The power of adjectives...

Back when I seriously considered a career on stage as a magician, I read everything I could about the craft, including a multivolume set of books written back in the 1940s (if not earlier) under the name of Harlan Tarbell. I remember little of the content today, except for the broad strokes and one specific point.

The Tarbell books contained mostly descriptions of how to perform various sleights, build simple gimmicks, and perform various "tricks," including the "patter" that goes along with the standard (read: clichéd) version of the effect. But from time to time the books also delved into that aspect of showmanship that might more properly be called "salesmanship."

One such digression probed the power of adjectives in advertising. To cut to the chase, it turns out that, other things being equal, pasting an adjective on an otherwise ordinary word associated with a product is a good way to increase sales. A spaghetti sauce advertised as being made with "fresh Roma tomatoes" will sell better than one that is said to contain "fresh tomatoes." (This, despite the fact that the competition may use the same tomatoes you do and prepare them the same way.) Can we say "Corinthian leather"?

So anyway, I'm in the Whole Foods Market the other day and I spy a gaudy little white tin of something called "Irish Oatmeal." This stuff is formidable, in the sense that - in distinction from the instant stuff that's ready to eat within seconds of hitting the water - this "steel cut Irish oatmeal" must be cooked for more than half an hour! It's also significantly more expensive than oatmeal manufactured by Quaker.

I had bought a tin of this stuff a while ago, and managed to burn my first batch. And when we opened the tin again about a year later, there were signs that insects had been enjoying the bounty, so we threw out the contents.

At any rate, I just had a bowlful, with a little kefir on top (which I figure is a good enough substitute for the buttermilk suggested on the tin, though if you're eating the stuff to lower your cholesterol, neither buttermilk nor kefir strike me as a really good idea). I also put some "natural" raspberry preserves in the bowl.

I have to admit, it was pretty good (in fact, I'm going to go back and scrape the sides of the pot for another spoonful or two). Good enough to make on a regular basis? I don't know. I'm not sure I'd have the patience to stop and prepare this for breakfast when the drum is beating.

The can itself has an old-timey look, with images of gold medals from the the 1876 International Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago (where the product won an award for "uniformity of granulation," which is something I know I always look for in my breakfast cereal). White space is at a premium, as there is pomp and circumstance and lettering all over the place, including the names and titles of various officials at those exhibitions.

Something fell pretty continuously outside last night, but this morning, all that was left was about an inch of slush on the parts of the driveway that were dry yesterday afternoon. Going abroad today is called on account of weather, at least for the next few hours.

Cheers...

Two pages left...

I have not been tremendously industrious today, though I have translated 7 of the 9 pages to be done before I go to sleep. The final word count will top 11,000 words, but not by much. I will leave the verification, as always, until tomorrow, so as to have a refreshed mind when I sit down to the task.

The weather has been positively nasty and Shiloh isn't liking much of it. Her initial excitement over seeing this new-fangled white stuff all over the place seems to have died down and it takes her a much longer time to get down to doing what we've gone outside to do, which makes things unpleasant all the way around.

What is particularly unwelcome is the cold, penetrating wind that I don't remember from when I used to live here as a kid. It was in evidence this morning, and the weather dweebs on the tube promise even more of the stuff tomorrow.

Cheers...

Done!

I've actually been tearing through this translation at a pretty good rate, which is cause for both rejoicing and worry. Rejoicing, because - this being a piece-work kind of business - the faster you translate, the more you earn. Worry, because as fatigue starts to fog your conscious mind, there is a creeping fear you may start writing wholesale nonsense if you don't slow down.

However, what I need to do right now is stop thinking about this translation.

While waiting for some Chinese take-out the other night, I dropped into a small book shop next door. These guys either have one heck of a loyal clientele or, as my late mother used to say, they must be a front for the Mob, because I can only imagine how difficult it must be to make a living running a small bookstore in the age of Borders, B&N, and Amazon.

I managed to leave the store without buying anything, which wasn't really too hard because the selection of literature in the store didn't turn me on, so I really didn't have to rely on the pervasive background thought of "I've got a ton of unread books at home" that I used when I visited a B&N a little while back.

Indeed, it occurs to me that what I really need to do right now is turn off this computer. I need to relax.

Cheers...