Fisticuffs

discursive \dis-KUR-siv\, adjective: 1. Passing from one topic to another; ranging over a wide field; digressive; rambling. 2. Utilizing, marked by, or based on analytical reasoning -- contrasted with intuitive.

At the supper table that night, Cordelia noted the discursive conversation. It seemed as though her parents were eager to dismiss the events of that afternoon. Typical, she scoffed, as they usually glossed over anything improper and interesting.

I'll be baaaack. Kevin Nealon.

Due to finals, Christmas break, and dial-up internet, the blog will return by the new year for all-new wordy goodness! Sorry for the inconvenience.

Edit: This doesn't mean I'm stopping completely (I mean, it's not like a member of the WGA--yet), it just means posts will be sporatic. They might even be more daily, since the break means I still have lots of free time.

That is all.

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

artifice \AR-tuh-fis\, noun: 1. Cleverness or skill; ingenuity; inventiveness. 2. An ingenious or artful device or expedient. 3. An artful trick or stratagem. 4. Trickery; craftiness; insincere or deceptive behavior.

Grant slipped past his manager by ducking behind the fake Christmas tree display, narrowly dodging the task of getting stuck at "Returns & Exchanges" for the rest of his shift. He wiped his forehead and peeked out the plastic Douglas Fir branches, proud of his artifice.

It is a truth universally acknowledged...

I don't really need a quiz to tell me that I'm Elizabeth B. (or should I say E. Bennet?) but here is the empirical evidence to prove it, since we all know 'net quizzes don't lie.

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of silliness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

Are we clear? Crystal.

perspicacity \pur-spuh-KAS-uh-tee\, noun: Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment.

Sylvia held the manuscript in her hands when perspicacity dawned. She just hoped it wouldn't be too late.

(A/N: Yeah, that one was kind of lame. But you know what? It's finals and I'm just the tiniest bit blitzed and I should really stop procrastinating...)

And don't call me surly!

surly \SUR-lee\, adjective: 1. Ill-humored; churlish in manner or mood; sullen and gruff. 2. Menacing or threatening in appearance, as of weather conditions; ominous.

The mercenary's manner had been surly, but he would be a useful resource to have when passing through the skeevy coastal town of Iveran.

And because I missed yesterday, here's what I had planned. It's best read in the voice of Jim Dale.

deracinate \dee-RAS-uh-nayt\, transitive verb: 1. To pluck up by the roots; to uproot. 2. To displace from one's native or accustomed environment.

Narrator, Pushing Daisies: Just as Chuck was deracinated from her aunt's home in Couer d'Couer, Digby dug up the flower garden with an appropriately dogmatic force. Two feet below was a hand and two feet lower was the body destined to be the pie maker-turned-detective's next case.

Gossip Girl

tarradiddle \tair-uh-DID-uhl\, noun:
1. A petty falsehood; a fib.2. Pretentious nonsense.

Cecilia wound her way through the orchard to Mme. Aveline's manor. She absolutely had to share the latest bit of town tarradiddle heard at church the day before.

'Ello, guv'nor!

soporific \sop-uh-RIF-ik; soh-puh-\, adjective: 1. Causing sleep; tending to cause sleep. 2. Of, relating to, or characterized by sleepiness or lethargy.

"Unfortunately, gang, I'm off to go talk to Chambers," grumbled Inspector Rawlins to his crew. "Honestly, that man is as soporific as the narcotic that killed the govenor."