Wordlog
malevolent / malignant
'Malevolent' is literally 'wishing ill', as a 'malevolent' look or tone of voice. 'Malignant', a more powerful word, means 'wishing to cause harm' as a 'malignant' delight in someone else's misfortunes. With reference to diseases it means 'causing death', as a 'malignant' growth -- contrasted with a 'benign' one which is not normally fatal.
(The Penguin Dictionary of the Confusibles)
compendium
does not mean vast and all-embracing but a succinct summary or abridgement. A compendium provides a complete summary in a brief way.
(The Penguin Dictionary for Writers and Editors)
gunki monogatari
Japanese narratives. Gunki monogatari, or "medieval war tales," dramatized the divisive civil wars that rocked Japan between 1156 and 1221 and resulted in imperial power struggles. Developed during the Kamakura (1185-1333) and Muromachi (1333-1568) periods of Japanese history, these tales institutionalized bravery, courage, and loyalty as a part of the Japanese national character, and formed the basis of many of the plots of Noh and Kabuki plays of traditional Japanese theater. The most highly regarded of these was the Heike monogatari, which dramatized the arrogance of the warring imperial-guard families of the 1180's and their eventual downfall. The medieval war tales contained a strong Buddhist subtext, in that they continually pointed out the ephemeral nature of human life and action.
(The Dictionary of Global Culture)
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Booklog
Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakam
The woman pushed on the baby's stomach and sucked its penis into her mouth; it was thinner than the American menthols she smoked and a bit slimy, like raw fish.
Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
In 1517, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, feeling great pity for the Indians who grew worn and lean in the drudging infernos of the Antillean gold mines, proposed to Emperor Charles V that Negroes be brought to the isles of the Caribbean, so that they might grow worn and lean in the drudging infernos of the Antillean gold mines.
Finished
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"Lunch Date"
posted Tuesday, June 18, 2002:
How is it possible that one kiss can scatter me like a dropped bag of marbles, send my thoughts on a tailspin into oblivion?
We met for lunch, his face a beacon flashing towards me like a ray of sun at midnight as I walk through the door. I want to throw my arms around him, breathe him in, but my hopes for some sort of physical sign of camaraderie or affection are dashed when we continue to the table without a hug or handshake or kiss. I'm starting to see that it's just his type.
It's hard to pay attention to what he's saying when I can't look directly at him for fear of being blinded by his sun (or being entranced so that I don't see anything but spots when I look away). We talk. I had a cup of coffee this morning to perk myself into conversation mode.
When he's nervous, he talks. When I'm nervous, I'm as silent as death. He talks. I listen.
There's an eyelash on his cheek that I envision myself brushing off with my thumb every time I glance at him. I look around and think he might be embarrassed with the few other couples in the restaurant. I brush it off in my mind, instead. On the way to the car, I envision a thousand different scenarios, each being contained by the wrought-iron gate of civility.
He drives me to my car and I assume he'll be embarrassed to kiss me in public, so I extend my arm to the side and aim my face for the side of his head and move in slightly but before the embrace is tightened, our lips meet. Shit, someone's going to see us! I pull back but he doesn't move and suddenly I'm overwhelmed by this sense of shamed regret as I notice that he was moving in for a kiss.
Everything falls away and I bumble around for something to make it up to him, anything that would show him that I wasn't pulling away as a sign of disinterest or embarrassment on my part. I was trying to respect your space. I grasp in the dark and find nothing, instead patting him on the arm before slipping out the door. Real good.
As I walk to my car, he pulls slowly past. My arm works on it's own accord and waves him down. Someone else has taken over and he walks my body up to Steve's jeep.
"Hey, uh... Do you want to maybe stay the night on Friday?"
"Yeah," he says, beaming a smile at me, "I'd like that." «
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