Word of the Day: lilliputian(lil\i\PYOO\shuhn);extremely small; diminutive; tiny
Weight: 206 pounds
Goal: lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose: 74 pounds
Waist Size: 44 inchesRowing Duration: 96 minutes, three (3) seconds
Well here it is, the very first day of December, which means, there are now only twenty-four (24) days left until Santa Claus comes down that chimney to wish everyone a very "Merry Christmas!" Yes, Christmas Day will soon be upon us, and I, for one, can't wait, Christmas is my favourite holiday, oh hush up, as if you never repeated yourself!
Don't you love the word of the day, if I recall correctly, and I do have an amazing sense of recall, the word stems from Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," the country that Gulliver visited was Lilliput, and the people in Lilliput were called Lilliputians, you knew that, didn't you?I am so happy that I was blessed with having so many siblings, because of their help and encouragement, I learned to read at an early age and even more fortunate was my interest in reading the classics! I loved them all from "Ivanhoe" to "The Scarlett Letter," I had them read by ten years of age, yes, ten years of age! Even earlier, I remember being somewhat confused with my classmates in Miss Jackson's class of Grade One, I couldn't understand why all the other children had so much difficulty with reading, after all I had been reading "books" for about two years already, and the material they were asking us to read was, well, elementary.
Zac and I are greatly concerned about Zac's Aunt Effie. Aunt Effie hurt her leg about six weeks ago, and ever since, she has had nothing but a plethora of problems surrounding this injury. The pain is unbearable, but codeine "helps," and the infection does not seem to be under control yet, even though Aunt Effie has been taking antibiodics for awhile now.
Aunt Effie, and Zac, are afraid that she could lose her leg, and I have been praying that God will take care of Aunt Effie's appendage, I feel Aunt Effie's great age of ninety-six (96) years is a challenge enough without the added challenge and difficulties surrounding an amputated leg! I really hope that it doesn't come down to that!eight days ago and ever since I have been sucking on them like they're going out of style. Really, I'm hooked on the stuff
True Confession Time, yet again. I am now hooked on the Tootsie-Roll flavoured lollipops. I had one of the suckers from my kids halloween stash about eight days ago and ever since, well, I'm addicted to the stuff. I suck about four of them a day! I especially like the cherry flavour lollipop!
I bet there are some of you out there that are hoping I'll forget about my weekly grammar lesson(?), I won't, as I believe a little bit of grammar is good for all of us, when the time comes for me to stop learning, I hope that means I'm dead! I need to keep on learning, and growing, and learning, and growing, and ...
This week's lesson is a small one, yet important. One of you, and I won't say who, as that wouldn't be nice, well one of you wanted me to define a participle, and I'd like to thank you Ruthie for giving me this week's grammar lesson.
What is a participle? And, don't worry, today we are not going to get into the dangling participles, that's the good stuff that's coming, today, we're keeping things as simply as we possibly can.
A participle is a lexical item, derived from a verb, that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. The adjectival form of the term participle is participial. (I do so think I'm cute!)
Examples of Participle because by example, we learn:
In English, participles may be used as adjectives, and in nonfinite forms of verbs.
Here are some examples of participles, the participles are italicized and bolded:
'He ate a boiled egg for breakfast.'
'I like to see smiling faces.'
'You are singing a good song.'
'I have exercised.'
'He has eaten dinner already.'
'She got a bad sunburn while playing in the pool.'
I think you get the general idea, and if you don't, well, you may want to change your attention and interest to basket weaving, whew, aren't I in a mood?, MEOW!
Today is the birthday of one of my biggest heroes, so today my hat goes off to the memory of Mr. Mark Twain.
Mark Twain was an American author who, as a humourist, narrator, and social observer, is unsurpassed in American literature. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens (such a distinguished name, don't you think?), Twain grew up in a port town on the Mississippi River and eventually became a river pilot. Mark Twain first won fame with the comic masterpiec "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Isn't that a fabulous title?, it truly ranks as one of my favourites. Mark Twain's 1885 novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has been called the first modern Americal novel.
Twain was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
Mark Twain was very popular, and his keen wit and incisive satire earned praise from critics and peers. Upon his death he was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age", and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature".
When Twain was four, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a port town on the Mississippi River that served as the inspiration for the fictional town of St. Petersburg in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." At that time, Missouri was a slave state, and young Twain became familiar with the institution of slavery, a theme he would later explore in his writing.
Mark Twain made a substantial amount of money through his writing, but he squandered much of it in bad investments, mostly in new inventions, particularly the Paige typesetting machine. It was a beautifully engineered mechanical marvel that amazed viewers when it worked, but was prone to breakdowns. Twain spent $300,000 (equal to $7,518,462 today) on it between 1880 and 1894, but before it could be perfected, it was made obsolete by the Linotype. Mark Twain lost not only the bulk of his book profits but also a large portion of the inheritance of his wife.
Mark Twain was in demand as a featured speaker, and appeared before many men's clubs, including the White Friars, the Vagabonds, the Authors, the Monday Evening Club of Hartford, and the Beefsteak Club. Mark Twain was made an honorary member of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco. In the late 1890s, he spoke to the Savage Club in London and was elected honorary member. When told that only three men had been so honored, including the Prince of Wales, he replied "Well, it must make the Prince feel mighty fine."
Mark Twain passed through a period of deep depression, which began in 1896 when his daughter Susy died of meningitis. Olivia's death in 1904 and Jean's on December 24, 1909, deepened his gloom. On May 20, 1909, Mark Twain's close friend Henry Rogers died suddenly.
Mark Twain is quoted as saying: I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'
Mark Twain's prediction was accurate, Twain died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, in Redding, Connecticut, one day after the comet's closest approach to Earth.
Upon hearing of Twain's death, President William Howard Taft said:
"Mark Twain gave pleasure, real intellectual enjoyment, to millions, and his works will continue to give such pleasure to millions yet to come... His humour was American, but he was nearly as much appreciated by Englishmen and people of other countries as by his own countrymen. Mark Twain has made an enduring part of American literature." I think so too!
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Art
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