Word Wednesday - Pettifog

pettifog \ PET-ee-fog \  , verb;
1.To bicker or quibble over trifles or unimportant matters.
2.To carry on a petty, shifty, or unethical law business.
3.To practice chicanery of any sort.

Pettifog - While I understand your limited interest, don't pettifog all day. It is unbecoming.

Sunday Coffee Cup - The Wife's Mug

Share and share alike? Ha!

I don’t know about other men, but around my house I do exactly what I want to do (wait for it), just as soon as I find out from my wife what I want to do.

Honestly, my wife runs the home. She always has. I like it that way (repeats to self – “I like it that way”). It works. She has control of the entire house. I get to control the top of my dresser… and the nightstand by my quarter of the bed. Sound fair, doesn’t it? We most things by the proven mantra: “What’s hers is hers and what’s mine is hers too.”
Then there are the coffee mugs (pretty good transition if I do say so myself). I have full run of Sunday Coffee Cup choices. The entirety of the cupboard is my kingdom – except for two specific mugs. Today’s coffee cup is stolen, swiped, hijacked even, from the wife’s forbidden coffee ware.

 So, you can see I’m living on the edge today, taking a walk on the wild side, playing with fire, crushing the boundaries and putting it all on the line. Ha! Devil be dared!  I’m claiming my manhood and the full domain of my dwelling. This is my house!

Well, I have to go. There is just enough time to finish my coffee, wash and dry the mug and place it carefully back in the cabinet before I leave to meet my dear, loving and kind wife for lunch.

Shhhhhh.  You won’t tell, right?

Word Wednesday - ad rem

ad rem \ ad REM \  , adverb, adjective;
1.Without digressing; in a straightforward manner.

ad rem - adding no remnants of over used slogans or rhetoric, he composed a well crafted ad rem response.

Happy Facebook Monday!

Image via Jim Hunt
https://www.facebook.com/huntcartoons?sk=wall

Sunday Coffee Cup - Crabby Mother

Some people are kind of crabby first thing in the morning. I remember my mother was (well, still is) one of those people. While most of the time my mother was one of the kindest, patient and loving people you would ever meet – not before she had had her morning coffee and cigarette.  The creature that preceded her caffeinated self was the very definition of “not a morning person." So ominous was her uncharacteristically grumpy self that my older brother got in the habit of perking the coffee for her each morning in hopes of hastening the process of her transformation to our loving mom.

Today’s Sunday Coffee Cup comes to us courtesy of my youngest step-daughter.   She returned from a beach trip one summer with this gift.

Although I pretty sure it was simply the obligatory gift for her mother (yes I did just say that), I have enjoyed it over the years as a reminder of my own mother’s Jeckle and Hyde morning coffee transformation – it makes me smile.

Inside Looking Out - Charleston, SC

TEDx at Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, NC

I have my reserved space! I registered today online for the February 25th TEDx right here in Winston Salem! TEDx,

What's TEDx? Well, directly from the TEDx website, "TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives." TEDx is a locally sponsored version of the event.

If you want to join me (and all the really erudite and cool people of the Triad, NC), you can register here: TEDx Wake Forest University. You can catch more on Twitter @TEDxWakeForestU

Word Wednesday - Vilipend

vilipend   \ vil-UH-pend \  , verb;
1.To regard or treat as of little value or account.
2.To vilify; depreciate.

Vilipend - He was the worse of chauvinistic villains, taking ever opportunity to vilipend women!

Sunday Coffee Cup – The Good Stuff

I remember clearly as a child, that I had two kinds of shoes: my everyday shoes and my Sunday shoes. The Sunday shoes were the ones I wore to church each week and to any special ‘dress up’ occasions. I suspect we all have special shoes or other items that see use only at certain times – dishes, for instance. On a normal day we go to the cabinet and grab any old plate, bowl or cup. On special days, we get out the good stuff – silver flatware, china plates and even cloth napkins.

I was no more than 11 and spending the day down the road playing at a friend’s home. It was getting late and near suppertime. My friend’s mother asked if I wanted to stay for dinner, and I declined. When she asked why I told her, “I’d better go home for dinner. Mom’s planning something special – she’s using cloth napkins and everything!” My mother loves to tell this story, because she was in fact, not planning anything special. She has always enjoyed the simple pleasures of life and believes that from time to time we should bring out the good stuff – just because - and enjoy it ourselves. That brings us to today’s Sunday Coffee Cup.

Allow me to introduce you to our wedding china. Today I’m having coffee with “the good stuff” and by that I mean more than the good china. I’m sipping wedding memories and sacred thoughts about love, marriage and the most wonderful woman I know – my wife. That makes for a fine cup of coffee.

What Our Tweets REALLY Mean

After a few years of using Twitter, I think I’ve discovered a secret code. What Our Tweets REALLY Say!

The Tweet We Send	What We REALLY Mean
@lesseraccount Thanks for the RT!	“Your suck-up has been duly noted. Get back in line”
@godlyaccount Thanks for the RT!	“OMG! You noticed me… please, please do it again. Please!”
@newaccount Thanks for the follow	“Yes. I know you worship me. Get back in line”
@Celebrity Thanks for the follow	“LOOK AT ME!!! I’m somebody now!”
RT @you @somebody2 @somebody3 @afriend #FF people	“I do this for you, but I better get some followers and you owe me”
#FF @godlyaccount because they are the bomb, funny and can walk on water	“Yes. I’m sucking up. Getting back in line now.”
#FF @lesseraccount because they are new to twitter, cute and funny	“Ok. Charity done. I pray that they will remember this tweet if they become @godlyaccount”
“A clever, touching, cute quote” – Famous Person	“I can’t really be bothered to think for myself at this moment, but see how smart I am to find good quotes? Follow me now!”
RT @someone “A clever, touching cute quote” – Famous Person	"I can’t even be bothered to source by own quotes, much less create something original. I’m in line."
Current Blog title with LINK	"I've written something and I’m begging you to read it…heck you don’t have to read it just RT it or click on the link. Come on little statistics grow!"
RT of a RT of your Tweet	"Look! Somebody thought I was clever. I’m so clever! What a clever one am I!"
@someone LOOK! This is amazing w/ LINK to something you’re selling	"I’m a SPAMMER"

Should You Be Writing Right Now?

Sunday Coffee Cup - BEM Interactive

If you have ever purchased promotional products, you know the horror of printing it wrong. Some time in the past, my employer had some new coffee cups printed. It was an exciting time because the company had just re-branded. After years of being known as Beyond Email, the brand had come to need a makeover and became BĒM (note the symbol over the E) - pronounced BEAM.

So the coffee cups were printed, sporting the new name and the bright green and charcoal colors and delivered - only to discover that the little ¯ over the E was missing. The error was corrected by the printing company and new mugs sent over. Then the misfit mugs were assigned residence in the office cupboard to be used internally by the staff. Enter today's coffee mug.

I was new to the company and wanted to take a mug home to give to my wife. Hey - I'm proud of where I work. It made sense to me to take one of the misfit mugs and save the 'good' ones for our clients. However, the owner of the company intervened and insisted I not only take my wife one of the good mugs, but that I take her one packaged in a clear box with green confetti and M&Ms.

It was a small gesture, but it meant a lot. In a small way she was saying - you and your family are worth more, valued, and I want you to know it.

Today and every time I find this cup at my morning table, I am reminded of that small - but significant - act of affirmation. Sometimes, we are at our best in the small things.

Myrtle Beach Ahhhhh!

I was here Thursday and it was 75 degrees and clear!

Word Wednesday - Birr

birr \bur\, noun:
1. Force; energy; vigor.
2. Emphasis in statement, speech, etc.
3. A whirring sound.

Birr - "What's that birr?" she asked with a birr.