I
enter the auditorium hesitantly. I walk over to - what appears to me
to be - an official. He's dressed in a maroon dress shirt, light gray
dress pants and a light gray tie. A ID badge hangs at the bottom of
the purple , V-shape ribbon draped around his neck.
"Hi." he says, as I approach.
"Hi. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do.", I say.
"You're 'au courant', right? 21st century?", he asks.
"Yes." I say.
"You need to go to the other end of the auditorium. You see the long line there?
That's where you need to be." He segues. "Congratulations ," he says, "congratulations
guy
."
A humongous smile distorts my face and I blush with joy and content. I
smile, I shake his hand, and thank him. I can hardly believe my luck-
'au courant', 21st century. Of course, I'm grateful and relieved.
I proceed to my destination through an ad-hoc corridor formed in the
center of the auditorium as people from other eras- from the 6th century
B.C up to the present - populate the auditorium's sides. Many of them
are chatting, unaware of my presence. Others see me and smile or give a
wave as I go along. I'm happy to smile and wave back.
As I
approach the line for 'au courant' there is a preponderance of people
who seem either self-absorbed or jocular. The self-absorbed are
quietly preoccupied. The jocular are - well - jolly. It's a joy to see
their smiles, hear their laughter, note their glad-handing;
There's plenty of glad-handing. I notice standing in line, a swim instructor I once had.
I break into a trot in order to reach the line a little sooner.
Quite unexpectedly, a
flood
smashes through the auditorium walls. We are all knocked off our
feet. At first people are flailing, decourm is embarrassingly
impossible to achieve. Shortly, we regain some kilter and float, swim,
or dog paddle our way to presentable.
Unfortunately, many
people of the ancient eras weren't the
best swimmers. Apparently, they hadn't had certified swim instructors.
They suffered the most.
I don't know how - through all the centuries -
they managed to make it this far.
"Yes sir, your question."
. . .
"Abracadabra ."
"Next question please."
. . .
"If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the Mooor-oooor-ning"
"Yes sir, your question."
. . .
"That's
correct. Two suspects are in custody and a manhunt is underway for the
third. We believe the third is a rhinoceros and as such the officers
involved in the manhunt have been armed with elephant guns."
"Next question please. Yes ma'am."
. . .
I pause to think then spell out the answer. "S. A. T. . . U. R. . .
D. E. Y."
"We only have time for one more question."
. . .
"Good question. 'If I knew what I was doing, I wouldn't be doing this.', is the correct answer."
Frankly, I believe the very worst selection of an antonym exists with the word 'Discourse'. 'Silence, Quiet' are listed as antonyms of 'Discourse. I don't see why words like 'Edict, Dictate' aren't better antonyms of 'Discourse'.
For me, this link has helped clarify the difference between a grammatical predicate and a logical predicate.
I just don't think the Mets can be blamed for losing when they're playing with 8 men on the field versus Kansas City's playing with 10 men on the field. Somehow Yoenis Cespedes - playing for the Royals - has been penciled in as playing for the Mets.