JAN 20 (2022) Wordplay maps: AMERICAN SCRAMBLE-TOWNS #1-4

Who would ever have guessed? It turns out that an unparalleled word in generating anagrams (letter scrambles) is P-A-L-I-N-D-R-O-M-E-S. We have taken advantage of that property to create this unique series of wordplay maps of imaginary American (and Canadian) locales, each one completed by its official two-letter state (or provincial) abbreviation. 

LINKS: Forward to U.S.A. map #3

LINKS:

Forward to U.S.A. map#5

Back to U.S.A. map #1

Let's skip all this stuff and get on to the Canadian version, eh? (stay tuned!)

The frontier of poetry: PALINKUs (palindrome-enriched haiku verses) from the year 2021

A continuation:  Go back to review the palinkus of 2021 HERE.

You can continue this astounding journey, exploring our new poetic form. Click below for yearly collections of posted palinkus (one each month), as available on this blog-site.

2020: haiku, and the origin of the 'palinku'

2020: early palinkus, from August 2000

2021

2022

2023

2024 -- pending.

  

(Alternatively, you could proceed to our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", where we have in a more casual manner, published these terse verses one-at-a-time, on the 17th day of each month. 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of March 2024, there are over 1400 unique entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.) The 'Daily' format also has the advantage of including some song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

JAN 10, review of 'brief sagas' from 2021

 

A NOTE from the EDITORS: 

 As readers may have gathered, these blogs highlight several types of light, wistful and humorous reflections on current life, chief among them being short verses using the limerick format, more or less (see the blogpost "Limerick Variations"). But on occasion, we feel the urge to continue important themes through several stanzas worth of poetic ideas. So in this post, we highlight the previous years' offerings of 'lengthier' poems of at least 15 lines or 3 stanzas. We have been publishing these at the rate of once a month on "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", but as they are found mixed with shorter verses of five lines, i.e. standard limericks, or even three lines, (palinku --palindromic haiku), you might have failed to notice and review them in their entirety. 

  This summary gives you a second chance to explore these lengthier creations that contain as many as 6 stanzas -- hardly lengthy enough to be considered a genuine saga, but we hope reflecting the authors' sagacity.  

  The compressed mode in which our 'sagas' are displayed may enhance your appreciation of the range of topics covered; if you prefer to enjoy the details in a larger and more readable font, you can quickly access the posts on this blog devoted uniquely to their stanza-by-stanza display (as well as notes, related photos and videos), by entering their title into the search lines provided. And from there, you can, of course, explore further to enjoy the multitude of really short verses -- i.e. five lines or less.  

CURRENT CONTENTS (from 2021)

Ablauts                      Oct

Avian digestion         Dec

Bipolar illness           Apr 

Clothes moths           Jun

Cormorant rookery   Sep

Domestic turkey       Nov

French denial            Aug

Italian treats             Jan

Methylated spirits     May

Radiation exposure   Jul

Word on GERD           Feb

Workplace pollution  Mar 

For the curious reader's convenience, we have sorted our treasury of 'brief sagas' by the year of publication on this blog. Altogether, you will find more than 40 whimsical poems, that cover about 800 lines of verse. 

Click below, and enjoy!
2020
2021
2022
2023.

Grandpa Greg's Advanced Grammar: GREEK PREFIXES #1

CURRENT CONTENTS:
An-

Apo-

Auto-

Dia-

Dys-

Ecto-

Endo-

Epi-

Eu-

Hyper- and hypo-

Chiro-

Chrono-

Author's Note: You might enjoy a verse about 'ANOSMIA', that you can sniff out by clicking HERE. 

Authors' Note:

auto is a prefix derived from Greek and Latin meaning 'self' or 'same'.

A motto frequently represents a high standard of achievement claimed or aspired to by the person or institution.

We have a verse about 'Autophagia' that you might find intriguing (Click HERE.)

And, HERE's another that you'll probably find less intriguing, even gruesome.

Authors' Note: Click HERE, for your entertainment, to review a verse about diarrhea; and HERE's another one, about diaphoresis (sweating).

Click HERE to review a verse about dyspareunia.

Authors' Note: To view what's inside you, you might want to look through a collection of verses about endoscopy entitled "Inner Enlightenment: The Scopes of Modern Medicine". Click HERE!  

Authors' Note: 

ephemeral: transitory; derived from the Greek epi-'on' + hemera-'day', a variant form of the prefix

ephedrine: drug isolated in 1885 from the traditional Chinese medicine ephedra, sometimes an abused stimulant, recently deleted from combined medications and from formularies in many countries owing to side effects, including increased risk of sudden death

schleppy: dragging or fatigued, from the Yiddish word schlep.

The gravesite of Giuseppe is marked by the simple epitaph, "Epicurean Hippy".

Here's a verse about Epistaxis, that exemplifies the use of the prefix EPI- .

Authors' Note: These names for professional endeavours, derived from the Greek root chiro (hand), have quite different meanings and pronunciations.

DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 

To resume daily titillations on our related blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2023, there are over 1200 unique entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.) The 'Daily' format also has the advantage of including some videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.