in celebration of literacy

International literacy day was celebrated a few days ago. Almost four billion people on this planet are now literate, which is indeed cause for celebration. But of course so much more work in this area needs to be done, with so many still unable to read. In the past I volunteered with a literacy council and found the work to be incredibly rewarding. To find out more about UN and other literacy programs, check here as well as with your local town halls and libraries.

free e-books from the university of chicago press

The University of Chicago Press has launched its digital e-book program, and is offering fans a free monthly e-book download. For September, to celebrate the recent publication of the Chicago Manual of Style's sixteenth edition, the Press has selected a digital download of the original manual, published in 1906. This is just the sort of thing that makes the happy wordsmith giddy! :-D

For complete details and to download your own free e-book, here is the link. Happy reading!!!

from happy's wordlist #4

plage de temps (French):

Beach of time; an expression meaning a space of time for oneself to which one repairs on a daily or periodic basis.

AND something the happy wordsmith has learned during her absence from this blog these past few weeks. But reassured, she will be back with regular postings in the coming days and weeks. :-)


Source: "French Women for All Seasons" by Mireille Guiliano

from happy's wordlist #3

cock–a–hoop (adjective):

Etymology: from the phrase to set cock a hoop to be festive
Date: 1663

1. triumphantly boastful: exulting

2. awry

Source: Merriam-Webster Online

on the pursuit of happiness and better proofreading

I expect better from you, Martha, and not just because you share a name with the wife of one of our country's famous founders....

Anyone else reading this an "ineptness"?

words to mark the solstice

A Something in a Summer's Day by Emily Dickinson

A something in a summer's Day
As slow her flambeaux burn away
Which solemnizes me.

A something in a summer's noon—
A depth—an Azure—a perfume—
Transcending ecstasy.

And still within a summer's night
A something so transporting bright
I clap my hands to see—

Then veil my too inspecting face
Lets such a subtle—shimmering grace
Flutter too far for me—

The wizard fingers never rest—
The purple brook within the breast
Still chafes it narrow bed—

Still rears the East her amber Flag—
Guides still the sun along the Crag
His Caravan of Red—

So looking on—the night—the morn
Conclude the wonder gay—
And I meet, coming thro' the dews
Another summer's Day!

word link love #1

A little link love this morning for the wordsmiths who cringe over usage and spelling errors whenever they check their Facebook news feed (you know who you are!):

From The Oatmeal: Ten Words You Need To Stop Misspelling

And from Hyperbole and a Half: Beware of the Alot!

from happy's wordlist #2

bru-noise (adjective):

1. Vegetables cut into very small squares, or diced, for garnishing soups or grilled dishes.
   

Source: The Home Encyclopedia

green words

Being in the "print is NOT dead" camp as well as someone who is more eco-conscious than the average person, I do admit to feeling conflicted at times (what about all those TREES?!). Which is why I found Jenny Rough's article in the Washington Examiner on book publishers working to go green so promising and hopeful---maybe there IS a way to keep us print-ophiles AND our inner conservationists both happy. :-)

from happy's wordlist #1

sat-ur-nine (adjective):

1. Having the temperament of one born under the supposed astrological influence of Saturn.
2. 1. Melancholy or sullen.
   2. Having or marked by a tendency to be bitter or sardonic: a saturnine expression on his face.
3. Produced by absorption of lead.

Source: Houghton Mifflin

for the sheer pleasure of writing

For too long, I had high expectations about what makes a writer truly a writer—-and almost all the bars I was holding myself to were rather superficial measures that Western society likes to embrace, such as could I fully support myself writing, was my office that classic book-lined grand, but understated, room with a well-worn leather chair, and did the critics even know my work, yet alone love it.
Not that long ago, I realized none of those things are necessary to be a writer, that I can writer for the SHEER PLEASURE OF IT! There doesn’t need to be a book deal or literary magazine publisher or a wildly successful blog with a detailed marketing plan and a shelf full of awards. I can write because I LOVE IT! I can write on a two-year-old MacBook in desperate need of a cleaning (sorry Steve Jobs), with no intention of ever making a penny or having a readership of more than one, and be just as happy writing as the author of the latest bestseller. THIS is the writer I want to be, who writes whatever is on her mind, good or bad, every single day until they have to pull my rigor-mortised fingers off the keyboard.
And so that's the inspiration behind the happy wordsmith. This blog is not going to be about finding writing work or arguing whether content writers are real writers or how to write a query letter or find an agent---there more than enough of these sites out in the blogosphere already. No, the happy wordsmith is about the Joy of writing, the pleasure of a carefully crafted turn of phrase, about what inspires us to take fingers to keyboards or pen to paper, how writers see the world just a little bit differently than nonwriters.
Although I write every day, I may not post here every day. But I intend to stop by several times during the week and also post to Twitter from time to time at "happywordsmith." Thanks for stopping by, and happy writing!