Tag: writing

Words of the day – Zaidy, Tractile,…..!


Zaidy and tractile war requiring troops, fighting with pease-shooter, to perform jete brought out bullhorns to end the conflict!
If you are wondering WTF was that that’s the same feeling I get when I play scrabble against the computer and see a word I never knew existed. Don’t worry, it’s not my covfefe moment! 😂 Hell, I can’t afford a covfefe moment, I don’t have an army of supporters trying to infer sense if I spout or write gibberish 🙏
Just trying to use words from one of my recent scrabble game against the computer for fun. Was meant to convey “Growing and stretching war requiring troops, fighting with peashooters, to move from one front to another resulted in growing calls to end the conflict”

I play the computer at grandmaster level, Which means I lose more often than I win. The win loss ratio is ~ 5:1 in favor of the computer. Why do I still play at that level? Maybe I am a glutton for punishment 😉 No, just kidding 🙏 Increasingly getting instrospective and withdrawn, I try to find activities I can do by myself. In addition to vast repertoire of words (originating from many languages) the “scrabble engine” must also be employing AI/ML. Must also be building up a database of a player’s profile based on previous games played. That translates into incredible difficulty winning against the computer at the highest level. To add to the misery there appears to be some kind of inequity built in too. I am not sure how much actual randomness is there in the alphabet tiles for the human player. So many times I end up pulling my hair in frustration on ending with all vowels or all consonants. Canceling a game before playing the first word does not result in the game counted as loss for the human player. Very few times I have actually canceled a game as I generally believe in playing the cards I am dealt with, at work or play. The idea is to see what I can do to make a positive difference. Obviously that’s not a strategic play but I am not consumed by thoughts of winning. Majority of times that means losing the game, that’s ok with me. Losing is never fun but if it’s a loss after playing hard and fair and the other player plays better they deserve the win. That’s how I look at the result of the sports teams I support too. It is what it is. Anyways, the scrabble game today had a happy ending 😊 It seeemed that the computer struck a death blow by placing “ing” next to the word “annex” (bottom right of image) and reaping the benefits of huge points by way of triple word score to zoom to ~ 440 points taking a 90-point lead almost at the end of the game. With prayer on my lips I played the word “tractile” (top left of image). Lo and behold, I got the benefit 2 triple-word scores (9x multiplication factor) + 50 point bonus for using all 7 letters! It was nice to turn the tables on the computer for a change 👏 One game won! 👍 As they say “You live to die another day” 🙏

Dictionary meaning of today’s words below

Tractile: capable of being drawn out in length; ductile. 2. capable of being drawn.
Zaidy: means abundance or one who grows; yiddish for grandfather
Jete: a jump in which a dancer springs from one foot to land on the other with one leg extended outward from the body while in the air.
bullhorn: an electronic device for amplifying the sound of the voice so it can be heard at a distance; a megaphone.
pease: nounplural pease. an archaic or dialect word for pea

What would I otherwise like to do for a living – Series #1

I am sure every job has its own requirements and attendant pressures. For many folks how they do their job depends on what has been promised to the customer and what their own targets have been set to. Lot of time is spent in following processes and ensuring company directives are met. Which means less time likely spent in actually doing the work and more time getting approvals and documenting the work in trying to follow defined processes. When all you want to do is solve a problem or fulfill a customer requirement it can be frustrating to have many processes that slow things down and/or place too many restrictions. “What would I otherwise like to do for a living” series is in that context. My first choice would be to be a writer of short pieces. About anything that people can relate to. It could be about nature, sport, profession, food, man-made structures, good deeds, life experience etc. In short find extraordinary in what might otherwise be considered ordinary and offer unique perspective. If it brings a smile to the reader and/or the person is able to relate to it that would be satisfying. Even otherwise there is inherent satisfaction in putting something together.

Which brings us to the word of the day: raconteur – a person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.

My first option for a living if given a choice: raconteur 🙂

Why do I write?

Not being a professional writer I have myself wondered why I write. The objective is to put into words something that others can relate to and brighten up the day by bringing a smile. I liken my writing to an amateur and enthusiastic cook making and serving a dish to see the reaction of those who taste the creation. As I pondered some more other reasons came to mind too
1) Writing for me is a creative and exhilarating experience. The fun is as much in the journey as one puts together the different ingredients and seeing how the final product shapes up
2) Writing has a meditative effect for me in that it helps me calm down and focus on what I am trying to convey. For others similar experience might come from walking, cooking, cleaning, building or fixing gadgets, meditation, painting or whatever an individual’s passion is
3) Trying to write something light or positive also keeps negative thoughts at bay which is very important in today’s world
4) I am more of semantics guy who doesn’t like to worry about syntax. When one writes for fun there is less of a need to conform which appeals to me
5) There are multiple thoughts or ideas running in my mind many a time. Putting into words one idea or thought brings that thought or idea to a logical end and frees up space for others waiting in a queue. Find it kind of liberating
6) As forgetfulness increases find it useful to note down a thought before it is lost
7) I have always admired those who are good at different things or do routine things differently. In relation to writing that translates to bringing an unique and different perspective
8) To be effective my mind likes to drift in and out of a problem. Has the effect of taking a break and coming back to take a fresh look at a problem. If solution to a problem appears to be elusive it helps to push it into the background for the subconscious mind to mull over it and do something like writing in the foreground
9) The joy is more when there is not much of an expectation other than sharing some experience and having a good time. Writing brings that kind of joy
10) When one wakes up early even on a weekend with no planned activity writing helps kill time 😀