despondent
An aquarium has been installed at the ferry terminal, and its fish, which are frontosa, wear the most melancholy expression.
details
During the walk, I find many stories on the ground. Next to a pothole in a parking lot are a pair of sparkling sneakers and a small backpack. By the curb several blocks away, there's a guest book from a first birthday party, fallen from a purse or bag or out of a car. On another street, an upright piano lies on its back with a can of beer cradled against its chest.
droid
One of the dentist's instruments sounds like R2-D2, so even though I'm getting a cavity filled, I'm trying hard not to laugh.
intricacies
The elevated sidewalk, narrow as a wick, bears us down a block of 19th and early 20th century houses with conical towers, decorative trim, wraparound porches, and other features that delight the eye and tickle the imagination.
lapping
A quiet beach, the sea in gentle argument with the sand. A gull is seated on the water, as on a blanket of blue tourmaline.
spread
A broad blue cloth of sky and water with an uneven row of buildings stitched to the horizon.
stoical
She's lean, spare, and self-contained, sufficient unto herself.
Showing posts with label sky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sky. Show all posts
Friday, August 10, 2018
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Week in Seven Words #382
meditative
In the late evening, a man does Tai Chi by the river. His fluid, practiced movements make him a graceful silhouette against the last blaze of sunlight on the water.
meteorology
We're at a long rectangular table. It seems to be under the influence of different weather phenomena. At the far end, three people are rumbling with thunderous anger. In a chair near them, a woman suddenly smiles and speaks in a reassuring voice, like sunlight breaking through clouds. Among the children, there's balmy, breezy weather; they're relaxed, laughing and chatting.
noting
His explorations take him through a room full of alcohol, oysters, and chatter. (What are people eating and wearing? How is the restaurant organized, indoors and outdoors?) We watch volleyball players next. "What do you notice about them?" he asks. I mention that they're all men, roughly 25-40 years old. Maybe they're co-workers or in an amateur league. But there's something else I haven't mentioned. "Look at how they're all smiling," he says. He's noticed their happiness.
portraits
In quiet corners of the elevated park, people are curled up on benches - sometimes in pairs or in small groups of friends, other times reading alone or murmuring into their phones. One woman meditates in lamplight. The park snakes past apartment buildings on the level of their upper floors. The window shades are not entirely effective. There are still glimpses of life at home: a pair of feet in a foot bath, the flicker of a TV, an empty, neatly made bed, an empty bathtub in dim blue light.
serenely
Clouds coast on a baby blue sky. The horizon has softened to a shade of peach. Fishermen set up a boom box that plays soft percussive music.
telescope
It's amazing that this is really Jupiter I'm seeing - the pinprick of light resolving into an image of the distant planet. Almost as if I could touch it.
theme
The dance she comes up with is a sequence of summer images: bees, sprinklers, back strokes, ocean waves, and sunshine.
In the late evening, a man does Tai Chi by the river. His fluid, practiced movements make him a graceful silhouette against the last blaze of sunlight on the water.
meteorology
We're at a long rectangular table. It seems to be under the influence of different weather phenomena. At the far end, three people are rumbling with thunderous anger. In a chair near them, a woman suddenly smiles and speaks in a reassuring voice, like sunlight breaking through clouds. Among the children, there's balmy, breezy weather; they're relaxed, laughing and chatting.
noting
His explorations take him through a room full of alcohol, oysters, and chatter. (What are people eating and wearing? How is the restaurant organized, indoors and outdoors?) We watch volleyball players next. "What do you notice about them?" he asks. I mention that they're all men, roughly 25-40 years old. Maybe they're co-workers or in an amateur league. But there's something else I haven't mentioned. "Look at how they're all smiling," he says. He's noticed their happiness.
portraits
In quiet corners of the elevated park, people are curled up on benches - sometimes in pairs or in small groups of friends, other times reading alone or murmuring into their phones. One woman meditates in lamplight. The park snakes past apartment buildings on the level of their upper floors. The window shades are not entirely effective. There are still glimpses of life at home: a pair of feet in a foot bath, the flicker of a TV, an empty, neatly made bed, an empty bathtub in dim blue light.
serenely
Clouds coast on a baby blue sky. The horizon has softened to a shade of peach. Fishermen set up a boom box that plays soft percussive music.
telescope
It's amazing that this is really Jupiter I'm seeing - the pinprick of light resolving into an image of the distant planet. Almost as if I could touch it.
theme
The dance she comes up with is a sequence of summer images: bees, sprinklers, back strokes, ocean waves, and sunshine.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Week in Seven Words #355
distraction
We leave the TV on in the other room and play boardgames to the background noise of dismal news.
glimmering
Part of his job is to quell people's dread. Even when he's solemn, there's a gleam in his eye, reflecting a bright shore that he assures people he can see.
lopsidedness
They ignore anything that reflects poorly on the politicians they support, while magnifying every pore and blemish in their opponents.
moods
Sometimes a hot, unreasoning anger seizes them, and they look like they're about to rip each other apart. Then a switch flips, and they cheerfully subside and watch TV.
paints
She considers the best color for her bedroom walls and skims through a book of soothing pinks - coral, rose, crepe, salmon.
prime
The best colors emerge in the afternoon. Gold light on leaves and dusky red bricks. The soft blue of the sky calls to mind feathers and eggshells.
retention
They're fooled by an excerpt that's taken out of context and given sinister meaning. It's something they saw in passing on the internet and absorbed without questioning.
We leave the TV on in the other room and play boardgames to the background noise of dismal news.
glimmering
Part of his job is to quell people's dread. Even when he's solemn, there's a gleam in his eye, reflecting a bright shore that he assures people he can see.
lopsidedness
They ignore anything that reflects poorly on the politicians they support, while magnifying every pore and blemish in their opponents.
moods
Sometimes a hot, unreasoning anger seizes them, and they look like they're about to rip each other apart. Then a switch flips, and they cheerfully subside and watch TV.
paints
She considers the best color for her bedroom walls and skims through a book of soothing pinks - coral, rose, crepe, salmon.
prime
The best colors emerge in the afternoon. Gold light on leaves and dusky red bricks. The soft blue of the sky calls to mind feathers and eggshells.
retention
They're fooled by an excerpt that's taken out of context and given sinister meaning. It's something they saw in passing on the internet and absorbed without questioning.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Week in Seven Words #230 & #231
230
amazon
Stolid and tall, drifting ahead of us like the mast on a ship.
dyed
Red and yellow kayaks, like slices of fruit candy, bobbing on the river.
fissures
They work hard to create the impression of a shared reality, even as their hearts splinter.
grousing
We have no solutions, only complaints. But it's reassuring to find people who complain about the same things. The shared noise is heartening.
haunting
The whine of pigeons flapping by my ears.
mutants
Fisherman by the railroad tracks, what will he find? Rubbery fish? Tires that have come alive with fins and scales?
refrigerated
Harried women in a chilly supermarket; they're carefully made-up, their eyes fogged.
231
attenuated
In a battle that spans multiple eras and realms, who will win: Plants or zombies?
embracing
The pond is still and lets the sky steal across it. It's a safe place for the sky to settle down a short while. No waves or ripples will chase away the clouds.
fidgety
Goal: To rush to the end of the piece and then dance away from the keyboard.
fretting
One trait I want to avoid as much as possible is fretfulness. I don't want to lie prostrate before my fear and call attention to myself with it.
inexorability
He had the vague hope that if he stopped doing anything, time itself would stop. Instead it's flowing around him and nudging him along, while he struggles to keep his footing.
regenerating
I like community gardens grown in old broken places. A scarred part of the city now bears vegetables and redolent plants.
taste
Enough people say they like something, so then others like it too. And some dislike it just because too many others like it.
amazon
Stolid and tall, drifting ahead of us like the mast on a ship.
dyed
Red and yellow kayaks, like slices of fruit candy, bobbing on the river.
fissures
They work hard to create the impression of a shared reality, even as their hearts splinter.
grousing
We have no solutions, only complaints. But it's reassuring to find people who complain about the same things. The shared noise is heartening.
haunting
The whine of pigeons flapping by my ears.
mutants
Fisherman by the railroad tracks, what will he find? Rubbery fish? Tires that have come alive with fins and scales?
refrigerated
Harried women in a chilly supermarket; they're carefully made-up, their eyes fogged.
231
attenuated
In a battle that spans multiple eras and realms, who will win: Plants or zombies?
embracing
The pond is still and lets the sky steal across it. It's a safe place for the sky to settle down a short while. No waves or ripples will chase away the clouds.
fidgety
Goal: To rush to the end of the piece and then dance away from the keyboard.
fretting
One trait I want to avoid as much as possible is fretfulness. I don't want to lie prostrate before my fear and call attention to myself with it.
inexorability
He had the vague hope that if he stopped doing anything, time itself would stop. Instead it's flowing around him and nudging him along, while he struggles to keep his footing.
regenerating
I like community gardens grown in old broken places. A scarred part of the city now bears vegetables and redolent plants.
taste
Enough people say they like something, so then others like it too. And some dislike it just because too many others like it.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Week in Seven Words #204 & 205
204
aseptic
Pearls of dark chocolate and mint, spilled onto Purelled hands.
echoes
Haven't we had this conversation before? In our respective chairs, one of us talking more than the other?
hometown
I take a dialect quiz (focusing on pronunciation, and certain vocab and expressions), and the results are supposed to tell you what region of the US you're from. As it turns out, the way I speak fits closest to these three cities: San Jose, Fremont, and Honolulu. Also, I'm generally a very strong fit with Long Island, NY. Given that I was born in California and spent close to six years of my life in southern California, then the rest of my childhood on Long Island, these are pretty accurate results.
keratinous
The days are slight, as thin as fingernails.
revival
Embers in me that I want to coax back to life.
sorted
The animals have one corner of the floor; the plants have the other. In his world, at this time, they can't mingle.
tonedeaf
"Are you with someone?" he asks, his eyes scanning the room, fishing for additional prospects. "Yes," I say. "If it doesn't work out," he immediately says, in a business-like tone, "could I be the first one to know? Let me know, right after." Yep. That's exactly what I'm going to do. The first thing I'll think of in the aftermath of a break-up is you. And I do in fact get his business card, with two phone numbers. His customer service skills are impeccable.
205
abrade
This is the kind of cold that scrubs away at your cheeks like steel wool.
arctic
I don't know how they do it - plunge into the cold water without their hearts stopping.
cellar
The space beneath my desk is very cold. I could chill wine in there, where the heat hasn't made its way.
earthy
Deft fingers on the mandolin and a rough and honest voice. Magnificent.
satiny
A sky like gray silk.
sisal
They're a married couple with no apparent chemistry. No shared looks, no laughter in their eyes, just a tiredness in the way they move and talk to each other. As if they'd always rather be in different rooms. There's no sense of what's holding them together except for social acceptableness.
versifying
Hours of poetry, some earnestly awful and some of it beautiful. It's been a while since I had the pleasure of listening to poetry read out loud. Even the bad poetry sounds better read out loud.
aseptic
Pearls of dark chocolate and mint, spilled onto Purelled hands.
echoes
Haven't we had this conversation before? In our respective chairs, one of us talking more than the other?
hometown
I take a dialect quiz (focusing on pronunciation, and certain vocab and expressions), and the results are supposed to tell you what region of the US you're from. As it turns out, the way I speak fits closest to these three cities: San Jose, Fremont, and Honolulu. Also, I'm generally a very strong fit with Long Island, NY. Given that I was born in California and spent close to six years of my life in southern California, then the rest of my childhood on Long Island, these are pretty accurate results.
keratinous
The days are slight, as thin as fingernails.
revival
Embers in me that I want to coax back to life.
sorted
The animals have one corner of the floor; the plants have the other. In his world, at this time, they can't mingle.
tonedeaf
"Are you with someone?" he asks, his eyes scanning the room, fishing for additional prospects. "Yes," I say. "If it doesn't work out," he immediately says, in a business-like tone, "could I be the first one to know? Let me know, right after." Yep. That's exactly what I'm going to do. The first thing I'll think of in the aftermath of a break-up is you. And I do in fact get his business card, with two phone numbers. His customer service skills are impeccable.
205
abrade
This is the kind of cold that scrubs away at your cheeks like steel wool.
arctic
I don't know how they do it - plunge into the cold water without their hearts stopping.
cellar
The space beneath my desk is very cold. I could chill wine in there, where the heat hasn't made its way.
earthy
Deft fingers on the mandolin and a rough and honest voice. Magnificent.
satiny
A sky like gray silk.
sisal
They're a married couple with no apparent chemistry. No shared looks, no laughter in their eyes, just a tiredness in the way they move and talk to each other. As if they'd always rather be in different rooms. There's no sense of what's holding them together except for social acceptableness.
versifying
Hours of poetry, some earnestly awful and some of it beautiful. It's been a while since I had the pleasure of listening to poetry read out loud. Even the bad poetry sounds better read out loud.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Week in Seven Words #49
clinch
A quick fierce hug when words sting and words can't wholly mend.
den
I've made my home a little winter den, where I've holed up most of the week, picking away at work, reading by lamplight, storing up some energy for the coming months.
giddy
Tipsy on daiquiris and the wildest thing they do is play Scrabble. I love them.
imploring
Outside the library, as I tuck books into my backpack, a squirrel hops up on the bench beside me. It cocks its head at me and crimps its hands close to its chest. I wish I had something to give it.
kleenex
The snow looks like tissue paper torn up and puffed on by the wind.
petrology
Watching the sunrise on a heavily clouded day. The sky starts off charcoal, lightens to lead, shifts to cobalt and settles at last on the tranquil blue-gray of an agate stone.
tabletop
A pool of light, a game board, a plate of rolled figs covered in coconut shavings.
A quick fierce hug when words sting and words can't wholly mend.
den
I've made my home a little winter den, where I've holed up most of the week, picking away at work, reading by lamplight, storing up some energy for the coming months.
giddy
Tipsy on daiquiris and the wildest thing they do is play Scrabble. I love them.
imploring
Outside the library, as I tuck books into my backpack, a squirrel hops up on the bench beside me. It cocks its head at me and crimps its hands close to its chest. I wish I had something to give it.
kleenex
The snow looks like tissue paper torn up and puffed on by the wind.
petrology
Watching the sunrise on a heavily clouded day. The sky starts off charcoal, lightens to lead, shifts to cobalt and settles at last on the tranquil blue-gray of an agate stone.
tabletop
A pool of light, a game board, a plate of rolled figs covered in coconut shavings.
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