Extreme word nerdery

I'm more than half way through The Horologicon. I feel pleased with myself for already knowing some of the words it contains, such as ultracrepidarian, which is a person who opines on matters they know nothing about. It has a rather interesting and amusing etymology involving a sneaky painter, a shoemaker and a sandal. Given the number of books I have read about amusing and peculiar words, I probably should know some of those in The Horologicon by now. 

Today I used a word I learned from The Horologicon in a sentence - ploitering, which means giving the appearance of working. (Yes, I was referring to myself.)

While I'm being wordy nerdy, every now and then I ruminate upon the peculiarities of the English language, particularly on different combinations of letters that produce the same sound, and the reverse - words containing the same combination of letters that are pronounced differently. For example:

Different letters, same sound: SH

shell

ocean
nauseous (depending on your pronunciation)
schedule (ditto)
chute
partition

Same letters, different sound: -OUGH
cough
enough
thorough
dough
through
plough
(and, if you add a T) thought

There's probably some I've omitted. I do best at this exercise when I can't sleep, not that I recommend it as a sleeping aid. I'm not particularly interested in the reason for these peculiarities; it's the cataloguing that I enjoy - logophilia meets listaholism. This could be the nerdiest thing I've ever blogged. 

One book ends, another one opens

Crow on a wet tiled roof (the block of flats next door)

I retired to my boudoir at 8.30 last night with a hot chocolate and The Mystery of Mercy Close. I ploughed through the last hundred or so pages of the book before bedtime. It was a very enjoyable read. Marian Keyes has a talent for writing about really heavy topics - in this case, depression and attempted suicide -  in a way that's entertaining and amusing without being in bad taste. I don't mind a bit of black humour. I guess it's because Marian's a funny person who's suffered badly from depression herself.  Pretty much all of her novels are funny and dark all at once. 

Finishing The Mystery of Mercy Close means I'M NOW FREE TO START READING THE HOROLOGICON!  I might head to bed early again tonight. It's been raining since I got home from work, so it's a good night for it. I might swap the hot choc for a G n T tonight since it's the weekend. 

The Horologicon is mine, and another gardens jaunt

I walked into the city today and bought The Horologicon at  Embiggen Books near the State Library. Embiggen has become one of my favourite bookstores. It's not large, but it's very inviting. With all the dark timber, it's like being in someone's private library or study. The woman who served me said my Strand Books bag (from the bookstore in NYC) was cool. 

I saw loads of other books I wanted to buy at Embiggen, but I will wait until I get through Marian Keyes' latest novel and Nick Earls' book Word Hunters (which I haven't started yet) and The Horologicon before I go buying anything else. I get anxious when I have too many unread books on my bedside table! 

I popped into the Readings store at the State Library before I went to Embiggen. I wanted to buy Phillip Goad's Guide to Melbourne Architecture, but resisted. 

How long has this statue been in the grounds of the State Library? I haven't seen it before. According to the State Library website, this is the Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek. It was installed a few weeks ago during Children's Week at the library. There are two other sculptures - Mr Lizard and Gumnut Babies, but I didn't see them.

Lucky I took the photo of the ghost of the Coca Cola sign on the side of Curtin House when I did, because it's been covered over now. 

I walked through the Botanic Gardens on my way back from the city.  I saw this weird bush which looks like a bunch of sticks except for the unusual bright flowers. 

 

There were lots of these pods with big seeds ready to fall to the ground. It's a Tambuki-thorn from South Africa.  

I spent quite a bit of time in the herb garden taking photos and sniffing the nice smelling herbs. I had to assume some rather unladylike poses (in a skirt) to get close enough to take some close ups. Luckily I had the garden to myself most of the time. 

 The herb garden with the sun dial in the middle

 Curly

Look closely and you can see two of the little spider's eyes. 

The plant is hairier than he is. 

Water droplet on nasturtium leaf

 This is the bud for the strange flower I took 

a photo of yesterday (also below)

These plants and their flowers tower over me

 Cloudy 

 Another wee spider

 Dragonfly reflection. This was a complete fluke - 

it flew into the shot just as I took it

Palm tree reflection