The Kate's Meow

Humanities

2011-10-14T17:25:00.000-04:00

I posted this on Facebook, but thought it would be worth sharing here.

Have you noticed that the world seems to believe that a humanities degree is worthless? This is frustrating for those of us who have these degrees and whose interests and passions lie in the humanities. While an English major may not directly prepare you for the increasingly high-tech, math- & science-heavy workforce, it does help you develop an open and flexible mind. It also fosters creativity and critical thinking skills. In the last couple of decades, these traits have become less important in the work world, but it's a mistake to discount them. ("Big mistake. Big. Huge!")
Is having read the works of Shakespeare, Dante, Dickens, Twain, Sophocles, or Poe going to help you in our society? Does the ability to write a strong essay or a beautiful poem, or understand Beethoven's music, or paint a breathtaking sunset get you anywhere economically or employment-wise? Does knowing the origins of sayings like "sword of Damocles" or "Catch-22" make us valuable employees? No. But it's still worth reading, writing, making/listening to music, and painting. In the end, these are what make life worth living, not your income, employment status, or what bank you use. It's frustrating not to earn enough to live off of, not to be able to afford your medicine, to feel oppressed by the people who seem to control our world; however, none of that should make us try to change our fundamental interests or desires. Let's not lose who we are just because society tells us what our interests or desires should be. These are a big part of who we are as individuals, and it's tragic to degrade that because there's more money in technology than in knowing classical mythology and being able to quote Austen.

I'm an English major, and I'm proud of it.

10 Years

2011-09-11T14:43:00.000-04:00

Dear Terrorists,

You haven’t won. 10 years ago today, you tried to break the American Spirit. You thought that, by taking the lives of our loved ones and knocking down buildings, you could beat us. You thought that you could destroy our hope, our ideals, and our faith. You thought that you could win by killing American people and demolishing American symbols.

You were wrong. You didn’t break our spirit; you made us stronger. You made us mourn people we loved, but in mourning we discovered how much love we still have. You forced us to see our landscape swept of some of our landmarks, but we realized that we don’t need those landmarks to be Americans. You showed us your hope, ideals, and faith—your desire to force yourself on others; your inability to thrive without destruction—and that showed us that our hope, ideals, and faith are not knockable. You thought you won. You didn’t win.

Instead, you showed us how to persevere through tragedy, how to turn to neighbors and countrymen to give and receive support, how to mourn but carry on. You showed us how strong we really are. For every life you took that day, we have rebuilt lives. For every stone you knocked down, we have shored up our emotional monuments: the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; the ideals of freedom and brotherhood; the strength of spirit and hope that will never desert us.

So, terrorists, remember this: You haven’t won. You will never win. And we will never forget the lessons you have taught us.

And on that note, I forgive you. Not on behalf of the whole nation, and not for your sake. I forgive you for what you did to me that day, and for my own sake; in forgiving you, I free myself to continue living. In forgiving you, I remove from you any speck of victory you had over me. I release the hold you may have had on my heart. In forgiving you, you lose, I win.

Sincerely,

An American

Punctuation: A Matter of Life and Death

2011-07-01T21:12:00.001-04:00

I know that language evolves over time. I know that means that things like spelling and punctuation change. But sometimes, it's really just easier if we follow the rules. I would like to present the following evidence that punctuation can be a matter of life and death:

Exibhit A:
A panda walks into a cafe, sits down, and orders a sandwich and a drink. After he finishes his meal, he stands up, pulls out a gun, and shoots the waiter. The manager shouts, "Hey! Why did you just shoot my waiter?!" The panda tosses him a poorly-punctuated wildlife manual and says, "I'm a panda. Look it up." So the manager opens the book to panda and reads: "Panda: a bear-like mammal from Asia with distinctive black-and-white markings. Eats, shoots, and leaves." **

Exhibit B:
Look at the difference between these two sentences:

"It's time to eat, Grandma!"

and:

"It's time to eat Grandma!"

You see? Punctuation makes a difference.

**If you think this joke is funny, read Lynn Truss's book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves". It's an entertaining spin on a punctuation book.

Hide and Seek: Cat Antics

2011-06-12T13:02:00.000-04:00

First, I have to confess that I'm cross-posting this from Cat Lady Kate (which, by the way, you should check out if you haven't already. I'm using that site not only to enable my cat lady-ness, but to raise money. Just click on the ads or the Amazon links). Anyway, here are some Hide and Seek stories you might enjoy:

One morning recently, I woke up to see Seek dangling from the door frame in my bedroom. Just hanging there, holding on with his front claws. Why? No idea. My guess is that he was chasing a bug, but still! That was pretty silly.

Another recent Seek story: I woke up (hmm. There seems to be a trend of Seek waking me up...) to a funny noise. Seek had knocked a box of tissues to the floor and was pulling them, one by one, out of the box. Maybe he had a runny nose?

Hide gets into plenty of trouble, too. He recently figured out how to open the front door of my apartment. It's a sliding door, so he just lies on his side, grabs the bottom corner, and pulls. This usually isn't a problem, because the door is locked. BUT, if I leave it unlocked while I run to my car to get something, or if I don't lock it the instant I'm inside when I get home, he's out. I also think he's onto the lock--I've seen him staring intently up at it--but hasn't figured out how to work it without thumbs yet. I was leaving for work one day recently and discovered that the deadbolt thingy was turned just a bit from vertical. Did I not lock it all the way, or did my cat figure out how to unlock it? You decide. (Fortunately, he wasn't able to unlock it all the way!)

Like all cats, Hide and Seek like to climb. They especially like to jump up onto the fridge and, from there, onto the kitchen cabinets. They particularly like chasing bugs up there. I'm worried that they'll knock over my liquor bottles one of these days! (Now that would be a real tragedy!)

Where does the time go?

2011-06-03T12:04:00.000-04:00

Well, my goodness! It's already June! How did that happen? The year is slipping by.

My current exploits: I'm teaching an ESL class at NOVA. It's a low-level reading/writing course. Our first class was Thursday, 6/2. I'm excited to work with these students! I'm also publishing a new blog: Cat Lady Kate. It's for cat lovers, and it deals with all things cat-related. I've included ads & links to Amazon on that blog; I'm hoping to earn some money to donate to animal rescue organizations & other animal welfare causes. So when you stop by Cat Lady Kate, please click on the ads! There's also a Cat Lady Kate facebook group. Please join!

I'm still reading a lot. No surprise there! I recently posted a recommended reading list on The Book Junkie and the Book Junkie FB page. In addition to book reviews & book lists, I'm hosting two drawings on the FB page. Once we hit 100 "likes," I'm going to do a random drawing. One winner will get to choose a book for me to read & review. Another winner will get a Book Junkie bookmark. (The bookmarks are pretty cool! I have a lot of experience with bookmarks, and know what makes the just-about-perfect bookmark. Mine are designed to fit that criterion.) I also plan to (eventually) offer bookmarks & other book paraphernalia for sale. A portion of the sales will be donated to literacy projects. I'll let everyone know when that's up and running!

In addition to that stuff, I'm putting together a collection of stories & poems that I'll be publishing as an e-book available for Kindle & Kindle apps. That should happen pretty soon! Once that's done, I plan to get back to focusing on my novel. I may post excerpts of the book as I make progress; we'll see how that goes.

What's new in your life?

Definition

2011-04-05T06:57:00.000-04:00

I’ve had an eventful life. But that doesn’t define me. When I was 11, I was told that I’m diabetic. A few months later, I had a stroke. I missed a lot of school. I was in a wheelchair, and I had lots of physical therapy. I’ve had surgery to correct problems with my leg. I’ve had car accidents. I’ve had horrible jobs. I’ve also had wonderful jobs, and I’ve had amazing opportunities. I have a wonderful family & awesome friends.

And none of those things define me. I am not “the girl who had a stroke.” I’m not “the girl in the wheelchair.” I’m not “a diabetic.” I’m not “that kid who went to Germany.” Nor am I “a woman with a degree” or “the lady who drives a PT Cruiser.” I’m not defined by those things; those events, those experiences, or those possessions.

What does define me? I am a teacher. I am a Christian. I'm a nature lover. I'm an animal lover. A book lover. A music lover. A writer. A singer. A cook. A moderate. A volunteer. I love thunder storms, coloring books, poems, stories, crosswords, taking naps, blowing bubbles, and chocolate. I love to give my cats catnip, then play laser tag with them. I laugh. I love my family, my friends, my students, my pets. I love to loll in bed and daydream. It makes me want to cry when I see how much time we spend hating each other rather than helping each other. I give money to beggars when I can. I smile at strangers I pass on the street.

I don’t bother with makeup or styling my hair. I say it’s because I’m lazy and I’d rather have the extra two minutes in bed than take the time to fuss. That’s part of it, of course. Really, though, it’s that I won’t let it define me. My appearance doesn’t identify me. I feel artificial if I spend too much time fussing. What I look like doesn’t define me; what I know defines me.

I might stay up until the wee hours reading. Or grading papers. Or planning lessons. Or finding activities to engage my students and make them enjoy learning. I might take a nap to make up for lost sleep. I might go to bed early. I am innately cheerful, even when I’m sad. This defines me.

I love Dr. Seuss, Harry Potter, Nora Roberts, and Robert Frost. I am a rebel who wears mis-matching socks. I lived in England, and I loved it. I love flowers and trees and mountains. I seek opportunities to learn and experience. I am not the girl who had a stroke 19 years ago; I am the girl who was too stubborn and too defiant to let it defeat or define her. I am not, God damn it, defined by the events in my life.

What I choose defines me. How I spend my time. My thoughts. My loves. The time I spend playing with my cats, planning lessons, searching for answers, and praying. My sense of wonder when I look at the sky defines me. These things all define me.

I define me.

For my students

2011-03-30T09:18:00.000-04:00

Writing: It's not just for college

2011-03-30T01:34:00.000-04:00

This one goes out to my College Writing 2 students. "I Love You Period" by Dan Baird:

I love the fact that he makes something nerdy (being a good writer) into something cool (which being a good writer already was, but how many of us really think like that?). Let's face it--if you can't punctuate your love letters, how far do you think you'll get in life? Okay, so the song is still full of geek, but it's a fun example of why we should care about punctuation ;)

Here's a song with an opposite take on punctuation: "Oxford Comma" by Vampire Weekend

"Oxford Comma" points out the ridiculosity (it's a word. I may have just made it up, but it's a word) of how uptight we tend to be about language. (The English teacher in me needs to remind everyone that, while language changes and we need to be flexible, PUNCTUATION IS STILL IMPORTANT! Remember those love letters from the first song?)

Now, one we've all experienced: "Writer's Block" by Just Jack (a fun Brit-Hip Hop take on the curse we all know).

See? Even rappers know what it's like.

And here's the ultimate song for writers. From the Beatles:

Writing. It's hip.

Hands, Explanations, and Wile E. Coyote

2011-03-25T01:30:00.000-04:00

Can you tell I've become obsessed with slam poetry?

Here's some Def Poetry. I really like the way this young woman presents herself. It's a cool topic, and she talks about it honestly, beautifully, ironically, and makes it cooler.

And here's part of why slam poetry is so awesome (warning: this one is almost 15 minutes. It's selections of poetry interspersed with commentary):

National Poetry Slam Director's Cut

And here's some nostalgic poetry for us Loony Toons fans:

Yeah, I know, it makes a point about addiction. But really, it's about Wile E.

More Poetry Slamming

2011-03-22T23:23:00.000-04:00

This one is about being pretty. I love it!

What I love about poetry slams: the intense philosophy crammed into just a few minutes.

And speaking of poetry slams, there's a restaurant/bookstore/fair trade market in DC called Busboys and Poets. I've never been there, but after seeing several videos of poetry slammers recently, I looked into local events, and found this place. They host a monthly poetry slam on the second Friday of every month. I'm going to go and check one out next month. They also have weekly open mic nights, which should be pretty cool.

Who wants to start going to poetry slams with me?

Why We Teach

2011-03-22T23:04:00.000-04:00

This is a poetry slam performance, so don't be shocked by this guy's vehemence!

He sums up why teachers teach in a 3-minute performance. Pretty impressive.

Long time, no write!

2011-02-22T02:57:00.002-05:00

It's been a long time, but I'm finally back! (Cue groans and boos) The last eight months have been good, but very busy.

August and September were filled with pet sitting. I spent a lot of time taking care of some lovely kitties (other than Hide and Seek)! I also had Jane's birthday, Jane's homecoming anniversary, Mom's birthday, and a novel that I've started writing. I got some writing done during August & September, but that fell off dramatically after...

A trip to the ICU in September. I had an insulin pump malfunction (which was partly user error!) that caused me to go into DKA. I wasn't getting enough insulin, so my blood sugar went high, I started barfing, etc. When I talked to my endocrinologist, he said to get to the ER--so I did! They got me stabilized, but I had to spend three days in the ICU while they fixed the issues with my blood sugar, insulin and various chemicals the body needs (there was something with potassium and phosphorus). It turns out (I discovered at the end of my hospital stay when we were trying to figure out what caused the DKA) that there was a tiny kink in the tubing of my insulin pump (hidden beneath the little plastic disk where it enters the body, so I didn't see it when I looked for problems), which meant that I wasn't getting the insulin my body needed. Well, lesson learned! I now know to check ALL parts of the tubing. Immediately after my Insulin Adventure, life got really cool when...

In October, I started a new job. I'm now teaching at Westwood College! I teach College Writing and Reading courses. After teaching at NOVA last summer, I discovered that A) I'm good at teaching and B) I love it. I got an email from Westwood in September in response to my Craigslist resume. I interviewed with Amanda, and got the job. Westwood is a career college that focuses on helping students succeed in the world of work. It takes three years to get a Bachelor's degree. There are five 9- to 10-week terms per year, which allows students to get through the curriculum more quickly than a two semester per year program. The work is interesting and challenging; many of our students come from school systems that don't do a good job teaching the basics, so we give them those foundational tools to build on to.

I'm now in my second term at Westwood, and I still love it. I'm an adjunct professor, which means that I'm essentially part-time. I'm hoping/praying that this will turn into a full-time position. Being a full faculty member would be a dream come true.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to for the past eight months.

Teaching and petsitting and weddings, oh my!

2010-07-29T12:04:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy few months, and as we all know, time flies. (I would like to point out that time flies whether you're having fun or not. Which is not to say that I haven't been having fun, but time would be flying regardless.) Anyway, Summer's here--almost over, in fact--and I've been a busy bee.

Starting in mid-May, I taught an ESL class at NVCC. It was Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 9:00-12:00. After class, I'd go straight to my full time job at PRD. It made for long days, but I LOVED my class, and it was totally worth it. The class was an advanced reading class, so I was teaching academic reading skills, vocab, and general college reading stuff. We went through two text books and a novel in 8 weeks. I felt sorry for my students, because they had so much to keep up with! The novel we read was Ernest Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying, which is one of the most beautiful & moving stories ever. Anyway, I had a lot of fun teaching. Class ended on July 12.

On July 3, I had a Very Important Event--Kara's wedding! It was beautiful, and a TON of fun. The weeks leading up to the wedding were busy, not surprisingly. One of the highlights was our trip to Doukenie Winery on the Tuesday before the wedding. It's a really nice place, and the wine was excellent (this is from me, a non-wine drinker). As bachelorette parties go, I have to say, this was a winner! It was a great day.

After the wedding, we had a small family gathering on the 4th. After the recent Big Events, it was quite lovely to have some quieter time. The evening of the fourth, I started a couple of pet sitting jobs (I pet sit through a pet sitting agency) that went through the next week. The week after that, I was on staycation, but had two additional pet sitting jobs to keep me from being too lazy. I've had pet sitting gigs consistently through the whole month of July (and it should keep going into August). Whew!

Now that life is slowing down a little bit (maybe), I've started some behind-the-scenes volunteering for Homeward Trails (that's the organization that Rachel & I fostered through when we roomed together. Rachel still fosters dogs with them). HT works with several shelters in the area, including King William County's Regional Animal Shelter. What I'm doing is reposting animals from RAS's petfinder listings to HT's petfinder listings (and then posting on Craigslist) to get the animals more exposure--and hopefully help them find fosters or adopters. It's a bit heartbreaking to see all of the homeless, helpless, abused, abandoned, etc. animals out there (and to know that many of them won't make it out of the shelter), but knowing that I might help a few of them makes it totally worth it. And frankly, it's easy. I just have to go to the library (or Starbucks, if I have my laptop with me), go online, and essentially copy & paste info. I hope I make a difference in some animals' lives!

So, that's me. What's new with everyone else?

Imagine...

2010-04-26T10:58:00.001-04:00

This is from Sara and Brian Brandsmeier's blog, Ephphatha Poetry, originally from Tim Wise. It's incredibly thoughtful, not to mention thought-provoking. It's also very true. I believe whole-heartedly in freedom of speech, as well as the other freedoms protected in the First Amendment, but I also believe in respect, tolerance, and love. The behaviors that Wise addresses in this essay, while protected under the First, fall short of respecting, tolerating, and loving our fellow humans.

But isn't it great that we live in a culture where we can protest, say offensive and objectionable things, disrespect others--and call each other out on that behavior? I can't approve of saying or doing these things (I can, however, approve of protesting against them!), but thank God that we have that right.

Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black

Seek the Fashionisto

2010-03-23T09:52:00.000-04:00

Seek likes climbing in my closet. It turns out, he also likes "helping" me fold laundry.

Or maybe he just puts up with me folding laundry on "his" bed.

Continuing Kitten Antics

2010-03-22T11:33:00.000-04:00

Not surprisingly, Hide and Seek are still silly, energetic, and curious. The result is sometimes...hmm. Interesting may be the word.

Exhibit 1: I have a dangly mousie that hooks over the door on my bedroom door. The cats go crazy for it. On the other side of the door, I have my ironing board on a door-hook-thing. One morning recently, I woke up to a thunderous noise. Thinking the house was falling down around me, I jumped up to investigate. It turns out that Hide had managed to bat the mousie over the door. The cacophony was the sound of him climbing the ironing board to retrieve his toy.

Exhibit 2: Turns out, Seek likes clothes. If I open my closet door for more than a millisecond, both cats take advantage and go in to play (their names are appropriate, after all). Last week, I discovered Seek standing on my clothes. No, not on a pile of clothes on the floor or a shelf. ON THE CLOTHES ON HANGERS. I don't know how he got there or why he thought it was a good idea, but he's done it several times, so it must be fun.

Exhibit 3: They also, not surprisingly, like to jump up on the kitchen cabinets, where they can look down on me from their superior position. Typically, they jump to the counter next to the fridge (the only counter area they're allowed to be!), then up on top of the fridge, then to the cabinets. Okay, not abnormal, right? What is surprising is that, if I have the freezer door open, Hide will jump from the floor into the freezer. That's right, he jumps straight up about four feet into the FREEZER. Why? My only guess is that he likes surprising me.

That's all for now. I'm sure I'll have more ridiculous cat stories in days to come.

What is normal, anyway?

2010-03-22T10:43:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned a few months ago, I started a new medication in December. It's made a remarkable difference. I feel...well...normal. Of course I still have moods, but the ups and downs aren't months-long, and they don't control me. I can be sad without it taking over my brain, and I can be happy without worrying about when it will end. How weird is that?

Another note about depression: one of the problems is that it can make you feel helpless and controlled by the condition. What I've discovered is that, in addition to therapy and medication, taking any concrete step makes a huge difference. Rather than wallowing, I just get up and clean the sink, or exercise for 10 minutes, or sweep the floor, or cook dinner. A small step makes a big difference! I guess Nike knows what they're talking about--just do it.

The Book Junkie

2010-03-05T11:31:00.001-05:00

I have a secret: I spent a bunch of time working on an exciting (to me, at least) project. I didn't tell anyone about it, because I didn't want any pressure or discouragement from anyone who might have thought I couldn't do it or that it wasn't a worthwhile use of my time.

So here it is: The Book Junkie! The Book Junkie is a website devoted to books--book reviews, book lists, book resources, book recommendations, etc. For anyone like me, who's addicted to books, I think it will be a lot of fun. In addition to my reviews, I've included several ways to interact with me/the site, including a discussion forum, where readers can critique my reviews. You can also follow the Book Junkie on Facebook (Yup! I set up a Facebook fan page) and on Twitter.

I'm very happy and excited to have completed the first stages of establishing my site--and even more excited at the prospect of keeping it up and running! I've found a way to do something practical with my love of reading and writing. Who'd have thunk it?

Updating the Fight

2010-01-14T11:02:00.000-05:00

I wrote a couple of months ago about part of my experience with depression. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to talk with my family, my therapist, and my doctor. It turns out that my up-and-down cycles are not, in fact, normal. I can hear the well, duhs now. Of course it’s not normal, Kate. The thing is, it’s been so much better since I started on my antidepressant a few years ago that I assumed it was as good as it could get. My lows weren’t as low as they used to be, and the highs were longer and more stable. Until I talked with Mom, I never realized that I could feel better. That’s a big part of my problem—I don’t know what “normal” feels like, so I don’t have a good comparison for my version of normal. I was content with better.

Well. I talked with my therapist, Abbey (who is fabulous, by the way. If anyone needs a therapist, let me know & I’ll give you her contact info), describing the regular ups and downs. Keep in mind, I’ve been seeing her for about six years now, and I never mentioned this because I never realized that it was abnormal. Anyway, she said that it sounds like more than depression; it might be cyclothymia (mood cycles, essentially). Cyclothymia is actually in the bipolar spectrum, but it’s a very mild form. (And just so you know, I’ve never been suicidal, even though Mayo’s description includes that as part of the symptoms. So please don’t worry that I’m going to up & kill myself. I have way to strong of a guilt complex to ever do that.) So, after visiting my psychiatrist and talking with her, I started taking Lamictal in addition to the Celexa I’ve been taking for years. I’ve been on it for over a month now, and I think it’s making a difference. I still get sad sometimes, and I still get happy, but I don’t feel overwhelmed or controlled by moods—and they’re far less extreme. I feel…well...normal. Oh, and it’s cherry flavored!

Fighting the fight

2009-11-19T15:34:00.005-05:00

I don’t usually do this formally. I share it all the time, but I’ve never put it out there for the whole world to see. I’m hoping that sharing a piece of my story encourages someone.

I have depression. Long-lasting, sometimes intense, and pervasive depression. I go through long periods of being happy with just the faintest underlying depression, and I go through periods of subtle despair. Occasionally, I have stints of out-and-out misery. It’s a battle. I never quite know if I’m winning, but I make it through the day (or sometimes the minute) to face the next, so I don’t think I’m losing. It’s always there, like that annoying house guest that you don’t know how to get rid of.

It started, I’m sure, with my stroke in 1992 (but it might have been my diabetes diagnosis six months earlier. Or possibly a combination of the two). I did therapy while I was recovering from the stroke, plus a brief stint in high school, but I largely ignored it for the next 12 years. In 2004, I finally realized that I had a problem and needed help. I got in touch with a psychotherapist and have been seeing her ever since (that’s going on 6 years, in case you’re counting). 4 years ago, she convinced me to try anti-depressants. I had been resistant to the idea because I felt like it would be one more thing to have to deal with, but at the time I was fighting so hard that I was willing to give it a try. I went to a psychiatrist for the prescription, and have not regretted it. The medicine has made a huge difference. It makes my depression manageable. It never goes away entirely, and I still have bad periods, but they’re livable now. We’ve had to increase my dose a couple of times in the 4 years I’ve been taking it, but it’s worth feeling better. If I had to make the decision again, I would definitely opt to use meds again. I will, I suspect, be on anti-depressants for the rest of my life, and I’m completely okay with that.

Talk therapy and medication make it much better, but they don’t cure it. So how do I manage when I go through rough patches, like now? Well, basically I just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I know that I will come out of it eventually, and life will look brighter. I just survive, and at some point I can get back to thriving. The effects of my depression seem cyclical; I’ll be great for a while, then life will be unhappy for a while. Knowing that a period of great is around the bend helps me get through when I feel awful. On the other hand, even when I feel wonderful, there’s a piece of me that knows that the cycle will take me back to unhappy sometime soon. I try to simply acknowledge it and keep going. I can enjoy the good times even when I know that less-good times are around the corner, because I know that they will give me hope when I get there. And hope is what makes life worth living.

Help Me Adopt Hide and Seek!

2009-11-10T10:07:00.002-05:00

It's official--I'm adopting Hide and Seek! We're very excited. The kittens voiced their approval via extra purring this morning :)

Now I need to raise money to pay the SPCA back for Hide & Seek's vet care, flea & worm treatments, vaccines, etc. Will you help me out? Click on the button below to donate. ALL MONEY GOES TO THE SPCA. I'm not keeping any of it; even if we raise more than the adoption fee, it's still all going to the SPCA.

I need to raise at least $200! Please pass the word around; I can use all the help I can get. Donations are secure (via PayPal); you can use any major credit card. If you'd like to contribute via cash or check, contact me & I'll get you in touch with the SPCA rep.

Hide, Seek, and I all appreciate your help.

For Hide & Seek's fans

2009-11-04T10:07:00.000-05:00

Here are a few videos of Hide and Seek being silly last night. I love the fact that in less than three months, these two have gone from timid, frightened kittens to bold and happy goofballs!

This one's just Seek. He was being very silly last night.

This is another one of just Seek. Right before I took this, he had jumped halfway up the lamp & grabbed the post, then slid down fireman-style!

This one is Hide and Seek playing. My favorite part is the mouse snatch!

When I was playing this back to make sure everything was okay with it, Hide heard me meowing (on the video) and came running.

As you can see (from all three videos), Seek REALLY likes that lamp. I'm glad that my fosters are so silly!

Look how big they're getting!

2009-10-25T22:55:00.000-04:00

Here are couple of recent pictures of Hide and Seek. They're getting so big, it's hard to believe how tiny they were when they first came to live with me!

These first two are of Hide and Seek investigating Gus. I took them about a week ago.

This is one I took just a few minutes ago. The kittens have been rambunctious for the past two days, so it was lovely to capture them in a moment of quiet.

Seriously--check out how big they've gotten!

This video must be from a couple of weeks ago (I can tell by the mess in the background). Hide and Seek are "helping" me work on my laptop, then they're entertaining me by playing with their cat dancer (see here, too. This toy is one of the best things I've gotten for Hide and Seek!).

This video is from tonight. I took it right after the still picture of Hide and Seek snoozing.The quality on this one isn't great, because the kittens are kind of in shadow. Still, you can get an idea of how much they've grown.

If they're this big at six months, I can't wait to see how big they are as adults!

The Adventures of Hide and Seek!

2009-10-14T14:41:00.000-04:00

Hide and Seek went to the vet to be neutered yesterday. As always, they were shy and skittish in the unfamiliar place. The surgery went well, though, and both kittens are fine. When I went to pick them up last night, however, I had to wait a very long time for them to be brought out. Finally, the vet tech came out and explained to me that Seek had tried to make a break for it, and they had to catch him! (In the process, he managed to cause some bleeding, but fortunately there were no stitches for him to rip.)

The vet tech acted like it was abnormal for Seek to have tried to run. My thoughts were more along the lines of "I'm surprised he waited till the end of the day!" Anyway, both kittens are home safe now. They're happy and comfortable, and were uber-affectionate this morning :) I love my kitties!

Book Review: Twenties Girl

2009-10-13T11:37:00.005-04:00

"Twenties Girl" by Sophie Kinsella (author of "Confessions of a Shopaholic," among others), is the story of Lara Lington and her great-aunt Sadie. The catch? Sadie is a ghost, and Lara barely knew her in life. Through Sadie's persistent haunting, Lara gets to know her--and in the process, learns quite a lot about herself.

We first meet Lara at Sadie's funeral. Sadie, 105, passed away recently, and Lara's parents pressure her to go to the funeral. Lara would rather be anywhere but at the boring funeral for an old lady she didn't know. Her desire to be elsewhere increases when she starts hearing a voice no one else can hear. She tries to escape, but Great Aunt Sadie's ghost won't leave her alone. To satisfy Sadie, Lara must stop the funeral in progress. This entails an accusation of murder. The ensuing hysteria is made more comic by Sadie nagging Lara to find Sadie's missing necklace--she won't leave without it.

In the process of searching for the special necklace, Lara learns just what a fascinating person her great aunt was, and learns how she herself wants to live. Sadie teaches Lara about relationships, having fun, and moving on. In the process, she leads Lara to step beyond her boundaries and live life fulfilled. And, this being Chick Lit, she finds The Man for her--who is not at all who she expected!

"Twenties Girl" was a fun and satisfying read. It took me 50 pages to really get into it, but it was worth it. The ending is more sweet than bitter, and I closed the book feeling like it had ended right.

Book Review: An Echo in the Bone

2009-10-13T11:36:00.001-04:00

UPDATED 10/14 (I added & edited a bit)

"An Echo in the Bone" is the seventh book in Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series, which centers around Claire and Jamie Fraser. Set partly at the opening of the American Revolution and partly in Scotland in 1980, "Echo" is a sprawling tale. It has four major plot lines: Jamie and Claire (and Ian), Brianna and Roger, John, and William. All of the characters we've come to love over the years are accounted for (including Rollo the dog), and the book is overall very satisfying. It did leave me wanting more--as it's not the end of the series, there is quite obviously more story to be told. Frustratingly, I'll have to wait for several more years to read the next installment. Books this big do not get written in a month! My main quibble is that there are several loose ends at the end of the book, and it seemed almost like the first part of a book (despite its length) rather than a novel in its entirety. While Gabaldon expects to write additional books to wrap up the series (she has promised that "Echo" is not the last), leaving the story lines dangling made me feel like I hadn't finished. It seemed that there was no denouement to satisfy the reader's need for closure at the end of a story.

Despite my complaints, "Echo" has all the elements of Gabaldon that I've come to love--the historical facts interwoven in the fictional plotline, the fully-fleshed characters (who, frankly, seem very much like real people to me), the details of scenery, action, and day-to-day minutiae of life in the 1700s in the Colonies, and the cameos of real people (in "Echo," we get to meet Ben Franklin and Benedict Arnold, among interesting folks). I did occasionally get frustrated with the multiple stories as I was reading--I would have enjoyed being able to read each plot line straight through. However, by the end of the book, it was clear why so many complicated stories were told within the covers of one book. They really do meld; you just have to be patient and get to the end. And then be patient for the next few years while she writes the next book to tie up the ends she left loose. On reflecting, the lack of denouement emphasizes the story's themes and the characters' struggles; we leave them in the midst of a time of great turmoil in the world--how else could Gabaldon leave the reader other than in turmoil at the anticipation of what's to come next in the series? [I feel a little bit less frustrated now. But I still don't want to wait another three years for the next book!]

All in all, "An Echo in the Bone" was worth reading. I did have to push myself sometimes, and it did take me a couple of weeks to read, but by the time I finished, I was glad that I had. I will clearly have to go back and reread it in a few weeks; at 800 pages, it's not a book I can digest in one reading. For those who, like me, sometimes enjoy a book as meaty as this, "Echo" is a pleasure to read. For those who, like me, are used to waiting for the next book in an exciting series (Harry Potter, anyone? Eragon?), you'll understand my impatience on reaching the end of the book. And perhaps you'll join me.

An Alternate Beginning

2009-10-02T22:45:00.000-04:00

I'm still working on my memoir, believe it or not. In that light, I'd like to share an alternate opening for the story. I'd enjoy anyon'es thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Enjoy!

I had a stroke when I was 11. It sucked, but life goes on no matter how much we'd like to freeze it or rewind it. People say how brave I was or how strong I am. Bull--I had to recover; life kept moving with or without me. And frankly, I didn't realize that "without me" was an option. Believe me, there were plenty of times when--if I had understood more about life--I would have stayed behind.

Anyway, I had a stroke, was in a coma for three weeks, woke up and had to relearn how to walk and talk & all that crap, and it sucked. It really, massively, majorly sucked. BUT, that's not what my story is about. It's more about how completely amazing life is. Even when it sucks.

So yes, being on the respirator, having a voice too soft to be heard, and accepting that my body had to relearn how to do things that my brain still knew was frustrating and all kinds of difficult, but really it all just underscores the fun stuff, and helps me enjoy the really simple things. Being on a respirator was rough? Yes, but taking a deep breath of crisp fall air makes it worth it. Having no voice was frustrating? Yup. And singing my heart out fills me up. Really, having a stroke wasn't all that bad in retrospect, because I can stare up at the sky and enjoy the awe at its expanse; I can watch my kittens play and giggle at their silliness; I can enjoy every small piece of life so thoroughly.

Animal Antics

2009-09-30T18:38:00.004-04:00

As anyone who lives with animals knows, our furry friends make life interesting. (Notice I don’t say “anyone who owns animals”—I’m pretty sure they own us, not the other way around!) Since May, Rachel & I have fostered two puppies, two kittens, and one adult dog. Alice and Alba, our two foster puppies, were both adopted in August. Just before their adoption, I picked up our foster kittens, Hide and Seek. About a week after Alice was adopted, we got Cody, our adult foster dog (who, by the way, was adopted last weekend!). It’s been quite the experience, not least because of the funny animal stories I’ve gotten out of it. Here are a few of the gems I’ve collected.

One evening last week, I was sitting in my bedroom when I heard a tinkling noise out in the hallway. I knew Cody had come upstairs, so I was a trifle unhappy when I heard that. Uh oh. That can’t be good, I thought. However, when I went out to see what sort of discipline might be needed, I discovered that Cody had peed in the litter box! Clearly, he wanted to save Rachel & I the effort of taking him outside before bed.

Later that evening, I was soaking in a bubble bath. Both Hide and Seek love to play in the bathtub, so when they saw me there, they had to investigate. From his perch on the side of the tub, Hide leaned down to sniff the bubbles, then reached out and patted them. After determining that the bubbles were safe, Hide then decided that they were fine to walk on. That’s right—Hide took a full-dunk in the bath! His reaction was instantaneous and hilarious. After springing across the room, Hide spent the next few minutes turning in circles as he tried to figure out where to start cleaning himself off! Poor baby. (It really was pathetic, but I was laughing so hard I didn’t have the chance to comfort him.)

The kittens aren’t just fastidious in their own hygiene. They also like to “help” me clean. I have a rubber sweeper from FlyLady that’s great for getting pet hair, dregs of litter, cat/dog food crumbs, etc. up. Hide and Seek think it’s just the greatest thing when I use it—they consistently bat at it, tackle it, follow it around, and chase it whenever I’m trying to clean. They also like "helping" me make my bed. More to the point, they don’t want me to make the bed without them in it! See the video below for evidence.

Not only are Hide and Seek very tidy kittens; they’re also technologically advanced. Every time I work on my laptop, they make a beeline for the keyboard. After a few minutes of walking around on the keys and batting at the cursor, they curl up on the keyboard. I use this as an excuse to pet them instead of using the computer. In the course of their computer exploits, they have managed to: post Facebook messages and statuses, open documents on my desktop, change document names, play games of solitaire (they’re not very good), and click on links to various websites. My favorite was when one of them clicked on a link that opened an eHarmony ad. My immediate thought was, “are they trying to tell me something?”

My final silly animal story goes back to where I started this: cat litter. If I fill the litter box too full, they (I think Hide is the culprit here) scoop piles of litter out onto the floor. I’ve watched Hide do this. He looked absolutely gleeful as he swatted pawsful of litter out of the box. He would dig vigorously in the litter, watching it fly out of the box. It was clearly one of his favorite games! I've learned my lesson--don't put too much litter in the box.

Hide, Seek, and Cody

2009-09-06T01:52:00.004-04:00

UPDATE: CODY WAS ADOPTED!!! HE'S NOW LIVING IN HIS FOREVER HOME :)

Hide and Seek have a new friend in the house! His name is Cody, and he is a Shepherd-Collie mix (we think). He's about 3 years old, and is as sweet as can be! He arrived Saturday afternoon; he adjusted to his new home with no problems.

Meet Cody, our new roommate!

He isn't phased by the kittens at all (although he's definitely interested in their food!). Hide and Seek have taken a little bit to accept him into their home, but after a few hours, they seem to have gotten over their initial annoyance and warmed up to him. By the end of the evening, they were both out in the living room playing with each other and us humans in full sight of the dog--this is big progress for them :) This is a big step closer to adoptability for both the kittens and for Cody; being accustomed to other animals is a huge plus for foster animals.

Such a good boy!

In other big kitten progress, I had a friend over this afternoon (it was great seeing you, Angela!). Part of the process of getting basically feral kittens to the point of being adoptable is socializing them. Part of socializing them, of course, is having them meet and interact with new people. Hide and Seek did so well! They not only came out to see Angela, but they let her pet them and give them treats. They totally showed off for her! There were some very cute moments--especially some windowsill posing--that were clearly intended to impress their guest.

Seek stretched out in the window, enjoying our admiration.

Hide and Seek enjoying the view of the back yard

Both kittens are at the point that they'll let me pick them up & cuddle them (usually only for a minute or so, but sometimes for long snuggle sessions), and they'll come out to investigate a new person. I'm very proud of the progress these two are making! they've come from timid, terrified kittens who would barely come out from under the couch to bold explorers eager to meet new people and have new adventures. That's a lot of progress for three weeks!

I hope that all three animals will keep up their fabulous progress and find the perfect forever homes they need. :)

Pet Fostering Updates

2009-08-24T21:30:00.006-04:00

Alba went to a new foster home a few weeks ago. We decided that since Alba is pretty shy & timid, and Alice can be hyper (and she was frankly dominating Alba), they would do better separately. Well, Alba is doing fabulously at her new foster home! She seems to be happy and perky, and she can run around and have a wonderful time with the horses at her new place. Alice is also doing really well; she's calmed down a lot and is being better behaved :)

My other big news on the foster front is that I now have two foster kittens! A couple weeks ago, Kara got an email from a coworker (from another teacher in a different school) about these two kittens who needed a good home. I jumped at the chance, and Rachel agreed that we could take them in. I went to pick them up on Friday, August 14 after work. When I met them, I was instantly charmed. I also learned some more about their background, and it's a bit heartbreaking. Their mother was a pet in a neighbor's house (this is in a townhouse neighborhood), and when she got pregnant, the humans put her out in the shed. The apparently stopped bothering to feed her, and when the kittens came, they didn't feed them either. Eventually, the humans moved, leaving the cat and her kittens behind. When Sara (the wonderful person who sent the original email about the kitties) realized this--and further realized that the mother cat was scavenging in garbage cans to feed her kittens--she started putting out cat food for them. They gradually warmed up to Sara, and she sent out the email to find them a good home.

They came home with me Friday evening, and were pretty scared of being in a new place. Because of their penchant for hiding under furniture (couches, bookshelves, tables, you name it), I named them Hide and Seek. Hide is still a bit on the shy side, but is getting bolder by the day. Seek is bold and adventurous--but still shy when he meets new people. They both come out when I'm home. They like to hang out with me :) Seek loves to be petted and has a wonderful purr, and he even lets me pick him up sometimes. Hide has let me pet her a few times and pick her up once. Her purr is softer, but still quite lovely. They have mock fights and kitty wrestling matches several times a day, and it's hilarious to watch them! As I type this, they're curled up on the couch with me. Seek likes to walk across my laptop keyboard--I've had to redo several portions of this blog post because of his "help"!

Hide and Seek are sweet and playful, and I'm glad they came to stay with me!

From the Weird Dreams File...

2009-08-03T18:23:00.017-04:00

Since I couldn’t sleep last night, I started thinking about some of the odd dreams I’ve had over the years. Several stand out as being so bizarre that I thought I’d entertain you all with them.

Weird Dream File Number 1

I recently dreamed that all of the printers at my office staged a mutiny. Their gaping paper-drawer mouths would fall open then slam shut, trapping strings of papery drool. They advanced quickly, madly waving their stubby arms, tightening their circle of doom until, finally, they swallowed me up. It was pretty horrifying. (It won’t surprise you to find out that I’m in charge of the computers, server, and printers at work.)

Weird Dream File Number 2

I must have been upset at something when I had this dream. I’m pretty sure it was a dream. I think I’d remember if it had actually happened, right? All I remember is that I was really unhappy and I slammed a door (I don’t know where I was or what room the door was in, which I’m taking as another sign that this was, in fact, a dream) and screaming. However, the door didn’t slam loudly enough, so I had to keep opening and re-slamming it to get any satisfaction out of my tantrum.

Weird Dream File Number 3

This was a year or more ago now. I opened my bedroom door, only to be caught in an avalanche of laundry. I don’t know whether it was clean or dirty laundry, but I sure hope it was clean. I mean, how awful would it be to be stuck in a deluge of dirty laundry? At any rate, I went down screaming and struggling against the monster that was my clothes. In case you hadn’t guessed, laundry is one of my least favorite chores. I guess that I had put off dealing with it for just a bit too long when I had this dream!

Weird Dream File Number 4

This is a pretty old one, but still worth sharing. Basically, in this one my older sister is stabbed to death. With a carrot.

Weird Dream File Number 5

I had this dream repeatedly as a child. Remember the fairytale “The Twelve Princesses”? Well, my dream was a spoof on this fairytale. Kara, Jane, and I would take a boat across a lake to a castle where we would dance with handsome princes. Once we were there, however, the plot changed a bit from the original story. After dancing and having a wonderful time, somehow we would be trapped in the castle and running from something awful. What was this hideous monster? No idea. A dragon? A lion? Our cousin Paul?

I’d love to hear about some other people’s weird dreams. If nothing else, it might help me feel less crazy ;)

Solving the World's Problems?

2009-07-28T16:32:00.003-04:00

I find it frustrating that most politicians, along with the mainstream media and every other source I can find, seem to think that there can only be one solution to each of our problems. None of them seem to believe in compromise or—perhaps more importantly—attacking problems from many directions. I mean, really, does anyone honestly believe that taking one big step is going to solve a problem? A much easier, more workable, and ultimately effective plan will be to take many smaller steps. I’m going to use the two highest-profile issues as examples here, but I welcome comments suggesting other issues that need to be addressed, as well as other solutions to these two problems that I haven't discussed.

First, let's take healthcare. I watch newspapers and politicians lament the state of our healthcare system, then propose a single solution that, they say, is the only way to solve the problem. “Tort reform to lower malpractice limits!” says one. “Higher taxes!” says another. “Encourage innovation and competition!” says a third. We need to look at multiple strategies to fix a problem as big and complicated as this is. We need all of the means listed above, plus tactics like encouraging preventive medicine to reduce the need for more drastic healthcare. This, of course, means making it easier for people to do healthy things like exercise and eat vegetables. Some of it is education; some of it is accessibility. If a pound of apples costs $2 and a box of Twinkies costs $1, it’s very easy to look at the short-term cost and buy the Twinkies. What it’s hard to know is the long-term cost of eating the junk food instead of the healthy option. Likewise, it makes much more sense to drive to work than walk or bike. After all, traffic might be too heavy to ride a bike safely, and most of us work too far from home to do anything but drive. What we don’t see is the cost of a sedentary life where we drive everywhere, spend 8 hours each day sitting at a desk, then spend another few hours sitting on a sofa. If the apples were cheaper than the Twinkies, it wouldn’t be hard to decide for the healthier option. If there were a reasonable way to safely bike or walk to work, we’d be happy to leave the car at home. I don’t know how to make apples less expensive or biking/walking more realistic, but I know it’s possible. More to the point, I know it's necessary. Many places in Europe, for example, rely on feet and bicycles as the first choice in transportation, and cars only as a distant second. When I lived in Germany a few years ago, I rode a bike several miles to work each day. I didn’t have a car, so if I wanted to go farther than around town, I rode my bike to the train station. It was simply the way of life, and it was accepted. This brings me to my next example: the environment. If we can take steps like helping people to use their cars less to improve health, that will certainly have a positive impact on the environment.

There is no doubt that humans have an influence on the environment, and that, quite often, we don’t take good care of our planet. But it seems to me every information source I can find focuses exclusively on climate change and emissions control. I believe that reducing the amount of carbon dioxide, methane, and all those other greenhouse gasses is important. We can do that in plenty of ways: lower-emissions cars, lower-emissions fuels, increased availability of public transportation, increased ease & access to walking & biking instead of driving, etc. But we forget that there are many additional steps we should be taking to stem the tide, and hopefully prevent our grandchildren from having to clean up our mess. Things like: planting trees, reducing deforestation, painting roads a lighter color (an off-the-wall solution I read about somewhere that made surprising sense once I stopped to think about it) so they reflect the sun’s heat instead of absorbing it. In general, I think we need to be less consumer-ish and wasteful. Also, there are plenty of other environmental issues we need to deal with. What about land and water pollution? Over-use of resources? I believe it ultimately comes down to changing the way we think and behave. Instead of trying to change the world to suit our needs, we should change ourselves to suit what’s available. I think that we need to make recycled products more available and affordable, make recycling easier, cheaper, and more accessible. I think we need to use less of everything. This will probably be difficult in the short run, since changing habits is hard, but in the long run, it’s the best thing we could do for our selves, our children, and our planet.

I realize that there are major obstacles to solving huge problems like healthcare and problems with the environment, but we can’t ignore the need for solutions. The solutions may make our lives temporarily more difficult (it is easier, after all, to use disposables and drive everywhere), but in the long run, they will give us a healthier society and a healthier planet. Aren’t those the gifts we should be giving our children? And, wouldn't it be great if we could approach solving problems like these in a comprehensive, multi-faceted way instead of trying to attack them from one angle?

An Afternoon with Alba

2009-06-21T22:45:00.004-04:00

I had the most wonderful day today! After going to church with Mom & Dad (and happy Father's Day again, Dad!), I brought Alba over to my parents' house to spend some time playing in the back yard. Now, Alba is usually shy and timid, and frankly dominated by her sister Alice. She tends to cower in the back of her crate, and will only come out with a lot of coaxing (which sometimes involves dragging--it feels mean, but when you need to get the dog to eat or go outside, you do what you have to!). Not surprisingly, when Mom & I came to my house to pick her up, she was not happy to be going anywhere!

Side note--Mom and I decided that since Alba is so timid, it would be better to bring just her rather than both puppies. We felt that it would be less traumatic for her to get used to a new place without having to contend with her over-eager sibling. (Another side note: please don't think that I don't love Alice too! She's energetic, happy, cute, silly, and all those things a puppy is supposed to be. I just feel sorry for them both sometimes, because I think that they're hampered by each other's behavior & their relationship.)Anyway, we got Alba to M&D's house, and I walked (partially dragged) Alba from her crate to the back yard. For those who haven't seen it, M&D have a nice big fenced-in back yard; perfect for dogs to run around in. (Rachel & I have a back yard, but it's not fully fenced-in, so the puppies can't run free.) By the time we got from the car to the gate, Alba was walking normally, sniffing the air, the grass, etc. And by the time we got through the gate, she was ready to start exploring.
We brought her crate into the yard so she would have her "safety zone" nearby. For the first 20 minutes or so, she ran all around the yard, sniffing, marking her new territory, and exploring. It was so much fun to watch! She was bright-eyed, alert, and perky, dancing around the yard, and obviously having a ball. After a bit, I led her to the water bowl we had put out next to her crate so she'd feel totally comfortable. She went back into her crate for a while, worn out from these new experiences, but seeming content. When Dad got home a bit later, we all sat out in the yard near Alba's crate, letting her get used to these new people, their smells and their voices. After a while of that, I brought her back out of the crate. She was a bit shy at first, as she always is around new people (she hadn't met Dad before), but she quickly got back to running around and exploring. It was such a joy to watch her acting like the puppy she is!
The next big milestone was when she VOLUNTARILY came up to Dad and sniffed his toes. It was really exciting, because Alba usually won't approach a new person at all, and she seems especially wary of men. Before too long, she had taken a handful of food from Dad, and not long after that, she was letting him pet her. I was so excited and happy that I was nearly in tears. I imagine I felt like parent watching their baby take her first step or speak his first word. We spent a couple of hours like this, enjoying Alba's company and watching her blossom into a normal puppy. She discovered a game with Mom tossing her bits of kibble, which she would then snuffle up from the grass. Mom decided that if she were to adopt Alba, she'd name her Snuffle (for Snuffleupagus). She let both Mom and Dad pet her, and ate from both of their hands. This all had a huge impact on her socialization. She now knows she is safe around other people (at least around my parents) and in other places. I think it will have a very good influence on her in her future home.

There was so much cuteness in the afternoon, it was overwhelming! Once she was all worn out--but still being brave and sociable!--we got her back in her crate, where she lay down without cowering in the back, and I brought her home. She made huge progress today, and we all had fun. I spent a lot of time clapping, bouncing, and giggling as I watched her brave new frontiers of puppyhood. It was a wonderful day for us all.

We got a couple of adorable pictures of Alba at the end of the evening, which I'll post just as soon as Dad emails them to me.

Update: Here are the pictures. They're from when Alba went back in her crate after she had spent a few hours out with us.
Here's Alba curled up--at the front of her crate!--peering out at the world.

And here she is with her chin resting on her toy. When I saw this, I just about melted! It was even cuter in person :) She's so worn out from her afternoon of playing that she's about to fall asleep.

A brief back-story on Allice and Alba

2009-06-08T14:04:00.004-04:00

Alice and Alba were found in the "wild" in rural Virginia, where they were rescued by the shelter. (Homeward bound then rescued them from the shelter, and Rachel & I took them home as fosters.) They were emaciated and mangy, so the assumption is that they were abandoned early on or were born to a stray. At any rate, they had clearly been trying to fend for themselves for quite a while, given their extreme skinniness.

For additional info on Alice & Alba, check out their blog, and for info on other fosterable and adoptable pets, check out Homeward Trails or your local SPCA (here's the NOVA area's branch). There are lots of pets out there who need love! Even if you can't foster or adopt, there are still plenty of opportunities to help, either by volunteering or donating. We can all help make the world better for our furry friends.

Alice and Alba Update

2009-06-08T09:06:00.002-04:00

Well, the gals were supposed to go to an adoption event this past weekend, but that didn't happen.

They had a check-up with the vet last week, and he discovered that they still have mange. :( That means that, before they can go to any events (or even be around other animals), they have another four-week course of treatment. Poor puppies! The do seem to be more comfortable, though--in addition to the mange medication, the vet also gave us some anti-itch meds.

I'd like to tell everyone a bit more about the puppies' personalities. Alice is brave and rambunctious, and likes to chew! She has lots and lots of chew toys to be sure that she doesn't get into anything bad. I have noticed, though, that if I'm sitting on the couch with bare feet, she likes to nibble my toes. (Apparently dogs have a thing for my feet. Belle liked to chew on my toes, too. I'm pretty sure that this is not flattering.) Fortunately, she doesn't bite down, hard, but it's pretty startling to suddenly feel...something...gnawing on my exposed toes when I'm not paying attention! Alice does have a tendency to dominate her sister. She has a very excited and inquisitive personality.

Alba is the quiet, shy one. She is still a bit timid, and she startles easily. She gets happy and excited, too, but tends to settle down quickly. She lets her sister bully her sometimes, and it seems like she's more of a follower. Alba is a good listener, and I suspect is going to be the easier of the two to train. Like all puppies, Alba likes to chew, but she's not as aggressive in seeking out chewies as Alice is. She is a sweet, loving dog.

Both of these girls are going to make wonderful pets when they find their permanent home! I suspect that they'll do better in the long run if they're adopted separately; I think that will allow them to develop their personalities without being too influenced by each other. I think that being separate will help Alice calm down and Alba become more bold.

Let's hope that the find a forever home soon!

Alice and Alba

2009-05-22T11:11:00.008-04:00

About a week and a half ago, two new roommates joined my household. Alice and Alba are 7-month-old shepherd-hound mix sisters. They have mange, but are on their last treatment, and it's starting to clear up. They were rescued from a kill shelter in western VA by Homeward Trails Animal Rescue, a pet fostering & adoption organization. After a day in HT's care, Alice & Alba came home with Rachel and me. They were very timid and frightened for the first few days; they had obviously been abused and/or neglected before they got to us. They were both way too skinny, and they would shy away if you got too close to them. At first, they wouldn't even take a puppy biscuit from your hand; they'd run and hide in the corner under the coffee table rather than let you get close. It was painful to watch.

Fortunately, both girls are getting healthier and happier! They're both putting on some weight--especially Alice, who likes to hog the food!--and they're not scared of us anymore :) Alba is still timid, but she'll let me get close enough to take a treat right from my hand. We're helping them get used to us by having them eat handsful of food right from our palms. That seems to be making a big difference. Both of them are learning to walk on their leashes. Alice love to hop around on her leash! They enjoy being outside, but run straight for the house as soon as they've done their business. We're working on the house training, and expect both puppies to be accident-free before too much longer. Like all puppies, they LOVE to chew--we have to watch out for our fingers to avoid being nibbled on! Both of them now have a menagerie of toys to chew on and play with.

All in all, I'm glad that we're fostering the gals. They're looking for a loving permanent home--if anyone is interested, let me know!

Opening scene

2009-05-08T15:22:00.003-04:00

This is a possible opening scene for my memoir. It's taken me a long time to get it finished, even though it's less than a page, because it's hard for me to acknowledge the emotional struggle. I have no problem talking about my physical rehab, pain, etc., but this is much harder. I debated pretty hard about whether or not I wanted to post this; it feels very exposing. What finally decided me is that, if I really do write and publish this memoir, the audience could be much broader than the loyal few who read my blog. So, here it is. Let me know what you think. (Oh, this is set in April 2004.)

Despite the sunshine streaming in the window, I slumped on my bed with my head in my hands. Why am I so sad? I tried to ignore the tears crawling down my cheeks. Life is good, so why can’t I be happy? Wiping my dripping nose on the back of my hand, I flopped backward. I don’t enjoy crying; everything about it makes me feel crappy. To end my jag, I worked on solving the puzzle of why, exactly, I was crying.

It was April. “I’ve been sad for over a month. I want to stop being miserable. Wait—I was sad last year at this time, too. I wonder if I have that seasonal depression thing?” The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. “Oh! I get depressed every year at this time. It’s the anniversary. Duh.”

With this “new” knowledge in hand, I picked up the phone and called help. The woman I called, Jill, is a friend of the family and the mother of a childhood friend. She had recently gotten certified & started practicing clinical psychology; I knew that she would be able to steer me to someone who could help me.

“Hi, Jill. I have a favor to ask. Do you know of a local therapist I can contact? I just realized that I’m having depression issues related to my stroke.” That conversation would change my life. I was about to start a journey that had been 12 years in the making. For those 12 years, I had been oblivious to the emotional charges buzzing around in my mind. I was finally going to start trying to defuse them.

Memoir exercise: a picture

2009-04-20T13:37:00.004-04:00

This is the latest of the exercises I've done for my memoir class. The assignment was: choose one photograph that connects to your memoir and write as much as you can about the photograph. Include who is in the photo, where they are, what they are doing, how you feel about the event/place, etc. Below is what I wrote. Please leave feedback--I'm eager to know what people think.

The picture is of me in the coma. I’m lying on the hospital bed, hooked up to various machines and monitors. I have tubes going into/out of various parts of me: breathing tube, feeding tube, insulin drip, sedative drip, and so on. You can’t tell what all the tubes are, and I can’t really tell that I’m in a coma—I could be sleeping, except for the fact that I never sleep on my back.

In the spirit of fun, there are troll ponytail holders on each of my big toes. I loved trolls when I was 11, and my family wanted to bring something silly that I would have enjoyed (had I been conscious) to the room. There is an Irish flag at the head of the bed. I’m part Irish, and was obsessed with that part of my heritage. Since St. Patrick’s day had come while I was in the coma, “I” celebrated with the flag in my hospital room. My security blanket (which I slept with back then, and still do today!) and my stuffed lion are by my side. My family has done what they could to make my hospital room homey.

Mom is sitting next to the bed reading something—I can’t see what. She’s looking down at what she’s reading, holding it in her lap. The picture was taken after many of the lines and machines I was initially hooked up to were removed, and Mom looks serious, but not panicked.

I feel blasé about the picture, partly because I’m so familiar with the story and because it’s been so long since it happened. It doesn’t inspired great emotion in me, but at one point it interested me because it showed me during a time that is missing from my memory. It often seems like something that happened to someone else. My recovery sticks firmly in my memory, but I know nothing other than what I’ve been told about the time while I was in the coma.

More Memoir Mining

2009-04-15T10:22:00.004-04:00

Here's another writing sample from my memoir class. The assignment was to write a passage starting with "I remember." The teacher really liked my submission--I hope you do, too! Let me know what you think.

I remember the bluebell-carpeted woods behind our house in England. Each summer, the bluebells would bloom, turning the woods into a sea of blue. It was breathtaking. You would almost expect to see fairies dancing among their flower homes; dwarves, unicorns, dragons, and princesses wouldn't have been out of place. Fairy tales are made in places like this.

I could play in those woods for days, if permitted. I would invent magical friends, dangerous adventures, and discovery-filled journeys, either by myself or with my sisters. We are a family blessed with imagination. Worlds were ours to explore in this magical place called The Woods.

We had names for a few of the 'roads' in the woods. These included Foxhole Road--named for the holes that we assumed housed the foxes who frequently graced our back garden--and, logically, Main Road, which was the biggest road, and the only one that vehicles could pass.

I remember the cows who summered in 'our' fields; being suburban folk, we were endlessly entertained by living next door to cows. One summer it was horses instead of cows, and we loved them! There was one beigey-colored horse that we named Peachy. She was beautiful, and we were sad to see her and her fellows go at the end of the summer.

England was a wild, magical, magnificent adventure that left me with an overactive imagination and a taste for nature.

Treasures

2009-04-14T11:39:00.004-04:00

This is an exercise for a memoir writing class I'm taking. I'm so pleased with the results that I thought I'd share it with the world! The exercise was: write about your treasures. Here's what I wrote:

My treasures are many and varied. Some of them are material things, like my books or my rock collection, but most of them are spiritual. My material treasures are probably easier to write about, because I have words to describe them—so that’s where I’ll start.

I mentioned my books; I am more than an avid reader; my soul depends on reading. I am capable of going a day or two without a book, but I start to wither and die inside if I go too long. Reading is my heroin, and books are my fix. I don’t get the same reading high from magazines or newspapers. There’s just something about holding a book, with its glossy soft cover, corners slightly battered like an old tomcat’s ears, and the smoothness of the pages between my fingers, that soothes my soul. I regularly get too little sleep because I read in bed and lose track of time while I’m in the world of words on the page. I can escape any troubles in my life through the magic of books.

Other worldly treasures are a cup of tea on a rainy day (or any day, but there’s something even more special about tea when it’s raining), flowers blooming in spring after the long silent dormancy of winter, a breathtaking sunset, the world under a fresh carpet of snow the morning after a snow storm, and the booming power of a summer thunderstorm. Part of what makes these treasures for me is their fleetingness. I can enjoy the moment of my cup of tea on a rainy day, or watching a thunderstorm, knowing it will end. I know that this pleasure is for a finite time, but that I will get to enjoy it again someday.

My spiritual treasures start with peace—peace of mind, of soul, of emotion, and of body. This is one of the gifts I received from the journey of my stroke; the ability to experience peace in turbulent circumstances. Over the years since my stroke, I’ve come to lean more and more on God and trusting that He knows what is right and good, and that somehow, some day, I’ll see how His plan has played out in my life. During those dark moments, I can take a step back and be eager to see how this will end up blessing me and the world. God has given me the confidence that, despite the fact that I feel awful and I don’t think that what’s happening is a blessing, in the light of eternity it is a blessing and I will understand how and why when God leads me there. Knowing that He can use even my stupidest mistakes and poorest decisions to make blessings is a comfort, and from that I derive peace.

Peace leads me to joy. Knowing that, with God’s peace, everything will work out to the good even if it’s not in my lifetime, frees me to feel all-encompassing joy even in dull moments. I can look at the sky and feel awe at its scope and know that all is well. The joy swells up inside me, starting at my stomach, and pushes all my negative feelings away. And with that radiating joy surrounding me, I can share some of my peace with others. It’s a “vicious” cycle—I feel peace, which leads me to joy, which brings me more peace…

These are my treasures.

Memoir?

2009-03-25T12:33:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I've been working on writing a memoir for a couple of months, but haven't really gotten anywhere. Anyone who knows me probably knows what the memoir will be about: my stroke. Why should I be struggling with it, though? I've told the story a million times, so it's not like I don't know what I'm trying to say. That of course, is part of the problem--I've told the story so often that I don't pay attention to the details of the story. I also play it down a lot, for several reasons. One of those reasons is that it always comes out sounding melodramatic, and I don't like melodrama. I invariably feel like I'm trying to out-do the person I'm talking to, a la "I've suffered more than you have!" which is never what I'm trying to say (unless I'm talking to Kara or Jane. But that's a different issue!) Also, it was 17 years ago--plenty of time for me to forget those details. And last but not least, it's boring for me (like I said, I've told it a million times. You can only remain interested in your own story for so many tellings!).

Right now I'm working with a concept of interspersing tidbits of the stroke story with fiction. I don't know how that will work out. In the long run, I want to communicate what I've learned & how my stroke shaped me. One of the things I learned is the importance of temporary escape (along the lines of going to my imaginary special place when the pain of PT got overwhelming), and I'd like to provide a bit of that by using some of my fiction along with my memoir. I just don't know if that will end up going over well--or, for that matter, how to work the fiction in.

So, someday, I hope to publish a memoir. I welcome feedback, questions, and suggestions--not to mention prayers for me to actually finish it!

Unanswered prayers?

2009-02-21T01:28:00.007-05:00

I'm listening to a podcast sermon-type thing about "unanswered prayer" (from crosswalk), and it's driving me crazy. I don't have a problem with prayer being much more powerful when it's aligned with God's will and His plan; what I take issue with is the concept of "unanswered" prayer. God never leaves any prayer unanswered. I think what causes us to stumble over this is that we don't know what an answer is. God answers prayers in one of three ways: yes, no, or later. The reason some people think their prayers remain unanswered is that they don't hear the answer they want. They don't recognize a "no" as an answer to the prayer. And "later" is probably even worse--who wants to wait for God to answer a prayer? We want results NOW.

Sadly for us humans, God doesn't work that way. He's on an eternal schedule, not constrained by our deadlines and impatience. If I pray for a friend to be healed, but that friend remains sick, it's not that God ignored my prayer; it's that He said "no." If I pray for God to move a mountain for me, and it stays where it is, that doesn't mean that God hasn't answered, it means that he's either answered "no" or "later" (The secret for figuring out which? If there's no definitive answer, it's probably a "later".)

How do I know this? Aside from all the places in the Bible that talk about "waiting on God" (also here, here, here, here, and here, among others) and persevering in prayer, I've seen it in my own life. Any number of times, I've prayed for something for months (and occasionally years) without hearing back from God. Then--seemingly out of the blue--I'd get an answer that was beyond my wildest hopes.

So don't believe the nonsense about "unanswered" prayer! Maybe you just haven't gotten the answer you wanted. Just remember (this one's hard for me) God knows what He's doing, and he's smarter than us. Trust Him. Oh--and it's always worth the wait.

Some nonsense, just for fun!

2009-02-17T22:40:00.004-05:00

I've written a few nonsense poems that I decided to share. I'm including each in a separate post to make it easier to read them individually. They've been hanging around for a while, and I haven't done anything else with them yet, so this seems like a good opportunity to "publish" them.

I had a lot of fun writing them, and I hope you enjoy reading them. Let me know what you think!

(And yes, this is how I'm using my linguistics degree. Useful, no?)

Ninny Nanny Nonny-sense

2009-02-17T22:38:00.001-05:00

Wiggle waggle woggle wump
Fliggle flaggle floggle flump
Miggle maggle moggle mump
Ziggle zaggle zoggle zump!

Weezle wazzle wizzle warg
Feezle fazzle fizzle farg
Meezle mazzle mizzle marg
Zeezle zazzle zizzle zarg!

Widdle waddle wuddle wode
Fiddle faddle fuddle fode
Middle maddle muddle mode
Ziddle zaddle zuddle zode!

Iffle piffle tiffle tonk
Niffle diffle kiffle konk
Hiffle liffle ziffle zonk
Wiffle miffle biffle bonk!

Hiddy diddy biddy bud
Niddy middy ziddy zud
Piddy widdy fiddy fud
Kiddy jiddy giddy gud!

Wergle the Nergle

2009-02-17T22:36:00.001-05:00

Wergle the nergle wanted to climb
To the top of the kergle of Miggledy Pime.
He waited for evening, as that is the time
When climbing is best at Miggledy Pime.
He got to the start of his kergley quest,
The bottom of climbing up to the Lerg nest.
For Lergs live way up on the zippedy-zest
Of tall kergle flondubs, above all the rest.
Wergle climbed up the high kergle kuzzo
And felt full of awe to see the nergles below.
From up on the Kergle, he saw them bestow
His evening climb triumph with a nergley glow.
he felt all a-flutter on seeing that sight
and knew he would always remember this night;
the night he found out that glowing was right
when all his friend nergles showed him their light.

Have you Heard of the Flerd

2009-02-17T22:35:00.002-05:00

I'll post a picture of what I think a flerd looks like soon-kf

Have you heard of the flerd
Who lost track of his yerd?
(This particular flerd’s name was Jerd.)

He searched high
And low
And in-between
He looked far
And wide
But found not a bean.
Jerd asked for the help of his friends,
Merd and Serd,
Who enlisted the help of two more,
Zerd and Perd.
They looked and they looked,
These five flerdy friends.

They searched the whole world
From beginning to end.
Still they found not a sign
Of the yerd that was gone.
It was hiding—or lost—but no matter the cost
Jerd needed to find his yerd.
For without it, you see,
He couldn’t fliggameezee.
And a fleggameezeeless existence
Would just have no glee.
So Jerd and his flerd friends,
Merd, Serd, Zerd and Perd,
Continued the search for Jerd’s missing yerd.

“But what is a yerd?”
Did I hear you ask that?
Do you not learn of yerds in the place where you’re at?
Well, I promise to answer
Just what a yerd is,
But first we must check on
The flerds and their searches.
They still have not found it—
They exclaim, “Oh, confound it!
How could that yerd have left its flerd Jerd?
We must find it!
We must,
Or our quest is a bust.
For minus his yerd, our friend Jerd is half-clerd.”

So they continued to look
And to search
And to seek,
But of that yerd they discovered
Not one single peek.
At last they agreed, they must stop for the night,
And continue tomorrow on their flerd-finding fight.
But alas, still the next day,

And week

Month

And year

The end of their quest still did not draw near.
They fin’ly admitted that they didn’t know
Just how to get that yerd to show.

So they went to the experts;
Jerd, Merd, Perd, Serd and Zerd
Consulted the ones
Who knew how to find yerds.
The yerd-finding experts in the world of the flerds
Knew at once where Jerd’s long-missing flerd would be found.

They said, “Go all the way back
To where you began.
Then go back even farther,
As far as you can.
Then you will recall
where you last saw your yerd.
As soon as you know it,
You must think very hard
Of just what your yerd is,
How it looks,
What it says.
Hold on to those thoughts
As you capture your yerd,
And keep them in mind
As you find your yerd-rhyme.
And then, my dear Jerd,
You will know at all times
Just where, how and when
To locate your yerd.”

And so Jerd and Merd, Perd, Serd, and Zerd
Went back to the place
Where Jerd lost his yerd.
All five of the flerds,
Minding the import of fliggameezee
Looked around, up, and down
Then did as the yerd-experts said to.
The flerds went one step
Farther back from here,
And Jerd, who all this time
Had been missing his yerd,
Said, “I see it! It’s here!
Right before where I left it
When I had it last year!”

It was true, there it was—
Barely glowing, the long-missing yerd.
It pulsed and grew brighter;
The nearer Jerd got,
The harder it glowed—
It was practically hot!
It flashed and Jerd smiled.
“It missed me too!”

The flerd friends all cheered,
And their yerds glew too.
Now all of the flerds
Had their yerds
In their hearts.
And that’s what a yerd is—
It glows in your heart.

More Musical Meandering

2009-01-28T21:23:00.002-05:00

I really enjoyed this. It reminds me a lot of the Pachelbel Rant I posted about in June. All the best ideas are stolen from someone else--the same goes for music!

Phonology gone crazy

2009-01-18T22:08:00.003-05:00

Anyone familiar with the Capitol Steps will enjoy their Lirty Dies routine. I first heard Lirty Dies in my Exceptional Phonologies class a couple years ago. Listen to this one (there are a bunch; if you like this one, you'll like them all). If you're confused, it's all about switching onsets. It happens to all of us (we call it a "slip of the tonuge" or a Spoonerism), and it's a lot of fun to hear it done deliberately--and in such a funny way!

Let me know what you think of these--it could be that I'm the only one who's a big enough dork to think they're hilarious.

Books, reading, and language

2009-01-04T19:36:00.003-05:00

I wrote a couple of posts several months ago (this one and this one) about linguistics and and reading, and I've been thinking about the relationships among language, books, and reading a lot lately. What makes a good book? What makes a great book? What makes a book that becomes a classic? Why are we still reading Shakespeare after 400 years? What makes a bad book? Is there a difference between a book that's fun to read and a book that's good to read? Some classics are hard to read and, frankly, boring--so why are they classics? I honestly think that to some extent some books are considered classics because we've always been told that they are. (Moby Dick, anyone? Not to disparage Melville--well, okay, I hate Melville and I would prefer not to read any of his work ever again)

It's subjective of course, but I have my theories about reading. Some of the "boring" classics are still good reads (okay, I'll admit that Moby Dick might be worth reading. If you have the stamina. And the ability to skim large passages.) because of the insight into language that they provide (and the brain exercise!). The reason that Moby Dick feels boring to me is because it uses the language of its day, and mid-19th century English tends to be very...well, drawn-out might be a good description. Some of the sentences last for pages, and in a story as detailed, involved, and long as Moby Dick, that can be intimidating. I'm all for reading modernized versions, summaries, and so on, but you lose a lot of the flavor of the original piece that's integral to why it became a classic in the first place. (My technique is usually to read the summary/modern version/whatever first, then read the original. That way I actually understand what the story is about and I get the edifying effect of reading the original classic. More work, but more benefit to me.) Think about reading the King James Version of the Bible. The language is beautiful, but it's hard to understand! So, if I read the same passage in the Message version and in the KJV, I get more out of both; the beauty of language and understanding.

One note--in the era in which the KJV and Moby Dick were written, there wasn't anything special about the language--it was the standard of the day. People talked and wrote like that. Heck, read some Chaucer in the original Middle English--it's not even the same language we speak today--it's largely unintelligible to us. Some of the benefit of reading them comes from seeing where our language has been.

I'll write more about all this later, because I have more considering to do...

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T11:48:00.001-05:00

I'd like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

And for anyone worrying about the economy (or anything else), just remember that life's joys wouldn't be nearly so bright without the darkness of suffering to contrast them. In other words, sometimes life's a bitch, but you just have to keep going. Eventually the pain will lessen.

How's that for a bright and cheery Christmas message?

Politicians, Dante, and the 8th Circle of Hell

2008-11-02T00:08:00.002-04:00

I was refreshing my memory on Dante's Inferno today (I haven't read it since my freshman year in high school, and a friend made a comment about one of the circles of hell, and I needed a quick refresher. The comment, btw, mentioned hypocrites' place in Dante's hell), and discovered something amusing. Before I get to that, two things: 1) I don't believe that Dante was a big an authority on hell as he'd have us believe (His ideas are pretty self-serving. I mean, assuming that his enemies would be consigned to hell? Not too egotistical.) But for the purposes of this blog entry, his ideas are pretty convenient for me ;)

2) I think we can safely agree that most--possibly not all, but surely a large portion--politicians are corrupt. (Politics and corruption go hand in hand, right?)

So, anyway. It turns out that the 8th Circle of Hell has a space (a bolgia) reserved especially for corrupt politicians. They are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch. Now, I have to say that I think that in this century, we could probably come up with something more creative than that as a punishment for corrupt politicians, but Dante had to work with what he had available to his imagination in the 14th century.

This brings me to this question, though: if we do assume that most politicians are corrupt, and that Dante's right and that sends them to hell (I might address that in a future post. Dante apparently didn't believe in grace or forgiveness.), does hell have enough space? Will Satan have to expand?

Jesus Christ: Republican or Democrat?

2008-10-30T13:40:00.003-04:00

I’ve seen and heard lots of arguments—from both sides—about whether Jesus would have been a Republican or a Democrat. I’d like to examine the issue, then I’ll tell you what I think.

During his ministry (we don’t know about his life before his ministry, other than his birth and an incident when he was about 12), Jesus spent most of his time with the down-trodden, the poor, the sick, the sinful, and the unpopular. He reached out to cripples, prostitutes, tax collectors (who were considered about as reputable as prostitutes in those days), the blind, the dying, and even the dead. In His own words, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (also see Mark). So, Jesus didn’t work with the people who already had what they needed—those people didn’t need Him (at least, they didn't realize that they needed Him).

What does that have to do with political parties? Well, mostly that I don’t think Jesus would have been either a Democrat or a Republican. He probably wouldn’t get involved in politics at all; he’d be out on the street helping and healing people and telling them about His Father.

Another reason that I don’t think Jesus would be a Dem or a Rep is that he’d actually be a king. The Bible doesn’t ever mention democracy (I’ve read it, and nowhere does the good book talk about democracy or even mention the word); it’s all about kingdoms. Please don’t jump on me here—I’m not saying that I think democracy is wrong or that I don’t like democracy or anything even remotely like that. I do believe in democracy, and I think that the U.S. is an amazing and wonderful country, and I’m blessed and proud to be a citizen. I think that democracy is the best human political system. But the truth is, the Kingdom of God is just that—a kingdom. God is the King, not the president or the speaker of the house or the school board chair. We don't get to vote for who the president of the Kingdom of Heaven is. He's already been chosen. And I think Jesus would have counted any of our votes in our earth-bound elections well-cast (after all, it’s a pretty freaking amazing privilege to be able to choose your government! Jesus didn’t have that option) as long as we spend our time outside the polling booth serving others.

So as to those arguments saying that Jesus would vote this way or that way, that he'd definitely be a democrat or absolutely be a republican? I disagree with them all.

I'd very much like to hear what you think about this subject; please leave a comment!

My book arrived!

2008-10-28T19:06:00.000-04:00

Okay, I know it's just a copy of my thesis, but it was still pretty darn exciting to see that the bound copies of my thesis arrived! I ordered them less than a week ago from Lulu (a really easy way to self publish, btw), and I wasn't expecting to get them for a few more days. Anyway, it's really cool to have a book with my byline on it :)

Yay!

A psalm to the Lord

2008-10-27T23:22:00.002-04:00

I'm feeling on fire for God right now, so I had to write Him a love song. Here it is:

God of all creation, You fill the world with glory!
Holy is your name, and holy are your works.
God of heaven and earth, your beauty saturates the earth!
You fill my eyes with your holiness.
My soul cannot contain its joy!
I see your beauty in the sky,
I see your plan in the changing trees,
I see your love in the shining sun,
And I see your grace in each new day.
Your love and mercy overwhelm me!
I am filled with praise you.
I praise your holy name
I glorify your wondrous name
I bless and praise your name!

Making it through the storm

2008-10-27T19:59:00.002-04:00

This is a wonderful devotion on surviving life's storms. Take a minute to read it--it's brief, so it's not a big time commitment--and see if you don't think it's comforting, too.

Mimesis and Sound Symbolism

2008-10-24T00:23:00.004-04:00

Mimesis is a fun concept that I discussed a fair amount in my thesis. It's a philosophical/literary/linguistic term (it does, of course, have other usages), which means--for my purposes, at least--sound imitating meaning. I relate it very much to sound symbolism (another biggie in my thesis); it's when a word sounds like what it means. Onomatopoeia is a common example of mimesis. When we hear "meow," we automatically think of a cat, or when we hear "moo," we think of a cow. But to what extent is sound tied to meaning? Do we associate a word's meaning with it's sound because the two are actually related, or is it just an arbitrary assignment?

I quote (rather extensively--sorry!) from Magic Words: the Phonology of Fantasy Neologisms below (don't worry; I gave myself written permission):

Is there a meaning behind the words that authors coin? Do the sounds themselves tell us something about the words? ... Sound Symbolism (Hinton, et. al., 1994) is the area of linguistics that discusses the link between sound and meaning. Hinton et. al. addresses the various types of symbolism, including corporeal (sounds such as coughing), imitative (onomatopoeia), and synesthetic (tone, pitch, elongation of syllables for emphasis) These examples show that, whether by origin or evolution, certain sounds, classes of sounds, combinations of sounds, can have meaning attached to them by the speaker and/or the hearer. Hinton et. al. also addresses issues such as the frequency code, which tells us that high tones, vowels with a high 2nd formant (especially [i]) and high frequency consonants are associated with high frequency sounds, small size,sharpness, rapid movement, and closeness. On the other hand, low tones, vowels with a low 2nd formant, and low frequency consonants are associated with low frequency sounds, large size, softness, heavy; slow movements, and far distance. (Hinton, et al 1994, 325; Fromkin 2000, 521) For example, the word tiny indicates something very small, but teeny may be even smaller. This is also commonly seen in how words are diminutivized in English; a small dog is a “doggie,” a small cat is a “kitty,” and so on. Even my name reflects this; my family often calls me Katie (I am both the youngest and the shortest in the family!). Likewise, other languages show this phenomenon. In German, the diminutive is indicated by adding the suffix [xɪn], and Spanish uses the suffix [itə] (fem.) or [ito] (masc.). A former German teacher called me Katechen [keɪtxɪn] (the German equivalent of Katie), and a Spanish professor called me Katiesita [keɪtisitə]. Both of these diminutives—from two very different languages—use a high front vowel to indicate small size. From this, it is evident that this sound-symbolic process is pan linguistic.

Certain phoneme classes are sometimes associated with particular semantic fields. Most commonly discussed with literature and reading in mind, this phenomenon is best illustrated by imitative and synesthetic forms. In imitatives, stops equal abrupt sounds and acts; continuants represent continuing sounds or acts; nasals are used for reverberating, ringing sounds; and fricatives mimic the quick, audible motion of an object through air. (Hinton et. al., 1994, 10) In literature, the sound of words chosen toportray meaning plays an important role. This shows up most frequently in poetry, but may also be present in other forms of literature and particularly in neologism. In linguistics, the major question is, how arbitrary is language form? How much can the form of language be tied to meaning? The answers to these questions, if they exist, are amorphous, but it is clear that meaning and sound can never be fully separated. (Hinton, et. al., 1994, 5)

“The sound of a word is not random. Be it the movement of the lips and tongue, or the sensory experience of saying or reading the word, sounds create certain associations.” (Sedia, 2005) Individual segments can, themselves, create images and impressions. [i] and [ɪ] sounds are often perceived as smaller than [e] or [o] sounds. These impressions are important to our pictorial and verbal thinking, creating a muscle sense that enables us to mesh all of our impressions into a more complex whole. When we read or speak any given word, it feels a certain way. Some words may be thought beautiful or ugly, depending on the feel of them in the mouth. “The words used to build a fictional world…matter,” (ibid) some fantasy worlds endure and some don’t; some fantasy writing is authentic and some isn’t. Appropriate use of neologism increases the chance that the story will be real and endure. “Many authors use onomatopoeic words—words that mimic a natural sound like crunch or slosh…Often we associate certain sounds with certain visual images. This device is often used in fantasy, where good characters have pleasant-sounding names full of vowels and lilting sounds, and the villains have names that are based on sibilants (such as the House of Slytherin in the Harry Potter Books) or burdened with too many consonants.” (Sedia, 2005) ...

Sound and its perceived meaning can tell us interesting things about neologism. Kohler (1992) showed subjects two shapes—one rounded and one angular—and two invented words (“takete” and “maluma”). He then asked them which word went with which shape. Overwhelmingly, the subjects associated “takete” with the angular shape and “maluma” with the rounded shape. The consensus held across a number of different languages, indicating that there is a universal concept at work here. Other researchers have performed similar experiments, including associating the size of an object with words that had either a front or a back vowel (the larger object was universally associated with the back vowel, the smaller object with the front vowel). This further emphasizes the universality of some sound and meaning associations. “Thus, every word, regardless of its intended meaning by its creator, will evoke a certain response in us.” (Sedia, 2005)

The above obviously discusses primarily neologisms, but that's just because that's how it applied to my thesis; it seems that sound symbolism--mimesis included--pervades language.

What do you think?

Verisimilitude

2008-10-14T20:28:00.005-04:00

Verisimilitude, which comes from Latin verum—truth—and similis—similar, is “truth similarity," or the effect of being true-to-life, generally applied to art in some form. What's interesting is determining what true-to life is. What is "life" (reality) for the particular work in question? According to Plato & Aristotle, for a work of art to have significance, it must be grounded in reality. For literature, an author must know what the truth is—the truth of the setting, characters, plot, and themes—and use his tools (dialog, narrative, imagery, characterization, etc.) to create a literary “similarity” to that truth. If he accomplishes that, he has achieved verisimilitude.

Why is that such a big deal? Why do English teachers spend so much time harping on the language in works of lit? Because verisimilitude may be the pinnacle of achievement in literature. What’s exciting about verisimilitude is that it’s different for every single work out there (and, I think, for every reader, too). For Twain, it might be the life of an uneducated backwoods boy. For Nora Roberts, it might be the developing relationship of between the hero and heroine. A novel set in the Russian Revolution will have characters named Ivan or Dmitri, not Bill or Sam. A story about a boy who learns he's a wizard will be filled with moments of discovery and learning of magic, not mundane tasks like walking the dog.

Verisimilitude is—I suspect—a very subtle thing, and easily passes without note, because it’s woven so tightly into the fiber of the story that it should be unnoticeable. Until we look deeper at a piece, it’s hard to see whether it’s made it. It’s possible that verisimilitude might depend on the reader and her interpretation. It’s achieved in the interplay of the artist, the artwork, and the reader. How amazing, as a reader, to be part of a work of art by appreciating it.

What fascinates me about verisimilitude in literature is, of course, the use of language to achieve it. That's a big part of what I got out of my thesis; the roll of language in lit. I suspect I'll be blogging more on this in the future!

One of my favorite things about linguistics

2008-10-13T22:41:00.003-04:00

Well, I may not have figured out what I'm going to do with a degree in linguistics, but at least I still know why I like it! In my thesis (on the phonology of fantasy neologisms) (by the way, how cool that it's online! hee hee hee!), I discussed the role of language in literature. Great literature uses language to its fullest advantage. To steal an example from myself: in Huck Finn, Twain uses Huck's uneducated hick dialect to create a verisimilitude (that's a word I had to use a lot in my thesis) that draws the reader into the story. In "Soldier's Home", Hemingway uses his spare language and indirect descriptions (e.g., the bacon fat hardening on Krebs' plate) to pass the characters' feelings on to the reader. Dr. Seuss used rhymes and fun made-up words to make his stories engaging (and really, don't we all believe, deep down, that there are such creatures as Whos and somewhere there's an elephant named Horton?). And sometimes, literature passes its special language on to the lexicon.

There's not really a branch of linguistics that studies this, but I love examining the interplay of language and literature. I could spend all day at it. Oh wait--I have spent all day on it occasionally.

Anyone out there have any other examples of literary language? (Oooh, that could be a book title. Or a rock band. Okay, not a rock band. But I think I'm obligated to write a book called "literary language" now.)

Politics Schmolitics

2008-10-13T14:48:00.004-04:00

In a few weeks, Americans will have the privilege of going to the polls to choose our next leader. I’m sure that anyone reading this knows the importance of voting, so I won’t harp on that too much.

Here's what I'd like to say to the candidates and to the public (she says wryly, realizing that the only reader of this blog is herself--but hey! it'll make me feel good to say it.):

Character IS important. Yes, policy is important, but don’t leave behavior out of the equation. How can we trust someone who lies, cheats, steals, molests, or is a general sleaze to lead us—regardless of his/her stand on the issues? What example are we setting for our children and the rest of the world? That it's fine to lie, cheat, steal, molest, and be sleazy? That this his how Americans behave? Our children don’t listen to our words, they hear what our actions say. When our actions reflect the opposite of what we want them to learn, of course society is going to be screwed up. The issues are important, but character is vital. Please be honest. Be noble. Be fair. Be worth looking up to. You’re setting the example for the world, and we need you to be someone we can afford to have setting an example.

Remember going on field trips in elementary school? The teacher would always say, “you’re representing the whole school, so behave!” The same goes here. Whoever becomes our next President, all of our Senators, Congressmen, governors, mayors, PTA presidents, etc.: you’re not just representing yourself. You’re representing me, too. And every one of the 300 million U.S. citizens you lead.

I’d like to see all of our leaders give of themselves instead of just giving of the taxpayers. Spend an hour volunteering at a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or charity thrift store. Adopt a homeless animal. Volunteer at an animal shelter, give blood, help someone in need. Plant a tree. Find out what your local church needs and help with it. Donate some time, thought, and attention to causes other than politics. Take a tiny step to make a positive difference. (Okay, I have to acknowledge that this goes for me and everyone, not just politicians.)

Just imagine what a difference we could make in the world! (not to mention, the world’s opinion of us.)

Thingamabrarians

2008-10-13T14:44:00.003-04:00

LibraryThing is a wonderful tool for those of us who have a lot of books. Since I just (well, okay, two months ago) moved into a new house, I’ve been cataloging my books as I unpack. Granted, I’ve only unpacked two of my many boxes of books, so I’ve got a long way to go, but I’m having fun!

For anyone else who has a few “too many” books (like there’s really such a thing), LibraryThing is a good tool. I like that you’re not limited to using it for books you own; you can create a list of books you want to read, books you’ve read but don’t own, books you’ve sold—whatever you can come up with. I've found it really helpful that I can sort by author, title, publication date, etc. It's helping me find gaps in my collection (or, possibly just boxes I haven't unpacked yet).

Check out my list and see what you think!

Volatile economics

2008-10-10T16:12:00.006-04:00

The whole world seems to be in economic upheaval. Stock markets are crashing, and people are panicking. In this seemingly dark and desperate moment, I'd like to offer some words of hope: it will end. None of this will last forever. Just like times of economic prosperity aren't forever, neither are times of hardship. Not only have we seen all of this before (stock markets crashed in the 1980s, 1920s, and 1880s, just to name a few), but we will see it again. So settle in and enjoy--or at least tolerate--the ride.

The economy is cyclical. It always has been, and always will be. We tend to lose sight of that (both when we're prosperous--thinking that the prosperity will last forever--and when we're suffering--thinking that there's no end to the torture), and I think that's to our detriment. If we just keep in mind that this tremendous down-swing will end, plateau, and eventually turn into an upswing again, we'll be much better off. Our peace of mind will soar, and our panic will disappear.

The economic suckiness will last for a while. Eventually it will level off. And then, miraculously, it will start to boom again. Just hold onto that. Keep holding on to the hope, because without hope, the desperation can be overwhelming. But with hope, the panic fades, becoming contentment.

And a note on our human frailties: even King Solomon, widely regarded as the wisest man who ever lived (excepting Jesus, of course!), screwed up and behaved foolishly. So we're in good company! (Don't believe me? Read about how Solomon did stupid stuff, too.)

Sometimes life is really hard. And sometimes it's really awesome. If life seems hard right now, just wait. It means that there's some awesome coming!

37 Years

2008-10-09T11:13:00.002-04:00

Well, Jane did it, so I will too. (Although, there's no way I can do as good a job as you did with your post, Jane!) Mom and Dad have been married for 37 years today.

They've taught us to share, play nicely, love animals, ride bikes, balance check books (well, sort of. Sorry Dad!), drive cars, do laundry, have fun, strive for our dreams, be silly, never settle, help others however we can, be good people, and...well, everything. Flegals are a blessed bunch.

Here's to another 37 years, Mom and Dad!

Love you and hey,
Kate

Figuring it out

2008-07-20T22:07:00.002-04:00

I'm almost finished with my thesis--I hope I'll be able to get it into the library by the deadline! (If I don't, I have to register for another semester's worth of thesis work. No big, except for the money.) With the end in sight, I'm looking at my next goal: figuring out what I want to do with my Master's degree. I didn't think that far ahead when I enrolled! I'd really like to find a career that allows me to use my language and linguistics skills. The problem? I'm not detail-oriented. Not even remotely. It's a joke in my family; I'm very bright and creative and capable, I just don't see the details. I try, believe me. I make checklists, to-do lists, priorty lists, take notes, etc. I think it's just not in my nature.

So, what do people who aren't detail-oriented (I can't be the only one) do? Beat's me. I'm hoping to figure it out! I have some pretty important criteria: I want to earn enough money to live off of (it'd be nice if there were a bit left over at the end of the month), have health insurance, and have fun. I'd like to do something that I'm good at and that's rewarding. Does that seem too picky?

Since I don't think I can earn a living reading cheesey romances, I'm waiting for inspiration to strike.

Proud to be an American

2008-07-05T00:39:00.003-04:00

After celebrating the U.S.A.'s birthday, I spent some time reflecting on being an American. The conclusion that I came to is that I'm incredibly lucky, blessed, and proud to be one. Jane did the best job of explaining what it is to be American, so I'm going to borrow her words for my definition:

"I am not a Native American, but, I am a REAL American. And my friends are real Americans. In America, most people immigrated and settled there. My ancestors...come from Ireland and Germany and who knows where else, but I am a real American. My friend's ancestors come from Korea, but she is still a real American. Americans come from all over the world...Some of it is definitely geography – I was born in Virginia, so I am American. My parents and grandparents were all born on U.S. soil, so I am American. But there is so much more to it than that.

"I think it is a mindset. To be American is a way of thinking, an attitude, a frame of mind. Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness - isn't that kinda what defines Americans? We believe in these things so strongly, that they have shaped our national definition...I am idealistic. “No” and “because” are never legitimate answers to my questions if I believe they shouldn't be. I get to rock the boat and try and change the world. And, even more importantly, I believe I can.

"There are things I just don't understand because I am American – and I will never be able to truly appreciate them. I have never had to live through the pain and turmoil that is part of the very recent history of the people I currently live with. I don't really understand what it is to struggle. My life has been so easy, comparatively, it is a joke. I am privileged, simply because of where I was born. And even now, I am living through the day to day struggles of a developing country with a time limit. I leave after 2 years. That is not the case for the people I am working and living with. This is their life.

"I am free to have all kinds of thoughts about myself and my country. I can think and choose and say whatever I want. I can be the biggest patriot out there – or advertise how bad I think America is. I can be somewhere in the middle. I can question the choices of my bosses and my nation's leaders. And, if I don't like them, I can stand up and say something. Not everyone in the world has that privilege. And I view it as a god given right."

As Jane points out, we are able to think and live according to our own values, to choose our words and actions without fear of oppression, and determine the course of our own lives. We can read and write what we want, we can worship (or not) as we choose, we have the power to overthrow the government if it becomes unjust. No matter where we originally came from, we have those inalienable rights--life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--no matter what form those ideals take for any individual. And our government goes out of its way to defend and uphold those rights! That is pretty amazing.

So, thank you to the men and women who had the courage build this amazing country, to those who put their lives on the line to defend it, and to every person who is part of the U.S. God bless America.

Happy 4th of July!

Picking words

2008-07-01T21:41:00.004-04:00

This is a wonderful post! I like the point that the author makes about the fact that sometimes, it's just the best word for the situation--even if it is a long one.

DC Synod Assembly Meeting Weekend

2008-06-18T10:30:00.003-04:00

I was at the ELCA Metro DC synod assembly meeting this weekend, and it was a blast! The meeting itself wasn’t all that interesting, but the weekend was wonderful. The meeting was at Roanoke College. It was awesome to see the school again, and I got the chance to see and catch up with people from RC who I haven’t seen in years.

The Holy Cross group (Pastor Jones, Pastor Johnson, Sylvia, Jen, and I) carpooled—God bless Syl for driving! We left the Church around 10 on Thursday and arrived at RC mid-afternoon. After checking in, we went straight to the first plenary session. We had missed the “opening ceremonies”, but none of us cared (and it turns out, what we missed wasn’t worth being there for! Besides, to get there for the opening sessions, we would have had to leave Church before the a.m. rush hour. It would have been brutal). It was a long afternoon, with not much interesting from the meeting itself. Lots of legalese and submitting resolutions to do things like “send our concern…” or “offer gratitude…” In other words, not actually doing anything, but saying a whole lot! It was eye-opening, if boring. (And I really don’t understand why we need to vote to send our concern or condolences or whatever—I mean, really, is anyone going to complain if the synod tells the people in Illinois who are recovering from devastating floods that we feel for them without getting a vote on it? Seriously.)

The best part of the weekend—okay, there were a few best parts—was spending time with the HCLC folks. We had so much fun (and learned things about each other that we probably wish we didn’t know!) together laughing, talking, joking…It was some really great fellowship. Added to that, I got to spend an hour chatting with Dr. Ogier at Mill Mountain. It was fantastic to catch up with him. We talked about languages, travel, school…it was awesome. We hadn’t seen each other since I graduated six years ago, so it was long overdue! I also got to see & talk with Mark & Terri in Info Services—it was great to catch up with them, too. They’re going to work on setting up an RC IT Alum reunion. I hope it works out, because I’d love to get together with all the IT folks again. I also got to chat with Iris, the Language Lab Goddess, and Becky, who used to work in the Chaplain’s office but now works in the President’s office. The one person I didn’t get to see who I really wish I had is Rev. Henrickson, the school Chaplain. I opted to take an afternoon nap instead of visiting more people—an equally valid decision! Next time I make it down to RC, though, I’m definitely going to swing by & see him. It was wonderful to see all the people I worked with and studied with, as well as getting to know the Holy Cross delegation better, so I’m definitely glad I went.

To top off the weekend, when I got home, I got to go to the 'rents house & pet sit for them. Am I lucky or what?

More inspiration...

2008-06-11T11:24:00.005-04:00

J.K. Rowling (best author ever!) recently spoke at Harvard's graduation ceremony. Check out the transcript of her speech. It's definitely worth reading or watching. I find her words to be comforting and inspiring.

Another interesting site

2008-06-11T09:52:00.004-04:00

I discovered instructables yesterday, and I think it's pretty cool. I do have to say, though, that I'm not sure whether the general public really needs to know how to create a high-voltage supply. I mean, do we really need more ways to wreak havoc and destruction?

Here's another one that my friend Shanon passed along to me. Click on the "blog blog blog" link at the bottom, and watch the video titled "Life=Risk" from May 28. It's pretty inspiring! To view the video directly, go to the youtube site.

Artcyclopedia

2008-06-10T13:08:00.003-04:00

Artcyclopedia is a really cool website with all kinds of information on artists, works of art, artistic movements, and so on. If you're curious about anything related to art, it's a fun site to explore!

Letting the Spirit Lead You

2008-06-10T11:48:00.002-04:00

This article really grabbed me. I often forget that God wants to guide me in my interests. It's a great reminder to trust & follow Him.

Babel

2008-06-09T23:48:00.004-04:00

This is another neat website I've found in looking for linguistics-related stuff. I would like to point out that while Ruhlen does seem to have his head on straight (and know his stuff!), he overlooked the fact that Old English is the "parent" language of Modern English much the way that Latin is the parent language of Spanish, French, and Italian.

Oh, I know it's not entirely the same. Latin is the (dead) forebear of a whole family of languages (the Romance Languages), while Old English is the (dead) ancestor of just one Germanic Language, but I think it's a shame that he doesn't point out the fact that the Germanic (and Slavic, etc.) Languages do have ancestor languages, and we do have written documentation of some them, it's just that they don't all stem from the one parent language like the Romances do. I think that, since Old English was contemporary to at least some of the time period when Latin was spoken, he should point that out. I agree, though, that there must be some proto-Germanic and proto-Slavic tongues that gave rise to the various Germanic & Slavic languages we speak today. And more to the point, that there is likely some proto-everything language from which all of our tongues come.

Maybe it's proto-Babel.

The never-ending thesis

2008-06-09T23:36:00.002-04:00

I started working on my thesis last fall. I realize that 10 months isn't really that long to be working on a thesis, but it feels like it sometimes! It's at the point that when I edit any of it, I don't really see what's on the page anymore. I don't even see what I think it might be when it's finished. I see what I feel like it should be now. (Which, to my mind, is a flawless page-turner of an essay. Oops! I thought I had gotten rid of my academic perfectionism in college. Oh well. In this case, I think a B might really not be good enough for me.)

So anyway, I got preliminary comments back from one of my readers with some basic changes I needed to make to improve the quality of my argument. Essentially, I messed up the transcriptions of most of the diphthongs and needed to make a few quick & easy changes to fix it. Whew! I'm glad he caught it, because I never would have seen the errors. I've been working on this thesis--and all the little parts that make it up--for long enough now that I even when I see something that's a glaring error, it looks correct. It's like if you rehearse a piece of music (or a line in a play, or whatever) with a small mistake in it, you get to a point that the mistake is what feels correct, even though it's not what you're supposed to be saying.

Anyway, I'm really glad to be in the final stages of my thesis!

Speech Accent Archive

2008-06-07T22:50:00.002-04:00

The Speech Accent Archive is a fantastic tool for anyone who wants to learn about accents. It has speech samples of hundreds of people--whose native languages range from Afrikaans to Zulu--speaking the same paragraph. (It also has some pretty fabulous information on the phonetic inventories of all of the native languages covered in the Archive!) It's very interesting to hear the many different people with their many different voices speak the same words.

I highly recommend that everyone spend some time looking through it. It's a lot of fun, even if you don't have any knowledge of or interest in linguistics!

Phonetics and Phonology

2008-06-07T22:30:00.005-04:00

I'm a linguist (well, I have a degree in linguistics, but I'm not really sure if that makes me a linguist! At any rate, I think linguistics is really exciting! I guess that goes to show how much of a nerd I am), and my favorite branch of linguistics is phonology. (Other branches include syntax, semantics, historical linguistics, psycho- (or neuro-) linguistics, computational linguistics...)

Whenever I mention that I like phonology, people ask, "oh, so is that like phonetics?"

Well, yes and no. Phonetics is a separate branch of linguistics, but it's related to phonology, and you can't do much phonology without phonetics.

Phonetics is the study of sound. That is, the sounds humans make and how we produce them with our voice apparatus (the anatomical parts we use to produce sounds--lungs, vocal cords, tongue, teeth, nose, etc.) Phonetics defines the sounds, how they're made, and has a symbol to represent each distinct sound. Phonology is the study of patterns of sounds, especially the patterns found within a language. (For example, a fairly universal pattern--aka a phonological universal--is that nasals match the place of articulation of the following consonant. This is why we say impossible instead of inpossible--the nasal sound transfers where it is produced with the voice apparatus to match where the next consonant is produced. Since the p is produced with the lips, the nasal that precedes it--in this case the m--matches the place of sound production; the lips.

So, that's the difference between phonetics and phonology! Phonology uses phonetics to study what sound patterns exist, why, and how they work. (By the way, I love phonetics, too! Especially areas like acoustic phonetics and such...)

Stress relief!

2008-06-06T10:51:00.004-04:00

This is almost as good as the real thing! Not to mention, it's a good way to waste time...

Bubble wrap!

For those of us who struggle with money

2008-06-06T10:47:00.004-04:00

I have a confession: I'm terrible at budgeting, and I'm terrible at managing my money. It's not that I'm not motivated enough or intelligent enough to take care of my finances, I'm just not good at it!

Anyway, here's a fun website with good money- and debt-management info. It's worth checking out if you, like me, struggle with this!

http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com

Some cool sites

2008-06-05T19:30:00.005-04:00

I just had to share these links.

Hip-hop violin
I love how these guys combine classical sounds with hip hop to create the amazing music you hear in this clip.

This guy has discovered a major musical secret: everything comes from classical music. Pachelbel Rant

Okay, okay, it's really just that there are a lot of patterns in music, and they show up all over the place. Still, this is really fun :)

I like that these two clips show us both how much fun music can be and how universal it is.

Lexical gaps

2008-05-09T23:17:00.002-04:00

A lexical gap is a word that should exist, but doesn't My favorite example of a lexical gap is gruntled. What the heck does gruntled mean? Well, it's the logical opposite of disgruntled. Only gruntled doesn't actually exist; it's a lexical gap.

Neologisms

2008-05-06T10:48:00.003-04:00

What do these words have in common? Grinch, muggle, majestic, snorkack.

Answer: they're all neologisms first seen in literature ("majestic" was created by Shakespeare. Presumably he just used English morphology rules to change "majesty" into an adjective.). They also happen to be neologisms I mention in my thesis, but that's an aside.

Neologisms are a vital part of language. They allow languages to grow and change, and they enable us to express new ideas for which we don't have a word. In other words, neologisms rock. Some of my favorite neologisms are the Seussian: grinch, Yertle (yes, names can be neologisms), ooblek, wocket, sneetch, and Jabberwocky (okay, that one's from Carroll, not Seuss. But still, it's a cool word!). These are fun to read and say.