DEC 31, death and the afterlife: decease in the crease

Authors' Note: In hockey, an assist is recognition awarded to a player who passes the puck to the goal-scorer at a key point in play. A sudden death system for resolving the winner in games tied at the end of regulation play has generally been used in organized hockey since its inception. The (goal) crease is an area demarcated by colored ice directly in front of the goal line where the goalie (goalkeeper) is not to be interfered with by attackers.

Although professional hockey has been the undisputed domain of males, more and more women are participating in Canada's national sport as amateurs and international competitors.

 You can review more poems about 'Death and the Afterlife' in context ('death and the afterlife') on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

 

DEC 30, poetic Panama palindrome parody: 'if final ... Panama'

 

You can review the whole collection of our illustrated verses on this topic  by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Panama palindrome parodies' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

And, if you are interested in seeing innumerable examples of spoofy palindrome variants on wordplay maps, you could embark on a journey through a collection of  blogposts entitled 'Tourists' Palindromic Guides: The Americas, #1 -#4'. All that's needed is to click on the link.

DEC 29, curtained verse: orchestral pecking-order

 EDITORS' WARNING: You must be at least 12 years of age to read this post! 

Authors' Note: In casual speech, musicians in a symphony may be referred to by their rankings in their orchestral sections, as in "Flo, the first flute". 

 

You can review other mildly scurrilous illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Curtained verse: Faintly Obscene (Selected) Limericks' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

DEC 28, patients and maladies: non-tumorous '-oma's,

Authors' Note:   Well, yes.

  With advancing age, life becomes a minefield of unexpected diseases; for several of these, the suffix -oma, implying growth or swelling, is used although an underlying neoplastic process is not present.

  In the elderly, subdural hematomas or intracranial bleeds (within the envelope of membranes surrounding the brain) may occur with minimal trauma or even spontaneously, particularly if anticoagulants have been used. 

  The patchy process of atherosclerosis may involves the left main coronary artery or its major division, the left anterior descending artery. In such cases, sudden clotting with blockage of the artery may occur at the site of atheroma, and cause a severe heart attack with cardiac arrest, a major cause of sudden death in the middle-aged and elderly population.

  This verse is a companion piece to others by the author dealing with malignant tumors and benign tumors; these are found in the collection of 'Oncologic Verses'.

You can catch other instances of Dr. G.H.'s explanation of medical terminology on posts on this daily blog:

 HERE, re malignant tumors (-omas),

 HERE, re benign tumors (-omas)

Or, you can review the entire collection of poems about 'Patients and their Maladies' on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.  

DEC 27, binomial phrases: fossil words and expressions

Authors' Note:   The concept of fossil words derives from the fact that dozens of obsolete and obscure words, e.g. betwixt, retain currency only as a part of idioms whose use has continued into modern times.

  This verse serves as a companion-piece to 'binomial expressions'. More examples of fossil words retained in some binomial expressions are given in the verse hem and haw.

To review the poetic effusion that we have accumulated about binomial phrases, proceed to our blog "Edifying Nonsense", and enjoy the post  'Grandpa Greg's Grammar: Binomial Expressions'. Click HERE ! (Or, if you prefer, you could look over this stuff on Giorgio's Facebook photo-albums.) 

There is also an entire collection of lyrics to patter songs, somewhat older material, dedicated to various kinds of binomials, that provides more didactic material and an extensive series of examples, and allows you to sing these expressions for your own enjoyment, or for that of others around you. Click HERE !

DEC 26, reptiles: geckos (on ceiling)

Authors' Note: A profusion of tiny setae (filament-hairs) on the lizards' palm-pads, as shown by electron microscopy, explain the gecko's unusual gravity-defying mobility.

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Uprooted verse: Limericks about Reptiles on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

DEC 25, personal and family history: a brief personal bio xxxxxxxxxxxxx Nate

That's my older brother in 1945 holding Dad's photo;
  (lower left). I wasn't quite on the scene, yet!

Mom and Dad with their offspring,
50th anniversary celebration

Update:

seasonal gourmet feast, 2021:
 (a dual-mode family celebration)
Xmas lunch in the Carolina lowcountry

DEC 24, classic palindrome: 'a Santa at NASA'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TROOPER, WHEREVER YOU ARE!

AND

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Limericks About Classic Palindromes' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. 

seasonal scene pre -Xmas:
office lobby in Toronto 

DEC 23, variant Nantucket limerick: zoophile from Nanoose

 Such adventures show etiquette loose.

Authors' Note: You can find another daily offering on this blog dealing with zoophilia by clicking HERE.

Or, you could review our entire collection of spoof verses based on the iconic Nantucket limericks on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense' by clicking HERE.
 

DEC 22, planet-saving verse: shorebird council's demand

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. 

ruddy turnstone at a narrow Carolina beach-strip
 littered with oyster-shells. This bird is a long distance migrator, roosting in the high Arctic.

shorebird, seen near Toronto lakeshore: killdeer?

turnstones (running), and oystercatcher

You can help save the planet by viewing all our verses in this series at "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

DEC 21, Carolina lowcountry: delicious December days

 Editor's Note: As old age and aversion to cold weather have descended, we spend time whenever we can in the Carolina low-country. It is a cliché to say that winter is shorter in more southerly places, but that sometimes means that there are days when winter rages back in central Canada, but is not in evidence down here in lotus-land. On this particular day we learned from our weather-app that it would be snowy back home in Toronto, but would be a short-sleeve day in coastal Carolina.

Note the mid-day temperatures in Toronto and Charleston, South Carolina

The boardwalk takes you past the trawlers at Shem Creek, Mt. Pleasant, SC

Pelicans perched at creekside awaiting the returning fishers

Tranquility near the center of suburban action

Setting up for a community-center wedding with a harbor view

\

Grillwork fence with wisteria seedpods and a view of a 'sea' of jonquils 

Geometric restored oyster-bed at the Pitt St. Bridge park,
Arthur Ravenel Bridge in background 

American white ibises in the marsh

white ibis in flight

cormorants on dock

seasonal decor at the beach

toothpick grasshopper on papyrus leaf

pizza delivery boxes in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina,

touting service to 'the Lowcountry'

DEC 20, toxic vignette: chelation

Authors' Note:

(KEE-layt) / (kee-LAY-shun) Treatment with chelates or chelating agents, has several well-recognized uses in medicine. These include removal of toxic metals from the body, e.g. lead in cases of acute or chronic poisoning, and treatment of iron overload in patients who have received repeated blood transfusions to treat their chronic anemias. The search for drugs of this type which are safer and easier to use is ongoing.
    
Review all our poems of toxicologic interest by clicking HERE. 

 

DEC 19, non-sequitur: the charity auction

 Our collection of 'Non-Sequiturs' on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense", contains an admittedly bizarre assortment of nonsensical odds-and-ends, that don't quite fit into other topic-based offerings. But should you want to review the entire collection, click HERE.

DEC 18, limerick for language-lovers: Hebrew

Authors' Note: In its earlier versions, the Hebrew alphabet was a pure abjad, or consonantary, with over twenty consonants, but no vowel sounds. The modern script used today has five symbols which may assist in the vocalization of vowels. In certain specific usages (poetry, teaching children, studying ancient texts, books of prayer used in the diaspora), a system of diacritic marks under the letters indicates the standardized vowel sounds. Without them, as in the majority of informal printed texts and in handwriting, you have to know some grammar, and have a moderate vocabulary of root words (often consisting of three consonants) to solve the meaning.   

 

web-illustration

To review all of our output on the topic of classic languages, go to our encyclopedic compendium, "Edifying Nonsense"; click HERE !

DEC 17, reprehensible modern history: Turco-Italian war

 

View the entire collection of poetic assertions on this topic (currently small, but growing) at our more encyclopedic blog 'Edifying Nonsense', by clicking HERE.