In English Lit the other day, we were discussing an English trick I was rather fond of. Sadly, I forgot the name of it. But. In my desperate search for “metaphor+compound+word” I found this list of very cool words for things I didn’t know were defined.

I did learn that saying things like “Whale-road” for Ocean was a kenning, but there are some other cool ones there too.

I now believe that Coolbreeze is the master of tmesis.

I’ve been reluctant to comment on the events of Tuesday, September 11th, as I am afraid of contributing to what is becoming a wall of white noise. So much rumor and rhetoric is flying is every direction that I fear that any comments on the subject, regardless of their nature and content, will only help to bury us deeper in circular arguments and premature speculation.

It is for these reasons that aov has been dormant for the last few days. Rob made an initial post early in the day on Tuesday and a few readers replied. As it became clear what was unfolding we decided to remove the post (and the replies). I was afraid of the conversations that may ensue with such fresh anger and fear. I didn’t feel we (or anyone, for that matter) would have anything constructive to say so soon after the events and with so little concrete information. What I fear most is a permanent record of our short-sighted anger and ignorance at historical turning point.

In an email from Matt, he wisely remarked that “This is something that will be talked about for the rest of our lives; there is no need to begin today.”

A few strange days have passed and I have received several emails from regular aov readers honouring our decision but respectfully suggesting that the aov readership is both ready and capable of having a worthwhile conversation. I agree.

Some interesting phenomenon I’ve observed in the last few days:

• There has been a disappointing amount of disrespectful, dishorourable, prematurely speculative, and accusatory online discussions (as there are no social repercussions online – you can make an offensive comment, shut off your computer, and walk away).
• At the same time, there has been much positive and healing online discussion. A conversation of those who have found refuge and healing through music struck me as particularly fresh and constructive at the appropriately named Signal vs. Noise website.
• The simple technology of the Internet amazed me in a way that it hasn’t since I received my first email or sent my instant message. Amazon.com setup a simple donation-via-creditcard system for the Red Cross (which I’m sure many of you have seen by now). When I first discovered the page about $100,000 had been donated. I refreshed the page (a web-developers habit, I suppose) and the figure jumped by a few thousand dollars. Surprised, I refreshed the page again, and the figure jumped by thousands more. My best estimates put the rate of donation at approximately $100,000/hour. However, it wasn’t the amount that I found most compelling. Rather, it was the unfamiliar, tangible, and immediate feeling of community and participation I felt in knowing that so many people from so many places were doing exactly what I was doing at the time.
• “People don’t sacrifice themselves for no reason.” – from a post at Dave W.’s Scripting.com (link via Reinvented.net).
• “New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs.” – from the powerful article, An Afghan-American Speaks at Salon.com.
• This is a difficult thing to write about. Clichés such as “in the wake of…” are difficult to avoid. Words like tragedy, atrocity, and massacre seem cheap and inadequate. Even in this post, I’ve used the phrase, “the events of Tuesday, September 11th” for lack of a better description.

I was brought back to a family vacation years ago where I can clearly remember standing on the roof of the World Trade Center looking down at our tiny van below. I’m having great difficultly reconciling this memory with the images of this same building crumbling to the ground. I do want to hear how these events have affected you personally. I do not want to hear accusations and speculation.

When I heard the reporters talking about this this morning (before the tower fell) I thought it was a joke MP3 (War of the Worlds) or a Red Alert 3 trailer.

I saw the video of the second plane hitting the tower. It looked like a movie. What’s going on?

Gerard Garrity (know better to me as “Grampa” Garrity) watched The Untouchables regularly while it ran between 1959 and 1963.

Even though he was Irish, it bothered him that the bad guys were always Italian. Surely there were bad dudes of all sorts of ethnic decent. Why, he wondered, must the Italians get hit with the criminal stereotype?

He felt strongly enough about this that he wrote a letter to the makers of the TV show.

Then, in February of 1961, while the family gathered around the TV, he got his response: Episode 2.16 guest-starred James Coburn as a murderer and arsonist named Dennis Garrity!

You know what I mean.

I’ve just moved into my quaint little dorm room in the fine Thornton house of Mt. A, it’s very nice. And it smells like paint.

I believe we get the ritual ‘welcome spanking’ sometime this weekend. Wish me luck.

HP and Compaq are going to merge.

I suspect that together they will be able to create the ugliest computer monitor ever conceived! (see the artists rendition)

bruyneel: (3:58 AM) im thinking about getting drunk

Matthew: (3:58 AM) i feel like Dr. Frankenstein except without the big guy made out of dead people

bruyneel: (3:58 AM) we jost wrote a novel together yo

bruyneel: (3:59 AM) just even

Matthew: (3:59 AM) let me finish here. then we can make nice.

bruyneel: (4:00 AM) doesn’t make me like ayou anymore, the writing of the novl together thing

bruyneel: (4:00 AM) not really

Matthew: (4:12 AM) 25261 words. we got us a novel. just.

There’s a great new article on A List Apart (for people who make websites) this week called Evolving Client Content – Content management systems (CMS) are only as good as the content they manage. The article is insightful and points to a wise and most likely a physically attractive author.

It is possible that I may have written said article.

…

I’m afraid my sarcasm is neither funny nor is it an effective mask for my excitement. I am very pleased to have my first article published and I am glad to be a part of A List Apart.

Everybody‘s favorite dictionary site has an amazing mailing list that is totally worth your 30 seconds every morning. In my quest to speak better English I have found Dictionary.com‘s Word of the Day to be very informative.

I read them every day Argus-eyed, and so should you, it’s quite a bacchanalia and your brain will grow corpulent.