"Crime doesn't pay...as well as politics." - Alfred E. Newman

Old Folks Week - #3

I started the day with two hours at the dentist. The tooth that broke Sunday night was not the one marked for extraction but the one next to it. That's really too bad. It means he put on a temporary crown. ($$$$) Tomorrow I call the oral surgeon to schedule the extraction ($$$$) and, after the jaw bone has healed (6 weeks) I go back to the dentist to have a permanent crown ($$$$) and a bridge built ($$$$). But because this now-crowned tooth can't support the bridge they have to go one more tooth down the line for an anchor point. And every additional tooth away from the bridge adds - you guessed it - $$$$.

When I got home I spent some time getting ready for my folks' arrival tomorrow afternoon (Thurs.). I installed a hand-held shower head in the guest bathroom to make it easier for my mom, who is very short. Then I built a 6" tall box to help with the step into, and more importantly out of the tub/shower. The floor of the tub is 6" higher than the floor of the bathroom. That can be a dangerous surprise when stepping out of the tub, especially of you're 87 are unstable (on your feet) and have trouble walking because of arthritis.

If you read my blog you know that I like words.
Lately I've been thinking about the word "celebrity," in part because I've heard and read the word used in a variety of ways lately. What makes someone a celebrity? If I understand its contemporary usage correctly, a celebrity is someone who is famous despite having done nothing particularly noteworthy. Whereas most people achieve notoriety for doing something most couldn't or wouldn't, a celebrity managed to do it through just being them.
See: Paris Hilton, Kevin Federline, Nicole Richie
Some have achieved celebrity status by appearing on a reality show, which - as you know if you've ever watched one - requires no particular skill. In fact, in some cases it is the remarkable absence of skill that vaults one to celebrity status.
See: William Hung of American Idol fame (She Bangs)
I've read that this contemporary meaning of celebrity is the product of a media driven culture - that if it weren't for media the phenomenon couldn't have happened.

No point in all of that. I just find the meaning of words interesting, especially when we can watch the meaning change.

And that got me to thinking about words with a meaning disappearing from our vocabulary:

1. Mean - (adj.); ordinary, usual. As in: "no mean feat" to describe a remarkable accomplishment. Also, "the golden mean" to describe the ideal between extremes.
2. Truck - (n.); association, connection. As in "he has no truck with fools."

I had another one earlier this evening as I was driving into town for our elder meeting but I can't think of it now. I got distracted by a really mean looking truck.