Disport v. Enjoy oneself unrestrainedly; frolic. n. 1. Diversion from work or serious matters; recreation or amusement. 1.1 A pastime, game, or sport. “Disport” is an interesting change-up from the usual “amusement” words – “play,” “entertain,” “recreate,” etc. I think the key grammatical point is to remember that […]
Sententious adj. Trying to appear wise, intelligent, and important, in a way that is annoying. An arrogant, annoying individual may have an inflated sense of self or present as rather egotistical. Perhaps he is bombastic, pretentious, puffed up, or even turgid. There are many ways to describe such a […]
John “Jack” Holbrook Vance was born on 8/28/1916, just a little over one hundred years ago yesterday. “Who is Jack Holbrook Vance?” you may ask. Come, I will explain presently! The man named Jack Vance came from a moneyed family, but upon a turn of fortune was forced from youth […]
Back in the early summer of 2017, I wrote up what I’d describe as a weird reptileman-centric sword and planet tale and submitted to Cirsova magazine. Alex wound up with a slew of stories during that submission period and attained several issues worth of material. Well, the time has finally […]
I recently found another SF/F podcast that I’ve been digging – Reading, Short and Deep, by SFFAudio. Each episode (available online or through the Apple Podcasts app) consists of the reading of a short SFF work and then some insightful literary analysis and critique by hosts Eric Rabkin and Jesse […]
Tableau n. 1. A picture, as of a scene. 2. A picturesque grouping of persons or objects; a striking scene. 3. A representation of a picture, state, scene, etc., by one or more persons suitably costumed and posed. Not an especially obscure or difficult word, but “tableau” can add a bit of welcome variety to the “scene” or “picture” you may […]
If you spend a lot of time reading/watching the news or plumbing the depths of social media, you may feel like everything is going to crap. You may be feeling like it’s time to despair, or that things have reached an all-time low. And I’m not going to pen an […]
When you think “Weird Tales,” H.P. Lovecraft should spring immediately to mind. Even if you’re new to scifi/fantasy, or if you don’t read much horror, you’ve no doubt at least heard of the Master of Cosmic Horror and creator of Cthulhu. If you’re not a fan of the genre, you […]
Lapidary: n. Someone whose job is cutting and polishing stones, especially precious stones. adj. 1: Relating to the work of cutting and polishing stones, especially precious stones. 2: Clever but simple. The root of “lapidary” is obvious enough to classical language scholars – lapis, the Latin word for “stone. […]
Sybaritic adj. Fond of sensuous luxury or pleasure; self-indulgent. The Emperor , of the Emperor’s Notepad, suggested that it might be interesting to explore the origins of some of these words while we’re tossing them into the vault. “Sybaritic,” then, is an excellent starting place. Sybaris was a wealthy […]
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