Monthly Archives: January 2012

Oh, my dears. It’s been a long week. And it is Friday night. The sky is dark, the moon is traveling past the stars, and much of the world is readying for bed. Curl up and listen to the tales I weave, until your eyes grow heavy and you slip into slumber, ready for the Dream Maker.

Magic has always fascinated mankind; for centuries we have worshiped it, hunted it and sought to control it. Dragons, being unpredictable creatures possessing magic, were too dangerous to share the earth with. So mankind hunted them to extinction. Or did we?

Dragons are clever, my dears, more so than our ancestors gave them credit for. And they waited, hidden away while man pranced about, thinking the earth emptied of the beasts. But now, in an age where technology and steel holds sway, a new breed of dragon has begun to emerge. The magic has found a new shell in which to reside.

Clamoring up out of the junk yards, thrift stores, and recycling bins comes this new dragon. Infused with the dreams, the magic, and the imagination of mankind these sinuous new creations embody the legends of their ancestors. Perhaps inspired by tales of companions and familiars, these drakes have appeared in a much more manageable size.

Like so many creatures, these dragons were never a danger to man, and our passionate attempt to exterminate them was based on misinformation and ignorant fear. Thankfully, these Springanese Dragons have forgiven our ancestors’ indiscretions, and enjoy the company of man with a fervor normally reserved for domesticated dogs.

Never judge a book by its cover, you know. That is only part of the story.

Sleep tight, my pets. Dream deep.

Something tells me you forgot to celebrate Thesaurus Day today.

January 18th is the day to fete Peter Roget’s birthday. (Born this day in 1779.) Yes, dears, he did publish Roget’s Thesaurus.

You might feel chagrin. Dismay. Mortification. Vexation. Spleen. Or shame.

While some folks are preparing feverishly for the Chinese New Year (it’s the Year of the Dragon, darlings, so prepare yourselves), many are speaking publicly about censorship.

Today, Wednesday, January 18th, thousands of websites have gone “dark” to protest SOPA & PIPA, two US bills racing through Congress that threaten prosperity, online security, and freedom of expression. (http://americancensorship.org/)

I thought, then, that today’s Word should be censorship.

Censorship is defined as the institution, system, or practice of censoring or the actions or practices of censors.

Censoring is a transitive verb that means to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable <censor the news>. Also to suppress or delete as objectionable <censor out indecent passages>.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica’s online article on the history of censorship,

Censorship, as a term in English, goes back to the office of censor established in Rome in 443 bce. That officer, who conducted the census, regulated the morals of the citizens counted and classified. But, however honourable the origins of its name, censorship itself is today generally regarded as a relic of an unenlightened and much more oppressive age.

Illustrative of this change in opinion is how a community responds to such a sentiment as that with which Protagoras (c. 485–410 bce) opened his work Concerning the Gods:

silken viscera

effulgent in the moonlight

perfect on wheat toast

Apparently hunting in a freezing rain inspires dear Bubo. Perhaps this will cure any blues you have today.

Bubo’s poetry always cures my blues.