But where to start? Where to begin? I must set my standards high for my first post! Eh, realistically I know I'll write about anything that pops into my head and then fail to spell check before posting this. So what? That's me...uncensored and grammatically incorrect. Well, I do my best to spell things right. I know I have some grammatical shortcomings, like:
1. My overzealous use of my friend the comma.
2. Is it Blank Person and I or Blank Person and Me?
3. Do I care?
4. I often forget about semicolons. Instead of using them when appropriate I leave them lonely and untouched on my keyboard. I should give my semicolon more love. And not just to make winky faces like this - ;)
Wink!
So I, like many others, have my issues with using the English language, its devices and constructions. Oh, but I am a pretty damn near decent little speller. I find I am very analytical about sounds - the sounds of words, more specifically. I have always paid more attention than necessary to how a word feels in my mouth. Is it a crisp word? Soggy? (Yes, there are soggy words and they gross me out) What is my soft palate doing? What's my tongue doing? Ooo, I like that - keep doing that. Good job, mouth.
I'm putting my oral awareness (shut up, don't make fun) to good use each Friday, auditing a dialects class with one of my favorite professors, Sheila. Sheila is one of the kindest people I know, a great teacher and a damn funny person...oh, and lucky me, she's my advisor. In my college career I have taken a total of five classes with Sheila which she advised me to take. I maintain that she either really likes me or does not wish me on the rest of the world. WINK semicolon! ;) Today we worked on French. When it's done correctly that is a HOT dialect in which to speak. Again, my analytical and IPA skills served me well in quickly gaining a basic grasp of the sounds. Ah, but there is so much more to learn about it! I want to learn it all. All of the possible things I can learn about dialects and more specifically, all the ways to impart this knowledge to students. That's a big part of why I am taking this class; I'd love to get my masters in speech pedagogy some day and teach. I'm a lucky girl because Sheila is the perfect person to observe in this capacity. She's smart, witty, quick to adapt and explains things in a variety of ways so that all of her students find something that resonates for them. That woman rocks and I'm so glad I have the opportunity to continue learning from her.
So I was thinking, what can I throw in here to liven things up a bit? One answer came to mind: trivia. More specifically, catholic trivia. While I am not at ALL a religious person, I was raised Catholic and have a surprising knowledge of silly little Catholic things. So without further ado, a (hopefully) weekly feature on my blog...dum da da da!!!!
CATHOLIC CORNER!!!
(Woot!)
My favorite patron saint, Saint Dymphna, is the patron saint of the mentally ill, epileptics, runaways and happy families. Her feast day is May 15th, but I'm sure you all knew that. I mean, they put out the decorations so early now...
Dymphna was from Ireland and I think her dad tried to sleep with her or something equally weird - I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Anyway, she ran away to Belgium where she lived in a church until her crazed father tracked her down and decapitated her. Sad face.
There's no history to back this up, and she is practically identical to another saint, St. Dahmat.
Oh, and she was a princess. Pretty pretty princess D, your dad wanted to get naughty, you said no-no and went to chocolate-town. (That means Belgium) Oh well, you lost your head in the end.
Hm. That sounded like something Anne Brannen might say. She's another professor I admire, and someday I shall share some of her wisdom. But I don't want to overdo this thang on the first day.
So from me to anyone, and definitely to Saint Dymphna, enjoy the day and take a minute to feel some words when you talk!
Over and out.
Moist. Moist is a soggy word. Yuck.
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