Wordy woman

Returning from the Dead!

2008-05-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

So--I'm back! And I have tons of words left to go! So, here are my next 10:

1. Ebullient--enthusiastic
2. Eccentric--abnormal, not centered, not circular, an unconventional person
3. Ecclesiastical--pertaining to a church
4. Eclectic--coming from various sources, someone who uses an eclectic method
5. Edify--to instruct in an uplifting manner
6. Efficacious--Capable of producing the desired effect
7. Effrontery--audacity
8. Effusive--gushing or unrestrained
9. Egalitarianism--the doctrine of "equal rights for all people"
10. Elastic--adaptable, flexible

Next week, I'll be back with new words and these words in context--oh--so much fun! Bye. Laurel

And she's back...

2007-04-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hello! So after a few weeks of feeling like anything but myself, I feel that the old me is finally returning. This is a welcome return to all involved. I pity those who have had to spend the last few weeks with "cranky pants me" as opposed to "quirky weird me." The other day I finally hit the apex of my "cranky pants" days and I spent most of the day trying not to verbally express the long diatribe running through my head. Have you ever noticed that people tend to say bitter diatribe? But if diatribe means bitter criticism, why would you need to clarify that it is a bitter one? Interesting... Anyway, luckily most of my diatribe stayed inside my head. I think I get most frustrated with myself on days like that because I realize that "cranky pants me" digresses all too often. I get sidetracked by my annoyance with some minor issue and forget about the things in my life and my daily activities that really matter. Argh...being human really stinks sometimes...oh well. Glad the cranky pants have left for a while.

Now enough about unhappy times, summer time is coming soon, and I can't wait!!! I have so many plans. I willing to make a conjecture that most of these will probably go undone, but I refuse to be a realist. I will forever be the girl who plans two thousand things to do in the summer, and this summer is no different. I am already planning my daily schedule in my head (yep-I'm that girl...schedule girl--maybe she could be a super hero--saving the world one perfectly planned day at a time? what do you think? oh-but I digress!) I have a fairly complaisant schedule in mind--one involving plenty of reading and writing along with some "projects" I've been putting off for years. It's weird--but this will be the first summer in ten years in which I haven't been working. It's a bit of irony that getting my first real job allowed me to not work in the summer. :) I want to fully enjoy myself this summer, but I'm thinking that having a "plan" in mind with circumvent the laziness I so often fall into when given too much free time.

One of my main goals this summer is to really work on my writing. Living without a computer for the past 5 months has kept me from really writing anything substantial. If I can get my new laptop before the summer begins, maybe I can actually get some stuff done! This will require spending at least part of my vacation in a somewhat cloistered setting. I don't do too well with that, but it would probably really help me in the long run. We'll see. It seems like writers, if they want to write what's real, are required to balance their time between fully living their lives so they have a life to write about and secluding themselves so they can actually write about their experiences. I tend to land on one side or the other. I once heard one of my favorite singers say that he had to get off the road for a while because he was out of things to write. He'd spent so much time outside of his life that he had no source for writing. Does that make sense? I guess if you spend too much time in either extreme, your writing life becomes a bit dilapidated.

Well- speaking of lives, my running life has been a bit exciting lately. I've now been running for about 4 months. This is a big deal for me since I am the queen of dropouts. I get all into something, and then after a little while, I drop it. This could explain the many half-finished projects I have around my room. So, last week when I noticed my body seemed to be lobbying for an end to the running routine, I became a bit worried. It got really bad last Saturday when I was attempting to complete my "long run." I really thought my body was staging a coup. My craven will began to cave in. I even started to wipe off the machine and go home. Then, as the Rocky music began to play in my head, I thought, "I don't think so missy. We quit running when I say we quit." Suddenly my will became iron strong, and I just kept running. At first I was worried, but this week's long run was the consummate run, so I think I must have done the right thing.

So--on that note, here are the new words:

1. disaffect: to cause someone to lose feelings of loyalty or affection
2. discern: to perceive
3. discomfit: to make uneasy; to thwart
4. discord: strife; a harsh mix of musical tones
5. discourse: communication; the formal discussion of a subject
6. discrete: separate
7. disdain: scorn; to reject as unworthy
8. disparage: to belittle; to discredit
9. disparate: entirely different
10. disabuse: to free from deception or misconception

on a random side note--these words came out of the big box. i have finally moved past what i supposedly learned before. yippee

Melissa S., you will not be the next Pussycat Doll...

2007-04-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

Sad news, huh? I was watching this show with my roommate tonight. This was my first venture into the Dolls' world, and it was a strange trip. So I know it's been a while since I blogged. To the two people out there who read this--I apologize. Last week was complete chaos--grades were due, we had out-of-town visitors at school, I proctored the ACT for the first time. It was non-stop action, so there was no time for blogging. But I'm back now. Sadly, I have lost the 10 words I was going to post last week. I knew leaving them out of the baggy was a bad idea. I guess I should explain that. There is a system to this madness. Each week I take 10 cards out of the "bag 'o words I memorized last time" (all the words I memorized back when I had grandiose dreams of going to a very impressive PhD program); I put a paperclip over the 10 words and then I put them in a bag with the rest of the words. Last week I was feeling a bit cavalier, so I left the words in my planner. Obviously they ran away. But--I have new words anyway--one of the perks of having 750 words. And, these are the last words in the old bag (do you hear the music reaching a crescendo as I pull those last cards out of the tattered Ziploc bag?) How exciting! Or maybe sad--if you look at how quickly I let go of my PhD dreams and submitted to reality. But whatever. On to the next challenge.

Finishing the bag of words I had, theoretically already memorized reminded me of my previous ambition. I must say that I am a much more complacent person than I was back then. The weird thing is that using that word seems so negative. Why, if the word means contended, does complacent seem to be used negatively? I have noticed that learning these words over the past few months has caused me to pay more attention to the colloquial language I use. I've tried to add more interesting words to my language instead of just using the easy and convenient words. Now that I've finished this stage of the process, I feel like I should make some kind of word collage. I'll be thinking about this as the week goes along. Maybe I'll have something clever for the next post...

Today was an interesting day in a few ways. I read one of my favorite passages to my students today. It's a passage from a book by Donald Miller called To Own a Dragon. This particular passage talks about the importance of character. He says that a friend called him out on taking a free cell phone when he knew that his old phone was out of warrantee. I've read this passage to other classes before, so I knew we would get into some interesting conversations about the truth, your word, and character. I must say with a contrite spirit, that I haven't always told the truth. I've lied about little stupid stuff--like saying I was still a student in order to get the student discount. Reading this passage always reminds me of the value of my word. It challenges me to make my word mean something. I want my deeds to always be above question. I was also a bit bothered by some of the things that came up in conversation. In Miller's book, he gives an example of someone getting too much change back and not saying anything. While I would say the person is culpable for taking the money, some of my students thought that wasn't the case. I always want to think that my students cleave to the truth, and when they say the truth isn't really the ultimate thing of importance, I worry. I want people to live by a code of honesty. Maybe I can start a one-woman campaign for truth. We'll see! I'm going to take down the theory that the truth is just a construct.

On that soapbox note, here are the new words:
1. complaisant:agreeable
2. conjecture: guesswork
3. circumvent: to get around something
4. cloister: to seclude; a place devoted to religious seclusion
5. coup: a brilliant, sudden action; a sudden overthrow of a government (I love this word)
6. craven: cowardly
7. consummate: to complete; perfect; supreme
8. diatribe: a bitter criticism
9. digress: to depart from the main subject
10. dilapidated: ruined by neglectand

there you have them. bye.

My life with caterpillars and other things I've noticed...

2007-04-03T14:09:00.001-07:00

Many may wonder how much interaction I could really have with caterpillars since I grew up in the subdivision world, but I must say it might surprise you. In the ever-expanding list entitled "creatures I've run into while living on a farm," caterpillars are now found. Their appearance actually usurped the horseflies place of latest encounter. As I was walking in from church the other day, I noticed that our carport had become home to a rather large number of caterpillars. They almost seemed ubiquitous. I'd never noticed before how turbid and untenable these little guys are. They just seem to wonder around with no real clue as to what's going on. I must say that this did not really bother me because I really like the furry little guys. My parents actually still like to tell the story of the caterpillar I "loved to death" because I held it for too long, but I still claimed the thing drowned when the "home" I made for it flooded (first sign I should not build houses). Anyway- this was one of the more pleasant encounters with nature. Previously we have had run-ins with spiders, mice, skunks, ladybugs, and flies. Most of these were minor encounters--except for the mice and skunk. At least these creatures don't undermined anything.

Not only have caterpillars emerged as a result of this lovely weather, but my spring mindset has returned as well. I am not one of those who gets really bummed during the winter, but I definitely feel more productive and motivated in the spring. Something about sunshine and warm weather makes me feel like I ought to be doing stuff. :) So--in that spirit, I've been really trying to stick to a schedule I made for myself a few months ago. Truth be told, I am somewhat of an odd mix--I'm kind of an anal hippy. While I'm all into recycling, etc. I'm also a big stickler for structure in my everyday life. I seem to do better if I have some external force telling me what to do and when to do it. This is especially odd since, in reality, it isn't really an external force since I made the schedule. Confused yet? Good. You might have noticed that I said I made the schedule a few months ago, but I am just now starting to really abide by it. This is because I tend to vacillate between being completely organized and being a complete couch potato. I also have a hard time finding a balance between having a completely utilitarian schedule, and having a completely leisurely schedule. I think my latest efforts have somehow found some middle ground.

Along with this overwhelming desire to "be productive" in the spring time, I also tend to take on new adventures. My latest adventure is to expand my knowledge of history. I've noticed that teaching the books I teach in my classroom requires me to be quite familiar with many different aspects of history. I also just like the thought of being smart enough to carry on a conversation with people about different time periods. All of that to say, this weekend, I purchased a book about the American presidents. I'm planning to read about one president each week. So far I've read about George Washington. It was really interesting. I found myself being confronted with my previous attitude towards history books. The chapter I read really confronted some of the information I thought was unimpeachable. Basically the chapter said that Washington was unfeigned, but maybe not the smartest of the founding fathers. Although, looking at the brilliance found in that bunch, it would be pretty hard to be the smartest.

Well- I'm now off to run. Oh- but I almost forgot--here are the new words...

1. construct--something fabricated; an image or theory
2. collage- a composite made from odd parts
3. code- a collection of rules or principles; instructions in a computer program
4. colloquial (I always think of this as being a negative word)- conversational; pertaining to informal speech
5. cleave (this reminds me of that verse in the Bible that says a man should leave his parents and cleave to his wife)- to cut forcefully; to be faithful to; to bond emotionally
6. contrite (once again- Bible verse reference) - remorseful
7. crescendo- a gradual increase in intensity (this gives me images of my jr. high band teacher trying to get our little band to get louder)
8. culpable- deserving blame
9. deed- a conspicuous act; a document of ownership
10. complacent- contented

I don't have time to check this over, so I apologize for any glaringly obvious spelling/grammar issues.

Better late than never...

2007-03-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

So I'm a complete slacker and am just now posting the new words. This means we (by we I mean, me and my imaginary audience that is) must memorize quickly. Luckily some of these will, probably, be familiar.

1. Turbid- confused or disoriented; clouded; opaque
2. ubiquitous- omnipresent
3. undermine-to weaken the foundation of
4. unfeigned- genuine
5. unimpeachable- completely trustworthy
6. untenable- undefendable
7. usurp (I love this word)- to seize and hold
8. utilitarian- (I tend to use this word in a negative way) practical, rather than decorative
9. utility- usefulness; something useful; a public service
10. vacillate- to waver (I just used this word with a student the other day. I think they thought I had said something bad.)

On another note, I'm finally making progress again towards finishing Metamorphosis. I'm really enjoying it (this probably has something to do with it not being required for a class).

Ode to the beach...

2007-03-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

Not really--sorry to get your hopes up...but I've yet to complete any of the odes I've started writing for other things I love. Maybe that would be a good goal for the summer.

Well-I'm back from vacation. This was my first real vacation as an independent adult, and it was fabulous. The food was amazing, having nowhere to go was wonderful, and spending 4 days with some great friends was just delightful. I think the mix of personalities on the trip worked really well. It seems like sometimes one member of a group takes over in a totalitarian way, but this group actually seemed really well balanced. But now I'm back in town and getting caught up on all of the stuff that goes into the last 8 weeks of school. Can you believe that--in just a few short months it will officially be summertime!

So now more about my vacation. We went to the beach for a few days, but we decided to pick a beach...okay- I was all set to use all ten words in talking about the beach, but I am now realizing that I was setting myself up for the most boring blog ever. You know how people subject you to picture after picture of their vacations and expected it to somehow be exciting for you--well that is what this blog would be--except without the visual aids. Oh dear. I will say that those four days of vacation contained some of the yummiest food I've had in a very long time. The first night we were in town, we evidently hit the wrong part of town at the wrong time of night. I do not mean this in a scary-running-from-the-bad-guy kind of way. I mean that every place we went to had either quit serving food or was closed. But just when this experience was the most vexing, we stumbled into an absolutely lovely restaurant with the yummiest soup. I'm still dreaming about that meal--and they had really good bread.

Now that I'm sitting at the computer with plenty of time to write, I'm realizing that there’s a lot to report from my little world. The last few times I've been blogging, I've been so rushed that I didn't have much time for fun stuff. Probably the coolest news is that my wonderful roommate and friend gave me my birthday present really early. In a moment of sheer whimsy (I hope I'm using that correctly) they decided to throw tradition to the wind and give me the coolest gift ever 2 months early. I am now the proud owner of a record player. I've wanted one for a few years now, but I think when I tell people that, they think it's just one of those whimsical things I say--but it's not--I absolutely love my new gadget. I've been listening to Abbey Road and The Monkees and even a little Bert and Ernie Sing-a-long for a few weeks now. Everything just sounds better on a record player. I can't explain it. When I first tried to use my new player, I had a few trepidations about messing something up. I didn't want to scratch anything or break anything, but now I can play those records like a pro. Maybe my fascination with records will be transient, but I don't think so. What I really need now are some good jazz albums. Any suggestions for titles I should obtain? I have a pretty good mix of upbeat rock and tranquil stuff. I think at this point, almost anything will be a good addition to my collection--with the exception of any vociferous albums.

Well -this actually turned out to be more of a love blog about my new record player. Who knew I had such torrid feelings towards a source of music. I am now going to go enjoy some nachos. I am giving up on using tractable. I have no idea how to work that one in. So goodbye.

Two for one deal...

2007-03-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Today you are getting 2 for the reading of 1! This is SPRING BREAK!!! So I will not be blogging much during the week. Because of this, I'm posting my new words along with my uses of the old ones. Aren't you excited? You really should be.

This being Spring Break, I've been making travel plans with some friends. I decided a while back, that when it comes to traveling, I am completely comfortable deferring to others. This will come as a surprise to those who know me to be a bit of a control freak. But I must say I am a weird sort of control freak. I either REALLY care and want complete control or I don't care at all and want NOTHING to do with the planning. It's weird; I know. So whenever planning comes up, I simply try to keep a neutral countenance. It has worked so far.

Packing, on the other hand, is always a conundrum, especially on vacations with lots of down time. Questions like, "How many books can I justify taking?" and "How many different kinds of clothes should I pack?" always float in my head for a few days before leaving. One contention I tend to make is that running out of things to read would be devastating, but then my rational side says, "When has that every happened?" Irrational me shoots back the stinging answer of, "Never--because I'm always prepared." This inevitably leads to an overpacking problem stemming from a decadent collection of books in my luggage. I think this may stem from my early packing years in which smuggling too many toys or games was a bit of a covert operation. My mom tends to be a very rational packer and gets a bit annoyed with people who overpack (i.e. me).

In other news, we finished up Romeo and Juliet this week. I decided to end our time by watching West Side Story. Although I love this movie dearly, I will probably never show it in class again. It didn't go over so well. Not to denigrate the movie, but my students are not credulous enough to believe that guys in tough gangs spend their free time singing and dancing down the streets of New York, even in the 50's. But my students did seem to like the play; some even liked the play better than the new version of the movie. I think Romeo and Juliet is a great way to be introduced to Shakespeare because it has just enough crass humor to keep the students amused, but also has a very didactic element when it comes to the dangers of love and hate.

Out with the old, in with the new: Once again, these may be familiar. There are some great words in this week’s list--if I do say so myself--which I think I can since I neither created them nor hand-selected them.

1. trepidation (see--great words, huh?): apprehension
2. transient: temporary; not staying in one place for long; one who does this
3. tranquil: calm; peaceful
4. tractable: docile; malleable
5. totalitarianism: governmental rule by one party (that suppresses all opposition)
6. torrid (seems like this word is always connected to affairs "It was a torrid affair."): very hot; intense or passionate
7. whimsical: playful or imaginative; erratic and unpredictable
8. whimsy: a whim; a sudden change; something odd or fanciful
9. vociferous: characterized by loud and persistent shouting
10. vex (I love this word!): to annoy or cause concern; to baffle; to talk at length

There you have them. Bye.

For never was a story of more woe...

2007-03-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

than this of Juliet and her Romeo. Isn't that just about the best ending line ever. Being an English teacher makes me a nerd about some things (like maybe starting a blog about vocabulary words...), and one of those things is beginning and ending lines to books, plays, etc. If you start to pay attention, you'll notice that most good books grab you in the first few lines and leave you begging for more at the end. We finished Romeo and Juliet today. It's just such a sad story. No matter how many times I read it, I still kind of hope that they'll make it out this time. Sadly enough, I never get my wish. I also love some of the expressions found in Shakespeare's writing. I tend to think that our laziness as a culture has made our speech really boring. The unwillingness to learn new words and the unwillingness to use big words has made the English language somewhat simple and repetitive in many cases. Maybe that's just where I live, but it seems a bit like an epidemic. I'm sure every generation says this and the language is fine now. Either way, I really want to reintroduce some of his cool phrases. My new favorite is "hie you hence." It basically means hurry up or go quickly; at least that's the way I would use it.

Now on to my new words:
1. defer: to postpone; to yield to another
2. denigrate: to defame
3. didactic: excessively instructive (I love this word)
4. countenance: a look of approval or support; composure; appearance
5. credulous: gullible
6. covert: concealed; a hiding place
7. conundrum: a problem without a suitable solution; a riddle whose answer is a play on words
8. contention: a point put forward in a debate; a conflict
9. decadent: decaying; self-indulgent (interesting pairing huh?)
10. crass: (also a word I love) crude and insensitive

So there you have it. Most of these will probably be pretty familiar, but I figure it's always a good review. Also--I finished reading a really interesting book this weekend. It's called The Professor and the Madman. It's all about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary. I never really thought about how one might go about creating a dictionary from scratch. It's quite a bit harder than one might think, but at least in this story, it helps to have a bored guy in an insane asylum to help you out.

I was looking in my notecard bag today. This week makes a total of 60 new words. It seems like when I hit 100 I should do some kind of review. We'll see.

The weirdness of a week...

2007-03-10T14:17:00.000-08:00

So I only have a few minutes to use all of my words. I warn this may be sloppy and unpleasant. My sister and I both love the word wanderlust, and I must say, this week I'm having wanderlust as spring break becomes within view. I can't wait to spend some time just chilling out in a town other than my own. Traveling is just the best.

I spent the first part of my Saturday at a professional development event. It was absolutely wonderful and reminded me that my job is really a vocation in both sense of the word. I love what I do. I then went on to workout. After reaching the zenith of my 5k training plan, I've had to move on to a 10k plan. This new plan is forcing me to experiment with new gadgets at the gym since I'm supposed to be cross-training two days a week. I must say that my cross-training days do not require me to use quite the vigor I use when I'm running, but it definitely works new sets of muscles; this week I learned that any vestige of muscle I had left from all of my bike-riding days is definitely gone.

My committeemen’s this week were voluminous--it seemed like I had somewhere to be at all the times. This increase in commitments sometimes left me feeling a bit volatile at times, and I feel sorry for anyone who had to interact with me during my less pleasant moments. :) Having completed the week, I am feeling like I'm coming back to the more vivacious side of my personality.

Last night was really fun. I went over to a friend's house where a virtuoso of fire building provided a nice little bonfire. It was the perfect way to spend a Friday night, and I even came home from work and changed out of my teacher clothes into something a little more in vogue.

I think this is by far my most boring blog, but at least I got all of my words in before my session timed out. :) I'm out.

A crappy day...literally...

2007-03-06T16:16:00.000-08:00

So this week has gotten off to a strange start. I'm actually having a great week, but something truly bizarre happened yesterday. My students came back from lunch, and almost immediately the room started smelling like (what we all assumed to be) a...how shall I say...flatulence...and all of my students started making a big deal about it. I must say that the smell was a bit overwhelming, but I feared one of my students might be having a bad reaction to lunch so I just told them all to hush. Within a few minutes, the smell intensified to the point that even I couldn't ignore it, and I began to worry that one of my kids was in real trouble. It soon became clear that this was not a poot; we were clearly dealing with the smell of poo. I went out into the hallway for a minute to see if the smell might be coming from somewhere other than my classroom. As I saw students emerging out of another classroom with their noses covered, I realized this smell was beyond my room. My students were doing everything they could to make the smell less miserable, and they soon asked me to open the window. That was when I discovered the source of the smell--outside my window, in the parking lot, a maintenance man was ankle deep in...well you can guess. I quickly told my students that they really didn't want me to open the window. At this point I could no longer keep from laughing about the odd situation I was finding myself in. All of this, of course, happening while we're trying to read the scene from Romeo and Juliet in which Capulet threatens to disown Juliet. Anyway, as soon as I told my students about the window not being a good idea, one of my students volunteered to open the window and "check it out." He takes one whiff before dramatically shutting the window and heading back to his seat. With the source of the problem identified, we tried to cover the order the best we could and went on to finish the scene.

Well--there's my story. Here are the new words. As with some other weeks, many of these words will probably be familiar, but it's nice to know the official definition and all of the possible meanings.

1. Vocation-one's occupation; an inner calling

2. Vogue- the current fashion; acceptance; popularity

3. Wanderlust- (great word huh?) a strong desire to travel

4. Zenith- the point directly overhead; the apex

5. Vestige- a very slight trace of something

6. Vigor- strength; energy

7. Virtuoso- someone highly skilled in an art

8. Vivacious- lively; high spirited

9. Volatile- evaporating quickly; threatening to erupt in violence; fickle

10. Voluminous- lengthy; bulky; numerous

So there you have it.

Oh the things we say...and don't say...

2007-03-03T14:05:00.000-08:00

So I just deleted an entire blog because I feel like my thoughts are caught somewhere between my head and my ribcage. I just finished a really interesting book called Self-made Man, and it's making my head swim a bit. I think I need to go write some thoughts in my writers' notebook and sort through it all. All I know is that I'm completely rethinking the way women and men communicate. Ever since I started the book I've been studying how the women around me talk and interact. It's a bit fascinating really.

Well, I spent so much time writing the blog I just deleted that I don't really have time to write a new one, so I'll leave this with you--for the last few weeks, every time I go to the library I see the same single Reebok high-top in the parking lot. The weird part (aside from there only being one) is that it is in a different place each time, and it's not in the kind of places the wind would blow it. It's on the top of the guardrails or in between two parking spaces, etc. Sadly enough-someone must have finally claimed it. And with that, I am off to grade a ridiculously huge stack of papers and watch the final episodes of Freaks and Geeks (insert soundtrack of Boys II Men "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye").

Oh the wonderful weather...

2007-03-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

I've been told that the state I currently call home never gets much winter weather. I think I must be good weather luck because we have already had two snow days (in a row) and a late start day. It gets better though--we were released 2 hours early today because a severe storm was expected to hit us. Luckily, none of these events have really deterred me from anything and have given me some much-enjoyed free time. So to that I say, "Yippee!" (I'm sure I'm tempting fate with that last comment, but I'll risk it.) I'm not really sure how to work all of these really diverse words into one post. I'm having a hard time fitting zoology in without misinterpreting the meaning. I just tried using it in a clever way, but it turned out to mean the sociological study of animals more than the biological. I guess I could say that the only experience I have really had with zoology was my brief time as a frog owner. I had to do a little research on red leg. Yeah-look it up--African Dwarf Frogs have some weird problems.

This has been a pretty enjoyable week at school. My students have continued to read Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar. I think teaching these texts for the 2nd and 3rd times definitely has caused me to see things I missed before. For one thing, I am realizing, that with humans, unlike with particles, people cohere not necessarily because they are similar, but because they have a similar goal or social connection. Benvolio and Mercutio (Romeo's best friends) are nothing alike. Who knows how they came to be friends, but they are really good for each other. They balance each other out. The same kind of weird coherence is true with Brutus and Cassius. In the scene we read the other day, Brutus vituperates Cassius for taking a bribe (something the noble Brutus would NEVER do). So maybe this is a reason we are a more elevated species--because we don't simply stick with the familiar. Either way, I find I have a great respect for Shakespeare and my students have plenty of zeal towards the characters. Of course, that could just be preparation for the wheedling associated with report card week. Who knows? :)

I've also noticed something weird about my classroom this week. I like to diffuse my desks as much as possible so my students don't feel packed in like sardines, but somehow, no matter how many times we spread the desks back out, they always end up cramped up again. I don't get it.

I am happy to report that my leg is completely back to its normal state. I attribute this partly to my vigilant workouts. (I feel sorry for the word vigilant given the negative meaning of its close relative vigilante.) Luckily the coach's advice has allowed me to continue to run without any deleterious consequences. I think if I had done further damage I might have been subjected to a scolding of the dilate nature. :)

Well, I'm off. I had really hoped to write a fun little note about going to get a viscous frozen yogurt milkshake, but am sad to report that my town contains no such establishments. I think I will just settle for a cookie.

And now for something completely different...

2007-02-28T14:18:00.000-08:00

When I pulled out my next ten words for the week, I realized that, somewhere along the way, I mixed up the cards. "How do I know this?" one might ask. I know this because I have words like diffuse along with words like zoology. Which brings me to my next point-- This process of expanding my vocabulary has been very interesting. At first, I debated whether I should include words I already “kind of” knew along with the completely new words. After many long debates with myself, I decided that it would behoove me to learn the formal definitions for all words, even those words I could potentially already use in a sentence. I'm glad I opted for including all words because it has made me more comfortable with my word choice. So with that random soliloquy out of the way, I'll give you the new, mixed-up list of words.

diffuse: to spread; spread out: not concentrated (esp. light); wordy and not sticking to the point (esp. in speeches)
dilate: to become wider or larger; to speak at great length about something

deleterious: harmfulcohere: to be consistent; to stick together (esp. similar particles)

wheedle (see--this is where I start to go off course): to persuade by using flatter (like Antony does with the Roman crowds and Decius does with Caesar)

zeal: enthusiasm

zoology: the biological study of animals (see- the formal definition is a bit more specific than the definition in my head)

vigilant: watchful

viscous: thick and not easily poured

vituperate: to scold with abusive language

So I have this whole list of things I've been meaning to blog about, but at the moment I can't think of one of them, and at this point in the day, expecting me to actually get up and walk to my bag is more than one can ask. I will say that I am a bit proud to say I suffered my first athletic injury this week. This may sound completely ridiculous to those long term runners and the likes out there, but it was kind of a rite of passage. This is probably the longest I've kept running (both in distance and number of days--not is a Forrest Gump kind of way though). So, I guess, since I didn't really know what I was doing, it was bound to happen. I guess I should tell you that it really wasn't that big of a deal--just a tweaked (that was the basketball coach's term) hamstring, but it required ice and heat and rest, so it felt official. I'm all better now and running just fine. Luckily it was such a minor injury that I didn't have to miss a day of running. On that note, I will leave you…

The power of caffeine...

2007-02-24T14:03:00.000-08:00

This has been one of those crazy weeks. Grades were due this week, so I had big stacks of papers everywhere. I was grading as quickly as I could, but I have a hard time sitting and grading for long periods of time. I am happy to report that my life is my own once again. I feel so free! :)

I think one of the words for the week may be my favorite so far. The word dilettante is just brilliant. I've been muttering, "dilettante," all week as I see people doing silly things. It makes me smile on the inside...and sometimes on the outside. I think some people might be dilettantes when it comes to cognition, but that's okay. :) I've noticed (and I think I told you this on my last blog) that the more words I learn and the more I read, the more I see those words in what I read. It always makes me happy. This week I didn't really have much time to read. I was disappointed, but oh well.

I started to read a book called The Plot Against America. My friend Nick recommended it. I only read about 40 pages before I had to turn it back in. (See- I knew last week's break in tradition would lead to further disappointments...it was a bad sign). Anyway-the book is a novel written as if Lindberg had won the presidential election over FDR. I don't really know as much about history as I would like, so I need to chat with Nick and find out how much of the story is true and how much is the novel. I guess I just need Nick to corroborate some of Roth's quotes as actual quotes as compared to fictional quotes. I know Lindberg was never president, so as soon as he gets elected I should no longer be confused! But, alas, in the name of decorum, I had to turn the book back in today so another library patron could enjoy it.

I didn't really have any time to read Metamorphosis either, but I have noticed that, like many authors, Ovid seems to depend on the same tricks over and over. He likes turning people into some form of plant--trees, reeds, shrubbery, etc. The first time I thought it was a cool idea; the second time I thought he was just being lazy! Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on my reading this week while trying not to be so behind on my grading.

On a completely different note, this was a weird week in my classroom. It seemed like every time I turned around, some kid was asking for a band-aid. The other day, a kid came in with tape around her coagulated blood because the teacher wouldn't give her a band-aid. How sad? :) After couching my dismay in the form of a question, I offered to give her a real band-aid. She then told me a concise story about how she came to injure herself and her teacher's inability (due to lack of band-aids) to help her out. I think the increase in finger injuries might somehow correlate to the winter weather. Don't ask me how, but it seems to somehow be connected. So I guess you could say that my band-aids are quickly becoming a commodity.

On that note, I must leave you as my library computer time is coming to an end. Goodbye

The winners are...

2007-02-21T16:17:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit behind this week. I had Monday off (thank you Mr. President...) so I took the day off from all of my usual activities (with the exception of hygene-related activities of course...). I'm posting my words today with the hope that I will have them mastered in a short amount of time. I've been really encouraged lately because I keep seeing words I'm learning in the books I'm reading. This makes me think that either I'm learning good words and reading good literature or I'm just silly and should have known these words because everyone else already uses them. I guess only time will tell. I should start listening more closely to the people around me. Spending most of your time talking to those still developing their vocabularies doesn't really give you a good pool to draw from when surveying the average American vocabulary.

All that to say--here are the new words--note that some are simply new forms of words from previous weeks:

1. dilettante: an amateur; a person who enjoys the arts (this makes me think of debutante and I want to look and see if there is a connection)

2. decorum: proper behavior

3. deride: to mock

4. coagulate: to clot

5. couch: to express

6. concise: brief and comprehensive (this word impresses me--it seems like most of the time people tend to be one or the other)

7. correlate: to establish a reasonable connection

8. corroborate: to confirm

9. cognition: the act of thinking

10. commodity: something bought or sold regularly; something useful

So there you have it. I apologize for any errors; I don't have time to edit this because I am off to an Ash Wednesday service. I'm kind of excited. Last year was my first year to observe Lent, so I thought I would try to really follow along with it this year.

As a side note, it was a sad day for me on Sunday. I had been able to both read every book I had borrowed from the library and turn them all in on time...until this weekend. I went to renew one of my books, sure that I could finish it in the next two weeks. When I got to the library I found out there was a hold on the book so I had to turn it in or take a fine. The kind librarian reminded me that I could turn it in before the library opened on the next day and still not have a fine. I went home and attempted to read 384 pages in 24 hours. Sorry to report that my years as an English major had not prepared me for this--alas, I was only able to finish 284 pages of the book. I will have to check it out again later.

Later I will have to update you on my Metamorphosis readings. I've discovered some interesting things in that book. Boy, I didn't think I would be able to honestly say that before. Once again, I must go. Apologies for the sloppy writing.

Thoughts on Valentine's...

2007-02-14T06:28:00.000-08:00

So it's Valentine's Day, and I'm a cynical thus-and-such on days like today. I feel the need to clarify--I'm not bitter or unhappy, I'm just a bit suspicious of any "holiday" that gives credence to the belief that one must buy stuff in order to denote love to someone. Don't get me wrong, I believe in love and even in grandiose gestures of love, but I firmly believe they should be heartfelt--not required. So on days like today, as I see people walking around with flowers they will soon desiccate and pin on a bulletin board, I tend to think that days like today debase the true signs of love.

Today has actually been a nice little day though. I often find that despite the focus on romantic love, Valentine's often reminds me of the blessings found in platonic and familial love. My roommate is a wonderful friend, and I woke up this morning to find a funny, sweet note on the counter. I started my day feeling loved!

This year's day of love kind of slipped up on me. I totally forgot what day it was when I made plans with a friend to congregate (I think that word actually needs a group instead of just two, but whatever) at a local coffee shop for a night of knitting. I can't wait. I did congregate with a group of other knitters for a night of charity knitting. We were making squares to make blankets for the rescue mission. The most exciting part of the evening? I can now knit in a pattern. I only know one, but it was a big moment for me. After a few mishaps with some oversized mittens, I tend to be a bit diffident about my knitting abilities. This diffidence was increased by the fact that I started my first adventure with double-pointed needles and, much to my consternation, the needles won the battle for dominance.

This has actually been a really good week for my vocabulary. My sophomore classes are reading Julius Caesar, which is full of demagogues. Between Antony and Cassius, they could get anyone to do just about anything. Then there is Brutus, who actually truly believes what he says. I must admit that I’m not really that fond of the play—it gets a bit wordy and, to be honest, boring at times. I think the only thing I find really interesting is the power play between the soon-to-be despot (Julius Caesar), and those planning to depose him. The first time I taught this play, I really spent most of my time trying to keep all of the characters straight. This time through, I’m actually starting to really appreciate the different characters’ motives and enjoy their speeches. Brutus is, of course, my favorite. He’s so focused on what’s right and honorable. He is so willing to sacrifice for the good of others that it compels me to look at my own motives.

Ha! Check it out! All ten words!

As a funny side note—I was reading You Suck: A Love Story this weekend, and I ran across the word decorous, and I knew what it meant. I was SO excited! My words are coming in handy. I’m now reading the modern version of Metamorphoses, and it’s going much better. I’ve also been reading Miss Julie Speaks Her Mind upon my mom’s recommendation, and it’s hilarious. It’s just the right humorous balance to Ovid’s poetry.

The next ten...

2007-02-12T19:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a pretty odd and long day in my world, so I am not feeling completely creative or interesting tonight. I apologize in advance for being borrowing. So with that warning...

It's Monday. I'm keeping my word. Here are the new words:

Denote: to indicate

Diffident: lacking self-confidence

Congregate: gather together

Desiccate: to dry out; to make lifeless

Demagogue: someone who gains power by arousing an audience's emotions (this word seems appropriate for this week in my life given the fact that my sophomores are about to read the funeral speeches of Brutus and Antony in Julius Caesar--talk about a crowd persuaded by emotion!)

Despot: a ruler with absolute power (this reminds me of that great quote that says that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely)

Deposition: a statement made under oath; being deposed from power; being deposited

Consternation: a state of paralyzing dismay (this word seems like it should deal more with anger than dismay- but sometimes words are deceiving!)

Credence: acceptance of something as true

Debase: to degrade or lower in value

Also- I went to the library on Sunday to check out Metamorphoses by Ovid. I got home and discovered that this translation was translated from, I guess, Greek into what appeared to be Middle English (words like ayre instead of air…very tricky…). After trudging through the first 10 pages, I was becoming fearful that reading 400 pages of Middle English just might do me in. In an effort to save my reading campaign, I went to the book store and, reluctantly, bought the book in a modern translation. As much as I had hoped to get all 1001 books from the library, I decided that being able to actually enjoy the stories in the book was more important. So there you have it.

One down...983 left to go...

2007-02-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

Guess what!?! I have already completed the first book on my list. Yep, that's right...I went to Panera with my Aesop's Fables picture book yesterday, and over a yummy bowl of soup, I read them all. (Well all of them in this version)! Of course this is less impressive when I tell you that it was a picture book, but still, it's a check on the list.

Reading Aesop's Fables taught me some very important lessons. I now know to avoid foxes, wolves, and other predatory dog-ish animals. Birds of most forms can be trusted, although some are easily swayed by flattery.... let’s see...what else did I learn about animals....

Anyway, aside from the literal lessons of the stories, I was reminded of some valuable life lessons: beware of flattery, know how you are going to get out of a situation before you get into it, etc. As I finished up the stories and drove home, I wondered why we don't tell fables anymore. After all, they are good life lessons tucked in fun stories. So why don't you hear people talking about foxes and crows anymore?

After thinking about it for a while, I realized that we do still tell fables; they just don't look the same. Our modern society and its dependence on technology have changed the way fables are passed down. I read somewhere that Aesop was actually a slave who won his freedom by telling his fables to his master. We don't really sit around telling stories anymore. Instead, we forward emails and pass on stories we heard in church. Although these modern day fables are told as true stories involving real people, by the time they get to most of us they are about as true as the story of the crow who talks to the fox. Instead of the tricky fox, we pass on stories about the tricky criminal who hops in the back of your car while you pump gas, and instead of the silly crow, we have the unaware college girl. Just like the fables, we tell these stories not because we necessarily believe in their absolute word-for-word truth, but because we want to pass on the moral of the story: be aware of your surroundings, don't trust just anyone, avoid dangerous situations, etc.

Maybe I'm completely off, but that's what I thought about as I went to look up my next book. (which, by the way, is Metamorphoses by Ovid--I've never heard of this book, but, from what I gather, it's a collection of stories). Also--tomorrow is Monday, so I'll have ten new words for you tomorrow.

A slacker from the beginning!

2007-02-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

So it's only week one on this adventure, and I've already been a slacker. I apologize for the 2 people reading this. :) Anyway. It's been a bit of a crazy week, so I think I'll have plenty of reasons to use my new words. I am quickly realizing this blog might contain many entries that are not even remotely cogent to the original goal. I hope that will not bother anyone!

I have really been trying to turn over a new leaf this year. The end of this semester made me realize that there was, sadly, no real dichotomy between my personal and professional life in the sense that I spent a large amount of my free time working on school stuff. So, after years of having nothing but derision for New Year's resolutions, I made some of my own this year and am trying to stick to them. I think I feel so passionately about it this year because I had a discussion with my students about resolutions, and they brought up the great point that if you never resolve to change anything about yourself, you always stay the same. I thought about that and realized they had a great point--I don't want to wake up at the age of 65 and realize that I am exactly the same person I was at 25. One of my major resolutions was to spend more time reading and less time watching television. My limited budget made me wonder how exactly I could afford to read more...then it all hit me...hello...the LIBRARY.

I always forget about the fact that you can go to the library and borrow books for free! Of course they are only truly free if you remember to take them back on time. Here is where my next resolution kicked in. After my first trip to the library, I came home with 3 books. For the first time in my life, I read 2 out of the 3 books within the two-week limit and only had to renew one. Not only that, but as of today, I have been checking books in and out of the library every Saturday for 6 weeks and am yet to have a late fee!!! For some this might seem common, but for me, it's a big deal.

Before my trip today, I was sitting in my room, convalescing from my Saturday morning run, when I decided to up the stakes. My sister gave me this wonderful book for graduation: 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (this book could very well be some form of collusion on the part of the publication industry seeing as how they stand to make quite a bit of money if everyone reads 1001 books). I went through the book to see how many I had read (this was a bit tricky--I had to be honest and not count books I had simply been assigned to read in college--if I had just done my homework, I could have had quite a few more checks). I had read 17 out of the 1001. My roommate and I were chatting about it, and I wondered how many I had left to read (somewhere in all of this I decided to starting reading through the book). After borrowing her calculator, we found I had 984 left. That seemed like a lot to read. I began to feel a bit despondent, but I decided I would never get any closer to the end of the book if I just thought about it.

So today I begin stage two of the reading more books resolution. The first book on my list: Aesop's Fables. Unfortunately, it seems decorous in the library system to only stock this book in the children’s' department. It felt weird to begin my journey into the world of the well read by going into the juvenile nonfiction section. Oh well. Discussing this new endeavor with my roommate made me wonder how many books the average person reads in his/her lifetime. How many books have I read in my lifetime? Oh the questions...So there you have it...a little window into my world this week. I only have 7 out of the ten words in this entry, but I think it's a good first effort.

The first 10...

2007-02-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

So it's Monday, and I thought I would jump right in there...here are the first 10...

1. Derision- scorn or ridicule
2. Desultory- occurring haphazardly
3. Collusion- a conspiracy
4. Convalesce- to recuperate (this is the one I tried to casually drop into conversation last week--unfortunately, my excitement at using a new word made it obvious that that word was not a part of my everyday language--but you just wait--soon I'll be telling people to stay at home and convalesce so naturally they won't know what happened!)
5. dichotomy- a distinct division into two parts (this is one of those words that people throw around in grad school. I could always tell what they meant by it, but I never knew an official definition, so I would simply nod when they talked and avoid using it myself. But no more--now I will proudly discuss the dichotomy between the Peanuts cartoon series and all other cartoons!)
6. decorous- conforming to prevailing customs
7. cogent- believable or relevant
8. decry- to condemn or belittle publicly
9. coalesce- to come together into a single group
10. despond- to lose hope

so there you have it. as you can tell, the cards were once in some form of alphabetical order but have since been a bit mixed up. I'm sure those who know me are not the least bit surprised.

A new era...

2007-02-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

So I'm on a new adventure. I spent the summer blogging about my thoughts and experiences as a member of the crafty workforce. I am now going to attempt to blog about my trials and triumphs with expanding my vocabulary. I have a huge box of big words on tiny flashcards. I bought said box of words when I still had dreams of becoming a PhD woman. I have since let that dream die (or maybe just hibernate--who knows). Anyway--this box of words is supposed to be the top 1000 words used on the GRE. I didn't really know what one would do with that many words if he/she wasn't attempting to pass a ridiculous test. I have since solved this problem. I'm an English teacher (please don't hold that against me or hold me to an impossible grammar standard)! Each week I require my students to add 5 more words to their vocabulary. We write the definitions, talk about the words, and discuss the utter importance of a good vocabulary. Lecturing my students on the importance of constantly updating one's vocabulary made me look at how rarely I take time to update my own vocab. Eureka! I could practice what I preach AND use my handy-dandy box of words. But then another problem came into view--how would I practice my words? Then it really all came together--a blog about new words. I know it sounds boring, and if it is, I'll put everyone out of their misery and stop, but--hey--let’s give this a try. Here's how I think this will work...on Mondays, I'll post my 10 new words and what they mean, sometime during the week I'll use all of them in a conversation on my blog. The only missing link is how I'll test myself at the end of the week. Any ideas for that one? I have a sneaky feeling I'll also be blogging throughout the week about other parts of life and the challenge of learning my new words. We'll see. Anyway- so there's that. I embark on my new adventure.