Happy Friday Friends & Digital Neighbors! Another week is looking complete in the rear view mirror. A final look this week at the Dictionary of the Strange, Curious & Lovely: English's Most Beautiful & Interesting Words.
Agerasia -Looking noticeably younger than one actually is. Many people seem to have the benefit of looking noticeably younger than they are. I once had a baby-face all through my 20's & 30's, once the beard started turning white such thoughts ceased. I think a youthful demeanor also helps, once can act very old or young at heart and that seems to affect their overall receptiveness by others as being thought younger. On youthful trait to strive to maintain is a curious and learning mind. I would say "open mind" but that is such a loaded phrase when used toward others that is often is freighted with negativity. As in, "I wish you were more open minded." That usually means "I wish you were smart enough to agree with me." Less complicated to say one possesses a curious and learning mind.
Schlockmeister - A merchant of inferior products; seller of cheap goods I grew up in a small town of less than two thousand residents. We had pretty much everything we needed in town except a clothing store. There was a small store with some basics, but not a lot of variety. In the mid 70'sd Wal-Mart came into the area in the neighboring town, everyone complained about it ruining another small town, and yet Wal-Mart was always busy. Many complained that they made cheap crap, but that was debatable. Now people say that about Amazon.
BONUS WORD!!!!😜
Tufthunter - A Hanger-on to noble persons, or persons of quality, especially in English Universities; a toady. Tufthunters and name droppers, can't say I have much use for either. I am glad people know people of fame, notoriety or popular reputation, but in the end it just doesn't matter to me. The last person I really got giddy over was the wrestler, Harley Race. It was a hoot meeting a childhood legend in the world of male-soap operas - Professional Wrestling. While giddy about meeting him, I don't make it a point to name drop him to others, well, except now I guess. It was not the greatest moment in my life, but it was a fun one. Besides, if you aren't in the weird world of wrestling, Harley Race is only a name. Happy Friday my friends!
Meanwhile somewhere in Vermont ⛷️
Today marks the three hundred and thirtieth birthday of the Frenchman François-Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire (1694-1778).
Born into a bourgeois family during the reign of Louis XIV, the “Sun King” (r. 1643-1715), Voltaire suffered tragedy at a young age when his mother died. Never close with his father or brother, Voltaire exhibited a rebellious attitude toward authority from his youth. His brilliant mind was fostered in the care of the Society of Jesus, who introduced him to the joys of literature and theater. Despite his later criticisms against the Church, Voltaire, throughout his life, fondly recalled his dedicated Jesuit teachers.
Although he spent time as a civil servant in the French embassy to the Hague, Voltaire’s main love was writing—an endeavor where he excelled in various genres, including poetry, which led to his appointment as the royal court poet for King Louis XV. Widely recognized as one of the greatest French writers, and even hyperbolically referred to by ...
Padre - Tom Miller invites you to a Coffee Talk, Speakeasies, Schmoozes, Tea Times, Afterhours and other gatherings.
https://teams.live.com/meet/93792382189049?p=DiBHsYfuECPgDrG7vO
2026 Coffee Talk with the ADD Irregulars
Thursday, January 1, 2026
6:00 AM - 8:00 AM (CST)
Occurs every day starting 1/1 until 12/31/2027
Coffee Talk - Daily beginning at 6:00 AM Central Time Zone - USA
White Pilled Wednesday - A break from the heaviness of news and current events to focus upon things more personal & positive for the first hour of Coffee Talk.
Afternoon Chats - Most Tuesday, Friday & Sundays 2:00 PM Central
Other chats as posted in the community.
The Beautiful
Said the Disciple to the Lover, “Sir, before I left the world I heard certain men who were held in high esteem and thought to know the will of the Beloved say that those who loved the Beautiful did not love the Beloved but loved idols, yet in the Garden of the Beloved we are ever striving to create beauty for the pleasure of the Beloved. Were they then speaking the truth?”
The Lover answered, “Those who said this had never glimpsed the form of the Beloved nor ever truly sought Him, for all beauty is but the reflection of the beauty of the Beloved, although seen very dimly as in a dark and faulty mirror, even as all goodness is a dim reflection of the goodness of the Beloved. So it is that those who love beauty and goodness recognize dimly in them the form of the Beloved and though often in ignorance those who are seeking the Beautiful and the Good are seeking after the Beloved.”
