Being part the 12th of an irregular series of selections from the Word Lover’s Dictionary: Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words by Josefa Heifetz (New York: Carol Publishing, 1974, 1994, ISBN: 0806517204). For beginning entries in this series, please see Part 1 and Part 2. If you want to find all posts in the series, search on the title "Will Geek for Words" on this site. Eventually I add them to the sidebar listing. Part 12 encompasses the letter "O" words and their definitions. And, yes, I am using "geek" in the older carny definition of a sideshow actor who typically bit the heads off chickens at the culmination of his act. I love words in a very, very special way. Don't I have a charming and sophisticated way of showing it? (No chickens were harmed in the assembly of this post.)

No kickbacks are involved and this is not a promotional stunt. I am not paid to plug this book yet here I am, mentioning it at the top of each of these posts and linking to the Amazon page for it. I am still half-expecting and awaiting a "cease and desist" letter from their lawyers. As the saying goes: So sue me. I'm sure it's "fair use" to include excerpted selections in a non-commercial venture. Did I mention that I'm poor? I seem to have avoided such action so far. Perhaps I will reach the end without incident.

• oakum, n.: unraveled rope used for caulking.
• oblation, n.: 1. a non-living religious sacrifice. 2. a church ante for support of the clergy or poor parishioners.
• oblectation, n.: delight, pleasure.
• obliviscence, n.: forgetfulness.
• obmutescent, adj.: becoming or remaining silent.
• obrogate, v.t.: to modify or repeal [a law] by passing a new one.
• obtenebrate, v.t.: to darken, as by shadow; obumbrate.
• odynophobia, n.: fear of pain.
• olamic, adj.: infinite, eternal.
• olid, adj.: fetid, stinking.
• omnist, n.: one who believes in all religions.
• oneirataxia, n.: inability to differentiate between fantasy and reality.
• onolatry, n.: ass-worship.
• onomasticon, n.: a dictionary, lexicon; a list of proper names. onomastic, n. a lexicographer. -adj. 1. pertaining to an onomasticon. 2. pertaining to the signature of a person who did not write the document she signed, opposite of holographic.
• ontology, n.: a metaphysical system dealing with essential properties of nature and being.
• opacate, v.t.: to make opaque; to darken.
• ophiology, n.: the study of snakes. ophic, adj. pertaining to snakes.
• orotund, adj.: 1. pertaining to vocal clarity and strength. 2. pertaining to a pompous writing or speaking style. -n. an orotund voice.
• orthobiosis, n.: hygentic, moral, and allegedly "normal" living.
• orthophobia, n.: dislike of propriety.
• osculant, adj.: embracing, clinging, kissing.
• ossature, n.: 1. skeleton. 2. architectural framework.
• otiant, adj.: dormant; unemployed.
• oubliette, n.: a dungeon whose only opening is in the ceiling.
• outlier, n.: 1. someone sleeping outdoors. 2. someone whose office is not at home. 3. an animal who strays from the fold. 4. something that has been separated from the main body.
• outrecuidance, n.: egomania; gross conceit.
• ovine, adj.: sheeplike. -n. a sheep.
• oxyesthesia, n.: extreme sensitivity to touch.
• oxygeusis, n.: extreme sensitivity to taste.

I've only made two posts in the entire month of July. This is serious. Someone will revoke my blogging license if I'm not careful to keep up my quota. I've also noticed that as other projects occupy me, my posts here have become less politically oriented and more typically diarist or fluffy. Um, not to say diarist bloggers are fluffy or without value. (my foot-in-mouth disease.)

I recently made some notes for a series of fiction pieces about a wandering Anarchist who visits communities and finds Anarchistic solutions to problems. Small-scale Anarchist solutions as opposed to large government solutions. Note that I'm referring to Anarchism with a capital A to denote the political philosophy rather than the popular perception of anarchy being equivalent to chaos and violence. I don't know if I'll ever actually write them but it's an amusing idea.

My NOLA trip has been postponed due to illness but I'm in the process of rescheduling it.

And a Monday Random Ten Songs to round things out.

1. Baby Stick Around, Joe Jackson
2. Slide Machine, 13th Floor Elevators
3. One of These Things First, Nick Drake
4. Between the Bars, Elliott Smith
5. Return of the Phantom Stranger, Rob Zombie
6. We Come in Peace, Bobby Conn & the Glass Gypsies
7. Hey, Good Lookin', Dave Edmunds
8. I Shot My Manager, Gruppo Sportivo
9. The Dark is Riding, Murcury Rev
10. Mama, I Got a Brand New Thing, Undisputed Truth

Bonus Track: Foxhole, Television

I will be heading down to New Orleans soon to visit family. I hope to be able to post some photos and entries while I'm down there. I'm trying to edge in before hurricane season begins in earnest. Yeah, I know they say the hurricane season begins in June but I've rarely heard of them hitting NOLA much before the 15th of August. I'm sure there have been exceptions but that's my general rule of thumb.

I really need to swear off the naming of these posts apropos of nothing at all. This is not about the end of the world, Norse style.

But the question is: What is it about? All the FAQing work has wrung me out. I admit I haven't read another blog in weeks, perhaps over a month. I'm sorely out of touch with the blogosphere. Maybe I can ease into it with a couple of mentions of books I'm reading.

Not in Front of the Children: "Indecency", Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth by Marjorie Heins is a fascinating read about the battle to "protect" young people from, well, just about everything, but sexual content and information in particular. Other people might be bored with the details of court cases but I'm loving it. Ms. Heins makes it relevant and puts the shifting targets of "obscenity" and "indecency" into perspective. The "evolution" of censorship in the USA is fascinating to me. I only spent a few months traveling in Europe in 1979 and have never been back but it made clear to me how very, very prissy Americans are about nudity and sexual subjects in general. And when it comes to children, watch out! We want to protect them from everything. Is it any wonder that they have no inkling or understanding of how to develop mature sexual decision-making when they hit adolescence?

If you are American and you think we have all sorts of frank talk about sex, I must politely disagree. Most of what is in the mainstream is titillation and innuendo rather than serious discussion. Think of the brouhaha over the brief glimpse of Janet Jackson's breast on national TV. Many Americans act like nudity is a form of psychic violence, a incitement to destroy all morals and to engage in acts of random sexual activity. If anything, we engage in pathologizing sexual feelings.

Thus endeth the rant.