From...

Barack Obama's 'Dreams from My Father...

Words that conjure up a personality:
'I was intrigued by old Frank.................................with................. the hint of hard-earned knowledge behind the hooded eyes.'

And,

'Pop culture was color-coded........an arcade of images...'

This...

from Hindustan Times:

The store will showcase "ready to wear and practical" fashion clothing lines across women's wear, accessories with about 100 new contemporary, traditional and bridal, Indo-western wear, completely hand-woven inspired by ancient Indian heritage like kanjeevarams instilled with classic kalamkaris and zardozi.

Broke my head and stretched the deadline for each item, and made it to:

The store will showcase a "ready to wear and practical" fashion clothing line across women's wear, accessories, and about 100 new designs in contemporary, traditional, bridal, and Indo-western wear. The fabrics used are hand-woven and inspired by ancient Indian designs, such as Kanjeevarams with classic kalamkari and zardozi work.

I still can't make out if this makes sense...

A convoluted sentence...

if ever there was one.

I came across this in the Times of India when editing for my nl. (The TOI has been, of late, coming up with statements that I have to pore over just to get to the kernel).


A new American Cancer Society study has revealed that people who drank more than four cups of caffeinated coffee per day were at about half the risk of death of these often fatal cancers compared to those who only occasionally or who never drank coffee.

On reading and re-re-re-reading the article as it appeared in the paper, this is finally what I got:

A new American Cancer Society study has revealed that people who drank more than four cups of caffeinated coffee per day were at about half the risk of death due to oral cancer as compared to those who only occasionally, or never drank coffee.

Just reading these words made me cry...

From The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Through the eyes of Enzo the dog...

(After years of suffering on account of something very wrong being pinned on him, Denny is acquitted, and the charges which had been unfairly levied against him were dropped.)

Denny couldn't breathe, he was so overwhelmed when he heard the verdict.

Enzo says-------he (Denny) may have been able to hold it off, but when his friend Mike 'wrapped him in a hug,' 'Denny unleashed the years of tears that had been dammed behind mud and determination and the ability to always find another finger to stick in the leaking dike. He cried so hard.'

From...

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

(a story about a dog who speaks)

When Enzo was picked out of the litter, he says of the person who was to be his owner:

'It was my first glimpse of the rest of my life.'

Some more word-pictures -

About driving in the rain - Drive 'very gently. Like there are eggshells on your pedals, and you don't want to break them.'

I particularly liked this one - 'Memory is time folding back on itself. To remember is to disengage from the present.'

Some very apt words...

Jeremiah - A person who complains continually, has a gloomy attitude, or one who warns about a disastrous future

Micawber - An eternal optimist

Pollyanna - A naively cheerful and optimistic person

Don't we actually come across such people? Now we have the words for them...

A little about these characters:


Jeremiah also called the "Weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Jeremiah’s sole purpose was to reveal the sins of the people and explain the reason for the impending disaster.

Wilkins Micawber is a fictional character from Charles Dickens's 1850 novel, David Copperfield. Micawber is known for asserting his faith that "something will turn up". His name has become synonymous with someone who lives in hopeful expectation. This has formed the basis for the Micawber Principle, based upon his observation: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."

Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same optimistic outlook.  Pollyanna Whittier, a young orphan who goes to live in Beldingsville, Vermont, with her wealthy but stern Aunt Polly. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation.

This phrase...

caught my eye:

"Dubai gold" still retains cachet. - Forbes

Cachet meaning prestige.