Emily Dickenson:
A word is dead
when it is said
some say
I say it just
begins to live
that day
Either that…or Dr. Seuss:
Look what we found in the park!
In the dark!
We will take him home!
We will call him Clark!
He will live with us!
He will grow and grow!
Will our mother like this?
We do not know.
These are my sneakers. They have been my sneakers for so many years now that I can’t even remember how long. I have a vague memory that I was living on Banks Rd (the *first* time) when I got them, which means Mary and Joey would have been at Coconut Creek Elementary. If that memory is correct, then these sneakers are very…very old.
And they are showing their age. Besides being filthy, the rubber soles are coming apart, flapping up and down, to and fro, when I walk. That’s why I have to retire them. If they weren’t practically *dangerous* at this point, there’s no way I would get rid of them. After wearing them for so long, they hug my feet so perfectly that they are in many ways even more comfortable than going barefoot.
Ah, my sneakers…They have served me well all these years. Most memorably, they went to the gym with me every day back in 2005, when I managed to lose about 30 pounds. Of those 30, 20 or so have come back, and I am now in the process of “re-losing” them. But it will be a new pair of sneakers that accompanies me on that adventure.
But these sneakers and I had many adventures together, aside from all our hard working hours in the gym. Most memorably, they have no doubt been involved in my moving experiences, packing and unpacking up all my belongings…how many times? Three? Four? Five? And the last time, they traveled with me all the way from Florida to Alabama. Old friends in a new place.
I know I sound very sentimental about my ratty old pair of sneakers. I’m really not. They’ll go in the trash can, where they belong. I just thought it would be nice to stop for a moment and reflect upon something that has been so much a part of my life for so long before I move on into a “New Sneakers” chapter of my life.
Haha! I remember this one well. One time Mary and I decided to make a “Bloomin’ Onion” at home. We got an onion, cut it like a flower, dipped it in some kind of flour mixture, then put it in a pot of oil to boil. It came out…absolutely…awful…
Drippy and oily…and none of the coating stuck like it should have…it was just a mess. And the clean up? Ugh.
It was then and there I decided that there are some things that just can’t be duplicated or faked. There are some times when there is no reasonable alternative but to leave it in the hands of the experts.
How could we have improved upon it? Throw it in the garbage, and go to Outback. Which is pretty much what we did. Not right away, but when we did, the Onion was done to perfection.
I would LIKE to learn how to play the accordian. I’ve always thought that would be the coolest thing. But to tell the truth, I know I’m not going to do that this year, or probably at any time, unless I win the lottery and suddenly have unlimited resources and time to indulge these ridiculous fantasies. So, playing the accordian will most probably remain no more than a dream. But I DID answer the question, because I would LIKE to learn how to play the accordian.
YIPPEE!
These pictures were taken at 8:30 this morning, when the snow had just started.
These pictures were taken about 10am, when the snow started coming in heavier.
Well, that’s about as good as it got. It was exciting, tho, and I can’t wait till we have the next snow “event.” Hope next time it sticks to the ground a little more.
Okay, here is a perfect example of why I love Russ.
Yesterday, a co-worker was having an issue that caused us to go to Dear Abby on-line to see what the Advise Guru might say about her situation. While there, I read a letter from a woman who saw her son get in a car with a “strange woman” and she was asking Abby if she should tell her daughter-in-law about it. (For the record, Abby said don’t talk to your daughter-in-law, talk to your SON. Duh.)
Anyway, all this really has nothing to do with Russ, except that I told him about it over dinner, and I happened to mention that I agreed with Abby, and that the son should have a chance to explain what he was doing with the strange woman, because there could be a good explanation. I noted that whenever something like this happens in movies or TV, everybody goes into a tizzy, only to discover later that the potential louse was actually meeting with a jeweler because he wanted to buy his beloved some incredible, expensive piece of jewelry as a birthday or anniversary gift. You’ve seen this plotline a half dozen times already at least…right?
Now. Later that night, we’re watching Veronica Mars. At the end of the show, Logan says it was wrong that a friend of his got arrested, because he knows the friend didn’t do it, because he was WITH that friend at the time of the crime. Veronica asks, “Where were you? Why were you with him? What were you doing?” And Logan says, “I can’t tell you.”
Mystery. What was Logan doing that he cannot tell his most beloved girlfriend? Well, Russ suggested…you got it….”Maybe he was meeting with a jeweler because he wanted to buy something for Veronica.”
Mildly amusing. Completely ridiculous as far as the show goes, but mildly amusing. More importantly, it shows me that Russ actually LISTENS to me. Not only does he listen, but he actually REMEMBERS what I say. He thinks what I say is important enough to listen to AND remember.
And I also love his wit, that he can take these little gems and bring them out and dust them off at precisely the right time.
He’s a keeper.
So Mary calls tonight asking me (the Grammar Nazi) a question about the English language, in an attempt to solve a disagreement she was having with friends. Does “bi-weekly” mean once every two weeks…or does it mean two times in one week? I know what I think, and tell her, but I look it up on-line, where I find that I am right…and also wrong! Or rather, to think of it the other way is *also* right. Basically, “bi-weekly,” according to on-line dictionaries, as well as the HUGE Webster’s Russ and I took off the bookshelf, means BOTH once every two weeks AND two times in one week.
Now, here’s my question: when you have a word where the definition means one thing and ALSO means something that is basically completely opposite, what in the world is the use of that word? You can’t use it to *communicate.* Using it will only *confuse.* So why have this word at all?
In fact, Russ has a book, New Fowler’s Modern English Usage, which is “The acknowledged authority on English usage” which basically advises you not to use the word “bi-weekly” at all, since the meaning will not be clear.
I repeat: why even have a word like that?
In other news: what is “inflammable”? Does it mean something is “flammable,” easy to catch on fire? Or does it mean something will NOT easily catch on fire? After all, “incorrect” means something that is NOT correct and “inconvenient” means something is NOT convenient. Well, as a matter of fact, inflammable is the exact SAME as flammable.
Problem is, when people used to see the word “inflammable” they used logic to make an assumption that it would follow the existing meaning of the pre-fix “in,” and therefore something INflammable would be NOT flammable. And therefore, when they saw the word INflammable, they did not take caution, since they thought it meant fire was not possible or likely (though, in fact, it meant fire WAS most possible and likely). So, somewhere along the line, people who were concerned about safety just started shortening inflammable to flammable, in order to be sure that this very important message was getting through properly.
One morething: contrary to the little ditty we used to sing as children, “ain’t” IS in the dictionary.
I see a photo of Russ, several years ago, when he and the Little League team he was coaching went to some big meet. There’s the whole team of boys in front, and Russ standing behind them, with this big, winning grin on his face, looking so cute. I really love this picture because Russ looks so good in it, but moreso because it reminds me of how family and community-minded he is. None of the boys are his son, but one is his nephew. He got involved in coaching because of his nephews, and stays involved with umpiring now because he enjoys working with the kids. He says that he wants to be so strongly identified with the field that the 5 and 6 year olds play on that it will be known as *his* field. I think this shows a real desire to be part of the community. And I love that about him.
Happy New Year! So. New Year’s Resolutions. Yep. That’s why I’m here. Best to put it down in writing, get it out there in the universe, otherwise it’s not really real. Here we go:
1. Get healthy. Part of that will be losing weight, of course, but I want the scope to be so much more than just numbers on a scale. I want to eat right, and exercise, and take vitamins, and wear sunscreen, and in general just take care of myself. The word for 2008 is HEALTH.
2. Save money for a house. Russ and I have already started this. We just have to keep moving in the right direction.
3. Go back to church.
4. Update my wardrobe. After I’ve lost some weight. More on this later.
5. Type up my novel. My “Beatrice” novel, which I wrote in 2005, and has been sitting idly while I’ve been advancing in my real life, meeting and getting to know Russ, moving, getting a new job, getting married, etc. Yes, it’s been an exciting year for me! But now it’s time for Beatrice to have another exciting year. I want to get back into a routine, and that routine should include getting Beatrice into a format that I can begin to think about editing.
6. Put away all laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer. The Laundry Monster has long plagued me, giant growing piles of clothes and towels, overpowering the couches, chairs and beds. NO MORE!
7. And this one is for Russ: Put away all discs in their proper place, immediately. I’ve been very, very bad about that. Russ is very, very good about that. He takes care of his stuff, and it stays in good shape, whereas my stuff….well, let’s not talk about that. It’s a new day.
And finally…
8. Keep up my LJ! I enjoy writing here, even if I’m not widely read. If you read, I thank you. And I promise to be more diligent from now on.
Wow. So much for getting back in the habit. Almost a whole month has passed since I last posted. The good news is that in that time I have actually gone down a little bit on my weight: 189.6 this morning. The bad news is that it is only a *little* bit. Of course, this is the holiday season, so any move in the right direction is good, I suppose.
Well, I hope to do better. I hope to come here more often to post. Just haven’t been going on-line so much lately. I recently attempted a NaNo, and it was too much for me, I think, too much time sitting at my computer. I’m not used to that, anymore, and I think I overdid it, and now I’m going too much the other way, NOT sitting at my computer very much at all.
Right now my mind is focused on doing some work around the house. More on that later.
