22 March 2013

desiderata

[dih-sid-uh-rey-tuh, -rah-, -zid-]

plural noun, singular de·sid·er·a·tum.

– things wanted or needed;

the plural of desideratum: “Happily-ever-after” and “eternal love” appear to be the desiderata of the current generation; to whom “fat chance” say those of us who are older, wiser, and more curmudgeonly.

Synonyms: essentials, necessities, requisites, sine qua nons.

Today’s aphorism

The surest path to success is to learn to have a healthy relationship with failure. If we aren’t failing, then we aren’t doing anything interesting.

– Kristen Lamb

On this day

22 March 1418 – death (?) of Nicholas Flamel, French alchemist who purportedly made it his life’s work to decode a mysterious book, known as Book of Abramelin the Mage. Some believe he decoded the recipe for the Philosopher’s Stone, which could turn base metals into silver and gold, and that he also had the ‘elixir of life’ which reputedly made him and his wife immortal. It’s been claimed that he was seen at least 3 times after his death, which led to rumour that he had produced the elixir of life. He has been immortalised in numerous books and movies, including ‘Harry Potter‘ by J.K. Rowling, and the ‘Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel‘ series by Michael Scott. Born 28 September 1330.