AUG 31, objectionable adjectives: flaccid

Authors' Note: 

 flaccid (FLASS-id or FLAX-id): flabby or limp

You can review our editorially selected doggerel (sic verses) relating to 'Objectionable Adjectives' by clicking HERE.

 

AUG 30, limerick for classic language lovers: anachronistically

 

ANACHRONISTICALLY

Anachronistically, Horace

Checked his word-use in Roget's "Thesaurus",

While his poet-bud Ovid

Got a bad case of COVID

(These events occurred eons before us).

Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022

Authors' Note: 

bud: shortened form of the word buddy (friend)

Roman poets Horace and Ovid are discussed in other verses on this site.

Roget's "Thesaurus" was initially published in 1852, although it had been compiled much earlier, in 1805.

AUG 29, classic palindrome: Egad! an adage!

EGAD! An ADAGE

Max finds (Egad!) an adage a chore;

Likewise precepts and edicts a bore.

'Tho he's unenthused when it's

The time to pen tenets,

Mix a maxim? He crafts them galore.

"How I wish I'd explored this before."

Dr.G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022

It is unclear why Max finds the maxim more worthy of indulgence than the tenet; the latter, it is noted is a palindrome. And so are Egad! an adage, and Mix a maxim, delightful phrases that may be found in lists of classic palindromes.

AUG 28, planet-saving verse: summer air quality

 

Authors' Note: Although meat-eating is a practice that we personally have avoided for almost 20 years, we do accept that most people around us continue to indulge in this ancient tradition, appropriate to when the planet and our species were younger. We would not make you happy if we continued on a rant (kvetch = complaint) about this issue; we prefer to remain silent, and live and let live. Inhabiting a downtown neighborhood with very small urban lots has its limitations, and the smells and smoke of dinner being barbecued by our neighbors almost every summer evening is one of them. 

By the way, we and our partner continue to eat seafood and fish on occasion to ensure adequate protein intake, but one person in our immediate family is a true vegetarian (but not vegan). As you know, the terms to describe these eating patterns are complex and even misleading, but all non-meat-eaters would prefer that others keep their steak-smoke to themselves.    

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

AUG 27, organic brain poetry: frontal meningioma

FRONTAL MENINGIOMA

In the frontal lobes, meningioma

Presses on, slowly grows in its stroma.

Bizarre thoughts are expressed,

Vicious acts unredressed —

Symptoms med students learn pre-diploma.

Dr.G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022

Authors' Note: 

stroma: connective tissue that supports normal body structures and, on occasion, abnormal growths

Meningioma is a not-uncommon slowly growing benign tumor within the cranium. Pressure on adjacent portions of normal brain induce neurological symptoms. When the tumor is located in the frontal cortex, neuropsychiatric manifestations may include bizarre thoughts, frequently paranoid, and unrepressed behavior. Fortunately, the tumors, when suspected, are readily diagnosed on neuro-imaging studies, and surgical therapy is often curative.

Brain tumours account for only a small portion of patients suffering such neuropsychiatric symptoms; however, medical practitioners frequently hope that such a correctable cause may be discovered.

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."

AUG 26, a brief saga: Mar-a-lago (the dacha)

   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 multi-verse poem is shown here on the slide with its first verse. 

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga', back up to 'Grandpa Greg's Advanced Grammar: pluralia tantum'. 

  If you have enjoyed these verses on the theme of American political satire, you might like to proceed to view other items in our collection including:

- 'American satire: A Term of Endirement'

-  'Poetry and Pathos: Gun Control Verses' 

- 'The Fun with Impeachment Collection'

- 'political palindromes A through P' (click HERE to start)

  There are also some parody-song lyrics posted in 2019 and 2020, that you might like, including: 

- 'Brennan's Tweet'

- 'Rosenstein'- 'Kooky Presidential Views' 

- 'Jailhouse Now'

- 'Vlad Putin's Blogger'

- 'Indiana Song'

- 'Get Me Roger Stone', and 

- 'The Ballad of Giuliani', part I and part II.

AUG 25, American satire: archival

ARCHIVAL

"Here's my view," argued counsel archrival,

"Derived from my spreadsheet archival:

You have siphoned off treasures;

We'll reclaim them with measures

That warrant their longterm deprival."

Dr.G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022

See also the verses classified and FBIer.

AUG 24, patients and maladies: intermittent claudication

  You can view these verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Nurse-Verse: Patients and their Maladies' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

AUG 23, Canadiana: 'compassionate use'

 

You can review poems, pictures and diverse nonsense related to Canada on the post "Canadiana" on our full-service blog  "Edifying Nonsense".

AUG 22, funny bones: olecranon (elbow) fracture

Happy Birthday, MMH!!

Authors' Note:

funner: a neologism for 'fun-seeker', as used here; also, a disputed equivalent to the comparative expression 'more fun’

  The olecranon is the boney process (extension) of the forearm's ulna that extends into the elbow joint. Fractures of the olecranon are moderately common, due to direct trauma (fall on the elbow), but even more so due to indirect trauma (transmission of intense force with a fall on the outstretched hand). Owing to the proximity of the ulnar nerve, a broken funny bone may be associated with numbness and tingling extending into the fingers.

  Such injuries have bedevilled joggers and elite athletes, but recently have become more common with the popularity of personal electric transport devices. Surgical treatment is generally required for these fractures that often have displaced bone fragments. 

 You can view more than a dozen other verses on this topic in a wider context by proceeding to the post 'Breaking News: FUNNY BONES' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

(Or, if you prefer, you can find most of our blatherings on Facebook in Giorgio's photo albums.)

AUG 21, classic palindrome: dogma: I am God

 

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'.

AUG 20, Toronto oases (cultural): Harbourfront Centre

spectators watch the National Ballet Company of Canada,
Harbourfront Centre, Toronto,
August 2022

AUG 19, patients and their maladies: torsade de pointes

TORSADE DE POINTES

When your ECG's torsade de pointes,

QRS peaks may cycle and slant;

Q-T interval's wide

(And you well might have died);

Your heart tries to fly straight, but it can't.

Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022

Authors' Note: 

Torsade de pointes (tor-sad duh PWAnT), is an Anglo-French medical term for twisting of the peaks, named in 1966 by its French cardiologist discoverer. It is a pattern seen on the ECG (electrocardiogram), with 'twisting' or cycling of the height of the ventricular 'QRS' complexes, and is often associated with factors, inherited or acquired, that widen the 'Q-T' interval on the tracing. This pattern is associated with nasty ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death. If you are lucky, you have survived the initial episode and have correctable factors (e.g. electrolyte disorders, certain pharmaceuticals, etc.)

Flying straight is a casual metaphor associated with performing expected or routine function.

AUG 18, Italian loanwords: cicerone

 You can review our entire poetic outpouring about Italian loanwords by proceeding to a post on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'; click HERE.

If you prefer, you could view most of this topically arranged material on Facebook, in Giorgio's photo-albums. (About 20% of those offerings consist of political satire or adult limericks, and you will have to be a 'friend' of Giorgio's to view that stuff.)

Editors' Note: This blog has portrayed daily humour, entertainment and contemplation, focusing on the modalities of poetry, nature photography and computer art, for two and a half years. (That's almost 900 blogposts.) Unfortunately, that takes a lot of work, and so this stuff may be appearing irregularly and less frequently in the future. Owing to  a number of distractions, there will be less frequent original new posts from mid-August forward. My previously productive pseudonym, Giorgio, is currently undergoing relaxation therapy, and might resume his full creative activities at some future point.

  In the meantime, we will try to post more photos of interest, and fill in half of the days each month with reprises of previously published material. 

AUG 17, waterfowl: habitat restored (Crab Bank)

Heartfelt birthday wishes to RCH!

pelican take-off

 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'. 

If you prefer, you could view most of this topically arranged material on Facebook, in Giorgio's photo-albums. (About 20% of those offerings consist of political satire or adult limericks, and you will have to be a 'friend' of Giorgio's to view that stuff.)

AUG 16, toxic vignette: digitalis toxicity

 Review all our poems of toxicologic interest by clicking HERE.  

AUG 15, American satire: FBIer

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

AUG 14, STD-poetry: the 'gon-dom' and the condom

 

You can review verses on this topic in a wider context in a post on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" by proceeding to the post 'Ruination, Rumination and Reminiscence: STD-Poetry'. Click HERE. 

AUG 13, American satire: classified documents!

 This post is CLASSIFIED! (proper security clearance is required)

 We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

AUG 12, ecto-parasites: cat fleas

THE CAT FLEA (Ctenocephalides felis)

C. felis, its species, the cat flea:

Rented carpeted condo? Yes, that flea.

Former tenant's dog Will

Wore a flea-collar; still,

His tormentors remain as our flat flea.

 Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022

Authors' Note: (tee-no-seh-FA-li-deez FEE-luhs)

As discussed in our previous verse on fleas, our voracious protagonist, Ctenocephalides felis, is the chief ectoparasite inflicting misery on canines in North America. Unfortunately, its life-cycle — egg, larva, pupa, adult (the hopping wingless blood-sucker), can result in its persistence for up to a year in a warm environment, like the carpet in your rented flat (apartment). In the absence of its usual victims, the flea will consider humans as a predation target of secondary interest. Another piece of bad news is that, through longstanding attempts at control, the species is becoming resistant to insecticides.

AUG 11, palinku (poetic novelty): reliable transport

  (Ed. note:) Verses of this ilk have continued to accumulate. You can view them all at one swoop if you  proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

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

AUG 10, news-post: American satire -- taking the fifth

Today's news ...

 

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more dealing with  'American satire' in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.   Click HERE to start!  

AUG 9, limerick variations: ka-pow! (terminal exclamation!)

You can find lots of other verses on this blog under the rubric "Poets' Corner".  Most of them are in limerick format, and have been subjected to the editing process at OEDILF, the Online English Dictionary in Limerick Form. To access all the others, type the phrase Poets Corner into the searchline on this blogpost (at the top of the righthand navigation column).

AUG 8, reptiles: update on anole coloration

   During the first week of May, 2022, with spring seriously underway  in the Carolina Lowcountry, little lizards were out doing their thing in our yard (I presume that's hunting for insects, looking out for potential mates, and patrolling their territories to keep out intruders). 

  Harking back to previous reference on this site to anoles, I came across the following illustrated verses:

Carolina (green) anoles

brown anoles

anole coloration

'the Lizard Lair' 

  Events around our yard 'today' (May 3, i.e. taking down an old fence) made it a good day for further observations of green anoles and their remarkable penchant/ability to change colour, even though biologists insist that they are not true chameleons. 

'Ollie' the green anole,
looking greyish on old post

'Ollie', posing again, in our backyard,
on Ocala anise branch,
2 minutes later 

a different creature,
('Ollie's cousin?)
climbing down crepe myrtle,
few minutes later, 100 feet away

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".

AUG 7, pluralia tantum: 'dependent' -- cooking ingredients

 

Grandpa Greg asked us to pass on this message: "You can view the entire collection of verses about 'pluralia tantum' by clicking HERE."

AUG 6, death and the afterlife: dining in Heaven

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

AUG 5, mythed opportunities: dryads

 a small reforestation project,
 Port Bruce, Ontario, 2000.

AUG 4, wordplay map: renamed US state capitals (western)

We presume that there are others out there who have found that the names of the US state capital cities are a chore to remember. So, here's a practical application of wordplay with anagrams!

We might eventually do the eastern US states, so stay tuned (but be patient).

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

AUG 3, palinku (poetic novelty): evil

   In this post, we continue with a novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by Japanese haiku poetry, this new form is used for a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines. Unlike its classic Japanese analogue, this concoction does not mandate the precise distribution of the syllables among the three lines, but does stipulate that each word in the poem be included in a palindromic phrase or sentence in English (i.e. one that can be read either forwards or backwards). 

  To help the reader discern the origin of the lyrics, each palindrome (generally occupying one of the three lines of the poem) has been color-coded. 

(Ed. note:) Verses of this type have continued to accumulate, and there are now more than 50 of them. You can easily view them all  if you  proceed  to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

(Or, if your prefer, you can view all this material on Facebook  in Giorgio's photo-albums.)

AUG 2, neologism (personal): dyscoprotaxis (my favorite one)

Authors' Note:  Dyscoprotaxis is a neologism, indicating the failure to get the stuff of one's life in order, composed of the familiar Greek roots dys- (bad, impaired, failed), copro- (excrement), and -taxis (movement). The word is opposite in meaning to getting it together.

A few personal neologisms share the distinction of being targeted as the subject of verses on this blog. These include POTUSA, electile dysfunction, awarassment, DOGgraphy (diagnostic imaging), and pelicatessen (waterfowl).

Other personal neologisms have played a supportive role including critiquery, high-nasty, and pelfless. 

(Ed. Note:) To make this effort easier, we have now collected these neologistic verses in a collection on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense";  click HERE.