New Words

From a recent Reader's Digest:

Abdicake: to give up the last piece of cake to someone else.

Flabbygast: to be overcome with astonishment that despite excessive dieting, you haven't lost a pound.

Manorexic: characterizing a male who eats an extremely large amount of food yet gains no weight.

Nostralgia: a reminder of one's past brought on by a familiar or more recently unfamiliar smell.

Happy Monday!

Strange News for the Weekend

As the weekend approaches, here are some funny, strange news blurbs found during my visit to Yahoo! Underground today.

A Melbourne, Australia company that makes condoms is advertising for unpaid volunteer testers of their products. Here's the funniest statement of the whole piece:

"Who wouldn't want to have a chance with an actual authorized professional?" Durex marketing manager Sam White asked.

You can read the whole story here.

Another blurb: China has built what they hope Guinness Book of World Records will acknowledge as the world's largest public restroom. It's four stories of toilets, 1,000 total. Seriously. Here's what I thought was really funny:

"We are spreading toilet culture. People can listen to gentle music and watch TV," said Lu Xiaoqing, an official with the Yangrenjie, or "Foreigners Street," tourist area where the bathroom is located. "After they use the bathroom they will be very, very happy."

You can read the whole story here.

Have a super weekend.

The Day After

How was your 4th of July?

We had a nice day; ate some good food and watched all the fireworks over the city of Denver from our ridge elevation. Some good shows, though it wasn't quite the same as being close enough to feel the booms that accompany each beautiful display.

Yesterday I also moved my office into the second bedroom. Have you moved your workspace before? Then you know what I mean when I say that I'm getting adjusted to where things are again. It will be nice to be able to close the door on it when I'm not working.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Puzzling

Here's a puzzle for today, from the most recent Reader's Digest.

The goal is to find five cards that form a cross pattern (3 across by 3 down), with each card having a different symbol. Time yourself, and check your score at the bottom. This took me a little while.

I won't be posting tomorrow, so I'll wish you a happy 4th of July one day early. I hope you take some time while you're grilling or enjoying some corn on the cob to remember what your freedom cost, and that the veterans and men and women still fighting for it today deserve to be thanked. I also hope you find a great fireworks show and have a great holiday.

Integrity Complete

I finished re-reading the Integrity book yesterday, and was thinking about all of it this morning.

The whole concept is centered around integrity as meaning integrated character, and how people with fully integrated character manage their lives in several areas. It was helpful to revisit the concepts this morning, and sort of put the lid on it for me.

Fully integrated character, the kind that has the courage to meet the demands of reality:

1. creates and maintains trust
2. is able to see and face reality
3. works in a way that brings results
4. embraces negative realities and solves them
5. causes growth and increase
6. achieves transcendence and meaning in life

Something for me to think about as I begin a new week.