3-1 loss in Nashville / Corey and Bryan were what I needed...

DAMMIT... the Canucks lost 3-1 to Nashville tonight! Of course, the "no regulation loss" streak had to end sometime, but still. Updated Corey and Bryan about things, and it at least was good to talk to Corey after a couple of months. Yeah, I still miss a certain someone, but I will stay strong! Benefit of the doubt, maybe... not so sure about other things. Talked about Taiwan and truculent students, which is good - I had to laugh a lot for some reason (maybe the past few days!), even though intrusive personal questions aren't funny in the least! Discussed grammar, memorization, Skype, people not even learning things from one class to the next, language, rules hurting the student, money, personal things, defenestration, birthdays, Teunis, insults, Paul, Korey, and more. That's what I needed!

Guy speaking beaver, rescue via save states, intense 3-2 wins, James NOT weird

Rescued games via the save states I found online, thank goodness! NOT replaying FF1 again, though! Listened to an intense 3-2 overtime win by the Canucks over the Sharks while eating the leftover pork roast and wild rice that Steph and Lisa gave me the other day, too! Talked to James on YM for a bit, too. He seemed to think that he shouldn't have said certain things, but IT WAS TOTALLY FINE! I just had to take care of something, is all. :D [Vanessa showed up on MSN a little later to say that we should go for a lunch special at Specialty Chicken and Wonton House, perhaps on Friday]


Hey, look! Guy can speak beaver language!

Kathy, Live, Black Balloon, Karla, Walse Muppets, and WTF

Seems as if Kathy unfriended me from Facebook, right after I wished her a happy birthday?! WTF?! Live (blackballoon) mailed me a Norwegian postcard, and I got a Christmas card from Karla; YAY!

Your English is Somewhat Americanized

Hmmm... the way you speak English is very interesting. You sound like someone who grew up everywhere! There is definitely an American influence on how you speak, but that may be just from television and movies. It's hard to predict how you'll express yourself with language. You have a rich vocabulary. If there's one thing for sure, it's that your way of speaking English is distinctly you.

How American is Your English?

Blogthings: We'll Tell You The Truth... Someone Has To!

A Muppets / Kermit the Frog reference in the FINAL FANTASY V town of Walse:

Crazy English language / Internet teaching YOUR and YOU'RE / Reality disappearances

11:11 on 11/11/11 - YAY, NUMBER PATTERNS AND COINCIDENCES!

Eric tried calling me way earlier than usual: WHAT HAVE I TOLD HIM IN THE PAST ABOUT FRIDAYS, PARTICULARLY IF THERE IS CANUCKS HOCKEY ON?! DON'T DO THIS TO ME! Eventually, I just let the phone slide off the hook. ;) Then he sent me an email wondering whether I was alive / living because I seemed to have "disappeared from reality." WHAT THE FUCK EVER! He thought my explanations didn't take into account that I didn't answer the phone: FINE THEN, I WON'T EVEN BOTHER TO EXPLAIN NEXT TIME! Christ! Good thing I stayed home (to restart the computer a LOT), and listened to the Canucks try to come back from a four-goal second period... Anaheim won 4-3, though.


This is a cool English picture from Candy:




An awesome "Internet teaching English" picture from Billie:

WAH454AH / Eric and discussion / Mark / Relaxing MARIO 64

Teunis and I discussed languages, compressed air, concentration (I AM IMPORTANT TOO!), translation, the hilarious "WAH454AH" license plate that Joey found (read it in "Cantonese"), hard drives, Portishead, and more. I asked Eric if he were going to the discussion night on Thursday - he said no, and then said that Jon was discussing why I wasn't at church. The ugfart figures that there's no man for me to crush on (!!!!), so Eric "helpfully" told me that Jeremy's brother Mark was now living here and was at church. I had to return my brother's call anyway (while he was grocery shopping), and he confirmed what Eric said. Of course I've met Mark, I told Harmony!

Eric figured I could change my mind about tonight since my excuse of his being evil and staying out all day wouldn't work because he was home. I didn't change my mind - games are still games, after all. :P Talked to James briefly, and got a relaxing song courtesy of MARIO 64 which wasn't readily identifiable as video game music - MUHAHAHA! He also sent me a SONIC 2 video!


MARIO 64 Pirate Bay:




SONIC 2:

Wizard's staff and knobs / FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON / My safety! / Whom I'd talk to

Teunis and I discussed "hurt," stress, weird Youtube videos, A WIZARD'S STAFF HAS A KNOB ON ITS END / HEDGEHOG / naughty songs, folk music, science fiction, FINAL FANTASY 7, Lupabitch, Sephiroth, UFOs, sleep deficits, stereotypes, spaceships, the past, forgiveness, Leslie Fish, Tolkien, LORD OF THE RINGS, languages, STAR TREK, monsters, FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON, space technology built on dreams, "normalcy," PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, his brothers Matthew and Alex, typos, and more prior to his going to bed last night. I don't care if he doesn't believe me, but I did NOT rant about his talking to himself in the kitchen on Facebook - I even checked my profile page! He's crazy, hahaha.

I might have said stuff for my own safety TO him, but that's it - I had to ensure my sanity, and it's still my place! Actually, he knows damn well WHY such things were said in the first place, so he has no right to feel hurt over it! Then I was woken up by his tranquil alarm at 6:15 AM or so, which continued for at least half an hour... aren't alarms normally supposed to be NOISILY ANNOYING AND INTRUSIVE so that you WILL get up?! Of course, there are the times where you can't get up - which at least has happened to me, so that's how I know it's possible! Mary also deleted her FB again.

You Want to Talk to Someone Passionate

You are inspired by other people's passions. You like to surround yourself with delightfully intense people. You aspire to great things. You dream big, and you have the self-confidence to make your dreams come true. You are loving. The feelings in your heart are pure and strong. People usually totally love you or totally hate you. You are extremely intense.

Whom Would You Talk To?

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

Vanilla pistachio soap = dislike!

When Teunis finally got up, we discussed showers / programming languages / downtime / steampunk / being a social butterfly like Jon / needing his head clear of English since it confuses him (not like I'm going to listen to AM 1320 or AM 1470 in Chinese anytime soon!) / going to the "magical" Burnaby Village Museum AGAIN (with Wolfie this time) / fixing Kaili's laptop AGAIN. Meh, as long as I don't have to hear crazy things, it's all good! Hien deleted her profile again, and I can only imagine what THIS means! When Teunis got home, we discussed the usual things like gum and smoking (along with Wolfie / Jasmine / others) - all I can say is that it's going to be one of THOSE times! Chris W. told me that if I were in the Borg, I'd be the queen of many worlds - YES!

Note to self: Don't get Bath & Body Works vanilla pistachio soap again. Turns out I don't like it as much as I thought I would.

Word Facts for July 2-8, 2011

Word origin for the weekend of July 2-3, 2011: when in Rome - Augustine once asked his fellow priest Ambrose, "Should we fast on Saturday, as they do in Rome? Or on Sunday, as they do in Milan?" Ambrose replied, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do; when in Milan, do as the Milanese do." The fourth-century bon mot became an instant success, and both priests are now famous saints. The expression continues to be used in many languages (including English), often abbreviated to "When in Rome..."

Word origin for July 4, 2011: Roger Wilco - In the shorthand used by radio operators in the United States during World War II, "Roger" represented the letter R and stood for the word "received," as in "Message received." "Wilco" is an abbreviation of the phrase "will comply." The phrase thus means "I have received orders and will obey them." It has been a staple ever since, though the code was revised in 1956 with R now represented by the word "Romeo."

Word origin for July 5, 2011: arsenal - An "arsenal," meaning a naval shipyard / munitions warehouse / place where weapons are stored, is taken from the Arsenale, a shipyard built in Venice (Italy) in 1104. Its name (in turn) comes from the Arabic dar as-sina'a, which means "house of manufacture" - a factory, in other words.

Word origin for July 6, 2011: girl - Before about 1300, "girl" referred to a child of either sex. The origin of gyrle, the first known form of the word, is obscure. It may be related to the Old English gierela, a sack-like garment that children wore, and that perhaps made them all look alike.

Word origin for July 7, 2011: fast food - In the late 1940s and early 1950s, America was car-crazy and increasingly covered with new roads and highways. Drive-in restaurants were common only in Texas and Southern California, but a new kind of food service was in demand. Enter "fast food," a term coined in 1951 to designate a meal ordered at a soda-fountain counter and carried away as opposed to eaten there.

Word origin for July 8, 2011: snarky - To be "snarky" is to be archly irritable or short-tempered. The adjective, once found almost exclusively in British English, dates to 1906. In the postwar era, Americans discovered the term and have happily used it ever since. ("Yeah, sure," a snarky person might say.) It originates in the old verb "to snark," meaning to make a kind of nose-trumpeting snort of the kind a disbelieving listener might make on hearing a preposterous claim.

144 years for Canada! / Lifestyle cleanliness

I don't know how Teunis can sleep through two Skype calls AND his music!

I'm not a lumberjack or a fur trader.
I don't live in an igloo or own a dogsled.
I have a Prime Minister, not a President.
I speak English and French.
I pronounce it ABOUT, NOT "A BOOT."
AND it is pronounced 'ZED,' NOT 'ZEE'! Canada is the second largest landmass, the first nation of hockey, AND a great part of North America!
My name is Leslie,
AND I AM CANADIAN!
█ ♥ █ Happy Canada Day!!!! █ ♥ █

You Have a Somewhat Clean Lifestyle

You have a fairly clean life, but there are some areas that still need some tidying up. You may have good physical health or good mental health, but it's likely you don't have both. Just try to eliminate every toxic habit from your life. This could be anything from smoking cigarettes to getting rid of bad friends. You deserve to live the best life possible, and it's time to start taking better care of yourself.

How Clean Is Your Lifestyle?

Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.

Word Facts for June 25-July 1, 2011

Word origin for the weekend of June 25-26, 2011: poach - In days of old when knights were bold, hunting was a privilege reserved for the nobility. A hungry peasant would thus have to steal an animal from some estate - and, naturally, that animal would have to be small enough to carry away. In this case, it would be carried away in a poche, or sack. The same word gives us our expression "pig in a poke," which means something not shown and whose value therefore is not known.

Word origin for June 27, 2011: honeymoon - In use since the Middle Ages in English, the "honey moon" was a folk name for the full moon that occurred in the month of June. In rural England, marriages often took place just before the late spring planting season began, the ritual idea being to encourage fertility of both field and family. The term later came to be applied to the aftermath of the wedding itself.

Word origin for June 28, 2011: hobnob - "Hobnob" comes from an English dialect term "habnab," which means "have and not have." The word first turns up in print in William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night in the sense of "one way or another," and by extension, a drink that would be drunk no matter who raised a toast to it. Thus, "to drink hobnob" came to mean something like "to party" today, and "hobnob" now means to spend pleasant time hanging out with someone.

Word origin for June 29, 2011: plumber - Pipes that bring in and take out water from a home were once made of lead - in Latin, plumbum, a material that a plumbarius worked with. New pipes are rarely made of lead these days, but the material remains enshrined in the name of the craft.

Word origin for June 30, 2011: nonchalant - Someone "nonchalant" is cool as a cucumber, or perhaps cold as a fish. The word comes from the French nonchaloir, which means "not heated" - that is, metaphorically, someone who cannot be bothered to get worked up about a given subject. The original sense of "nonchalant," which came into English about 1730, characterized someone who disregarded something that other people were hot and bothered about.

Word origin for July 1, 2011: slouch hat - Usually made of felt or canvas, a "slouch hat" is a form of headwear whose brim falls over the wearer's eyes. The term comes from the English dialect term slouch, which carries the suggestion of leaning lazily or moving without much sense of purpose. Given that "slouch hats" are favored by warriors fighting in the tropics, that suggestion seems unwarranted.

"Yogurt" has ONE pronunciation! / Wild Child

Teunis and I discussed oatcakes, his mispronunciation of things such as "YOGURT" and "HERMIONE," dressing for work, his laundry, that crazy digicam that Mom gave me, dumplings, communication, confusion, using Japanese words for things (?!), kimchi, and more last night. Jon H. unfriended me, but he does delete his account from time to time, so I'm not worried about it. Vanessa called me - I'm up for Yaohan at 12:30 if she is, even if she didn't get much sleep because of construction!

You Are a Styled Child

You aren't exactly wild, but you aren't mild, either. You strike a balance between your naughty and nice sides. You have a positive attitude. You try to keep a sunny disposition, even when life is getting you down. You like to let loose, but you always maintain your composure. You are always classy. You love to have fun and take a risk as much as the next person. You never let yourself get out of control, though.

Are You a Wild Child?

Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself

Word Facts for June 18-24, 2011

Word origin for the weekend of June 18-19, 2011: DIY - Americans have always prized being handy, though with the ascendancy of white-collar work in the early twentieth century, manual labor and skills were prized less and less. The phrase "do it yourself" (shortened to "DIY") emerged in the 1950s as a call for suburbanites to gain or regain some of the old ethic. Originally, it was applied to painting and sewing projects, but then came to brand an entire movement - one that even has its own broadcast channel, the DIY Network.

Word origin for June 20, 2011: random - In its original sense (which dates to the medieval period), "random" means "at a gallop," something done on a horse and in a big hurry. Accidents happen at speed, of course, and in time the word "random" came to mean "unplanned / careless / accidental" - as in "a random encounter."

Word origin for June 21, 2011: premium - In its original sense, a "premium" was a reward given to someone for an act that usually involved seizing something belonging to someone else - booty, in other words. The term entered the insurance industry by way of shipping: a privateer would pay a share of the loot to an insurer if his ship returned to its home port safely. If the premiums we pay today resemble a "ransom" fit for a pirate, there's an etymological basis for it.

Word origin for June 22, 2011: You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs - Common in many European languages, this old proverb probably comes originally from the French. "Omelette" comes from the French alemette ("knife edge"), so called for the flat thin shape of the finished product. The sense is that if you want to get a big project done, you must not fear steamrolling "the little people." The poet Randall Jarrell rejoined, "That's what they tell the eggs."

Word origin for June 23, 2011: plaza - A "plaza" is an open space in what is usually an urban environment. Roman city planners favored these public squares, for which reason the "plaza" is found whenever the Roman Empire or its descendant states settled. The Latin word platea means "flat area" and relates to the words "plat" and "plateau," as well as the modern term "plaza," which comes into English from Spanish.

Word origin for June 24, 2011: controversy - The word "controversy" (from the Latin for "turn against") once referred to the sort of verbal conflict that we would today call a dispute or argument - and even something so innocent as a mere difference of opinion. Known in English since about 1400, the word now refers (more strongly) to the matter being argued about rather than the argument itself.

Feeling safe with Jeremy!

Chinese Eric buzzed me on MSN because he just saw the riot news on TV, and hopes I'm okay - thank goodness I am, although I was nowhere near downtown on Wednesday! Nice that he's concerned, though! Then white Eric said he'd pick me up early for the ultimately boring / annoying missions panel discussion with Auntie Catherine / Wai-Mui / Randal. We did discuss venting, Mr. Creep, gas, my being "drunk," no playoff beard, and more on the way there. Once upstairs after talking to Amanda and Lanie, I was much chagrined to discover that Mr. Creep was indeed there - but I sat next to Jeremy, so that made things better! He discussed the riot aftermath and plywood walls with Raymond, while I said nothing as per protocol. After the program was over (with FAR too much input from Mr. Creep), I asked Jeremy whether he was going to the retreat; thank goodness he isn't!

Talked to Pastor Tom and the "different" woman Teresa about accents, Spanish, Texan being its own language where they smush everything together (like "y'all" and "all y'all"), the Dutch / English / Swedish in him, my PEANUTS vest, Snoopy being his imaginary friend when he was four, and some other stuff. Told Cindy that Game 5 last week had been way more important than Fellowship, haha. We discussed the riot aftermath and how some of Cindy's and Vivian's students had reacted. Eric made the elevator beep because he was waiting for Christon and Vivian to decide whether they wanted to use it - RUDE! On the way home, we discussed my supposedly being physically close to Mr. Creep (but I felt safe with Jeremy!), privacy, census work, leadership surveys on Father's Day, brunch, lunch, sports, and more.

At home, I didn't believe Teunis when he said it took him two hours to get home - and no, he had no right to tell me to go away and leave him alone. When I saw Sabrina's status about congestion everywhere just after 7, I definitely believed THAT, and thus believed Teunis. We also discussed thinking in French, stress, gum (I'm good as long as you aren't snapping / popping it or chewing it with your mouth open - like NORMAL), eggs, milk, yogurt, Chapman's cappuccino frozen yogurt, communication, and forgetting about onions. Also talked about gaming night (as opposed to GAME NIGHT), chocolate-covered doughnuts, odd cravings, coping, his not being in the mood for the frosty reception he got last night (still totally earned!), lime meringue pie, sausage, hot chocolate, and more. Then I got online and talked to James for a while, which is always good.

Word Facts for June 11-17, 2011

Word origin for the weekend of June 11-12, 2011: cui bono - Someone's been murdered. Who's the prime beneficiary of the will? That's the line of reasoning a savvy detective of the Monk / Columbo school might follow. Cui bono? is the lawyer's tag for it, meaning (in Latin) "Who benefits?" It's a good experience to ask yourself whenever something unexpected happens. The company is cutting jobs. Who makes out well?

Word origin for June 13, 2011: cutty sark - The name of the clipper ship of yore, and of the whiskey named after it, is a mildly dirty joke. In Scots English, a "cutty sark" is a short-cut shirt, namely an undershirt or other undergarment. In Robert Burns' poem "Tam O'Shanter," a young woman is wearing a "cutty sark" meant for a little girl. This causes the hero to cry out, transported, "Weel done, Cutty-Sark!" The phrase became well-known in Britain, and then the ship and drink called "undershirt" came to be.

Word origin for June 14, 2011: finest hour - When someone acts with uncommon value or merit, it is customary to praise that action as his or her "finest hour." The term owes to Winston Churchill. He coined the phrase to refer to the heroic actions of the pilots of the Royal Air Force who drove back wave after wave of German attack planes during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940.

Word origin for June 15, 2011: staycation - It's a terrible thing - at least to some minds - when an economic downturn means that a vacation has to be spent inside one's home watching TV or catching up on chores. Many homebodies, however, like nothing better than spending vacation time in the comfort of one's castle. The portmanteau word "staycation" was coined for the phenomena in 2003, but it did not come into wide use until the recession that began in late 2007.

Word origin for June 16, 2011: fanboy - A "fan" is a fanatic, or so the word's origin tells us, zealous in his or her devotion to a particular idol or activity. The addition of "boy" adds a sense of servility. The term first turns up in the computer hacker culture in the late 1990s to refer to devotees of particular operating systems ("Mac fanboy," "Linux fanboy"), and is now a fixture in youthful slang.

Word origin for June 17, 2011: devastate - The word "devastate" does not relate to vastness, but instead to an old Latin word, vastus, that underlies our word "waste." To "devastate" an enemy country, by that model, is to turn it into a wasteland. The word was rare in English until the nineteenth century, when the advent of modern mechanized warfare made it ever more useful.

Word Facts for June 4-10, 2011

Word origin for the weekend of June 4-5, 2011: Afghanistan - The -stan part is easy: it means "the country of" in several Central Asian languages. But what of the Afghan? "Afghanistan" enfolds an uncomfortable, ever-shifting alliance of tribes, the most populous of which (the Pushtuns) make up about 40 percent of the population. None of the tribes is called "Afghan," though the country's currency is. The name is a curiosity apparently coined by British administrators who hoped that a common name might create a unified country - something that hasn't quite worked out.

Word origin for June 6, 2011: marijuana - Wacky tabacky, weed, marihuana, Mary Jane - the mildly narcotic plant known scientifically as Cannibis sativa has been called countless names. One, in the language of the Carib Indians of Central America, was maraguan. The Spanish heard that as the woman's name Maria Juana, which has given rise to abundant spellings over the centuries.

Word origin for June 7, 2011: mummy - Not the British word for mother, but that of an embalmed body, "mummy" takes its name from the Arabic mumiya, which in turns comes from the root mum, meaning the wax used in the embalming process. The word first appears in English in about 1400.

Word origin for June 8, 2011: You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours - Artemus Ward, the pen name of nineteenth-century writer Charles Farrar Brown, was a master of homespun expressions, in this instance one that suggests a relationship of mutual benefit. Ward/Brown borrowed the sentiment from the French philosopher Montaigne, but the turn of phrase is unmistakably American.

Word origin for June 9, 2011: paisley - A standby of the psychedelic era and a favorite in hippie revivals ever since, "paisley" has its origins in the century before. A textile mill in the Scottish town of Paisley specialized in making the cloth, which originally took only one form and was thus called a "Paisley shawl." Designers eventually figured out other uses, and "paisley" became more widespread throughout the nineteenth century.

Word origin for June 10, 2011: Play it again, Sam. - In the early 1970s, college audiences rediscovered the 1942 film Casablanca, in which a young Ingrid Bergman asks a pianist to play a favorite tune, As Time Goes By. "Play it once, Sam," she says, adding (a couple of lines later) "Play it, Sam." By some alchemy, Woody Allen heard the word "again" in the exchange, and he called a film of his from 1972 Play It Again, Sam - a misquotation that has lived on ever since.

Word Facts for May 28-June 3, 2011

Word origin for the weekend of May 28-29, 2011: lipstick on a pig - Does lipstick disguise a swinish nature? No, that's not the precise sense of this old idiom, which means something like "A leopard cannot change its spots." That is, you can try to disguise someone or something, but that person or thing's essential nature will soon reveal itself. The phrase first turns up in the early 1700s in the form "A pig in armor is still a pig." It's unknown whether any knight took offense.

Word origin for May 30, 2011: Memorial Day - The holiday now known as "Memorial Day" was first celebrated as "Decoration Day" in the late 1860s, honoring Union soldiers of the Civil War who had received medals for their service. When the holiday was extended a couple of decades later to include Confederate soldiers, it was renamed "Memorial Day" - that is, a day for remembering the contributions of the nation's armed forces.

Word origin for May 31, 2011: HBO - In 1972, an entrepreneur named Charles Dolan broadcast a film via satellite to a group of test subscribers in the city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He had set up shop as the Green Channel, but (just before the broadcast) he changed the name to Home Box Office, which gives us the acronym "HBO." Dolan's firm expanded into New York City, then nationwide, to become a satellite and cable television pioneer.

Word origin for June 1, 2011: cruft - "Cruft" is a computer-geek term that refers to the stuff that tends to accumulate on every computer - obsolete software, dead email, code that doesn't quite work. It takes its name from Cruft Laboratory, a physics building at Harvard University, where old scientific equipment was stacked so high that researchers inside couldn't see out the windows. The word dates to about 1945.

Word origin for June 2, 2011: noodle - In the sense of "head" - as in "Use your noodle!" - "noodle" dates to the early twentieth century. It may originally have come from the language of crime, but it quickly spread into the slang of the Jazz Age, The term probably does not come from the food item, but instead from the English dialect term "noddle," referring to the back of the head.

Word origin for June 3, 2011: ennui - "Ennui" is a French word borrowed by English meaning "boredom," though its original sense is far stronger. It comes from the Latin in odio, meaning "in hate," and it is cognate with another form of the same Latin word, "annoy." Boredom is a perfectly good word to express the same thing, though "ennui" connotes a kind of spiritual malaise.

PULLING OUT is not the same thing as a breakup! / Communication and crowns

Finally finished PEOPLE OF THE AIR by Peter Beagle, and then made final plans with Billie for Sunday. Since the Skytrain confuses me (and I might not have enough time to find / get to the other platform at Commercial Skytrain Station), I might not even go to church since the 401 / 430 route to Metrotown's Superstore is better for my brain. :P (as long as I leave PLENTY of time to get the 430 bus home BEFORE 5:30, I should be fine)

Talked to Mom for a bit on the phone, who had this to say: "If Teunis goes to church more, he'll eventually become a Christian!" For some reason, she brought up THE EVIL ONE: "It's a good thing you pulled out in time!" (referring to my messy breakup with him) HAHAHAHAHA, OH MAN! Teunis thinks this is due to her learning English from bad romance novels, especially after I told him the "let's kiss and make out!" story; possibly! We also discussed scones, dinner leftovers, potatoes, languages, perspective, English being "not straightforward," the SCA, communication, assumptions, vocabulary, Jordan, Amber, and more until we finally went to bed at 3:20 AM.

You Would Rule with Compassion

You don't get hung up on the past or the future. What's happening right now is the most important thing. You enjoy creating order. In fact, you're a little addicted to organizing. You believe that life has a purpose. You think that every decision and action matters. You are altruistic and selfless. You are a benevolent soul who wants to help others.

The Crown Test

Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

Word Facts for May 21-27, 2011

Word origin for the weekend of May 21-22, 2011: hooah - The U.S. Army exclamation "hooah," used to mean everything except "no," dates to the 1980s. It is said to derive from the acronym HUA, meaning "heard, understood, and acknowledged" in response to an order. Films that place the term in the Vietnam era are anachronistic. By the way, the Marines say "oorah" instead of "hooah," imitating the sound of a klaxon.

Word origin for May 23, 2011: hokey pokey - Is the "hokey pokey" really what it's all about? In wartime England, a bandleader concocted a hit tune that borrowed a phrase from Italian ice cream vendors, Ecco un poco - meaning "try a little" - and joined it to an old children's dance. The "hokey pokey" craze rapidly spread throughout the 1940s, though in various parts of the English-speaking world, it is known as the "hokey cokey" / the "cokey" / the "hokey tokey."

Word origin for May 24, 2011: loblolly pine - The "loblolly pine" grows in the swamps of the American Southeast, and it has been known by that name - which may have been borrowed from an Indian language - since 1760. "Loblolly" occurs as a dialect term for "mudhole" in the following century, and it is that usage that gives an old-fashioned southern dessert: a gooey, sticky mess of cream / sugar / egg - its name.

Word origin for May 25, 2011: fungible - Something "fungible" is not made of fungus, or even fun, but instead is interchangeable. It comes from the Latin fungi, which means "to perform," and is typically found in legal and economic contexts to mean something that can be converted readily into something of the same kind, be it a stock share or a junior employee.

Word origin for May 26, 2011: Peter Principle - Published in 1969, Laurence J. Peter's book, The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong, was famous for the observation: "In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." The corollary is that the real work is done by employees who have yet to be promoted to their levels of incompetence. The "Peter Principle" is often confused for Murphy's law, which is another matter entirely.

Word origin for May 27, 2011: eat my shorts - Bart Simpson's favorite curse is not original to him - or rather, his writers - yet no one really knows who came up with it. It turns up in a passage by the novelist Ken Kesey in 1973, about the time it sees print in the old National Lampoon magazine - but even then, it seems to have been borrowed from somewhere else. Whatever the case, it was widespread slang across American college campuses in the mid-1970s, when Simpsons creator Matt Groening was attending school.

Cavities, Homestar Runner / South Park / Spongebob Squarepants, hockey history

My dentist appointment with Sean went okay - drills, lights, watching for headaches, hardening, filling cavities, and more. But then some nosy old guy wanted to know what I was reading at he bus stop - NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! Got home to find Teunis awake and mildly complaining about the Homestar Runner mix that I was playing this morning while he was sleeping: "You KNOW that audio invades my dreams, right? Since I have no context about Homestar Runner (having never seen the show), I had REALLY messed-up dreams involving Spongebob Squarepants and South Park!" Sorry, but HAHAHAHAHAHA! Discussed translating, immersion in a language, switching languages (I expect ERIC to do that when he's bugging me...), Valium, immunity to sleeping pills, anime / breaking stereotypes (because he himself definitely doesn't fit into them), Ativan, white grape juice, NOT going to see movies he's ALREADY seen with Kaili tonight since they can't afford it, frozen yogurt, desensitization to "rants," baths, a fried brain, and more.

On 24 May 1994, the Canucks played a Game 5 and advanced to the Stanley Cup finals. Today is May 24th, 2011 - and they're playing another Game 5, seventeen years later TO THE DAY. History will be made - GO CANUCKS GO!!!!

And it's Bob Dylan's 70th birthday today, too!

Word Facts for May 14-20, 2011

Word origin for the weekend of May 14-15, 2011: Brooklyn-style pizza - New Yorkers know that a good piece of pizza can be easily folded over and eaten like a pocket sandwich, a process that usually involves a stream of grease running down one's forearm, a very small price to pay indeed. Outside New York, this is called "Brooklyn-style pizza," even though the earliest pizzerias were found not in Brooklyn but in Manhattan's Little Italy section. Brooklyn, incidentally, takes its name from the town of Breukelen in Holland.

Word origin for May 16, 2011: ozone - First isolated in 1840 by Christian Friedrich Schönbein (1799-1868), a German chemist, "ozone" is a form of oxygen. Schönbein came up with the name from the Greek verb ozein, meaning "to stink," because of the acrid smell associated with the gas. The Texas town of Ozona takes its name from nearby fields of natural gas that give off a similarly sharp smell.

Word origin for May 17, 2011: deadpan - In the argot of the theatre world, pan makes "face." A "dead pan," therefore, is a face that shows no emotion or expression, perfect for suggesting stoicism or (in comedy) incomprehension. Critics have coined the term "deadpan violence" to describe the emotionless killings that have characterized films by the likes of John Woo and Quentin Tarantino.

Word origin for May 18, 2011: chutney - In Hindi, chatna or chatni refers to a spicy, often hot condiment made of fruit / peppers / other ingredients that was traditionally used to mask the flavor of meat that was beginning to spoil. The British colonizers of India liked the concoction so much that they began to consume it at home as well as abroad, leading to the establishment of the Major Grey's Chutney factory in Mumbai, at one time the world's largest exporter.

Word origin for May 19, 2011: Oregon - The origin of the name for the American state of "Oregon" is disputed. Some sources claim that it comes from the Algonquin word wauregan ("beautiful"), others that it comes from the Chinook jargon word for an oily smelt that was highly prized as a trade item and abundant in the waters of "Oregon." Still others link it to the French pronunciation of the Carib Indian word hurucan, which gives us our "hurricane" and well describes the state's often stormy coast.

Word origin for May 20, 2011: macedonia - In French cuisine, a macédoine (rendered in English in that form or as macedonia) is a mixed-fruit salad, sometimes served with cream or ice cream. The name is fanciful, borrowed from the former Greek and Yugoslav province in the Balkans, which is famously a mix of many ethnicities. Originally the French term was a metaphor for a mixed-up jumble, and then it was later applied to food.