Boring Words Need Not Apply...

Greetings! i write with a sadness in my heart, because i am finishing the last of a precious jar of nutella, given to me at christmas by my father. goodbye, sweet hazelnutty chocolatey delight. sigh...
anyway, last night i began another Diana Wynne Jones book, A Sudden Wild Magic...which is an easy and enjoyable read, but after several pages i realized that i was going to have to look up some vocab words! interesting ones, the kind that one would tape to one's wall from a word-of-the-day calendar, because one would hate to forget them! there's a lengthy list, but i figured i could share it with you (Definitions are taken from The American Heritage College dic-tion-ar-y):

1. gamboge: a stronge reddish yellow
2. harridan: a woman regarded as scolding and vicious
3. hieratic: of or associated with sacred persons or offices; sacerdotal [bonus word!]
4. interstice: a space, esp. a small narrow one, between things or parts
5. sigil: a sign or an image considered magical
6. spavined: marked by damage, deterioration, or ruin
7. speculum: a mirror or polished metal plate used as a reflector in optical instruments
8. condign: deserved; adequate
9. cloaca: a sewer or latrine
10. chuff: a rude, insensitive person; a boor

And here is a completely random poem i wrote at the coffeeshop today...because we sure do get alot of interesting folks there...not to mention some who come to the door of my house sometimes. last night christi gave a woman some bananas, because she got home right after i'd said, "um...no, sorry...don't have anything..." and before the lady had found the next house. if i give, it's out of guilt and unhappily. a little-or a lot-skeptically and resentfully. blugh. anyway, without further ado:

This beggar beggared description:
Nose like a shrivelled slug, gray eyes agog,
Accompanied by friendly, faithful dog,
Flea-bitten, not ashamed, not shy.
Back to beggar: nervous, talked of rain
(Though clouds were hidden) and a train
He'd taken last December, in a car
With woolly, warm companions. Travelled far,
Those sheep (now slaughtered--I know, he will not)--
He's worried for them--summer, hot,
And wool so...insulating. Mine is packed
Away--today I'm wearing hot pink shorts,
While he's in flannel--and a cap, of course--
All he has, all weather-worn,
One sleeve gone missing, every seam is torn.
Eyes bright, though, with some kind of future hope.
"A place to stay the night?" "Well...yes and nope.
No plans, but I'll find something, just you watch."
The dog ran circles while its master coughed,
And guiltily, this time I walked away.
I'll give him something, sure...some other day.