Category: Words

#753 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn history, Serendipity, Words1 Comment

How can I share the joy of a plunge in cold, clean, seawater or indeed the joy of plunging generally.

In life I am a plunger. I love the word. It begins with an upbeat feeling and then ends with a soft J-like sound that feels like a cuddle.

I don’t plunge without regard to safety or without a good bit of research. Plunging is an immersive experience.

If plunge was a Danish word I could see it being trendy in the way hygge has.

To plunge is to do something whole heartedly.

This morning I plunged into the sea. It was breathtaking and wonderful.

A long time ago I painted a plunge. The moment a hand cleaves into water.

In the header photograph I took an image of the inside of a plastic water bottle. The small amount of warm colours merging into crisp blues is another way of trying to depict the act or experience of the moment of peak plunge.

At this point serendipity hits. Last night we quickly left a Christmas music event to head to the Barbican in Plymouth for a different event. The Christmas lights were a fabulous likeness to my water bottle image.

As you can see from these two images the Barbican was full of people intent on ‘ making a night of it’ in the run up to Christmas.

No big deal you might think but here is a plunge into history. Southside Street and the even older New Street which runs parallel and slightly higher; both lead to Sutton Harbour and existed in some form from about 700AD. When Anglo-Saxon mariners settled here trading goods and fish. Greatly developed in the Medieval periods, the pubs, alehouses and brothels would have seen festive drinkers and pleasure seekers making merry at this time of year. For pagan festivals initially, and then for the conveniently timed Christian Festival of Christmas from about the 10th century. Any excuse to banish the glumness of extra long dank and dark nights in a Northern Hemisphere winter.

This contemporary image of groups of people moving from pub/bar/alehouse seeking pleasure in late December is so timeless it slightly unnerves me . Oh to be a time traveller in this area, with appropriate vaccinations. Plunging through history…

#744 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, WordsLeave a comment

Yesterdays blog caused quite a stir. It seems that rizz is a word that people really enjoy using instead of the word allure.

#743 theoldmortuary ponders.

I know a blog has gone down well when at some point in the day someone quotes it back to me. Also my stats go up, but that is less pleasurable than meeting someone who wants to talk about the blog.

It was news to me that I have been spelling ‘pizzazz’ wrong all my life.

Maybe I can blame my rural North East Essex youth where people still spoke with a soft accent rather than the better known Estuary English which is now synonymous with Essex.

There was no i in our pizzazz when I was growing up and for all of my life until yesterday. There was a rabbit hole of discovery on line that briefly swallowed me up. You can click on the link or not

https://uselessetymology.com/2019/11/15/where-does-the-word-pizzazz-come-from-etymology-history/

The Etymology of ‘ Pizzazz’- Useless Etmology.

I think I have always enjoyed words that include zeds.

Reliably first on the front row of a Querty keyboard.

Deliciously somnolent when written or typed repetitively. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The funny thing is that I must always have ignored spell check and pressed on with my own abbreviated version as the Whatsapp message at the top of the blog shows.

I was at school with a boy who had a zed in all of his names, Juliusz Bezjak Szpytma, I was very envious.

Imagine my excitement when I discovered that the devices used to light gas hobs had piezoelectric cells!

Enough, time to draw this blog to an end before I pass its Zenith.

#736 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Serendipity, Words2 Comments

One of life’s pleasures, of my sort of aimless wandering in a foreign city, is indulging in capturing the textures, colours and experience of inconsequential but interesting things.

I loved the texture created by the loss of mortar between the bricks of this wall in Venice. Texture and ginger colours was a bit of a thing for me on this particular day. I was able to see the original painting of a mythical bird woman by Max Ernst.

The imperious bird-woman commands our attention with her direct owl’s gaze, and seems alarmingly about to step out of the painting. The robe depicted here may refer to the mystic initiation of Christian Rosenkreuz, founder of Rosicrucianism. It seems also to have autobiographical allusions, with the artist present in the green swan or heron. Much of the highly textured surface has been created by decalcomania, a technique of dabbing at wet paint with rags or paper to create a puckered surface. The comprehensive meaning of this painting eludes us, as is characteristic.

Max Ernst’s paintings often baffle me, but even when reproduced the textures he creates are thrilling. To see one up close and actually see the picture in person was a fabulous treat. But as a word collector I was almost as thrilled with the word ‘decalcomania’

So much to take in, in one walk. Time for refreshment. Which turned out to be just one more moment of inconsequential discovery. My poor old post-covid taste buds long for anything that stimulates them into action, however brief. Ginger is a regular drink of choice and the fierier the better. There was an Italian soft drink that promised great things with its name.

Gingerino offered not a glimmer of ginger but it was one of the bitterest and delicious things I have tasted in a long while. Despite its nuclear colour I was hooked and rather giddily had another. Sadly it seems my discovery was just a very brief holiday romance. Gingerino and I will never be reconnected in the U.K.

A day of remarkable ginger texture is definitely a day well spent.

#714 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, autumn, Words1 Comment

I learned a new word yesterday.

I am shocked that I never thought to question what the counterpart to misogynist is. Both misogyny and misandry are pretty easy to spot but it never occurred to me to give the dislike of men a name. Now I am thinking myself  into a circle of over thinking.

Is it misandrist of me to think that misogyny is more commonly experienced in society.

Thankfully my second new word of the day is much easier to get my head around. 

Goodness I love biomimicry. Yesterday a friend was knitting with variegated knitting wool,which was the exact shade of fallen autumn leaves. At the time she was sitting under this piece of art.

©Yan-Feng

These were exactly the colours of the day yesterday.

Two new words in one day!

#707 theoldmortuary ponders

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It is not often that the days ponder must wait until after the sun has started to set. Today this was always going to be the case. I was up early to buy croissants to fuel a morning of lively conversation with the bobbers. Straight after that a chat with some fellow Bookworms and then deep conversation with a one year old. My day was replete with gorgeous, gregarious women who all talk about anything and everything with wit and wisdom.

A chance encounter with a word perked up my day even more.

Some time ago the bobbers swam in a sea filled with Pilchards and White Bait. The seagulls thought all their Christmases had come at once, with a huge shoal seemingly trapped in Tranquility Bay. They swooped and dived as we bobbed and swam. Their disturbance causing millions of fish scales to be loose in the water. We emerged, twinkling like a troupe of exotic dancers. Fish scales stuck to our skin so tenaciously that even vigorous rubbing could not remove them until we used soap and hot water.

R.Morton Nance revealed a word precisely designed for this phenomenon which afflicts fishermen all the time.

Gollowillians are fish scales incidentally attached to humans.

Now this may be the first time Gollowillians knocks tatterdemalion into second place in a blog. I had planned to natter on about things that are dilapidated but that will have to wait for another day. Because the sun has finally set.

#692 theoldmortuary ponders

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I wonder if nasty viruses are a good way for people with normally robust health to live in the shoes of people who are less fortunate. After 24 hours of exploding insides I was left like a whimsical husk, unable to function in any useful way until my insides decided that they would permit half a can of flat coke and a small amount of plain pasta.

My best descriptive word for my state yesterday was flimsy and the previous few days were definitely queasy.

Goodness I love the word ‘flinsy’. I have not always used it wisely or in a kindly way. In my teenage years I described a friends new boyfriend as flimsy. I thought I was being kind and truthful but maybe finding something good about him would have been what a truly good friend would have done.

The other definition of flimsy is almost certain to be or to become extinct. Hand or type written reports were often created on triple layer stationary. A sandwich of normal paper for the original, ultra thin paper in the middle and thin card on the back. The ultra thin paper was often called the flimsy and most organisations had a special filing system for flimsies. Paper versions of credit card transactions were possibly the last incarnation of the flimsy as a noun.

#685 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn pondering, Serendipity, Words2 Comments
Battersea Power Station ©theoldmortuary

‘There are some losses that change the trajectory of your life’ P.Diddy

Puff Daddy, P.Diddy, Diddy or even  Sean Combs  his real name, is talking about the death of a woman he loved and shared three children with.

Significant losses or negative events do change the direction that life takes.

As an optimist and someone who likes to reflect on my half-full glass I am guilty of skimming over negative outcomes and always trying to find the best in people and situations.

Reflecting on the negative is not somewhere I feel comfortable but just acknowledging that negatives and positives have equal power to change the direction of life is somehow a quite relaxing thought. Just as the planned and unplanned have a similar capacity.

A ponder is not what I expected when I read an article about a Billionaire Rapper. Just one thoughtful sentence. Of course I have lived the reality of loss altering life’s directions. As has every human. But until today I could not have expressed that sensation so eloquently.

#675 theoldmortuary ponders

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Autumn flowers in cafes.

A rather strange summer in the UK has created some lovely flowers for autumn.

Which could be considered to be natural schadenfreude. Summers misfortune has made autumn thrive.

Schadenfreude has never been my bag. I really disliked those TV programmes that invited the public to send in videos of people having minor slips, trips and falls. I don’t like pranks or practical jokes. My moral compass doesn’t take any enjoyment from other people’s misfortune. Misfortune falling upon those that deserve it is sometimes satisfying, but no more than that.

I’m pondering this because I heard a sportsman being interviewed yesterday and he was asked if he had Schadenfreude when a team that did not renew his contract immediately hit a period of poor performance.

There was a long awkward radio silence, he then apologised for not knowing the words meaning. After the presenter rephrased her question there was another silence while he considered his answer.

” Why would anyone take pleasure in their friends and former team members suffering repeated defeats ” he asked.

I can only hope the interviewer squirmed at her question. She was clearly working her way through scripted questions, but had not registered that every one of his previous answers had demonstrated that he was a compassionate and thoughtful person.

I was going to ponder a different word today but Schadenfreude pushed Prescient from my mind, I should have realised that would happen!

This is quite a dry ,wordy blog but autumn flowers in cafes are brightening up the look of it if nothing else.

My big problem with schadenfreude is that there is no natural control. I once saw a man slip on a banana skin. It gave me brief pleasure to witness a cliche but ultimately he collided with a hard park bench and really hurt himself.

And so October blows in I wonder where the ponderings will take me.

#670 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Bobbing, Serendipity, Words2 Comments

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Bobbing and the bobbers are a rich source of advice. So much so that isolating the best piece of advice would be foolhardy. But the wittiest piece of advice I gained from the big bobbing trunk of advice is really rather useful and it also makes me laugh out loud whenever I hear the first sentence in real life or on the radio or TV.

” Well, the ball is in their/his/her court” says the protagonist, following a disagreement or differing opinion on any number of subjects. This suggests to anyone who is listening that a point of understanding or neutrality has been reached after a period of tentative discussions or slightly uncomfortable negotiations.

The protagonist is suggesting that the next move is entirely up to the person or organisation that they have had a disagreement with.

A Bobbers additional sentence takes all illusion of control away.

” But the bat is up my arse”

Removing any scintilla of doubt as to where the real power lies.

#686 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Serendipity, WordsLeave a comment
Sketch for future project about cold water swimming.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

Writing gives me the chance to note down inconsequential things. As an artist I can sketch inconsequential things. Sometimes something of substance comes from these two activities. As September heads to a colourful autumn I am on the last leg of being out and about as an exhibiting artist. For the first time this year I did an event called Open Studios and am currently exhibiting in a gorgeous, medieval period, house called Cotehele.

Exhibiting this year has felt significantly different to the last couple of years. Writing, or capturing this thought gives me the chance to consider this sensation. Almost certainly 2023 felt like the first truly Covid worry free year for people who organise art events and for their visitors. Everything that people love about art shows was back. Sketch books, business cards and crowds. Boozy Private Views and long delightful conversations. There is so much to learn from the company of other artists and the people who love to look at art. The current financial climate has limited the amount of sales.

But the interactions with visitors have been wonderful. I have been so lucky. I’ve unexpectedly met some old friends and work colleagues for long leisurely conversations and put faces, names and personalities to people I barely knew before this summer. Some blog readers have also appeared which has been lovely.

What do I enjoy most about writing?

The ability to reflect and cteate a world that is both real and imagined , orthodox and surreal. A safe place to ponder. A place to take stock of the snippets of life that might go unnoticed.