Nirvana

So there is this category of Wikipedia pages called Disambiguation.  These pages are available to help save us all from humiliating ourselves by mistaking adductor canals for adductor muscles or Addison the city in South Dakota for Addison the character from Grey's Anatomy. I discovered, while browsing, an intriguing list of ambiguous numbers (0-0-0, 2/135, 17 Days), a page for Russia disambiguation (with no items listed), and a list of disambiguation pages in need of cleanup (swing, four to the floor, American). 

The reason I came across this WikiCult of disambiguety was... well, at a party last week an Indian friend told me his family was Jain(ist?). I thought that was funny because my teaching partner's name is Jane. So I looked it up to see just what a religion with her name might promote. Nirvana apparently. But being as multi-faceted a word as Nirvana is, there was neccessary disambiguifying. It technically can mean...

A Spanish pop song.

The state of being free from both suffering and the cycle of birth. 

A grunge band from Seattle, WA. 

The Pali word meaning "blowing out" the fires of greed, hate, delusion.

Formerly a genus of butterflies. Now a genus of leafhoppers.

The title of an Italian science fiction movie.

And the most relevant award goes to... The Outer Plane of Dungeons and Dragons.

From the Mouths of Bed-Wetters

Ok, so I teach first grade. Perhaps I am partial to the wisdom that comes from 6 year-olds. Not to mention the kick-ass hilarious things they say. (I.E. when i found two male students wrestling on the playground and asked them what they were doing and they announced giggling that they were bouncing their balls against each other. Seriously? Seriously.) (Or, i.e., when practicing sh- words a girl student wrote these sentences: I told my brother to shut up and he did. My dad yelled shit when he lost his shoes.) So when my mom showed me an assignment in which first graders finished the beginnings of old proverbs with their own thoughtful conclusions, I couldn't get enough. I've selected a few zingers. 

It's always darkerst before...

Daylight Savings Time.

Never underestimate the power of... 

termites.

A miss is as good as a... 

mister.

You can lead a horse to water but...

how?

Don't bite the hand that... 

looks dirty.

An idle mind is... 

the best way to relax.

A penny saved is...

not much.

Don't put off till tomorrow what...

you put on to go to bed.

Laugh and the whole world laughs at you, cry and...

you have to blow your nose.

If at first you don't succeed...

get new batteries.

You only get out of something what you...

see in the picture on the box.

A bird in the hand... 

is going to poop on you.

Children should be seen and not... 

spanked or grounded.

BEST OF ALL

Better late than...

pregnant.

So, in conclusion, my proverb is "If you don't have enough joy in your life, laugh at children."