Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Oh, Bollocks.

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I was checking out some true crime books on Amazon and noticed a disturbing trend in the reviews…. there are a lot of people out there who rated books lower than they might have because of the use of British slang and terminology.

“The language was a little too British for me so I took off a star because not everyone knows that kind of British slang… but oh well.”

and

“Have now finished reading this book. Interesting cases. Only thing I don’t care about is the British vocabulary. As we in U S say on Elm Street, for example, this book says in Elm Street. Causes me to lose some concentration.”

Really? Really?! I do understand that some local slang is hard to follow. I’m a devout Anglophile and pretty much live on BBCAmerica and even I get confused by some terms (especially ones that are specific to a region or an age group) but then again I have the same problem with some American English slang. And generally, it’s not that hard to pick up from context. It also doesn’t take that long to look it up (later or at that moment (yes, that does take you further out of the reading, but only for a few moments and that must be better than sitting there frustrated, right?)), so when you encounter it again you don’t lose any time.

One does wonder how they manage with the cop lingo that occasionally turns up in the books. I’m also willing to bet the people who left these reviews (and the others like them) don’t read much science fiction and fantasy.

I bought one of the books that had such a review. It’ll be interesting to see how “hard” it is to understand.

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Over the weekend I taught myself “Twinkle Twinkle” on the violin. It’s not yet perfect, but considering it involves several changes on the A string and I don’t instinctively know where the notes are yet (I haven’t had any actual lessons in things like “where the fingers go”), it’s fantastic. The “How I wonder what you are” part is the tricky bit. I kind of can’t wait to get to my lesson tomorrow and show off.

After next week, I’m off lessons for two weeks — one because we’ll be just back from New Orleans, and then the next because my teacher has a prior commitment (her husband has a performance, which is unfortunately at five, so I don’t think I’ll get to go).

At work they decided that today was my birthday. They bought two large cookie cakes because I don’t really like cake all that much. I also got a gift certificate to KnitPicks. More yarn for me!

Kitti made “upside-down lentil shepherd’s pie” last night. Mushrooms, carrots, peas, veggie broth, lentils, turmeric, thyme, (vegan) Worcestershire sauce, and “Cauli-pots” (Mashed potato and cauliflower). The “stew” portion is supposed to have zucchini in it, but I don’t like it, so he left it out. Coulda used more carrots…

It took a while to make because the cauli-pots have to be done first, separately, and then the lentils take a while to cook. But it was SO worth it. I think if he made the “stew” portion and added crushed tomatoes it would be an awesome pot pie filling.

The cauli-pots are now going into the regular dinner rotation. We often have cauliflower and a baked potato, so why not just mash ‘em together?

This was specifically vegan and came from a vegan cookbook. It’s incredibly filling and loaded with protein. But you know… you don’t have to BE vegan to eat vegan once in a while (seriously, next time cauli-pots are on the menu, mine are getting cheese on ‘em). You could substitute beef or chicken broth, or add meat (or different veggies). I’d maybe cut back on the lentils if you add meat, though.

Recipes from Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes

Accents

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What American accent do you have?
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net

Mid-Atlantic. This is what everyone calls a Philadelphia accent although it’s also the accent of south Jersey, Baltimore, and Wilmington. Well, everyone that lives near there, that is. Outsiders can tell you talk differently from them even though they can’t tell what your accent is.

If you are not from there, you are probably one of the following:
(a) A New Yorker who, unlike most New Yorkers, rhymes "on" with "dawn"; or
(b) A Yat from New Orleans.
You are probably not from Eastern New England or the Great Lakes area, and certainly not from anywhere in the West or Canada.

Take this quiz now – it’s easy!
We’re going to start with "cot" and "caught." When you say those words do they sound the same or different?

Dogs Invented Foursquare

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I checked in on Foursquare today. It told me who the mayor of that particular location was. I thought about it, and wondered if it was really the kind of place someone would want to claim ownership of. Not really, but I suppose nowhere really is. I am the mayor of my home! Well, I would hope so. I’m the mayor of my desk at work. Unfortunately. Maybe if I were checking in from a cabin in the woods every day I’d be pleased, but a desk in an office is not really bragging material.

But then I was walking the dog and watching him stop to pee on places — the same places every time. The partner-in-crime said to the dog “You’re probably smelling your own pee, you know.” And I said “But that’s the point. To make sure he still owns it.”

Fortunately it’s been years since the dog peed in the house to announce his check-in, and I have never once peed on my desk.

Ways At Which I Fail At Logic

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This morning:
Bitter cold. Put on heavy jacket and scarf. Walked the dog and came home freezing. Thought to myself “might be time to switch to the greatcoat” because my legs were really cold. So while the dog had breakfast I got the coat out of the basement.

About fifteen minutes later, when it came time to leave for work I put the greatcoat on instead of the jacket. Long, warm, wool, military surplus greatcoat. Thick, warm scarf. Walked outside and thought to myself “Oh, it’s not really that bad out. I wonder if I really needed this heavy coat after all.” Decided that going back in and changing coats would be a waste of time.

Three hours later:
Sitting at my desk working on something in Excel and a thought occurs to me — it hadn’t gotten much warmer in the short amount of time I was in the house; I was warmer because my coat was keeping me warm.

August 31: Still Not King

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Hello, and welcome to the end of August! The title of this entry means nothing. Well, it means I’m not the king of anything, which is probably obvious.

Mim’s birthday is tomorrow. She’ll be 65 years old and to celebrate we’re going to do one of the local Ghost Walks on Saturday. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get some cool pictures (not necessarily of ghosts, but in general). I’m also already thinking that it’d be more fun to do the walk again later in the year, when it’s dark out.

I’m very glad to see August go away and I would like it very much if it took the hot weather with it when it left. We got an email at work today reminding us that space heaters are not allowed. It’s 9:30 in the morning and already 86 degrees. Are space heaters really a problem already? Am I working with aliens? Is this building haunted? Where are these mysterious cold spots that seem to be bothering people, because I’m about ready to email someone and ask if heaters aren’t allowed, what’s the policy on moving my cube into a walk-in freezer.

A Book Cannot Be “Racist”.

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A book can contain racist ideas, but a book itself cannot be racist.

Things like this make me hate humanity.

I refuse to go along with this week’s warm, feel-good celebrations of Harper Lee’s novel (published fifty years ago today), To Kill a Mockingbird. Simply put, I think that novel is racist, and so is its undying popularity.

Protip: If your 50-year-old uncle is racist, it’s a problem because he should have learned better. A 50-year-old book is a 50-year-old book and can’t learn new things.

Actually, that right there is the first reason I think this novel is, in effect, racist — it allows, indeed encourages, today’s well-meaning white people to think that “America is a very different place” than it was when Lee wrote her novel, and thus to think that widespread and deeply entrenched racism died a long time ago.

America is different now than it was when Lee wrote her novel, but I don’t think that anyone honestly believes that widespread and deeply entrenched racism died a long time ago. I think it’s very much the opposite. I think we’re aware that it still exists and we’re aware that it shouldn’t, but it’s obviously a lot harder to get rid of than just saying “it’s gone”.