In one of the final press briefings from the Bush White House, counselor to the president Ed Gillespie used some peculiar wording yesterday to describe the current mood of his boss:

You know, I would say that he's gotten a little more winsome. I remember somebody asking me back in, like, September, you know, things must be — things must be getting winsome. And I thought, you know, those of us who work here wish it were a little more winsome sometimes.

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Do you have a special knack for picking up languages? Writer Michael Erard wants to hear from you. He's set up a website for his next book, Babel No More, about "language superlearners." Take his survey if you think you qualify as a hyperpolyglot!

In November, I had a stroke. My second one in six years.

Both strokes were established in similar ways -- the puzzling outcome of having had mild abdominal surgery. I'm not trying to make you crazy here. It doesn't seem logical to me -- or to many doctors -- either. Although I have freakishly low blood pressure and exercise regularly and eat healthily, there's something about my body that doesn't like surgery. I have surgery and the main source of blood flow to the brain, my carotid artery, breaks apart (this maneuver is called a dissection) and a stroke spins off into my brain.  Continue reading...

Welcome to the January-February 2009 WordMasters Challenge, the second of this school year. Over four thousand school teams from every state participate each year in this popular national competition for Language Arts students in grades 3 to 12. Visit the WordMasters website to learn more about how to participate in the Challenge using the word lists posted here.  Continue reading...

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