ENTHUSIASM, n. A distemper of youth, curable by small doses of repentance in connection with outward applications of experience. Byron, who recovered long enough to call it "entuzymuzy," had a relapse which carried him off to missolonghi.
2006 Update: A nervous disorder causing headaches, toothaches, dysthymia, dyspepsia, aging, autism, anxiety and aggravated assault in the afflicted's afflicted.
Happy 7th of April to The Belle of The Brawl
ENTHUSIASM, n. A common delusional state, notably absent among early-onset curmudgeons and credentialed cynics.
ReplyDeleteWhatever.
ReplyDeleteAren't pompoms required for enthusiasm? That's sounds very energetic. I think I'll take a nap instead.
ReplyDeleteenthusiasm is boring when it's not for me.
ReplyDelete@Karma - my letters are jauhyta. I find it sounds so exotic, can you write something with it?
I second Jenna!
ReplyDeleteENTHUSIASM, n. The great, all-sweeping rush of action that causes, and immediately precedes, the long slow agony of remorse. Today, goose-stepping parades. Tomorrow, carpet bombing. See BAGHDAD.
ReplyDelete*claps* I love it, Duxfine. Credentialed by a doctor?
ReplyDeleteThat's the spirit, Aral! YeeeeeeeeAGGGGHHHH!
Jenna, that's cool.
Ariel, I bet she can. It's probably a suburb of Mumbai.
Sunil, I'll try to get you her address.
O Ceallaigh, true. Nothing gets the ole' ticker ticking like nuclear weapons on the back of beautiful unicorn.
Two decades (egad!) ago, I visited the laboratory of a colleague in Muenster, (then West) Germany. The visit happened to coincide with All Saints Day (Nov. 1st - hardly any mention of Hallowe'en), and that morning, of course, the churches announced themselves. I visited one, an imposing structure. In the vestibule was a series of pictures of what the building looked like in 1945. Or rather, what the fragments looked like.
ReplyDeleteI walked down a street of attractive homes. On one was a sign (I paraphrase): "This home was levelled by Allied bombing in 1943. It has been rebuilt, brick by brick."
The Germans I have known have been notable for their sturdiness but also their lack of enthusiasm.
I see that you've been able to curb yours.
ReplyDeleteMy enthausasim (sic)for Byronic men has caused me endless trouble, many headaches, bouts of anxiety et al
ReplyDeleteMy enthausasim for the Dawg and his blogroll is a whole other story
Enthusiasm as defined by a self-described 47 freak:
ReplyDeleteToday's 4-7! Swing by my site & celebrate with me.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Enthusiasm... lacking in bohemians, especially when the latest post, for some reason makes the dashed line in their template go screwy.
ReplyDeleteDamn Blogger!
Enthusiasm... short skirts are best for bending over than for jumping up and down with pom poms... I don't like pom poms...
ENTHUSIASM, n., That hard-to-disguise feeling one gets when waving goodbye to annoying relatives (generally inlaws).
ReplyDeleteDoug called me cool! I'm done for the day. Nothing more need be done on this rainy, rainy day. But it's not snowing so I'll give a little rah before pulling the covers back over my head.
ReplyDeleteO Ceallaigh, two decades and some ago (yeah, yeah) I spent a summer in Marburg near Frankfurt. I love Germany for just that reason. I should have been born there.
ReplyDeleteFriends, for those of you who missed it yesterday, O Ceallaigh writes another bierce-inspired site of modern satirical lexicography called The New Millenium Devil's Dictionary. As John Goodman said in Arachnophobia, it's a pleasure to meet a colleague.
It's tough sometimes, TLP. I nearly smiled at your comment there.
Thanks, Pia. Readers of the Long Island Press are learning what enthusiasm is for.
Ow, Sar, you're giving me a toothache.
What are you people still doing here? The party's at Sar's.
Fie on Pom-poms, Miz B! I'm with you.
Oh, Lordy, TLP. Uncle Owen isn't back is he?
Rah, Jenna! Take the rest of the day off.
huff puff i'll answer after catching my breath swinging from the chandelier
ReplyDeletehaha Jenna!
here you go, ariel honey:
jauhyta: jasmine used with hyacinth for transcendental aura
I agree with cowgirl -- enthusiasm has thought behind it, excitement simply has adrenalin.
ReplyDeleteOld Age and Treachery win out over Youth and enthusiasm every time
ReplyDeleteenthusiasm-the other thing most people fake.
ReplyDeletewow, Karma! it now smells exotic, too!
ReplyDeleteKarma, I sure do hate to interrupt your chandelier swinging. I sure do.
ReplyDeleteWell, Cowgirl, that's smart and sincere. I guess this is a big tent, after all.
Mutha, I think I'll sit here and think about that for a spell.
Village Idiot, that's brilliant. Yours? It sounds familiar.
HAHAHAHA, Masil. *clapping* Sometimes you make it hard on a cynic.
Ariel, you and Karma are making a spa of the joint.
shhhh....Masil! Don't tell.
ReplyDeleteEye wood like to take this thyme
ReplyDeletetwo revue my purr sieved spelling
miss takes.
For example, Aye no this rule.
Eye be four E accept after sea
Aye ran this threw spell cheque and it came out purr feck lee
This is deaf fun ate lee thee most
annoying post Aye halve dun.
I'm going to quote different Doug to you.
ReplyDeleteDouglas MacAthur...
"Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul."
It's out now, TLP. I'm shocked that you know what she's talking about.
ReplyDeleteVillage Idiot, I wonder if Logo agrees with your conclusion.
Not at all, Cowgirl. You did great. This joint can use a little brilliance now and then.
Logo, I need a corncob pipe.
Doug --- I actually stole it from an old curmudgeon I worked with down at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was this crusty old technical writer and that was posted on his office door.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of a birdhouse in your soul -- but never a wrinkle. That's gotta hurt.
ReplyDeletemutha, I wouldn't know, I am young and enthusiastic...and treacherous.
ReplyDeleteI wish to claim lots of wrinkles in my brain, few around my eyes and none in my heart.
Doug, do you see? Do you see what I deal with?! Bad spelling and moments of brilliance interspersed with complete obliviousness.
Idiot~ Doug was asking if I agreed that was your most annoying post.
See me after class and I will give you a detailed list of annoyances, that wasn't even close.
ewww Doug your cynicism is groqing and I fear catchy.
ReplyDeleteI OBJECT! Spell checker said all was well. If you can't trust microsoft and their spell check who can you trust?
ReplyDeleteAnd instead of oblivious I prefer higher plane of consciousness with scintillating rivulets of thought cascading through my brain.
Hmmm, if rivulets are cascading in there it doesn't speak well of the depth, does it now?
ReplyDeleteDouglas, ariel and i are smoking a joint
ReplyDeleteyoniqky: yonder i am quirky
Idiot, there can't be a better way to become a crusty old curmudgeon that to be a technical writer at JPL. I almost envy him. How's the weather up there on your plane?
ReplyDeleteMutha, try knots.
Bless your long suffering heart, Logo.
Cooper what's groqing? I'm sure it is, but not sure what.
Oooh, Logo! Your enthusiasm for cruelty is admirable.
Karma, yonder?
Ey kant evin spel insusieasshim!
ReplyDeleteMust be something in the water..either that or everyone is having hooked on phonics flashbacks
ReplyDeleteAnd Logo -- Keep this up and ..Im gonna pack up my things and go home like a petulant school boy
I love the enthusiasm of this blog. Thanks for stopping by my site today. Dogs are good.
ReplyDeleteTLP~ are you referring to me??
ReplyDeleteShocking
Susie~ YAY, I am so glad you are here!
Doug~ Sorry to take over your blog, I will stop any day now.
Idiot~ So sorry, I meant to say you are charming and delightful. Wanna a lolly, little boy?
Logo -- no its much too late..you win, both my youth and my enthusiasm have fled, perhaps due to your old age and treachery?
ReplyDeletewe are, does good to skin!
ReplyDeleteTLP, gotta watch those ticks.
ReplyDeleteHey, Barefoot Mistress! Spelling isn't mandatory here.
Idiot, you're posting from the bath?
Welcome, Egan. Any friend of Logo's is a friend of mine. Her persecuted, too. I ain't waggin' for you, though.
Continue, Logo. I'm here for you.
There, there, V.I. She was just funnin'
Turns it purple, right Ariel?
Doug.. I do lose more laptops in the tub than most people
ReplyDeleteThe irony to me is that an "early-onset curmudgeon" has created so much enthusiasm for cynicism...quite egnimatic? Makes me suspicious...
ReplyDeleteWWAS? That's "What Would Abrose Say?" In Square World
Enthusiasm: I'm commenter 47! Woohoo baby!
ReplyDeleteYay! Doug thinks I'm cool!! (Yes, I'm still hung up on this...I think I have to print it out, and then I'll carry it around in my wallet!"
ReplyDeleteGimme a "D"!
Gimme an "O!"
Enh...I'm done now. I'm tired. Not used to cartwheels. Haven't done them in awhile. Plus I nearly crashed into the t.v. Wasn't pretty but damn...it was enthusiastic!
I can imagine, Village Idiot. Sure can.
ReplyDeleteSquaregirl, the curmudgeon is a clever breed of dog.
Woof, Cowgirl. Or...should I say...arf? You know what I mean.
Scar, I've seen your pep talks.
Man, Sar, this just isn't your day. Oh, wait a minute...
Rest now, cool Ms. Howard. A little nap won't kill ya.
Jeez, look at the enthusiasm that you have created over this word! It's giving me dysthymia and dyspepsia. I already had the aging. It's incurable, unlike enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteDoug: I've heard knots in the soul can be cleared up with a round of antibiotics. FYI
ReplyDeleteI feel enthusiasm every day.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is a minor case, and other times it is so strong I break out into a jig.
Today was jigless, but I did get enthused when my son and I finished two brutal geometry lessons. I clapped with glee.
I'm off to Sar's.
What Im FULL of!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteNo mater what OTHER people say!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, cowgirl, it is. An egnima wrapped in a mystery.
ReplyDeleteCoffee and Pepto-Bismol should clear that right up, TLP.
Mutha, how does that go with coffee and pepto-bismol?
Jamie Dawn, I actually believe that about you. Sunny and snarky is such a great combination.
Pansi, who told you you weren't full of it. I'll set'em straight.
I was on the coffee and pepto-bismol diet in college. Talk about curbing your enthusiasm...but man, I was slim.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies, Doug, seems I never properly thanked you for the birthday nod in your post. It was most appreciated as were the birthday wishes you offered me at Belle.
ReplyDeleteThanks! *pat pat*
enthusiasm - That which must be beaten senseless with a big stick.
ReplyDeleteMutha, it does sound slimming and discouraging.
ReplyDeleteWell, happy birthday again, Sar.
Smite, Poobah! Smite!
Do you know that person called Ariel? Is it a guy or girl? Youg or old? Just wondring. I got enthuzed about the pictures. Is that pic on yor profil really you face? Just wondering.
ReplyDeleteLammy, Ariel looks to be three or so although she writes much older.
ReplyDeleteLammy, that is the face of William, a kind man started this blog back in 2004. about a year ago I converted him into a dog and created Doug Pascover. Willie says he's a lot happier as a dog than he's ever been as a human.
ReplyDeleteYes she'd give you a twirl
ReplyDeleteBut she vanishes from my world
Yes the paint is peeling and my
Garden is overgrown
I got no enthusiasm to even answer the phone
When she's here it makes up for the time she's
not and it's all forgotten
But when she goes I'm putting on the pose for
the
sorry... I'm a little late... but I always have much enthusiasm when I am here within your blog, Doug! ;)
Mistress Ariel, and I thank you for creation.
ReplyDeleteShayna, I'm always enthused when you arrive.