Re-dun-dun-t

Once and for all, I would just like to say that there is technically no such thing as a "Chai Tea Latte".

"Chai" by definition is a Hindi word for tea with milk.

So a "Chai Tea Latte" translates into an incredibly redundant "Tea with Milk with Tea with Milk".

Why can't people (read: Starbucks) understand this? The whole concept is erroneously flawed and frustratingly bothersome! (See how annoying redundancies are?)

Word of the Day

Phantasmagoria (n)
(1) a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination;
(2) a constantly changing medley of real or imagined images (as in a dream);
(3) an optical illusion produced by a magic lantern or the like in which figures increase or diminish in size, pass into each other, dissolve, etc.

Got a nice ring to it, dunnit? Phantasmagoriaaahhh..

Believe it or not, the word came to my attention thanks to Marilyn Manson. Apparently it is the name of a fantasy/horror film that he made about Lewis Carroll and the (allegedly) mad and erotic visions that inspired double-entendre stories like Alice in Wonderland. Except the film doesn't exist on Netflix and I couldn't find any genuine studio-released trailers of it on You Tube either. I don't think it was ever released commercially, might have been a web-only thing. I suppose it must be that disturbing.

Oh well. I'd be curious to see it someday, if I could ever get my hands on it. The man is odd, certainly, but I wonder if he's just on that fine line between genius and insanity. Although someone who, in all seriousness, claims that his ideal way to die would be by (and I quote) "being eaten by the one I love", clearly has issues.

So why was I suddenly wading into the deep and dark waters of scary goth metal stuff? It all started innocently enough.

I was reading a great New York Times article about how Jon Stewart is the most trusted news-anchor in America.. then, I felt compelled to re-watch the video of him ripping Tucker Carlson apart on Crossfire (classic).. and then I saw a link to a Marilyn Manson on the O'Reilly Factor which I could not resist watching. It was quite interesting, so then I spent the next hour looking up info on Monsieur Manson, a.k.a. Reverend of the Church of Satan, a.k.a... umm.. Brian Hugh Warner. Yeah. I know. I was disappointed too. *sigh*

Anyway. That doesn't diminish the value of phantasmagoria. Now I just need to work it into a conversation and watch people get impressed.

If Opposites Attract, Why Are Antonyms So Repulsive?

DISCLAIMER: I know some of you want to know how Hajj went for me. Rest assured I'm working on gathering my thoughts about Hajj and will post a looooooooooooong recap soon. It'll likely also be published in the Fall issue of my sister's magazine Faith of Life.

So, yesterday we went over to celebrate my nephew's 10th birthday. Well, he's not related to me by blood but he calls me Chachi and his parents are close friends of ours, so I think of them of as family really..

Anyhoo, his mom made an interesting observation: when you turn 10, you haven't finally hit double digits. You're not beginning to be 10.. you're actually finishing your 10th year, and the day after your 10th birthday, you're technically already 11, because you've finished living 10 years and now you've started your 11th year. So you're 11.

Isn't that whacked? Never thought about it that way.

In other news, I'm studying hard for my GRE exam which is scheduled for February 14th - yes, its my Valentine's Day gift to myself.

It's not going so well. I knew the math would be challenging since I haven't looked at the subject since.. hmm.. 1998. (Yes I managed to get through A'Levels and college without a single course in math.. miracles never cease.)

But the Verbal section is brutal - even for me! With my excellent grasp of the English language! Especially the exercises where you have to know the meanings of really obscure words and find their antonyms (opposites) in a list. Those are so bizarre. These are just a few of the words that threw me for a loop when I did my first practice set:

Opprobrium?
Diaphanous?
Abjure?
Foment?
Cupidity?

Clearly I needed help. So I popped into B&N and bought myself a box of Kaplan's 500 flash cards with "the hardest GRE words".. and I found..

Contumacious?
Dirge?
Bilk?

I mean, I do know about 80-90% of the words in the box (well I've only gotten from A through H) but sometimes you can't help wonder if this is a whole new language you're dealing with..

Readers are welcome to suggest their own meanings to the above words, but you must do so without looking at a dictionary first!

Happy Defining!