Is it the thought that counts??

Referring back to an earlier post about reusing, recycling, and not buying things much anymore, I am thinking about presents lately. This is because
A. Mother's Day is coming up
B. Then Father's Day is coming up
C. But before that my anniversary is coming up
D. I already forgot or put off doing anything for my parents birthdays earlier this year.

I think the idea of just going out and buying something for somebody is definitely off-putting for me. Can I use that word? Is that even a word? I don't like stuff and I don't like feeling that by giving stuff to other people, I am obligating them to keep more stuff. Besides my parents are in the midst of moving so I really don't think they need much right now anyway.

On the other hand, I feel like a heel if I don't do anything. I mean, I love my parents. I want them to feel special on holidays and birthdays, and unfortunately I don't live close enough to make them a delicious meal or garden for them.

So I get in this dilemma every gift-giving time of not wanting to give an impersonal card or gift, and intending to make something cute and small or edible. Then of course I put it off and don't do it, and inevitably I don't do anything except call and apologize for being a forgetful jerk. This is also what happened during Christmas.

And let's not forget the fact that men are impossibly hard to shop for or give gifts to.

Yes, I know I make things way more complicated than they have to be.

Get Smart, Feed the World

Apparently I am always the last to know about cool websites- but for those of you who don't know about this one - FreeRice- you can play trivia with a number of topics from art to vocabulary and for each question you get right, you have donated 10 grains of rice to the UN Food Program.

Hey its fun. Try it.

The Mysteries of Language

I recently moved up in the world of transcribing, to college courses. Currently, I am sitting in on the most fascinating linguistics course and learning all sorts of things about verbs that I have tried to repress since eighth grade. But perhaps most importantly, I have learned from a college professor that using the word ‘can’ in a question of permission is completely permissible and should not be subject to the snarky reply of “I don’t know, can you?” So there.

Now I know that I CAN ask if I CAN go to the bathroom, and I CAN use the word CAN as a perfectly acceptable substitute for the word may, because a Doctor of Linguistics says I CAN. If anybody gives you grief over the usage you can give them the technical explanation. “The deontic usage of the word ‘can’ denotes a loose social obligation , in that I am asking, not if I am capable of going to the bathroom, but if I am allowed.” Then you can smugly leave to go to the lavatory, while they are looking up the meaning of the word ‘deontic.’

I find language simply fascinating. Was that the reason that I studied so many languages in high school, or was studying Latin, German, ASL, and Spanish what made me love languages? I don’t know which is cause and which is effect, but the end result is I love to watch and discuss how languages evolve. Chalk up another mark to my rampant nerdiness.

In other language fronts, isn’t it so fascinating when kids go beyond the parroting phase of language into creating their own string of sentences? James is finally getting to that point. Sure he has been chattering and talking for quite some time but mostly in one or two word phrases and the occasional sentences that he hears the adults repeat to him over and over.

I have noticed that in the past month or so, he has gone beyond that to forming his own conclusions about words and what they mean. He makes the most interesting leaps of logic and expresses those ideas to me in very cute and fascinating ways.

For example- he loves pepperoni, but when we bought baloney, he associated the similar sound of the words with pepperoni. Then we moved onto to lunch meat which looked similar to baloney. The end result is he now calls all lunch meat “pepper-blowni.” You have to spit when you say the Ps and Bs too, to get the right effect. And ok, it was so cute, we all call it pepperblowni now.

He also asks me to “open” his strawberries. This means taking the leafy stem part off. I can only figure that “opening” food to him means making it edible and accessible to him.

This morning, as I was insisting on putting his shoes and socks before we went to the sitters, and he was fighting tooth and nail against it, he announced “I want my feet back on!” I am not sure if he properly appreciated why I was laughing at him.

Are You Ready for More Art??

I swear this isn't an ugly one. In fact I quite like it- it makes me smile. There is a lot of symbolism and imagery in it that I won't go into, suffice it to say it is about consumerism in the 1950s. The guy on the billboard outside is Al Jolson, whom I now love simply because Jay does the most hilarious interpretation of him.

The naked guy with the BLOW POP is Charles Atlas, a famous body builder, and I am not sure who the nude with the lamp shade on the couch is. I just love their poses and the detail. I would totally hang this in my bathroom, if only for Charles Atlas.

Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?
By Richard Hamilton

Profound Profundity

Here is a thought to ponder- Did you ever stop to think about the way the earth recycles carbon? For example: A carbon atom in your fingernail could be the very same carbon atom that once lived inside the tooth of a tyrannosaurus rex. Whoa.

My latest hobby or goal in life is to be a reuser. Maybe I will come up with a better term than that eventually, but right now I am too busy remaking and reusing things. I love it when the things I am into come into fashion as well. Second hand and thrift is chic right now and my creativity is working overtime making new and fun things from items I have had lying around the house.

Last week I took a turtleneck that was too large ( turtlenecks are way too choky for me as well), cut off the sleeves and neck, added lace to the sleeves and hem and now I have a very cute, fashionable t-shirt to wear to work. Next on my list is to make James some shorts now that the weather has changed for the warmer.

In the course of my wanting new clothes for free, I discovered something about myself- I can't follow a sewing pattern to save my life, but I am pretty good at altering and changing clothes free-hand into something else.

I have decided I am through buying things new. Except for food of course. My new motto is "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." (An old depression saying) I am not sure where thrift store shopping comes into that, but I got four adorable summery wear-to-work shirts today for 8 dollars total.

Money is an issue with us, but my desire to buy used and reuse as much as possible goes deeper than that. I just think that we as a society, myself included, are just too much into consumerism. It is wasteful and harmful to our environment. Ok, enough said about that- I won't get too preachy. Of course I realize that if everyone consumed much much less there would be far less for me to buy second hand....

Anyway, I am having a blast on my sewing machine (I never thought I would say that).

Of course it doesn't hurt that Jay tells me I am incredibly sexy when I am cheap and thrifty. What can I say? Flattery is free and I like it.