A quick thought on Roberto's blog

I was just reading Roberto's blog, and he mentioned a few thoughts on Turner and the capacity of the mind that sparked a thought for me. He talks about the mind as a creative device rather than a storage device, mentioning how perhaps rather than encompassing the entire universe in our minds, the creative universe of our mind actually devises infinite ways to play out the same stories--so in that sense we are not encompassing the seemingly infinite universe, but rather creating it. (I hope I'm interpreting that correctly Roberto)


Deviating slightly from Roberto's point, it struck me that maybe we ARE able to contain the entire universe in our minds, because what appears to us as infinite, is in fact just a few things played out in an interminable number of ways-- which we find mirrored in the evolving and limitless possibilities that exist within Shakespeare's plays. If we can capture those few ideas/situations/plots/whatever they are from which everything else originates, then we have essentially encompassed the universe.


By contemplating seemingly inconclusive questions like "what does one truly need?", we are in fact sloughing off layers of constructed meaning and importance that have accumulated over thousands of years, to uncover the elemental, the origins, the truth. If we begin internalizing questions like this, then we have already embarked on that not-so-hopelessly-impossible task of containing the entire universe in our minds.

Just a bunch of hogwash and hooey

I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but whenever I visit an online dictionary site I get ridiculously distracted by all links to 'words of the day' and 'word games' and 'word blogs'. I typically forget what I came to search for in the first place, and wind up taking some stupid quiz or playing with flashcards. I attribute this to both my nerdy and procrastinatory tendencies.  

In any case, I was on the Merriam-Webster website yesterday, and found the link to a list they made of 'Top 10 Rare and Amusing Insults'. Score. They're awesome, and reminiscent of my favorite insult in the exchange between Kent and Oswold..."whoreson cullionly barber-monger". I've listed them below, but I'll also give you the link, because they provide you with definitions, along with context and information about the words. Ahem...

Cockalorum
Lickspittle
Smellfungus
Snollygoster
Ninnyhammer
Mumpsimus
Milksop
Hobbledehoy
Pettifogger
Mooncalf

I think I might pick a fight just so I can try some of these out (though I can imagine it would end quickly with the other person walking away stunned and disgusted, possibly laughing, muttering something about "those weirdo English majors" under their breath).

There are plenty more word lists on the site, and I clicked on one called 'User Submitted Words' and found it to basically be a bunch of neologisms that people have thought up and submitted. It's almost better than the list of insults, including words like 'drizzmal' and 'e-cquaitance'.

(there was also a list of phrases from Shakespeare, but I thought that one was silly, so don't bother yourself with it)

Fellow word nerds, enjoy!