Friday, July 28, 2006

Here's an incentive to quit drinking coffee:

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Spelling Lessons

I picked up the book, Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary, at the library. Spelling has never been my best subject. I try to write most of my posts in Microsoft Word before publishing them to my blog so I can remove all the red underlining indicating misspelled words. Well this post has three red-lined words in the first line. It’s the title of a book about spelling and these are three often misspelled words. It’s an entertaining book of lists of facts about English spelling, with the subtitle: “or why can’t anyone spell?”

I was intrigued to learn from the back cover that the author of the book, Vivian Cook, was inspired to write it out of frustration with those who assume he is a woman because of their lack of familiarity with the difference between the British spellings Vivian and Vivien.

I also enjoyed reading the scathingly practical Letter of Lord Chesterton to his son from November 19, 1750, which can be found in its entirety at Project Gutenberg.




I come now to another part of your letter, which is the orthography, if I may call bad spelling ORTHOGRAPHY. You spell induce, ENDUCE; and grandeur, you spell grandURE; two faults of which few of my housemaids would have been guilty. I must tell you that orthography, in the true sense of the word, is so absolutely necessary for a man of letters; or a gentleman, that one false spelling may fix ridicule upon him for the rest of his life; and I know a man of quality, who never recovered the ridicule of having spelled WHOLESOME without the w.

Reading with care will secure everybody from false spelling; for books are always well spelled, according to the orthography of the times. Some words are indeed doubtful, being spelled differently by different authors of equal authority; but those are few; and in those cases every man has his option, because he may plead his authority either way; but where there is but one right way, as in the two words above mentioned, it is unpardonable and ridiculous for a gentleman to miss it; even a woman of a tolerable education would despise and laugh, at a lover, who should send her an ill-spelled billet-doux. I fear and suspect, that you have taken it into your head, in most cases, that the matter is all, and the manner little or nothing. If you have, undeceive yourself, and be convinced that, in everything, the manner is full as important as the matter. If you speak the sense of an angel, in bad words and with a disagreeable utterance, nobody will hear you twice, who can help it. If you write epistles as well as Cicero, but in a very bad hand, and very ill-spelled, whoever receives will laugh at them; and if you had the figure of Adonis, with an awkward air and motions, it will disgust instead of pleasing.
Study manner, therefore, in everything, if you would be anything.


From: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3354/3354.txt

Monday, July 24, 2006

Gymnastics Animation

Here is a cool gymnastics animation.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Why Study Latin?

I’ve been brushing up on my High School Latin this summer. I’m working through Wheelock’s Latin grammar and workbook. I’ve been working on it in the gym while Aimee works out. One of the moms who homeschools her children asked me what I was doing. When I told her I was studying Latin she asked me why I would want to do that. She said that she knows it’s a good idea to learn Latin but she’s not sure why. We started to talk about the advantages of learning Latin but were interrupted by the end of her daughter’s class and she had to leave.


For me Latin was the language that started my love of language learning. It improved my vocabulary and opened up English grammar to me. It provided me with a foundation to learn the 10 plus other natural languages that I’ve studied since High School. (Not to mention assorted computer languages) It appealed to my love of logic and I believe it helped me to think more clearly.

I found a great curriculum for starting a young learner on Latin studies. It’s called Prima Latina, the first level of Latin curriculum from Memoria press. It incorporates many of the suggestions that Dorothy Sayers makes in her essay. Children can start it as early as 2nd grade. I covered some of it last year with Aimee, but this year we are resolved to study Latin with consistency.

Just last night I came across this essay by Dorothy Sayers about her own study of Latin and her recommendations for teaching and learning the subject. I’d like to share some of it here with a link to the rest of the essay.

Read the whole essay here.

Part II: Latin grammar: the most practical subject
By Dorothy Sayers
I call this a very lamentable history. Yet there are two things I feel bound to say with all the emphasis I can command. First: if you set aside classical specialists and the products of those public schools which still cling to the great tradition, I, mute and inglorious as I am, and having forgotten nearly all I ever learned, still know more Latin than most young people with whom I come in contact. Secondly: that if I were asked what, of all the things I was ever taught, has been of the greatest practical use to me, I should have to answer: the Latin Grammar.
An early grounding in the Latin Grammar has these advantages:

1. It is the quickest and easiest way to gain mastery over one's own language, because it supplies the structure upon which all language is built. I never had any formal instruction in English grammar, nor have I ever felt the need of it, though I find I write more grammatically than most of my juniors. It seems to me that the study of English grammar in isolation from the inflected origins of language must be quite bewildering. English is a highly sophisticated, highly analytical language, whose forms, syntax and construction can be grasped and handled correctly only by a good deal of hard reasoning, for the inflections are not there to enable one to distinguish automatically one case or one construction from another. To embark on any complex English construction without the Latin Grammar is like trying to find one's way across country without map or signposts. That is why so few people nowadays can put together an English paragraph without being betrayed into a false concord, a hanging or wrongly attached participle, or a wrong consecution; and why many of them fall back upon writing in a series of short sentences, like a series of gasps, punctuated only by full stops.

2. Latin is the key to fifty per cent. of our vocabulary—either directly, or through French and other Romance languages. Without some acquaintance with the Latin roots, the meaning of each word has to be learnt and memorised separately-including, of course, that of the new formations with which the sciences are continually presenting us. Incidentally, the vocabulary of the common man is becoming more and more restricted, and this is not surprising.

3. Latin is the key to all the Romance languages directly, and indirectly to all inflected languages. The sort of argument which continually crops up in correspondence upon the teaching of Latin is: "Why should children waste time learning a dead language when Spanish or what-have-you would be much more useful to him in business?" The proper answer, which is practically never given, is the counter-question: "Why should a child waste time learning half a dozen languages from scratch, when Latin would enable him to learn them all in a fraction of the time?" When I wanted to work on Dante, I taught myself to read the mediaeval Italian in a very few weeks' time, with the aid of Latin, an Italian Grammar, and the initial assistance of a crib. To learn to speak and write the modern tongue correctly would demand tuition and more time—but not much and not long. Old as I am, I would back myself to learn Spanish, Portuguese or Provencal with equal ease. But knowing French would not have helped me very much to read Italian, and I doubt whether, without the Latin substructure, Italian would help me very far with Portuguese; although, of course, the more languages one knows, the easier it is to learn more. It is difficult to be sure, because it is impossible for me to empty my mind of the Latin, even in imagination. But I know how very different a task it would be to start upon a language like Czech or Chinese, which would not open to the Latin key.
And I remember, too, in my own school-teaching days, being confronted by a class of girls of fifteen or sixteen, who had to have some German pumped into them for an exam. They had done French in the ordinary way, but now had to offer a second language. I remember saying—stupidly and without thinking, for I was still young—"No, you can't say, 'Ich bin gegeben ein Buch', 'I have been given' isn't a true Passive". I remember their bewildered faces. And I remember realizing that we had come to the Wood where Things have no Names, and that everything would have to be laboriously thought out and explained from the very beginning. And that they hadn't got much time.

4. The literature of our own country and of Europe is so studded and punctuated with Latin phrases and classical allusions that without some knowledge of Latin it must be very difficult to make anything of it. Here we are getting away from the uses of grammar to the benefits of background and culture. I will therefore not say very much about it at this point, except to point out that the student of English history or English literature or English law is always encountering the odd tag, the Latin title, the isolated phrase, and that it must be quite maddening to have to stop and look them up every time in a reference book.

5. There is also the matter of derivation, as distinct from vocabulary. I cannot help feeling that it is wholesome, for example, to know that "civility" has some connection with the civitas; that "justice" is more closely akin to righteousness than to equality; and that there was once some dim and forgotten connection between reality and thought.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Blog Me!

I've been tagged! My friend and blogging mentor, Donna, at socalmom tagged me to do an on-line self-interview in preparation for the upcoming BlogHer Convention

BlogMe

BLOG ME SELF-INTERVIEW (See the complete list of questions here.)

When did you start blogging and why? Or Talk about your blog. What can I learn about you in under 5 minutes?

I started blogging in October 2005. I started blogging after I met Donna at my daughter's gymnastics and she told me about her blog. I actually had created a blog about a year before I started but I didn't know where to start. After seeing Donna's blog and others that she links to, I realized it was something I could do. I love to write and I've always aspired to be a writer, but I needed an outlet to get the juices going. I've also kept a journal on and off for almost thirty years or so. There's just something very appealing about blogging. I'm constantly thinking of topics to blog, or writing something in my notebook to blog about later. I'm hooked on it!

How do you use blogging to build friendships?

Well I haven't been very proactive in building on-line friendships. That's something I need to work on. I'm kind of shy. I enjoy reading other people's blogs, but so far I've mostly been lurking. I'm setting a goal right now to be more proactive about commenting on other people's blogs and promoting my own.

How would you describe your writing style?

I think it varies with my mood, but I like to either say something that will get someone to think or to laugh. I also think that the more I write the better my writing will get so I want to write more often.

How do you feel about meeting bloggers in real life? Are you nervous? Will you have great expectations? What do you home to take away from the BlogHer experience?

Too bad I couldn't get it together to go to the conference. Maybe next year. I'd really like to meet more bloggers.

What don’t you write about? Anything considered a no-no in your book?
I try not to write anything that would hurt someone's feelings.

So soon we’re going to meet each other at BlogHer. Important question. How do you party?

I'm not much of a party type.

Ancient Greek Blogger



Here is definitive evidence that the ancient Greeks engaged in blogging!

Sunday, July 16, 2006

25 Years

Today is our 25th wedding anniversary! Yes, it's been 25 years since we stepped into this great unknown state called marriage, and here we are! If anyone would ask me, "What is the secret of a successful marriage?", my answer would be, "Marry the right person." Only by the pure, unadulterated grace of God am I able to say with assurance that I indeed did marry the right person. I'm so glad that I surrendered that decision to God so many years ago and He heard the cry of my heart and put me and Chuck together.

Even though I can't say that our marriage is pure wedded bliss every day (close enough on this side of heaven though), there has never been a day where I doubted our marriage. Chuck is a great husband, a great father and a great man. I thank God for His grace in putting us together and I know the next 25 years will be even better!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Farewell to Moose

I heard that Moose, the Jack Russell Terrier who starred in "My Dog Skip" and the TV show Frazier, died on June 26. He lived to the ripe old age of 16. Actually Moose is partly to blame for the fact that our family is now exploding with Jack Russell Terriers.

It all started about five years ago when our lovely first dog named Cassie was diagnosed with cancer. She had developed tumors and needed expensive surgery to the tune of over a thousand dollars to take care of it. At the time she was already fourteen years old, quite elderly for a dog. The vet told us to take our time to think about whether we wanted to spend the money for the surgery or not. Of course we thought about it, but what else could we do? Cassie was our first baby. We got her from the Pet Adoption Center in Canoga Park when she was three months old, years before our son Eric was born. So we did the only thing we could do and went ahead with the surgery.

Cassie lived for three and half years after the surgery, to the ripe old age of seventeen. But the surgery and the fact that Cassie was fourteen and not getting any younger got us thinking that we should get another dog, a puppy, to lessen the sting of the inevitable day when Cassie would no longer be with us, especially for the kids. So we started thinking about what kind of dog we'd like to get. Around this time our family saw the movie "My Dog Skip" and my son Eric decided he'd like to have a Jack Russell Terrier. Moose did such a good job playing the perfect little boy's dog that we were convinced.

Of course now I know that he was only acting. Because the real Moose was rescued from being given to the pound by his owners because:

"He was extremely mischievous, always escaping, chewing up things and running off. When he killed a neighbor's cat and chased some horses, that was it."


That was the start of our Jack Russell Terrier explosion. We found Skip (guess who he was named after) and brought him home in 2002 when he was only six weeks old. They told us he was the calm one of the litter. We liked to joke about how if he was the "calm one" we'd hate to see the other puppies bouncing off the walls.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

The Fourth of July

One of my all-time favorite books is the biography of John Adams by David McCullough. McCullough tells of John Adams pivotal role in the colonies’ declaration of independence, which happened by the way, on July 2. (quoted from page 129-130)

It was John Adams, more than anyone, who had made it happen. Further, he seems to have understood more clearly than any what a momentous day it was and in the privacy of two long letters to Abigail, he poured out his feelings as did no one else.:

"The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other from this time forward forever more."

That the hand of God was involved in the birth of the new nation he had no doubt. “It is the will of heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever.” If the people now were to have “unbounded power,” and as the people were quite as capable of corruption as “the great,” and thus high risks were involved, he would submit all his hopes and fears to an overruling providence, “in which unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe.”


Later, at the end of the book, McCullough recounts how Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same day in 1826, July 4(!), the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

He writes (page 647):
That John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had died on the same day, and that it was, of all days, the Fourth of July, could not be seen as a mere coincidence: it was a “visible and palpable” manifestation of “Divine favor,” wrote John Quincy in his diary that night, expressing what was felt and would be said again and again everywhere the news spread.

So Happy Fourth of July! Enjoy your solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty with “pomp and parade, shows, games sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other.”

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Toxic Gym: Part Two

It will be a week tomorrow that we left the “gym from heck”. Thursday morning I finally spoke with one of our friends from the gym. After being away for only two days the drama continues. Here are only a few of the things that happened in those two days. Again, I can’t tell you what an incredible relief it is to be away from that place.

1. One of the moms slapped another mom hard across the face, after sticking her finger in her chest and face and telling her she’s just like all the rest of the bleep bleep bleep parents in this place. One of the coaches saw the slap and ran across the gym yelling for her to leave and never come back. In the meantime the one who was slapped was sitting in the office crying and the head coach came in and told her that nothing like this happened in the gym until she came.

2. Various parents were taking sides on the issue of what to do about the situation, with comments such as “She and her daughter should both be banned from the gym, no telling when she might come back with a handgun.” There was a parents meeting and I’m told that the outcome of the meeting is that parents are no longer welcome to stay and watch their daughter’s work out. They can only stay in the gym for a maximum of thirty minutes.

3. Another mom who was in charge of coordinating the purchase of leotards for an upcoming meet was accused of appropriating ten free leotards given to the gym to sell as a for her own daughter.

4. One of Aimee’s friends stepped on something sharp in the gym while she was running for conditioning. No one saw what it was or where it came from but she was bleeding all over the gym. She ended up needing stitches in her heel and will be unable to compete in running and jumping events at the meet in Vegas. Her mom wasn’t there at the time this happened but all she was told from the gym was that she owed three dollars for the tape they used to tape up her foot so it wouldn’t bleed all over the floor.

All this happened in only two days. Did I say how happy I am not to have to go there anymore?