Mongering things (a comprehensive list of monger words)

English is a growing language with many quirks and niches.  For example, "-monger" as a suffix is way more common than most might expect.  Below is a list of -monger words that you are free to use in everyday speech and writing (if you have the opportunity).  I've purposefully listed them out of order to encourage a slow and bemused perusing rather than the experience of a cold dictionary.  However, definitions below are provided reference-only and should not be considered as authoritative.

Note that I'll be adding to this list over time.  Also, if you found a monger word that is not on this list, please comment below.  

·    bookmonger - bookseller

·    cheesemonger - seller of cheese

·    lawmonger - one who practices of law

·    wondermonger - exploitor of strange or freakish things

·    noisemonger - performer of noisy music

·    doommonger - prophesier of doom

·    panicmonger - spreader of panic

·    lovemonger - advocator of love; also fancymonger

·    starmonger - astrologer

·    ironmonger - seller of tools or the storage thereof; also toolmonger

·    eirmonger - seller of eggs

·    beermonger - seller of beer

·    questionmonger - asker of many questions

·    fruitmonger - seller of fruit

·    troublemonger - maker of trouble

·    woolmonger - seller of wool

·    hatemonger - pusher of hate against a person or group of people

·    balladmonger - composer of ballads

·    wordmonger -speaker or writer who communicates pretentiously

·    scandalmonger - spreader of gossip; also gossipmonger or newsmonger or sleazemonger or charactermonger

·    prayermonger - one who prayers without true devotion

·    gospelmonger - peddler of holy gospel

·    smutmonger - publisher of a tabloid or other sensationalized news; also sensationmonger

·    loanmonger - dealer of loans

·    fashionmonger - booster of fashion

·    racemonger - inciter of racial and ethnic tensions

·    cockmonger - procurer of cocks

·    peacemonger - one who is strictly pacifist

·    alemonger - seller of ale

·    whoremonger - enjoyer of whores

·    hypemonger - one who hypes something

·    carpetmonger - dealer of carpets

·    boroughmonger - trader of parliamentary seats of boroughs

·    woomonger - pusher of pseudoscientific practices and information

·    costermonger - seller of goods from a cart or stall in the streets; also costardmonger

·    woodmonger - seller of wood

·    phrasemonger - speaker of phrases that were coined by others

·    scaremonger - spreader of fear-based rumors

·    barbermonger - a vain poser

·    rumormonger - spreader of rumors

·    haymonger - dealer of hay

·    miraclemonger - one who pretends to create miracles

·    fellmonger - dealer of animal hides

·    versemonger - writer of verses

·    statemonger - one who is well-versed in politics

·    profitmonger - exhibitor of greed; also moneymonger

·    relicmonger - dealer of religious relics

·    meritmonger - one who depends on merit from good deeds in order to earn salvation; also secondary use of workmonger

·    rulemonger - one who is insistent that rules must be followed

·    questmonger - one who engages in frivolous litigation

·    powermonger - irresponsible wielder of power

·    placemonger - trafficker of appointments to places

·    lightmonger - installer of light fixtures

·    deathmonger - murderer of many people; also killmonger

·    pussymonger - pimp; also fleshmonger or muttonmonger

·    filthmonger - purveyor of obscenities

·    dramamonger - provoker of dramatic situations

·    warmonger - advocator for war; see sciencemonger for secondary use

·    systemmonger - one who indulges in the construction of systems

·    poisonmonger - peddler of poison

·    winemonger - seller of wine

·    fishmonger - seller of fish

·    mealmonger - seller of meals

·    diseasemonger - one who tries convince healthy or slightly ill people that their usually mild ailment urgently needs drug treatment

·    fearmonger - spreader of fear, or an alarmist

·    charitymonger - contributor of large sums of money to charities

·    spellmonger - caster of spells, or practitioner of magic; also magicmonger

·    cornmonger - dealer of grain

·    storymonger - teller of stories

·    opportunitymonger - opportunist, often seeking immediate action

·    pearmonger - seller of pears

·    wealthmonger - one who is rich

·    knowledgemonger - seeker or purveyor of knowledge for betterment

·    artmonger - artist, dealer or promoter of art

·    ideamonger - dealer of ideas

·    disastermonger - warner of foreseeable disaster

·    commoditymonger - merchant

·    firemonger - starter of fires

·    bribemonger - taker of bribes

·    treasuremonger - seeker of treasure

·    carnagemonger - creator of carnage

·    dreammonger - purveyor of hope; also hopemonger; or supernatural seller of actual dreams

·    healthmonger - promoter of healthy eating and life-style

·    superstitionmonger - purveyor of superstition

·    fortunemonger - promoter of fortune

·    historymonger - historian

·    spacemonger - optimizer of storage space

·    informationmonger - collector of information

·    pleasuremonger - seeker of pleasure

·    spymonger - one who spies or engages in spycraft

·    lifemonger - controller of lifeforce as a magical ability

·    speechmonger - expounder of arguments in support of an ideology

·    peltmonger - dealer of pelts

·    seafoodmonger - seller of seafood

·    soulmonger - trapper of souls

·    slavemonger - trader of slaves

·    weaponmonger - dealer or collector of weapons

·    churchmonger - proselytizer of a given church, congregation or faith, often in a pushy manner; similar to cultmonger or sectmonger or religionmonger (see sciencemonger for secondary use of religionmonger)

·    dealmonger - haggler or negotiator 

·    coalmonger - dealer of coal

·    sexmonger - promoter or engager of promiscuous sex

·    thoughtmonger - thinker of many thoughts

·    contractmonger - negotiator of contracts

·    crimemonger - writer of crime stories

·    drugmonger - trafficker of drugs

·    educationmonger - strict adherent to fact-based education

·    energymonger - something that consumes energy in a non-green manner

·    musicmonger - seller of music

·    propertymonger - investor in real estate

·    weathermonger - meteorologist; or controller of weather by means of magic

·    sciencemonger - gamer within a 4X game who focuses on acquiring scientific discoveries for a science-based victory; also technologymonger; similar to secondary use of religionmonger (religion-based victory), warmonger (conquest-based victory), and also culturemonger (culture-based victory)

·    secretmonger - dealer of secrets

·    timemonger - controller of time and alternate realities

·    workmonger - one who works excessively; see meritmonger above for secondary meaning

·    pillmonger - practitioner of medicine; or a dealer of illegal drugs

Golf is two minigames thrown together

Deep thought of the day: Golf is basically two marginally related minigames thrown together. A bit like if football required a round of Lawn Bowling once the ball enters the goal area.

Planetary Entanglement

For some reason, I sometimes dream about the movement of planets on which I walk. I've had several dreams about sudden shifts in gravity as bodies move closer to each other, such as the moon drifting rapidly towards Earth.

Last night, I had another such dream, but in the context of it being a common event, of sorts. I was working my job, preparing and completing tasks, engaging with co-workers in the office, all the while being aware that a planetary collision was imminent. The planet upon which I stood was similar to Earth, even with modern North American buildings and civilization. It seemed far less populated than Earth. The planet was in a close orbit around a giant brown gas giant. Somehow, another smaller gas giant was also in a similar orbit around the same brown gas giant.

This set up a situation in which the terrestrial planet was on a path to collide with the smaller gas giant. This fact was well-known to everyone on the planet, so perhaps that's why the planet's population was sparse. Even those at work seemed sparse. We all knew about the collision. But, this fact didn't seem to faze those who remained. The evacuation was coming, but to me, it seemed like the egress should have happened already, not in the future.

At some point, I went on a drive (I don't recall the vehicle I used, but it moved very quickly and I don't remember the roads once outside the city). I saw the closeness of the smaller gas giant and realized I was already experiencing a subtle shift in gravity. There also seemed to be weather effects starting to happen. The brown gas giant filled the western sky with half the planet above the horizon. The smaller gas giant was fully visible in the northern and western sky, in front of the brown gas giant. The star was north and east.

Once I saw the weather and felt the gravitational effects, I decided it was time to leave. The dream ends with me back in the office and packing up. A co-worker came by. She asked if I was ready for the meeting that was about to start. I didn't respond. I just kept preparing to get off-world quickly.

Wild Raspberries

'Midst verdant New Hampshire groves,

Midsummer rambles begin,

Paths dappled with sunbeams in droves,

Thru valleys and over crest therein.

Beneath the boughs, a shaded trail,

Respite from day's warm gleam,

Where birds chirp, squirrels flit and hail,

A hushed wonderland, a dream.

A crimson glint amidst the thorns,

Bramble with hidden treasure,

Sweet raspberries, ruddy adorn,

Luring with their vibrant pleasure.

Fragrance wafts upon the breeze,

Drawing with an urging thrill,

As if by magic they appease,

Beckoning call to nature's will.

Berries gleam, a ruby hue,

So plump, ripe, and tempting,

Flavors tart, sweet, and true,

Nature's gift, pure and uplifting.

Nectar of the sun, they hold,

Jewels on the verdant earth,

A bounty to be savored bold,

A moment of unbridled mirth.

With each indulgent, blissful bite,

Their sweetness floods my senses true,

And in this fleeting moment's light,

I am one with nature anew.

A fleeting visitor, am I,

In this wild, enchanting space,

Yet memory of the berry's lure,

Lingers long, a smile on my face.

----

I worked with ChatGPT 3.5 to write this poem.  Though most of these words and phrases aren't directly mine, the key phrases are directly from me; with most of elements being prompted by me in one way or another.  The poem isn't a masterpiece, but it's not bad either.  The creative role I performed was actually in the interaction with the chatbot trying to work though its abilities and limitations to get a modestly good result.  

The first chatbot version of this poem was passable, but not good.  In several iterations, the chatbot "forgot" the topic of the poem and focused on some secondary detail.  I had to redirect the chatbot several times.  I was moderately impressed with how well the chatbot handled minor edits, though it made unrequested changes to unaffected portions of the poem almost every time, so I had to review each iteration to revert unintended edits.  Of course, the process took a couple of hours.  

I could've written something better than this in the same amount of time on my own.  I might try this experiment again with different prompt.

BTW, the image above is from Stable Diffusion.

Remote thought control

The following is a poem I asked Google Nest Bard to write.  Prompt was an 8 stanza poem about the virtues of remote thought control.  Though not the stature of Vogon poetry, it's not going to win any awards for quality.

Remote thought control, a virtue,

Can help you focus on the future.

It can help you stay calm and collected,

Even when you're feeling hectic.

Remote thought control, a power,

Can help you reach your goals.

It can help you make the right decisions,

Even when you're feeling indecisive.

Remote thought control, a gift,

Can help you live a better life.

It can help you be the best version of yourself,

Even when you're feeling stressed.

Remote thought control, a skill,

Can be learned and mastered.

It can be used for good or evil,

The choice is yours.