My quirky little 2008 project: documenting a year of my own literary improvement with a personal list of words I want to know more about. These words may be familiar, vague, or totally foreign to me but whatever they are, my litmus test is this: can I use it in a sentence? If not, on the list it goes!
Our first post-election day dawns. Barack Obama is the 44th president-elect of the United States.
Today I am hopeful.
Today I am grateful.
Today I am speechless.
Today there simply are no words.
Posted by
Susie Berta
at
9:08 AM
In June, 2007, at the age of 57, I graduated from college -- summa cum laude -- proud, and totally exhausted. As a full-time co-ed aging exponentially, I feared at times over the previous 4 years that I would not survive to see graduation day. And if I did, I wondered if I would have the energy to flip the tassel over my mortar board. But ultimately, I persevered and emerged victorious - bad knees, fried synapses and a serious caffeine addiction notwithstanding. After graduation, I gave thanks for my education, framed my diploma, had knee surgery, and went horizontal / virtually comatose for 6 months.
Now semi-recovered and caffeine-free, I must be missing the stimulation of note-taking and constant study. Or something. Go figure. I do not miss the stress, the long days, the all-nighters, and the white-knuckled, hour-and-a-half rush hour commutes. I get to go to bed now when I want and wake up without an alarm. But here I am, firing up the synapses, catching up on my reading, and studying again. Can’t help it. Some habits should never be broken...
I love words, especially in the hands of talented writers. Something well-written is a beautiful thing. I love learning new words, especially from talented writers. Some time last fall, when I stopped drooling and began speaking in complete sentences, I started reading again. I decided to keep a list of words I encountered, the meanings of which were either vague or totally foreign to me. Most of the time I suspected they would be familiar words that I could easily recognize, pronounce, and almost always spell, but if the truth be told, couldn’t use properly in a sentence. This list required me to finally confess the need to clearly define them. I really looked forward to finding and listing words that were totally foreign to me. What? A word exists that I’ve never, ever heard before? You bet. Bring it.
I kept copious, hand-scribbled lists like this when I went back to school. I can’t remember now what I’ve done with them. Frankly, the mere thought of searching through all of my old notebooks and papers wears me out. Shades of post traumatic stress... But I promise if I am struck with a sudden maniacal energy to dive into my old academic stacks and succeed in finding any of my lists, I’ll include them here. Otherwise, consider this list a fresh start.
So, I begin my little 2008 project with the words I started keeping last fall. And I'll continue as the year and my renewed energy unfold. Maybe you'll get something out of reading it.
Because words matter. They just do.
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