Kcecelia
Subscriber since: June 2008
Location:
San Francisco,
CA
About Me
I am a writer living in San Francisco, California. I love words and dictionaries, and I own many wonderful hard copy dictionaries. In the last few years I have expanded my love of dictionaries to the online versions. I encountered the Visual Thesaurus accidentally when Googling a better word for "lengthy." (I chose "protracted.") I am entranced by the way the Visual Thesaurus works. It will be a further aid in my quest to find just the right word to communicate each idea I wish to share.
I can also be found on:
My Word Lists
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Recent Comments
This is an excellent article: entertaining and informative. Where were her clear explanations when I was struggling with some of these slippery...
It's Only Rock and Roll
Monday March 16th, 2:37 AM
Fascinating that this subject led to so much discussion, which I missed since I was not yet a member of VT. Food is universal---we are all experts...
Menu-Driven
Thursday February 19th, 11:28 PM
This is a thought provoking and actually touching subject.
Lincoln and Darwin both wanted to communicate to a broad audience. Lincoln wanted to...
Lincoln and Darwin both wanted to communicate to a broad audience. Lincoln wanted to...
Happy Lincoln/Darwin Day!
Thursday February 19th, 9:52 PM
It is an interesting phenomenon that a few of us suddenly read this article 27 months after its posting. Did VT move the link somewhere more...
Starve an Adjective, Feed a Verb
Thursday February 19th, 9:28 PM
Beautiful words. I am particularly fond of luminous and glorious. An aside: Is there a typo in your title? Did you mean to say "off?"
Words that roll of your tongue
Thursday February 19th, 6:19 PM
Maybe you could strike a balance between new and old works and do a comparison of the two. The Secret Life of Bees was an entertaining book, but did...
The Bee's Needs: Teaching "The Secret Life of Bees"
Wednesday February 18th, 4:37 AM
Thanks so much for responding to the comments generated in response to your article. It is a satisfying feature of VT that it allows such direct...
Safe Search is Off
Thursday February 5th, 2:52 AM
Hello Mr. Hargraves.
First, of all you have a wonderful name and you are an entertaining writer. I appreciate the euphony of your name and the...
First, of all you have a wonderful name and you are an entertaining writer. I appreciate the euphony of your name and the...
Safe Search is Off
Wednesday February 4th, 1:39 AM
Thank you. An entertaining article. It makes me very happy to know that someone with Mr. Hollander's store of knowledge---provided in a package with a...
Lightening Struck: Strange Errors from the College Classroom
Thursday January 29th, 2:54 AM
One additional thought: Maybe we should harness the power of President-elect Obama (President-elect for a few more hours!) to help us with determining...
"Enormity": Monstrous Wickedness?
Tuesday January 20th, 3:03 AM
Hmmm. You have written a thought-provoking and sobering article for those of us who were playing fast and loose with the word enormity. At first I...
"Enormity": Monstrous Wickedness?
Tuesday January 20th, 2:54 AM
Ben Yagoda, in the 17 February 2007 Slate article mentioned in this post said, "Interjections are probably the most expressive part of speech," and I...
Mailbag Friday: "Meh"
Friday November 21st 2008, 3:31 AM
To lose embrangle, fubsy, griseous, malison, mansuetude, and niddering would be a crime. I think of me as a child, having pulled one of my parents...
Collins, Don't Exuviate That Word!
Tuesday October 7th 2008, 2:44 AM
"There does seem to be a general sense out there that myself is a pronoun wearing its Sunday best" is a lovely sentence. The article is interesting...
More Musings on "Myself"
Saturday September 27th 2008, 4:19 AM
Thank you David D. I could not have expressed as eloquently your observation that simple, lively words such as dude are truly elegant. After Ben...
Mailbag Friday: "Dude"
Saturday September 27th 2008, 3:29 AM
Well I, for one, am more sorry than usual that Thurber is dead. He would have enjoyed this set of messages no end. I have been out of town on vacation...
Usage Showdown: Who Cares About 'Whom'?
Saturday July 26th 2008, 3:33 AM
Excellent thoughts on the intriguing topic of poetry translation.
Found in Translation
Tuesday July 1st 2008, 8:02 AM
This is an addictive program. Using it I am learning new words as well as relearning words I assumed I knew. It is particularly interesting to notice...
Introducing... The VT Spelling Bee!
Sunday June 29th 2008, 7:21 AM
My Favorites
Favorite Word:
vividVivid is an intense, crisp little word as bright and full of life as its synonyms reveal. It is brilliant, bright, intense; graphically packing worlds into its five characters with one pointy repeated V. It possesses a smoothed sharpness in its aurally graphic internal alliteration. It is a pleasure to speak the world aloud, as well as to repeat it: vivid, vivid, vivid. It is from the Latin word vividus,"spirited, animated, lively," and from vivus, "alive," and its utterance fills one with life.
Least Favorite Word:
loadLoad is a small word that is excessively unattractive in its pronunciation as well as in its meanings. Its poor little rounded shoulders are weighted with more sadness of expression than it should be expected to support: onus, encumbrance, warhead. Just being in its neighborhood begins to weigh one down with its burdens. I feel sorry for it as I malign it, but it is a homely word.
Favorite Quote:
"The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."
- John Milton
Favorite Topics:
Copywriting:
What's the Source?
January 26, 2009
January 26, 2009
For Effective Copywriting, Focus on Your Customer, Not on Your Company
September 15, 2008
September 15, 2008
Fiction writing:
Anna Elliott, Author of "Twilight of Avalon"
June 19, 2009
June 19, 2009
Lynne Griffin, Author of "Life Without Summer"
June 5, 2009
June 5, 2009
Fun:
The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: June Edition
June 26, 2009
June 26, 2009
VT Scavenger Hunt: Winner!
June 10, 2009
Grammar:
The United States Is... Or Are?
July 3, 2009
Red Pen Diaries: Zero Tolerance for Comma Splices
April 20, 2009
April 20, 2009
Language arts:
Using Word Maps to Introduce Concepts
June 16, 2009
Choosing Words to Teach
June 1, 2009
Marketing:
Where Did They Get That Name?
December 29, 2008
December 29, 2008
Just Do It! Finding the Tagline to Voice the Brand
May 19, 2008
May 19, 2008
Marketing copy:
Poetry:
National Poetry Month
April 16, 2009
Puzzle:
The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: March Edition!
March 21, 2008
March 21, 2008
The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: February Edition!
February 13, 2008
February 13, 2008
Teachers:
Thoreau-ly Eccentric: Teaching "Walden"
May 24, 2009
"Big Brother" in the Classroom
May 11, 2009
Teaching:
The Landscape of the Classroom
June 29, 2009
I Can See Clearly Now: "Up the Down Staircase" Today
June 22, 2009
Web tools:
Your Virtual Bookshelf
November 25, 2008
Is Dr. Johnson Rolling in His Grave?
October 21, 2008
Word Origins:
Hunting the Elusive First "Ms."
June 23, 2009
"Jazz": A Tale of Three Cities
June 8, 2009
WordMasters:
The March-April Wordmasters 2009 Challenge
March 28, 2009
March 28, 2009
WordMasters: Grade 3 Blue Division Mar-Apr '09
March 28, 2009
March 28, 2009
Writer's block:
Getting Unstuck
July 24, 2008
Why You Should Think of Yourself as an Orange
June 4, 2008
June 4, 2008
Writers:
Anna Elliott, Author of "Twilight of Avalon"
June 19, 2009
June 19, 2009
Lynne Griffin, Author of "Life Without Summer"
June 5, 2009
June 5, 2009
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