Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Referring To a Person In the Room With A Pronoun
And if you think about it, he violates the rule in his reprimand by calling his wife 'that'. Whatever.
I told Helen I was sorry to hear she was beaten as a child and blithely lived my life little changed with respect to this usage until I started hearing more and more people speak about it. (About four or five years later when her brother Tom started working where I do, I asked him about this. He said he remembered something about this but wasn't sure).
In any event, it seems that it is rude to refer to anyone present in the room with a pronoun. So if Cindy were in the room and I told Mark that "Cindy just went to Cindy's house to get Cindy's camera bag," in stead of "Cindy went to her house to get her camera bag," I would sound dorky but I would be following the rule.
If you are reading this and YOU have experience with this odd socio-linguistic phenomenon, please post something about it here.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Why Vaclav’s Hovel?
Why Vaclav’s Hovel?
Vaclav Havel is a playwright, the last president of
He said:
"I understand, especially when one is looking at me from a distance, that I might seem as some kind of fairy-tale hero who banged his head against the wall until the wall fell, and then reigned. It makes me blush slightly, because I know my mistakes. On the other hand, I do not ridicule it because people need these kinds of stories."
If Vaclav Havel ever reads this and takes offense to my use of his name as such, I apologize. I meant it only with the greatest of affection for him and Mr. Zappa.
Monday, June 20, 2011
The MacGyver Award
I did this repeatedly to the log until I had about eight pieces of firewood.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Father's Day at Lake George
We arrived at the marina about 2PM and unloaded the car.
With the outrigger attached, we headed for the island.
The outrigger might look silly but it worked well. It canceled the roll that annoys some about canoes. It did not stop the pitch but it did keep us a little more level when we took the wake of other boats. Lake George is no small place and the power boats there give little care for small craft like a canoe, so this was a must. About 17 years ago I made this same trip with my friend Carmelo and we had a hell of a time with a lot more weight and a choppier day.
About 45 minutes later, first mate Finnegan looks for our campsite.
The campsite numbers are on the docks. Each campsite has 'half' of a dock.
We have completely unloaded our gear. Time to register and set up.
Here are some views of our home of 20 hours.
The tradition of burning marshmallows continues.
Zonked out after half an hour of potty jokes in the tent.
Sunrise.
How to make good coffee at camp: that's an MSR Pocket Rocket for a stove.
Finn is up and ready for a swim and some fishing.
After that we're warming up while the bacon sizzles.
Breakfast is served minus the bread that the animals stole when I carelessly left it out.
Time to leave but we will be back.
That was a tough paddle back to the marina. Finn was out for the whole trip home (2.5 hours).
All of these photos were taken with my Blackberry.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Helping Clearwater Cleanup Camp: IBM Centennial of Service Celebration
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
More Fun With PVC
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Symmetrophobia
but I ain't buying it. I just get weirded out by the stuff.