AliThinks

Word Nerd, Part 2

Thanks for all the comments on my last post, Word Nerd. I thought it might be fun* if we all posted our grammar and spelling pet peeves.

Margaret (who kindly corrected my grammar in her comment to my Word Nerd post) wishes people would differentiate between less and fewer. I'm on board with that. If you can count whatever thing you're referring to, you need to use fewer. If it's something you can't count, use less.

And because I'm a teacher at heart, I'll give an example: If we had fewer cats, I'd have less litter to scoop. (I know, ew. Bear with me.)

Karan wrote "My daughter's resume explained that she had experience stalking shelves. I told her that stalking was against the law.

This makes me laugh, because I recently read that someone was totally against internet stocking.

Joolie made a couple of comments: Boy, you really tow the line! (ducks), and my favorite, poring over vs. pouring over. I'm sure you know you should toe the line, especially if you're poring over party documents.

If you have any grammar or spelling peeves, other than the ubiquitous your/you're, its/it's, their/there/they're, or any apostrophe catastrophes, please leave a comment.

*Okay, so maybe it will only be fun for me. I accept that.

If For Some Reason You Wondered

...why I'm in a freaking MARCHING BAND, here's your answer:

Oh, and please be a love and click through to YouTube. This video is an entry in the Lexington Film League's Do-ers Community Video Contest, and YouTube page loads count. Thanks. *mwah*

An Open Letter

Dear Lady In The SUV Trying To Pull In The Parking Lot Which I Was Leaving,

Perhaps if you had had both hands on your steering wheel, instead of one on the wheel and the other on your cell phone, you would have been able to make your turn without waiting for me to pull out. Really, I wasn't in the middle of the parking lot entrance. I wasn't blocking you in my little Honda Civic. And I took a risk leaving the parking lot when I did, because it was hard for me to see around your large vehicle.

Next time, SUV Lady, hang up your damn phone and just drive. 

Sincerely,

Alison

EDIT: I don't have anything against SUVs per se. I realize they can be useful automobiles. I just can't see around or through them!

On Tea Parties

I'd heard about the Tea Party thing, because there was one in Lexington a couple of weeks ago, and the Tea Partiers were upset that our local paper didn't cover their event. I thought that the Herald-Leader probably didn't have enough reporters, seeing as how they'd just laid off a bunch of staff.

This past Saturday, Allan and I were walking around Pittsburgh's North Side Shore Side Shore, when we happened upon a Tea Party. Alan Keyes was the keynote speaker, and while we didn't stick around to hear his speech, we did get to see him dump tea (or some facsimile thereof) into the Allegheny River.

I took a few photos, which you can see here. We did hear some words from the man who organized this particular Tea Party. I didn't catch his name, but he did say that Congress passed the stimulus bill without even reading it. The crowd cheered, and I said "What about the PATRIOT Act?" No one heard me except Allan and maybe the woman with the Sarah Palin button on her hat; we were on the Roberto Clemente bridge, and the speakers were on Allegheny Landing.

And then the man said, "There are laws, laws we have to obey. Can you imagine that I had to get a permit to exercise my First Amendment rights?" The crowd cheered, and I said "Maybe because it's a question of public safety, and no one is infringing on your First Amendment rights?" He went on to say that the government was above the law. I'd say it is, because no one challenged George W. Bush's decimation of our Constitution.

I can't say I didn't understand some of the sentiments I witnessed on Saturday. I did. But most of the signs the folks were holding had me saying "Really?" à la Kyle (or Stan — I can't remember which one said it, in which episode, but it was a high-pitched, head-tilted question) from South Park.

I also can't say I'm happy about the whole stimulus thing, but I'd like to know what the opposition has in mind, and I want them to spell out how it will be better than what the Obama administration has done so far.

A Completely Random Expression Of Annoyance

On the jar of natural peanut butter (ingredients: peanuts, salt), in no less than two prominent places, are these words:

Oil separation is natural. Just stir and refrigerate.

Are we really this far removed from our food?

On Est Chez Nous

As Allan has written, we are back in Lexington. And as he mentioned, we will head out shopping shortly. The Christmas shopping is all done, but my daughter has only two pairs of jeans that fit, and one of those has both of them have about as many holes as a nice chunk of gruyère.

The rest of the clothing the kids need can wait until after the holidays. My ex and I have a sort of tacit agreement that I will purchase certain things here, as they are much cheaper than in France. It's something I'd do when we were still married: stock up on staples during trips to the US.

I'm not looking forward to the shopping. I am looking forward to coming back here and hunkering down for the afternoon. It's good to be home.

UPDATE: We had a successful mission this morning, and after lunch C. and I went out AGAIN. And, oh my Flying Spaghetti Monster, we went to the mall. It was...crowded. We got out of there as fast as we could, then scored some nice leather boots for 75% off at a shoe warehouse in a another part of town. I still can't believe we braved the mall. On a Saturday afternoon. Before Christmas.

Live-Blogging The Returns

Greetings from Buffalo Wild Wings, where the Lexington chapter of Drinking Liberally is meeting for wings and election returns. And beer. There are 11 of us here, the place is packed with sports fans, and it's loud. My jetlag wants to take over my brain, but I'm fighting it.

We just got seated, and they haven't changed the TV channel for us yet we're watching MSNBC, but so far it looks as if Lexington has a new mayor (which is a good thing) and that Sick Rantorum (of my home state) will not be was not re-elected. Woo-hoo!

More news as it happens. Not that this is breaking or anything.

8:47 pm: Rock on, Pennsylvania! Rock on, Ohio!

8:51 pm: Quote from Elle: "Rick Santorum's going down like Mark Foley on a page."

8:59 pm: Time to close the laptop for a bit. Our group has expanded and the tables are small. Plus the wangs are on their way.

9:36 pm: We've consumed our wings and other bar-type food. Yum. Wet naps have been passed around, Robert's mango margarita has been sampled, and we've got our eyes on MSNBC and Fox News (I know. Can you believe it?). Tennessee has a Democrat for a governor. The Allen-Webb race in Virginia is still too close to call. Fox news seems to be insinuating that Santorum would have won if CBS hadn't called it for Casey. Yeah, right.

9:53 pm: I need to pee.

9:54 pm: "Thanks for sharing, Ali!"

10:01 pm: Santorum concedes!

11:41 pm: We're home now. Back to a steady internet connection and power supply. At this point, the House has gone to the Democrats. I've had quite a bit of Bass Ale—hello, 23-ounce drafts!—so I think I'll stop here. I don't have anything to add to the results. I will say that it was great to be out with the Lexington Drinking Liberally group this evening. And I'm pleased with the results of the election so far.

About Me

I asked you to ask me some questions. Here are my answers. Thank you, all of you, for reading and caring. I've divided the questions into somewhat fuzzy categories. It made sense to me; I hope it does to you, too. Enjoy!

Oh, and I will link to this entry on my About page.

PERSONAL

Does it bother you when people spell your name the wrong way?
Yes! But it happens less and less these days. For the record, it's ALISON.

What is a day in the life of Ali like?
I exist. I create. I love.

Here’s a difficult one that you don't need to answer. How do you cope on a day to day basis not being with your kids?
I just do it. Sometimes it hits me hard, and I ache. Mostly I try to look at this time as a gift of freedom; some day, the kids will live with me, and my life will change again.

So what besides weird questions gives you the heebeejeebees?
Creepy-crawlies. Jell-O. Heights.

Do you have hairy toes?

Pleased As Punch

This past week I left my camera alone. I just didn't feel like taking any photos. This changed today when we went to Third Street Stuff for coffee. I spent some time editing my brother's thesis. When I had finished ten pages (and my coffee), I got up, stretched, grabbed my camera, and took about 60 photos.

I don't know if it was the bright colors at Third Street or if I was just ready to "see" again. You can view my photoset here. Allan's is here.

I Just Did Something Really Weird.

I wrote my son a letter.

In French.

He asked me to write in French so that he could understand it. Now the kid's eight years old, and can speak English. But like many smart kids, he's pretty lazy, and he says he can't read English. I suspect he can, but that it's an effort for him.

The other day we spoke on the phone, and I said I was going to write him a letter. He said Mom, can you please write in French?" I said I would. So I did. I gave in.

I think when the kids are here this summer, T. and I will practice reading English.

Not Fully (Re)Adjusted

Yesterday someone asked me how I was settling in to life back in the United States. I replied that I was fine, and that I liked it here. My interlocutor (gawd, I love using my French vocabulary in English!) said that Kentucky was a nice place to live.

It is.

What's weird is that it's like I never left the States. I really do feel at home here. Kentucky reminds me of Pennsylvania a lot. Was there some 13-year wrinkle in time?

Nah. I've been away. I get little glimpses of my absence here and there, but today it became evident when we were at the farmer's market downtown. Allan got a good chuckle when I asked if I could choose my own fruit. See, in most markets in France, you're not supposed to touch the produce. The vendor handles it all; you are allowed to point at the specific fruits and vegetables you might want, but mostly you just trust the vendor to make the right decision.

So I gave Allan my best Gallic moue, and proceeded to fondle the Georgia peaches.