Reading Vocab-o-log

• Assez de chinoiseries: enough of the European taste for Chinese or Chinese-inspired cultural products in French (?)
  
• Aux armes: to arms in French
• La Peregrina: The Pilgrim in Spanish (?)
  
• Maguey: 1. any of various fleshy-leaved agaves 2. any of several hard fibers derived from magueys; especially: cantala
• Vaterland: fatherland in German, used since the 12th century with the meaning "native country"
• Alfred Louis Charles de Musset: a French dramatist, poet, and novelist (December 11, 1810 - May 2, 1857)
• Dragoon: 1. a member of a European military unit formerly composed of heavily armed mounted troops 2. cavalryman
• Ferdinand Lassalle: a German jurist and socialist political activist. (April 11, 1825 - August 31, 1864)
• Indefatigable: incapable of being fatigued : untiring
• Nationalism: a term that refers to a doctrine or political movement that holds that a nation—usually defined in terms of ethnicity or culture—has the right to constitute an independent or autonomous political community based on a shared history and common destiny
• Socialism: a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community
• Feudalism: a general set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility of Europe during the Middle Ages, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs
• Otto von Bismarck: a Prussian and German statesman of the 19th century (April 1, 1815 - July 30, 1898)
• Pantheon: 1. a temple dedicated to all the gods 2. a building serving as the burial place of or containing memorials to the famous dead of a nation 3. the gods of a people; especially: the officially recognized gods 4. a group of illustrious or notable persons or things

Reading Vocab-o-log

• Diaphanous: 1. characterized by such fineness of texture as to permit seeing through 2. characterized by extreme delicacy of form : ethereal 3. insubstantial, vague
• Chinacos: ?? word not found ??
• Mierda: Spanish for shit
• Condottieri: 1. a leader of a band of mercenaries common in Europe between the 14th and 16th centuries; also: a member of such a band 2. a mercenary soldier
• Hacienda: 1. a large estate especially in a Spanish-speaking country : plantation 2. the main dwelling of a hacienda
• Mutti: mother in German (?)
• Nozze: marriage or wedding or maybe honeymoon in Italian (?)

Reading Vocab-o-log

• Santiago de Compostela: (also Saint James of Compostela) is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. The city's cathedral is the destination of the important medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St James (in Spanish the Camino de Santiago).
• Implacable: not capable of being appeased, significantly changed, or mitigated
• Marxism: see link
  
• Ostensibly: 1. in an ostensible (1. intended for display : open to view 2. being such in appearance : plausible rather than demonstrably true or real) manner 2. to all outward appearances
• Aquiline: 1. curving like an eagle's beak 2. of, relating to, or resembling an eagle
• Mestizo: person of mixed blood; specifically: a person of mixed European and American Indian ancestry
• Onanist: a person who practices masturbation

Reading Vocab-o-log

• Diego Rivera: a Mexican painter and muralist born in Guanajuato City, Guanajuato. Perhaps his finest surviving work in the United States are the 27 fresco panels entitled Detroit Industry on the walls of an inner court at the Detroit Institute of Arts that he painted in 1932. (December 8, 1886 - November 24, 1957)
• José Clemente Orozco: a Mexican social realist painter who specialized in bold murals. Orozco was fond of the theme of the human versus the mechanical. He was also a genre painter and lithographer. (November 23, 1883 - September 7, 1949)
• David Alfaro Siqueiros: a Mexican painter and muralist known for his social realism work. (December 29, 1896 - January 6, 1974)
• Sebastião Salgado: a Brazilian documentary photographer and photojournalist. (born February 8, 1944)
• Diane Arbus: an American photographer, noted for her portraits of people on the fringes of society. (March 14, 1923 - July 26, 1971)
• Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres: a French Neoclassical painter. Although he thought of himself as a painter of history, by the end of his life it was his portraits, both painted and drawn, that were recognized as his greatest legacy. (August 29, 1780 - January 14, 1867)
• "the interior torture of a Bacon" - don't know which artist Bacon this refers to.
• Presentiment: a feeling that something will or is about to happen : premonition
• Polyphemus: a character in Greek mythology, is a Cyclops, the one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa. Polyphemus plays a pivotal role in Homer's Odyssey.
• Leica: the name of several cameras produced by a German company of the same name.
• Nascent: coming or having recently come into existence
• Buenos Aires: the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port. It is located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata (also known as the River Plate), on the southeastern coast of the American continent.
• Río: the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". OR Río de Janeiro: a major city in southeastern Brazil and the capital of the state of Río de Janeiro. The city was once the capital of Brazil and of the Portuguese Empire. Commonly known as just Río, the city is also nicknamed A Cidade Maravilhosa - "The Marvelous City".
• Caracas: the capital and largest city of Venezuela. It is located in the north of the country, following the contours of a narrow mountain valley located on the Venezuelan coastal range (Cordillera de la Costa). The valley is close to the Caribbean Sea, separated from the coast by a steep mountain range (Cerro Ávila); to the south lies further hills and mountains.
• Lima: the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers; on a coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It forms a contiguous urban area with the seaport of Callao.
• Bogotá: officially named Bogotá, D.C. (D.C. for "Distrito Capital"), also called Santa Fe de Bogotá, is the capital of Colombia as well as the largest and by far the most populous city in the country.
• Santiago: officially Santiago de Chile, is the capital of the Chile and its largest city when viewed as a conurbation (Greater Santiago). It is situated in the country's central valley.
• Pompier OR L'art pompier: literally "Fireman Art", is a derisory late nineteenth century French term for large "official" academic art paintings of the time, especially historical or allegorical ones. It derives from the fancy helmets, with horse-hair tails, worn by French firemen - now only for parades. Pompier art was seen by those who used the term as the epitome of the values of the bourgeoisie, and as insincere and overblown.
• Gladiolas OR Gladiolus: a genus of flowering plants in the iris family (Iridaceae). Sometimes called the sword lily, the most widely-used English common name for these plants is simply gladiolus (plural gladioli or gladioluses).

Reading Vocab-o-log

Pretty self-explanatory, huh? And, since this blog is somewhat literary in nature, I thought I'd put it here. Words I flat out don't know, words whose meaning I think I grasp from context, words I think I know the meaning of, but not exactly. And, also, words or phrases I want to learn more about. Such as people, places, foreign words, historical or political references, etc.

Yourself

Week 2 -- 13 July 2007

I find describing myself to others hard, even thought I know a lot about me. I'm sure many others do, too. I dislike the question, "Tell me/us something about yourself?" You're put on the spot and frantically thinking for one or two things about yourself that will make you sounds like an interesting person to know or a good candidate for the job, school, or office of an organization.

A couple of weeks ago, we were talking about our looks, habits, and personalities in a forum I belong to. It was odd to think of and truthfully post my flaws in character. This is what I wrote.

"Gosh, this is actually turning out to be a tough question once I started thinking about it. Describing one's own personality. hmmm.

I am the good friend type to friends, family, and boyfriend. I'm always there to listen and help out. I'm bad at saying no to those close to me. Which can be a fault as sometimes I end up doing things and being places I'd rather not be. Like you, I smile and say hi to people I walk by. I will strike up conversations with strangers. I have a wide variety of interests and tend to want to learn everything. I am passionate towards life. I can be a bit of a perfectionist in my work and studies. My apartment can get messy at times. I worry a bit too much sometimes. Also, my areas of concentration/interest in grad school were oncology also and neurology. "

But, this is not the whole of who I am. I love art and music. I nearly always have the radio on at home and in the car (or a cd or my iPod). I love writing and reading. I'll read nearly any fiction. I love to travel and I love to learn. If I won millions of dollars in the lottery, I'd be a permanent student. I enjoy crocheting and crafts. I never miss an episode of my favorite soap, Days of our Lives. I want both children and a successful career and believe I can have both. My family and friends are everything to me. My mom is my hero and my best friend. This is still not the whole of who I am.

Zoo

Week 1 -- 6 July 2007

Phrases like "This place is a zoo" or "He/she lives in a zoo" come to mind before the idea of the place the zoo where animals are kept for people to see. I wonder how many other people wouldn't think of the place the zoo when given the word zoo and asked what came to mind first. I, for one, haven't been to the zoo since I was an elementary school-aged child.

My father, way back when he enjoyed having children, used to take my sister, Mary, and I to the local zoo in Orlando, FL several times a year. I remember the animals and the heat. There were some elephants, a few hippos, and several otters in a pool with cement islands. After visiting the Miami zoo, which had natural looking habitats, our local zoo's animals seemed too caged and uncomfortable. I don't remember the lions, tigers, or other big cats, if there were any. These are my favorite animals now. Oh yeah, I also oddly remember a machine that would made a plastic animal for you in front of you for a few coins. I don't even remember the last time I went to the zoo. My father must have stopped taking us as we grew older.

By high school, our lives were a zoo. Three kids and two parents in a modest-sized house. Friends were often over and relatives lived just around the corner. College and dorm life were, of course, zoo-like. Then on to adulthood with it's frantic, hectic zoo-like pace and volume. Is it any wonder that this is now the type of zoo I think of instead of the place I visited as a child where animals were kept?