Today's Lesson

I'm such an english nazi. Which is funny, because I didn't used to be. (Now i'm concerned if "didn't used to be" is proper english...") When I was a kid, all the way up through highschool, I was always the Math/Sci sort. I liked reading a lot and such, but... I was horrible at spelling, you can ask anyone who knew me before, say, Junior Year in highschool. I'm still not grand, but I'm infinitely better. I was always pretty good with grammar, too, and when we did sentence diagramming in 7th grade I was the only one who had even done it before.

Or something. Anyways, a couple friends of mine have, uhm, misused a couple common sayings recently, and it seems to have bothered me. I didn't want to correct them then and there, making them look foolish and me look pedantic, but...

Firstly, it's "the whole sordid story," not 'sorted'. While 'sorted' may make a kind of sense, 'sordid' mean dirty, filthy, or vile, and it falls along the same lines as "all the gory details."

Secondly, contrary to common misconception, you "nip something in the bud," not the butt. As a contemporary colloquialism, 'butt' makes sense (though one might figure that that would imply sexual harassment, or at least flirtation), the phrase comes from gardening, where you would nip a bud of a plant before it had time to mature and flower.

I almost went into College for an English Major, and semantics and etymology were always what I was most interested in.
I'll shut up, now.

Bookmark: Security Tapes

Here's another Update on Amanda's story... I'm just bookmarking it for myself, to come back to later.

Icon Meme, Yoinked from surichan

1. Which of my icons is your favorite and why?
2. Which of my icons is your least favorite and why?
3. Which of my icons have you always wanted context for?
4. Which of my icons have you never noticed I even had before?
5. Which icon do you visually imagine when you think of my journal?

My Icons

Right click - Properties - copypaste Address (URL) in img src= format to show your responses, if you please.

Today's Update

Talked with Suzannah over my Lunchbreak. It was nice. I smile.

Changeling game tonight; I'm hoping it goes well. We're down to four player, me, Jason, Patrick, and Collin. I think, maybe, we'll be able to pull this bird out of the dive it seems to be in, but it may take some plot-change, or at least alteration. it doesn't help that Jason and I created our characters in tandem with two of the players who have left.

I got a haircut yesterday, and I've been wearing my contacts all week. I'm a bit unshaven, though, and I'm out of skin-cleanser products. I need to fix that.

Next weekend I plan to take a trip down to Virginia Beach to see peoples. Unfortunately, Sara seems to be shakey on her plans, and my friend Christen (who I haven't talked to let alone seen in four years) is going to be out of town. It was cool talking with her, though; she said she'd been randomly thinking about me only a couple days ago. I called my other friend-I-haven't-seen, Judith, too. Unfortunately, I caught her at a bad time and she said she'd call back, but still hasn't.

I had Taco Bell the other day, which was alright. I think they put chipotle sause in my bean burritos.

Oh, and I didn't sleep with the lights on last night. And, uhm, even if I did, it had nothing to do with reading H.P. Lovecraft. I was just, you know, really tired, and didn't want to get up to hit the switch.

Two hours before i'm out for the weekend. I'm gonna need t'get gas for my car.

Fallacy of Exclusive Something-Or-Other?

It strikes me that many of the most clearly-spoken yet passionate advocates of any cause or idea at all tend toward the same (apparent) fallacy. That is, they group all of their opponents into one camp or another, mentally dissect each camp, and then claim victory because they "know why the enemy doesn't understand." Maybe that's the main flaw there -- that they decide the enemy doesn't understand, and then go one to prove to themselves that the enemy can't understand.

Well, what about those who do understand, but are still the enemy? Obviously that beast can't exist, as it's been shown that either you are the enemy and don't understand, or you understand and are not the enemy.

I don't know, I'm not being very clear. I could point to This Comment as a recent example of what I've noticed, but that would tip my hand, and spill the beans, and let the proverbial cat out of the proverbial bag...

(As a note, I'm not saying anything about Furries or what not, I'm not pointing to his argument and saying "See? That bothers me." I've seen it here and in talks about Abortion (both sides) and Gay Rights and everything...)