You get on my nerves!

We've read from Rebecca's blog about laughter as a stress reliever, but what if relief were as simple as exercising a little sass?  Maybe a little backtalk can alleviate a real pain in the neck caused by an irritating person.

This evening, Sadia embarked on a scientific study to show whether a smart mouth may serve an important function in relieving pain.  In a modest experiment, she monitored her pain-in-the-butt tolerance while being insolent toward her father.  

Even after her dad repeatedly asked her not to touch anything on the shelves at Blockbuster, Sadia continued to take candy from the rack.  She even put a wrapped Snicker bar in her mouth.  Teddy directed Sadia to stand in front of him with her hands to her side.  

"You get on my nerves," she said aloud in line.  Teddy, infuriated by her temporary insanity, asked her to repeat herself, to which she replied, "I said, you get on my nerves!"  Only this time she added emphasis to the words "said", "get", and "nerves".  Early results from her study seemed favorable; Sadia reported an instant release after mouthing off to her father.

In a related study conducted by her father, results confirm that smart-mouthed children are twice as likely to experience more actual pain in the butt than their well-mannered counterparts.

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One Year of Potliquor

Quintessence...sounds like a first-class, grade-A, crash course in snobbish jargon 101, doesn't it? Well, it was showcased as today's Word of the Day on Wordia. More importantly, it embodies the theme of my first anniversary post.

Thanks to a nudge from my good friend Diane, I published Potliquor one year ago today. In an effort to capture the essence or substance of my blog, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my first year of internet journaling. In anticipation of this milestone, I looked to my blogger family for ideas.

I stumbled across a post by the Projectionist, which I stalk quite often. It's a tumblelog that draws me because I love being challenged by experiencing something new. I'm also a visual person, so I really like what he does with his "Four Years of Projectionist" post. I am sad that I can't build something like this on Blogger, but his post led me to try and illustrate my journey.

A few months back I was introduced to Wordle through a link on Jen's page. I get excited by all things creative, so I was immediately taken by the chaotic yet artistic possibilities provided on this site. Words seem to take on a meaning of their own in that space. I simply uploaded the text from my blog. The site then used word frequencies to generate a tag cloud that emphasizes the most popular words in the source text.

I wanted to visualize the topical content revealed by this objective art form. What common themes would emerge from my blogs? What insight about the substance of my writing would this rendering point to? Here's the result: The Quintessential One Year Potliquor Post:

(Click to enlarge.)

What stands out to you?

It has been a great journey. Thanks to my blog family and all of my readers for taking it with me!

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Diane, Brian was right.....

Numbers was a bear. But I did it! I finished it. :)

A huge "thank you" to Allison, Wooster, and Sarah for your words of encouragement. I am currently fighting the flu, but holding to my commitment dutifully!

And now off to Deutoronmy!

Thanks Diane

I just want to briefly thank Diane for inviting me into the Blogspot Community. I can see that I am among some good friends. It feels like home!