f.r.iend

Words are interesting and amusing - especially English words that seem to have the randomness that is similar to contents of a communal vacuum cleaner. (Before anyone decides to take offence, please note that I am by no means one to come up with such an original thought - I actually read somewhere that other languages apparently do not adapt as easily as English, and hence they do not share the same popularity that English has, the cost of this of course is that English dictionary is filled with words from varied and diverse sources, similar to - to put it very unflatteringly - the contents of a communal vacuum cleaner.)   

One of the side effects, I believe (but I might be wrong), of this absorbtion is that words like fiend and friend, are seperated by exactly 1 letter. Such a light bulb moment leads me to head to the dictionary (merriam-webster is easy to find online), and look up the origins of the word. In case you look up merriam-webster for fiend in this way, you will find that one of the origins of the word is from the Sanskrit word piyati he reviles, blames. 

which of course for me, does exactly two things: a: emphasises the randomness of words in English as compared to Sanskrit; and b: reminds me of ZenPencils quote by Stephen Fry.

  

Simplify

sim•pli•fy        transitive verb        \ˈsim-plə-ˌfī\
sim•pli•fied     sim•pli•fy•ing

Definition of SIMPLIFY
: to make simple or simpler: as
a : to reduce to basic essentials
b : to diminish in scope or complexity : STREAMLINE
c : to make more intelligible : CLARIFY
     — sim•pli•fi•ca•tion \ˌsim-plə-fə-ˈkā-shən\ noun
     — sim•pli•fi•er \ˈsim-plə-ˌfī(-ə)r\ noun

Origin of SIMPLIFY
French simplifier, from Medieval Latin simplificare, from simplus simple
First Known Use: 1759

Definition from merriam-webster

A morning life

My bedtime reading today was this, for I somewhere along my growing up completely missed that part where you teach yourself to go to sleep. So, fairly thrilled by the fact that I bet the odds and kept to my resolution for the whole year in 2012; I am resolving in 2013 to have morning life, i.e., a life at that part of the day before you start rushing for work, where I presume people make breakfast, drink coffee and look at the newspaper.

The last year ended with me tidying up the place, and finally emptying a box that was packed about 6 years ago, which included a letter I wrote to the year 2006 at the end of that year! This is not a usual habit and so it was a pleasant surprise. The end of 2006 was an interesting time, I was writing up my thesis, which I would submit in April 2007, I was blissfully unaware of the drama that would unfold with my PhD supervisor changing jobs*, and I knew that I was going to move cities and start a new job. But the queerest thing is that it is almost entirely the same things I would be saying now: i am grateful for the same things, i am planning the same things! So, the question is, what was the point of the past 6 years!!?!

On this wonderful note, I shall leave you with wishes for a meaningful and happy new year!!

*just read this blog if you are curious about what was happening around that time.

Last year's resolution

This is how my year without coffee ended -