How are you celebrating the 4th of July?
From the looks of it you'd think I was going to sit around in my pajamas and drink coffee until a totally inappropriate hour. But I got plans. I'm hoping to finish Ethan "the new love of my life" Canin's America America, take a shower, go to a barbecue, watch some fireworks. It's action-packed here in the land of the Supergenius.
A little bird has made a nest in the wreath by my front door. This happened a couple of years ago as well, but one of the neighborhood cats knocked it down before the eggs hatched. This time I got some animal repellent spray and sprayed around my front porch to make it as unappealing to the cats as possible.
I tried to get a photo with the mommy in the nest, but she is too skittish. I can't get close enough. Too bad, she is so sweet. I go down and look at her through the window every morning. She cranes her little neck out and looks back at me. I think she is starting to get the idea that I am not a threat - at least not at a distance. She no longer flys away when I start up the washing machine or the dryer. Hopefully, I will be able to snap a few after the babies are hatched.
Thanks so very much for the feedback on the previous Netiquette post, as well as the cell phone etiquette post. I remembered, however, that there were additional points that I did not touch upon yet. Quite a few are just general rules of writing, especially when communicating to international audiences. Some more observations I have made in various communications on the Internet are as follows:
Textspeak, Chatspeak, 1337-speak, etc.
- While these may be appropriate for texting, instant messaging, and other various forms of chat, they do not fit well for e-mails, forums, and written offline communication. While it may be considered cool or trendy, most of the time, using them likely make you appear like a kidiot ("kid idiot"). It looks exceptionally unlearned and unprofessional on e-mails to present or potential employers, and academic papers (term papers, homework, and so on).
- It may be difficult for non-native speakers to understand such. Trust me, this is NOT limited to the English-speaking world! The Spanish-speaking folks I chat with from time to time use odd abbreviations (oye hispanohablantes, asi que me entienden, cuando no usan "que" sino
k" a veces me pone confundido y es dificil a entenderles)
and
I am told that French speakers have their own chatspeak, too. - Some abbreviations are abused to the point that they lose their meaning. Most teens and adults I talk to that use "lol" a lot will freely admit they really aren't Laughing Out Loud. Often times, they aren't even chuckling. How is that communication? "Heh" or "hehe" aren't that much longer. But... as if laziness was contagious, the kids have started using "L." now. More often than not, it looks incredibly superfluous after a while. One forum community I'm with uses "tbh" (to be honest) to the point that it would look unnecessary spelled out. This is true of some other abbreviations, such as IMO (in my opinion) and IMHO (in my honest opinion). Your mileage may vary.
Speaking of language barriers...
Spelling and grammar really ARE important.
- Punctuation really does clarify your thoughts. Now I know Spanish-speakers will roll their eyes on this one, because lack of punctuation is perfectly acceptable in informal communication. But I'll tell you, sentences that run on for a paragraph or more make it rather difficult for non-native Spanish speakers like myself to understand. And how would that be any different the other way around, when non-native English speakers are trying to read a sentence that runs on and on in English? Oh, and read aloud those sorts of sentences. Punctuation dictates pauses, and the type of punctuation dictates the length of the pause. You may claim that you are prone to rambling, but can you read that run-on sentence in one breath, because there are no punctuation marks to dictate otherwise? No... you DO have to pause to take a break every now and then! Put in punctuation marks where you have to take a breath AND where it makes sense. Even if you don't get it quite correct, it should be easier to read and understand.
- Not everyone understands the lingo, local slang, etc. I remember an interesting conversation with a Brit where I was asking what "take the piss" meant. Imagine my surprise when she explained it with another slang-- "take the mick" and "take the mickey". Okay, so we have Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary for online references, and I eventually had to consult them to get the meaning. But you can't always expect everyone to understand your local vernacular; be prepared to explain in way they can understand too.
- Sometimes typos and misspellings really CAN lead to a misunderstanding. Those who are fluent in the language may be able to figure out your meaning regardless, but sometimes they will misunderstand, too. You can't always assume that people will understand your mistakes! When you can get some help, such as with a spellchecker, I think it's a good idea to use it.
Oh, and don't abuse exclamation points.
Crossposted to LJ, itemid = 916, security = public, mask = 0.
I love a place that gives clear instructions.
The Fourth of July was always one of my favorite holidays in the US. Not that I'm terribly patriotic or anything, just...there are fireworks and BBQs and its an excuse to drink = HELLO PERFECT HOLIDAY.
Now, it of course means something else to me. It makes me miss home.
While I'll be having fun tonight celebrating Iain's birthday (it's tomorrow!) down by the Thames...there's a part of my heart that will be back home in my parents back yard, drinking Mike's Hard Lemonade and with a over excitable chihuahua at my feet. (Praying for crumbs.)
If I could fly back home today, even just for a couple hours and to see my parents and my sister, I would in a heart beat.
On the Fourth we'd always go to the same spot to watch fire works. My mom and my sister and I would lay on our backs and wait expectantly for the Sperm Fire Works.
If you don't know which ones I'm talking about, the you don't know what you're missing out.
They're the bright, white ones that look like tad-poles when they're first launched, but then go off in crazy directions...as if searching for a big, unfertilized egg in the sky.
It dawned on me a couple of years ago that they totally looked like gigantic sperm. I started laughing hysterically - only to notice that my sister was cackling to herself as well. Then my mom started laughing,
"OH MY GOD THEY LOOK LIKE SPERM!!!!"
Hopefully the Fourth of July Sperm Fireworks won't be nearly as fun without me this year...(If I can't have a fully complete Fourth of July THEN NOBODY SHOULD.)
Happy Independence Day, my fellow Americans.
May this recession end soon, may the gas prices go down, and may all of your BBQ's be fully cooked so you don't end up with the shits all weekend.
This song reminds me of home...
How are you celebrating the 4th of July?
Here's today: doing dishes, writing letters, taking a walk, sending emails, VOXing (I hope), doing laundry, cleaning the filter in the vacuum cleaner. NOT answering the phone if it rings.
Normally I'd put out a couple of small flags, because we always do/did. But it's raining and that's a no-no. I've been told.
It's just another day, and for that I'm profoundly grateful.
What's your favorite song with "America" or "USA" in the title? Bonus points if you share it with us.
How could supporting small businesses help jump-start the economy?
Sponsored by HP.Beats me. How can I support small businesses if I have no discretionary income? Ask one of the gazillion new millionaires in the world -- they've got all the money now.
I love my fur babies. They are like my children. I ESPECIALLY love Fatso. We've had this big furball of a cat since he was born and he is just so sweet and loving, he has a very special place in my heart reserved JUST for him.Although he can be very sweet and loving, he also commands a certain amount of respect. Fatso does not tolerate things such as being restrained or even being held or fooled with for too long. He ESPECIALLY doesn't like anyone venturing into areas such as his haunches or his tail when brushing him. I'll openly admit it: I'm afraid of Fatso! Although fat, his reaction time is akin to a Jaguar and I'm NOT kidding! He has hurt me many times over the years so I have learned to be respectful and careful! Fatso is a Maine Coon aka FURBALL! He has long, long hair and it is EVERYWHERE in my house. I try to brush him regularly, but he doesn't tolerate it well and he absolutely will not allow me to brush the areas that REALLY need it! This has resulted in some knots on Fatso's chest and down in his 'neutered but still somewhat manly area'.
Michael is much braver and stronger than me (and tolerates pain much better also)! So I told him last week I couldn't take cleaning up the hair any longer and I was concerned about the knots and I wanted him to buy a shaver and come shave the knots off of Fatso and give him a bath.
Well Michael and Alyssa arrived last night with a brand new trimmer and a whole bunch of good intentions! Alyssa, being the intelectual girl that she is wants to follow the instructions that come with the trimmer and some other techniques that she's heard of from pet groomers. She's even brought him a special treat to give him after the procedure is over so he will 'associate the shaver with a treat'. Yeah right! She doesn't realize that there is no instruction booklet written on how to deal with Fatso! She soon learns this though....
So they spread a blanket out on the couch and Alyssa starts shaving his sides while Michael holds him. So far, so good. Then about 10 seconds later Fatso begins to buck and resist like a Red Bull!
After a couple of minutes Fatso is spitting everywhere, Michael can't even hold him. So they let him go. Fatso is MADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!! After a couple more attempts Michael is about ready to give up as he is bleeding from several nice cuts on his arms. Alyssa has more ideas though: She says we should try putting something over his head to keep him calm and to put socks on his legs so he can't claw Michael. She went out to her car and got the bag from a bottle of Crown Royal and I went and got 2 old pairs of socks. She put the bag over Fatso's head and pulled the drawstring just a bit to keep it on. Then, with Michael holding him, tried to put the little booties on all four of his feet. I was laughing so hard I forgot to take a picture but it was quite hilarious! Fatso must have worked with Houdini in another life because before they could even get 2 of the booties on him he somehow removed that bag from his head, removed the booties from his feet, spit, scratched and clawed and catapulted his entire body out of Michael's grip! He was all bowed up looking at all of us like "WHAT THE HELL ARE Y'ALL TRYING TO DO TO ME?" Bob is freaking out because he doesn't understand what is going on. Heidi doesn't care because she's rekindled her relationship with Hailey.
So, the saga continues....
Although they have removed a sizeable amount of hair with the trimmer, they have still only touched the tip of the iceburg and haven't even ventured to his underbelly (I can already see that that is NOT going to happen, Fatso is just NOT going to have it and all the brute force Michael has cannot even restrain him). Finally they decide to try cutting off some hair with scissors. Fatso is a little bit more agreeable to this but still it's not very long before he rebels.
Finally, Michael is ready to concede defeat and asks me to call a groomer and get a price. He takes Fatso upstairs to give him a much needed bath.
Poor Baby! So now he has a haircut that looks like he did it himself, but at least he's clean.
I'm calling a groomer tomorrow.
