I don't know if you know this...

But I was voted "Best Improv Performer" in my Forensics class senior year.  

 

Words I Don't Know: Royal Edition... What Number is This?

 And where is this farm?

sycophant (n.):  a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite.
insidious (adj.):  intended to entrap or beguile. 
bon vivant (n.):  a person who lives luxuriously and enjoys good food and drink.
amiable (adj.): having or showing pleasant, good-natured qualities.
invective (n.):  vehement or violent denunciation, censure, or reproach.
succinct (adj.):  expressed in few words; concise; terse.
puerperal (adj.):  of or pertaining to a woman in childbirth.
porphyria (n.):  a defect of blood pigment metabolism in which porphyrins are produced in excess, are present in the blood, and are found in the urine.
fichu (n.):  a woman's kerchief or shawl, generally triangular in shape, worn draped over the shoulders or around the neck with the ends drawn together on the breast.

Words I Don't Know: Royal Edition III

 So... I found another page of about two dozen words I don't know.  At this rate, I will never learn much of anything.  I have a plan to get organized, I swear.  Until then, educate yourselves.

obsequious (adj.): obedient; dutiful.
prescient (n.):  knowledge of things before they exist or happen; foreknowledge; foresight.
bordello (n.):  a brothel.
priapic (adj.):  characterized by or emphasizing a phallus.  
proclivities (n.):  natural or habitual inclination or tendency; propensity; predisposition.
 affable (adj.):  pleasantly easy to approach and to talk to; friendly; cordial; warmly polite.
 harridan (n.):  a scolding, vicious woman; hag; shrew.
intransigence (n., adj.):  refusing to agree or compromise; uncompromising; inflexible.
insular (adj.):  dwelling or situated on an island.
nominal (adj.):  being such in name only; so-called; putative.
disinter(red) (v.): to take out of the place of interment; exhume; unearth.
ascetic (n.):  a person who dedicates his or her life to a pursuit of contemplative ideals and practices extreme self-denial or self-mortification for religious reasons.
calumniated (v.):  to make false and malicious statements about; slander.
canonize (v.):  to consider or treat as sacrosanct or holy.
interdict (n.):  any prohibitory act or decree of a court or an administrative officer; a punishment by which the faithful, remaining in communion with the church, are forbidden certain sacraments and prohibited from participation in certain sacred acts; a general or special order of the Roman praetor forbidding or commanding an act, esp. in cases involving disputed possession.
sacramental (adj.):  powerfully binding.
iniquitous (adj.):  characterized by injustice or wickedness; wicked; sinful.
promulgate (v.):  to make known by open declaration; publish; proclaim formally or put into operation (a law, decree of a court, etc.).
diocese (n.):  an ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
obdurate (adj.):  stubbornly resistant to moral influence; persistently impenitent.
effigy (n.):  a crude representation of someone disliked, used for purposes of ridicule.
coterie (n.):  a group of people who associate closely.

Words I Don't Know: Royal Edition II

innate (adj.):  existing in one from birth; inborn; native.
expedient (adj.): tending to promote some proposed or desired object; fit or suitable for the purpose; proper under the circumstances.
xenophobia (n.):  an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.
clemency (n.):  an act or deed showing mercy or leniency.
autocratic (adj.):  tyrannical; domineering. 
canaille (n.): riffraff; rabble.
coxcomb (n.):  a conceited, foolish dandy; pretentious fop.
martinet (n.): someone who stubbornly adheres to methods or rules.
licentious (adj.):  sexually unrestrained; lascivious; libertine; lewd.
extricate (v.):  to free or release from entanglement; disengage: to extricate someone from a dangerous situation.


Definitions from dictionary.com

Words I Don't Know: Royal Edition I

Good news:  I found my WIDK for A Treasury of Royal Scandals!  There were a lot of words I don't know because I just have a high school diploma and must be an idiot.  Anyway, less about my shortcomings, more about unusual words.

obstinacy (n.):  unyielding or stubborn adherence to one's purpose, opinion, etc.
capitulation (n.):  a list of the headings or main divisions of a subject; a summary or enumeration.
monomania (n.):  an inordinate or obsessive zeal for or interest in a single thing, idea, subject, or the like.
timorous (adj.):  Fearful.
mettle (n.): courage and fortitude.  
execrable (adj.):  utterly detestable.
effusion (n.):  an unrestrained expression.
arriviste (adj.):  a person who has recently acquired unaccustomed status, wealth, or success, especially by dubious means and without earning concomitant esteem.
sagacious (adj.): having or showing acute mental discernment and keen practical sense; shrewd.
precocious (adj.):  unusually advanced or mature in development, especially mental development.

Happy October!

     So it's the first day of October, which is my favorite month.  A lot of exciting things are happening this month, including the results of the poll.  Thanks to everybody that voted; here's what I'll be reading:

1. A Treasury of Royal Scandals 
2. The Secret Life of Laslo, Count Dracula
3. The Druid King 

     I'm sure my mother is pretty pleased since she forced upon me  loaned me two of the three books.  Also, something that I think is really cool will be starting this weekend.  It will be ongoing throughout the month in honor of Halloween, so keep checking back.  Happy reading!

Poll: You Decide!

     Hello readers, I have something exciting for you!  For the next week you get to vote on what I'll read in October.  The poll is already in place (see the side bar on the right), so get ready to click!  Here are your options (click the title to read the Amazon info for each book):

The Druid King by Norman Spinrad
God: A Biography by Jack Miles
Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan
Sheer Abandon by Penny Vincenzi
Girl Talk with God by Susie Shellenberger
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
A Treasury of Royal Scandals by Michael Farquhar
The Secret Life of Laslo, Count Dracula by Dr. Roderick Anscombe

     You can choose more than one, but please try to keep your selections to just 2 or 3.  I'm really excited to see what you all decide.  Until then, I'll be working on a review of Rahab's Story, finishing up The Shack, then writing a summary and review on that.

     Get to voting, and happy reading!