So if the plural of mouse is mice, what about these pairings?.... Louse --> Lice. Okay, that one's valid. Spouse --> Spice. Not so much. House --> Hice. Is that even an English word? Blouse --> Blice. No. Douse --> Dice. Wait, that's a verb.... and those are small gaming cubes...

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous ( as I effused ), and today is nearly so, though there is no sun. So I went out with a couple friends and we meandered through the woods until we reached a stream. Then, the male part of the three of us proceeded to build a small but usable bridge over part of the stream, using rocks and fallen branches and abandoned concrete blocks. I would say that "we" built the bridge, but all that we girls did was supervise, stay out of the way of the splashing, and skip rocks. :-P It took probably half an hour for my friend to get a bridge that would hold up--in fact, after I crossed it, he had to add more concrete blocks because of some collapsing--but in the end, he was satisfied, and we safely returned to our respective destinations.

Whenever there is sunshine in the morning to greet me as I embark upon the day's journey, I'm happy for the entire rest of the day. Sunshine's effects are compounded when it lasts.... and the sun's been out all day, to my great joy! I considered taking a bike ride , but my hands got chilly just sitting out doing homework, so I nixed that idea in favor of making extensive use of the windows. :-) As it was, I took several pictures of the cloud formations... clouds are the icing on the cake of sunshine. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. It's enough to make me fly away on the spot with happiness. I do hope this is the harbinger of spring's fast approach!

What a day. Exhausting, and I haven't even been to work yet! I found out yesterday that one of my apartmentmates was going to a contra dancing thing this afternoon, and wanted people to go with her. She's said that it is really fun. From what I understood, it was like the dancing from the five-hour version of the movie "Pride & Prejudice" (which is of course based upon my favorite book!) and resembled square dancing just a little... so I figured I may as well. It sounded fun enough. So, clad in our fun, twirly skirts, we arrived a little before two o'clock this afternoon, and danced... for three straight hours !! Some of contra dancing was completely new to me... I've never done long line dance things before, besides the Virginia Reel; but that was half to two-thirds of the dancing there. I was also new to certain of the moves (I had to learn a different swing from what I knew in square dancing), and quite unused to all the twirling that happens in co

Me gusta mucho... escribir cartas a mi amigo, en español. (I love writing Spanish letters to my friend!) Last week an old friend of my family e-mailed me (as she's been in the habit of doing) and asked if I would correspond with her son, who's in Spanish II in high school. "Of course," I joyfully replied. Since then we have sent three or four e-mails back and forth (on each side) and his mother writes that he is enjoying the correspondence immensely. I, on my end, am also very pleased to have begun it. I get a lot of practice this way, you know, and I'm being extra careful so I don't mess his verb conjugations up (or his vocabulary, for that matter). It takes longer than I would like to write one of the e-mails, but not too long I don't think. And I'm getting a lot better as I get back into the habit of actually creating written works of Spanish instead of simply deciphering another's Spanish writing. In fact, I should be writing another one

It's snowing again. Which means I'm rather cold here, sitting in my living room. But it's fine... I get to go to Spanish class later, which will brighten my day, on top of the happiness of singing in choir this afternoon. :-) My roomie took me to Wal-Mart last night to get a few necessities, and on the way back we stopped by the public library so I could borrow a book for one of my papers. It's "The Power of Logical Thinking" by one Marilyn vos Savant, and its sole purpose for my paper was to point out that the sentence "snakes only eat green frogs" can be interpreted at least four or five different ways. Try it.... 1. Snakes only eat green frogs... they don't eat anything else. 2. ...Or, they never eat blue frogs. 3. ...Maybe, they refuse to drink green frogs. 4. ...Perhaps snakes are the only animals that eat green frogs? 5. ...Better yet, snakes probably just don't eat green dogs . Ain't it fun? :-D

From my devotional today: "Lord, help me to glorify Thee; I am poor, help me to glorify Thee by contentment; I am sick, help me to give Thee honour by patience; I have talents, help me to extol Thee by spending them for Thee; I have time, Lord, help me to redeem it, that I may serve thee; I have a heart to feel, Lord, let that heart feel no love but Thine, and glow with no flame but affection for Thee; I have a head to think, Lord, help me to think of Thee and for Thee; Thou hast put me in this world for something, Lord, show me what that is, and help me to work out my life-purpose: I cannot do much, but as the widow put in her two mites, which were all her living, so, Lord, I cast my time and eternity too into Thy treasury; I am all Thine; take me, and enable me to glorify Thee now, in all that I say, in all that I do, and with all that I have." --Charles Spurgeon

We're in a recession... worldwide... and the government decides it's time for a spending spree??!!?? On top of the last one, the bank bailout?? They're basically ruining any chance I have in the future of establishing a secure economic foundation.... of getting a good job, saving up enough to buy a house, etc. And it's not just Americans... we'll have to borrow the funds. From where? Other countries, I guess... who are just as indebted as we are, or almost. Then where else? Switzerland? They haven't got that much money... So it's going to be printed. Yay, more valueless money floating around... lessening the value of the "money" we (and countries that rely on U.S. currency) still have. This is why the gold standard ought to have been maintained. It would have kept such spendthrift politicians in check. What is this world going to do....

(More great ones over at 10,000 Words !)

What have I done.... 1. Started my own blog (many times) 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than I can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland/world 8. Climbed a mountain (two small ones) 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sung a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched lightning at sea (does Lake Erie count?) 14. Taught myself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown my own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France and was completely awed. 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitchhiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse (of the moon, I believe I have) 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise (for lunch once) 33. Seen Niagara Falls i

I stumbled on a funny blog post over at the New York Times tonight! According to them, this is how you fill out one of those "25 random things about me" lists on Facebook... 9. Mention small adversity, like long commute or annoying neighbor, and the unexpected, preferably funny, way you overcome it. 10. Cite an actual random thing that comes to mind while writing this list. 11. “Admit” that you always identified with weird ancillary character on popular TV show in 7th grade, as if you didn’t know that everyone in retrospect agrees that was the best character. 12. Expose something genuine and poignant about yourself, such as untimely death of close relative or rare genetic condition. 13. Express heartfelt thanks to friends or family for helping you through #12, or just for being there, or whatever. 14. Conclude sentimental portion of list by citing the scene in movie X that always makes you cry. Could also be a lyric, or a memory, so long as it involves crying. 15. Something

I've finally returned to reading a book of classic essays that I picked up awhile ago. In the second essay, one on the "Aim of Man" written by Aristotle (book 1 of his "Nichomachean Ethics" ), he in a sidenote asserts that "...the man who is repulsive in appearance, or ill-born [by which he means not from a good, well-to-do family], or solitary and childless does not meet the requirements of a happy man..." because, apparently, "there are some things... the lack of which must mar felicity, such as good birth, fine children, and personal comeliness...." Now just how does that strike you? What a culture he lived in. And how similar was it to ours, I wonder?

I finished two books yesterday. 1. Miracles by C. S. Lewis. He is a fascinating writer, of course; I mean to own all his works by the time I'm thirty. (Gives me a solid ten years!) As in Mere Christianity , Lewis in Miracles starts much farther back than one would suppose, and first establishes the logical basis for the theoretical possibility of miracles (addressing those who would take issue with the very idea of a miracle). I felt like I'd read it before, so I might have; but it may also bear a little resemblance to one or two of the chapters in Mere Christianity, in which miracles are touched upon but not dealt with in-depth. It's heavier reading than fiction, surely, and I wish I had been more awake mentally when I read most of it. (Yesterday I was in a bit of a daze... for some reason break does that to me! I took a couple naps over break... something I very very rarely do.) 2. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (also published as Ten Little Indian

Is literature supposed to be realist or escapist? My roommate says escapist. Is fiction? Why have I never seen texting or Facebook referred to regularly in a book? One friend has seen one of them in one book... that's all. Can escapist fiction be realistic? I think so. But to what extent? Can realistic fiction be escapist? I think so, also. What qualities set American fiction apart from that of the rest of the world? Does fiction reflect its culture? Probably.