"Asks" used as a noun! Twice in one day!

                        Dutch iris in front of loropetalum, May, '18, Couchwood, Saline County

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As I come to the end of  another journal, I'll share what I thought was important, ironic, idiotic, or interesting enough to transcribe. Bud Kenny and Gin Hartnett will remember my compendium project that the writers group stifled. I haven’t stopped with the project, and it’s becoming a behemoth.

Twice in one day, I read sentences that used “asks” as a noun!!! The first time I read it, I chuckled. “The U. S. has turned over to China a “detailed list of asks . . .” It was from the state paper’s wire service. The second instance came online from Tom Perez, Democratic Party head. “Dear Patricia, I know this is a big ask, . . .”

Now and then, an unknown word (or phrase) will ricochet from the paper to my eyes. If I’m at the computer, I’ll immediately ask Cortana for the definition. Two such words were “eustress” – “a moderate or normal psychological stress interpreted as being beneficial for the experiencer.” (Bing) The other was “inimical” – “tending to obstruct or harm; unfriendly, hostile.” (Let me stop right now and add those to my compendium chapter, “Unknown words or phrases.”)

“My theology,” says Christopher Morley, “is that the universe was dictated but not signed.” This was the solution to the AD-G’s cryptoquote on May 3. It was a different perspective, a different way of envisioning creation. I jotted it down.

Another quote, this time from Walter E. Williams, a columnist in the AD-G, is this: “The worst kind of ignorance is not knowing just how ignorant we are.” (March 29) And one more, “Spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.” – Susan L. Taylor, a cryptoquote I DID NOT SOLVE. The next day’s puzzle, I DID unravel: “Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and this is where you renew your springs that never run dry.”—Pearl S. Buck

I also collect given names. The final page in the artsy journal from Tuesday Morning include these: Rumondale, Elgean, Tasha, Ohmod, Quatie, Cleamon, Evert, Fayerene, Reagin, Arshia, Wyndham, Griffyn, Rocco and Claretha.

This is also where I compose poems. Two of them follow:

CHANGING SEASONS -
No wind
this work week’s last
day. Cloudy, quiet—what
does it portend? Has turbulence
died down?

ROTEL & HOT SAUCE –
A sure
way to unclog
sinuses: Tabasco
into your olio of white
bean soup.

Finally, odd surnames and those ending with “-man” also get a place in my writings. Some of my best stories and chapters have been written using a word bank of surnames. Here are some last names in  the last pages of my journal: Freda, Noel, Arbiter, Pries, Wingrove, Snow, Tang, Kirtzman, Spies, Sleeper, Lehman, Seidman, Schulman, and Gilman.

Now to add this list to the compendium.

Happy rest-of-May to you all. (Or to all of you.)

                                                         Newest journal, gift of B. K.

c 2018, PL, d/b/a lovepat press, Benton AR U.S.A.