OCT 10 (2025): English survey course, part #3 [3]

  This post is a continuation of the collection of poems 'English Survey Course' as displayed on this blog October 10, 2024 (part #1).

previous poetic posts (Note that captions are available for versions of the poems displayed on "Daily Illustrated Nonsense" since January 2024).

(part #1): pass/fail, Hamlet Prince of Denmark, La Belle Dame sans Merci, The Raven, Diary of Samuel Pepys.

CURRENT CONTENTS (#2 -- Oct 10, 2025)

"A Connecticut Yankee"

"Jabberwocky"

"Paradise Lost"

Authors' Note:  The concept for a classic literary satire began in 1884 when author Mark Twain (real name Samuel Clemens) read Le Morte d'Arthur (the Death of Arthur) by Sir Thomas Mallory, a classic romance about the knights of the Round Table. 

  In Twain’s fictional account, published 1889, action unfolds when Hank, a 19th century munitions-factory mechanic, awakens from a head injury to find himself amidst the sorcerers and knights at Camelot. As he rises to high rank in medieval society through manipulation of modern technology, he becomes known simply as "Boss".

Authors' Note: The noun-form of the adjective essential, used almost exclusively in the plural, exemplifies pluralia tantum, and indicates what is truly needed (Credentials, similarly, is an example of that grammatical curiosity).

Paradise Lost, the epic poem about the Fall of Man and the Garden of Eden, by 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). is contained in twelve books. Its review by young literature students is aided by student guides such as Cliff's Notes.

 

Authors' Note: The noun-form of the adjective essential, used almost exclusively in the plural, exemplifies pluralia tantum, and indicates what is truly needed (Credentials, similarly, is an example of that grammatical curiosity).

Paradise Lost, the epic poem about the Fall of Man and the Garden of Eden, by 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). is contained in twelve books. Its review by young literature students is aided by student guides such as Cliff's Notes.

OCT 5 (2025): True-and-Faux photos -- PORTRAITS of COUPLES, #5

prior posts (1st group)

Introduction 

domestic turkeys

-----------------

Adam and Eve

armadillos
Aurora and Cephalus

basset hounds

black swans

black-crowned night herons

black-necked swans 

broad-headed skinks

bros 

prior posts - (2nd group)

Canada geese

chickens

dogpark figures

domestic geese 1(Paris) 

domestic geese 2(Toronto) 

emus

family - Canada geese

feral domestic ducks 

frogs 

prior posts - (3rd group)

gemsboks

g(i)roomed dogs

goats

gorillas 

gulls (European herring)
Harris hawks
hippos 
horses 
house finches 

prior posts - (4th group)

llamas 
loons 

mallard ducks

mounted police

mute swans

pelicans 

pigeons 

pigs

sanderlings 

CURRENT CONTENTS (#5 -- Feb 10, 2024)

sheep 

skeletal personalities

toucans 

trumpeter swans

turtles (red sliders)  

white ibis 

wild turkeys

wood ducks 

Authors' Note:  The above slide, displaying two male domestic turkeys in the state of Connecticut, honors the LGBT community. The other couples portrayed here are heterosexual, as far as the editors can determine.

Editors' Note (on behalf of True-and-Faux Photos): For now, this post concludes our folio of photos of couples. We hope that you have enjoyed it, and will set up a photo-shoot so that we can help you to honor your life-partnership. In the meanwhile, you might consider whether a new technical twist,  background-subtracted rendering might be appropriate for your needs. 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 through the summer of 2026. 

As of March, 2026, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of these key elements of our work are assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

SEP 15 (2025): Cardiologic Tracings, AT HEART, pumper #1 [4]

Readers might like to start off by reading about a particular group of heart disorders known as the cardiac arrhythmias. You can review that collection (syncopated verses about cardiac arrhythmias) by clicking HERE.

CURRENT CONTENTS

Arteriopath

Bypass Grafts

Dipyridamole stress

Dobutamine stress

Authors' Note: Statins are drugs in frequent use for patients with arterial disease that reduce the body's manufacture of cholesterol. A small proportion of patients are intolerant of this class of oral medication, most commonly due to muscle cramps.

The most common site of symptomatic arterial blockage is the coronary arteries, which provide nutrient blood flow to the heart muscle. Surgical bypass grafting of multiple sites of obstruction is a common treatment for this disease. Following such surgery, patients such as Jack need to remain attentive to risk factors including dietary fats.

Authors' Note: 

 (dye-puh-RIH-duh-mawl)

(Puhr-SANT-in)

Tests of myocardial flow in the Nuclear laboratory, e.g. gated SPECT, require a stimulus so that the specific radiotracer can be injected at peak blood flow to image the state of heart muscle. Ideally, exercise stress, as with a submaximal treadmill procedure, provides this stimulus, with a high attained heart rate reflecting success. As a backup in those unable to exercise sufficiently, (musculoskeletal or breathing problems, reduced fitness), pharmacologic stress may be used. Dipyridamole, tradename Persantine, is a commonly used agent for this purpose, increasing blood flow optimally, but with little change in heart rate or blood pressure. 

Authors' Note:   The verse above is a companion verse to ”dipyridamole”. 

When doctors want to check whether all areas of heart muscle can increase their blood flow appropriately, they may use certain drugs as helpers; this is particularly true when the patient is unable to perform a submaximal exercise test, often called a Bruce treadmill test, after its inventor. Dobutamine (doh-BYOO-ta-meen), relative of adrenaline, raises heart rate and blood pressure. It's the only drug available for tests which use echocardiography to picture the heart while it is 'under stress', but is a second-choice drug for the nuclear imaging test called gated SPECT. The preferred drug for those tests is one whose primary effect is to dilate arterial blood vessels, increasing the flow to normal heart muscle. Such drugs include dipyridamole and adenosine.           

Here's a LIST OF LINKS to collections of intriguing poems (over 200 of these!) on medical/dental topics, updated to December 2024. 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 through the summer of 2026. 

As of March, 2026, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of these key elements of our work are assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

SEP 10 (2025), INSECTS: buzzwords #3 [5]

    This post is part of a continuing collection of poems about 'INSECTS', as previously as displayed on this blog on September 10, 2023 (buzzword #1), September 10, 2024 (buzzword #2), and September 10, 2025 (buzzword #3).

previous poetic posts (Note that captions are available for poems displayed on "Daily Illustrated Nonsense" in slide format since January, 2024).

(first buzzwords) (#1) beerbugs, bumblebees, clothes moths, cold adaptation, computer bugs.

(second buzzwords) (#2) deer- and horse-flies, entomologists, fire ants, gnats, gnat repellents. 

    This post is part of a continuing collection of poems about 'INSECTS', as previously presented on this blog on September 5, 2022 (buzzword #1), September 5, 2023 (buzzword #2), September 5, 2024 (buzzword #3), and September 5, 2025 (buzzword #4).

previous poetic posts (Note that captions are available for poems displayed on "Daily Illustrated Nonsense" in slide format since January, 2024).

(first buzzwords) (#1) beerbugs, bumblebees, clothes moths, cold adaptation, computer bugs.

(second buzzwords) (#2)  deer- and horse-flies, entomologists, fire ants, gnats, gnat repellents.

CURRENT CONTENTS (#3):

Insect repellents

Ladybug diner

Mosquitoes

Ricardo the dragonfly

Roaches (etymologic considerations)

Learn more about DEET at Wikipedia.

Authors' Note: Adult dragonflies are carnivores who hunt on the wing, consuming daily up to a fifth of their body-weight in various flying insects, mosquitoes being one of their favorites. 

In the photo by GC, shot in the Muskoka region of Ontario, the insect temporarily has lighted (with wings typically spread) on a tiger lily, presumably to seek as prey the pollen-seeking insects attracted there.

Authors' Note: 

cucaracha: Spanish for cockroach, presumably giving rise in the early 17th century to the English name for the insect

cockroach: adjectival form for the common insect (of thousands of species, only four are characterized as pests; cockroachlike might also be used in appropriate instances)   In the 1830s, Victorians adopted the shortened form roach to avoid the sexual connotations of the insect's name.

Requests from many entomologists, armchair nature enthusiasts, pest control professionals, buggers, and just ordinary folks have come to fruition; there is now a follow-up post continuing this theme (BUGS!), that you can easily access by clicking HERE! 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 through the summer of 2026. 

As of March, 2026, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of these key elements of our work are assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

SEP 5 (2025): MAMMALIAN WILDLIFE (pack #4) [5]

 

    This post is a continuing collection of poems about 'MAMMALIAN WILDLIFE', as posted on this blog on September 5, 2022 (pack #1), September 5, 2023 (pack #2), and September 5, 2024 (pack #3)

previous poetic posts (Note that captions are available for poems displayed on "Daily Illustrated Nonsense" in slide format since January, 2024).

(pack #1): angwantibos, bats, beaver, buffalo, California sea lions.

(pack #2): coyotes, cretan goats (kri-kri), gnus, gorillas, hippopotami, hoary marmots.

(pack #3): horses, marine mammals, mongolian gerbils, rabbits, raccoons in the city.

CURRENT CONTENTS (pack #4):
Raccoons in the swamp

Rat-trap

Selfie with bison
Skunks

Star-nosed moles

Authors' Note: It's hard to believe that there was a 'responsible driver' who let this young person out of the car to take this picture (isolated from a published video), but there you are. 

In national parks in both Canada and the United States, there are fines imposed for approaching wildlife too closely, and signage usually makes this abundantly clear.

A verse, and more pictures of the American bison (buffalo), can be found on this post. 

Authors' Note:  You can find a song about the star-nosed mole on our blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to access it! 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 through the summer of 2026. 

As of March, 2026, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of these key elements of our work are assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

Requests from many armchair naturalists, and career zoologic scientists have come to fruition; there is now a followup post continuing this theme that you can easily access by clicking HERE! 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 through the summer of 2026. 

As of March, 2026, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of these key elements of our work are assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres, has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.