e·nu·mer·a·tion | əˌno͞oməˈrāSH(ə)n | noun

1

: the action of mentioning a number of things one by one : also, the action of establishing the number of something (Oxford)

: the act or process of making or stating a list of things one after another : also, the list itself (Merriam-Webster)

: a neat way to assign names to numbers (r/csharp, Reddit)

2

: ethical hacking : a method of extracting a system’s valid usernames, machine names, share names, directory names, and other information (EC Council Cybersecurity Exchange)

: list of all entities of a certain kind, in a flat view (Microsoft)

: process of actively gathering detailed information about a target system or network, including usernames, passwords, open ports, services, and network infrastructure (Google AI)

: process used by both security professionals and attackers alike to establish a collective knowledge of the target and its assets to find the weak points that exist based on the information gathered. (CovertSwarm)

Historical Context

Did you know that the first known use of the word, “enumeration,” dates back to 1551? Thank you, Merriam-Webster, for the fun fact!

Since then, it’s been used to describe a fictional event that takes place much, much earlier with remarkable accuracy. In a translation of Homer’s Iliad by William Cullen Bryan and published by the hard work and dedication of volunteers for Standard Ebooks, the word “enumeration” appears in an editorial summary to accurately describe a defense strategy that appears in the epic poem:

“Catalogue of the troops and ships — Enumeration of the Trojan forces.”

Both lists are essentially catalogues but they describe opposite ends of the offense-defense spectrum. (One could argue “Who is the enemy?” in the Iliad, but that’s a discussion for another post). In this context, “Catalogue” is used to describe a list of allied ships and “enumeration” is used to describe a list of enemies. The enemies are the Trojans – or are they?

Modern Context

In our modern day world, malicious attackers use enumeration to extract data in their exploits. When used ethically, enumeration can be used in reverse as a cyber defense strategy to protect yourself from data leaks and scammers.

Do you want to know how to protect yourself? Let’s connect on LinkedIn! In my latest post, I share tips on how you can better protect yourself from fraudulent job listings.

Don’t forget to update your software to protect against any “Trojan horse” viruses! See what I did there? ☺️

sam · ple | noun, verb, adjective

sam · ple | noun

1
: a representative part or a single item from a larger whole or group especially when presented for inspection or shown as evidence of quality (Merriam-Webster)
:a small amount of something that shows you what the rest is or should be like (Cambridge)
: a small amount of something that is given to people to try (Britannica)

Example:
This website serves as a sample of my writing.

2
: a finite part of a statistical population whose properties are studied to gain information about the whole (Merriam-Webster)
: The term sample refers to a smaller, manageable version of a larger group. It is a subset containing the characteristics of a larger population. Samples are used in statistical testing when population sizes are too large to include all possible members or observations. A sample should represent the population as a whole and not reflect any bias toward a specific attribute. (Investopedia)
: a group of people or things that are taken from a larger group and studied, tested, or questioned to get information (Britannica)

3
: an excerpt from a recording (such as a popular song by another performer) that is used in a musical composition, recording, or performance (Merriam-Webster)
: a small part of a song that has been recorded and used to make a new piece of music (Cambridge)
: a small part of a recording (such as a song) that is used in another performer’s recording (Britannica)

Examples:
i. Doechii’s “Anxiety” includes a sample from Gotye’s “Somebody I Used to Know.
ii. Gotye’s “Somebody I Used to Know” includes samples from Luiz Bonfá instrumental number, “Seville,” from 1967; “Milla piccolo cagnetto,” an Italian song by Luciano Silighini Garagnani; and the popular English nursery rhyme “Baa Baa Black Sheep.”

sam · ple | verb

1
: to take a sample of or from, especially: to judge the quality of by a sample : synonym: TEST (Merriam-Webster)

2
: to use a segment of (recorded music, sounds, or dialogue from another source) as part of one’s own musical composition or recording (Merriam-Webster)
: to use a small part of (a recording, such as a song) in another recording (Britannica)

Examples:
i. Snap! sampled (stole?) a rap by New Jersey MC Chill Rob G in “Power.”
ii. Snap! also sampled the beat of “Rhythm of a Dancer” from “Automan,” by Newcleus.
iii. Bastille sampled “Rhythm is a Dancer” and Corona’s “Rhythm of the Night” as a mashup in their single “Of the Night.”

3
: to experience a place or an activity, often for the first time. (Cambridge)

sam · ple | adjective

1
: serving as an illustration or example, as in “sample questions.” (Merriam-Webster)
: to use as an example of something (Britannica)

Samples Within A Sample: Listening to Doechii’s New Music Video for “Anxiety” | essay

Doechii recently released her new music video for “Anxiety.” Even if you are sick of hearing the chorus sampled again and again on TikTok and Instagram reels, I encourage you to watch the music video.

In the opening, the artist is shown dancing by herself and typing on a keyboard or synthesizer in her bedroom. We hear a xylophone tune that echoes the song, “Somebody I Used to Know” by Gotye, playing on loop, and the tune leads Doechii to begin her lyrics. At several points within the music video, Doechii walks by two actors who resemble Gotye and Kimbra in body paint standing in front of a painted wall, echoing the original music video.

Justin Curto describes the scene for Vulture, “[Doechii] is in a house filled with chaos in the visual, with strangers busting through her windows and a fire in the kitchen. So the two nearly nude body-painted people against the wall are far from the strangest sight here. No, they’re not actually Gotye and Kimbra, a rep for Doechii confirmed — just two actors honoring the ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ video.”

If you, like me, only heard “Anxiety” through reels, you may be surprised to see that the artist sampled Gotye’s 2011 hit, a beautiful song that also became overplayed and spiraled into a similar popular culture fate of more people hearing before listening to it. In 2012, “Somebody That I Used to Know” became inescapable; when you walked into any commercial establishment, drug store, and grocery store, you heard it playing on the overhead stereo. The song reached Top 10 in more than 30 countries.

“While Gotye sings about the pain of losing a romantic partner in his smash hit, Doechii instead raps about the struggles she faces from constant worrying,” writes Joann Jeffrey for Today. Still I can’t help but ask was the sample made in homage to the 2011 hit or as criticism?

Just as Doechii samples Gotye, Gotye’s song was also derived through samples. Gotye sampled from Luiz Bonfá (Brazilian guitarist, 1922-2001) instrumental number, “Seville,” from 1967 and “Milla piccolo cagnetto,” an Italian song by Luciano Silighini Garagnani. As written on the Wikipedia page, the incendiary opening tune on xylophone included another, more familiar tune: “blended Latin and African rhythms over a xylophone melody based on the popular lullaby tune, ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep.’” That is where things get interesting – and controversial.

If you go way back, you will find that “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep,” an English nursery rhyme, dates back to the 18th Century. Beginning in 1986, culture critics began reporting a controversy over the nursery rhyme’s language, suggesting that “black” was used as a racial term. Does that criticism play into the sampling?

Looking at the history of this song, then turning back to Doechii’s “Anxiety” music video, it brings up more questions. Could the new song by Doechii, the Grammy-winning singer, rapper, and songwriter, and its sampling of “Somebody That I Used to Know” and visual representation in the music video be more criticism than homage? If so, it may serve as a warning to artists to do their research on the history and cultural criticism notions of a work before sampling.

Or it’s simply to honor all of the original works of art that reveal themselves within “Anxiety” like opening Russian nesting dolls.

As in the 4th definition of the verb form of “sample” from Cambridge Dictionary, we learn that to sample can mean “to experience a place or an activity, often for the first time.”

In this definition, artists sampling from other artists allow new audiences to experience the original works that are referenced in their own way.

As a writer, I am constantly looking up the definitions of words that I use. Even when I know what a word means, I will still look up the definitions and usages in the dictionary. It is a best practice. The thought of misusing a word like “sample” that is used in more than three different parts of speech is enough to give me, well, anxiety.

vol·​a·​til·​i·​ty | noun

: the quality or state of being volatile (adj | characterized by or subject to rapid or unexpected change)

Use cases:

1.
: a tendency to change quickly and unpredictably.
Example: For an example of price volatility, look at the peformance of equities in the US stock market today. Actually, maybe don’t look at the stock market today.

2.
: a tendency to erupt in violence or anger.
Example is hidden. (Hint: White Lotus Season 3 – no spoilers!)

3.
: the quality of being readily vaporizable at a fairly low temperature.
Example: the “false spring” weather in New York City.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) | investment metric

: a common metric used to measure the expected volatility of the S&P 500. In this case, volatility refers to how quickly the markets move and more volatile stocks imply a greater degree of risk and potential losses. (Source: Investopedia)

Image: a sticker of my face layered over the chart, VIX Futures in Panic Zone: Volatility readings hit levels last seen during August spike, available on Bloomberg. My hand points toward the spike in the reading today that appears to be similar in height to the spikes from August 2024 and March 2020.

Yeah, so, uhh, anyways, if you carry any equities in your investment portfolio, you may want to keep a careful watch on the market and the tariff news cycle this week. Remember “volatility” does not necessarily mean “panic” at its core definition, but it can (and often will) lead to panic.

Here’s NY times with the latest.

Disclaimer: The information contained within this post is made for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not to be taken as financial or investment advice. You should not construe any such information or material herein as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Consult with a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. As a starting point, give the customer service line of your brokerage company a call.

gläs | noun

1

: any of various amorphous materials formed from a melt by cooling to rigidity without crystallization.

: an usually transparent or translucent material consisting typically of a mixture of silicates.

: a material (such as obsidian) produced by fast cooling of magma.

2

: something made of glass, such as a tumblr, mirror, mason jar, hourglass, glassware, depression glass, barometer…

: an optical instrument or device that has one or more lenses and is designed to aid in the viewing of objects not readily seen; examples (used in plural sense) include field glasses, binoculars.

3

glasses plural : a device used to correct defects of vision or to protect the eyes that consists typically of a pair of glass or plastic lenses and the frame by which they are held in place; this is also referred to as spectacles, eyeglasses.

Example:
“Nice glasses! Are they new?”
“Thank you – yes! Oh, you reminded me that I still need to claim it as a deduction on my FSA.”

4

: the quantity held by a glass container.

Idiom: Is the glass half-full or half-empty?

Variation:

de·​pres·​sion glasses / Noun

: tinted glassware machine-produced during the 1930s.

Musing:
You know the real economic indicator that a recession is coming is measured by the amount of mason jars that you collect. May subsitute for Chinaware or depression glass.

TODAY YOU GET 2 POEMS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!

“What’s the Catch?” (A poem)

It was always my dream to run a small business. I wanted to run a storefront centrally located downtown.

When you run a storefront, you never know who’s going to walk through the front doors. You never know who you may meet and what conversations you may have, or how they may move you. When you run a storefront, you never know what kind of day you’re going to have. Every morning, 30 minutes before Google Maps advertises your opening hours, you roll down the gate, unlock the door, and set up the cash till.

There may some days when you don’t open till 1 minute prior to your opening time. The trains gave you trouble. You barely slept. You have a migraine. You decide it will be better to count inventory on the following day and you wait behind the register, clutching your coffee, still wearing your gloves, and pray that customers will wait 20 minutes before walking through the doors. You also pray that you will have customers.

I realize this isn’t everyone’s dreams, but I like surprises. I like my day to change every day.

You have to be ready for the unexpected at any time of the day. You practice reframing techniques in your head. It is OK if you are not awake yet. You can make an innocent joke about needing more caffeine. Sometimes it is in our most vulnerable moments when we can most connect with others. Drink your coffee. You have to be ready for any business at any moment.

If I were to run a storefront, what would I sell?

At your store, you sell an exorbitant array of rhetorical devices. Some devices are new, some are vintage, and some are for sale. All of them are rhetorical. You run the first store that offers rhetorical devices on display and for sale. Your first customer of the day walks in and comments on the sandwich sign that you had set up outside the storefront: “’Today our fish of the day is the red herring.’ What do you mean by that and can I get the red herring?”

—————-

red her·ring

/ˌred ˈheriNG/

1

: a fact, idea, or subject that takes people’s attention away from the central point being considered.

: something that takes attention away from a more important subject.

: a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading.

2

: common response to debunk or deny any new theory in pop cultural discourse channels regarding the HBO Max show The White Lotus. Maybe it’s a red herring.

3

: a type of silvery fish that turns red when dried and smoked; an important source of food in many cultures.

: go fish.

re·​pub·​lic | noun, place | ri-ˈpə-blik

1

: a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president

: a political unit (such as a nation) having such a form of government

: a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law

: a political unit (such as a nation) having such a form of government

2

: a body of persons freely engaged in a specified activity

3

: a constituent political and territorial unit of the former nations of Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, or Yugoslavia

4

: a city in Ferry Country, Washington with a population of 1,155 according to the 2020 census.

: HOME

de·​fense | noun | di-fen(t)s

as antonym of “offense” often

: the act or action of defending

law : a defending party or group (as in a court of law)

: the denial, answer, or plea of one against whom a criminal or civil action is brought

: the collected facts and method adopted by a defendant to protect and defend against a plaintiff’s action

: an argument in support or justification

sports : a defensive team

: ability to keep an opponent from scoring in a game or contest

: means or method of defending or protecting oneself, one’s team, or another

chess : a sequence of moves available to the second player in the opening

government : the military and industrial aggregate that authorizes and supervises arms production, as in “defense contract”

“Defense companies get the bulk of their revenue from one customer — the U.S. government. Fortunately, that customer has deep pockets and a long history of paying its bills. The federal government’s stability gives defense companies and investors some predictability when it comes to managing cash and projecting growth.” (Whiteman, The Motley Fool)

“The United States led the ranking of countries with highest military spending in 2022, with 877 billion U.S. dollars dedicated to the military.” (Dyvik, Statista)

“Aside from the callousness of casually discussing the financial benefits of far-off armed conflict, the comments raise questions about whether these major institutional shareholders of weapons stocks are abiding by their own human rights policies.” (Clifton, The Guardian)

“The US Government supplies foreign aid, to include military equipment, however it sees fit to help its own interests. All other world powers do the same and have done the same throughout history.” (some guy on the internet)

Is defense really the opposite of offense?

Definitions taken and remixed from Merriam-Webster.

uh-huh | interjection, particle | ˈəⁿ-(ˌ)həⁿ | repeated and separated by the voiceless sound

1

: interjection used to indicate affirmation, agreement, or gratification. (Merriam-Webster)
: particle imitative of non-verbal sounds used to indicate agreement or to allow the speaker to continue talking : YES, YEAH (Wikipedia)

2

: interjection, utterance or processing response that is used while hearing someone else speak.

3

: sound uttered by Logan Roy and other characters from Succession when they hear new information and use it to pivot a large business decision. That’s my theory, but there are others. When you look at the many conflicting submissions to define “uh uh” on Urban Dictionary, you start to see how this soft-sounding interjection can sound volatile in different contexts.

In a world where the people are so emotionally stunted and warped by a grasping need for power, a single “uh-huh” can reveal far more than a thousand words could.

(Source: Vice i-D)

Tell me what you think.

“Call” can be used as a verb or a noun. We’re going to focus on the verb. Towards the end, I’m going to provide you with a single definition and example for the noun form.

call |ˈkȯl 
intransitive verb

1
: to speak in a loud distinct voice so as to be heard at a distance : SHOUT
: to make a request or demand
: of an animal : to utter a characteristic note or cry
: to speak to or attempt to reach someone by means of a call with up
: to make a demand in card games (as for a particular card or for a show of hands)

2
: to make a brief visit

transitive verb

1
: to utter in a loud distinct voice —often used with out, as in “call out”
: to announce or read loudly or authoritatively
: to announce the play-by-play of (a sports event, such as a football game)
: to command or request to come or be present

UNICEF calls for an immediate humanitarian pause and safe access to scale and sustain lifesaving services for children. (Read full press release)

: to cause to come : BRING
: to summon to a particular activity, employment, or office
: to invite or command to meet : CONVOKE

International Rescue Committee: Too often, violators of international humanitarian law face no consequences. The IRC is calling for an end to an era in which laws intended to protect civilians are seen as optional. We have also called for more support for humanitarian workers who need to reach the most vulnerable people in crisis areas but are hindered by parties to a conflict. In his essay for Time, Miliband advocated for the General Assembly of the United Nations to establish an independent panel to monitor humanitarian access in Ukraine. (Read full press release)

: to rouse from sleep or summon to get up
: to give the order for : bring into action

Do you want to call : bring into action? Call congress and urge them to stop the United States military funding to Israel which is fueling the genocide and to open a safe passage for humanitarian aid into Gaza.

: to manage by giving the signals or orders
: to make a demand in bridge for (a card or suit)
: to require (a player) to show the hand in poker by making an equal bet
: to challenge to make good on a statement
: to charge with or censure for an offense
: to attract (game) by imitating the characteristic cry
: to halt (something, such as a baseball game) because of unsuitable conditions
: to rule on the status of (a pitched ball, a player’s action, etc.)
: to give the calls for (a square dance) —often used with off
: to demand payment of especially by formal notice
: to demand presentation of (something, such as a bond or option) for redemption
: to speak to or attempt to reach (someone) by means of a call (see CALL entry 2 sense
: to generate signals for (a telephone number) in order to reach the party to whom the number is assigned

As in, I opened up my laptop on a Saturday to submit my timecard. Upon connnecting ot the VPN, I noticed that I missed a call on Friday at 5:50PM. I told a friend about this. And her response was, facetiously, "Call 911."

2
: to speak of or address by a specified name : give a name to
: to regard or characterize as of a certain kind : CONSIDER
: to estimate or consider for purposes of an estimate or for convenience
: to describe correctly in advance of or without knowledge of the event : PREDICT
: to name or specify in advance

noun

: an act of calling with the voice.

As a writer, I want to write through all my communications, but I try to recognize that written communications aren’t always the best way to connect, and I can’t get too comfortable with emails and other text-based communications. It can be difficult to convey tone in text. It can be difficult to convey and listen to emotions in text. Sometimes when words start to feel too complex, I think of a time when I was training in a business development role. I shadowed a coworker who, upon receiving an email, he said, “We’re going to give them a call.”

I probably would have replied to the email, but I learned through calling you can learn even more from the other side, and it’s more effective at taking action.

Let’s give congress a call.

Representative Nydia M. Velasquez needs to clear their office voicemail box.

bar·​gain | ˈbär-gain

(verb)

There is also a noun version, but we’re specifically going to look at the definitions in verb form.

intransitive verb

: to negotiate over the terms of a purchase, agreement, or contract : HAGGLE

: to come to terms : AGREE

transitive verb

: to bring to a desired level by bargaining

: to sell or dispose of by bargaining — often used with away

in transit verb

: a development or stage in the grieving process and is typically referred to as the third stage in the 5 Stages of Grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance). During the Bargaining stage, the negotation process happens internally and introvertly. This is where you may begin to question who you are, what you want, and your environment or reality. Nothing good can come out of Bargaining except the motion of going through it; at least Anger and Depression can be used as sources of fuel. When in Bargaining, you come to terms.

: negotiation process for labor rights, commonly found in unions. See: Collective Bargaining. There is a fear to bargaining in this context, as workers will risk their jobs and livelihoods to band together to bring salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers’ compensation to a desired level.

in summary

bar·​gain

“. . . often used with away.”