About sporks

I clicked on a commenter's link, and saw their oddly interesting blog, which included a a post about sporks:

Sporks are mainly a tool for good, for the betterment of mankind, but apparently a bane to most females since sporks are the antithesis of the overwhelming need to have even the most utilitarian tools of living to convey one’s social status via being as expensive as possible. However, as noted below, sporks ARE a multi-purpose device, a must-have in every man’s cache of tools.

Someone out there is having a lot of fun online with their "Old Coot" alter.

How to tie a tie in French

This is something ordinary that's been made more interesting because it's not in English :D Sounds like the guy enjoys his cigarettes--he has such a voice.

Had went

I've noticed a development in English (at least in the American version), and it's that people will combine the simple past tense of "go" (went) with "had". I have no idea why this has happened because I remember people just saying "went", as in "I went to his house."

Now I often hear people say, "I had went to his house" when they're telling a story. Why are they making the past tense more complicated than it is? Are they trying to sound fancy? What they're doing is combining the past perfect with the past tense, and if I were to point it out to them, they'd have no idea what I'm talking about.

Comcast can't load Japanese sites

For some reason that Comcast can't explain, I can't access news24.jp at home. I can access it anywhere else, even if I use my own computer elsewhere, but I can't get it at home.

And I just discovered that I can't load any Japanese sites, actually.

Yes, I'm annoyed, because when I call Comcast, they have no idea what I'm talking about, and for some reason, they won't try to get to the site on their own computers. In fact, yesterday someone told me that they don't have access to the internet, which doesn't make sense.

Comcast is over-rated: they advertise high speed internet, but sometimes I can't access even their own site, and sometimes I can't access the internet at all. Other times, sites load slowly, unlike their phony advertising says.

Tonight, after talking with one guy who couldn't help me, I was transferred to someone else, and I asked them if Comcast doesn't work because I live in a high rise downtown in a big city, but they hung up on me. I wasn't even yelling, just asking that question: "Is it because I live in a high rise in downtown Chicago that I can't even get online?" And they seriously hung up. So I called back, and after another person reset the modem so that I could connect, he had no clue why I can't access that Japanese site.

So if you have a choice, don't choose Comcast because they're all hype. I'm thinking of switching back to DSL (even though I know AT&T isn't the greatest), which Comcast says is slower, but Comcast is behaving like a DSL connection, and even like a company in the developing world.

Actually, I got better service and had better connections through a tiny local ISP run by a couple of Wicker Parksters back in the mid-90's before huge corporations took over and over-worked their staffs and built too much on too many promises.

I'd like to know of other options--I wonder if other people are also having trouble with Comcast.

Interview with Jon Konrath

I said before that Jon Konrath's journal is gone, which I'm still bummed about, but I've found a good interview with him.

What's funny is that I've never met him and don't write the same type of stuff as he does, and may never even be published in his literary journal again (I had one essay published in #11). I'm not even his type of reader and have different interests, but his writing affected me, as well as his projects (which inspired me to do my own). But despite all the differences, he deserves a mention here.

I've also downloaded Dealer Wins, which is about his trips to Las Vegas, so at least I'll be enjoying that while I look for other folks to read online.

What does "good" at Japanese mean?

I've noticed that there are Westerners who will say that they're good at Japanese, but they can't really read it. Which makes me wonder if being "good" at Japanese means that you have to be able to read *and* speak it.

Of course, Japanese is difficult to read, so a lot of Westerners spend their time trying to become fluent. But I think it's weird when I meet someone who's fluent who can barely read it beyond hiragana and katakana.

I wonder what Japanese people think--they talk with Westerners in Japanese, but when they go out to eat, for instance, and the Westerner can't read the menu so well (or at all), does their opinion of them change?

When I was living there, I met a lot of Japanese people who expected foreigners to not speak it, let alone read it, so maybe their expectations are already low.

I might not be able to translate anymore

I'm not sure yet, but I think my radio life is becoming so productive that I might not be able to translate anymore.

Right now, I work mainly for one show, but I've also started working for another show on the side. And because I've been posting stuff here and doing other online nerdy stuff, a couple of other radio guys want me to do stuff for their sites. What's weird is that I started this blog because I love language--I had no idea that it might lead to some paid gigs.

I will still continue to teach ESL, which takes up an entire Saturday, so really, Sunday is the only day that will be work-free. Which means that I might have to soon make a decision to not translate, because I don't have much time left, and my days start at 4 AM.

I guess if I made better money doing it, I might think twice, but I'm not so sure at this point.

I'm not going to stop posting here because I love language and always will, but my profile might change, so stay tuned :D

It's gone!

My favorite "blog" (I put it in quotes because it's really a journal, and he doesn't call it a "blog") has been discontinued! Jon Konrath's Rumored journal is gone! All that's left is an explanation of why he decided to pull it, and even that is a good read.

I discovered Rumored when I was at a temp job with a lot of downtime. I was reading a lot of stuff online, and I did a search for a very specific phrase--I honestly don't remember what it was, but it had to do with how I was feeling at the time. Then I found his journal, and I spent like a few hours reading it. I loved the honest writing and the down-to-earth style. Even though there's a lot of writing online, it's hard to find good writing that's intelligent yet personal. It seems that the people who have been trained in writing are too formal or have some kind of agenda. Rumored didn't have that--it was expressive and communicative.

Unfortunately, he removed the archives too, but you can see some of his writing at his site. I've never met him, but I felt like I got to know him somewhat through his posts.

Dashes instead

I used to be very conscientious in my use of semicolons--I knew the rules and applied them correctly. But then I took a creative writing class, where the teacher said that he didn't like using them so much, and I started using dashes instead, first in my creative writing (which hasn't been published, btw), and then in emails and here in this blog. At this point, I'm so used to using dashes instead of semicolons, my use of them has been limited to formal writing, which I really don't do that much, since a lot of my writing is via online communication and quick notes.

So now I'm wondering if semicolons are being used less, for stylistic reasons and because people don't know how they're supposed to be used.

Cuisine

I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, but there are a lot of dumpy places that call themselves "Cuisine" (ie, a dinky restaurant that is "Thai Cuisine" which has just a few tables and chairs surrounded by peeling paint and cracked floors). For once, I saw a true hole in the wall that said "Food": it's on the corner of Chicago and Orleans in Chicago, and I actually ate there once, and I'm surprised it hasn't been condemned--it looks as if it never left a South Asian busy street. It said "Indian and Pakistani FOOD", not "cuisine".

For some reason, I guess such places think that putting the word "cuisine" after the food description will make potential customers think that they're going somewhere special, and I'd be surprised if they really thought that.

It's 7:00 and time for bed

I got home less than an hour ago, and I have to go to bed now because I now have to be at work every day at 4 AM. So I will respond to comments and post something tomorrow.

First and foremost is redundant

I heard someone use the phrase "first and foremost", which it reminded me that it's redundant. Sure, they have different meanings, because "foremost" suggests strong emphasis while "first" is at the front of the list, but putting those two words together isn't necessary.

I know it's an idiom, but still--when people use that, it seems like they're just filling space.

Japanese news site

A really smart guy I know who speaks both Japanese and Chinese fluently (and Spanish too, I think) told me about a Japanese news site news24.jp that has both video and text. He said that he spends 30 minutes a day listening and reading, and his Japanese is awesome. It's not great just because of that site, but I'm sure it helps him maintain his aptitude.

For some reason, I haven't been able to access the site, but I'm going to try to make that a daily habit too (unless it ends up being too difficult).

Found a Cadfael fan

I was talking to someone who takes life very seriously and doesn't participate in much frivolity, and he was describing a seemingly boring novel (though not to him) about life in monasteries and Medieval times, which made me ask the inevitable question: did he ever watch Cadfael?

He said he loved it. Which made me think of my Cadfael post, where I challenged myself to watch an entire episode. It actually wasn't bad once I was able to sit through the simplistic scenery and drab times.

I can't believe this guy has a radio show

I got an email from an interesting guy (Michael Sheehan) who taught at a City College in Chicago for over 25 years (which is a feat in itself since education can be rough, for various reasons that I might do a post about another time) about his English blog Wordmall. He's retired and lives in Michigan, where he writes, is involved with various organizations, and has a language-related radio show--and it's not on NPR!

The reason why I'm making a big deal out of the fact that he's not on Public Radio is because commercial radio stations usually don't cover such obscure topics as language. His show is on just once a week for an hour, but still--if I were to suggest a similar show where I work, they'd laugh and remind me that people aren't interested in such subjects.

I looked at the station's site, and I couldn't find his show, but there were some other things I noticed: the station is owned by a shockingly small company, not a huge media corporation (which is extremely rare in today's radio world), and the station has mostly syndicated programming, which isn't surprising, because most radio is syndicated now. So it makes the presence of a language show even more amazing!

I told him what I thought, and he ended his friendly email with these positive words:

Since retirement in 1994, I have had an unbelievable life. Way leads unto way, but this has been one heckuva ride.

UPDATE: There are now podcasts of the show available. Go to wtcmradio.com and click on the Ron Jolly Show. Scroll down for a list of podcasts, and look for "Words to the Wise with Professor Mike Sheehan," then click to listen.

Failed attempt at understanding Japanese

I work in a building with a couple of Japanese companies, and sometimes I'm lucky to hear some Japanese conversations going on in the hall or elevator. Today a couple of Japanese businessmen got on the elevator and were talking about something--but I couldn't totally understand! I know that they were talking about business and work, but I couldn't get the details. Little did they know that I was intensely eavesdropping--they probably thought I was a clueless American :D But still, in a way I was clueless because I couldn't decipher everything they were saying.

This may not be a big deal to a lot of people, but to me it is because I still study and translate Japanese, but I think I've been away from Japan for too long and there aren't enough Japanese people around to get enough listening practice. Maybe those guys were using idioms or more polite language than I was used to--I don't know. But I hope to keep running into Japanese people to be able to improve my eavesdropping skills :D

Funny office memo

My husband works for a British company, so he works with several Brits who I hope are enjoying our fine country, and recently, a new president arrived from the UK. I guess he was concerned about intercultural communication in the office, so he sent everyone in the company a link to The Best of British: the American's Guide to Speaking British. Now the employees can become bilingual in English :D

My German-translating friend took this cool photo

My friend who knows a lot of German took this photo, and I wanted to post it here because it's so cool. Not only do I know the photographer, but I know the model--we used to work together, though I haven't seen her in a while.

new Pompeii book

If you want to know more about Pompeii, or if you want to see how other historians have been wrong about it, then check out Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. It was released in the UK yesterday, and will be released in the US later in the fall.

I haven't read it yet, but I'm mentioning it here because I saw Mary Beard's 10 things you need to know about Pompeii, which is myth-busting and interesting.

She's also a very smart, interesting, nice person, so her book deserves a mention here. She's achieved more than most people, including publishing many books, getting published and interviewed for top publications and other media, being an editor for the Times Literary Supplement, and teaching at Cambridge. I'd say that's the cream of the crop in the intellectual world.

Considering everything she's accomplished, she is not snobby at all, appreciates online writing by non-media folks and academic types, and is friendly--she sent me an email complimenting my blog, and told me about hers (which has thousands of readers). She even met with me when she came to Chicago to lecture at a university.

Believe me, I've met some folks who haven't accomplished as much as her, but because they perceived me as a peon, they barely wanted to talk to me. So when she took the time out of her busy schedule to hang out with me, it meant a lot.

She's also a good writer, so I'm sure her book is good.

What's up with Cadfael?

The mystery series Cadfael has been on several times, and I have never watched it because it doesn't seem that interesting. But tonight I'm making myself watch it in its entirety because I have to see why it would exist on modern television.

I'm still perplexed why Brits would want to watch it, and why the producers thought that it would be worth the money: there's nothing fancy about it, and there's a constant grayish-brownishness about it. Usually the British mystery shows transport us to rich people's homes and fancy parties filled with intrigue, but Cadfael is like porridge.

I seriously doubt that such a show would be produced in the US--people wouldn't have the patience for the drab aesthetics or bland personalities. I can imagine a Hollywood mogul screaming, "A middle ages mystery? Are you crazy?"

But such a show makes us focus on the words and the mystery instead of being distracted by pretty hairstyles and temperamental personalities. The show is still in progress, and it seems pretty good, and it's actually refreshing to not have a bunch of flash and egos thrown at me.