Malaise

Often during the course of the day, Reagan & I pause for a Word of the Day moment; yesterday's Word of the Day was malaise.  This links to Merriam-Webster's definition of malaise.  It's too bad that Augustus Caesar's name wasn't Malaise, because that's a more appropriate name for this long, hot, boring month during which I'm always a bit on edge without a particular reason for being so.

Malaise on the mind, I smiled yesterday morning as I sipped my coffee, perused the Drudge Report, & saw this photo:

accompanied by this article.  Carter will apparently speak via video to the Democratic National Convention.  I don't know who's in charge of determining the line-up of speakers for the DNC, but Carter?  Really?

Out of curiosity, I typed 'Malaise' into Google's image search & among the images retrieved were these:

Thesaurus.com lists angst, anxiety, decrepitude, debility, disquiet, enervation, lassitude, melancholy, unease, & weakness as synonyms for malaise.  I predict enervation & lassitude as future Words of the Day, both at home & in the classroom to which I'll soon return, admittedly eagerly.  

Reagan's taking the month of Malaise in stride.  She helps me cook:

She experiments with various accessories:

She hides out in her Cozy Coupe, complete with the canopy I added:

She reminisces about her youth:

Unaware of, & thus unconstrained by, the calendar, she's her happy & relaxed self:

You might think the Olympics would provide a needed August boost, but you would be wrong.  Call me a pessimist, but I see news stories about the thousands of dollars in taxes American medalists owe the IRS, & I am over the Olympics.  I did smile when I saw this posted on Facebook:

  

Given that it's an election year, there is the potential for August to deliver some exciting news on the political front.  Of course, there's the ever-present possibility that Barack will go sans prompter & suffer another ideological slippage.  We shall see.   

I saw this . . . 

. . . on this site.  If you're mired in the malaise too, this site will make you smile.

I'm growing weary of the Veepstakes drama & wish Romney would just make an announcement . . . is it Condi?, is it Petraeus?  Christie?  Rubio?  ooooohhhhhh, the suspense! . . . just do it so the possible candidates can stop insisting they're not at all interested in being the VP & the rest of us can get on with the serious business of increasing the national debt & watching our individual freedoms dwindle away.  

I do wonder if a savvy member of Romney's campaign staff has pointed out that the selection of Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, or Condi Rice would be a wise alliterative move.  Everyone focuses on the political advantages of potential veeps (She's black!  He's Hispanic!  He's from a swing state!), but few mention that the average American, bombarded daily with advertisements, is accustomed to recalling & inquiring about that which is repetitive & lyrical.   Advertising principles bear me out on this one . . . Dunkin' Donuts, Community Coffee, Best Buy, Circuit City, Burt's Bees, etc.  You get the gist.  Oh, & of course, Ronald Reagan.  Perhaps his mother knew he needed a wonderfully memorable, alliterative name that would spawn phrases like Reagan Republican & Reagan Revolution.        

In other news befitting the month of Malaise, a good friend (& fellow literature major) posted this article on Facebook recently.  With no regard for the holiday plans of my book club, Warner Bros. has decided to push back the release date for the movie The Great Gatsby.  Instead of a Christmas release, the film won't be seen in theaters until next summer.  Admittedly, I thought the December release was a bit odd given that, as already discussed here, the novel is set in summer, & while it's a riveting tale, a bootlegger attempting to reconnect with his former love (who's now married) just isn't a warm holiday story.  So if you were planning to read the book before the release of the new film, Warner Bros. just bought you several more months.  

I know August will eventually give way to September, college football will commence, the temperature will tumble, & my disquietude will dissipate.  See, I can be alliterative even in my anxious state.  

May, June, July, Malaise, September, October . . . there's a ring to it.    

AZ