Marilyn's Photos - July 21 2026 - A Piece of Cake

 

There are complimentary expressions originating in food and cooking that we use to describe a person's personality or temperament - things like spicy, salty, sweet, and zesty. And then there are terms that describe a problem behaviour - cooked, half-baked, toasted, overcooked, and today's headline rage-boil.  I hadn't seen that before - it seems more intense than boiling over. I wondered if there were other expressions I didn't know.  But somehow I knew the ones that were listed. Maybe they are used so much that we are familiar with them  - nutty as a fruitcake, full of beans, cool as a cucumber, not my cup of tea, cheesy, sour grapes, tough cookie, hard nut to crack, butter up someone. Most foods are the subject of expressions:  Sweet, salt and sour: - as sour as vinegar - salt of the earth - sugarcoat  Desserts, especially pie: - piece of cake - pie in the sky - finger in the pie - as easy as pie Eating words: - bite off more than you can chew - eat crow - bitter pill to swallow - eat humble pie - food for thought These seem sort of mundane, part of our every-day conversations.  I guess that's the point as the people who write about these are targeting people taking the International English Language Testing System exams.  Required for university admissions and professional registrations, work visas, migration, and so on, there are many phrases and idioms to learn.  Here is a joke listed for IELTS learners - for many of these, there is a follow-up explanation of what "makes it funny" which itself quite funny.   Why did the student eat his homework? Because the teacher told him it was a piece of cake! To ace the speaking portion of the IELTS or just boost your language skills, understanding the dual meaning here is perfect: Figurative Meaning: The teacher meant the homework was simple and could be finished with no trouble. Literal Meaning: The student pretended to think the teacher was literally offering them a baked dessert. Here's one of the gardens on the Grand Durand Garden tour.  It is an area i Hamilton of 19th century estates and heritage stone mansions .  Lots of large plots of grass.  A vast and beautifully coloured swimming pool and classic-style pool house was the central feature of this "garden." Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 19 2026 - The Odyssey is with us

 

When did we read The Odyssey?  It is so long ago that I don't remember. And then maybe we didn't.  I don't think of this as part of  English Literature courses in University.  More likely it was part of Classical Studies.  It was somewhere in the curriculum.  It is considered a cornerstone of literature because of its narrative devices and the theme of the hero's journey with the longing to return home. The Homeric epics formed the basis of the education of everyone in ancient Mediterranean society from the seventh century BCE.  He is regarded as the most influential writer in history and comes in close to William Shakespeare as the greatest writer of all time.   This is much discussion on the current translation that fuels the movie.  It is by Emily Wilson.  Her translation is "literal" - she has removed the archaic, elevated and romanticized diction of past translations.  She has maintained the exact line count and strict ambic pentameter of the original Greek text.  These are radical departures from traditional scholarship.  It is extraordinary that this epic work has been with us for so long.  In the 3rd Century BCE the first Latin translation was done by Livius Andronicus.  In the 1st century AD Dio Chrysostom claimed that the peoples of Classical India had integrated translations into their own folklore.  It seems that has been the subject of translation and interpretation for as long as it has existed. And the interest grew as the centuries went by.   So doesn't it make sense that the cinematic splendour is IMAX 70 mm film would be exciting. And while this is considered one of literature's extraordinary feats, it also has an excess amount of plot activity to fulfill any action movie. It seems a great movie for our troubled times - each of us having a Ulysses sense of longing - I think for the "home" of planet Earth before climate change and population explosion started. This is a picture of the Sainte-Chapelle chapel in Paris - a visit more than 20 years ago.  I went searching for stained glass window pictures and of course, Sainte-Chapelle's are much revered.  The chapel is 778 years old. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 20 2026 - FIFA News

 

News media was weighing in yesterday on the highs and lows of the FIFA World Cup.  The "highlight" seems to be the display of corruption and controversy at so many levels.  FIFA is known for its blatant corruption in the past, so this is "more" and "better" corruption, at a level not seen before.  That doesn't stop a billion people from loving this sport and tuning in and watching the final game.  And many celebrities in the stands.  Our own Prime Minister Mark Carney was there.  Spain's Royal Family was there.  Of course there were sports legends and entertainment and music stars.  Most unusual stars were Elmo and the Cookie Monster.  So FIFA can put on a show on the field and in the stands. So much opportunity here: what are the World Cup jokes like? Mostly there are hundreds (it could be thousands) of World Cup jokes that are "Dad Jokes." That's superior to the unrepeatable jokes that somehow get repeated online.   Here are just a few: We hoped for a good clean World Cup Final.But instead we got a Messi one. After his team was eliminated from the World Cup,The Nigerian captain personally offered to refund all expenses that fans of his country paid for to travel to Brazil. According to sources close to the player, he just needs their bank details and pin numbers to complete the transactions. How much does it cost a small middle eastern country to host the World Cup? A Qatar of a trillion Here are the top flowers in the Ontario Regional Lily Show's Popular Choice contest July 11-12, 2026.  The public was invited to vote for their favourite lily.   Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 18 2026 - Mermaids are Among Us

 

Isn't that such a cute fence on one of the Grimsby Beach Painted Ladies?  This was from a few years ago and a watercolour treatment removed the background.  When I opened the Globe and Mail this morning, I saw an article on Mermaids.  Ho to become a licensed Mermaid.   You will master breath-holding, underwater movement with a monofin, and essential water safety.  You will have to hold your breath underwater, of course.  The mermaid swimming technique is distinctive.  Without those paddling feet, one moves with the hips.   And then what?  You can work professionally - at children's birthday parties or public aquariums.  I guess at children's parties would mean you would live in some very large city with many swimming pools.  If you are in the U.S. it would be Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, then Las Vegas and finally Los Angeles. Globally, it is Sydney, Australia.  But that doesn't come near China's exploding mermaid population. In comparison, China has a large population of certified mermaid instructors - over 1,000.  They have tens of thousands of people that are mermaid-certified.  They have the Guinness World Record for an underwater show featuring over 100 trained mermaids.   So that means there are at least hundreds of thousands of certified mermaids world-wide.  That seems like a lot of recreational hobbyists vs professionals.  Maybe it is owners of swimming pools who take mermaid training! There are mermaid conventions galore in the U.S.  We've missed them - MerMagic in Silver Spring, MD was April 10-12th, the California Mermaid Convention was May 15-17 in Sacramento, Vero Beach, Florida had the Mermaid Freedive in April. And you can visit a mermaid museum, too!  There must be a mermaid joke for every one of the mermaids in the Guinness Record underwater show.  Here are a few: Q: Where do mermaids see movies?     A: At the dive-in! Q: Where does a mermaid keep her money? A: In the riverbank! Q: Where did the fisherman and mermaid meet? A: On line! Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - JHuly 17 2026 - Word Salad

 

Before we called it word salad, what did we say it was? It was schizophasia, or a formal thought disorder.  In that context it is a symptom of severe mental health or neurological conditions such as schizophrenia, dementia, acute psychosis, or brain injuries.  This meaning has been with us since 1904. Word salad became a common name for the condition. In terms of recent meanings, it now has a social meaning and has been accepted into dictionaries as of 2017.  Now it means something closer to nonsense.  It refers to the logic or intelligence of a person's language rather than the person's mental state.  It is a confused or unintelligible mixture of random words and phrases that lack coherent meaning or logical structure.  The words together might be grammatically correct, but the sentence as a whole does not make sense.  This use started in the 1970s and 1980s, it has come to its zenith in the last few years in the Trump era. Today's papers covered the most recent version in the news: "Reflecting on how Karoline Leavitt said that what Trump reveals tonight "will shock you if you have an honest eye listening to the president,” Miles Taylor quipped that “yes, and if your ears watch closely, you'll be doubly stunned.” Here is a list from AI of the top speakers of word salad today: Donald Trump Kamala Harris Gavin Newsom Shunyamurti Kanye West  Marjorie Taylor Greene Andrew Tate Dean Phillips Jim Cramer Sarah Palin Is this an American phenomenon?  Perhaps.  Or perhaps we in Canada live next to the largest nation in the world, so are witness to this more than other nations. And that makes it more likely we will see more U.S. figures and their word salad quotes given how funny some of them are. This is a picture of the "egg salad" salad at Good Earth quite a few years ago.  We remind Andrew the chef of this frequently, hoping he will make it specially for us one day.  It seems to take on new meaning now. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com