Eagle Mountain Lake in Fort Worth Texas

Photo Credit: Robert Plaskota
Location: Eagle Mountain Lake in Fort Worth Texas

Some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity…

-- Gilda Radner

Dry ice

dry ice
Dry Ice is the trademark for carbon dioxide in its solid form, frozen at -109.3° F or -79.5° C. It is primarily used as a refrigerant. Dry Ice does not melt but goes directly from a solid to a gas in a process called sublimation. It is generally accepted that French chemist, Charles Thilorier, was the first to record the appearance of it in 1835. The Dry Ice Corporation of America first trademarked the name Dry Ice in 1925.

innocuous \ih-NOK-yoo-uhs\, adjective:

innocuous \ih-NOK-yoo-uhs\, adjective:

1. Harmless; producing no ill effect.
2. Not likely to offend or provoke; as, "an innocuous remark."

Furthermore, the public, not knowing how to interpret certain facts and figures, may end up unfairly vilifying a company that uses only innocuous traces of a certain toxic chemical.
-- "Can Selfishness Save the Environment?", The Atlantic, September 13, 2000
Maybe Grandpop misunderstood that perfectly innocuous remark and thought the man said "smell." Anyway his temper crackled and exploded.
-- John McCabe, Cagney
Anything that reeks beyond a city block is an invisible snarling dog with unknown intentions, even if, in the right context, the smell itself would be innocuous. Therefore, people complain.
-- Luca Turin, What You Can't Smell Will Kill You, New York Times, January 21, 2007
Innocuous is from Latin innocuus, from in-, "not" + nocuus, "harmful," from nocere, "to harm." It is related to innocent, formed from in- + nocens, nocent-, "harming, injurious, hence criminal, guilty," from the present participle of nocere. Less common is the opposite of innocuous, nocuous.

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for innocuous

Cheetah

Cheetahs are long-legged, swift-running wild cats of Africa and southwest Asia, with solid black round or oval spots. The cheetah is the fastest animal on land and can reach a top speed of 71 mph, which it can maintain for about 10-20 seconds. Cheetahs are hunters and eat a variety of small- to medium-sized animals. The name "cheetah" comes from a Hindi word meaning "spotted one" or from the Sanskrit word chitraka. The cheetah is the second most social cat behind the lion. It cannot roar, but can purr like a cat.

turbid \TUR-bid\, adjective:

turbid \TUR-bid\, adjective:

1. Muddy; thick with or as if with roiled sediment; not clear; -- used of liquids of any kind.
2. Thick; dense; dark; -- used of clouds, air, fog, smoke, etc.
3. Disturbed; confused; disordered.

Although both are found in the same waters, black crappies usually prefer clearer, quieter water, while white crappies flourish in warmer, siltier and more turbid water.
-- Tim Eisele, "Crappie Facts", Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), May 8, 1998
Rough or smooth, the Irish Sea at Blackpool is always turbid. Beneath the murk float unspeakable things.
-- David Walker, "Is Labour right to end its affair with Blackpool? YES says David", Independent, March 26, 1998
Wesley's mind seems at this time to have been in a turbid and restless state.
-- W. B. Stonehouse, The History and Topography of the Isle of Axholme
Turbid comes from Latin turbidus, "confused, disordered," from turba, "disturbance, commotion."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for turbid

Antarctica

Antarctica is home to the coldest place on earth. In 1983, scientists recorded the coldest temperature ever, -128.6° F, in Vostok, which has an average temperature of -72° F. Antarctica has no permanent human habitation, but does have an average summer population of 4,000 people and an average winter population of 1,000 people. No single nation controls any part of the continent, although seven countries have made territorial claims to parts of it. No such claim has been made by the U.S. The Antarctic Treaty was established to regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica; forty-four countries, comprising about two-thirds of the world's population, have acceded to it. Its main objectives are to demilitarize Antarctica so it remains peaceful and to promote international scientific cooperation on the continent. Under the Antarctic Treaty, no territorial claims are to be recognized, disputed, or established.

La Mesa, CA

Photo Credit: Nick Chill
Location: La Mesa, CA

Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.

-- Winston Churchill