Tuesday, April 30, 2013

A to Z Challenge 2013: Z - Zephyr

Zephyr

zeph·yr [zefər] n. 1. A gentle, mild breeze. 2. (often capitalized) Literary. The west wind.

Synonyms: breeze, gentle wind, air

Etymology: mid-14c., from Old English Zefferus, from Latin Zephyrus, from Greek Zephyros "the west wind" (sometimes personified as a god), probably related to zophos "the west, the dark region, darkness, gloom." Sense of "mild breeze" is c.1600.

And with that, the challenge has ended. May your pride at surviving such a feat blow you like a gentle breeze through the rest of the months of the year (pun not intended, but hilarious).

There are a few bloggers, in particular, I would to thank for the incredible efforts they pour into this labor of love.

Arlee Bird. Founding father, fearless leader, intrepid blogger. Lee dreamed up the April A to Z challenge, and it is to him and him alone that all of us owe our deepest gratitude. I would probably know hundreds, if not thousands, less bloggers than I know today if it were not for Lee.

Alex J. Cavanaugh. Ninja. Captain (Pirate?). Friend. Alex is the master of the linky list, and I'm pretty sure he does about 4 times as much work as any other co-host. He is the grease that keeps the challenge running.

Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]. Designer. Entrepreneur. Editor. I probably owe Jeremy more than anyone, personally. Jeremy designs all the graphics for the challenge, and while it might have been my little idea to use an original graphic for each letter, it was Jeremy who did all the work to make them (and who therefore owns the copyright). It was due solely to his efforts that my posts looked so good (assuming you thought they'd looked good, if you didn't then Jeremy's to blame).

30 comments:

Theresa Milstein said...

Congrats on making it to the end. Now have a rest!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on completing the challenge, a pleasure to visit.

Yvonne.

Sally said...

We all deserve a pat on the back for finishing the challenge.

Rick Daley said...

I have long harbored a very wrong impression of what that word meant...

Dani said...

This reminds me of a Zeppelin. Don't know why, maybe it's cause they seem to just drift (blow) in the wind. And they both begin with "zep". *shrugs*
Loved learning new words this year!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Thank, Matthew!
Yes, without Lee, none of this would've ever happened.
And Jeremy's graphics just rocked, from the Challenge blocks to the Minions badges.
Aren't you glad you took the plunge as a co-host?

Steve MC said...

Well done, Captain Zefferus!

Natalie Aguirre said...

A big congrats on finishing!

Unknown said...

Thank you for introducing me to new words that have made me appear smarter than I am for the month of April. LOL.

Gillian Morris said...

Happy Last Day!

Jeremy [Retro] said...

oh... my! thank you so much it has been an honor to be on this great team of great solid, but fun team... it's another year I count as a success. thank you for everything!

orneryswife said...

I love how you share both credit and blame. :) It was a delightful time blogging each day and meeting so many fun new bloggers. I will certainly plan on joining next year!
tm

Old Kitty said...

It's a great word - sounds ever so romantic and keeps me thinking of some gorgeous Arab prince on his gorgeous horse on some gorgeous sand dune with the gorgeous sun just setting...!

LOL! take care
x

farawayeyes said...

Ha. May be always have a kind zephyr at your back.

cleemckenzie said...

And now what will we do with all this time? Proud to be among such a hardy group of bloggers. No quitters here!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Congratulations for finishing and hosting and all that dude.

Jay Noel said...

Thanks for co-hosting. It was awesome being your minion.

My friend in college had a car called a Zephyr. It was all right angles, and it was the party-mobile. That is, until some jackwagon hit him. Car was a total loss.

I still have a picture of it and put it up on Facebook. I think my buddy got a little teary-eyed seeing his old Zephyr.

Andrew Leon said...

I like the word zephyr, but it may be party due to Magic.

Naomi Rose Designs said...

Zephyr...makes me think of sails full of wind, and the sun on my husbands face.

Unknown said...

I love the word zephyr - it is pretty and exotic, and takes effort to say it. Congratulations for completing the A to Z Challenge. I may be ready to sleeeee zzzzzzzzzzzz ;)

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I survived the A to Z and being a co-host. Wasn't sure that was going to happen.

Nick Wilford said...

A nice gentle word to finish!

Congrats to you and the whole A-Z team for their amazing work. This was a blast.

mshatch said...

Being a fantasy author, I knew that Zephyr was the name of the west wind. Plus it's a Red Hot Chile Peppers song (The Zephyr Song) I happen to like :)

Joe Lunievicz said...

And so you end beautifully on a mild, gentle breeze. Thanks for getting me involved in the A-Z.

Unknown said...

I love the words that you have shared with us through this challenge. I love this word, but have never used it in my writing.....food for thought.

Jules
A Dose of Jules

Kristen said...

I've always loved that word! Congrats on finishing the challenge!

#atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

Tammy Theriault said...

i imagine this challenge was not a "breeze" by any means!!

Arlee Bird said...

Thank you so much, Matthew, for the kind words, but even more for the great help you've been as part of the A to Z Team.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Tina said...

It's been a WILD ride. I second all the kudos to our amazing co-workers! Glad to have worked with you again - thanks for ALL your help troubleshooting and just in general for being there and holding down the fort while some of us were drowning in personal life issues. You were a solid rock.
Tina @ Life is Good

Tina said...

P.S That was a great pun...
~T