The Life and Times of Miblo del Carpio

...some things of moment I forgot to mention (only quickly): amusingly, it's seemed that more people have been visiting my blog when I haven't written on it than when I have - are my visitors trying to tell me something, do you think? I've recently transferred myself from using an electric shaver to using a wonderful, fantastic manual razor; yesterday, Jess made her début cutting my hair, taking over from dad while his tennis-elbow is rendering him out of action, and did a wonderful job of it; and I've recently written a few lines of poetry, which will no doubt be published upon their completion on my sister blog.

Now, having reached 'THE END OF THE FIRST STAGE OF PIP'S EXPECTATIONS', I go for tea, and then to read on into the second stage, to see how the old chap gets on.

Delirious with tiredness, I come to give this interlude, when sleep would serve me best so I may rise in time tomorrow, set to read and read and read. Three of my ten books have been read (Pride and Prejudice, Top Girls and Frankenstein), with Great Expectations currently being read, and the remainder on this Amazon Listmania still to go.

I suppose a word or two before we head into Chapter Twenty (are we there already? and this the first one for a while which would traditionally have been themed - its number being divisible by four). My holiday in Prestatyn has already been alluded to, on which I had a lovely time; and since then, while I've been continuously reading my books, I've sent off a massive batch of 535 photographs for printing, which have arrived, and after the initial disappointment of seeing them each with a border, and perhaps the colour not being satisfactory on some (i.e. not the same as how they looked on screen when I was diligently making them look their best); after this they've grown on me, I've sorted most in order, and they're just about ready for general consumption ('general' meaning, those who can be here to hold and touch them).

So, with these thoughts in mind, I'm off to sleep, to rise tomorrow fresh to read; with my A210 Approaching Literature course beginning two days later; and my Chapter Twenty being introduced next week.

Word of the Week

Interlude

interlude /ˈɪntəˌluːd, -ˌljuːd/ n. 1 a a pause between the acts of a play. b something performed or done during this pause. 2 a an intervening time, space, or event that contrasts with what goes before or after. b a temporary amusement or entertaining episode. 3 a piece of music played between other pieces, the verses of a hymn, etc. [ME, = a light dramatic item between the acts of a morality play, f. med.L interludium (as INTER-, ludus play)]

Definition courtesy of the Concise Oxford Dictionary

So this is it, is it? This is what our blogger alleges minimum effort will yield? Our weekly toils have yielded this?

Well, I suppose it's to be expected. One can hardly expect a great reward when so little has been exerted. But the topic of this chapter has been 'minimum effort', has it not? This word 'minimum' implying that no less effort could possibly have been exerted, for, if a lesser were to be detected, the veracity of that phrase would necessarily be deemed invalid. So, looking back over this chapter, does it seem to us that the minimum of effort has indeed been exerted in its making, to compliment so artfully its subject matter? I regretfully must argue against this being the case: for it is clear that a far less amount of effort would not have been sufficient to reproduce so exactly, without mistakes of spelling or of presentation, all the definitions from the dictionary for our Words of the Week; and, were a similarly paltry amount being presently employed in writing this final article, it would no doubt have ended many words ago.

Word of the Week

Result

result /rɪˈzʌlt/ n. & v. —n. 1 a consequence, issue, or outcome of something. 2 a satisfactory outcome; a favourable result (gets results). 3 a quantity, formula, etc., obtained by calculation. 4 (in pl.) a list of scores or winners etc. in an examination or sporting event. —v.intr. 1 (often foll. by from) arise as the actual consequence or follow as a logical consequence (from conditions, causes, etc.). 2 (often foll. by in) have a specified end or outcome (resulted in a large profit). [ME f. med.L resultare f. L (as RE-, saltare frequent. of salire jump)]

Definition courtesy of the Concise Oxford Dictionary

Word of the Week

Paltry

paltry /ˈpɔːltrɪ, ˈpɒl-/ adj. (paltrier, paltriest) worthless, contemptible, trifling. [16th c.: f. paltry trash app. f. palt, pelt rubbish + -RY (cf. trumpery): cf. LG paltrig ragged]

Definition courtesy of the Concise Oxford Dictionary

Arriving home from holiday, I find myself with still just over nine books (nine whole, plus the end of Pride and Prejudice) to read in preparation for my next Open University course, beginning on the 27th of September. Much time and effort must thus go into reading them, to give myself a fair chance of yielding a yet more positive result in this coming course than for the previous one.

Word of the Week

Yield

yield /jiːld/ v. & n. —v. 1 tr. (also absol.) produce or return as a fruit, profit, or result (the land yields crops; the land yields poorly; the investment yields 15%). 2 tr. give up; surrender, concede; comply with a demand for (yielded the fortress; yielded themselves prisoners). 3 intr. (often foll. by to) a surrender; make submission. b give consent or change one's course of action in deference to; respond as required to (yielded to persuasion). 4 intr. (foll. by to) be inferior or confess inferiority to (I yield to none in understanding the problem). 5 intr. (foll. by to) give right of way to other traffic. 6 intr. US allow another the right to speak in a debate etc. —n. an amount yielded or produced; an output or return. [OE g(i)eldan pay f. Gmc]

Definition courtesy of the Concise Oxford Dictionary