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Word-Wednesday, May 09, 2018

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac for Word-Wednesday, May 9, 2018, brought to you by Four Elements Yoga Pants and Accessories, for yogis in the golden years who too often experience unpleasant Rood Chakra practice emanations of water, wind, earth, and fire. Our hydroscopic, sound muffling, odor absorbing yoga pants liners have you covered for those elemental emanations so common with the Happy Baby, Extended Puppy, Chair, Cow, or Downward-Facing Dog poses. Clumsy yogis in your candle lit practice space? Not to worry. All our yoga pants are made with fire retardant materials.

May 9 is the is the 129th day of the year, with 236 days remaining until the end of the year, and with 327 days remaining until April Fools Day.

Earth/Moon Almanac for May 9, 2018
Sunrise: 5:50am; Sunset: 8:50pm
Moonrise: 3:36am Moonset: 2:04pm, waning crescent

Temperature Almanac for May 9, 2018
         Average    Record   Today
High    63             86           67
Low     35             17            30

May 9 Celebrations
National Sleepover Day
National Butterscotch Brownie Day
National Lost Sock Memorial Day



May 9 Riddle
Everybody living in Wannaska knows that Sven and Ole each have a pair of unique characteristics: Sven always lies and always wears red socks; Ole always tells the truth and always wears blue socks. Ole recently won a contest, and a man representing the contest drove up from Minneapolis to give Ole the prize. The prize-man stopped in at the Riverside Station for directions to Ole's place, and Lena just happened to be working as cashier that day. Knowing that the boys were out nude sunbathing at Hayes Lake beach, and wishing to have a bit of fun, Lena told the prize-man where to find Sven and Ole, and then explained their peculiarities. Sure enough, Sven and Ole in their birthday suits were the only ones the prize-man found on the beach. What question would the prize-man ask Sven and Ole to be sure he awarded the prize to the right man?*

May 9 Notable historic events, literary or otherwise
1816, Lady Caroline Lamb publishes Genarvon, a thinly disguised account of her affair with Lord Byron, also depicting her husband William Lamb.
1945, Czechoslovakia is liberated from Nazi occupation.
1979 Nobody finds Jimmy Hoffa.

May 9 author/artist birthday
1265, Dante Alighieri, Italian poet and author, Divina Commedia, born in Florence, Republic of Florence
1938, Charles Simic Yugoslavian-born poet, 15th Poet Laureate of the United States

Words I looked up this week: aerolite, dacha, dysthymia, geognostic, précis, salse, sidereal, succor, tout

Today's edition of Wannaskan Almanac Word-Wednesday examines a new but important word: intersectionality, ˌin(t)ərsekSHəˈnalədē/, noun, the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or a group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of advantage or disadvantage.

The word was born in 1989 by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory, when Crenshaw explained that her experiences as  a black woman cannot be understood only in terms of being black or only in terms of being a woman. Each person carries a number of socially determined identities that interact and frequently reinforce each other. Importantly, Crenshaw argued that the intersectionality experience of a black women is more powerful than the mere sum of her race and sex alone, and specifically, that intersectionality perspectives more deeply inform our relationships with one another to optimize mutual understanding and respect. If you like TED Talks, you can find Kimberlé Crenshaw's talk on intersectionality here.

For an example closer to home, take our contributor, Thor, for example: white, Midwestern, husband, father, landowner, retired, senior, author, Norse god. Thor's various socially constructed identities carry specific social entitlements and sanctions that act in synergy according to the social beliefs of the members of his communities in Wannaska and when he travels elsewhere. Our current civil society privileges white males, whether or not they identify as Norse gods.

Thor is also blessed with the intersectional riches that his wife Jackie brings into his life; any difficulties Thor might experience in his intersectional confluence with Jackie is best left for Thor to discuss...

Be better than yesterday, learn a new word today, and to stay out of trouble - at least until tomorrow.

*Is it raining? 
The prize man knows the answer to this question, so he can tell who's telling the truth, and thereby which sunbather is Ole.

Comments

  1. Aye, I noticed that Merriam-Websters Word-of-the-Day for today was "jocose' and felt it was somewhat astonishingly appropriate. This is amazing stuff you write anyway, plus you/it generates a WOTD from a real world word zřízení! I tentatively worship the ground upon which you tread. Someday, one day, I will do as well--maybe. Thank you!

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  2. The WOTD was for Wednesday--not Thor's Day--as I wrote above and then couldn't correct after I published the comment. ARGH.

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  3. Wondering how it is MW dictionary generates a Czech WOTD. That Woe is a crafty one, I think. ;)

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  4. You have one of the ubiquitous aspects of yogi right, although you forgot camel and bow. Actually, one is in danger of wafting in almost all poses except savasana, although many yogis do fall asleep during this relaxation pose, and we all know what kind of eruptions can happy during the dream state where we use our nethers (See my comment on Hruba's post of 12 May 2018) to shotgun our dream world nemeses. Also, clever riddle and so appropriate to Sven, Ole, and Lena. Your creativity never ends.

    Glad to see that WOTD, intersectionality, even though WORD doesn't seem to like it. The word is another way to view diversity.

    Finally, thank you for not including a poem this week. My courage is bolstered.

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