Monkey's Dad's definitions

transcendent beauty

An exceedingly rare quality, possessed by very few women, illuminated from within. Most of the world's celebrated beauties do not have it and cannot acquire it, as shown by their age-driven pursuit of cosmetic surgery, and the tragically self-erasing results. For a woman so blessed, it is simply a gift, immune to the passage of time.

She appeared to be ageless, radiant with transcendent beauty. Wherever they found themselves, she was the most beautiful woman in the room, not by degree but entirely in a class of her own. Strangers, both men and women, stared, sometimes approaching to comment. It was more than her exquisite proportions and facial symmetry. Paired with those things, it came from an inner quality of goodness. The man beside her was sometimes told that he was transcendentally lucky, which he knew to be true.

by Monkey's Dad December 5, 2023

Urban Legend

In the near future, a fantastical story told by parents to children of what the word 'city' meant.

They sat at six-foot intervals to hear their favorite Urban Legend. They knew it was not real, yet it entertained them to imagine people walking the streets, crowding together to eat and drink and listen to music, where 'school' was a building kids went to, together.

by Monkey's Dad March 23, 2020

minimal

Any mammal which has been shrunken by careful breeding, for maximum cuteness and portability.

"Why is that Guinea Pig on a leash?" she wondered, before coming close enough to see that it was a full-grown, two-pound minimal, the smallest dog she had ever seen. She had to have one.

by Monkey's Dad March 16, 2020

WE CAN BREATHE

The collective exhalation of relief following the guilty verdicts in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. Floyd's last words, I can't breathe, had become the mantra of injustice in a country where police killings of unarmed Black men are routine and have gone largely unpunished.

As the three verdicts were read - guilty - guilty - guilty - millions of Americans, across the spectrum of race, ethnicity and economic status, suddenly felt WE CAN BREATHE.

by Monkey's Dad April 21, 2021

deranged loser

An expression of the utmost dignity and grace, not to be mistaken for projection when used to characterize a perceived enemy.

“I don’t know what Kellyanne did to her deranged loser of a husband,” the president tweeted, “but it must have been really bad.”

by Monkey's Dad July 12, 2020

Simultemporal

The nature of time as being simultaneous rather than sequential or linear. The experience of living time all at once, of past and future being equally present and equidistant.

The simultemporal experience was transformative, providing clarification of issues as diverse as the questions of free will and destiny, and the nature of death.

by Monkey's Dad September 18, 2019

longing distance

The space, literal and emotional, between yourself and another person, hoping for their safety and well-being, wishing you could be together when you are inescapably separated during the pandemic.

Unable to help in any way, hoping each day that she would remain well, wishing he could simply be where she was, the longing distance was at times unbearable.

by Monkey's Dad April 4, 2020