entymology

I've been up for a while, so blame any stupidity upon that. I had to post again to wonder about the word blog. I know I've heard the history of the word before and am just sluggish in remembering it. But why do I blush as I type it out?

Why does the word blog sound so obscene? While we're on the subject of four letter words, why are curse words so taboo? Sometimes nothing will do in a situation but an Anglo-Saxon four letter word, and accompanying gestures.

I go home in three days for Thanksgiving break. I miss my babies, the three Furry Ones. My mother says that Cleo, largest of them all, being a standard schnauzer, has been sweeter and more affectionate since I was home for Veteran's Day weekend. When I'm there, she's my world, truly my infant. I've taught her so many little tricks. She sits, shakes, lays, rolls over, and stays. She can catch a ball if you say "catch" and count to three before you throw it. She performs her tricks really quickly, really perfunctorily, as though she realizes how ridiculous what I'm asking her to do is, but she'll do it anyway for the doggy treat. Most of my life plays out in the same manner. I perform ridiculous and mindless tricks because I really want that end-road treat.

An excerpt from an essay I'm turning in on Tuesday:

I. What do you think has become of the young and old men?

Mayfly: a winged insect, of the order Ephemeroptera, white in body with dark eyes and two long cerci, or antennae-like tails. Vestigial tails that weave together as the insects mate in an art-nouveau chain of S’s and U’s. They swarm near bodies of water and live out night-long lives by the light of our silvery patio spotlight. They live as nymphs, young mayflies on the water, sometimes for years before moulting and seeking their mates. They beat themselves to death against our front door windows, our sliding door. The next day, hundreds of their bodies, now crisp and old, completely blanket our “Welcome to our Home” mat. A few are stuck to the glass door, perfectly preserved, like specimens between two slides, but these things were just alive, and now are dead.