Day 213: Yearning #13 - Word Feast

Don't mind if I do

I have the focus of a small child at the moment. Shiny things take away my attention and don't give it back. And I haven't even blogged for two days. It's a strange feeling and not one I've very much enjoyed. I yearn for that feeling of inspiration and wonder (thaumazein) that I was infused and enthused with in the first months of this blog. I still love it, but I don't feel that it's taking me (or anyone else) to new places any more. I missed it, though, and I disliked the procrastinatey feeling it induced. 


Things I've been aching to put on there, though, are how very, very lovely pretty much everyone I met in Dublin was, from the bus driver who let outs out at 'not a stop' and gave us directions to get to our hotel to the lovely hotel staff, our taxi driver on the way back and generally everyone we spoke to. The cleaners in the airport were really helpful when I was trying to find my lost credit card wallet. The bus driver was amazing. A woman got on just after us who was very claustrophobic and needed to know if the bus had to go through any tunnels. Instead of grumping at her, this man told her to sit right at the front where she could see him and promised to talk to her constantly as they went through, and that she should talk to him all the way through whatever she was going through. And he did. He kept her distracted (while keeping his eyes forward) and made her journey so much better. And mine. He was ace. 


I learnt some new words today. Thaumazein was one of them. I learnt that from someone's online dating profile. It's that sense of wonder. I'm glad there's a posh name for it. Very glad. It deserves one, as well as the simplest of names and wordless looks and sighs. And I learnt words here: 
http://sobadsogood.com/2012/04/29/25-words-that-simply-dont-exist-in-english/
Thank you, Rob Grundel. 
I especially like these Japanese ones:

1 Age-otori (Japanese): To look worse after a haircut

2 Arigata-meiwaku (Japanese): An act someone does for you that you didn’t want to have them do and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favor, and then things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end social conventions required you to express gratitude. 

25 Yoko meshi (Japanese): literally ‘a meal eaten sideways,’ referring to the peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language.
The first, I know. Thank you Vidal Sassoon Leeds, when I was 15. You deserve an Age-otori lifetime achievement award. The second too. I love it. I love its complexity and the simplicity of its verbalisation in Japanese. I like this last one a lot. It's a meal eaten sideways, so maybe it's a bit more laborious, but there is still pleasure and nourishment in it. That's how I feel about speaking other languages. In fact, it makes even the simplest, most boring of tasks more interesting to me, to do them in other languages. ... Why do I still live in this country? What a simple, fulfilling gift I could be giving myself by living somewhere that would offer me that pleasure. 

Forelsket, apparently

I was charmed by the Norwegian word 'forelsket', which means the euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love. Partly because I can imagine that being very nice and just the ticket right now. And because a beloved friend of mine is experiencing just that right now. She's proper, proper, proper in love, as is he. She even looks different. She always looks pretty, but right now, even in pictures (and particularly pictures with him in too) she looks like she's swallowed a daylight bulb. It's coming through all sparkly. What a worthwhile euphoria that is. How nice for two people to make each other buzz like that. Aha... and here we are on yearning again. Result! I think I've been letting that slip. 

What's for tea?

I also discovered this today. It has made me very happy. 
http://twitpic.com/9mw2b7

One thing I have always loved about The Tiger Who Came To Tea is the slight hint of threat I see in that tiger's eyes. It's always smiling, and it's nearly always looking right at the girl with the side of it's eyes, like it's wondering where in the meal she fits. The huge difference in size adds to that. 


In the back of my mind, many very pleasing incidences from the last few days are dancing, but just out of my line of vision, or they're whispering out of earshot. Or just teasing me. They will come back, and I'll taste the delight they brought me again. When I do that, I'll write them down, on my forehead, if I have to, and I'll get them in here. Another good reason to blog daily. Fresh, fresh. 


Oh, and while we're on yearning, a kiss would be nice. I can live without it, of course. Just sayin.