The Language of Me: Yuzu, Verve, Volatile (feat. Peter Pan PMSing)
Thank you for clicking onto my blog and reading through my thoughts. I'm zany & zesty, wacky & weird. I'm someone who wonders about wondering.
I've written a piece about what language means to me, and how I craft my communication to best share my musings. There are three words that I will utilize to illustrate some of my experiences, what I am, and what I hope to accomplish. The words Yuzu, Verve, and Volatile portray different facets of my identity.
If this article reads as random, that's ok. Randomness is part of my personality. Just know that each section exemplifies a word that brought joy into my life. Each word holds a deeper meaning to me than just black text on white.
I dabbed the fried chicken in this Yuzu sauce and was immediately hit with tangy, fresh, and uplifting flavors. It complemented the indulgently crunchy, greasy, and umami-bomb sensations of the fried chicken leg. It was a new experience and I have been addicted ever since.
"Yuzu" dropped into my consciousness and quickly surged to the top of my delicious list. I associated it between my concepts of Lime, Japan, and Delicious.
In my mind "Yuzu" is connected to Tokyo Fried Chicken, citrus fruits & flavors, elevated cake recipes, Trader Joe's sauces...the list goes on and on. The discovery of a new thing, idea, and concept needs parameters and connections. The most concise way for me to describe Yuzu has remained exactly as the waitress has described: "Japanese Lime."
Verve
I want "Verve" to help me define who I am and how I want to live life.
I was looking for words that started with "V" to match my obsession with Verve and happened across Volatile. Each website seems to have a different definition, but I'll be sharing the Merriam-Webster version below.
Volatile
adjective.
People, the picture perfect definition of volatility is Peter Pan PMSing. You read it here first.
It's funny because I've only heard the word Volatile being used in chemistry classes, or to describe how angry and dangerous a person was. Who knew there was so much more to this word than expected!
I do not want to live my life in the same state day to day. I want to breathe in the air from the tops of the Swiss Alps, sip on margaritas in Cancun, hug a panda in Sichuan, and basically do and see everything that I can before my final goodbyes.
I think and feel one way, and the next moment I might be thinking or feeling the exact opposite. I love variety in my life and I host a variety of emotions to match. Do I make sense? I don't know. I've already forgotten what I originally thought and said. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Being volatile has a lot to do with vulnerability. I am sensitive to smell, feeling, and sound. I allow others into my life to say what they want, do what they want, and affect my emotions. I'm learning that being volatile isn't the best in all environments, but still, I want to embrace being volatile.
I want to be honest about my emotions and allow them to motivate a true reaction and judgment. Is it a little too much sometimes? Yes. But you'd be surprised how much more information you glean when you use your emotions to help you learn and encode information.
I'm very happy to have learned what else the word Volatile means. It originates from the latin word volare, which means "to fly". It's special not only because it starts with a "V", but also because it demonstrates how one word can mean so many different things.
So let's conclude with this final diagram of seemingly unrelated words that just so happen to make me feel like me.
I've written a piece about what language means to me, and how I craft my communication to best share my musings. There are three words that I will utilize to illustrate some of my experiences, what I am, and what I hope to accomplish. The words Yuzu, Verve, and Volatile portray different facets of my identity.
If this article reads as random, that's ok. Randomness is part of my personality. Just know that each section exemplifies a word that brought joy into my life. Each word holds a deeper meaning to me than just black text on white.
Language
Language is beautiful in its attempt to capture and transfer information. As I experience life, I want to share that experience with another, to capture the essence of my wants or needs and to express it in its purest, most concentrated form.
The strength of Language is its earnest effort in communicating meaning.
I don't believe Language can ever be absolute-- just how 0.00001 will never be 0. But I find pleasure in trying to get as close to that number zero as possible.
How do we learn what a word means? How complex words must be if it takes a slew of words to explain just one. They're all torn pieces of a treasure map, and we're always in search for that booty🍑.
Dictionaries and dialogue give you the 0.00001 and the -0.00001 so that your brain may drop a pin down in that murky in between. Whether it be a formalized word or a silly colloquialism, we need the min, max, and middle. We'll need the "just like", "similar to", "synonymous with", "analogous to", "kinda...sorta...maybe..." to anchor our ship and give us our min, max, mode, and means.
"YES" to Yuzu!
Words aren't always learned in school or through a dictionary. A word has more power when it's attached to a specific memory.
I'd like to illustrate with one of my favorite new food discoveries. Tokyo Fried Chicken is a restaurant in Monterey Park that serves up fusion food. Menu items blend the heavy and hearty flavors of the South with the traditional flavors of Japanese cuisine. It's a perfect example of two separate concepts synthesizing into something new, original, and flavorful.
I'd like to illustrate with one of my favorite new food discoveries. Tokyo Fried Chicken is a restaurant in Monterey Park that serves up fusion food. Menu items blend the heavy and hearty flavors of the South with the traditional flavors of Japanese cuisine. It's a perfect example of two separate concepts synthesizing into something new, original, and flavorful.
"Here's a sample of our yuzu dipping sauce."
"What is yuzu," I asked the waitress.
She answered, "It's like a Japanese lime."
I dabbed the fried chicken in this Yuzu sauce and was immediately hit with tangy, fresh, and uplifting flavors. It complemented the indulgently crunchy, greasy, and umami-bomb sensations of the fried chicken leg. It was a new experience and I have been addicted ever since.
"Yuzu" dropped into my consciousness and quickly surged to the top of my delicious list. I associated it between my concepts of Lime, Japan, and Delicious.
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Besides being a story of how I came to understand what Yuzu is, I hope this story also illustrates how two seemingly unrelated cuisines can create combinations that make for interesting new experiences.
Yuzu came to me unexpectedly. As ridiculous as it sounds, I want to be the Yuzu sauce to the world's fried chicken: a refreshing zing, a marriage of cultures, an unexpectedly awesome partner in crime.
Yuzu came to me unexpectedly. As ridiculous as it sounds, I want to be the Yuzu sauce to the world's fried chicken: a refreshing zing, a marriage of cultures, an unexpectedly awesome partner in crime.
Verve is my va-va-voom
From time to time I'll go exploring for new words. I'm always looking for words that will allow me to express myself more precisely.
I came upon the word Verve one day at work. I was "working" by clicking myself down a rabbit hole of synonyms on thesaurus.com.
"This has a nice ring to it. Short, sweet,and simple," I thought.
Verve
noun.
- enthusiasm or vigor, as in literary or artistic work; spirit; Her latest novel lacks verve.
- vivaciousness; liveliness; animation: I like a teacher with plenty of verve.
- Archaic. talent.
Verve is pizzaz; it's the stuff that makes us keep going. It's full of life, love, laughter, liberty, lentils, lol, and lollipops.
To me, the word "verve" is how I want to be. I want to be so full of verve that verve just sloshes around and splashes on the fortunate fellows beside me. It's definitely not enough that I should be filled to the brim with verve. This stuff is contagious and needs to be offloaded all the time! I verve. You verve. We verve!
I want "Verve" to help me define who I am and how I want to live life.
Thus far, "Verve" has been the best, most precise, closest to zero way for me to express who I am and what I want to be.
Volatile is like Peter Pan PMSing
I'm a whirlwind of emotions—but that doesn't mean I want to be called crazy, emotional, or irrational. I am fond of alliteration and so I wanted to find a better way to describe my haphazard personality quirk.
Volatile
adjective.
- characterized by or subject to rapid or unexpected change; a volatile market
- unable to hold the attention fixed because of an inherent lightness or fickleness of disposition
- tending to erupt into violence: Explosive; a volatile temper
- easily aroused; volatile suspicions
- Lighthearted, Lively
- readily vaporizable at a low temperature
- difficult to capture or hold permanently: Evanescent, Transitory
- flying or having the ability to fly
This word wants to escape conventional definition standards. It's very much. It's a muchfull word with lots of muchness.
The ability to fly? Peter Pan.
Difficult to capture? Peter Pan.
Tending to erupt into violence? Peter Pan & PMS.
Fickleness? Peter Pan.
Easily aroused? Definitely PMS.
People, the picture perfect definition of volatility is Peter Pan PMSing. You read it here first.
It's funny because I've only heard the word Volatile being used in chemistry classes, or to describe how angry and dangerous a person was. Who knew there was so much more to this word than expected!
I do not want to live my life in the same state day to day. I want to breathe in the air from the tops of the Swiss Alps, sip on margaritas in Cancun, hug a panda in Sichuan, and basically do and see everything that I can before my final goodbyes.
I think and feel one way, and the next moment I might be thinking or feeling the exact opposite. I love variety in my life and I host a variety of emotions to match. Do I make sense? I don't know. I've already forgotten what I originally thought and said. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Being volatile has a lot to do with vulnerability. I am sensitive to smell, feeling, and sound. I allow others into my life to say what they want, do what they want, and affect my emotions. I'm learning that being volatile isn't the best in all environments, but still, I want to embrace being volatile.
I want to be honest about my emotions and allow them to motivate a true reaction and judgment. Is it a little too much sometimes? Yes. But you'd be surprised how much more information you glean when you use your emotions to help you learn and encode information.
I'm very happy to have learned what else the word Volatile means. It originates from the latin word volare, which means "to fly". It's special not only because it starts with a "V", but also because it demonstrates how one word can mean so many different things.
So let's conclude with this final diagram of seemingly unrelated words that just so happen to make me feel like me.
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