Alternatives for Big

I've been having computer issues this week... which have been driving me a little crazy. I can't say that it's totally fixed yet either.

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Alternatives is a recurring post in which I give synonyms for an over used word. Click on the tab above for a "complete" list of over used words.

Today's word is:

Big band, big cheese, big shot, bigwig... I don't think these are improved as colossal band, elephantine cheese, humongous shot,  or vastwig, but you get the idea. And what about movies like The Big Chill, Little Big Man and Big Fish? Let's play, The Ample Chill, Little Large Man, Fat Fish. 

Depending on how you use it, this list (which is not complete) may come in handy for finding another way to say the same thing.

a whale of a, adult, aggrandized, altruistic, amble, arch (as in enemy) arrogant, arty, astronomic/astronomical, awash, awesome, awful

banging, bear-sized, benevolent, bighearted, blow one’s own trumpet, blown-up, bluster, boast/boastful, bouffant ,bounteous/bountiful, brag/braggart/bragging, brimming, broad, Brobdingnagian, bulky, bull, burly, buxom

capacious, capital, cardinal, central, chief, chivalrous, chock-full, chubby, cock-a-hoop, colossal, commodious, conceited, considerable, considerate, copious, cosmic, crow, crowded, crowd-pleasing

deep, dominant, double

earthshaking, earth-shattering, elder, elephantine, elevated, eminent, enceinte, enlarged, enormous, epic, eventful, exaggerate, expectant, extended, extensive

faddish, fashionable, fat, favorite, first, flamboyant, free, freehanded, full, full-grown, full-sized

galactic, gallant, gargantuan, gravid, generous, giant, gigantic, giving, goodly, gracious, grand, great, greathearted, grown, grown-up

handsome, happening, haughty, heavy, heavy-duty, heavyweight, hefty, heroic, high/highest, high-minded, high-sounding, historic, hot, huge, hulking/hulky, humongous, husky

immense, imperious, important, imposing, in, inflated, influential, intense

jumbo

key, king-sized

large, large-mouthed, large-scale, larger-than-life, leading, liberal, life-sized, lofty, lordly, lusty

macro, macroscopic, magnanimous, main, major, major league, mammoth, man-sized, massive, master, material, mature, meaningful, mod/modish, momentous, mondo, monolithic, monumental, monster/monstrous, mountainous, much, muscular

noble, number one, numero uno,

obese, openhanded, openhearted, outsized, overbearing, overblown, overlarge, overmastering, overriding, oversized, overweight

packed, paramount, plump/plumping, plush, pompous, ponderous, pop, potent,  powerful, predominant, preeminent, premier, primal, primary, prime, principle, prodigious, prominent, presumptuous, pretentious, princely, prodigious, proud, puffy,

queen-sized

rangy, red-hot, rich, robust, roomy,

self-aggrandizing, serious, significant, sizable, sovereign, spacious, stout, strapping, strong, stuffed, stupendous, substantial, super, super colossal, supreme, swelled

tall, thumping, thundering, titanic, tidy, too large, toot one’s own horn, tremendous, tubby,

unselfish

vainglorious, valuable, vast, vaunt, vogue/voguish, volumed, voluminous,

walloping, weighty, whacking, whopper/whopping, wide, wide-ranging

How about this bit of VAST LOVE? 

Up a Tree

Trees have figured prominently in my life.

This is the earliest picture of me taken by one. I'm standing in front of a small genip tree, circa 1956 Cruz Bay, St. John. Even though I’m wearing a little dress, the sash isn't tied and I am barefoot. It's a portent of things to come

The genip, (with a hard g) bears small round fruit between the size of a nickel and a quarter. It grows in bunches something like grapes. The fruit is covered by a leathery green skin which surrounds pinkish flesh. The pinkish flesh surrounds a large seed. The fruit is tart/sweet and ripens right around the time school begins and was always a favorite among the kids. Like spitting watermelon seeds, there were contests to see who could spit their genip skins the farthest.

It's faded, but I'm there, like a chameleon. This picture, taken around 1958, shows me in my favorite genip tree that grew by the house we lived in at Caneel Bay. 

The way my left hand is casually resting on the trunk of the tree, it looks like I’m standing in a doorway or next to a pillar.

I wasn't using the trunk to support myself, or to keep my balance on the branch. I simply had my hand on it like someone resting a hand on a doorjamb. I was totally unafraid of heights. (Not so any more.)

I loved that tree. I knew exactly where my hands and feet had to go to get me to my favorite branch.

My mother couldn't keep me out it, or any other climbable tree. She used to tell me, kidding of course, "You fall out of that tree and break your arm, I'll break the other one."

I never fell out of a tree and never broke bone. Well, I did break a small wrist bone, but I was in my early 30s and it happened roller skating.


Here I am at about 11 or 12 trying to climb a coconut palm. I was never successful getting more than a few feet up. There is a way to shimmy up them, but the technique eluded me.

I was a senior in high school when this picture was taken for the yearbook. The tree is a mango. I was wearing a ratty pair of jeans and an old blue denim shirt. I was NOT a prom queen/cheerleader type of girl. The Hat has a story all it's own which I blogged about HERE.

And it doesn't end there. My sweetie and I were married under a cedar elm.

We visited it on our 20th anniversary. All of us were still alive and well.

Were you a tree climber? Do you have a special tree memory? Did you ever have a tree house? Ever fallout of a tree?

Alternatives for Better

Alternatives is a recurring post in which I give synonyms for an over used word. Click on the tab above for a "complete" list of over used words.

Today's word is:

I better tell you right now, that more isn't always better. Still, sometimes it's nice to have some better words to use. Better now than never. Say better many time really fast and it starts to sound funny.

Depending on how you use it, this list (which is not complete) may come in handy for finding another way to say the same thing.

above, acceptable, accommodate, acculturate, ace, a cut above, adapt, adjust, admirable, advance, advantage, agreeable, ahead, alter/altered, ameliorate, amend, ascendant

bad (slang), beat, best, better for, better off, bigger, boost, boss, brass hat, bully

cap, capital, choice/chosen, civilize, commendable, congenial, control, convert, correct, crack

defeat, deluxe, desirable, distinguished

eclipsing, edify, educate, elder, elevate, emend, eminent. enhance, enlighten, enrich, exceed/exceeding, excel/excelling, excellent, exceptional, extraordinary

fatten, favor/favorable, finer, first-class, first-rate, fit/fitter, forward, foster, further

get the upper hand, gnarly, gratifying, great/greater

happier, help, higher-up, higher quality, honorable

improve/improved, improve on/upon, improvement, is greater in a more excellent manner, in a superior way, is superior to

larger

marked, marvelous, mastery, meliorate, mend, metamorphosed, mitigate, modified/modify, modulate, more, more advantageous, more appropriate, more attractive, more competent, more complete, more desirable, more effective, more expert, more fitting, more select, more suitable, more thorough, more useful, more valuable, most

neat, nice, nurture

of choice, one up on, outdo, outshine, outsmart, outstanding, outstrip, outweigh, outwit, over, overbalance, overbear, overcome, overpass, overthrow, overtop

perfect, pleasing, positive, precious, predominate, preferable, preferred, prevail over, prime, prominent, promote

qualified/qualify

rad, raise, rare, realign, rebuild, recherche, reconsider, reconstruct, recover, recreate, rectify, redesign, refine, refit, reform, reputable, remake, renew, reshape, restructure, revamp, revive, revolutionize, richer

satisfactory, satisfying, score off, select, senior, shipshape, sound, spanking, splendid, sterling, streets ahead, stupendous, super, superior, surpass/surpassing

the bees knees, tip-top, to a greater degree, to be preferred, top/topping, top drawer, top shelf, tower above/over, transform, transcend, translated, triumph over, trump, turn the scale, turn the tables, turn the tide, turn upside down

unhoped-for, unmitigated, upgrade, uplife, upper, up to snuff

valuable, vary

wealthier, welcome, well-advised, win, wiser, wonderful, work a change, worthier/worthy

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I think this list is the bees knees myself. Got a favorite alternative?

And because I couldn't think of a more gnarly song... :) 

The Book

Today I'm helping to promote Jessica Bell's latest novel, THE BOOK. 

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This book is not The Book. The Book is in this book. And The Book in this book is both the goodie and the baddie.

Bonnie is five. She wants to bury The Book because it is a demon that should go to hell. Penny, Bonnie’s mother, does bury The Book, but every day she digs it up and writes in it. John, Bonnie’s father, doesn’t live with them anymore. But he still likes to write in it from time to time. Ted, Bonnie’s stepfather, would like to write in The Book, but Penny won’t allow it. To Bonnie, The Book is sadness. To Penny, The Book is liberation. To John, The Book is forgiveness. To Ted, The Book is envy. But The Book in this book isn’t what it seems at all. If there was one thing in this world you wished you could hold in your hand, what would it be? The world bets it would be The Book.

If Jessica Bell could choose only one creative mentor, she'd give the role to Euterpe, the Greek muse of music and lyrics. This is not only because she currently resides in Athens, Greece, but because of her life as a 30-something Australian-native contemporary fiction author, award-winning poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist, whose literary inspiration often stems from songs she's written.

Being the daughter of a semi-famous rock 'n' roll duo from Melbourne, she grew up surrounded by song. For a while it seemed logical to travel the musician's path, especially when her first band, spAnk, hit it off in the Melbourne indie music scene back in the late 90s. Although she spent her years writing and recording dozens of songs she decided she also had a love for the written word, and began to pursue a career as a writer.

She started as a poet, drawing from her musical background and etching her thoughts and feelings into verse. Those stanzas soon turned into sentences and paragraphs, and eventually into published books. Her literary voice is said to overflow with "lyrical descriptions, unique metaphors, tight dialogue, and an abundance of sensory detail." She has also been told she has the ability to take a seemingly ordinary three-chord type story and turn it into a main stage event.

In addition to her novels (STRING BRIDGE, THE BOOK), her poetry collections (TWISTED VELVET CHAINS, FABRIC which was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards in 2012), and her pocket writing guides (WRITING IN A NUTSHELL SERIES), she has published a variety of works in online and print literary journals and anthologies, including Australia's Cordite Review, and the anthologies 100 STORIES FOR QUEENSLAND and FROM STAGE DOOR SHADOWS, both released through Australia's, eMergent Publishing.

Additionally, she is the Co-Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and makes a living as an editor/writer for English Language Teaching publishers worldwide, such as Pearson Education, HarperCollins, Macmillan Education, Education First and Cengage Learning.

Note: Check out the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop she annually runs. In 2012 she had Chuck Sambuchino of Writer's Digest, next year, 2014, she has Katharine Sands, New York literary agent as the main instructor.]

Read more at her web site: http://www.jessicabellauthor.com

and at her blog The Alliterative Allomorph.

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You can find THE BOOK at Amazon. 

While you're there check out Jessica's other publications: String Bridge - a novel. Two books of poetry: Twisted Velvet Chains  and Fabric.  And two books on writing: Show and Tell in a Nutshell and Adverbs and Cliques in a Nutshell.

Six Impossible Things

This is an occasionally Random Post.

'I can't believe that!' said Alice.

'Can't you?' the Queen said in a pitying tone. 'Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.'

Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said: 'one can't believe impossible things.'

'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'



It was the White Queen, from Through the Looking Glass, who said this. Wise words from an old crone.

When life gets you down, think of or believe in, six impossible things before breakfast. Just take a deep breath and close your eyes.

If you are aren't smiling by the sixth thing, think of six more. Keep thinking of impossible things until you do, or until you understand that life itself is impossible.

Yet here we are.

My six impossible things for today are:
Living with fairies.
Being able to levitate.
Coconuts with soft shells.
Having tea with St. Francis of Assisi.
Discovering an easy cure for all cancers.
Lounging on a cloud.

How about sharing at least one impossible thing with me? It'll make us both smile.

It's About Loyalty

Last week, long time follower and friend C. Lee McKenzie over at The Write Game gave me the Dragon's Loyalty Award. Makes me feel kind of special since she also gave it to M. Pax and Alex Cavanaugh. Those are a couple of pretty auspicious people in my book and to be included in with them means a lot.

I don't usually follow the rules when being given awards. I just say thanks, offer the award to anyone who wants it, and leave it at that. But for this one, I'm going to go the distance because loyalty means something and needs to be acknowledged.



So the rules are:

1) Display the Award Certificate on your website.
2) Announce your win with a written post and link to whoever presented your award.
3) Present the award to 7 deserving bloggers.
4) Drop them a comment to tip them off after you have nominated them in the post.
5) Post 7 interesting things about yourself.
6) If you don't have a blog but have a website, Facebook, or Twitter or other type of account, post there with a link back.

Seven Interesting Things About Me: Well... I don't know if they're interesting, but here they are any way.

1) For our senior high school trip we went to Caracas, Venezuela. While we were there we were shut into our hotel for a whole day as college students rioted just down the street. They were protesting the U. S. bombing of Cambodia. There were police (or army) at the door of the hotel with AK47 type rifles to protect the mostly American visitors staying there. We could see the riots from our hotel rooms. It was scary, but exciting at the same time.

2) I really do hate shoes and go barefoot as often as I can.

3) I have traveled quite a bit by Greyhound Bus (Florida to California, California to Florida, Texas to Florida, Florida to Pennsylvania) with smaller journeys in between.

4) I've never been to Chicago.

5) I spent the whole summer of 1967 in Arlington, Virginia and frequently went into Washington D. C. I can proudly claim that I walked up the Washington Monument twice and walked down it once.

6) I have been to the top of the Empire State Building.

7) I have flown in a DC3, the plane really responsible for opening up commercial flying to the masses. In the 1950s and 60s it was the plane used by the airlines to fly between St.Thomas and Puerto Rico and since we went over to PR fairly often, we flew in DC3s. I can still here the sound of the engines starting and the props beginning to spin. A wonderful throaty noise. Built between 1936 and 1950, these planes were incredibly reliable and, there are still some out there, winging their way through the skies. I'd love to take another ride on one!

Have you been to the top of Empire State Building? Flown on a DC3? Taken a Grayhound  Bus? Been to a foreign country? Visited Washington DC?

For their LOYALTY in being among my earliest followers I pass on this award too:

Anne Gallager, Tricia O'Brien, Christina Farley, Cynthia Chapman Willis,  Kelly Polark, Robyn Campbell, and Angela Ackerman.

Alternatives for Happy

Alternatives is a recurring post in which I give synonyms for an over used word. Click on the tab above for a "complete" list of over used words.

Today's word is:

Because the month of May was not so happy, I decided to jump ahead in my list of over used words to this one. It's all about reprogramming the brain. Discovering all the wonderful synonyms was refreshing and a much needed soothing balm. I hope you enjoy reading through it. If it doesn't lift your spirits, something may be wrong with you.

Depending on how you use it, this list may come in handy for finding another way to say the same thing.

activated, active, advantageous, airy, alert, animated, applicable, apposite, appropriate, apropos, apt, ardent, at ease, auspicious

beaming, beatific, becoming, befitting, behooving, beseeming, blessed, blest, blissful, blithe, blithesome, bouncy, buoyant, breezy, bright, bright and breezy, brisk, bullish

can’t complain, captivated, carefree, cheerful, cheery, chipper, chirpy, chuffed (British) cock-a-hoop, conforming, content, contented, convenient, convivial, correct, crazy

debonair, decent, decorous, delighted, devil-may-care, dotty, dynamic

easy going, ebullient, ecstatic, effervescent, elastic, elated, elysian, energetic, energized, enraptured, enthusiastic, entranced, enviable, euphoric, excited, exhilarated, expansive, exuberant, exultant

fanciful, favorable, felicitous, fervent, fervid, festive, feverish, fit, fitting, flippant, floating on air, fluky, flying high, fortuitous, fortunate, frolicsome, full of pep, full of zip, fun

gay, genial, germane, glad, gladsome, gleeful, glowing, golden, graceful, gratified

halcyon, happy-go-lucky, healthy, heaven-sent, heedless, high-spirited, hopeful

impassioned, in good spirits, intoxicated, invigorated

jaunty, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, jubilant, just

keen, knee-deep, kosher

laid back, laughing, light, lighthearted, lively, looking good, lucky

meet, merry, mirthful

nice, nonchalant, nuts

of good cheer, on cloud nine, on the button, on the nose, on top of the world, opportune, optimistic, overjoyed, over the moon

paradisial, passionate, peaceful, peppy, perky, pertinent, playful, pleasant, pleased, pleased as punch, positive, pretty, promising, proper, propitious, prosperous

quick

rapt, rapturous, rejoicing, relaxed, relieved, relevant, resilient, rhapsodic, rhapsodical, riant, right, right on, rosy

sanguine, satisfied, satisfactory, seasonable, seemly, silly, smiling, snappy, sparkling, spirited, sprightly, suitable, sunny, successful, supple

thankful, thrilled, tickled, tickled pink, timely

unconcerned, untroubled, up, upbeat

vibrant, vigorous, vital, vitalized, vivacious, vivid

walking on air, walking on sunshine, well-timed, what the doctor ordered, whimsical

zeaous, zestful, zingy, zippy

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If ever there was a song that was effervescent, up beat, playful, jubilant, bright and breezy, it's got to be this one. It makes me want to get up and dance for joy. It makes me smile and feel good.

Got a favorite synonym for happy? A favorite happy song?

The Month That Was

May...  I thought I'd be chillaxing while I was away. HA! Bad, good and sad things happened to make it one of those months I'm glad  is behind me. We've all had them, months roiling with emotional roller coaster rides.

The Bad
As some of you may know, at the beginning of May I got pretty sick and was in the hospital for three nights and four days. I'm fine, back to my normal self, but it's amazing how much wind that took out of my sails.

The Good
Despite the above I finished the book I've been working on for the novel writing course I'm taking through The Institute of Children's Literature. It has been an incredible challenge and journey because I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone with an idea that's been pecking at me for at least ten years. My instructor heaped praises on my head with statements like this one: "When I say I’m thrilled with what you’ve accomplished that is an understatement. This is a powerful, powerful and resonating story."

Her encouragement has kept me going through the revisions -- the part I have the most trouble with, that I like the least. Despite that, the first half of the novel is almost done.

The Sad

In Memory of Ursa 

October 2001-May 2013

A Zen dog without equal who taught us many wonderful things. Ears like velvet, she was one hundred pounds of pure love and adoration. She never got into an argument with another dog, nor was there a person she didn't like. We were blessed and are very thankful to have had her in our lives. 

We will never forget her.

May she run free in the Elysian Fields.

Dare I ask? How was your May?