Neatorama » Origin of Familiar Phrases

Interesting how some of these phrases came about like this one:

TOUCH AND GO

Meaning: A risky, precarious situation
Origin: “Dates back to the days of stagecoaches, whose drivers were often intensely competitive, seeking to charge past one another, on narrow roads, at grave danger to life and limb. If the vehicle’s wheels became entangled, both would be wrecked; if they were lucky, the wheels would only touch and the coaches could still go.” (From Loose Cannons and Red Herrings, by Robert Claiborne)

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Neatorama » Blog Archive » Origin of Familiar Phrases

Einstein on Buddhism

Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. -Albert Einstein

If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism. -Albert Einstein

A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'Universe'; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compasion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.
-Albert Einstein

Here's another quote from Einstein that I love. It is my signature at the bottom of my emails:

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. -Albert Einstein

From: http://thebuddhistblog.blogspot.com/2005/05/einstein-on-buddhism.html

Great quotes from a great man about a religion that fascinates me for it's tranquility and honesty. The blog looks interesting and I'll have to follow the rss feed now.

Motivation: Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret - Lifehacker

This seems like a great tip to try. Seems kinda cool that Seinfeld used it also.

Motivation: Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret - Lifehacker

Chiranjeevi: Indian Bruce Willis?

I don't know much about this guy but I ran across some of his YT goodness. Very funny videos.

Megastar on wikipedia: Chiranjeevi

Forget what you know about action movies and physics in general:

(Classic, I always wondered if this was possible)

 

(Wait for the end)

(Cheesy goodness)

It’s so bad that it’s good.

#6 - Auspicious

I use to think word had a negative connotation instead of the positive one:

auspicious \aw-SPISH-uhs\, adjective:
1. Giving promise of success, prosperity, or happiness; predicting good; as, "an auspicious beginning."
2. Prosperous; fortunate; as, "auspicious years."

But as Saturday fell on a very auspicious day in the Chinese calendar, every hotel in Nanjing was booked for weddings.
-- Seth Kaplan with Craig S. Smith, "Adventure the Chinese Way", New York Times, May 3, 2000

Dictionary.com/Word of the Day Archive/auspicious

#5 - Antebellum

From - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: 

Antebellum is a Latin word meaning before war (ante means before and bellum means war).

In United States history and historiography, the term antebellum is often used to refer to the period of increasing sectionalism leading to the American Civil War, instead of the term "pre-Civil War". In that context, the Antebellum Period is often considered to have begun with the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, although sometimes it is defined as extending back as early as 1812. Sometimes it is called the Old South. The time period after the civil war is called the postbellum or reconstruction era.

Antebellum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

#4 - Acumen

 

acumen \uh-KYOO-muhn; AK-yuh-muhn\, noun:
Quickness of perception or discernment; shrewdness shown by keen insight.

With Leo's rare combination of editorial acumen and business know-how, he might have become a publishing giant had he not permitted his drinking and gambling to hold him back.
-- Ellis Amburn, Subterranean Kerouac: The Hidden Life of Jack Kerouac

Source: Dictionary.com/Word of the Day Archive/acumen

#3 - Abstemious

I'm trying to be more abstemious myself.

abstemious \ab-STEE-mee-uhs\, adjective:
1. Sparing in eating and drinking; temperate; abstinent.
2. Sparingly used or consumed; used with temperance or moderation.
3. Marked by or spent in abstinence.

They were healthy and abstemious; their chief pleasure was reading and Oliver was a life member of the London Library.
-- Sylvia Townsend Warner, The Music at Long Verney

Source: Dictionary.com/Word of the Day Archive/abstemious

A CHOCOLATE MESS

I love chocolate. Good chocolate. I usually don't eat the Hershey's varieties so much but the following proposal has me concerned and pissed. It's ridiculous:

Link to Jim Hightower | A CHOCOLATE MESS

Anyway, they give links to voice your opinion and they are some of the clearest and easiest I've seen yet. I don't get to voice my concern too often but you can't mess with Chocolate. :-)

Technorati tags: Food

#2 - Abrogate

Dictionary.com has a great service called "Word of the day". I use to subscribe to it until I realized I would skip days. I ended up with about 200 days that I was behind. I still recommend it if you can keep up.

abrogate \AB-ruh-gayt\, transitive verb:
1. To annul or abolish by an authoritative act.
2. To put an end to; to do away with.

He also knows that failure to secure a clear unionist majority will leave the UUP [Ulster Unionist Party] leader vulnerable to those pressing for an assembly manifesto which would effectively threaten to abrogate the agreement.
-- "Politeness could not mask gulf within the UUP", Irish Times, May 20, 1998

Source: Dictionary.com/Word of the Day Archive/abrogate

Abjure - The First Word

I just noticed that it's been almost a month since I posted last.

So I think I'll try something new to keep my postings going. Everyday (theoretically), I will post the meanings to those 100 words list.

Most likely, I'll use Dictionary.com for the meanings. Without further ado, the first word is:

abjure

abjure \ab-JUR\, transitive verb:
1. To renounce under oath.
2. To renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to reject; repudiate.
3. To abstain from; to shun.

abjure, on his knees, his heretical views that the Earth moves around the Sun.
-- Alan Gurney, Below the Convergence

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know, And I barely know

I just saw this list of words that they say every parent should know. Since I'm having my first child here in a month, I thought it best to brush on this list since I know about 40 of those words.

Link to 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know published by Houghton Mifflin Company

Here are the words again: 

abjure abrogate abstemious acumen antebellum auspicious belie bellicose bowdlerize chicanery chromosome churlish circumlocution circumnavigate deciduous deleterious diffident enervate enfranchise epiphany equinox euro evanescent expurgate facetious fatuous feckless fiduciary filibuster gamete gauche gerrymander hegemony hemoglobin

homogeneous hubris hypotenuse impeach incognito incontrovertible inculcate infrastructure interpolate irony jejune kinetic kowtow laissez faire lexicon loquacious lugubrious metamorphosis mitosis moiety nanotechnology nihilism nomenclature nonsectarian notarize obsequious oligarchy omnipotent orthography oxidize parabola paradigm parameter

pecuniary photosynthesis plagiarize plasma polymer precipitous quasar quotidian recapitulate reciprocal reparation respiration sanguine soliloquy subjugate suffragist supercilious tautology taxonomy tectonic tempestuous thermodynamics totalitarian unctuous usurp vacuous vehement vortex winnow wrought xenophobe yeoman ziggurat

Top 5 Ways to Build a Wonderful Life

YAL (Yet another list). I like this one though.

It's simple and I agree with it. Especially #3, Educate Yourself. 

Link to Top 5 Ways to Build a Wonderful Life

Hot Dog Spot: The quest for the BEST Hot Dog in Los Angeles

So tonight my wife and I are at the usual dilemma of what to eat for dinner. Food channel was doing a "The secret life of" hot dogs series and, of course, we had to have hot dogs.

So I searched the web and found what I think is a pretty cool hot dog restaurant review site. These guys definitely love dogs and they have some good reviews of local Los Angeles hot dog restaurants.

So far, I've only had Pinks Hot Dog, which is a well-known local favorite that is has been featured in ads, movies and shows like Entourage. Unfortunately, they didn't rate it very high but I thought was pretty good.

I've yet to try the other spots but now I'm excited to. This will definitely hurt the so-called diet.

Hot Dog Spot: The quest for the BEST Hot Dog in Los Angeles

Team Hanselman and Diabetes Walk 2007

Scott Hanselman is great blogger. I've admired his work on ASP.NET and in general the tools, fonts, and all the geeky stuff he's gets excited about.

Help him out as he tries to raise money for a Diabetes Walk. It doesn't take much. I already donated.

 

Link to Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - Team Hanselman and Diabetes Walk 2007

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I love the kind of things that kids come up with.  

A first grade teacher collected well-known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb, and had them come up with the rest. Their insight may surprise you...

Better to be safe than ....Punch a 5th grader.
Strike while the.....Bug is close.
It's always darkest before....Daylight Savings time.
Never underestimate the power of.....Termites.
You can lead a horse to water but ....how?
Don't bite the hand that ....looks dirty.
No news is....impossible.
A miss is as good as a .....Mr.
You can't teach an old dog new....math.
If you lie down with dogs, you....stink in the morning.
Love all, trust .....me.
The pen is mightier than the....pigs.
An idle mind is....the best way to relax
Where there's smoke there's ....Pollution.
Happy the bride who.....gets all the presents.
A penny saved is....not much
Two's company, three's....the Musketeers.
Don't put off till tomorrow what....you put on to go to bed.
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and ....you have to blow your nose.
None are so blind as....Helen Keller.
Children should be seen and not....spanked or grounded.
If at first you don't succeed....get new batteries.
You get out of something what you....see pictured on the box
When the blind leadeth the blind....get out of the way.

Source: Villines Internet Humor Archive   Out of the Mouths of Babes

The Simple Dollar » Ten Financial Reasons To Turn Off Your Television - And Ten Things To Replace It With

This is an (yet another) article talking about turning off the TV and bettering your life. I generally agree with it and to be honest, I really do watch less television these days (or I try to).

However, I don't know if I can go cold turkey. I mean, I get caught up the storylines for Lost, The Shield, MotoGP, Formula 1, Lakers, etc.

I know its worth it but I think my lifestyle will change in the coming months anyway. Baby on the way. :-)

Link to The Simple Dollar » Ten Financial Reasons To Turn Off Your Television - And Ten Things To Replace It With

Freakonomics, the blog

If you liked the book then you'll probably like the blog too. I've said before that I loved the book. Even if you don't agree with it, it gets you thinking.

In fact, on a recent flight, I mentioned the book to a guy sitting next to me and he had an unusual reaction to it. He said that when he had recommended it to a black co-worker, that they had found it racist. I cannot speak for everyone but I read the book and I didn't see it that way.

Anyway, it was a great book and the blog is pretty good too:

http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/

Windows Live Writer Beta

This little windows app lets you create your blog entries in a nice little editor on the desktop rather in the browser.

I'm writing from the app now and I have to say its pretty cool.

I used it for another blog on a long message and it did great.

 You can download it here.

Go Speed Reader

I'll admit that I don't read as often I would like to. It just seems like there is too much crap to watch on TV or YouTube. The last book I read was Freakonmics. Great book. Gets you thinking even if you don't agree with it.

I'm a slow reader but this book took me two months to finish. However, I only really read it for about 20 minutes a day and the information is worth comprehending. But I'm still pretty slow to average reader.

So I was happy to discover this link to improve your reading speed with comprehension. The article was so interesting that I actually read it and not just file into my Del.icio.us links that I will probably never read.

Take a look at this interesting article on doubling your reading rate.

I'll report back on if it works for me but don't hold your breath. It will take me some time to master but I immediately liked what he said about the subvocalizing.

Btw, speaking of good books, this one looks good too:
Survival of the Sickest