Cross Words, At a Loss For Words...OH LOOK! A CONTEST!

I started doing crossword puzzles!

Yah, yippee-kai-yay for you, right?

I never could before, somehow.  But we get the local paper at work and I started looking the puzzle over as I munched my PB&J a few weeks ago, and I got one here, one there, three more over yonder in the bottom corner.  I feel smart!


Except I have started to *forget* words.  Words I have known for years.  Odd words. Weird words. Arcane, archaic, trivial, esoteric words that have crowded my brain for yeeeaaars.  Remember the map of my brain? Left side: Trivia, Right side: Jingles, That's All, Folks

GingerMan informed me I share this condition with none other than Homer Simpson.

Clue: "Slippery"
Me: "---------"
Dictionary: "Greasy, Oily, Slick, etc etc etc...."
Me:  "--------"

Which brings me to last week's existential quandry concerning Knowledge of the Universe*.  GingerMan toddled off to Boy's Night last saturday so I popped down to Recycle Books in Campbell and cleaned up their Science section  quite a bit.  Some of which I actually owned myownself till they ended up a donation box I didn't look all the way through. Derp.  Supporting Local Business, Non?

Bought  back my book on Paul Erdos, a buncha Richard (saaawoooooon) Feynman books and a couple by Brian Greene (Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Universe).  And this one called:

"the book of nothing"

Like the Hitchhiker's Guide, it just seemed non-threatening, welcoming, even.

Vacuums, voids, the origins of the universe.  I've got two outta three nailed, right here in my little coconut.

*Mine= Notalot.

Speaking of which, ONE WEEK LEFT TO ENTER THE CONTEST!!!

Okay, people.  At the tender age of 38, I finally understood a physics experiment because someone inserted a little extra clause in once sentence which illuminated Everything.  Think about what you cook, think about what you WANT to cook, but getting through the instructions and to the practical it seems like something vital  is....missing!

Is it an incomplete description? A technique poorly explained?  Something about a recipe that just doesn't make sense yet?  Unburden your heart here and I, your Joy of Cooking Fairy, will attempt to Enlighten Us All!  Rules and Entry in the Comments here: Missing Piece Meets the Big OOOOOHHH!!!  Prize is your very own Joy of Cooking! Pin It Now!