If you're like me, you rapid-fire delete all those emails that circulate inboxes threatening seventeen years of bad luck for not following through. I'm not superstitious. I've been known to read my horoscope or a fortune cookie and hang onto it all day, only to find that all the inertia of "please come true, please come true" didn't come full circle. I walk a pretty fine line between being grounded and fascinated by all things paranormal.
For some reason, I'm fascinated by the birthday calculator. Not that I really needed to know I share today's special day with Tommy Chong or my predicted date of conception was August 31. Both would clearly fall into the TMI category, but I love the science of it. I can boil 4.11 ounces of water with my birthday candles this year. The moon's phase was waning gibbous the day I was born. My Native American plant is Mullein. Who isn't a better person for knowing that? Check it out.
As promised, the answers to the previous post. Congrats to Marilyn for her dogged determination to correctly match up words most of us make when we sneeze.
1) Perfect. Fifty miles from civilization, and he was about to be rescued by Doris Day.
(f) eponym: a reference to a famous person who is recognized for an attribute. Instead of using a comparative word, the author substitutes the person's name for that attribute.
2) Three winged shadows eclipsed the sun, circling him in a halo as tight as chalk marks around a cadaver.
(d) simile: a comparison using "like" or "as"
3)The classic, rocket-shaped convertible crawled along the fractured road.
(c) personification: giving human qualities to objects
4) He didn't want to stop. Couldn't stop.
(i) epistrophe: repeating the last word or final phrase for emphasis.
5) Her old fashioned mannerisms, her reserved innocence, her optimism blended into the picture of a woman who'd set off in search of love and become lost along the way.
(g) anaphora: repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of three or four successive clauses or sentences or almost successive clauses or sentences
6) Two roads converged on a lost highway.
(h) backloading a sentence: restructuring the order of a sentence so the most impactful word(s) come at the end
7) What if he were a psychopath with a preoccupation for gutting women?
(a) rhetorical question: raising a question that is not answered
8) Doo-wap music blared from the car's speakers.
(e) onomatopoeia: using words that imitate the sound the word describes
9) He fished an old bus ticket from his front pocket-every number, every detail-as faded and smooth as a wish stone.
(b) amplification: repeating a word or phrase and adding more detail to emphasize a point. Restating or amplifying a concept
Even if you're not a writer, you'll soon notice these when you read and recognize these devices for what they are-an author's attempt to manipulate emotion and thought.
I'd love to hear your tidbits. Leave behind one fact about your birth date here...
I'm seriously excited to have finally figured out your quiz, L.A. Plus, I get a book!!! And, on top of it all, I feel I've gotten in enough educational facts for the weekend to justify concentrating only on picnics, brownies and hotdogs for the rest of it :).
As for the Birthday Calculator: I discovered I'm 2,123 weeks old, my Native American Zodiac sign is the Bear and my plant is the Violet...
Happy Birthday!!!
Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear (______) I'm filling in the real blank, Happy Birthday to you!
Yes, I know I'm a day late. I didn't get to my computer at all yesterday. Nope, you don't want to know why.
I hope it was a great day for you. So, what'd you get? What'd you do?
As for your contest, I so should have had my oldest come and play. She at least remembers all that stuff. Me? I filed it away under not necessary, then I have to scrap like crazy to find it on the Internet when I need to know. Good you're in the know. I'll just come ask you. (GRIN)
Happy Belated BD, honey. Can't wait for the celebration.
I loved the life calculator! It was fascinating. I was especially glad to see that I'm only 4 1/2 years old in dog years. That makes me feel much younger.
Okay, I am now in love with the birthday calculator. Look what it told me:
Your fortune cookie reads:
Your heart will always make itself known through your words.
How dang cool is that for a romance writer? Might have to use that on my blog or (developing) website.
Thanks for the fun!
And it appears you had a recent birthday. The happiest of wishes for a fabulous year.
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LA,
Thanks for giving me another distraction from writing. 🙂
Hmmm, something about my birthday ... my husband's birthday is on the same numerical day as mine, but he's four months older. I'm a terrible female, in that I can't remember dates of important events, so ... this saves me. I don't forget his birthday. Okay, that's boring, and not very interesting, but voila!
My instructor would have been very displeased that I remembered half of what you listed; but my emotions rose and fell, so I consider the test outcome as valid. Sure, why not?
November 23rd but the year remains in my head. No fun loving panoramist would share everything...I need my deams, with or without the future to unfold unencumbered. Currently I'm working on the sky and tweaking the sky shield, and you thought I was a writer...maybe? It's more like a distraction right now.
Glad you liked my "voice"... that is key in what I do.
I'm not big on birthday celebrations; there are three in the Bible and they all end in tragedy.It's just a personal thing, happy belated.