Tag Archives: I-Phone

Caboodle

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Caboodle: (n) a lot, a group

Nothing in the world identifies you as an old person as much as using words that are no longer in circulation.

Honestly, I’m astounded that “cool” has survived through so many generations. But don’t think that “boss, groovy” or “hip” made the journey.

I caught myself the other day, in trying to emphasize the need to use all available resources for a project, nearly saying, “Let’s include the whole kit and caboodle.”

Fortunately, my radar spy sense was beaming three or four words ahead. I came to a halt–for a few seconds simulating dementia–trying to find a current terminology that equaled that ancient one.

I came up with a blank, so I said, “We need to include the…well…everything.”

It was awkward, but not nearly as devastating as having a bunch of younger folks try to figure out what “kit and caboodle” meant, while simultaneously jotting down suggestions on their I-Phones for Christmas gifts for me, which would include a tapioca maker.

Words can kill.

But in a greater sense, they can wound your fragile ego.

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Buzzer

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Buzzer: (n) an electrical device used for signaling.

Technology makes me giggle.

Day by day, we become convinced that the present innovation surpasses any previous revelation. That’s why we have to number our I-phones. If we don’t have the latest, we are completely in the dark–the Stone Age, if you will.

When I was a boy, I attended a church and we had an activity known as Bible League. It was similar to Jeopardy! or the old-fashioned “College Bowl,” where questions are fired at individual members of a team, and if answered correctly, the whole gang is offered a collective clue. Points were scored, egos were inflated, games were won and talent was touted.

Our sponsors brought us a surprise. It was a box with two buttons and two light bulbs, which they had constructed to enable us to “ring in” and light up, so everyone knew who was to answer the question. It even made a little sound, like a broken door bell with a whiny buzz.

I loved that contraption. I was convinced it was the best thing ever invented. I became so adept at using it that I knew exactly when to hit the button in order to interrupt the flow in such a way as to beat my opponent–and also to trap the inquisitor into accidentally saying a few extra words which would give me a sense of the meaning, enabling me to guess how to answer.

I did fine until the buzzer box broke. Turned out the grown-ups knew how to wire the thing but not how to fix it.

So then I was stuck raising my hand to beat out my competitor. This was more easily eyeballed, causing the questioner to stop more quickly.

I got thrashed. I lifted my hand too soon and was left with no idea what the question was, trying to rattle off information from Adam to Zachariah.

But I will never forget my buzzer box. It was my friend.

And like friends occasionally do, it gave out on me in my hour of greatest need.

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Article

Article: (n) a particular item or object, typically one of a specified type.dictionary with letter A

I occasionally bring up a phrase I heard as a kid to see if it’s still floating around in the general lexicon of today’s world.

More often than not it’s extinct.

But I didn’t have time to do this today, so I will venture a guess that a certain idea I learned as a child has probably gone the way of the hula-hoop. (Of course, how many people know what a hula-hoop is? Maybe I should say it’s gone the way of the last I-Phone.)

The phrase is “the real article.”

It’s a compliment we used to bestow on products, projects–and even people–when what they professed to be was what they actually delivered.

I would humbly contend that one of the errors of our time is the overabundance of opinions, which hang in the air, waiting for confirmation.

This is why I’m careful not to espouse too many doctrines or beliefs. I know I may not be able to follow up on them. More than anything else in life, I want to be “the real article.”

I want you to hear me say “blue” and not have you show up to get “green”–and a lot of excuses

I want to portray a functional form of love which is within my capacity instead of delivering you an ambiguous package of emotion, insisting it’s real (and maybe has come from God.)

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being shallow, weak and poor of spirit–as long as you have not portrayed yourself with a spotlight of nobility.

  • We don’t need people to be perfect.
  • We don’t require them to be great.
  • We are, however, pretty determined that they toe some sort of line of consistency.

The “real article” is a decision to set ourselves off and be candid about our weaknesses and willing to share our strengths without feeling the need to lie or apologize.

If there were a sudden burst of truthfulness that swept over the city of Washington, D.C., the legislators and even the President would have to admit that no single political party has all the solutions for our nation’s problems. Some resolutions require a conservative approach, and others plead for liberality.

It is the wise steward of purpose who can distinguish what needs to be done, and without fear, do what is necessary … and therefore, become “the real article.”

 

 

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Activate

Words from Dic(tionary)

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Activate: (v.) to make something active or operative.

Let me give you a new definition for intelligence: Intelligence is when you find an easier way to do something without sacrificing quality.

Do you remember when they came out with check cards? Or really, at the very beginning, with credit cards? They had a process they used to “activate” your account. Can you recall how ridiculously difficult it was?

It involved remembering some numbers, calling long distance, or driving to your local ATM and punching in something you couldn’t possibly regurgitate. Performing the task was usually followed by discovering that you had left some piece out of the process, leaving you holding your totally useless plastic rectangle.

It’s what I love about this country–discovering the best part of capitalism. That is, creating something, making your money from it as soon as possible and then dropping the price or simplifying the retrieval.

It’s why I would NEVER be the first to buy an I-Phone. I have no desire to be an entomologist. I will let all the first purchasers work out the bugs. I’ll just come along later, when I see signs advertising “New and Improved.”

For instance, I like restaurants that advertise, “Under New Managements.” They’re letting me know that somebody screwed up and that now they’re trying to screw it back down.

  • It would be wonderful at this point in our history if some true leaders and statesmen would appear, to activate our government.
  • If some whimsical, free-thinking theologians would activate our spirituality.
  • If some musical artists would activate our emotional souls.

But for that to happen, complexity will have to be set to the side as we giggle at how foolish it was to make things difficult.

Maybe that’s why I write this daily column–just to activate in each one of us the wisdom that is carried in the power of a single word.