Three Happy Years

osculation \os-kyuh-LAY-shuhn\, noun:

1. The act of kissing; also: a kiss.

2. Mathematics A contact, as between two curves or surfaces, at three or more common points.

3. To bring, or come into, close contact of union.

Osculation comes from osculatio, "a kissing," from osculari, "to kiss," from osculum, "a little mouth, a kiss," diminutive of os, "mouth."

Word of the Day

hermetic \hur-MET-ik\, adjective:

1. closed tightly; airtight
2. obscure; magical

By 1663, "completely sealed," also (1637) "dealing with occult science or alchemy," from Latin hermeticus, from Greek Hermes, god of science and art, among other things, identified by Neoplatonists, mystics, and alchemists with the Egyptian god Thoth as Hermes Trismegistos "Thrice-Great Hermes," who supposedly invented the process of making a glass tube airtight (a process in alchemy) using a secret seal.

Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter

Herman's Hermits

Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter
Girls as sharp as her are somethin' rare
But it's sad, she doesn't love me now
She's made it clear enough it ain't no good to pine

She wants to return those things I bought her
Tell her she can keep them just the same
Things have changed, she doesn't love me now
She's made it clear enough it ain't no good to pine

Walkin' about, even in a crowd, well
You'll pick her out, makes a bloke feel so proud

If she finds that I've been round to see you (round to see you)
Tell her that I'm well and feelin' fine (feelin' fine)
Don't let on, don't say she's broke my heart
I'd go down on my knees but it's no good to pine

Walkin' about, even in a crowd, well
You'll pick her out, makes a bloke feel so proud

If she finds that I've been round to see you (round to see you)
Tell her that I'm well and feelin' fine (feelin' fine)
Don't let on, don't say she's broke my heart
I'd go down on my knees but it's no good to pine

Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter (lovely daughter)
Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter (lovely daughter)
Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter (lovely daughter)
Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter (lovely daughter)

Valentine's Day

This year Jonathan decided to make dinner for me.
It was totally amazing! Way better than going out.

The appetizer was red caviar and cranberry goat cheese on pumpernickel toast
with homemade sangria for the beverage.

Dinner was steak and shrimp with Gorgonzola sauce, steamed asparagus,
and alternating white and sweet white potatoes with herbs.

Dessert, from the specialty chocolate isle at the only real grocery store,
was triple chocolate cake and triple chocolate mousse cake.

And this was the after dinner celebration.
Makes you want to go cook for your spouse more often, doesn't it?!?!

Chronicle of Cocktails: Pickle Martini

1 shot pickle juice

1 shot vodka

1/4 shot dry vermouth

Really yucky. Not even sure why I am posting this, but I guess if I used tags on my posts this would have to go under Manliness Tests and Revolting.

Men are so strange.

'Arctic unicorns' in icy display

By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News

Remarkable footage of elusive narwhal has been captured.
A BBC team used aerial cameras to film the creatures during their epic summer migration, as they navigated through cracks in the melting Arctic sea ice.
They believe the footage, which forms part of the BBC Natural History Unit's new series Nature's Great Events, is the first of its kind.
Narwhal are sometimes called "Arctic unicorns" because of the long, spiral tusk that protrudes from their jaws.
The appendages can reach more than 2m (7ft) in length; scientists believe males use them to attract potential mates.
'An amazing sight'
The BBC crew headed to the Arctic in June 2008, to film the tusked animals' summer migration.
At this time of year, temperatures begin to rise above freezing and the thick sea ice starts to melt, creating a complex network of cracks that cover the white expanse.

These animals are just so completely unreal - they are like something from mythology
Justin Anderson, BBC producer
Every year, thousands of narwhal use these narrow fissures to travel thousands of kilometres, from the south of Baffin Bay to the high Arctic fjords.
But tracking these animals down is not easy.
Justin Anderson, who produced the programme, said: "Even though they are quite large animals, the area we had to cover was enormous - the size of Scotland.
"It is like finding a needle in a haystack."
A "dive" crew, equipped with underwater cameras, spent four weeks on the ice trying to locate the mysterious whales. But just as they caught a glimpse of them, the sea ice had become so dangerously thin that filming was forced to halt.
However, an "aerial" team arrived by helicopter to take up the mantle.
Mr Anderson explained: "It took us seven days to travel to the place where the whales had been spotted [Lancaster Sound] - we were stuck by possibly the worse thing you can encounter in a helicopter in the Arctic - fog.
They are following the retreat of the sea ice as they have done for thousands of years
Mads Pieter Heide-Jorgensen
"But then we got there, we 'lucked out'; the skies cleared and we had eight days of 24-hour summer sunshine."
Using a special mount, cameraman Simon Werry filmed the creatures from the helicopter, as the narwhal swam through the melt-water leads.
Mr Anderson said: "This is the first time the narwhal migration has been filmed this way. It has been filmed from the ice, but this is the first time it has been filmed from the air.
"It was an amazing sight. These animals are just so completely unreal - they are like something from mythology - and we were all just completely gobsmacked when we saw them."

Thanks to their elusive nature, narwhal can prove difficult to study and there is still much to learn about these Arctic mammals.
Mads Pieter Heide-Jorgensen, from the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, said the purpose of the creatures' summer migration remained a mystery.
He explained: "The interesting thing is that these creatures feed in the deep water in the central part of Baffin Bay during the winter.
"But when they are in the summer grounds, they hardly feed at all.
"They are following the retreat of the sea ice as they have done for thousands of years, and spending summer in front of glaciers for reasons we do not really understand."
With such a connection to the Arctic ice, researchers are trying to establish whether narwhal will be affected by changes in the Arctic ice cover.
Professor Heide-Jorgensen has been using satellite tags, which, as well as keeping track of the whereabouts of narwhal, are also able to monitor the temperature of the waters where the whales swim.
He said: "They give us the temperature profiles in the wintering grounds and we can see the temperature of the deep areas has been increasing over the past 50 years.
"However, we cannot yet see any direct effects of climate change on the narwhal."

Petit Fours

Aren't they cute???? Jonathan's grandparents sent them to us. I forgot how much I love tiny little tea snacks.

Petit Four does not mean four small cakes, as most people think, like a regular cake was cut in four and so the pieces are small. Actually, it means "small oven."

"Petits fours glacés (glacé meaning "iced") are iced or decorated in some way, such as tiny cakes covered in fondant or glacé icing, small éclairs, and tartlets."

Click the link in the title to go to the article on Petit Fours to learn more.

Silhouettes

Herman's Hermits

Took a walk and passed your house late last night
All the shades were pulled and drawn way down tight
From within, the dim light cast two silhouettes on the shade
Oh what a lovely couple they made
Put his arms around your waist, held you tight
Kisses I could almost taste in the night
Wondered why I'm not the guy who's silhouette's on the shade
I couldn't hide the tears in my eyes

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah...
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah...

Lost control and rang your bell, I was sore
Let me in or else I'll beat down your door
When two strangers who have been two silhouettes on the shade
Said to myself "you're on the wrong block"
Rushed out to your house with wings on my feet
Loved you like I'd never loved you my sweet
Vowed that you and I would be two silhouettes on the shade
All of our days, two silhouettes on the shade

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah...