| Obviously it depends on some things. |
[Mar. 3rd, 2006|12:36 pm] |
| You Are 56% Open Minded | 
You are a very open minded person, but you're also well grounded.
Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints.
But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line.
You're open to considering every possibility - but in the end, you stand true to yourself. |
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| Linguists are silly, in an abstract kind of way |
[Mar. 2nd, 2006|01:30 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sleepy | ] |
Ok, so we're just getting introduced to the construct of Feature Geometry (ok, well maybe the rest of the class is) when it comes to analyzing our data. Anyway, the details of that aren't important except that in this construct, nothing is linear, everything is in separate dimensions. The funny part came in when the prof was drawing a simplified version of this on the board, and said, "Now imagine the blackboard in multi-dimensional, n-dimensional space, and lose consciousness," and starts laughing. I suggested making a mobile of this stuff, and he said, "yes, and it will be beautiful." But as someone pointed out, it would only be 3-D, and therefore wouldn't be enough.
So, next time I'm bored in class, I wil stare at the blackboard, trying to imagine it as multi-dimensional, n-dimensional space, and lose consciousness. Doesn't that sound lovely? |
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| I survived... |
[Feb. 27th, 2006|09:40 am] |
Ok, so my last post about my in-laws was a huge rant, but in all honestly, the visit wasn't bad. Not bad at all, so perhaps I worried for nothing (admittedly, I am good at that.) I still wish that they had come Friday and stayed a little longer, but...whatever. Honestly, though, my father-in-law's back is so bad when he spends too much time in the car, so why would they take a 4 hour trip, stay one night, and then take a 4 hour trip again the next day?
Grandma Blanche was able to come, but she drank too much coffee, which made her stomach sour. I had made the meal I pretty much said I would (though Wendy supplied dessert, a birthday cake for Blanche), but we were still full from the late lunch at Stoneforge, so not as much got eaten-yay leftovers!. But my mother-in-law wants the recipe for the roast, so that's good. My soup was not as good as I had hoped...the pasta soaked up ALL of the soup, so next time, I won't be adding it prematurely. But it tasted just fine.
So we finally had Xmas with them, and they bought us a new futon, as promised. We picked it out, and it should be delivered next week. It has magazine rack space-I'm excited. Then yesterday we headed to the Galleria and bought Evan some new clothes over at Steve and Barry's. The prices are cheap, but Evan swears the clothes are far more durable than the ones he gets over at more expensive shops. I couldn't get anything good there-it's not made for short curvy people like me. I did get stuff over at New York and Company for even cheaper, though. A whole wall was filled with items for $3.99 each. I'm not kidding. I got four button down shirts, two striped, two solid, and a knee length black flare-y skirt with embroidery on it for a grand total of $19.95. Each shirt originally sold at $29-$37 and the skirt was $49.50.
They said next time they come up (let's see how long this takes), they want to stay up closer to Boston so we can go to museums. Sounds good to me. |
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| I couldn't really argue with this much... |
[Feb. 26th, 2006|09:27 am] |
| You Are Boston | 
Both modern and old school, you never forget your roots.
Well educated and a little snobby, you demand the best.
And quite frankly, you think you are the best.
Famous people from the Boston area: Conan O'Brien, Ben Affleck, New Kids on the Block |
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| GRRRRRR |
[Feb. 22nd, 2006|09:25 am] |
Ok, so I was all excited about making a meal for my in-laws for Friday night, except that apparently, they aren't bothering to leave NJ until Saturday morning, and then leaving Sunday afternoon. And they just told us this last night, after we asked to make sure. They wouldn't actually volunteer it, but Evan was like, oh, because Heather was planning on making a nice meal for Friday night when you all arrived. His mother just said, "Oh." I really hope she realizes that I'm offended.
Now, so you all don't think I was jumping the gun on this-They go to VT every other weekend, arriving on Friday night and leaving Sunday afternoon. It only takes a half hour longer to get here than it does to get to VT. The only real difference is that they would have to pay for a hotel room (as they have a house in VT), and maybe take a half day at work that Friday, because we don't have appropriate extra places to sleep (in their view), plus Grandma Blanche is going. I'd understand this better if they didn't make way more money than we'll ever see in our lifetime. They're not millionaires, but they are definitely comfortable. And if they had really wanted a free night at a hotel, I think we have enough points to make that happen from our travels back and forth from IL.
They bitch and moan about how the grandmas miss us, that we don't come down enough, but WE DON'T HAVE A SALARY, VACATION DAYS, OR SICK DAYS. We are living on the income from my two part-time jobs, student loans, and a hopeful tax return (which is going to be pathetic, because apparently, we made too much money for earned income credit-how the fuck did that happen?). Yes, I am so sorry that I decided to continue with my schooling and that Evan decided to go into art ed (yeah, Wendy started trying to make me doubt he could get a job from that, too-argh!). How dare I not just keep my job at Blue Cross and climb the corporate ladder instead and be Evan's sugar-mommy. Ugh.
They really and truly drive me insane. |
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| Cleaning spree! |
[Feb. 20th, 2006|09:31 pm] |
So here's the deal. Evan's parents are coming to visit next weekend, possibly bringing along his Grandma Blanche. So that means this place needs to be immaculate. Evan has February break this week, which helps. We're doing a room a day, basically. We started with our bedroom, which we never really decorated, so it's not really US. We went through a bunch of crap (we have more partially used hair products, acne washes, etc, than we know what to do with), washed a whole bunch of clothes, vaccumed, and stuff. Did dishes, too. We have wall sconces that Evan made back in IL that will be installed tomorrow, but we did manage to hang up a few things on the wall today. We also went through our closet (basically a small room of its own!). So yay, our bedroom finally looks like a romantic space. Tomorrow Evan's going to bring art stuff back downstairs, hang up the wall sconces and the Under Dali's Mustache piece, and clean the bathroom while I'm at class.
I guess Wednesday we can do the rest of the living room and attack the office. Thursday and Friday I want to get the kitchen done, but then I want to cook an amazing meal for when they show up. I've got recipes for a Mediterranean tomato soup with pasta, herb encrusted roast beef, and grilled asparagus and bell pepper. Still trying to figure out dessert, but that will come. If this seems like too much food, it is. But the latter two recipes are Weight Watchers, so that will help. It's just that every time I go to visit them, I am bombarded with food, coffee, and cakes. I help out with cooking, but I get relegated to the tasks of chopping veggies or making salad dressing. And anyone who knows me and has eaten dinner at my house KNOWS that I can cook. But I feel uncomfortable cooking at his mother's house (the kitchen is way too small for more than one person to cook, and I never know where the hell she puts things). And I'm not alone in that feeling-Grandma Blanche feels the same way. At the same time though, because they are way more Old World than me, I feel like I have to prove my salt in the culinary arts. Evan had suggested that maybe I make Yankee food, since they wouldn't make that, but unfortunately, the main Yankee dishes I know would not be acceptable. Shepard's Pie is out, because it mixes meat and dairy, which is not kosher. And Yankee Pot Roast is out, but only because I don't like it as much as Grandma Blanche's pot roast, made the Jewish way. I could go veggie, but I would want to make something a lot more, exotic, I would say, if I were to do that, and tbe 'rents tend to be honestly way too tame. Evan and I were talking about Geoff's, that cool sandwich shop on Thayer Street today, as we made our version of the Alburqueque Turkey sandwich (turkey, veggie cream cheese, and chili on bagels). I guess Evan had taken his parents there, and instead of all the funky cool sandwiches they could have tried, they went super boring and got simple stuff. What's the point of going to Goeff's if you're not going to try something weird, new, and different?
Anyway, so that's that. I'm going to be a busy domestic and student this week, that's for sure. But it will be worth it, I'm sure. |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 14th, 2006|02:43 pm] |
I have to say, yesterday was a nice day. Evan had the day off due to the snow, as did I, at least in the morning. I had class to go to in the afternoon, but sleeping in two days in a row was a rare treasure. Evan's finally getting over his illness after loads of drugs (that cough is finally going away, after 2 weeks) and can get back to being a normal person. My foot feels fine (so I have lots of motrin and pain meds left, but who knows, if I am going to have random bouts of tendonitis, I should hold on to them). Classes seem to be going well, although I'm finding it hard to get up and make the train a lot. I'd rather stay in bed than get my ass moving, which is bad. It's not like I don't like school or anything-I just prefer a warm bed, I guess.
Anyway, I think tonight when I get home (and I'll be driving home-too lazy to make the train this morning), Evan and I are going to go have a date at the Chatta Box. I've heard so many good things about it, so when trying to decide what to do, I thought that would be a good choice. Though I am sure it will be crowded and more than we can really afford, I'll suck it up and deal. It's our first married Valentine's Day, and I want to do it right, damnit. He gave me a CD full of songs that remind him of me to play on my way in today:) |
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| Linguist woes... |
[Feb. 13th, 2006|09:51 pm] |
Ok, I got this from Yahoo News. A few things drive me nutty here. I think the term that should be used is 'polyglot' not 'linguist.' This drives me crazy. Polyglots speak lots of languages, linguists analyze languages. Noam Chomsky can get away with speaking only English and still be a linguist.
And there are so many other reasons other than national security to have a multilingual society. Not least of which people who grow up speaking two languages tend to be smarter than those who grow up speaking one. And honestly, the private sector wants people who can do more than just speak other languages-they need to be able to analyze them using computers, too. And that pays the big bucks. Either that, or people get sent overseas to teach everyone else English. Ugh. That to me is just another form of Imperialism-the whole TESOL industry overseas...
How about the government finally recognizing what contributions both linguists and polyglots give, and give us all lots of money:)
Show linguists the money By Ivan Eland
Mon Feb 13, 7:12 AM ET
The president's "broad-gauged initiative" to teach Americans through language training to be more culturally aware of exotic countries - in order to spread democracy there - would distort the market for specialty linguists and be a waste of tax dollars.
Federal security agencies might very well need to have more people versed in specialized languages. To recruit these people, however, the government merely needs to raise its salaries for the speakers of particular languages, and the market will produce them.
How the president's amorphous program, subsidizing language training from kindergarten through college, would translate into a tangible expansion of specialty linguists in the security services is left vague. In the future, if the private sector outbid the government for the newly minted linguists - for example, because of booming commerce between the USA and China or the USA and India - shortages in the government could still result.
The slogan that the program would help American students remain globally competitive probably masks further federal interference in what should be state and local control of education. Americans should want U.S. businesses to remain globally competitive. But when the international marketplace demands that businesses become more fluent in specialized languages, they can get such linguists in many ways - raising their salaries for such jobs, sending employees to Berlitz or other adult courses, hiring natives of the countries concerned, etc. - without the government subsidizing language training in schools.
Also, initiating broad programs to educate Americans about far-flung countries through language training would create inefficient bureaucratic overhead and interest groups that would demand subsidization long after some of these countries and their languages are no longer of vital interest to the United States.
The government should minimize interference in the market for linguists. It should confine itself to hiking salaries for categories of language skills needed, enabling it to reduce them in the future if, for example, Pakistan or North Korea are no longer hot spots.
Ivan Eland is director of the Center on Peace and Liberty at The Independent Institute, a think tank based in Washington. |
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| I get to do a book review |
[Feb. 10th, 2006|09:13 am] |
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As part of my comprehensive requirements for the PhD, I get to do a book review. The book I've chosen to review is New-Dialect Formation: The inevitability of Colonial Englishes by Peter Trudgill. He is looking at the Englishes of Australia, South Africa, the Falkland Islands, and especially New Zealand. I've started reading it and so far, it looks good. Wish me luck. |
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