Gorp – Wordplay Wednesday™ 12/20/17

Mixing it Up for the Holidays 

This week’s Wordplay Wednesday is not for the Scrooges of the world. Offered for your Holiday enjoyment … it’s Christmas!

Let’s spark some merriment and tweak the story of Santa Claus, with a twinkle in the eye, plate of milk, and cookies by the tree.

Oh, wait, there’s no time to bake or buy the cookies, and we’re out of milk! Hmmm, there must be something around here …

GORP (gôrp) n. trail mix. [And we’ll add a yummy hot toddy to take the chill off his whiskers; WW #143]

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, 

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there

I know, I know … poor substitute for soft-baked chocolate chip cookies and mustache-coating milk. Gorp is a mostly American term to describe a nutritious snack of good ol’ raisins and peanuts (for a healthier Santa), along with a little granola and dried fruit. Well, we could jazz it up with a few M&M’s. Mmmmmm …

After munching on gorp, of course, Santa’s only going to take a couple sips of the tummy warming Toddy … after all, we don’t want him to get a DUI while driving the sleigh around the world!

Fantasy mixed with fact has always been a part of life. From the myths and legends of ancient cultures, to the urbanization of modern tech tales. Try as you might, you can’t dampen the spirits of those who want to enjoy their cultural traditions. Even if they’re tweaked with gorp.

Engaging stories tinged with truth, permeate history. They’ve been re-told for centuries, with personal spins added—like switching cookies for gorp—to the delight of children in every culture. Santa Claus among the most endearing.

From St. Nicholas, to Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, to Santa Claus, traditions may differ, but the pleasure is universal.

No matter the name, the meaning is the same. Joy, generosity, laughter, and love. With a wink, a nod, and a whistle, Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Word Challenge: GORP. Munch, munch, crunch …  as you fit gorp into your week of traditional writing.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

'Til next time ... enjoy a wonderful "wordful" week … 

                       

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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Joie de vi vre – Wordplay Wednesday™ 12/13/17

Skating through the Holidays

Last week we perused the planning, organizing, and resolute demeanor of a telic person during Holiday festivities and into New Year’s goals.

This week, let’s cross the Pond to France, and explore the carefree folks who skate through it all, albeit at times, on thin ice …

JOIE DE VI VRE (zhwåd veʹvr’; French) n. – (the) joy of living; high spirits; exuberance, etc. [WW #142]

Ah, the language of romance. Being a ne’er-do-well, or at the very least, one who skates through life with nary a New Year’s goal in sight, never sounded so good.

Taken to the extreme, with no structure whatsoever, joie de vi vre can be as disastrous as the ultimate planner hampered by blinders.

It’s becoming increasingly apparent (to those without blinders, and those with even a little focus) that an old adage proves true once again: “Everything in moderation.”

If moderation were applied to every aspect of life, from business to diet and exercise, it’s a fair guess success would follow, with tempered joie de vi vre. 

However, we are human after all. The retail industry created the modern Holidays, which often result in excessive joie de vi vre or opposing telic abstinence. Rarely the two shall meet.

Word Challenge: JOIE DE VI VRE. May your Holidays be bubbly and effervescent, without excess, as you fit joie de vi vre into your week of spirited writing.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

'Til next time ... enjoy a wonderful "wordful" week … 

                       

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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Telic – Wordplay Wednesday™ 12/06/17

2018 is Nigh … Ready or Not!

Are you already preparing for 2018? Are you doing so with focused strides, or simply ambling through December 2017 to its fateful end?

There are benefits of both ways to a New Year transition. This week, let’s explore those with goals, if not firm resolutions, for a meaningful end to 2017 and the New Year’s beginning. You determined folks are …

TELIC (tēʹlik) adj. – directed toward an end, purposeful [WW #141]

Never leave anything to chance? Do you thrive on the details and envision your goals to their telic conclusion? Good luck with that. 

I’ve always tried to be detail-oriented and prefer to know the telic outcome of my plans. Ah, but as Robert Burns once opined in a poem,* “Best laid schemes of mice and men | Go often askew.” And I would add, telic women.

The Holidays are a telic person’s nightmare. They are fraught with interruptions, changes, and just plain hiccups of chance. Perhaps those who amble through life are more suited to Holidays. The rest of us should hibernate. 

Word Challenge: TELIC. Do your best during the Holidays to enjoy your moments of telic perfections, but be prepared with a Plan B,** as you fit telic into your week of resolute writing.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

'Til next time ... enjoy a wonderful "wordful" week … 

            

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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* Robert Burns’ 1785 poem, "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough,” as interpreted in modern English.

**For young’uns, LONG before there was a Plan B “emergency contraceptive,” we enjoyed the term for describing an alternate method of accomplishing something … rather counter-intuitive to the pill’s meaning … you might want to re-think what you’re doing that would require it. :-)

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