MAR 31, excursions: Oakland, CA

plaque at Heinold's Saloon, founded 1883,
Jack London Square

The saloon had been patronized by iconic American writers such as  Oakland resident Jack London and visiting guru Robert Louis Stevenson. 

statue at Lake Merritt,
evoking the aboriginal myth (Ohlone/Castanoan)
of a sea monster

In a recent rehabilitative project, Lake Merritt, landlocked during the period of development, has had its connection to  San Francisco Bay restored.

drum circle near lake Merritt

Australian teatree, planted in the first decade of the last century,
part of an arboretum function

black-capped night heron

Lake Merritt is claimed to be the US's first wildlife refuge.

a greater scaup, more or less

a great number of scaups and other waterfowl congregate at the lake

trail-break at the nearby Reinhardt Redwoods Park

 

a resident socializes with visitors

MAR 30, excursions: Berkeley, CA

 

Pictured at left, bottom row, is pride-of-Madeira, a beautiful, but invasive flowering shrub.

Mar 29, binomial phrases: 'birds and bees'

  Another alliterative example ...

Authors' Note:  Birds and bees is an alliterative binomial phrase used here in a euphemistic sense.  The counterintuitive fact that MENses are a female function could make this poem a companion-piece to the authors' verse on gender-neutral language.      

To review the poetic effusion that we have accumulated about binomial phrases, proceed to our blog "Edifying Nonsense", and check out the post  'Grandpa Greg's Grammar: Binomial Expressions'. Click HERE ! 

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 !

A personal INVITATION: Come along, and enjoy our upcoming trip to California, starting tomorrow !!!

MAR 28, mammalian wildlife: California sea lions

Ed. Note: This poem had initially been concocted with an upcoming trip to California in mind.

Authors' Note:  The California sea lion, Zalophus californianus, native of the west coast of North America, has increased in population considerably in recent years.  The marine mammal is sexually dimorphic, with males larger in size and having more commanding vocal abilities than the females. Both genders are larger and more socially active than the true 'earless' seals, which can move on land only by scooting on their bellies.

   Sea lions are highly intelligent, and positioning their front flippers, they can support themselves in a 'four-legged' walk; their ability to learn and perform tricks has given them a role as the (misnamed) 'circus seal'.

Follow-up note: As is often the case, e.g. with bears or raccoons, feeding wild animals can result in untoward behaviour. On our subsequent two-week visit to California in early April 2022, we saw no such disreputable behavior by sea lions (but it must be admitted that we saw no sea lions, although we certainly heard them barking, particularly around the piers at Monterey). 

You can review the whole collection of illustrated verses about mammals (both domestic and exotic) by checking out the more extensive post on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE !

any other date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, and select (by clicking) the month of your choice from 2020 or 2021. 

MAR 27, death and the afterlife: Will's last testament

 Author's Note:  Although the short forms 'Will' and 'Bill' may be casually interchanged as first names (short forms of ‘William’), the nouns 'will' (as in 'last will and testament') and 'bill' are generally used with more careful scrutiny. ‘Will’ and ‘testament’ being essentially synonyms, the expression is a prototypical example of the redundant binomial expressions that seem to be loved by lawyers.

 Subtle differences in the form of idioms may underwrite important differences in meaning. ‘At last’ and ‘at the last’ seem similar, but in fact their usage and meaning differs considerably.

 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!

Incidental photo:

 recently added signpost with directions for tourists ...

MAR 26, bar-fauna: at 'The Lizards' Lair'

BTW, should you ever need to log in directly to this blog, its simple address is...

daily.edifyingnonsense.com

(Just type that into your browser search-line.)

But, here you are for today, so welcome aboard!

 

And, here's a photo of the barkeep; he's a fence-lizard, and a little vignette about this species can be found HERE.

                                                                   

photo info: Images of the anole, the skink and the fence lizard were recently captured by G.C. on his i-phone7 camera. 

If you liked this submission, you might want to refer to our entire collection of verses about human and animal denizens of bars, pubs and other watering-holes. Click HERE.

MAR 25, to clot or not: atrial fibrillation

Authors' Note: Atrial fib, also abbreviated to a-fib or AF, is medical jargon for atrial fibrillation. Causes for AF include various heart and lung conditions, particularly valvular heart disease, but half of cases occur spontaneously.

AF may be symptomatic or not, and may be intermittent rather than sustained, particularly in its earlier phase. In any case, it is associated with the formation of clots in the atria of the heart, leading to an increased risk of brain stroke, caused by emboli.

To reduce the risk of stroke, patients with AF may be asked to take blood thinners for life.    

 

You can view these verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'To Clot, or Not to Clot' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

MAR 24, toxic vignette: moonshine whiskey

Authors' Note:  The toxic effects of illicit moonshine whiskey often result from the solder of car radiators, items that are conveniently incorporated into clandestine distilling equipment. Chronic kidney failure may be a delayed effect of repeated exposure to lead, cadmium and other heavy metals which leach into the brew from this source, allowing 'Whiskey Rick' and his ilk to escape responsibility for the most devastating effects of their concoctions. 
    

Review all our poems of toxicologic interest by clicking HERE.  

 

MAR 23, poetry of healthcare: treatment compliance

You can view these informative verses in a wider context by proceeding to the collection 'Poetry of Healthcare' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

MAR 22, organic brain poetry: non-organic versus organic (introduction)

Authors' Note:  A psychiatric workup for mental disorders starts with the separation of causality into two streams. In the first, brain function, thoughts and behavior may be altered by subtle or unusual manifestations of disease in body systems outside the brain — these are sometimes termed exogenous. In the second stream, manifestations are attributable to disorder of the brain itself (usually of unknown cause) in patterns reflective of neurosis, schizophrenia and depressive illness. In somewhat archaic, but still utilized descriptions, psychiatrists may refer to this distinction as indicating organic versus non-organic mental disorders. 

You can view and review all our verses on the topic of 'Organic Brain Poetry' by following this link to the encyclopedic collection on "Edifying Nonsense."

MAR 21, reptiles: anole pole-dancer (photo-collage)

 You can review photos and illustrated herpetologic verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Verses about Reptiles (don't worry -- no snakes)' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

MAR 20, Carolina lowcountry: the pelicatessen, revisited

The development of the term pelicatessen, and an insider view (photos and a poem) of a South Carolina venue providing this service were displayed on a previous post HERE. 

Yesterday, we were fortunate to perform a follow-up visit.  

customers waiting patiently for service

well, perhaps not that patiently ... 

fisher, working methodically to provide prompt service

customers do not always display their most polite behavior

a dispute between patrons

"Y'all come back again soon, now, y'heah?"

the ultimate 'pelicatessen'

pizza delivery boxes in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina,

touting service to 'the Lowcountry'

MAR 19, a brief saga: bequest

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

 For the purpose of this blog, a 'brief saga' is defined as a poem, usually narrative, but occasionally expository, that tell its story in at least 15 lines. Most commonly, the format involves three stanzas in limerick form, constituting a single submission to the online humor site 'Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form'. On the OEDILF site, rigorous standards for content and format proceed in a collaborative editing process that may take several weeks to over a year. 

  Generally, OEDILF has not been enormously welcoming of multi-verse submissions, but Giorgio Coniglio has persisted, and the OEDILF number for each accepted multiverse poem is shown here on the slide with its first verse. 

To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog, proceed to 'Anglo-Latin and -Greek'.

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga', back up to 'a gnat and a nit'

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your year and then month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the post of your choice.

MAR 18, culinary verse: barbecue (BBQ)

 

Here is another verse dealing with eating (or avoiding) meat. 

Find the collection of illustrated poems dealing with culinary issues on the post 'Culinary Verse' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!