ENGLISH RULES: it's never too late to learn them

You know what is wonderful about the English language and all of its weird rules and exceptions? When a person learns all the rules and the weird exceptions, there is a sense of power for both the writer and reader. No confusion on the part of the reader, because the writer has expressed ideas clearly and precisely. No wasted effort trying to figure out the sentence structures or subject/verb agreement; all effort can be devoted to decoding the meaning that the author has put on paper. For true pleasure, diagram a sentence or two and I promise you will feel an incredible sense of accomplishment. Either you will feel a glow or a way of bringing on sleep without counting sheep. No matter the outcome, English rules should be honored by us all.

GREEN THUMBS: sometimes they just mold

I saw this cartoon and was reminded of my love/hate relationship of everything green. From my earliest days, I remember my mom and her ability to make anything she stuck in dirt develop into the best example of its kind. It didn't matter if it was a tree destined to become a beautiful display of lilac blooms or a delicate, pole-supported orchid. She could take a plant, that most people would discard and nurse it back to health. Before you knew it, that scrawny, limp-leaved, dried-out plant was on the window sill and showing off its new blooms and leaves. You could almost see the smiles on the plants that had been rescued and revived by my mom. In her latter years, I think that she took it on as a challenge. "How much is that pitiful plant? It probably will die." Securing the African Violet for a pittance, she would take it home, where she would repot it, feed it, and give it a good drink of vitamin water. Then within a short time, that plant would join its new siblings who decorated the shelves near the window, having forgotten its near death experience.

When my mom finally went to her Heavenly Garden, I gave away some of her plants and took home just a few. I don't know how the other ones did, but I am here to tell you that even though I have inherited many things from my mom, unfortunately her green thumb wasn't one of them.

WEST VS. EAST

I found this compass rose and I thought it only appropriate to include the picture with this blog concerning the two directions that SEEM so important in Victoria, now. Those two directions are WEST and EAST. Very clever people have decided to name the two new high schools: WEST and EAST. Absolutely boggles my mind. Where or where did they come up with these names?

Okay, let's move on from that and focus on the posters who have already began a rivalry: West High School against East High School. So being the athletic supporter I am, I have been thinking about all things WEST and EAST. Feel free to add more to the very incomplete offering below. By the way, I didn't think that the usual readers/posters on the Advocate website would even start to appreciate my weak attempt at humor

WEST:

WESTerns
WEST Hollywood
WEST Highland Terriers (WESTies)
Adam WEST (Batman)
Go WEST, young man
Wicked witch of the WEST
Mae WEST (star and flotation device)
WESTminister Abbey
WEST Berlin (was that the good or bad one?)
WESTern Union
Dottie WEST (country WESTern singer)
"Wagons WEST" hopefully said on the trips across the wilderness.
WEST Virginia
the sun sets in the WEST

EAST:

EASTern Religion
EASTer Bunny
EAST meets WEST (COUNTS FOR BOTH LISTS)
Clint EASTwood
The Witches of EASTwick
EAST Berlin (so it's either the good or the bad Berlin)
"Going back EAST" what the people would say when the trip out West was too much.
the sun rises in the EAST


So there's a start. I can't wait to read what y'all add to my list. Knock yourselves out. The best ones could go to the school board for nominations and votes for school spirit posters, or something.

Scary Driving: Even Scarier Newspaper Practices

Today in the local paper there is an article, along with a photo about an accident that occurred because a driver broke one of the first rules of driving safely: Traffic Lights need to be obeyed. The young lady ran a red light and slammed into another vehicle. Minor injuries were sustained by the two involved in the collision, which was a miracle that the injuries weren't that serious.

The actual scariest part of this accident is the way that the moderator of the web-site took it upon themselves (himself or herself) to delete any comments that were thought to be offensive and break policy rules. A warning (more like a threat) was added that if the posters didn't follow the rules, the thread would be shut down. Let me just add here, that before the comments were deleted I got a chance to read them. There was some discussion that the girl should have paid attention to the traffic light and another poster stated that the girl driver was concentrating on other matters. You get my drift.

Then for a teeny-weeny minute a poster came back and asked for an apology and to have the previously deleted comment put back up, or a reasonable explanation as to why the comment was deleted. I said "teeny-weeny minute" because before I could say Jack Robinson, that comment was gone and not a trace left behind. It seems that the posters on The Advocate have found themselves walking in a desert of quicksand, because the ground can disappear right from under their feet. Hope they have life lines that will rescue them from that unstable situation.

MANNERS: Using them doesn't hurt, honest.

My mom taught me that when someone helped you out, in whatever form, it is polite to recognize the act and say, "Thank you".

It seems that the lesson in manners has been lost on some in charge at the local newspaper. When they used the wrong word and a poster let them know, the comment section was closed. A simple reply from the staff and a small, "Thanks for spotting the goof. Too bad, the paper is already printed. We will fix the online copy, though and keep letting us know when you catch another snafu" would have given the paper what it continuously cries for, credibility. Closing the comment section and deleting all the comments under the related pictures came across as a tantrum. This left the rest of us out of the comments for Kenneth's article.

Thanks alot, Patient Earth, now no one else gets to comment on that story or pictures. And just so you know, that last sentence wasn't a real sign of appreciation. Patient Earth, play nice, because there are others who had thoughts they wanted to post, too.

HOMOPHONES: A CAUTIONARY TALE

We want to make sure that the young people don't use the local paper as a guide of proper English usage. In an article today, the first line of the article had a perfect example of "Homophones Gone Wild". The writer substituted the word queue for the word cue. He really wasn't writing about a Chinese man's hairstyle or people waiting in line; what he meant was cue. A commenter pointed out the error and within five minutes the online article was corrected and the comment section was closed (with the correction eliminated.) Such fragile egos of some writers. When a mistake is made, instead of correcting the error and learning a lesson, the writers get their dander up and take revenge. I am surprised that the poor commenter was allowed to stay on the website after writing a comment that pointed out the error. Oh, the print edition has the same mistake. Wonder how many subscribers are shaking their heads about the quality control that is lacking at the paper's office.

Life's Nudges: From God and my Other Friends

Throughout my life's journey there have been times when the pathway was changed by a nudge; sometimes just a subtle one or a quite distinct push. Funny thing is that without those nudges, I wouldn't be who I am with the life I lead. Would I have more worldly goods, a different life, or am I better off where I find myself now? Interesting thoughts that have come to the foreground of my thinking, lately.

When I was in high school, there weren't many opportunities locally for me to attend a four year university, so a large nudge landed me in Missouri. Before I even started classes I began working full-time in an exclusive children's clothing store. There I realized that attending to people and their demands was something in which I excelled. Rich, picky people can be pretty demanding in their requests, which only stretched my abilities to become flexible in dealing with people. Up until that time, I was actually quite shy around people I didn't know well.

By the time I was a Senior at the university, I had a close group of friends with the same major. One day in class a friend turned to me and asked if I was going to attend graduate school. I didn't even have a clue what that meant, so I asked her what that would entail. She assured me that I would be just taking more classes in my major and most of the classes were taught by the professors I already knew. So, I didn't see much of a challenge and right after graduation, I started in on my Master's. Classes and assignments in my graduate classes didn't seem much more difficult than my senior level classes and in a short while I finished my post-graduate work. If I hadn't received that nudge about graduate school, I suppose that my Bachelor's degree would have sufficed, but my upper degree provided more income once I began working in my field.

Another time that I received a nudge that changed my life, was when a friend wanted to meet someone she thought might be nice to date. Well, that nudge netted me my husband of over thirty years. Hate to even think what my life would have been like if I had resisted that invitation to meet him; not as colorful or packed with precious moments as it is now, I am sure

Once when I was unsure whether I should give into a nudge, a friend gave me this advice, which helped decide my acceptance, "Hey, it's only for four and a half months. You could stand on your head in the corner for that long. Try it. After that time, you can always do something else." She gave me enough of a nudge to take a chance and it landed me in a career that lasted for twenty-five years. Those twenty-five years garnered many priceless memories of people and events.

There have been many other times when I have felt that nudge as I stood at a crossroads. Whether I have given into the push in one direction or chosen to go the other way, the outcome has been my choice. Nudges just help me make the decision as a conscience choice, rather than haphazardly going through life. Stopping to smell the flowers and watch the butterflies allows me to make sure that I have taken the time to appreciate the choices I have been presented.