Word #5

Word: lycanthropic (adjective)

Original sentence: "Still the only hit song in history ever to endorse lycanthropic sex." (From the book Talking to Girls About Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield.)

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Definition: (for Lycanthropy - noun) "1. a delusion that one has become a wolf. 2. the assumption of the form and characteristics of a wolf held to be possible by witchcraft and magic."

My sentence: After noticing over a period of several months that my wife would wake up late at night and howl outside every time there was a full moon, it suddenly dawned on me that she was suffering from a bad case of lycanthropy.

News Story: Beer Truck

Commuters on the Bay Bridge faced mass congestion yesterday afternoon after a truck caught fire, the result of an undetected blown out tire, according to California Highway Patrol (CHP).

The fire broke out shortly after 1 p.m. after the driver of the refrigerator truck carrying Coors beer failed to notice the tire on the tractor part of the truck’s metal rim scraping against the roadway, said CHP Officer Shawn Chase. The driver escaped unhurt, as did his fellow commuters on the bridge.

All eastbound traffic was stopped for 45 minutes as firefighters attended to the blaze, while parts of the upper westbound deck were also closed. There was also significant disruption on many Bay Area freeways, exacerbated by stranded drivers on the bridge leaving their vehicles to get a closer look at the incident.

The fire was eventually extinguished shortly after 2 p.m., at which point all westbound and some eastbound lanes reopened. Despite CHP claims that the truck would be cleared by 4 p.m., it wasn’t until almost 6 p.m. that the wreckage was finally removed.

Word #4

Word: sinewy (adjective)

Original Sentence: "Grossman is a slight man, narrow through the waist and hips, with an erect posture ans sinewy arms--he's fit from daily early-morning walks and yoga." (from The New Yorker online edition, "Israeli David Grossman's 'To the End of the Land.'" http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/09/27/100927fa_fact_packer?currentPage=3)

Merriam-Webster dictionary definition: "1 : full of sinews: as:  a:  tough, stringy. b: strong
2: marked by the strength of sinews."

My sentence: "Josh had a very sinewy physique and so people rarely tried to start fights with him."

Word #3

Word: orneriness (noun)

Original Sentence:  "As with so many things, he willed the court into being through sheer orneriness and energy."

Merriam-Webster dictionary definition: (for "ornery") "having an irritable disposition : cantankerous"

My sentence: "My orneriness sometimes comes to the fore if I have not eaten for a long time."

Blog 3 - A Fly on the Wall

The room feels vacant and vacuous; an ironic sense given that the reason that I remain here is that the smaller room off to the side is currently occupied. I sit in the doctor’s waiting room surrounded by high, plain, bright yellow walls. The walls and indeed the rest of the room are strangely clean and stringently organized. The space and feel of the room strikes me more of a designer handbag store.

It is certainly more palatable than the majority of hospitals or surgeries I have frequented. There lacks that familiar, unsettling smell; a scent that acts as a constant reminder that you are in the presence of the sick and that you have been condemned as one of them.

Yet, there is something uneasy about the room. A slightly-beyond middle-aged woman sits surrounded by a white desk off to my left. She flickers knowingly through patient’s files and when the phone rings answers with a monotone, but not unfriendly, greeting. There is something very British about her phone manner. It is polite, but to the point. In the U.S., I recall, a receptionist would be much more uplifting. Even though I realize that the greetings I recollect were likely down to some laborious customer relations training, it evokes a sense of yearning for the cheery Californian manner.

Perhaps it is this all-too-familiar woman that disturbs me: she is a reminder of where I am, and where I am not.

Word #2

Word: Pall

Original sentence: "The remote city of Kashgar, at the crossroads of Central Asia, has existed under a pall since Chinese security forces tightened their grip here after deadly ethnic rioting in July 2009 in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang." (from New York Times online edition, "Celebrating Id al-Fitr Under Watchful Eyes of China"

Merriam-Webster dictionary definition: a) "Something that covers or conceals; especially: an overspreading element that produces an effect of gloom."
b) "A feeling of gloom."

My sentence: "Ever since my Dad walked out on us, the house has been under a perennial pall."

Word #1

Word: Mirthful

Original sentence: "Sustained mirthful laughter--the kind stimulated by, say, the Marx Brothers--has been shown to provide benefits that include improving blood flow, lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol and boosting the immune system." (source: Time magazine, September 13, 2010.)

Merriam-Webster dictionary definition: (for "mirth") "Gladness or gaiety as shown by or accompanied with laughter."
"Mirthful" is an adjective.

My sentence: "When Josh told me his latest one-liner, I burst into such an extreme bout of mirthful laughter that I almost fell of my chair."