Weight loss

Who wants to lose weight? I think I gained back those 5 (or 6 or maybe 12) pounds I lost last August, eating turkey, stuffing, homemade pumpkin pies, and all those Christmas cookies! My weakness is homemade baked goodies. I better quit making pies!

Time to get out my healthy eating tape and dust off my positive affirmations for building muscle and showing off a thin waist. I make my own self-hypnosis tapes from time to time. They have helped me achieve many of my goals, like losing the fear of public speaking, staying on a weight-loss program, enhancing my creativity, and increasing confidence.

The self-hypnosis tape helps me to stay motivated even when I can't really see the results. I know the scale has to change eventually if I keep eating healthily and exercising vigorously. Giving up and getting discouraged only ensures failure. It's not easy to lose weight, but people do it every week, one day at a time. It's persistence that matters, so let me go play that tape right now!

Florida Christmas

Florida Christmas. That's almost an oxymoron. Well, for Northerners it definitely is one!

It was raining here on Christmas. And we had a tornado watch in effect for most of the day.

The Christmas parade was last week. There were plenty of fire trucks, motorcycles, and clowns, including local politicians. Some of the marchers gave out candy, beaded necklaces and the most memorable of all, snowballs. They gave out snowballs at the Christmas Parade in Pinellas County Florida! They looked like the ice that forms in the freezer when it needs to be defrosted, but my son said it was not simply crushed ice. They must have added something the water to raise the melting point temperature, so they wouldn't melt immediately!

And a few nights ago we went to the Winter Campfire and Cookout for the cubscouts. We met at a farm where they raise Belgian horses and Jack Russel terriers. The campfire was blazing. The air temperature was close to 80 degrees. We gathered around the campfire (not too closely) and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and drank hot chocolate. We sang Christmas carols in a wagon drawn by 2 Belgian horses.

In Florida, we do everything they do up north, except it's much warmer. And we only have snow at parades and ice skating rinks. Yes, we have ice skating here. You can ice skate at the mall! The mall is air conditioned and it's coldest near the rink. It's a really refreshing activity, especially in July!

Also, the day before Christmas Eve, I went to the beach. Two days before Christmas and I went to the beach! It was a little cloudy, But about 75 degrees. I saw some kids swimming. I myself, bravely dipped my feet in the water. It wasn't ice cold. The beach wasn't crowded, so it was a great day for the beach. I figure the other Florida residents were at the mall, probably shopping, not even ice skating!

Oxy moron. Extra Strength idiot? No! My unabridged dictionary tells me it is from Greek, Oxy means sharp and Moron means dull. So it is an oxymoron, a combination of opposite or contradictory terms.

Melliflous

Mellifluous, a lovely sounding word, means flowing sweetly and smoothly, said of words and sounds, which means the same as mellifluent, but sounds better, doesn't it?

These are related to Melliloquent, which is related to eloquent, but sweeter.

These are from Latin, melli, which means honey and loquens, to speak.

The opposite of melliflous is cacophonous, having a harsh sound. This is related to Cacophony, a combination of discordant sounds, disagreeable words which contain harsh letters or syllables. These are from Greek, caco, which is bad and phone, which is sound!

Thus ends our lesson for the day.

Melli Kilikimaka! That's Hawaiian for Merry Christmas! According to a song by Bing Crosby...

Sycophant

I read an interesting word yesterday, sycophant, in reference to some of President Bush’s aides and advisors. This word comes from Greek, I guess, because of the PH and the use of Y as a vowel. My dictionary tells me this is so, and the Greek words that comprise it, mean “fig shower.” Maybe if you shower someone with figs or gifts, it is a sign of flattery, since sycophant now means a servile person who flatters important people for self-advancement.

Also, I looked up “pizzazz” in my Unabridged Dictionary, which states that the word probably came from a sound which is uttered when excited or energized.

Exuberant

“Resistance is futile.” It’s a beautiful saying, promoted by the Borg in Star Trek: Voyager. The one with the female captain. I love it. It’s just so fatalistic.

Everyone is resistant at times. I think all teenagers are resistant. And many of my clients tell me about this part of themselves which is not going along with what is best for them. I always recommend affirmations as self-hypnotic suggestions, but for the Confirmed Skeptics, I recommend reverse affirmations. The brain doesn’t process the NOT’s so you can absolutely believe what you are saying, while sending the opposite message to your brain!

So in order to take advantage of your resistance and make it work for you, here are some sample affirmations:
I’m not organized. I’m not powerful. I’m not triumphant. I never succeed. I never smile. My life isn't easy. Wonderful things never happen to me. I don’t want to be happy. I‘m not exuberant. (another great word, from Latin, meaning enthusiastic, high-spirited)

I love these! They always make me smile in spite of my best efforts not to.

Pet Peeves

I hate when people misspell words. Especially when it is on a billboard or a sign or a webpage that is supposed to bring people in. It shows a lack of education, and a lack of respect. If you can’t spell it, look it up! Maybe it’s only laziness. I use abbreviations, but only well-known ones. If you spell “know” as “no” can I really be sure of what you’re trying to communicate? I no, it should be apparent from the context, but sometimes the context isn’t clear, you no? It doesn’t make things easier to understand it is just shorter for me to type. And I’m all for speed, but I’m more for efficiency and clarity of meaning.

I am for deleting unneccessary, unpronounced letters like “ugh,” tho. It looks a little awkward, but I think I could get used to it. Words like through, and though would be improved, but what would we do with throughout? Thruout. That’s worse than the original!

Pizzazz

Pizzazz! What a great word! Where did it come from? It even looks cute, with all those Z’s! And exclamation marks! I really like them, too!!! I guess I am weird. Unusual, quirky, remarkable, atypical, uncommon, rare, extraordinary! I like remarkable and extraordinary. These are positive terms for “weird.” I prefer to state things positively.

These positive statements are called affirmations. I believe in the power of affirmations. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy, so why not be positive?

Anyway, I'm bummed, because the etymology of the word "pizzazz" is unknown. The online dictionary tells me "unknown origin." I'll have to research this and get back to you.

Imagination

It’s “just your imagination.” JUST your imagination? Imagination is the single most powerful force in your life! We should not ignore our imagination. Imagination can make you sick, or calm you down or ensure success. Picture this. You walk in to work and someone says, What happened to you? You don’t look so good! Then a little bit later, a coworker says, Are you feeling okay? Suddenly you realize that maybe you aren’t feeling so well. Maybe you’re coming down with something...

More about this at www.enlightenedhypnosis.com...

Vision

What is the difference between a vision and a hallucination? It’s all how you look at things. If you are perceptive or intuitive, you have visions. If you are crazy you have hallucinations. Of course, you may not be crazy if you have a brain tumor. It’s all how you look at things!

Quotations

I forgot to mention that I like quotations, too. I like them brief and profound. Here are 2 of my favorites:

If you can't change your fate,
Change your attitude.
(Amy Tan)

Open minds open doors.
(Anonymous)

Introduction

This is the philolog's blog! I am a philolog -- a lover of words and wisdom! From the Greek. Sounds like "feel a log," emphasis on the first syllable. I truly love words, the way they sound, the way they look, and the impact they have on people. I believe the pen is mightier than the sword. I just want to write about words that I like. I want to share them with others like secrets. But they aren't secrets. The dictionary is full of them! I love dictionaries. I may not have used one in a while, but I think that will change now. There are just so many interesting words.

Philolog is a variation of philologue and philologist. Related to Philosophy. There are 2 PHs in that word that sound like F. It's good that I'm studying Greek. There is no F in the Greek alphabet, however, there is a symbol with the same sound. It's called "fee." Someday I'll be sophisticated enough to include a picture of fee in my blog. Thanks for bearing with me.

I used to do the Word Power quiz in the Reader's Digest when I was in elementary school. My teachers noticed I had an excellent vocabulary. I think if you don't use it, you lose it. My 8 year-old son's favorite book is the Children's Dictionary he got a few years ago for Christmas. He has asked me just to read that book to him at bedtime. He will pick out a picture and ask me to read the definition. He hasn't done that in a while. Maybe I'll pick it up again. We're reading Mary Poppins and it has some unfamiliar words in it. Like perambulator. Who here knows what a perambulator is? It's a British term for stroller. I don't know if I've ever heard the word before, it's not very common these days, but seeing ambul in there, I recognized as walking (ambling), and figured it out from the context. We used to have to do that in my elementary school. I wonder if they do that anymore.

In this blog I hope to enliven your vocabulary, and maybe make you think. I might even inspire someone to pick up a dictionary! I really just want to share my love of words. I may include some poems or phrases that particularly sing to me. Words are my tools. I am a hypnosis consultant. I use words to help others change their behavior. It’s fascinating. Sometimes I’m quite clever. The right word can really make a difference. I will write more about this soon. Thanks for listening. And please feel free to give feedback. Nothing is this blog should be peremptory.

That’s a great word! There are 2 for today: philolog and peremptory (precluding further debate).