Monday, May 27, 2013


Epipremnum aureum is a species of flowering plant in the family Araceae, with a broad native Old World distribution.  Native range extends from Northern Australia through Malesia and Indochina into China, Japan and India.  The plant has a multitude of common names including Australian native monstera, centipede tongavine, devil's ivy, golden pothos, hunter's robe, ivy arum, money plant, silver vine, Solomon Islands ivy and taro vine.  It is sometimes mistakenly labeled as a Philodendron in plant stores.  E. aureum is an evergreen vine growing to 20 m (66 ft) tall, with stems up to 4 cm (2 in) in diameter, climbing by means of aerial roots which adhere to surfaces.  The leaves are alternate, heart-shaped, entire on juvenile plants, but irregularly pinnatifid on mature plants, up to 100 cm (39 in) long and 45 cm (18 in) broad (juvenile leaves much smaller, typically under 20 cm (8 in) long).  This plant produces trailing stems when it climbs up trees and these take root when they reach the ground and grow along it.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epipremnum_aureum 

There are two usual meanings of gallivant.  The first is 'to go about with members of the opposite sex':  second is 'to wander or roam about, seeking pleasure':  It is not always possible to distinguish these, and there can be other nuances, meaning something like 'to romp', that could perhaps be regarded as different senses.  The word gallivant is of uncertain origin.  It is first found in the early nineteenth century.  Most people regard it as an alteration of the verb gallant, also used as a verb in the sense 'to be a gallant or dandy; flirt', but the -iv- element remains unexplained.  One dictionary suggests that the element comes from the word levant 'to run away, especially to avoid paying a gambling debt', but this may be a coincidence.  

The phrase referring to a box in which valuables are stored is safe-deposit box, not safety-deposit box.  The latter is an eggcorn resulting from a mishearing of the former.  The mistake is understandable because the first two syllables of safe-deposit box sound like safety.  http://grammarist.com/usage/safe-deposit-box/

The original phrase was "daylight-saving time," and it is still generally agreed to be "saving," not "savings," time.  Remember the name by thinking that you are saving light, daylight, to be exact.  The words are not capitalized and whether to use a hyphen is a style choice.  http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/daylight-saving-time.aspx

The Book of Revelation, often simply known as Revelation or by a number of variants expanding upon its authorship or subject matter, is the final book of the New Testament and occupies a central part in Christian eschatology.  Written in Koine Greek, its title is derived from the first word of the text, apokalypsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation".  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation 


When the "Four Bikers of the Apocalypse" enter the Happy Porker Cafe, Black goes up to the counter.  "Four teas, please," he said. "One black.", p.148 

A grand jury is an arm of the Court which is empowered to conduct official proceedings to investigate potential criminal conduct and to determine whether criminal charges should be brought. The "grand jury" may compel the production of documents and may compel the sworn testimony of witnesses to appear before it.  Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing.  Grand juries perform both accusatory and investigatory functions. The investigatory functions of the grand jury include obtaining and reviewing documents and other evidence and hearing the sworn testimony of witnesses that appear before it.  The grand jury's accusatory function is to determine whether or not there is probable cause to believe that one or more persons committed a certain offense within the venue of the district court.  The "grand jury" in the United States is composed of 16 to 23 citizens.  A grand jury is so named because traditionally it has a greater number of jurors than a trial jury (also known as a petit jury or, in English usage the spelling can be petty jury, from the French for small).  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_jury  See also:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_juries_in_the_United_States  and http://definitions.uslegal.com/g/grand-jury/ 

Spell-check won’t help you if you don’t know through from threw.  If you can read in the 21st century, you own the world.  Because you learn to write from reading.  paraphrase from interview with Stephen King  May 26, 2013  http://www.parade.com/15671/kentucker/summers-best-books-starring-stephen-king/ 

Writing families
Stephen King, wife Tabitha, sons Owen and Joe (Hill).
Jonathan Kellerman, wife Faye, son Jesse.
See also:  Family Ties:  10 writers who were born to write  http://library.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/Family_Ties_Author_Offspring_story.pdf

May 22, 2013  Lydia Davis wins the Man Booker International Prize 2013 
"I was recently denied a writing prize because they said I was lazy." runs one of Lydia Davis's two-sentence short stories.  Well not any more. Davis has just been awarded the fifth Man Booker International Prize at an award ceremony at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  Her inventive, carefully-crafted and hard to categorise works saw off the challenge from nine other contenders from around the world.  The judges - Professor Sir Christopher Ricks, Elif Batuman, Aminatta Forna, Yiyun Li and Tim Parks - recognised that crafting spare, philosophical and original works, however short, is not for the lazy at all but takes time, skill and effort.  The Prize, worth £60,000, is awarded for an achievement in fiction on the world stage and Davis's achievements are writ large despite often using startlingly few words (some of her longer stories only stretch to two or three pages).  Her work has the brevity and precision of poetry. Sir Christopher Ricks, chairman of the judges, said her "writings fling their lithe arms wide to embrace many a kind.  Just how to categorise them?  They have been called stories but could equally be miniatures, anecdotes, essays, jokes, parables, fables, texts, aphorisms or even apophthegms, prayers or simply observations."  Davis then is not like any other writer and she follows, and contrasts with, the previous winners of the prize - Ismail Kadaré, Chinua Achebe, Alice Munro and Philip Roth.  Lydia Davis is also known for her work as a translator of French literature and philosophy, most notably of Marcel Proust and Gustave Flaubert.  Her translations led her to be named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. 

No comments: