Another thing swallowed by the black whole that now exists where UJournal once orbited is my Word of the Day list. I shall start over. Here are some of my past words of the day. I’ll be sure to add as I go from here…hooked on phonics and all that…

anthropomorphic adj : described or thought of as having a human form or human attributes – ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things
Little Joshua squeezed the black crayon hard as he drew the winged thing he called “Crow” in his kindergarten class – later in life he’d call it “muse” the anthropomorphic spirit of his imagination given sable winged shape.

chthonic \‘than-ik\ adj : of or relating to the underworld : infernal
Sharon compared entering her brother’s basement bedroom to a descent into chthonic regions and she was always a little frightened of what she might find there.

desiccate v : to drain of vitality, especially to divest of vigor, spirit, passion, or a capability of evoking mental or emotional excitement
The dull teacher desiccated the entire class of fun and spirit.

penny dreadful n (ca1873) : a novel of violent adventure or crime
Malcolm, pillow uprased, lurched towards his cowering sister like a villain out of a penny dreadful.

necrotic adj : being dead or having to do with death
Malcolm sat up with is sister and watched the late show movie where a grotesque zombie reached out for the heroine with necrotic hands.