Tomorrow morning at 8:00 the hubby and I intend to hit the open road in our sporty little black wagon, bound for adventure, grand vistas, and vacation with my parents in Vail. In between hiking to the tops of 14ers and visiting with friends flung across the front range, some relaxation is on the agenda. Yes, I said that relaxing is on the agenda, because that's how I roll. I am an J (for all you Myers-Briggs-ers out there) and I have to plan in order to relax.
I love going on vacation, but the truth is, I often stress myself out in the process of getting there. When packing, I want to think of everything I might possibly need. I have this fear of forgetting something important, and because I'm cheap I'll kick myself for having to purchase something once there that I already had at home. For the past several weeks I've had "things to pack" pop into my head at random times and places...in the shower, at the grocery store, in the middle of dinner, lying in bed at night trying to shut off my list-making brain. I had to start a real list (broken down into major and minor categories, of course) and every time I thought of something else I'd run and add it to the list. I factor in contingency plans. I check weather reports. I MapQuest. I invariably pack more books, music, games, and other forms of entertainment than I will ever get to while away from home (case in point: I just checked out 5 audiobooks from the library). Something about "vacation" triggers this irrationality that being away from home and relieved of the responsibilities of work for a time will somehow multiply my ability (and desire) to do and consume. When really, isn't the purpose of a vacation to slow down and not do, and to sit back and not consume so much?
Yes, when it comes to vacation and relaxing, I am definitely still an abecedarian (as in, a novice still learning the rudiments of a subject). Given this admission, I am charging myself with this assignment: to discover the ABCs of vacation, and to blog about it when I get home. (I'm such a nerd I just gave myself homework for vacation! I'm hopeless!) I'll be taking my trusty Canon along with me, and hope to capture some of the entries to present in photo form.
What about you? Are you an old pro when it comes to getting away and kicking back? Or do you get all worked up about the prospect of not working?
Showing posts with label because I'm a nerd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label because I'm a nerd. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Friday, September 11, 2009
Just Added to "Makes Me Chuckle..."
The newest addition to the "Makes Me Chuckle..." section in the sidebar is People of Walmart, for which I have my Facebook friend (and college dorm & classmate) Betsy to thank for bringing it to my attention.
Makes me chuckle. Also makes me glad that I participated in the Taylor tradition of braless midnight Wal-mart runs before the advent of camera phones.
Makes me chuckle. Also makes me glad that I participated in the Taylor tradition of braless midnight Wal-mart runs before the advent of camera phones.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sonicky...and not so sonicky.
Over the past couple months I've been slowly working my way through Roy Blount's Alphabet Juice, which indisputably has the longest subtitle of any book on my shelf: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof: Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics, and Essences: With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory. The book is basically a glossary of words and phrases, with (mostly) brief quips about their origin and usage.
Blount takes issue with the idea that the sound of words is arbitrary and separated from their meaning. Rather, he contends that humans have an innate sense to detect when a word is particularly appropriate to the thing it signifies. He describes a word with that quality as "sonicky."
So, with that in the back of my mind, I was struck by the difference between the two words that appear on my Yahoo home page today in my Dictionary.com Word of the Day widget. Today's Word of the Day is "susurrus," a noun defined as "a whispering or rustling sound; a murmur." Say the word [su-SUHR-uhs] and listen to how it sounds...doesn't it SOUND like what it means? That, Blount would proclaim, is a sonicky word.
Meanwhile, yesterday's word is about as un-sonicky as you can get. Pulchritude. If this word is new to you, what would you think it means, based on how it sounds?
This noun's meaning (are you ready for this?) is "that quality of appearance which pleases the eye; beauty; comeliness; grace; loveliness."
Let's use it in a sentence, shall we?
As he gazed upon his wife, he was overcome by the pulchritude of her countenance.
Even though you know what the word means, it just doesn't sound like a good thing, does it? It sounds like something that would make a person puke, not something upon which one's eyes would feast.
And that, my friends, is why words are fascinating to me.
What's your favorite sonicky or unsonicky word?
Blount takes issue with the idea that the sound of words is arbitrary and separated from their meaning. Rather, he contends that humans have an innate sense to detect when a word is particularly appropriate to the thing it signifies. He describes a word with that quality as "sonicky."
So, with that in the back of my mind, I was struck by the difference between the two words that appear on my Yahoo home page today in my Dictionary.com Word of the Day widget. Today's Word of the Day is "susurrus," a noun defined as "a whispering or rustling sound; a murmur." Say the word [su-SUHR-uhs] and listen to how it sounds...doesn't it SOUND like what it means? That, Blount would proclaim, is a sonicky word.
Meanwhile, yesterday's word is about as un-sonicky as you can get. Pulchritude. If this word is new to you, what would you think it means, based on how it sounds?
This noun's meaning (are you ready for this?) is "that quality of appearance which pleases the eye; beauty; comeliness; grace; loveliness."
Let's use it in a sentence, shall we?
As he gazed upon his wife, he was overcome by the pulchritude of her countenance.
Even though you know what the word means, it just doesn't sound like a good thing, does it? It sounds like something that would make a person puke, not something upon which one's eyes would feast.
And that, my friends, is why words are fascinating to me.
What's your favorite sonicky or unsonicky word?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Curbside Consultation of the Colon
The U.K.'s Bookseller Magazine has announced the shortlist for the annual Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year. You can read all about it here.
The shortlist includes 6 titles, which are as follows:
The shortlist includes 6 titles, which are as follows:
Baboon Metaphysics by Dorothy Dorothy L Cheney and Robert M Seyfarth (University of Chicago Press)
Curbside Consultation of the Colon by Brooks D Cash (SLACK Incorporated)
The Large Sieve and its Applications by Emmanuel Kowalski (Cambridge University Press)
Strip and Knit with Style by Mark Hordyszynski (C&T)
Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring by Lietai Yang (Woodhead)
The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais by Professor Philip M Parker (Icon Group International)
The prestigious award was first conceived by The Diagram Group’s Bruce Robertson as a way to avoid boredom at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Run by Horace Bent, the first ever winner was the University of Tokyo Press’ Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice, in 1978. Last year’s winner was If You Want Closure In Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs.
Go to www.theBookseller.com to vote for your favorite. As you can see from the title of this post, I've picked mine.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
You Mock My Pants
It has recently come to my attention that a series of statements can be made much more interesting by replacing one of the words with "pants." [For this I am indebted to Jason Boyett, who employed this tactic with lines from Star Wars and Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" on his blog.] I've decided to try this with some classic lines from one of my favorite movies, The Princess Bride.
Farmboy, polish my horse's pants. (Buttercup)
She doesn't get eaten by the pants at this time. (Grandpa)
Pants cannot stop true love. (Westley)
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my pants. Prepare to die. (Inigo)
You mock my pants. (Buttercup)
You rush a miracle man, you get rotten pants. (Miracle Max)
You were not hired for your pants, you hippopotamic land mass. (Vizzini)
You be careful. People in pants cannot be trusted. (Fezzik)
We face each other as God intended. Sportsmanlike. No tricks, no pants, skill against skill alone. (Fezzik)
I challenge you to a battle of pants. (Westley)
You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched pants when your back was turned! (Vizzini)
Really that's all this is, except that instead of sucking water, I'm sucking pants. (Count Rugen)
Please consider me as an alternative to pants. (Prince Humperdinck)
Farmboy, polish my horse's pants. (Buttercup)
She doesn't get eaten by the pants at this time. (Grandpa)
Pants cannot stop true love. (Westley)
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my pants. Prepare to die. (Inigo)
You mock my pants. (Buttercup)
You rush a miracle man, you get rotten pants. (Miracle Max)
You were not hired for your pants, you hippopotamic land mass. (Vizzini)
You be careful. People in pants cannot be trusted. (Fezzik)
We face each other as God intended. Sportsmanlike. No tricks, no pants, skill against skill alone. (Fezzik)
I challenge you to a battle of pants. (Westley)
You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched pants when your back was turned! (Vizzini)
Really that's all this is, except that instead of sucking water, I'm sucking pants. (Count Rugen)
Please consider me as an alternative to pants. (Prince Humperdinck)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
25 Random Things About Suz
So, there's this "craze" sweeping across Facebook called "25 Random Things." It's very simple, really: you write a note listing 25 random things about yourself.
Well, it should be no surprise that I got sucked up into this wave, because it's a list and I'm a sucker for lists. And because I enjoyed reading other people's lists and learning things about them, or remembering things I knew about them but forgot that I knew, or seeing things that we share in common and remembering why we're friends. So, here's my list.
1. I have the tip of a pencil embedded in my left hand from a misguided balloon-popping attempt in third grade.
2. I’ve fractured my left ankle twice—once on the playground (5th grade) and once at Girl Scout camp (6th grade). I’ve also sprained and twisted it numerous times, including one time in health class. Yep – not gym class as you might think, but health class. Lame, I know.
3. I was on the varsity badminton team all four years of high school and competed in the IHSA state tournament my junior year.
4. My stupid human trick is screeching like a monkey. Loudly and convincingly.
5. In the eighth grade all school assembly I was awarded the “Outstanding Home Ec Student” prize, which consisted of a basket full of cooking and sewing implements. If that doesn’t make you cool in the eyes of your peers, I’m not sure what does.
6. I come with knives.
7. My most-often-consumed beverage from Starbucks is a Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte. At Caribou it's a Lite White Sugar-Free Raspberry Mocha.
8. I won the all-school spelling bee in third grade but got out on the very first word in the district bee. I don’t remember what the word was, but I bet I could spell it now.
9. Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year.
10. My brother and I were born seven years and one day apart.
11. In second grade my family got a toy poodle. I named him Frisky. I would dress him up in clothes from my dolls and Pound Puppies; he was a good sport. In his later years, Frisky went blind, lost most of his teeth, and occasionally had seizures. He was a good dog, if a big sickly and neurotic.
12. I love cheese.
13. I’ve worked at Barnes & Noble since 2000.
14. I rode a camel in Morocco.
15. My favorite TV show is the Amazing Race. I have seen every episode of every season. Except the family season, which I stopped watching because it was dumb.
16. I possess the uncanny ability to hit the snooze button repeatedly for an hour or more without ever really waking up or realizing what I’m doing.
17. I played the viola for a year and a half (4th and 5th grade). My dog would howl every time I practiced at home.
18. As a kid I went through a phase during which I tried to convince my parents to let me add another middle name—Cinnamon (which would have made me Suzanne Kay Cinnamon—has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?). When denied, I named my favorite teddy bear Cinnamon instead.
19. Babies make me nervous.
20. The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning is one of the most significant books I’ve read along my spiritual journey (outside of the Bible, of course).
21. Some work days the only person I see from 9-5 is the mail carrier.
22. As a kid I would get more excited about going to the stationery and office supply store than to the toy store.
23. Caedmon’s Call is right: “Love is different than you think.”
24. Winter makes me want to bake and make soup.
25. I miss my grandpa.
I would like to add a 26th thing, because I like the number 26 (I was born on the 26th) and because my fiance's list mentioned me three times, and I didn't mention him once in mine, and so here's the super special 26th thing about Suz: I have the best fiance in the world and I am eagerly anticipating the day I get to become his wife (which happens to be 247 days from today).
Well, it should be no surprise that I got sucked up into this wave, because it's a list and I'm a sucker for lists. And because I enjoyed reading other people's lists and learning things about them, or remembering things I knew about them but forgot that I knew, or seeing things that we share in common and remembering why we're friends. So, here's my list.
1. I have the tip of a pencil embedded in my left hand from a misguided balloon-popping attempt in third grade.
2. I’ve fractured my left ankle twice—once on the playground (5th grade) and once at Girl Scout camp (6th grade). I’ve also sprained and twisted it numerous times, including one time in health class. Yep – not gym class as you might think, but health class. Lame, I know.
3. I was on the varsity badminton team all four years of high school and competed in the IHSA state tournament my junior year.
4. My stupid human trick is screeching like a monkey. Loudly and convincingly.
5. In the eighth grade all school assembly I was awarded the “Outstanding Home Ec Student” prize, which consisted of a basket full of cooking and sewing implements. If that doesn’t make you cool in the eyes of your peers, I’m not sure what does.
6. I come with knives.
7. My most-often-consumed beverage from Starbucks is a Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte. At Caribou it's a Lite White Sugar-Free Raspberry Mocha.
8. I won the all-school spelling bee in third grade but got out on the very first word in the district bee. I don’t remember what the word was, but I bet I could spell it now.
9. Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year.
10. My brother and I were born seven years and one day apart.
11. In second grade my family got a toy poodle. I named him Frisky. I would dress him up in clothes from my dolls and Pound Puppies; he was a good sport. In his later years, Frisky went blind, lost most of his teeth, and occasionally had seizures. He was a good dog, if a big sickly and neurotic.
12. I love cheese.
13. I’ve worked at Barnes & Noble since 2000.
14. I rode a camel in Morocco.
15. My favorite TV show is the Amazing Race. I have seen every episode of every season. Except the family season, which I stopped watching because it was dumb.
16. I possess the uncanny ability to hit the snooze button repeatedly for an hour or more without ever really waking up or realizing what I’m doing.
17. I played the viola for a year and a half (4th and 5th grade). My dog would howl every time I practiced at home.
18. As a kid I went through a phase during which I tried to convince my parents to let me add another middle name—Cinnamon (which would have made me Suzanne Kay Cinnamon—has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?). When denied, I named my favorite teddy bear Cinnamon instead.
19. Babies make me nervous.
20. The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning is one of the most significant books I’ve read along my spiritual journey (outside of the Bible, of course).
21. Some work days the only person I see from 9-5 is the mail carrier.
22. As a kid I would get more excited about going to the stationery and office supply store than to the toy store.
23. Caedmon’s Call is right: “Love is different than you think.”
24. Winter makes me want to bake and make soup.
25. I miss my grandpa.
I would like to add a 26th thing, because I like the number 26 (I was born on the 26th) and because my fiance's list mentioned me three times, and I didn't mention him once in mine, and so here's the super special 26th thing about Suz: I have the best fiance in the world and I am eagerly anticipating the day I get to become his wife (which happens to be 247 days from today).
Monday, November 24, 2008
Fun Fact for the Day
I was reading through a few prayer letters today and one was from a missionary serving in Poland who recently had emergency eye surgery (in Poland) to repair a detached retina. She writes, "The 19th century eye hospital has no elevator. So after my operation I was carried upstairs on a stretcher. Things to take with you to a hospital here: pajamas, slippers, a towel, a cup, soap, and cutlery."
And then this, which was my favorite part: "In Polish, retina and volleyball are the same word. So 'odklejana siadkowka' could equally mean detached retina or unglued volleyball."
So there you have your fun fact for the day. Bust it out at parties and impress your friends.
And then this, which was my favorite part: "In Polish, retina and volleyball are the same word. So 'odklejana siadkowka' could equally mean detached retina or unglued volleyball."
So there you have your fun fact for the day. Bust it out at parties and impress your friends.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Suz through the years...
It seems by now a lot of people are aware of yearbookyourself.com, a nifty site where you can upload a photo of yourself and see what you might have looked like with the hairstyles of days gone by. I'd managed to resist jumping on the bandwagon until today, when I decided it was a legitimate way to entertain myself on my lunch break. So, here's what I might have looked like back in the day (and as a brunette)...
1968 
1986
1994
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Happy National Punctuation Day!
Yes, September 24th is National Punctuation Day. Chase's Calendar of Events bills it as "A celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotes, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis."
And they should be celebrated! Punctuation marks are so misused and abused by the general public--especially the dear, misunderstood apostrophe--that perhaps this celebration will inspire a thirst for knowledge and proper usage. Okay, well, probably not. It's more just a chance for nerds like me to find solidarity with other nerds, such as those who form the Apostrophe Protection Society. (Let me tell you, just reading their manifesto got me fired up!)
Not sure how to celebrate? About.com's Grammar & Punctuation blogger Richard Nordquist suggests 10 Ways to Celebrate National Punctuation Day. Read, and then get busy!
And they should be celebrated! Punctuation marks are so misused and abused by the general public--especially the dear, misunderstood apostrophe--that perhaps this celebration will inspire a thirst for knowledge and proper usage. Okay, well, probably not. It's more just a chance for nerds like me to find solidarity with other nerds, such as those who form the Apostrophe Protection Society. (Let me tell you, just reading their manifesto got me fired up!)
Not sure how to celebrate? About.com's Grammar & Punctuation blogger Richard Nordquist suggests 10 Ways to Celebrate National Punctuation Day. Read, and then get busy!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Caution: Icy Conditions May Result in Jazz Hands
I saw this sign at the Chicago Botanic Garden this past weekend and it struck me as funny. Thursday, September 18, 2008
Warp and Woof
At the moment (well, not literally at the moment, but more like 2 minutes ago, before I decided to needed to take a short break and blog about it) I'm reading a chapter on contextualization in The Changing Face of World Missions. At the end of a paragraph I came across the phrase "warp and woof," as in:
So, I looked it up in both thefreedictionary.com and Merriam-Webster Online, and indeed, it's a bona fide phrase dating back to 1842, and it refers to the underlying structure on which something is built; a base or foundation. Huh.
So, my readers, a question and a challenge:
Question: Have you ever come across this phrase before?
Challenge: Leave a comment and use it in a sentence.
P.S. It also struck me as funny that when I looked it up on
Merrian-Webster Online, this ad showed up in the right hand sidebar. I had to wonder whether this ad randomly appeared, or whether I'd been selected to view it because I'd looked up "warp and WOOF." Either way, that's funny. Well, at least to me.
[Contextualization] cannot be limited to propositional truths. It must be carried into the very warp and woof of church life and practice.I've never heard this phrase before, and it struck me as odd and rather funny. I could figure it's meaning by the context, but being the word nerd that I am, had to look it up online to confirm my guess at its meaning and ascertain whether or not this is a legitmate phrase that people (well, at least some people) actually use.
So, I looked it up in both thefreedictionary.com and Merriam-Webster Online, and indeed, it's a bona fide phrase dating back to 1842, and it refers to the underlying structure on which something is built; a base or foundation. Huh.
So, my readers, a question and a challenge:
Question: Have you ever come across this phrase before?
Challenge: Leave a comment and use it in a sentence.
P.S. It also struck me as funny that when I looked it up on
Merrian-Webster Online, this ad showed up in the right hand sidebar. I had to wonder whether this ad randomly appeared, or whether I'd been selected to view it because I'd looked up "warp and WOOF." Either way, that's funny. Well, at least to me.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Now List
Some days, there's something strangely satisfying about filling in the answers to a questionnaire. Especially when the questions are really easy to answer. This is one of those days. And so, here's the Now List, borrowed from Jason Boyett over at his blog.
What I am listening to right now:
The muted sounds of a train rumbling by on the Union Pacific West Line a block away.
What computer I am using right now:
The one at work. It's a Dell. I'm not technical, so that's pretty much all I know about it. It's black. I like it. It's good to me.
What I am eating right now:
My lunch, which consists of pasta salad and baby carrots with hummus. [As an aside, I think baby carrots are one of the greatest "inventions" of the last quarter century, and I'd like to give a shout out to Mike Yurosek who came up with the idea back in the late 1980s. The vegetable section of my food pyramid is visited a lot more often because of him.]
What I am drinking right now:
Water
What I have just finished doing:
Printing labels for data CDs filled with resources for mission education in the local church.
What I will do immediately after posting this:
Wrap up my lunch break and get back to work.
What I am reading now:
Recapture the Wonder by Ravi Zacharias
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Proverbs by King Solomon
Last email I received:
Was two minutes ago, from a friend who'd like me to edit a letter for her (which I am happy to do).
Last text I received:
Was last night, something sweet and profound from my boyfriend.
Last blog entry I read:
The one that came after the one where I got this list, a cautionary post about injuries one might sustain from a case of mooning gone awry, entitled "This Is Why You Don't Do That." It made me laugh.
What I did last night:
Enjoyed dinner with Travis, followed by my weekly bookseller gig at Barnes & Noble.
What I'm doing tonight:
Sorting through some stuff at home so I can start packing. Really. I mean it this time.
What I just looked at right now:
The tub of hummus.
What I am listening to right now:
The muted sounds of a train rumbling by on the Union Pacific West Line a block away.
What computer I am using right now:
The one at work. It's a Dell. I'm not technical, so that's pretty much all I know about it. It's black. I like it. It's good to me.
What I am eating right now:
My lunch, which consists of pasta salad and baby carrots with hummus. [As an aside, I think baby carrots are one of the greatest "inventions" of the last quarter century, and I'd like to give a shout out to Mike Yurosek who came up with the idea back in the late 1980s. The vegetable section of my food pyramid is visited a lot more often because of him.]
What I am drinking right now:
Water
What I have just finished doing:
Printing labels for data CDs filled with resources for mission education in the local church.
What I will do immediately after posting this:
Wrap up my lunch break and get back to work.
What I am reading now:
Recapture the Wonder by Ravi Zacharias
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Proverbs by King Solomon
Last email I received:
Was two minutes ago, from a friend who'd like me to edit a letter for her (which I am happy to do).
Last text I received:
Was last night, something sweet and profound from my boyfriend.
Last blog entry I read:
The one that came after the one where I got this list, a cautionary post about injuries one might sustain from a case of mooning gone awry, entitled "This Is Why You Don't Do That." It made me laugh.
What I did last night:
Enjoyed dinner with Travis, followed by my weekly bookseller gig at Barnes & Noble.
What I'm doing tonight:
Sorting through some stuff at home so I can start packing. Really. I mean it this time.
What I just looked at right now:
The tub of hummus.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Apostrophes Matter
Humble apostrophe
How you are mishandled, abused
Neglected and misunderstood
You create such meaning
Taking the place of absent letters
Indicating possession
Without you is confusion
Let us be clear
Yes, let’s!
The apostrophe must be respected.
Does the fact that punctuation inspires me to craft poetry on its behalf make me a nerd? Perhaps. Okay, yes. But I will gladly take on that label if it means defending the cause of the apostrophe, the comma, and my personal favorite, the semi-colon. (Yes, I know, the fact that I even HAVE a favorite punctuation mark has "nerd" written all over it.)
Nevertheless, the fact that apostrophes really do matter is today painfully clear to Mr. Lou Cella, the sculptor who fashioned the new statue of Ernie Banks that was unveiled at Wrigley Monday. Engraved on the granite base is the inscription, "LETS PLAY TWO."
When asked about the missing apostrophe, Cella said, "I'm the sculptor, I'm not a writer." The Cubs have vowed that it will be fixed before the Cubs are back in town for their next home game. "We'll put in the most beautiful apostrophe you ever saw," Cella said.
See, now he gets it--apostrophes don't just matter, they can be downright beautiful.
Click here to read the article about it in the Chicago Tribune.
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