Riding the Slipstream

I saw this on Blackcrag's blog, who summarily tagged me with the letter “H” (aitch) The rules are simple: Write 10 words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation what the word means to you and why, and then pass out letters to those who want to play along. Now I'm not much of a wordsmith, so it took a while for me to come up with my list. So here goes… 1. Hero: (Dial H for Hero). I have never been much of a hero, but always dream of being one. Too many Marvel comic books when growing up, I guess. Having said that, every society needs heroes. And every society has them… selfless men and women who perform extraordinary acts. Without heroes we are drained of any passion or zeal, never making waves, levelled men fitting perfectly into the box provided for them, every one of us trained to be like everyone else. 2. Homer (as in Homer Simpson): He who juggles the roles of husband, father, safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, bowler, beer drinker, astronaut, small business owner and dreamer, embodiment of the negative stereotypes and makes it all look easy. Oddly enough, Homer is sometimes unpredictably adaptable, quick-witted and capable. When I think of homer the word “Doh” immediately comes to mind and also such gems as "If the Bible has taught us nothing else - and it hasn't - it's that girls should stick to girls' sports, such as hot-oil wrestling, foxy boxing, and such-and-such." 3. Hell: When I was younger, the word hell filled me with much dread and my mother used it very effectively to whip me into shape. A place underground, with fire and molten rock where the devil lives where the evil and sinful, like myself, are doomed to spend all eternity. The devil being a creature who carries a pitchfork, has flaming red skin, horns on his head, a black goatee, and a long thin tail with a triangle shaped barb on it. Yeah, right! Now that I am older and having been told to go there on numerous occasions, I am actually thinking that it may not be a bad place after all. What the hell is Hell, anyway? It is all about perspective I believe. Being stuck in traffic is hell, and so is watching re-runs of Seinfeld. 4. Heart: That pear-shaped structure about the size of a fist that resides in our chest, pumping blood to all parts of the body. Oddly enough (or not!), it is widely regarded as the universal symbol for love. It can however be used to signify a number of other emotions such as, “I’ll rip your friggin' heart out”, “heart-broken”, “a hearty shag”, “I hate you with all my heart”, “You are a heartless bastard”. Got to love semantics! Me? I am all heart… and let me tell you, it is a be-atch when the brain catches up. 5. Humour: I like to think that I have tons of it, although it is not always appreciated and seen as such by those around me. A sense of humour is one of the most important ingredients of what women deem to be a winning personality in a man. So if you are a guy and don’t have a sense of humour, cultivate one, asap! ~Irvin S. Cobb, said, “Humor is merely tragedy standing on its head with its pants torn”, and I tend to agree. It is all about the context and a host of absolute and relative variables. Question: Why is it that the most humourless people always stress the importance of a sense humour? 6. Ho(e): Probably one of my favourite H-words. It brings a smile to my face, and simply because it has gone from one of the tamest words in the English language to one of the most infamous. A hoe, of course, is a tool used for weeding and gardening. We have taken the liberty of changing hoe to ho, a staple of rap music vernacular as, for example, when Ludacris raps “You doin’ ho activities with ho tendencies.” Thank God for rap music or this word may have become extinct… he he. 7. House: In this case, not house as in “home” but House as in the smartest, crankiest, most egotistical SOB doctor that walked the face of the earth. DR. GREGORY HOUSE (Hugh Laurie) is devoid of bedside manner and wouldn’t even talk to his patients if he could get away with it. His behavior borders on antisocial and he uses a cane that seems to punctuate his acerbic, brutally honest demeanor. Got to love him, especially when he comes up with gems like these: Wilson – “Did you know your phone is dead? Do you ever recharge the batteries?” House – “They recharge? I just keep buying new phones.” 8. Hedonism: A belief that pleasure is the highest good. Hedonists want to be free, not tied down, confined, or obligated, to do as they wish when they wish, to enjoy today, to be impulsive, to have a life of action which repudiates long term goals, objectives, or plans, to be active just to be active, to do what they feel the urge to do, to experience excitement, to be seen by others as being free to act, as free spirits, to be exciting, optimistic, cheerful, light-hearted, and full of fun. Oh yeah… just the way I like it... a-ha, a-ha! 8. Hamburger (hot dogs, hot wings): Yep, some of my favourite fast foods begin with H. I’d venture as far as to say that H is the king of the fast food chain. Ok… perhaps that is a bit of a stretch, but I think you get my point. 9. Hot: You are so hot! Gone are the days when hot meant, having or giving off heat; capable of burning or being at a high temperature. These days it is all about sexy, popular, what's “in” and "happening". The word lost(?) a little of its appeal when Paris Hilton coined the phrase, “That’s hot”, but who’s complaining… I‘d settle for her calling me hot any day of the week. 10. Happiness: Arguably, my favourite H-word. It conjures up thoughts of sunshine, joy, peace, and a wonderful sense of well-being. True happiness, I believe, is a choice YOU have to make. There you go… my bit of pop-wisdom for today… take, leave, use it, abuse it. Remember those Happiness is… cartoons? Damn, they were cool back in the day, weren’t they?! Other favourite H’s include, heaven, hope, high score, Huck Finn, hello, Halle berry, heathen. (Who do I tag? will post names in the Footnotes below)