Peppered Thought – The Spice of Life

“Flash in the pan”

The first, and, most popular, is that the saying originated from the old flintlock rifle. A flint would strike a plate, and the spark created would ignite gunpowder in a pan. This explosion would ignite the charge in the rifle, and “bang” the bullet would be expelled. It would appear as though this exercise was not always successful. The powder in the pan would “flash”, but not ignite the powder in the rifle. The expectation was there, nothing happened, therefore “a flash in the pan”
The second refers to mining, specifically gold mining. Gold miners in days of old would have a pan would swish water and gravel around in it, trying to separate the gold from the sand. “A flash in the pan” was what appeared to be gold, but on closer investigation turned out to be nothing of value. Again, an expectation that came to nothing.

Although this week was kind of poopy (I think i am getting exasperated with the sun/heat, a different kind of Seasonal Disorder), it’s starting to clear up and be a wonderful weekend, despite having to work on Sunday. Here’s the week in pictures:

Wished ‘Tortilla Tuesday’ a happy anniversary,

saw a cloud that looked like a sitting camel, then sang “Prince Ali” while in the car by myself,

The Beau got Limited Edition Confetti Pop tarts. Let me tell you a little something about pop tarts in our house. They are our dessert. Never a breakfast thing, so these confetti ones are right up our dessert alley. And let me tell you, THEY TASTE JUST LIKE FUNFETTI CAKE. It is uncanny!

Went with my mom, sister, and sister-in-law to see The Help. I liked it, very beautiful direction and the clothes were to die for. I’m still not sure about the story, I have heard so many conflicting views. But, I do know that watching it has made me want to read the book, and to find books about Civil Rights by black women in the South.

We watched this Spanish thriller-horror movie called ‘Eskalofrio’ (Shiver) and it was pretty good. We have watched quite a few Spanish language horror movies and they are all so much better than drivel that America seems to think is good.

Lastly, I saw this penpal gift idea on Design Sponge and am thinking that all my penpals will be getting these soon, they look like so much fun!

I also wanted to apologize for my lack of posting. With it being so hot outside, there is little I want to do except write the occasional letter and lie down on the tile next to tortilla and eat my pop tarts in frozen yogurt.

But I have a lot of things I’m working on, mainly in the vein of DIY and crafty things, so stay tuned!

I made a tumblr for best friend in honor of her birthday. She loved it – what Leo wouldn’t like all that attention?

Took my dad for surgery (don’t worry; he’s fine) and perused his bookshelf (look at those vintage bindings!)

Went to the dentist and it was a good visit. The high after a good dental appointment is like that of acing your final exam.

Lots of monsoons equal not only the best time of the summer (except the oppressive humidity), but also my favorite time to take pictures!

Tore through a lot of “Like You’d Understand Anyway” and it is amazing. Short stories you want to be longer, historical fiction that I crave, it’s all there.

It’s the first week of the month and I haven’t done a month review. I decided 6 months of that was enough. Finances? Meh. Books? Obviously need to read more, always more.

The week in review is much more enjoyable than a monthly one.

Also, the last picture above is The Beau’s concoction. He calls it the Quintuple Quatro. Those Neapolitan OREOs were gone pretty quickly in our house.

photo via

“23 Skidoo”

Meaning to “get out while the getting’s good” or being forced to leave by someone else.

The reason I love etymologies is sometimes you get a word or phrase that has a great backstory. 23 skidoo is one.

Perhaps the most widely known story of the origin of the expression concerns the area around the triangular-shaped Flatiron Building in NYC and due to the shape of the building winds swirl around it. During the 1920s, groups of men would allegedly gather to watch women walking by have their skirts blown up, revealing legs, which were seldom seen publicly at that time. Local constables, when sometimes telling such groups of men to leave the area, were said to be “giving them the 23 Skidoo”.

It is at a triangular site where Broadway and Fifth Avenue—- the two most important streets of New York—- meet at Madison Square, and because of the juxtaposition of the streets and the park across the street, there was a wind-tunnel effect here. In the early twentieth century, men would hang out on the corner here on Twenty-third Street and watch the wind blowing women’s dresses up so that they could catch a little bit of ankle. This entered into popular culture and there are hundreds of postcards and illustrations of women with their dresses blowing up in front of the Flatiron Building. And it supposedly is where the slang expression “23 skidoo” comes from because the police would come and give the voyeurs the 23 skidoo to tell them to get out of the area.

However, the slang expression “23″ was already in use before the Flatiron Building was built (1902), and Webster’s New World Dictionary derives skiddoo (with two d’s) as probably from skedaddle, meaning “to leave”, with an imperative sense.

While watching Law and Order: SVU a while back, they kept bringing up people’s “rap sheets,” so I got to wondering where that term comes from and if it is ever used anywhere else.

Rap Sheet

Could mean a rap on the knuckles and what have you, but the formal police slang comes from the abbreviation for Record of Arrest and Prosecution. Easier to find out than I thought.

Very interesting tidbit…

Let’s take a stroll through this week in Jessica-ville. This week I:

Made some super tasty cereal bars,

relished in a to-die for strawberry chocolate-pretzel split made by The Beau (in a waffle cone!),

hung out on tv with one of my closest friends and her extremely adorable and well-behaved daughter,

Got all my books from the library!!! For some odd reason it was all crime and mystery for this library go ’round. I think our noir double feature in L.A. had a big effect on me.

Started putting together my “summer essentials:” bubbles and water guns. Not a bad start, but I need to add my hammock and some blanket forts.

kind of getting the itch for some super-cute short bangs. I even got heart palpitations making this collage!