Your Lexicon

11.3.2k

I looked up the word "paradox" in the dictionary. I know what the word means but sometimes it's nice to see an official definition. Clears up any ambiguities. www.dictionary.com (a very cool resource) defines "paradox" as:

1. A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true: the paradox that standing is more tiring than walking.

2. One exhibiting inexplicable or contradictory aspects: "You have the paradox of a Celt being the smooth Oxonian" (Anthony Burgess).

3. An assertion that is essentially self-contradictory, though based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises.

4. A statement contrary to received opinion. I like the number two definition.

At a Cubs / Giants game a couple years back my lovely sister wore a Giants cap and a Cubs jersey. I pointed a finger at her and said, "yer a damn paradox there, sister." (Anybody know what an Oxonian is? Look that sucker up.) It is, however, the number three definition that clearly conveys the paradoxical feeling I had the other day. I was being bad, but at the same time it was really good. I ain't gonna tell you details. (I don't want to tip my hand to the Sherrif's Department, if you know what I mean.) But there's yer paradox: Bad is good. Self-contradiction. Weird how that works out. I just wanted to share one of my favorite words with you. Tonight we trade favorite words and drink here:

Doctor Bombay's
3192 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 431-5255

One fella new to the list: Don. Hi Don. Really nice turnout at Latin American Club last week. Might as well make tonight's meeting, too.

TONIGHT'S CONTEST: Limbo.

TONIGHT'S DRAMATIC REENACTMENT: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Players: Tama plays the Edmund Fitzgerald, "The Pride of the American Flag." ("The ship was the pride of the American side / comin' back from some mill in Wisconsin "); Moss plays iron ore. ("With a load of iron ore 26,000 tons more / than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty"); Jerry plays Lake Superior ("The lake it is said never gives up her dead / when the skies of November turn gloomy"); (nameless) and Dee play the northeast winds and the wily northwest winds, respectively ("and late that night when the ship' bell rang / could it be the north wind they'd bin feelin'); Spark plays the waves breaking over the side ("The captain wired in he had water comin' in / and the good ship and crew was in peril"); and Clova plays the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald ("and later that night when 'is lights went out of sight / came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"). (You might guess that them lyrics are from that famous song. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald; Lyrics by Gordon Lightfoot, Moose Music Ltd.)

TONIGHT'S SINGLED-OUT LIST MEMBER: Coach Anna Bjeldanes. She likes to eat Cobb salads for breakfast. She says no to Cocoa Puffs. "Savory. Not sweet." She says she ain't comin' to the meeting.

Anybody see that lady sitting in her car in the parking lot yesterday? She was crying really hard. Weeping. I wonder if she's all right.

Another of my fav. words is "pariah." Haul your behinds to the Doc's fer a shot. Bring yer pals. As always, I will. See you there! bye-ee!