The Word of the Day for February 05, 2009 is:

girandole • \JEER-un-dohl\ • noun

1 : a radiating and showy composition (as a cluster of skyrockets fired together)

*2 : an ornamental branched candlestick

3 : a pendant earring usually with three ornaments hanging from a central piece

Example Sentence:

"I sat in my usual nook, and looked at him with the light of the girandoles on the mantelpiece beaming full over him…." (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre)

Did you know?

The earliest uses of "girandole" in English, in the 17th century, referred to a kind of firework or to something, such as a fountain, with a radiating pattern like that of a firework. Such a pattern is reflected in the word’s etymology: "girandole" can be traced back, by way of French and Italian, to the Latin word "gyrus," meaning "gyre" or "a circular or spiral motion or form." By the 18th century "girandole" was being used for a branched candlestick, perhaps due to its resemblance to the firework. The word’s third sense, referring to a kind of earring, did not appear in English until the 19th century.

Mileage Tax

The state of Minnesota might replace the gas tax with a new tax on the miles you drive. At first glance this seems to me like a good idea. Gas tax revenues are running about 3 to 5 percent below expectations, despite gas tax increases since last April totaling 5.5 cents per gallon. It appears that the gas tax won't be an adequate source of revenue so the state needs to come up with another way of funding the transportation systems.

A mileage tax recognizes that future vehicles may use less gas than today's but still have an impact on roads and bridges. Heavier vehicles would pay a higher tax. A mileage tax would likely be assessed using satellite tracking, in addition to tracking mileage the system would involve communication of safety information between vehicles and roadside devices. Global-positioning technology to track individual drivers; this is where the idea gets a little scary. I'm not a fan of big brother watching me.

I drive a small, fuel efficient vehicle and I do not drive a lot of miles in a year so for me I would probably come out better than most on this type of tax, but the idea of a satellite tracking me, I'm not sure I like that.

Octuplets'

Something about this story disturbs me, a 33-year-old single mother, already had six children ages 2 to 7 when she gave birth to her octuplets (8 babies) on January 26, 2009. Nadya Suleman gave birth to six boys and two girls a week ago. How did this happen? Humans are not supposed to have litters. The woman had embryos implanted, who in their right mind would do such a thing? And what doctor would go along with it? There is something wrong here. She already has 6 children, how on earth can she take care of them? She obviously doesn't work for a living, there is no way you could hold down a job and have that many babies, you would be pregnant all the time.

Today I read that this woman is being "deluged" with deals, book deals, TV shows and other business proposals and to top it all off she has hired a spokeswoman! WTF? OK, did someone forget to tell her that there is a problem with the economy? I try very hard not to judge people, except politicians and religious leader, but sometimes the things people do just amaze me. I am just blown away by this story. Who is going to care for these little babies, there are 8 of them! Plus the other 6 at home. Fourteen children and she is only 33-years-old. I can tell this is going to be one of those stories I'm going to get obsessed with it.

Lesbian Paradise

THEY called it a lesbian paradise, the pioneering women who made their way to St. Augustine, Fla., in the 1970s to live together in cottages on the beach. Finding one another in the fever of the gay rights and women’s liberation movements, they built a matriarchal community, where no men were allowed.

Lesbian Separatists, women or maybe I should say womyn who choose to live in a separate lesbian world. It was the summer of 1988 the first time I heard of lesbian separatists; I was at a womyn's music festival in Michigan. I learned so much that week, what an eye opener. I believe they still have the festival every summer and I recommend it to anyone who has not experienced it. There's nothing like an entire week of naked womyn, music, food, fun and laughter.

There are about 100 below-the-radar lesbian communities in North America, known as womyn's lands. I don't think, no I know I couldn't live that lifestyle. Being separated from the rest of the world is just not my thing. Now as a retirement place it does not sound bad, a plot of land in the woods, I could handle that. It seems these types of places are not surviving though so I don't think it will an option when I can finally retire.

Sometimes I Just Don't Understand...

One minute my life is moving along nice and easy and the next minute I have people getting all pissy with me. In the last week I have had people get angry with me for things I have absolutely no control over. Now how do you defend yourself when you have no control of the actions of others. I'm not one to defend myself anyway, I figure if someone is mad at me then they need to deal with their feelings and we can resolve the issue when they are no longer angry. I do not like being blamed for things I did not do and for things other people are responsible for. And then instead of talking to me, they just send nastygrams, not even a phone call. Do NOT send me an email if you are upset with something you think I have done, you need to at least pick up the phone. Or better yet talk to me face to face. Passive aggressive behavior drives me nuts! If you cannot say something to my face then do not send it in an email, do not say it behind my back, just keep it to yourself and deal with your feelings. 

Anger to me is just a cover up for other feelings, find out what they are and handle it. Whew, I guess I'm a little pissy now. I need to let it go and allow them to deal with their issues. 

Steelers just won the SuperBowl! YAY, I bet Marlayna is a happy camper, I'll have to give her a call. Val's going to be bumming, she put money on Arizona. I'm happy they won, I like Pittsburgh. I did not watch much of the game and I spent a considerable amount of time getting set up for it. I hauled the TV and the cozy chair upstairs so I could be comfortable. My big TV is in the basement and it's too cold down there. I should probably have ridden my bike for a while and watched it that way but Sunday's are my relaxation day and I wouldn't want to mess up my system by exercising out of order ;) I drank way too much beer this weekend so I've probably gained back the three pounds I just lost. 

I have another busy week ahead of me so I am off to bed early tonight.