the important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men

August 9: rectify

If you really want to rectify that situation, I recommend less meaningless talk and more (and more frequent) donuts.

August 10: harbinger

I want to believe in fate and signs, but one person's undisputed harbinger seems to be another's coincidence; how will I know for certain?

August 11: assiduous

My service provider is assiduous about adherence to some rules, but totally lax about the ones that she 'knows' are 'not important'.

August 12: permeable

I've been pleased to discover the degree to which my hair remains permeable to the new 'natural' color line that my stylist now uses.

August 13: cracker-barrel        [seriously?!]

The acquaintance's house is done up in a cracker-barrel style, and it was all I could do not to wince at the thought of living amidst that clutter.

    I read something tonight that was both thoughtful and timely. It's a sort of 'graduation speech' for English majors, but it applies to 'real life', as well:

You don't have to get a job that makes others feel comfortable about what they perceive as your success. You don't have to explain what you plan to do with your life. You don't have to justify your education by demonstrating its financial rewards. You don't have to maintain an impeccable credit score. Anyone who expects you to do any of those things has no sense of history or economics or science or the arts. 

You have to pay your electric bill. You have to be kind. You have to give it all you got. You have to find people who love you truly and love them back with the same truth. But that's all.

[Cheryl Strayed, from Tiny Beautiful Things; the title quotation is by George Eliot.]