Thursday, April 8, 2010

who? which one? why, mrs. whatsit, dear lamb


I think it's safe to say that I'm pretty obsessed with Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, right now. I'm reading it again. I've only read Wrinkle three times before, so not a lot...yet. But every time I open it up I like it better and better. I can't get enough of little Charles Wallace and I love Meg Murry and Calvin O'Keefe's sweet friendship. Sometimes in my own writing I struggle with writing believable relationships. I like the quirks and peculiarities of the characters in Wrinkle. How can you not admire Ms. L'Engle for creating such unique, forward-thinking kids before their time?

That said, my word-of-the-week posts should be renamed word-of-the-month, or every-other-month, because I've been such a slacker! Sorry about that. In any case, here's a new word straight from the pages of A Wrinkle in Time...

Supine (adj): Lying on the back or with the face upward. Lethargic. Sluggish.
Used in a sentence: “Oh, dearie me,” Mrs. Whatsit said, lying on her back in the overturned chair, her feet in the air, one in a red and white striped sock, the other still booted... “If you have some liniment I’ll put it on my dignity,” Mrs Whatsit said, still supine.

(L’Engle, Madeline. A Wrinke in Time. New York: Square Fish, 1962).

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