Thursday 13: 0711.15

Thirteen Things about MISS MELISS
Things that Begin with Z

  1. Zabaglione: An Italian dessert. A custard of eggs, mascarpone cheese, sugar and liquor, traditionally served with figs.
  2. Zebra: I was crazy about horses as a kid, and this extended to zebras. They look so magical, especially in video clips from watering holes.
  3. Zenobia: A Queen of Palmyra, she ruled after her husband’s death, was captured by the army of Aurelius, whom she so impressed that he freed her. Eventually she became a philosopher. I used her name for my very first MUSH character, ever.
  4. Zenzizenzizenzic: The eighth power of a number, and just totally fun to say, though less so to type. (A corruption of the Italian censo de censo.) No longer actually used as a word, excepts in lists like this one.
  5. Zephyr: A light refreshing wind, or gentle breeze. I love wind, and I love that different types of wind have names.
  6. Zest: Not the soap, though I remember bars of it in my grandparents’ bathroom when I was a kid. (I liked Ivory better, back then, because of the floating.) I like zest in it’s culinary sense – the outer rind of citrus before you reach the pith – it’s where the color and oils live – and for it’s use as a synonym for “enthusiasm” and “vigor.”
  7. Zingers: Witty, stinging remarks, or frightening Hostess snack cakes, either will do. In the latter, I’m partial to the pink ones (I think they’re supposed to be raspberry?) with coconut.
  8. Zinnias: One of my favorite kinds of flowers, they’re so colorful and vibrant.
  9. Zither: I have a thing for unconventional musical instruments. The zither is one of them – you play it sort of the same way you play a dulcimer (the kind you pluck/strum, not the kind you hammer.)
  10. Ziti: While the word specifically refers to the noodles, which are like overgrown macaroni, or really big penne, to me it also means the dish “baked ziti” which has long been a family favorite. I should make some. Maybe for Thanksgiving.
  11. Zippers: I had a pair of zipper earrings, I’ve had zippered shoes, and I love that my current every-day purse (a messenger bag from an import store) zippers beneath the flap. Zippers are just incredibly useful things.
  12. Zoetrope: Wiktionary says, “An optical toy, in which figures made to revolve on the inside of a cylinder, and viewed through slits in its circumference, appear like a single figure passing through a series of natural motions as if animated or mechanically moved.” You know the spinning gray structure on the old Mr. Rogers show? Technically it was a sort of zoetrope.
  13. Zoo: When zoos are well done, you don’t feel like the animals are imprisoned as much as honestly protected and cared for. The Fort Worth Zoo is my current favorite, because you can get really close to the animals, and never feel like you’re looking through a fence.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

21 thoughts on “Thursday 13: 0711.15

  1. Pingback: Frothing » MissMeliss: Escribition

  2. Ok, I’m a math teacher and I had never heard of zenzizenzizenzic before! How strange. I’m still not quite sure how to pronounce it though. I’m sure it’s something my students would love to know (and probably remember more than they remember some of the actual math LOL!)

  3. We are going to the zoo to see the zebras tomorrow. I love z words. Yet why can my son say zoo, zebra, zoom, yet he say Yaxby’s instead of Zaxby’s?

    Hmmmm….

  4. Oh, I love the Fort Worth Zoo too! Much better than Dallas.

    I also love zabaglione. It’s impossible for anything with mascarpone to taste bad!

  5. I love your letter list and this week what I loved most was the fact that I’ve played and writng Zenobia as a vampire character so had done a great deal of research about her. It was great to find her name out in random cyberspace. :)

    Happy TT

    ~X

  6. That was fun!
    Terrific Thursday Thirteen!
    My TT is posted.
    Have a wonderful day!
    Happy TT’ing!
    *^_^
    (=’:’=)
    (“)_ (“)Š
    Raggedy

Comments are closed.