Rhymes and not rhymes

English is a weird and confusing language. Two words look as if they wouldn't rhyme but do (staple and papal) and words that look like they should rhyme don't (come and home). I decided to write a short poem to illustrate this point. I call it "Come (Hum) Home (Comb)":

To me you are so good:
You give me lots of food.
I don't even fear
when I see a bear.

I don't have to work,
and this is quite a perk.
When I see a goose
we always make a truce.

I never have to frown
when the wind has blown.
You tell me to come
and take rest at your home.

I'm glad we're a pair:
You complete my square.
I have lots of pride
even though I've been fried.

You only have one boot
and it's covered in soot.
To help I give you mint,
But only just a pint.

You give me a daisy
even though I have been lazy.
I have come to know
how I love you so.

I am afraid of death
so you give me a wreath.
After you put on your shoes
away your mother goes.

Absolute adorableness

I worked in a daycare for 2 summers. I have seen, changed, comforted, held, rocked, smiled at, fed and taken care of a LOT of little children. I kid you not, the cutest and most adorable kid I've EVER seen is my nephew. I wish he lived closer so I could squeeze him in big auntie hugs. But at least we have Skype. That'll have to do for now.

Novocaine

I went to the dentist this morning to get a sealant, whatever that is. (Is that a nice name for a cavity?) Since I didn't know what a sealant was, I didn't know whether they would make my mouth numb or not. I got all settled into the comfy dentist chair and he said, "Alright, let's put that tooth to sleep." Uh, isn't that the term they use when they're going to kill a dog?! So he killed my tooth, used some sort of weirdish apparatus to keep my mouth open as wide as the Columbia and started the procedure.

After it was all over I kept touching the right side of my face. It's the weirdest thing when your fingers feel your face but your face doesn't feel your fingers. I drank some water and half my tongue felt that the water was cold and the other half couldn't even feel the water. Quite a strange sensation. I just took another drink of water and realized, "Hey, my whole tongue can feel the water!" I hadn't even realized I wasn't numb anymore because the un-numbing process was so gradual.

I think life can be like that too. Some things are so incremental that I don't even realize a change until there's an experience to open my eyes. A lot of times I don't realize what I have until it's gone. I know that I didn't appreciate designated non-smoking areas until I went to Chile and those don't exist. Moral of the story? I want to take time out of my week to inventory how I'm doing and what has changed. As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Poetry is powerful

The Cold Within by James Patrick Kenny

Six humans trapped by happenstance … in bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood, or so the story’s told.
Their dying fire in need of logs, the first man held his back,
For of the faces round the fire, he noticed one was black.

 

The next man looking cross the way, saw one not of his church,
And couldn’t bring himself to give the fire his stick of birch.
The third one sat in tattered clothes; he gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use to warm the idle rich?

 

The rich man just sat back and thought of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned from the lazy, shiftless poor.
The black man’s face bespoke revenge as the fire passed from his sight.
For all he saw in his stick of wood was a chance to spite the white.

 
The last man of this forlorn group did naught except for gain,
Giving only to those who gave was how he played the game.
Their logs held tight in death’s still hand was proof of human sin,
They didn’t die from the cold without. They died from the cold within.

Knowledge

At my job, I'm either really needed or really not. It's usually the latter. (Latter is the second one right?) I have lots of time to sit in front of the computer. Today I realized that I could let my mind go to mush by perusing facebook and other non-productive things OR I could increase in my knowledge of topics that I want to learn about! The internet is an endless source of information. I got really excited about the list that I made because acquiring knowledge is such a fulfilling thing. Many people would look at my list and think "How boring!" but I am very excited about each topic. I'm very passionate about language and culture. It fascinates me for some reason.

 Topics I want to research:
-Native language acquisition
-Foreign language acquisition
-The bilingual brain
-The effect of culture on personal reality
-Language and its effect on personal identity
-Effective foreign language teaching methods
-Sociolinguistics
-Psycholinguistics
-The international phonetic alphabet
-Speech therapy

Quote from Finding Nemo: "Alright, here we go! We're ready to learn to get some knowledge!"

Heat is relative...apparently

I opened an email entitled "You're extreme heat alert for Beaverton, OR". What was the impending dangerous high? And I quote, "Near 90 degrees Fahrenheit". HA! And just yesterday it was 120 in NYC. Granted us Oregonians are not accustomed to heat but...come on. Unless there is a heat index of 30 or 40 degrees I highly HIGHLY doubt that 90 degree weather needs a heat alert sent to my email account. But thank you, weather people, for being thoughtful.

Walk or no walk

Almost every night some one in the family suggests that we should all go on a walk. We live in a pleasant neighborhood and even have great walking trails close by. Somehow, one of us always comes up with an excuse to not go. It has become quite comical. The number one excuse of course is, "I'm too tired" but the others range from "I need to write a poem" to "The mosquitoes are too thick." I decided to make a list. Yes, a LIST! My list shall be entitled "Reasons Why Not To Go On A Walk." Of course it is still in the infant stages but since this is a place of sharing thoughts, I might as well go for it.

Reasons why not to go on a walk:
- I need to play through this Rachmaninoff song.
- I want to eat ice cream instead.
- It's raining.
- It's too hot.
- I just want to stay home.
- I'd rather go swimming.
- I need to road-a-till the garden.
- I want to read Harry Potter.
- I want to watch the Spanish channel.
- I need to write in my journal.

But then last night, we actually DID go on a walk! Despite the mosquitoes and the drive to get to the cute little neighborhood/community of Fairview and the huge effort of leaving the house, we went on a walk. It was lovely. I want to go on walks more often. No reason not too.

Reasons why to go for a walk:
-I've been inside all day.
-I love being outside.
-It's good to get at least a LITTLE physical excercise.
-It's not raining.
-It's summer.
-Because I can.
-It's safe to walk around outside.
-I always feel good afterwards.
-Fresh air is wonderful.
-I need to enjoy life's little pleasures (like walks) while I can.