Gack! I'm trying to remember a word--it's a foreign word (maybe Portuguese? I have no idea) that expressed something we don't have a word for in English, something about wistfulness and nostalgia and...grr.
I think I'm feeling it, see, but can't be sure because I can't remember exactly what it is or what it meant.
eta: Bingo! Portuguese, saudade.
The Portuguese word "saudade", loosely translated,denotes "longing", "melancholy", or "nostalgia." In the context of Portuguese, however, the term connotes a meaning that is irrevocably lost in translation. In his book In Portugal of 1912, A.F.G Bell makes a few disquisitional remarks on the meaning of "saudade" given its intended context:
"The famous saudade of the Portuguese is a vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist, for something other than the present, a turning towards the past or towards the future; not an active discontent or poignant sadness but an indolent dreaming wistfulness."
Whereas a decontextualized reading of the "saudade" insinuates a rather dreary and destitute nostalgia for an impossible object, Bell's recontextualization posits saudade's meaning as a nostalgic yearning for an impossible object, only slightly tinged with the hues of melancholia.
They get all that in one word? Damn, they're good.
ION, thanks for the birthday wishes, peoples!!!
Off to party and eat cake.
Ooh, that's a good word.
Here's why I hate getting food delivery: I paid a ton of money for a ton of food, most of which I don't like. And the promised side of "vegetables" were actually rice, which, when what I ordered was pasta, and I knew it was coming with potatoes on the side, really led to carb overkill. At least I ate the salad.
That sucks, Jesse. Happened to me more times than I can count. I barely ever order in anymore.
ION, how much do I love that my congressman, Rahm Emmanuel, who I normally don't love, is spearheading an effort to defund the Office of the Vice President.
Happy birthday, Steph!
I am apparently in a constant state of saudade. How is that pronounced?
I barely ever order in anymore.
I guess if I ordered in more, I'd know what to order and from where, but as it is, I'm often disappointed. Ah well. Serves me right for not getting off my lazy ass and going to the store where I know the good stuff lives.
I like having people over for ordering in. Get to try more stuff and better evaluate the service.
Once every couple of weeks I just get myself a pizza. Normal weeks. Still in reduced consumption mode. I'm currently thinking of finishing the sandwich I doggy bagged from Wednesday dinner.
We'll see. More urgent task at hand is finding the right goddamned dragonfly for my tattoo. I think I've found the artist (a student at our Valley school). I'm just 75% done with the image, and have been this done for way too long.
I like to order a pizza, but I really don't need to eat that much pizza! Again, with the lazy ass -- there's a place around the corner that will sell me a slice.