(noun form very rare): a small opening or space between objects, especially adjacent objects or objects set closely together, as between cords in a rope or components of a multiconductor electrical cable or between atoms in a crystal. "The part that is not there."

The term atavism (derived from the Latin atavus, a great-grandfather's grandfather and, thus, more generally, an ancestor) denotes the tendency to revert to ancestral type. An atavism is an evolutionary throwback, such as traits reappearing which had disappeared generations ago.^[1] Atavisms occur because genes for previously existing phenotypical features are often preserved in DNA, even though the genes are not expressed in some or most of the organisms possessing them.

"The world is full of suffering.  It is also full of overcoming it."  -Helen Keller

ALLEVIATING SUFFERING, ENDING SHAME  *******This video is bit tough to watch, but Lymphatic Filariasis is a very real disease.  The Carter Center has helped reduce cases by 80% due to their de-worming and mosquito netting efforts.  Overcoming this type of suffering and other parasitic diseases has been monumental to the quality of health and wellness in Nigeria and other third world countries.  They continue this fight and have set a goal to globally eliminate the disease by 2020.  Visit http://www.cartercenter.org/homepage.html for more information.*******

WORD OF THE DAY

DESPOIL

(transitive verb)
[di-SPOIL]

1. to take as spoils; plunder; loot

noun forms: despoiler, despoilment

LADYTRON-DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH  *******Good song, but a strange yet captivating video.  I had to double check the lyrics at http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Destroy-Everything-You-Touch-lyrics-Ladytron/F3312E40A4DDD9EC4825706200332663 just to make sure I heard it correctly.  If you've been through this with someone, know it is not your fault.  It is their fear of abandonment (more than likely a childhood trauma) that causes them to treat you that way.  Stick around?  You can if you truly love them, but it won't get better until they seek help to overcome their issues.  If they can't or refuse to change, you must leave because you deserve better.*******

"When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not such a really big threat after all.  We all need some form of deeply rooted form of powerful motivation - it empowers us to overcome obstacles so we can live our dreams."  -Les Brown, Speaker and Author

SARAH MCLACHLAN-FEAR  *******This is one of Sarah's many beautiful songs.  As beautiful as it sounds, it addresses an ugly topic - fear.  Many of us are crippled by it.  I, too, am one of fears victims.  You can choose to act out of fear or love in any given situation.  Ultimately, you're choice is THE deciding factor of the outcome.  Have you noticed that while in a relationship, if you choose to act and react towards your beloved out of fear, it falls apart?  I'm sure most of us have experienced a romance turning sour because of jealousy and past hang ups.  Merely choosing to look upon the relationship you are in as a new beginning and not letting the past taint it because you've learned from it, will allow your new beginning to turn into happily ever after.  You can buy programs such as "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" http://home.marsvenus.com/, "Light His/Her Fire" http://www.lightyourfire.com/ (love them both) or just Google relationship advice to help you keep from making the same common mistakes over and over again.  I wish you all the best in your current and/or future relationships!*******

WORD OF THE DAY

ASYLUM

(noun)
[ah-SIE-lahm]

1. a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person; mental hospital; psychiatric hospital

2. a shelter from danger or hardship; refuge; sanctuary: "I've cleared my bedroom of magazines, television and radio, to make it an asylum from the outside world."

3. a place, such as a church, that once offered shelter to criminals and debtors

SOUL ASYLUM-RUNAWAY TRAIN  *******This is such a great song.  I remember watching this video as a kid on MTV and thinking how sad it was that those children were missing.  I wonder if any of them were ever found.  According to statistics, "...between 1.3 and 2.8 million runaway and homeless youth live on the streets of America each year.  View more statistics at http://www.armenianteens.com/runaway-teens.php.  Last year, I found a young teenage boy rifling through the trash outside of my local CVS.  He was so filthy and was obviously so hungry that my first instinct was to cry, but it was chased away bit a tinge of anger.  How did he get into that situation?!  He was so dirty it looked like he had been outside for weeks!  I didn't have much money, but I asked him if he wanted some pizza.  He was ecstatic about eating pizza (what kid doesn't like pizza?), so I took him next door to Bambino's and bought him the 2-slice + pop meal deal.  He thanked me profusely, but it was a no-brainer for me to do that.  Because he had a bike, I directed him to the Salvation Army (they've helped me before and I am indebted to them) just up the street and told him they would help.  I haven't seen him since and I just hope he's okay.*******

For over two months, I have been home-free, car-free, and phone-free by choice. Admittedly, it's not a path that's for everyone -- though it offers rewards that show up only when we are willing to strip away preconceived notions of security, comfort, and wealth.

As I am gifted with the opportunity to spend time in other people's homes, sleeping in their guest rooms or on their porches or (yes!) even on the trampolines in their backyards, I am struck by the sheer weight and volume of "stuff" that fills the spaces and lives of so many.

Not necessarily well-chosen, beautiful things that create a sense of home as sanctuary, but dust-covered stacks of unread books and magazines, piles of unread or un-dealt-with mail, boxes bursting with "important" things that haven't seen the light of day for decades, bits and pieces of unfinished projects of every stripe, or small mountains of clothing that no longer fit, no longer appeal, or are otherwise deemed unwearable.

When every nook and cranny is filled, there is precious little space for the workings of Creation. Plus, if I may be so bold, objects usually referred to as "inanimate" yearn to have a life, too!

Is it any surprise that these cluttered and chaotic spaces often reflect lives filled with unfinished emotional business, lingering regrets, congenital fence-sitting, lack of focus, scattered intentions, and unexpressed desires? I often assist people with clearing away excess and bringing order to their surroundings -- not as an exercise in housekeeping, but in service to the quest for wholeness. As a result, these folks often find they can breathe easier, uncover a modicum of peace, unbury the living and/or bury the dead, take baby steps toward clarity, and generally lighten up.

(If minimalism intrigues you, visit the blog, "becoming minimalist," which chronicles the journey of a young Vermont family - ages 33, 29,5,2.)

As without, so within. Backward or forward, it's all the same. Without fuss, here is your word of the day, taken from my out-of-print book, 365 Words of Well-Being for Mothers (McGraw-Hill/Contemporary, 2003).

LESS

Yes, you can get by with less. Less work to do if you share it with others. Less time to do it when you're having more fun. Try eating less food that's less likely to leave you less nourished. Let yourself be less than perfect, and discover that others will criticize you less. Less television and everyone's a bit less lethargic. Fewer mindless hours surfing the Net breeds a lot less contempt. Less stuff. Less clutter. A lot less mess. Fewer trips to the mall and you'll bring home less of what you don't need. And you really do need so much less! Less rush. Less worry. Less fear. Less stress. Working less. Dressing less. Lunching less. Crunching less. There's so much more to do with less. Time expands greatly when you fill it with less. Space is serene when it's asked to hold less. There's untold abundance at the center of less. All around, less is more -- more or less.

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."  -Winston Churchill

THE ATTITUDE OF SELF-ACCEPTANCE  *******What a great motivational video.  It has wonderful subliminal messages and  puts you in a bit of a trance for a few minutes as you're taking in the messages.  Enjoy!*******

WORD OF THE DAY

HAVOC

(noun, transitive verb)
[HAV-ahk]

noun

3. to pillage; 'To tear and havoc more than she can eat.' (Henry V, Shakespeare)

ROGUE BABOONS CAUSE HAVOC  *******Baboons gone wild! HA!  Okay...if I put myself in these South African resident's shoes, I wouldn't be laughing at all.  What happened to baboons eating the fruits of nature?  Who'd of thought there would ever be a war between humans and baboons over food?!  It's plausible, but it never crossed my mind.  Crazy baboons...*******

intransitive verb:
1. To sound as a knell; especially, to toll at a death or funeral; hence, to sound as a warning or evil omen.

[Origin: bef. 950; (n.) ME knel, OE cynll; (v.) ME knellen, knyllen, OE cynllan; c. ON knylla to beat, strike; akin to D knal bang, knallen to bang, G Knall explosion, knallen to explode]

너는 내 생각 속에 산다

너의 집은 하늘에 있고
나의 집은 풀 밑에 있다 해도
너는 내 생각 속에 산다

너는 먼 별 창 안에 밤을 재우고
나는 풀벌레 곁에 밤을 빌린다 해도
너는 내 생각 속에 잔다

너의 날은 내일에 있고
나의 날은 어제에 있다 해도
너는 내 생각 속에 세월이다

문 닫은 먼 자리, 가린 자리
너의 생각 밖에 내가 있다 해도
너는 내 생각 속에 있다

너의 집은 하늘에 있고
나의 집은 풀 밑에 있다 해도
너는 내 생각 속에 산다

- 조병화의 《나의 사랑하는 자에게》 중에서 -

* 마음 깊이 진정으로 사랑하는 사람이라면
아무리 먼 곳에 있다 할지라도, 설사 이별했거나
하늘나라에 가 있다 하더라도, 언제나 내 생각 속에 살아
있습니다. 바로 그런 사람을 머리에 그리면서 몇 차례
읽다보면 쉽게 암송할 수 있는 좋은 시입니다.

This is Resurrect your Romance Week, Light some candles, put on Barry White, and dance around the living room.

Horiscope:

Seeking help from others isn't your strond suit, but you find it might be time to break that tradition, A friend, bartender or lover can help.

Joke of the Day:

Why was Santa's littler helper depressed?      He had low elf-esteem.

Word of the day:

Quaff  Imbine, drink. Chrisy craved orange juice and guaffed it whenever she could.

transitive verb:
1. To enchant or bewitch with or as if with a magic potion or charm.

[Origin: 1580–90; < F philtre < L philtrum; see philtrum]

noun:
1. A supernumerary person or thing.
2. An actor without a speaking part, as a walk-on or an extra in a crowd scene.

[Origin: 1595–1605; < LL supernumerārius. See super-, numerary]

"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life,
the whole aim and end of human existence."
— Aristotle: was a Greek philosopher

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS  *******This video has some golden nuggets of wisdom from the regular folk.  Dig the dude with the open shirt!  He's got it down!  It's sad to hear so many people citing money as the key to happiness.  Sure it provides wealth in terms of material possessions, but spiritual wealth provides a richness greater than anything money can buy.*******

WORD OF THE DAY

INNOCUOUS

• \ih-NAH-kyuh-wus\ • adjective

1 : producing no injury : harmless

*2 : not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility : inoffensive, insipid

Example Sentence:

Bella was surprised when her seemingly innocuous remark enraged her classmates.

Did you know?

"Innocuous" has harmful roots -- it comes to us from the Latin adjective "innocuus," which was formed by combining the negative prefix "in-" with a form of the verb "nocēre," meaning "to harm" or "to hurt." In addition, "nocēre" is related to the truly "harmful" words "noxious," "nocent," and even "nocuous." "Innocent" is from "nocēre" as well, although like "innocuous" it has the "in-" prefix negating the hurtful possibilities. "Innocuous" first appeared in print in 1598 with the clearly Latin-derived meaning "harmless or causing no injury" (as in "an innocuous gas"). The second sense is a metaphorical extension of the idea of injury, used to indicate that someone or something does not cause hurt feelings, or even strong feelings ("an innocuous book" or "innocuous issues," for example).

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

RAGING RYAN  *******Wow!  This was supposed to be a harmless prank, but Ryan was NOT laughing!  LOL

adjective:
1. Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, "blackguard language."

transitive verb:
1. To revile or abuse in scurrilous language.

[Origin: 1525–35; black + guard; original sense obscure]

Time to get absolutely clear about which beliefs, qualities,
relationships, and perspectives
you want to bring together and solidify.

How can you streamline the 12 different directions
you seem to be running in?
How can you accentuate the positive
and eliminate the negative?

Right now, strengthen your commitment
to live the life you were put here to live.

Right now, strip away the old, the unnecessary,
the devitalizing, the dramatic.

Minimize your unhealthy attachments and
reinforce the connections that are working for you.

Cull out your endless rationalizations and justifications
and consolidate your responses:
Say Yes, please. Say No, thank you.
Say No, that doesn't feel appropriate.
Say Yes, that feels appropriate.

Weed your inner and outer gardens, your kitchen cupboards,
your email address book, that wayward pile of notes to yourself
that you're never going to answer.

Strengthen the foundation under your spiritual life,
your true family, your sense of Home,
your most heartfelt desires.

Stop carting around half-empty vessels of pure potentiality,
partially-eaten plates of emotional nourishment,
pitiful leftovers of personal power,
and shallow snippets of authenticity,
and synthesize the pieces into
one coherent and efficient whole.

Right now, today,
consolidate one small, manageable
area of your life.

Find one singular, simple way to
be whole now.

"The road to happiness lies in two simple principles: find what it is that interests you and that you can do well, and when you find it put your whole soul into it - every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have."  -John D. Rockefeller 1839-1937, Industrialist and Philanthropist

JOHN MAYER-BIGGER THAN MY BODY *******I love me some John Mayer and this is such an inspirational song for me.  This quote really hit home for me.  Wow!  It was so eloquently put that it will be one of the top daily quotes I focus on as I pursue my dreams.*******

WORD OF THE DAY

ABOVEBOARD

(adverb and adjective)
[ah-BUV-bord', ah-BUV-boerd']

1. without concealment or deception; honest: "All of Kay's business dealings are strictly aboveboard."

BEYONCE-HONESTY *******I really like this rendition of Billy Joel's "Honesty"!  You know B can always pull it out!  Seriously though, honesty is the best policy because the truth will come out eventually.  Let's just try not to be too brutally honest.  We should always consider others feelings.  Well...it sounds good on paper anyway!  ;) *******

[Origin: 1760–70; lackadais(y) (var. of lackaday) + -ical]

I was actually productive today!  I sorted and packed 95% of my clothes (the last 5% being in my hamper which was washed after I packed).  I am bringing considerably less clothes than the last two years.  I think I left two entire tubs out this time.  This is a miracle.  A packing miracle!!!  I think there are still some clothes up there in storage but I can't imagine what I left behind besides my coats and scarves (I have a puffy ski coat and a pea coat).  I know I left my TV and DVD player up there along with my spinny desk chair (which I am greatly considering sending home with my parents - the stupid chair is so big!)  There are also towels and a big fluffy robe I never use.  Maybe my comforter?  I have a feeling I left it there but at the same time I think it might be up by our front door...  I'm not sure.

My trip up to Chicago Saturday will probably involve sleeping (since we're leaving at 5 AM), reading (finishing Breaking Dawn because I'm sure I won't read it in the next two days), knitting (I have to start/finish my BFF's knitted ring for her 21st birthday AND work on my shawl AND work on my dolls for the ravelympics [which are the knitting olympics on my knitting website!]).  Oh, and I'll be snacking on cheese crackers.  Five hour car rides, FTW!

QUESTIONS FOR EVERYONE:  How long is your commute to college?  What do you do in the car to amuse yourself?

My dad and I also went on a hunt for yarn and a bag to hold my yarn stash.  My knitting life fits neatly into a laundry basket.
 

Brittany, you're stealing all the awesome in the world by seeing Spring Awakening and Avenue Q.  Have too much fun, okay?  lol!

Here's my video!!!

For your own listening pleasure: Laconic.  :)  I love how she says it...

Uhm...  Everyone keeps thinking of things that we should do for funsies as a group and I feel that I should contribute my own sort of challenge, somehow.  I will have to think about it.  I'm adding my own thing with the lolcats but...  I want something for everyone!  *begins thinking*

Okay - have a great rest of the week and I'll see you in the comments or next Thursday!!!

~Love, Megan!

PS: OMG.  I didn't mention Twilight at all!!  MIRACLE OF MIRACLES!  SHOOT.  I just thought of something to say about it now but it can wait for next week.  Goodness knows I'll STILL think it's hilarious then.  You'll have to wait to seeeeee!

PPS:  I have a whole SLEW of lolcats!  I will link to them because they are so full of awesome that they will flood this post...
        

οἷα

Classical Greek, hoia, 1. this a particle used with causal participles to indicate the speaker's assertion of the cause

INSPIRING LEADERSHIP & 13 RULES OF LEADERSHIP-COLIN POWELL  *******Inspiring Leadership is a great motivational video for inspiring leaders.  I agreed with everything they said and the cartoonist injected some humor in the end which was nice.  I also enjoyed Colin Powell's quotes.  Every leader should practice his principles.*******

WORD OF THE DAY

VISAGE

• \VIZ-ij\ • noun

*1 : the face, countenance, or appearance of a person or sometimes an animal

2 : aspect, appearance

Example Sentence:

The model's fierce, smoldering visage appears to gaze with contempt from billboards throughout the city.

Did you know?

The word "face" may be a pretty generic word, but it has several high-flown synonyms. "Physiognomy," for instance, refers to facial features thought to reveal qualities of temperament or character ("I thought I could detect in his physiognomy a mind owning better qualities than his father ever possessed. . . ." -- Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights). "Countenance" is often used to refer to the face as an indication of mood or emotion ("Mina struggled hard to keep her brave countenance. . . ." -- Bram Stoker, Dracula). "Visage" can refer to the face of a person or an animal, and it can also refer to the appearance of nonliving things, as in "the dirty visage of the old abandoned factory."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

VISAGE-FADE TO GREY  *******I remember this song...I was a wee tyke, but I do recall doin' a couple of dances to it.  However, I DON'T remember this video!  Dude...the makeup!!!  Boy George had it like that, but seriously?  I watched this with my mouth open and my 7-year-old said, "Mom, who's the creepy guy?"  We weren't too pleased with his visage business, but to each his own! :)*******

Much to my chagrin, I quickly realized the level of rednecked-ness I have reached.  When I landed on the definition of 'Chichi' I found that not only was I mistaken in the pronunciation of the word, but also the meaning.  The dictionary.com word of the day is pronounced "shee-shee" and has nothing to do with female anatomy.

My question is this: how do you spell chichi when you are discussing the female anatomy?  Cheechee?

Choi Jin Shil 최진실 [Last Scandal] (Jin Shil means "TRUTH") and Kim Gu Ra 김구라  [Line-Up and known for his "mahk mahl" "loose/harsh talking"] (Gu Ra means "LIE") in a photo-shoot together for? hrmm... i dunno.

anyways... this is cute!

xoxo,

ginaunni

[Origin: 1905–10; < F]