Good Morning Friends & Digital Neighbors! Happy Thursday Supporters, Members and Visitors! More fun from The Little Book of Lost Words by Joe Gillard. The book has some fantasy artwork too that you will miss in the digital copy.

Mumpsimus - A stubborn person who refuses to change their mind despite being proven wrong. Noun | muhmp-si-muhs | Sixteenth century. English.

Fun word, sad reality. The tribalization of the culture has pushed more and more people into the legion of marching mumpsimus (or would the plural be mumpsimi?) We had a golden age sometime back in the early days of google (may it's name be removed from our vocabulary) when one could do an internet search to end the time honored tradition of bullshitting others at bars, parties or other social gatherings. "I googled (may it's named be removed from our vocabulary) this and you're wrong!"

Facts - I think there are mathematical facts, scientific facts and historical facts and that is perhaps about it. The rest of life and its subjects & experiences are matters of preference. (I would add ethics to that list of three factual areas, but that is a much longer walk and discussion best left for some other post or perhaps site.) What do you prefer and why? How ought I (or we) to live and why? What can I strive for in life and why? What do I find honorable or abhorrent and why? I like facts, seems we can't even agree on the three areas where facts might be more evident. Not too many argue about mathematical disputes, but we sure have tainted science and history in the age of Google (may it's name be removed from our vocabulary.)

Mumpsimus - Recognizing them before you get sucked into a twitter-quagmire, an thread-smear or flame war is probably a better use of time. Arguments can be fun, roasting can be entertaining, mocking the ridiculous habits and attitudes of others is easy enough. I think it was more fun when it wasn't so personal and one could acknowledge when one had the curtain pulled back on ridiculous thinking or the illumination of a preference parading as a fact. These days when the curtain is beginning to drop, cries of racism, oppression, phobia and hate seem to be the safe space for those can't bridge the gap between a preference pretending to be a "fact".

Mumpismus -It used be Uncle Elmer who was the stubborn old fart never changing his mind, now they can be found everywhere, makes sure your own personal programming hasn't been compromised. On to Autumn - a photo from Hermann Missouri, a town about an hour down the road. Happy Thursday my friends!