One of my favorite book passages

[Nanci]

Saturday, April 12, 2003, is a sunny, sixty-eight-degree, perfectly calm day for the second annual Hillsboro-Roubaix here in Hillsboro, Illinois, a tiny brick-streeted town northeast of St. Louis. I'm lined up for the start, wearing my Team MACK racing uniform, red and white and pale blue. My legs are shaved, used Nair, actually, just last night I did it. My haircut's a buzz under the helmet, and my bicycle's unsurpassed by any bike here, my Litespeed Tuscany, Dura-Ace, Mavic Ksyrium SSL wheels. I spent an hour last night polishing it and lubing it, and it's gleaming, people. It's a noble steed, and anybody here who knows anything about bikes, which is like everybody here, knows that my bike is an extremely high-end piece of machinery.

In brief, I look like a poseur. An old guy with a five-thousand-dollar bike and access to a bottle of Nair. Oh well. But if you want to buy a high-end bike and get into road racing, this is something you're going to have to get over, you're gonna look like a poseur, but that's not something to be ashamed of. You can't stop participating in a sport because there are professional-level people who can obliterate you at it. A sport is about a lifestyle, about health and fitness and happiness, and you want to try hard, of course, you want to do your best, but you'll have to accept that other people's best will
frequently be better than yours.

Mike Magnuson, Heft On Wheels

[kjay]

I had to look up the word and not even sure I understand it now. If you look at the definitions here, you'll see why.


http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=poseur

[Nanci]

So, is Urban Dictionary a sort of do-it-yourself dictionary, where if you don't_quite_ agree with the definition, you add one yourself, in your own terms? :-)

Nanci

[kjay]

Kind of looks that way, doesn't it? It's a neat word, and I now actually prefer it to the usual English word.

[Nanci]

Here's a wine I've had, looks like the French spelling.

http://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/wine/view/119

From my tasting notes: Deep purple color, nose is blackberry, not very fruity, taste is tannic, old bones, big chalky tones, blood, rust.

Sounds appetizing, huh?

Nanci

[Grog]

Poseur is literally "someone who strikes a pose", as if for a photograph. Just for shows...

Pousseur is "someone who pushes". It wouldn't sound like an enticing name for a wine for me!!! Glad you enjoyed it Nanci!