The Lexicographer's Rules

"It's a cheap hobby, and it keeps me from falling into the company of frolicsome women."

—New York Times. Researcher and librarian George Thompson of New York University, on why he spends hours each week poring over old newspapers.'

"Nicknamed El Toro, Valenzuela first ambled to the mound like some possessed vision endowed with superior gifts. The nearly unhittable left-hander was only 20, the youngest player in the National League. He was stocky, shaggy-haired, didn't speak English. He was the seventh son, the youngest of a dozen children, reared in the Mexican hinterlands of Etchohuaquila in a home without electricity or running water. He combined the country grit of a Ring Lardner protagonist and the otherworldly aura of a Garcia Marquez creation. This was a character sprinkled with magic dust."

—Los Angeles Times. The arrival and massive fame of Fernando Valenzuela foretold the ascendancy of Latinos in Los Angeles.

"A lot of recent immigrants are hired by gang members who train them as front-line street dealers. We literally get guys with no shoes, Mexican money in their pocket and 100 bucks on them. They tell them that it's easy money and there's hardly any police around."

—Los Angeles Daily News. Since 1997, a task force made of the Los Angeles Police Department, city attorneys and building inspectors has caused 900 evictions and closed 200 "drug houses" citywide, 35 percent of which were in the San Fernando Valley.'

"Simple fishermen became millionaires overnight. People were pouring into the local nightclubs and showering themselves with bottles of beer. In time, it corrupted the town at its most basic level. And today, the biggest impact of all this cocaine is a new sense of insecurity."

—Los Angeles Times. A year ago, residents of the town of Grand-Goave, Haiti, where unemployment nears 100 percent, overpowered a boat off-loading 8,400 pounds of cocaine, confiscated it, and turned it into their source of income. Now, because of incidents like this, not even the drug traffickers want to work in Haiti, and these sudden windfalls have left permanent social and economic wounds. "Any of the townsfolk who scored a bag or two sold some of the drugs and bought weapons to protect the rest. With sudden disposable income, there was a new market for prostitution, and the local radio commentators say local girls as young as 12 entered the trade."'

"I was restless, rushing about Beijing, chasing big money, scolding myself and blaming mistakes on others. To my great regret and dismay, during all of the sleepless weeks to come, I would come so very close to grabbing a million U.S. dollars, yet would be kept a fingertip away. How come? Because I got inside the gate of first opportunity late, because I picked two wrong stocks based on others' opinions, and because the trading house used a computer system that responded too slowly."

—Archipelago. China's tacit endorsement of capitalism means thrilling boom-times for Chinese investors. "It is fate that does not permit you to win those million dollars. That money is destined not to be yours. ItŐs all determined by your past, your current psyche, your characteristics, your capability of operating stocks, your attitude toward winning and losing. And right now, please be very careful not to overreact to this hot market, you could be badly burned. So calm down, remain in your usual position as an ordinary citizen, and try again when the next chance comes."'