Author: Rev. Joe Dirt

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Word of the Day -Pareidolia

  • Noun: Pareidolia
    1. the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern
      • The scientific explanation for some people is pareidolia, or the human ability to see shapes or make pictures out of randomness. Think of the Rorschach inkblot test. — Pamela Ferdinand
  • Synonyms:
      1. apophenia
  • Usage:
      1. “Welcome to a world where reality transforms into a vibrant stage of facial expressions and intriguing characters. In the course of my daily life, I stumbled upon a hidden treasure: pareidolias that have made me smile, ponder, and sometimes even burst into laughter.”
  • Encountered:
      1.  Scrolling through my Google news feed I saw the clickbait title from a Borepanda.com article: 30 Pareidolias That Have Made Me Smile, Ponder, And Sometimes Even Burst Into Laughter

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Matrimonial Log – Star Date 5783.257

“Matrimony… the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Casamiento Segundo, its until-death-do-us-part mission… to explore a strange new relationship… to seek out a new life and new adventures… to boldly go where no sane couple has gone before.”

Señora has a common female habit of removing her brassiere when she comes home.  She lays this unique feminine article of apparel in various places: on the sofa; on the coffee table; the kitchen table; occasionally casually tossing them in the direction of a chair in the family room. By spells her knocker lockers actually land on the chair rather than the floor. Not infrequently she forgets that they are there, or perhaps thinks she will take them upstairs in a bit.  A bit sometimes being in a day or two.

A while back I started taking her over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders and hanging then in various places:  one of the light fixtures over either the dining room table or kitchen table; the track lighting behind the couch; one of the decorative arms of the clock in the family room; etc.

Not uncommonly her double-barreled slingshot will stay there for a day or two. Occasionally they have been there for several days. Señora suddenly discovers her booby holster and becomes quite agitated with yours truly… much to my perverted delight.  She always asks how long her keeper-of-heavenly delights has been there.   So far no one has been in our house and asked why a bra is hanging from the chandler over the dining room table, or perhaps they were polite enough to ignore it.

Am I wrong? I hope not.  It is quite entertaining.

And so it goes.

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New Balance, The New “IN” Sneaker

Several months ago a group of us old fogeys went to a local comedy club here in St. Louis.  The reason we went was that the niece of one of the gentlemen in the group was the opening act. She was reasonably funny with many of her comedic stories stemming from the 13 years she spent teaching on the South Side of Chicago.

The headliner was a black man (for the sake of me I cannot remember his name) married to a red headed white woman. They have a couple of biracial children. I mention that as a good part of his act was edgy racial humor centered on his personal life situation. At some point, not sure how he segued to the subject, he got onto old white folks and Continue reading “New Balance, The New “IN” Sneaker”

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Word of the Day – Schadenfreude

  • Noun: Schadenfreude
    1.  Often capitalized: enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others
    2. Did you know? Schadenfreude is a combination of the German nouns Schaden, meaning “damage” or “harm,” and Freude, meaning “joy.” So it makes sense that schadenfreude means joy over some harm or misfortune suffered by another.
  • Synonyms:
      1.  gloat
      2. epicaricacy
      3. malicious glee
      4. ghoulish joy
      5. lulz
  • Usage:
      1. “The great Burning Man Muddening of 2023 was almost scientifically engineered to evoke schadenfreude. Wealthy, insufferable attendees? Check. Improbable details, such as the fact that the rain was causing a bunch of three-eyed fairy shrimp, which can survive as eggs in sediment for decades, to come alive? Check. The fact that climate activists, angry about private jets and single-use plastics at the event, tried to shut down the festival and were jeered at by annoyed attendees, then vindicated by mother nature? Check. A situation that was uncomfortable but not life-threatening? Check! (I should note that one person did die at the festival, but organisers have clarified that it wasn’t related to the weather.)”
  • Encountered:
      1.   An article on Guardian.com: Why all the Burning Man schadenfreude? Where do I start …

One of my brothers used this word in a group text recently.  At the time I did not know the meaning, and little ole OCD me had to look it up.  Probably because I am now aware of it, the word has popped a few times in my readings and conversations.  Are you stalking me schadenfreude?

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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The Black Hole…Karma?

So… just desserts – karma – or just bad execution? But either way the video cracked me up… but it does make you think. Sorry.

One common theme or fantasy is what superpower a person would want and what they would do with it. Frequently the superpower is the ability to fly like Superman, but not infrequently it is the ability to be invisible. Then the question becomes what to do with your invisibility.

I watched a YouTube video in Spanish of a person doing interviews in the street about the question of superpowers.  It seemed like a lot of folks who chose invisibility had ideas on how to use their invisibility that were less than ethical.

I will have to admit with some of the jobs I have had, I would not have been too far behind this guy into the safe… ethical or not.

My post from February 2020  on this theme: My Superpower

It is tough be human… and so it goes.