Schedule and Location

Our group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month at the Nokomis Fire Station. From Sarasota or North, proceed a few blocks south of Albee Road on US 41 (past Matthews-Currie Ford) to Pavonia Road. Turn right (West, toward the bay) at the Fire Station's flashing yellow caution traffic light. From the south on US 41, we are two blocks north of Dona Bay. Turn left onto Pavonia Road at the flashing yellow caution light. At the Fire Station, drive to the fire hall's far end or west side; PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK THE FIRE DEPARTMENT DOORS! We gather in the training room at the far end of the complex for a meet and greet at 6:00 pm but call the Meeting to order at 6:30 pm and take a Ten-minute break at around 7:50 pm. Meeting Adjourns: 9:00 pm

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

New Words = New Ideas

As writers, we have a special love for words. All sorts of words. Words that generate all sorts of meanings, colors, shadings, definitions, emotions, and images. If we didn't love words, we probably wouldn't be writers. So it is always exciting to discover new words, unusual words that we can use in our stories and articles.

Thanks to John McCafferty, one of our group's most experienced professional writers, we can now add a whole passel of new and scintillating words to our writing and speaking vocabularies. All we have to do is click on the link listed below and we'll be whisked away to a preview of some of the words that Mirriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition has added to their new collection. Words like:

Acai -- a small, dark purplish fruit from Central and South America

Fan fiction -- stories involving fictional characters that are written up by fans and posted on the Internet

Locovore -- one who eats only foods grown locally

Missalette -- a shortened form of a missal published periodically for congregational use

Webisode -- an episode of a TV show that may or may not be telecast but can be viewed at a Web site

Your homework assigment for this week is to look up the following words and work each of them into at least one conversation every day this week. Piece of cake.

Pharmacogenetics, flash mob, green-collar, reggaeton, shawarma, viog, and naproxen.

We will NOT be grading on a curve. However, all of these words and their definitions can be found on this link. So it is, in effect, an OPEN BOOK QUIZ. This site will also give you the correct audible pronunciation of every word, so you won't have to sound like an illiterate bumpkin every time you use them. The link is:

www.Merriam-Webster.com/info/newwords09.htm.

Good luck on the Quiz!

Posted by
Russ Heitz
www.russheitz.com