pensée

pensée \pahn-SEY\ , noun:
A reflection or thought.

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One of the things I really loved about the Harry Potter series was the way J.K. Rowling cleverly turned a word or phrase, particularly about the spells ("Lumos" for light to come from a wand - "illuminate") and potions ("Veritaserum", a truth serum which is derived from Veritas, the Roman goddess of truth)  Then there were also main characters such as Professor Lupin, a werewolf (and lupine means wolf-like; the Latin term for wolf is "Canis lupus") or Harry's godfather Sirius Black (Sirius, the brightest star in the sky is also known as the dog star and Black could change into a dog). There are dozens more examples. (but you will have to read the books or see the movies if you haven't already)

This word was one I wasn't familiar with, but she used it for the Pensieve, the memory storage basin in Dumbledore's office and which featured prominently in several of the books, and particularly in the last part of the last book where Harry finds out the truth about Snape.

Yes, Rowling was very clever with these names and descriptions;  now she's rich!

Origami Shadow Art

Origami Shadow Art by Kumi Yamashita: In 2011, famed shadow artist Kumi Yamashita was commissioned by American Express to create a unique work of art for their Tribeca, New York office lobby.

She first invited all American Express employees to be a part of her installation by taking a photo of their profile. Since the size of the space only allowed for 22 pieces, Kumi then chose 22 employee faces. Then, right on site, she worked with shadows and light to create these origami style pieces that, when hit with just the perfect light source, reveal actual faces!








Via mymodernmet

Did You Know?

I certainly didn't, not until I read an article earlier this morning about where the stars of Animal House are these days. I never realized that the same actress  played Clorette DePasto, the wild daughter of the mayor in Animal House (on left on below graphic) as well as Maggie O'Hooligan in Caddyshack. (On the right)

Her name is Sarah Holcomb and according to some sources on the 'net, she's living a very private life in Connecticut.  She acted in four movies in a two-year span.  Both of these movies are among my favorites and I don't know why I never recognized her as being the same actress in the two roles.

Ride Sally Ride

On this date in 1983 Sally Ride became the first American woman in space.

When I Do It

It's not exactly "skinny" dipping.

You Are Skinny Dipping

You are a fairly conservative, down to earth person. You aren't known for making trouble. That being said, you can be a little mischievous at times. You have a bit of a wild streak! You have probably been accused of being a flirt or a tease - and you're guilty as charged. You are naturally quite playful and coy. You're mostly sugar, but you're also a little spice.

Are You Skinny Dipping or Streaking?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

Flip Flop on the Name

A couple of months ago I bought a pair of flip-flops and kept meaning to write a post about them.  Since today is National Flip-Flop Day, I decided I'd better go ahead and do it.

My sisters and I used to wear them all the time when we were on vacation at the lake.  Back then, though, we called them "thongs" which means something entirely different these days.  When did the name change occur?

I'd really rather write about the thongs of today more than the flip-flops of yesterday.  I've never worn the former, but I like looking at them...well, I like seeing women wear them. They sure look uncomfortable, though, but wearing flip-flops is also uncomfortable.

I recently bought a pair out at WalMart;  I'm constantly having to run out to my vehicle for something or taking food out to the stray cats and it's too much trouble to lace up my sneakers just to wear them for two minutes.  I've ruined several pairs of house shoes by stepping in puddles of water in the dark...or in little "surprises" left by the stray cats. Ahem.  I was looking for a new pair of house shoes when I saw the flip-flops on a nearby rack.  They were cheap, around three bucks, so I thought they might be something that I could quickly slip on and off and save my much more expensive house shoes.

Here's the kind I bought, a cool looking camo style:

I brought them home, snipped the little plastic tie holding them together and slid my feet into them.  Ugh. I remembered why I didn't like them as a kid and the reasons hadn't changed. 

First of all, I hate something between my toes and that's the only thing that keeps the flip-flops on your feet. (I also hate anything between my "cheeks" so that's why I suspect I wouldn't like wearing a thong) I haven't worn them enough for it to happen yet, but with any sort of rough use, the rubber toe divider is notorious for popping out of the molded hole.  With some doing, you can pop it back into the hole, but once it happens, it will keep happening until the hole tears and then the footwear is useless.  I remember being on vacation and having that happen and taking a bit of twine and tying it around the part that sticks through the hole to keep it in place.  It really didn't work too well and then it was doubly uncomfortable, the chafing between the toes and a big knot of twine poking up from underneath.

Wearing them for any length of time takes some getting used to.  I remember getting blisters on my toes when wearing them on vacation;  that was painful enough, but get some sand in between your toes and into the blisters and it's agony.

You can't run in the darn things, either.  In fact, that's what usually made the toe piece pop out of the hole when I was a kid.  That probably won't be a problem with my new pair as I haven't run anywhere in years, not even when I'm wearing running shoes.

They're also deceptive in that you get the illusion you have protection for your feet, but it's as easy to stub your toe wearing flip-flops as it is going barefoot.  That's a little ironic - breaking your big toe from wearing flip-flops and then that being the only thing you can wear on your feet because you then can't wear regular shoes with a broken toe.

I doubt my flip-flops will get much use; oh, I'll slip them on when I think about it when I need to step outside for a minute, but just looking at them makes me shudder thinking about how uncomfortable they are.  I would never, EVER wear them in public as do some folks...my toes are just too ugly.  Flip-flops look cute on girls though. 

I think I'll go Google "girls wearing flip-flops and thongs".  That shouldn't be uncomfortable at all.