eureka

I’m dropping in to let you know that I haven’t died. I’ve just been less of a stickler about my update schedule this month. It’s a personal failing. But in this transition time as I re-determine what the purpose of this blog is I thought I’d stop in and share something with you about writing. Well, how I write anyway.

  There’s this movie I used to watch a lot when I was a kid. Sabrina the one with Harrison Ford instead of Humphrey Bogart. I really love that movie. Particularly there’s this one line in the movie that sticks with me perpetually. Sabrina says to her father, “I love that you took a job as a chauffuer so that you would always have time to read your books.” Even as a kid I knew this was a man to look up to.

 My job allows me a lot of mental freetime. I sit in a big wooden chair for hours on end and watch people move around a junior olympic size pool. Most of the time I make lists: to-do lists, inventory lists, lists about the members in the pool, lists of steps I would take if an emergency happens, prayer lists… stuff like that.

  A few times in the past few years as I’ve been sitting on the guard stand an idea has fallen into my head. It’s not always a good thing because I get nervouse that I’ll forget it. They’re like the ideas you have just before falling asleep and you try to convince yourself to remember it the next morning, but you didn’t write it down. I try to think about it, hold it in my brain, until I get the chance to rotate down and make a small note that I hope I’ll be able to decipher later.

  Today a though I’ve been pondering for a month or so finally clicked into place about two minutes after I sat down to guard. I managed to get it to stick. And that was exciting for me. I think that days like today are the reason that I love guarding so much and hate the thought of any other kind of job.

Language

Last semester I wrote a short story titled “I Don’t Know How to Write the End”. Today, my biggest struggle is that I don’t know how to write the beginning. The problem is I’ve been so excited about sharing this video that I’ve been thinking about it all week.

My friend Michael put this video on my Facebook wall last Thursday along with the comment “I don’t direct this at anyone.” It’s a kinetic typography video from a Stephen Fry transcript about Language.

Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography – Language from Matthew Rogers on Vimeo.

I’ve long been a linguiphile. And though that word is not recognized by most dictionaries, and it would be just as easy to say  ”a lover of words” I like “linguiphile” better. My cheerleading squad in high school called me “Homeschool” because I, as I put it, had “quite an extensive vernacular” and I put it to use, often during cheerleading practice. Most of the girls I cheered with were rather smart and knew what I was saying, yet chose to truncate their communicative skills. I embraced mine and was marginalized. No, that makes me sound like a martyr. They teased me. I got over it.

My friend Michael often teases me. The same class for which I wrote “I Don’t Know How to Write the End” featured weekly workshops. In one of these workshops I used the word “bacchanal” instead of “party”. I won’t transcribe the entire argument that followed between Michael and myself about the specificity of “bacchanal” vs. “party”. But I was quite miffed. Again, I got over it (quickly, no worries) and we’ve gone on to tease each other about much sillier things. But when he shared this video with me I chalked it up to a victory in my column.

Watching this video made me want to jump up and down in excitement. Finally, I’ve encountered someone who understands my love for words, my need to express myself in new and challenging ways. Not to rub my lexicon in other’s faces, but for the sheer enjoyment of words.

I have never read the Dictionary cover to cover, though I have perused it from time to time. And I did once read a novel about the genesis of the OED. I often wrangle over which word will better illuminate what I am attempting to communicate and I also admit that I use a thesaurus about 20 times for each blog post. I wish to avoid sounding redundant or silly. Which brings me to another video featuring Stephen Fry from his satirical A Bit of Fry and Laurie days:

I believe my favorite part of that video is when he exclaims, “And yet we, all of us, spend all our days saying to each other the same things time after weary time.” With so many words available to us for speaking, writing, communicating, why do we repeat the same things? “I love you” is an important phrase to repeat, people need to hear it.

Yet I would argue that it is also vitally important to use the argot you have command of to gently coerce others into a higher jargon. Or by using bigger words force other people to learn and use bigger words. Not for an intellectual parade of verbiage, but for the challenge of illuminating articulation, for the fun of

 the tripping of the tips of [our] tongues against the tops of [our] teeth [to] transport [us] to giddy euphoric bliss

      – Stephen Fry

Happy word hunting

I’ll see you Monday with another brand-spanking new original work post!

For further reading:

Don’t Mind Your Language

Experimonth: a summary of the food

So, I’ve knocked out the first meatless week of my life and as I’ve mentioned before: it’s been a lot less challenging than I expected. In the past seven days I haven’t been THAT experimental… but I have tried a few things that were very tasty and I believe deserve mention. Mostly though I’ve eaten a lot of cheese and crackers, a few peanut butter & Nutella sandwiches, and a WHOLE LOTTA Tex-Mex. Basically I would categorize myself more as a dairy-tarian…

Anyway, the two things that have been the most surprisingly tasty were 1)the Bean Patty at Chili’s (that you can substitute for any burger). From a girl who has never really liked beans AT ALL unless there were in green bean casserole, that’s a pretty big admission. Not only was it tasty, but I felt like I was eating a burger. It felt right, filled me up, and was delicious with my toppings of choice. And 2) The Grilled Veggie Burrito from Qdoba. Now, I am a Chipotle girl through and through. But I decided to give her counterparts a chance this past week. Moe’s failed to impress in their veggie friendly quesadilla (I think it’s just too greasy for me). But Qdoba, she came through. I’ve gotten two of the burritos so far because the sauteed veggies were just so… I’m looking for another word besides the already over-used tasty and delicious… my computer offered these options: delicious, palatable, luscious, mouthwatering, delectable, ambrosial, toothsome, dainty, flavorful; appetizing, tempting; informal yummy, scrumptious, finger-licking, lip-smacking, melt-in-your/the-mouth; pick any of them.

I also picked up a Vegan Minestrone soup February 1st that was pretty good. It was perfect for the weather at work and the lentils and red beans weren’t that hard for me to stomach.

The moral of the story is: if I wasn’t allowed to have cheese I would starve, also, I really need to go grocery shopping. I want to make something involving eggplant and I’m trying to work up the nerve to make a quiche with tofu.

Originally, I was going to allow myself eggs, fish, and cheese the first week and drop the eggs and fish for the second week. I am not sure how I feel about this decision now. I didn’t eat a lot of egg at all the first week and I didn’t touch any fish. I may go get some sushi or hummus today for lunch.

So, that is what I have been eating and what I plan to eat. From here on out, whether my posts have anything to do with Experimonth or not I will try to add a summary of daily foods to the end of the post (for those of you who are curious). If you have any good recipes or ideas, send em my way.

Peace