee and a book and immerse yourself in a timeless epic. ;-)

:-D

I'm Back!!! and one of those fun questionairre thingys... ;-)

Hey everyone!
I guess I should say it the way most bloggers say it ("No, I'm not dead!") but that's too typical.  I'm not going to say "I've been busy" either because that's not really it either.  Well, I have been out of town, and last week I wasn't staying at a place with internet so I truly wasn't able to post then.... but besides that, it's not necessarily busyness but pre-occupied-ness that's been keeping me away from blogger.  There's a difference.  But enough of that.

Lynette Kraft is hosting a blog party on her blog.  I'm not exactly joining the blog party because I'm not really interested in the giveaway, but you know me; I can hardly resist questionairres. ;-)  Besides, you all need a post that says more than "Sorry I haven't been posting and this is why".  So here's the questionairre with my answers, just for fun. :-D

How would people describe your personality? (If they could only use ONE word.) Are they right?

Sweet (lots of people say that).  I'm not sure whether they're right or not.  I guess I am sweet when I'm around people, but not all the time.  (Amanda?  Bethany?  any thoughts?) :-P  But who knows, some people may think I'm snobby because I'm very quiet around people at first, and tend to be distant when something weighing heavily on my mind.  How would you describe my personality? :-P

What celebrity/celebrities would create a “Star-Struck” feeling if you saw them in real life?

 Ioan Gruffudd!!!  

(first one that came to mind.... ;-) ) (there are others too)

Who is your favorite blogger? Why?

I decline to answer this question, because I don't need to pick a favorite out of all the wonderful bloggers I know. :-)

What is your comfort food/drink?

Coffee... :-D

Be brave – tell us something very random and weird about yourself.

When I was little (five or six, maybe?) I had the most terrible habit of chewing on pencils and rulers.  Every once in a while, I find a pencil or a wooden ruler with teeth marks all over it, and I know who had a hold of that... ;-)

Do you have a strong desire to do something you’ve never done? What is it?

Two strong desires:  1) To publish one of my novels.  2) To travel to India (and possibly live there, with the purpose of sharing Christ with the Indian people...probably not as a traditional missionary though.)

Movies: Action, Drama, Romantic Comedy, Documentary, Comedy? What are your favorite genres?

Family films, if that's a genre... Disney animated films... Period dramas... action as long as it's not too graphic and makes allowances for girl viewers...

Books: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Romance, Biographies, True Stories, Self-Help, Devotional/Study? What are your favorite types of reading material?

Fiction, biographies, and devotional.

Music: Funk, Rock, Country, Jazz, Classical, Film Score, Blues, Classic Rock, Crooner, Alternative, Heavy Metal, Techno? What are your favorite types?

I love Celtic, film scores, and ... whatever that kind of music is that doesn't exactly have a name.  The Steve Pettit Evangelistic Team style music... a mix between hymns and...pop?  Yeah...whatever that is.  I also light Contemporary Christian (the more conservative, toned-down branch ;-) ) .  Oh, and Broadway and Disney songs. :-D

If you inherited a million dollars, what is the first thing you would do with your money?

Go to either England to study for my book, or India for a survey trip. ;-)  I think....maybe.

Name one weakness of yours (confession is good for the soul).
Disney...(Disney movies, Disney songs, Disney store...)  and American Girl... you didn't know that, did you ( :-P )  Oh, and buying things on a whim (like the 5 1/2 yards of gorgeous purple polyester shantung for my Amy Dorrit dress, the other day... ;-) ) (I only do that when I have money though. ;-) )


If you could live anywhere at all (and take all your loved ones with you), where would you go?
England or India

Strange Talent? Can you juggle basketballs, put your legs behind your head or perform some other strange feat?
Um... not that I can think of.  I can make really crazy faces though...like, really crazy... is that a talent?  More like a random fact....

What’s something you consider yourself to be good at? (Don’t worry, it’s not bragging, it’s acknowledging a God given gift).
Well, I could say I'm good at writing, but a writer should never say something like that... not because it's bragging, but because it could keep them from becoming a better writer than they already are. :-)  And sewing...


What is one of your favorite things to catch a whiff of? 
<3 apple blossoms <3


When you leave a social gathering, do you wish: You would have talked more or You would have talked less? 
I usually wish I'd talked less, even though I don't talk much in social gatherings anyway.

If money wasn’t a factor, what stores would you shop in?
The American Girl place.  The Disney store.  Kohls.  J C Penneys.  Definitely. ;-) 

What is your greatest fear or strange phobia?
Fire is, without question, my greatest fear.  Always has been, probably always will be.  I'm terrified of the woodstove, the furnace, bonfires, lightning, anything associated with fire, except those who can stop it.  



What is your greatest accomplishment?
I don't know.... I don't really feel like I have accomplished to much as yet... unless finishing a novel is considered a great accomplishment, though I've done it a couple times... maybe writing a 50,000 word novel in one month?

What are your favorite animals?
 Cats:  domestic, tigers, lions, snow leopards, etc.... I also love horses, long-haired dogs, and elephants. :-D



Are you a hopeless romantic?
Get ready for a complex answer. If, by "hopeless romantic", you mean always living in a dream world, then yes.  But I don't know...  I can't stand mush and sap, but I look a sweet, sincere, meaningful romance.  I don't mind if the couple doesn't kiss at the end of the movie.  I don't usually think too much of marrying, unless I like someone in particular (which is very hard to get me to do), or unless I'm thinking of practical things, like "They say single ladies tend to get kind of goofy when they get older, and I already am,  so if I don't get married, I'll become known as the Crazy Doll Lady when I'm old..."  (Okay, so that's not the only reason I would get married.  Like any girl, I long for someone to build my life alongside of and raise a family with and serve God together with and love with all my heart and be loved by... but getting married isn't the top priority of my life.)  But when I do think of getting married, I like to think it will be like in a storybook.  "I am determined that nothing but the very deepest love will induce me into matrimony"... :-P And like I said, I tend to live in a dream world and see things with rose-colored glasses.  So what do you think?  Am I a hopeless romantic or a hopeless non-romantic?


What movie or book character can you most relate to?
It varies according to what's happening in life at the moment.  Lately I've felt quite a bit like Molly Gibson from Wives and Daughters; lots of people confiding in me and relying on me, and me being in positions  in which I could get in trouble either way, and needing to be there for people and listen even if I don't agree with them about everything.  Other characters I can identify with in one way or another are Jo March, Bella Wilfer, Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Violet Parr, Eustace Scrubb, and Rapunzel... in one way or another. :-)