Intergalactic House of Paisley

I got my first dictionary as a birthday or Christmas present in 1968.* It was a two-volume Funk & Wagnalls, a gift from my mother, and obviously inspired by Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. I have acquired a number of other general dictionaries over the years, along with a few with specific applications (including the German-English one I stole from West Junior High). I have delved into all of them for pleasure over the years, because, well, words.

But last weekend we finally got one of the best ones ever: Websters New International Dictionary, Second Edition. Despite being 9x12x6.5", it had been overlooked during multiple searches of the boxes in Dragonet's mom's house. We were told it had been found a couple of weeks ago, and we filed the info away and laid our plans. We conspired with Dragonet's sister Sally to have a surprise Mother's Day dinner with their mom at Sally's house. Normally, we all go to mom's for holiday activities, so this was a nice change of pace. After a lovely meal and entertaining conversation (some of which revolved around my tendency to nod off due to lack of sleep), we swung by mom's to pick up the big book.

And what a wonderful dictionary it is. The title page has "1937" on it, but the copyright is 1934. It begins with a series of color plate of flags of all types (including two for Germany, the standard tricolor and the Hitlerian swastika), followed by i-xcvi pages of introductory material. The dictionary itself runs 2987 pages, and then the appendices go from pages 2989-3210. Then comes the "Reference History of the World," all 360 psges of it, divided into "Part One: World History" and "Part Two: National Histories," compiled by Professor Albert Bushnell Hart, LL.D., and a host of others. Once ConQuesT is over, I am so looking forward to playing with this magnificent tome.


*I could have sworn I got this during our exile in Topeka, but Laugh-In debuted in January, 1968, and by the time my birthday rolled around that year, we were in Lawrence. I didn't even get to see much of the first year of the show, as it came on while I was at weekly Boy Scout meetings. The first time an adult used the phrase "Here comes the judge!" in front of me, I was extremely confused, especially as we were watching The Wizard of Oz at the time. The things that stick in one's memory.

Via Becks at Unfogged, the Random Sentence and Paragraph Generator.

http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/RandomParagraph/RandomParagraph.aspx

The model reverts. The password writes before the brain. When will the attached wit treat the restaurant? Should the wrist computerize Dr Paisley?

When can the kitchen alternate Dr Paisley? The directive degenerates into our axis. Dr Paisley shoes a sniff opposite the chamber. A sarcasm camps in the organ!

An ace deals the manned differential. A concentrated anecdote propositions Dr Paisley behind the synonymous jury. A rear instructs Dr Paisley. Dr Paisley covers your burnt unknown.

(I cover it with a zesty barbecue sauce. And I didn't burn it.)