The La Dolce Vita blog got empowered by my Follow Your Bliss Compass.  Here's an excerpt:

This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?

• 7-letter words: 11
• 8-letter words: 2

One 7-letter word means "a stretch of land."

All letters in the word must touch (in any direction), and no square may be reused.

Click to display solutions

Here's an excerpt from an article about how "the last semicolon gets the last laugh":


—The Middleweight of Punctuation Politics

The Presence of Absence

Rich Haswell poses an intriguing question:

"New"

I came across a reference to the film "I Escaped from the Gestapo" (1943), but I somehow misread the last word as "Geppetto" and thought the film was about Pinocchio running away from home.

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

I dreamed I screamed hesitation!

In Japan, most statues of Thousand-Armed Kannon, a Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, show only 42 arms.  Two are normal arms, and the remaining arms each represent the 25 Buddhist worlds.  40 times 25 equals 1000, plus two regular arms equals 1002.  Whether a statue has 42 arms or 1002, it still seems to misrepresent the goddess by minimizing or exaggerating her arms!

Tibetan art seems to have a better grip on one thousand arms.  This painting of Thousand-Armed Chenrezig (a.k.a. Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion) looks convincing.

This Chinese statue of the Goddess of Mercy also appears to get the number right.

But who's counting?

New Title (Instead of a Raise)

This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?

• 7-letter words: 10
• 8-letter words: 2
• 9-letter words: 1

One 8-letter words describes someone who is unusually enthusiastic about saving the environment.

All letters in the word must touch (in any direction), and no square may be reused.

Click to display solutions

Ma: Tsk, tsk.  Have you seen this new governmental program?  "Accent on Education" they call it.  It's unspeakable!

Pa: Unspeakable?

Ma: See for yourself:

Today's question:

Was New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina?

With "hindpsych," the unfortunate answer is "yes"!  Note that every card in our Tarot spread features wands.  The hermit (left) holds a wooden staff for support.  The central figure struggles to carry a bundle of sticks (still in leaf, as if fallen branches from living trees or uprooted trunks).  And the Page of Wands (right) seems to be planting a tree in a barren landscape. 

We begin with the center card, the Ten of Wands, as it is flanked by two figures facing away from it.  The central figure is saddled with a difficult burden.  He is carrying a heavy load, perhaps laboring to clean up a messy situation.  (Ultimately, he is headed toward the right, where the Page of Wands is planting a tree, so the heavy load in the center picture is more likely saplings, symbolizing the labor and promise of regrowth.)  We see a house and trees in the background; we can easily conclude that the landscape refers to storm-damaged New Orleans and that a time of struggle is looming. 

The two figures facing away from the center card represent two outcomes.  On the left, the Hermit represents receiving guidance and accepting help.  On the right, the Page of Wands symbolizes creatively and wholeheartedly tackling a challenge.  Our spread indicates that New Orleans will experience a "dark night of the soul" (the Hermit) but will blossom again through assertive action (the Page of Wands).  We can say with confidence that New Orleans was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, and we can now move on.

My friend Jonathan wrote to me about "making pesto like an Italian grandmother."  I got to thinking that fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil aren't enough, in and of themselves, to make pesto on par with an Italian grandmother's.  It occurred to me that in order to make pesto like a real Italian grandmother, one would have to somehow be an Italian grandmother.  Improbable, perhaps ... but not impossible, thanks to the Honorary Italian Grandmother (and Saint) Certificate.

Italian grandmothers are famous for being dauntless, affectionate, and inspirational.  The spirit of Nonna, the archetypal Italian Grandmother, is the zest for life.  Nonna is present whenever a family and guests are well fed and whenever something is created by hand, with care and love.

I created the Honorary Italian Grandmother (and Saint) Certificate for those rare individuals with a flair for maintaining tradition, improvising without blinking, and turning anything into a nurturing experience.  The Certificate is personalized in fine calligraphy, easy for you to generate, and completely free!  Click here to check it out.

Never Conceding