Who knows this word?

FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION

From Wikipedia: is the act of describing something as worthless, or making something to be worthless by deprecation.

With 29 letters and 12 syllables, it is the longest non-technical word in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which presents it as "enumerated in a well-known rule from the Eton Latin Grammar." The OED dates its first use in literature at 1741 in William Shenstone's Works in Prose and Verse: "I loved him for nothing so much as his flocci-nauci-nihili-pili-fication of money." In recent years, the word has been used in many scholarly articles in philosophy.

Though the OED gives no specifics on its derivation, the word is said to have been invented as an erudite joke by a student of Eton College, who, upon consulting a Latin textbook, found four ways of saying "don't care" and combined them:

• flocci facere (from floccus, -i a wisp or piece of wool)
• nauci facere (from naucum, -i a trifle)
• nihili facere (from nihil, -i nothing; something valueless (lit. "not even a thread" from ni+hilum)) Example being: "nihilism"
• pili facere (from pilus, -i a hair; a bit or a whit; something small and insignificant)

Try using it in Scrabble!

Check this out...cut and paste and you're golden...

Barak and Basketball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Lqm5emQl4
First USofA Prez to be a b-ball player. Go Obama!

Funny stuff out here in the middle of nowhere...

I found this in the 50% off bin at the local Dollar General:

I can't really beat five and a HALF rolls for .50 cents. Can you?

And do you think the folks at this dead end really need notice?

Yeah so...well, ummmm...

We've got snow! What? Yeah, no way! Yes way.

Hello, it's October 21st, what the....

I'm in the Middle of Nowhere! OR: Is it just a Warped Dimension?

News bulletin as reported in the school's daily email, "Alfred Today":

Hunting Season is Upon Us - Use Caution

Hunting season is now upon us in Western New York. The first season begins Saturday, Oct. 18 this year (sunrise to sunset), and the final season is over on Dec. 16.

Please be very careful if you decide to walk in any wooded area during this time. If you do, wear blaze orange or some other very bright color. If you see a POSTED sign, get the landowner's permission to enter or you could be fined for trespassing.

Hunting is not allowed on Alfred University property which includes the woods behind the campus and around Foster Lake.

(This is so foreign to me. Why is hunting considered by some to be a good sport? Why do so many VPs and VP candidates go hunting? What would happen if Cheney and Palin met in the woods? If you want to see one possible out come look up: Vice President Aaron Burr.)

Adventures Just Outside of Alfred

So, I and two friends went to this place called Pollywogg Holler. If you got rid of all the sleezy drunk slime men and the few drunk trashy women the place has a lot of potential. But, whoa the amount of too-old-to-be-getting-that-drunk folks that were there yesterday really put a damper on all the potential this place has. Maybe it was just that particular night that attracted the riff-raff. Still worth a visit though, and the pizza wasn't half bad. I'll keep my eye on it and hope to go back when a different crowd might abound.

This beauty was alongside the main trail.

It was in what seemed to be a sculpture graveyard.

One of the rooms for rent.

More pretty forest.

Overall, it's a strange and interesting place (sans the drunkards),
with tasty sweet berry wines, and a friendly young cow to boot!

(More pictures will soon be on my Facebook profile soon.)

I was thinking...

if I perfect my wink, could I run for VP too?

Alfred Is Making Me Crazy...

But maybe it's a good thing. You decide....

Studio "shots" from, Saturday, October 11th, 2008.

Part of what I sent my family...

and probably also pertinent to other folks I know, therefore this posting here. Unfortunately, it probably is a useful & necessary "house cleaning" to do at least once per year....

Just maybe, perhaps...maybe...uh, next year will be different, but since I'm human (at least I'm still under this impression) it probably won't be the case. So without further adieu (both literally and figuratively):

I want to truly and sincerely ask all of you for your forgiveness for any transgressions, conscious or otherwise, that I may have crossed you with during this last year. It is never my ultimate attempt to anger and/or hurt you, although I know at times I may have said or done things that did/do hurt and/or anger you, please forgive me for any and all ways I have erred this past year (and truly for all the years before this one) that directly and/or indirectly effected you. May I have learned and continue to learn from my mistakes this past year and improve upon my interpersonal relationships in the coming one. People and my relationships with them are very important to me and I hope to leave this world with a clean street so to speak. It is my hope that I never hurt anyone to begin with and certainly never beyond repair. Please forgive me for any and all indiscretions on my part.

May we all be transcribed in the "good book", whatever that may be...and yes, I'll ask for repentance next year about using the computer on this day.

Sheesh, am I hungry.

Special Student Thoughts:

So being back in school is a combination of: creating, doubting, creating, getting stuck, rethinking it all (and life), making more work anyway, questioning, distracting oneself with self-guided tours (snooping) in the studio, hitting up the thrift stores, acquiring unnecessary crap at rummage sales, making more work, more self-doubt, excitement, developing ideas, creativity, watching cool people create cool things, observing amazing firings, making new friends, watching a bit too much of television, watching a bit too little of the leaves changing, getting to the studio, getting stumped at the studio, creating, getting dirty, making order, making decisions, worrying about the next round of school, making contacts, learning, growing, changing, and creating all the while trying to maintain my identity and develop it further towards the person I want to be.

Here's my first finished piece at Alfred:

The piece is yet to be titled, the background square is 12" x 12", and the materials are clay and electrical tape. Nu?

She's the best the 'pubes could do?!?

ROLL CALL

Anyone reading this?