Special Guest Wednesday

Friends, this week I'm proud to present Janet of The Art of Getting By. Janet was asked to define Gregarious.

gre·gar·i·ous, adjective
gre·gar·i·ous·ly, adverb
gre·gar·i·ous·ness, noun

1 a : tending to associate with others of one's kind, social
b : marked by or indicating a liking for companionship, sociable
c : of or relating to a social group

2 a: of a plant : growing in a cluster or a colony
b : living in contiguous nests but not forming a true colony or posse.

Used in a sentence: Thems my peeps, said the gregarious boy.

I find it interesting Doug chose me to define the word gregarious. After all, he has told me before that he tries, whenever possible, to match up the word with the person.

So I guess that means Doug sees me and my blog as gregarious entities. That's interesting.

When I think of the word social I think of two things; butterflies and drinking, though not necessarily in that order and definitely not together. I mean really. When's the last time you saw a drunk butterfly? And no, some lethargic dude in a pool attempting the backstroke doesn't count.

But seriously, butterflies are known as social beings, as are birds of a feather that flock together. But I guess it's the "of one's kind" thing that kinda irks me.

Am I a shallow social person in Doug's eyes? Do I only socialize on a level of snobbery? Am I really that much of a blogging elitist?!

Then again, if being gregarious does mean socializing with those like you, that would mean Doug is putting himself in the same, buzzed butterfly scenario. That makes me feel better.

There are also, I suppose, worse words to define. He could have given me something like "hermit" or "heinous". Then I would really have a complex.

About Janet: Janet is a teacher, counselor, blogrenter and award taker. And if you go read her blog, you get a free milkshake served with a smile. For those of us whose experience with school is limited to having been an inattentive pupil long ago, her site is very revealing of the thoughts of faculty. I never suspected they had them. Wonder if my teachers knew about my ditching and, ah, stuff.

Her blog, The Art of Getting By features Janet's thinking and writing in a friendly, inviting and interactive conversation about various topics, especially, but not limited to, school. Every Tuesday she has a "Tell Me Tuesday" which heightens the interactivity and a good time is had by all. The eloquence and organization of her posts make them good reading and food for thought. Janet's also as committed to interactivity and reciprocity as any blogger I know of. For all of these reasons, The Art of Getting By received the Best of Blogs award as the runner-up in the Best Overall Blog category, the only category, mind you, that shares initials with program itself. Thanks to gregarious Janet, neither heinous nor hermit-like (those words I reserve for myself, thank you so much) for bringing her august credibility over here and earning it again.

And for the record, I don't think Gregarious denotes shallow. Connotes is more appropriate, although not in this case.

How to be a future guest on this site: Just send an email to dpascover at mac dot com. On a future Wednesday, after posting that week's guest, I'll send you an email with a word to define. You'll be expected to return your definition along with a graphic representing either your definition or yourself by the following Saturday. The only rules are no profanity and no novels, please. And whatever I make up at the last minute.