Literature Game

Ooooooh just read Christie's blog, and now I have to play the new, fun game going around. Christie got it from Texas Biscuit... (To give credit where credit is due.)

Here are the directions:
1. Get the closest book.
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet!

I didn't even consider it, since this post (as well as the last) is being written in the middle of the mall, via wireless internet connection. Therefore, I couldn't go for any homework books or other intellectual bullcrap. And yes, I always carry my current book with me in my purse. Here she be.... Janet Evanovich's High Five. (Yo, my "Books I Am Currently Reading" column doesn't lie.)

"We better hurry," Grandma said. "I don't want to be late for the viewing. I want to get a good seat right up front, and there'll probably be a crowd, being that the deceased was shot. You know how some people are nosy about that sort of thing."

There was silence at the table, no one daring to make a
comment.

"Well, I guess I might be a little nosy," Grandma finally said.

Since Christie cheated and included more than 3 sentences, I assumed that I could too. Besides, it's funnier when you get the punchline.

The Awaited (and Apparently Alliterative) Anagram Answer!

If my mother's anxiousness about the anagram is any indication of the impatience of my fellow bloggers, I extend my apologies at this time. Lo siento! So as you know, Amy Vitale of Imperfections had already gotten the answer. Unfortunately for you guys, she was the only one, so no one knew the answer this whole time. Tsk tsk to all you intelligent people out there who didn't take the time to figure it out. The answer is: I Love Acronyms. Not, as Moocow suggested, I Love My Acorns. Clever, though not the answer.

Why do I love acronyms? Oooooh c'mon! They're so much fun. S.N.A.F.U., for example. Situation Normal, All Fucked Up. How excellent. I decided that I love these word-playmates when we had a lecture in my History of the English Language class about them. Unfortunately, we were mistaken regarding the etymology of the F-word. It is a common myth (one that we fell victim to, perhaps out of desire for it to be true) that "fuck" is an acronym for "found under carnal knowledge" or "fornication under consent of the king". How fun it would be! Alas, this is not the case. Drat. This word (one of my favorites, I must shamefully admit) has a somewhat unknown origin. The earliest known use, according to American Heritage and Lighter, predates 1500 and is from a poem written in a mix of Latin and English and entitled Flen flyys.

The relevant line reads:
Non sunt in celi quia fuccant uuiuys of heli.

Translated:
They [the monks] are not in heaven because they fuck the wives of Ely [a town near Cambridge].

We learn something new every day, huh? So back to acronyms. They can be excellent games, as well. For example. Acrophobia. A game in which one plays online against other people. The computer provides random letters and players must come up with a clever acronym for it. Example: computer provides the letters BIC. Player responds: Blogging is cool. Player submits his acronym, and players vote (not on his own) on which is the best. Very fun. Very addictive. To play, go here. There is a list of word games which one can play, the first of which is Acrophobia. I believe you have to Log In with GameZone. It's fun. Try it sometime.

Perhaps my anagram game was simply annoying? No fun for the brain? Let's try this instead. A Blogger version of Acrophobia. I give you the letters, and you all comment with your witty (and oh-so-pure and non-dirty) answers. *wink* I will delete you if I find material inappropriate. It's tempting, though. I'm aware. Refrain thyself. 10-year-olds are Internet saavy these days, and I don't want to get any nasty comments from a concerned mother whose child learned unsavory information from my comment pages. :)

The "acro" for today is:

TINA

Sorry. I couldn't resist. Hey, my birthday is five days away. I take lots of liberties when my birthday is coming. Deal. Hee hee. Have fun with it, and like I said, stay clean. The winner will receive.... um. What? *Thinking....* I will post an entire blog about how awesome you are, therefore sending any visitors that I will get over to your blog... Hey, it's the best I can do. This will be fun. I swear. :)

Until next time, then.....

Fun With Anagrams

Anagrams are fun. For example, is you rearrange the letters in "blogs rule", one would discover various interesting messages hidden within.

• globe slur
• sober gull
• bluer logs
• bulls ergo
• slub ogler
• rub sell go

And my personal favorite, slob gruel. :) I have waaaay too much time on my hands. (Or so it would seem. This is not actually true, but I got bored!) Now for the fun part: I give you an anagram, and you find the hidden message. Let's see how good you guys are with your letters. Work your brains, folks!

The anagram is: lay scorn movie.

What is the message? No cheating! Do it with your brain...

p.s. *whisper* Nine days left! *wink*

A Depressing Post...sorry.

I was watching the news the other night and I saw a particularly upsetting scene on my television. (Big surprise, with the news these days.) This was a local story that took place right here in Newport. A three-year-old boy was hit by a car while he was playing outside the other day. Sounds like a typical news story, right? We hear these things all the time. I have many qualms about this, however. I should also say, first, that they were covering the story because he had almost died. He was quite a miracle, it turns out. Indeed, there he was, sitting on his grandmother's lap, with a large bandage on his head. Now for the really disturbing parts...

Okay. The kid is three years old. That's young. That's barely potty trained. Question: Why the hell was the kid playing in the street? I can see how sometimes kids run out into the road, and parents worriedly call them back to the yard. However, from the looks of the interview that the newscaster did with the family, I am highly doubting that an adult was even outside with the child when it happened. The child was sitting in his grandmother's lap, cuddling into her to hide his face shyly from the camera. Grandpa sat next to Grandma, holding one of her hands reassuringly. At first it seemed like this was a case of grandparents taking care of a child. I soon realized that Mom WAS in the room. She was sitting nearby.

What's wrong with this? Mom is still in said child's life... however she is not his mother figure. Clearly, since Grandma was the only one whom he would sit with, she is the one whom he is most comfortable with. Another thing...

When asked about how everything happened, Mom said, "I was in the house and I heard a loud cry. I came running out and I saw him lying on the ground. I could see his skull..." First thing: she was inside. Three-year-old son outside. Problem? Duh. Second thing: She had absolutely no qualms about saying that she could see his skull. No pauses, no voice cracking. No emotion. When they asked Grandpa, however, he responded thus: "I went right over to him and I could see... I could see his, uh... well, you know." An uneducated man? No. An emotional grandfather who couldn't bring himself to say what he had seen happen to his grandchild.

*sigh* Newport is full of these scenarios. Women get pregnant young, their parents take care of the child, and they go out every night, do drugs, and get pregnant again. It's disgusting. The number of grandparents caring for children is outrageously high here. I was blessed. I was also very disturbed by this peek into a local family's life.

Sorry for the depressing post. Lots of homework this weekend, so my mood has gone to poo. Better luck next time.

Birthday Excitement

Our workshop blog is coming along nicely. I can't wait for the workshop itself! Guess what else I can't wait for? My birthday is in 13 days. Goodness, it's not coming fast enough! I know I shouldn't do that in life...count the days and wish time would move faster. Life comes at us fast enough. However, I'm so impatient about my Mom coming and us going out, that I can't help wishing that this weekend was the weekend we were going...

I talked to my Mom and now we're not only going out for cocktails on Thursday night, but we're also coming back here to the apartment to play cards and have more drinks. Hee hee! It's fun to play "asshole" (a drinking game with cards, for those of you who don't know) with my Mom. Then, Friday, we're going to Foxwoods since I'll finally be 21 and old enough to gamble. Then, as if that wasn't enough, we're going out to eat at my favorite restaurant in the whole, wide world. Ye Olde English, in Woonsocket, RI. This place has the most amazing fish and chips I have ever had. You cannot get fish and chips like this anywhere else in the world. Mmmmm. Nik and I have actually driven there from Newport just to have the fish. Woonsocket is the northernmost town in RI, and Newport is the southernmost. Of course, we're talking RI here so it's still only about a 45 minute drive. Still, it's kind of far for dinner, but it's always worth it!

Paula's Blog and Our Workshop Blog!

Today I spent the afternoon helping my boss at the Writing Center (hereby rightfully called Paula, since, well...that's her name) update and spruce up her blog. I already linked to her once, and since we worked together to personalize her site, I am adding her to my list of Other Noteworthy Blogs. Therefore you, too, should frequent her site. Her site, although it had its beginning as a place to discuss the workshop she will be leading in April, will hereafter be dedicated to personal themes, ideas, and musings. The workshop discussions have been moved here.

The new blog with discussion about our literary material, has also been added to my list of blogs that I am contributing to. (Well, it's a list now that this one has been added.) That's right! Add this blog to your blogrolls, folks, and feel free to come by and comment. If you like our discussion enough, who knows? Maybe we'll send you an email invitation to join the list of contributors. We'd have to trust you an awful lot, though. You'd better prove yourselves to us! *Smile* So, check out both blogs now in order to hear more from your beloved Tina. *wink*

Valentine, it's love.

Colleen, Kelly, and I went for a walk on Newport's famous Cliff Walk the other day. It was a bit chilly out (only 35), but it was a beautiful afternoon... None of us had been on the Cliff Walk for some time. It's funny how it's one of the most beautiful and popular sights in town, but Salve students tend to only frequent the walk during their freshman and possibly their sophomore years. When a student lives on campus it is easy to go for a walk there because it's so close. Once we get off campus it becomes a thing of the past. However, we decided to go on over and have another go at the old lowerclassmen standby for a boring afternoon. We really enjoyed ourselves. At least, I know that I did. I took lots of great pictures...

So tomorrow is the big day, huh? Everyone has their names for it. Valentine's Day. Halloween, as Liz Prouty calls it. V.D., for venereal disease (eewwww). I call it Monday. Why? Not only because it's on Monday, but because that is exactly all it will be for me. Nik will be heading out at 10:00 for a job interview, and working. I will be having classes from 2:00 to 7:15, and I will then be working from 7:30-9. So no Valentine's Day for me. Just Monday. My roommate Lindsay should have a good day, however. Her boyfriend, Oz, will be coming for the week. He is also a good friend of mine as well as Nik, so this should be a fun week. It will be their two year anniversary on Valentine's Day. Yay Lindz and Oz!

So, Happy Whatever-You-Call-It to everyone for tomorrow! Enjoy the Monday, and treat yourself to a heart-shaped box of chocolates...even if you don't have a Valentine, you always have love. And that's really what the day is about.

Kool Aid man

I made some Kool Aid last night for when the girls came over to visit. It's always good to have some juice (or what tastes like juice but is actually sugar, flavor, water, and more sugar) available to entertain company. Stupid Dane Cook. Every time I drink Kool Aid I start thinking about the Dane Cook act where he keeps yelling "Oh yeah!!" Cook does a hilariously funny performance about the Kool Aid man in those old commericals. Perhaps you have seen them. They were mosly before my generation, but I've seen some replays on television. In the old commercials, the Kool Aid man comes busting through walls screaming "Oh yeah!" and the children get excited that Kool Aid man is there. However, he has meanwhile busted some majorly huge holes in some walls that used to be perfectly normal. As far as Dane Cook is concerned, he insists that he would not be thirsty for juice at this point because he would be so scared that his dad would come home and beat his ass for making a mess of the house. If you've never seen Dane Cook perform, I highly recommend it. He is the only comedian I have ever seen who can make me laugh until I have tears in my eyes. So, in order to hear some of Cook's funny stuff, go to the link I provided and audio will automatically come up through the site. You can skip forward or backward through the tracks on the site to hear different skits. If you go to clip 11, you will see that the Kool Aid skit is there. How convenient! Have a listen... it's funny stuff.

Presentations and Dreams

I just got an email from my boss at the Writing Center (also an esteemed professor here at Salve Regina) and apparently she has started a blog! Yay! It has to do with the workshop she will be leading in early April, which I will be taking. The workshop is called Bridging the Gap: Mrs. Dalloway and the Hours. I can't wait to take this. I wish it was a class that spanned the entire semester. Alas, it will only be a few hours. Anyway, tune into her blog here, and hopefully she will continue to develop it into a full-fledged, many-posted blog before April, so that we can all discuss the materials before we even arrive in the workshop! I'm such a dork.

I want to give many thanks to Moocow, who is not afraid of my Doodle Board. I also want to thank Moocow's "acquaintance" whom he does not know, who was also not afraid of Doodling. As for everyone else, poo to you. ^_^ Kidding. I know, I know. All my fault for leaving you all in the dark for a week. Where's my Christie, and Harley Writer, and Kmart, and everyone else?? *sad face* I miss you guys!

Check this out. I have major class presentations due on:

• February 16 (Women in the Christian Tradition. Topic: Flannery O'Connor.)
• February 23 (Dream Symbolism. Topic: a dream that I had... this one is actually the most involved...more details later.)
• February 24 (History of the English Language. Topic: Not sure yet. Too many other assignments muddying the creative brain-waters.)
• March 3 (Tina's 21st birthday. Topic: Exotic cocktails at a local restaurant with Mom and friends. Okay, so it's not an assignment, but I wanted to slip that in there somewhere. It makes me feel like I have a life. If not now, then at least in the distant future.)

The Dream Symbolism presentation is going to be mentally and emotionally taxing. I have to create some sort of visual to represent a dream that I've had. Obviously, since I consider myself to be an artist, this will have to be a painting of some sort. The dream I want to do involves me wearing something on my eyelashes which gives me the appearance of having blood dripping from them. Therefore, I need to do a self-portrait with this imagery. Oh boy. I'm better at more abstract images, such as anger, happiness, contentment, etc. I'm more accustomed to painting feelings using color, shape, and flow. A self-portrait therefore might look more like a red blob. We shall see. Also, another aspect of the presentation involves me having to do active imagination in an attempt to go back to my dream. Go back to it, and examine it, and talk to the people in it. Honestly, I know I can do this. I have done it before. Well, go back to a certain dream the next night. However, I don't know how successful I will be at active imagination. I'm going to try my damnedest, but I have no idea how it will turn out. *sigh* I bet that stressing over it won't help at all, either. Poooooop..........

Harry Potter epiphany

I had a Harry Potter epiphany last week. Oh yes, that's right. I don't know if you guys ever check out the books in my "Books I am currently reading" section, but for a while The Winter's Tale, by Shakespeare was on the list. We were reading it in my Advanced Shakespeare course. Despite the fact that this particular play is an easy romance and reads quite smoothly, I had never read it before. It's an excellent play about jealousy, and perhaps the most interesting thing that I carried away from having read it is that I now realize where J.K. Rowling most likely found the inspiration for the character of Hermione Granger.

The main characters of the play are involved in an interesting love triangle. The main man (and the jealous one) is Leontes. He is the king of a land called Sicilia. His lifelong friend's name is Polixenes, who is the king of Bohemia. Polixenes and Leontes have been friends since they were young. Because of their kingly duties, it had been some time since they had been able to see each other. So, Polixenes packed his bags and went to Sicilia for a long visit with his best friend. (Bear with me on the plot line, because it's worth it if you want to understand my epiphany.)

Leontes had a wife named Hermione, who, at the time of Polixenes's visit, was about nine months pregnant with their second child. They already had a young son, who was about five years old, named Mamillius. Over the course of the nine months that Leontes's friend was there, Hermione, wishing to please her husband, entertained and became close friends with Polixenes. When the time came for him to go back to Bohemia, he said he was leaving the next day. Leontes tried to persuade him to stay a bit longer, and he refused. Leontes asked Hermione to persuade him, and she was able to. Polixenes agreed to stay. Leontes saw that he only agreed once his wife asked, and immediately suspected that there was something suspicious happening between them.

The play continues with much more drama. Leontes, suspecting his friend and wife of adultery, planned to poison Polixenes, who escaped back to Bohemia. Hermione was placed in jail, and many other things happen. However, the most important idea is that of the love triangle between Hermione, her husband, and his best friend. Consider, Harry Potter fans, what would happen if Hermione became romantically involved with Ronald Weasley. Hasn't Ron a bit of a jealous streak as it is? Doesn't he have potential for misinterpreting the friendship of Harry and Hermione, becoming jealous of them? Imagine what terrible plot twists could occur if Ron realizes that he has a deep love for Hermione. It seems to me that Rowling has been hinting at such an encounter all throughout the first five novels.

Whether or not Ron and Hermione ever become involved, it would not require a relationship for Ron to become jealous of whatever Hermione and Harry have together...even an innocent friendship. Now that I've read The Winter's Tale it all seems so blatantly obvious. Hermione's name had puzzled me before reading the play. Was she to be modeled after the Hermione of Greek legend? Didn't seem so. Their stories were too dissimilar. However, Hermione clearly has two friends who both have potential for jealousy and jealous action. I can't wait to see what unfolds.

As for that little list on the side of the blog... you know, the one I mentioned, about the Books I am reading? You should check it out. For now, it'll include the books I am reading for class as well as the ONE book that I allow myself to read for pleasure. Currently it is Three For the Dough, by Janet Evanovich, along with Wuthering Heights for Dream Symbolism as well as The Canterbury Tales for my Chaucer class. Good times. This list is ever-changing because assignments come at me fast. Keep up! Until next time...(who knows when that might be?) *wink*

My "little" brother... playing bass

I went home this past weekend so that I could show up at my brother's surprise birthday party. Turns out the surprise party wasn't such a surprise (too many teenage-gossip cooks in the pot), but my appearance at the party was. Of course everyone thought I was in Newport, five hours away, doing homework diligently, so when I showed up in New Hampshire at his party the only ones who knew of my arrival were my mom and dad. Yay for surprises!

Tim and his friends were supposed to go to Sunday River to go snow-tubing. He was turning 18 on January 30, and his friend was also turning 18 but on January 29. Turns out they are only 15 hours and one minute apart. Weird. So they all went, and my mom, dad, and the kid's parents all piled into a van and brought helium balloons and a cake to the lodge. Surprise! Heh. It was fun.

We had another party at my house the next night, but it was smaller. Just my family, and Danielle and Nik. (Yep, Nik came up to NH for the bro as well...he found out he didn't have to work for the entire weekend...) We sat around, had dinner, played poker, and had some homemade cake. Then Tim opened his present... an amp for his bass guitar. You can see it in the picture, next to his red, velvet-lined coffin guitar case. He has a much larger amp for performance, and he and his friends were getting tired of lugging the huge thing from our house to the garage where they jam all the time. This one is easy to carry and will suffice for practicing at home. In the picture, he was giving it a little test... just to make sure it still had all of the annoyance qualities he was shooting for.. *wink*

I feel repetitive with all this but I feel like I'm out of the loop with all of my blogging friends. I miss the days of sitting here, blogging and commenting to my little heart's desire. Those days are gone for now, but perhaps things will slow down enough for me to get back to a somewhat daily basis. I doubt it, however. Just the other day I got home from NH at about 4:30. I began my homework at 6:30. I did all of it. Straight through. I left no assignment unfinished, and I was sufficiently comfortable with the information for subsequent quizzes the following day. Guess when I finished? 2:00 in the morning. Almost a solid 8 hours of homework. This says one thing to me: Never wait until Sunday night ever again this semester. Sorry, folks. Can't happen.

Until next time, then.