toe cramp

What makes a toe cramp? And why does one walk like a duck when one's toe is spasming? And how does one twist one's toe to MAKE IT STOP?

The official title of this week is the Week of Misery. Actually, it isn't a full week yet; it IS only Wednesday, and we can still retain hope that it gets better from here. But, probably not.

Since I have emerged (sort of) from the haze of self-loathing, whinging and mental flagellation that was Monday, it now seems acceptable to re-establish slight contact with the happy world outside my mind. Slight contact. Am still considering the possibility that the only potential for my life is to sit in a coffee shop until the Miracle happens to me and I become a successful children's writer with a castle in Scotland. On Fair Isle. The other option discussed with Katharine was running a yarn store. And book shop. On Fair Isle. Next door to a pub. Several of us may be in on this venture, actually -- not just the TAG (Two American Girls). Misery loves company.

It is very much appreciated that people enjoy to the point of occasional smirks my blog and the writing therein (and people should re-affirm this often! Am turning into Stewart Smalley. ha ha). My writing, however, is not good enough. If you haven't picked through all the verbose fuss-potting here, we got two assessments back on Monday. Both of mine were rubbish, apparently. Well, not total rubbish, but rubbish-y enough. The frustrating thing, well things, are:
i was really confident that my assessments were good;
at least in one case I agree with the professor (dammit);
it is week NINE out of 10 weeks;
i had to do a class presentation exercise after getting both scores.

BLACK, BLACK DAY.

To top it all off (but this turned out to be the best part, since I was able to put things more into perspective), I went to a District Rotary meeting. The good part of this was that I was not able to sit home consuming vast amounts of Cadburry chocolate, Welsh Whole Milk (contains milk) and crying. And the videos from Mercy Ships and landmines.org reminded me to stop all of this nonsense and bloody FOCUS on improvement! No wallowing allowed.

Poor Cousine Lindsey Skyped me just when I got home on Monday, and so she got to listen to me in full Wallow Mode. Apologies for that travesty. But she sent the most fabulous Group Thanksgiving Card from the Whole Fam-damly (except for the new part of the family, and related Parental Units)! And that slightly un-reddened my eyes before Rotary :)

So, now am off to "Focus, focus, focus..."

I may not have done so well on my OWLS, but there is still hope for my NEWTS!
(thank you, Paul, for this appropriate phraseology)

Toe cramp is gone!

Solecism

A solecism is a mistake in the use of language, or more generally an offence against good manners or etiquette: To say 'seasonal' when you mean 'seasonable' is a solecism. Pouring tea from your cup into the saucer to cool it is a solecism. (Dictionary of English)

Attention Class!
Stop Abusing the Language.

La Infanta

My lovely cousine, Sara, has graciously provided me with pictures of Ella Ruth in digital format (and has granted permission for my publicity and blatant promotion of said Small Person!).

There are lots of precious Lilliputians back home, of various family and friend origin, that I'm missing this year (and yesterday, learned that another friend is having triplets -- OML, eek!). All I ask is that they are regularly reminded that their Auntie Amrie loves them and are shown pictures of me being kind to small animals so they will not be frightened upon meeting (or re-meeting) me -- (i tend to alarm some children due to my radiating fear of upsetting them).

Other fascinating things I have done today:
cut my hair (thereby saving money and justifying purchase of charity shop china yesterday)
complemented Hiroko on delish sushi from last night's party
argued with Karsten over IM about the existence of supreme being
read about language acquisition of children
eaten fried rice a la Hiroko
drunk espresso a la Maurizio
vacuumed my room
worked on my web page
started on Phonology Assignment 2
watched a random helicopter flying over my house with a banner
decided that i cannot wear my pajamas to buy milk
been informed that Paul is mailing me a skillet!
did a little Snoopy dance :)

SNOW!!!!

out our kitchen window!

Happppppppy Thanksgiving!

It's a day for forgiveness..... (sorry, Friends reference. people here LOVE Friends)

So, oh my Lord, i went and made cornbread without normal ingredients. And it went over quite well! Picture of the top shows a lovely golden brown (in much less time than normal. when baking at C degrees, you may want to consult this. i am so bloody proud of myself!). As you can also see, I refrained from burning the bottom! However, after walking twenty minutes in freezing temperatures, cornbread may become fairly cold, so you should attempt to re-heat, but not in active oven -- merely a warm one. Otherwise it dries out.... but people still liked it anyhoo. Sadly, it was gone before I could pull a Bruner Georgian trick and put butter and honey on mine.

We had a lovely Cardiffian Thanksgiving at Katharine's house and the Brits toasted the Indians. Katharine soaked the turkey overnight in salt water in a "bin" -- i.e., a big bucket -- and it was beautiful and delish. She made the best fresh cranberry relish with orange I have ever tasted and sweet potatoes with NO COW SLOBBER! yay! so yummy! We also had Yorkshire pudding, which is a bread-like doughy thing :) am quite jealous of Katharine's kitchen... it is 30s retro metallic and eggshell blue and larger than mine :)

Two Germans re-heating the macque choux.... (me and Stefani, from my course). Everyone liked the Cajun dish :)



And OH MY LORD --- IT SNOOOOOWED!!!!!! Do i sound excited? No. do not be fooled by my faux enthusiasm. i am excellent at masking my true feelings.

So Georgia and i went out and danced in the snow and it was just terribly fabulous for about 30 minutes. then it stopped and we were sad, but there is ice on all the cars on the way home! We probably won't get a "snow day" tomorrow, though. boooo.

Sometimes you just have to make your own.

Thanksgiving will be made (minus bonnets and Pilgrim outfits) by Katharine and myself tomorrow evening. My hope is that the turkey actually fits into the oven -- hee hee.

Tonight I made macque choux and tomorrow will attempt corn bread... this should be interesting for several reasons:

we have no black iron skillet
cannot find baking powder
am going on assumption that bicarbonate of soda= baking soda
there is no such thing as buttermilk here
polenta bramata is the closest thing to cornmeal i can find (?)
(and this was at the health food store, not the market)
flour is called by different names here (i.e., there is not all-purpose; there is baking, there is thickening, there are different colors on the bags... i just bought "plain flour")

To answer an Alert Reader's inquiry, "NO -- have NOT shared the horse whinny during my Rotary presentations." They might revoke the scholarship -- don't tell them!

Although I bet no one would call me a "coon-ass" after that :)
Redneck, maybe.

After Phonology class today, went to 12.40 Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire -- lovely not to have crowded theatre, so had perfect seat right at mid-screen eye level, and right in the middle of the theatre! Since haven't had time to be totally goofy and re-read ALL the books, forgot that the World Quidditch Cup was in here. Memorable parts, of course, involved animals -- Malfoy being turned into a white ferret and Mrs. Norris sitting on the table flipping her tail in feline alertness. the Quick Notes Quill personality was pretty clever. Overall, good book --> movie transfer, but it seems too much to require that viewer has read the book, so a bit disappointed in that. However, do understand trial of condensing 700 pages of text into a reasonable length. Would have preferred an intermission and a three-and-a-half hour movie, though. A few cheesy teenage angst parts annoyed me slightly. Amazed that they were able to turn a gorgeous creature as Ralph Fiennes into such a horrifying embodiment of evil; interpretation reminded me of Satan in The Passion. Very Interesting.

Saw preview for Narnia, and that looks REALLY amazing! Maybe it has already opened in the States? But here on December 3.

P.T.L., I beLIEVE!

That I have a cousin once removed or whatever. Was completely starting to doubt this tiny person's existence since no images had been seen (and we all know seeing is...). Have been waiting three weeks for pictures of La Infanta. But Oma sent me a letter and a darling picture of herself and her namesake (Ella Ruth), and I got it today! So she is acceptable and she is absolutely gorgeous. She looks like a Jones :)

Tonight, Hiroko and I entertained (and were hosted by) the Port Talbot Rotary Club for their Foundation Night. Such a lovely time and fun Rotarians :) Was called a "coon-ass" by a Welsh man who used to work in Texas and who also knows some Rotarians from Shreveport (!random!) and who told me lots of stories in a Southern accent (it was really a good accent -- heehee). He and his wife have invited me to visit them for a weekend and go horse-back riding!

Port Talbot is the hometown of both Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins and Sir Anthony is actually an honorary member of the club. It is a steel town and was a large steel shipping port in the past (not sure if it still is). The first million pound cheque was written at the port in Port Talbot. It is about 45 minutes from my house to the West and is across the bay this side of Swansea. Rotary Club meets in a hotel on the beachfront. I was not able to escape and frolic on the beach, which we all know would have happened if possible.

Hey, guess what I found (no links to Port Talbot itself, but...): Neath Port Talbot Badger Group!

Am terribly disappointed to have totally missed the fact that the Queen was in town last night. Must really be more aware of my surroundings. Not that I would have SEEN her or anything, of course. My invitation to the concert was apparently lost in the post....

's fo' therday...

yes, it is indeed half past four and it is almost dark.

there was frost on the sidewalks this morning. was terribly excited. yes, i have gone quite mad.

Fabiana had her classmates from her course for a dinner party last night. She cooked the most fabulous pastas al forno! We have pasta for DAYS now because she made three pans and only about half of each were eaten... b-a-d c-a-r-b-s. just sitting in the kitchen calling me. must drown out sound.

Phonology project 1 phinished!!!! on phriday, no less! phantastically proud of self.

Other highlights from my weekend include a trip to buy a fitted sheet on Saturday to put on the bottom mattress, on top of which my futon mattress is located, because you don't want a plain old mattress showing from beneath your covers! So, out to buy one item...right? Looked in charity shops all the way to the bedding shop (i really WAS looking for a fitted sheet) and this is what i came back with (GBP is for Great Britain Pound, b/c I can't get the symbol without cutting and pasting from word and there is just no time for that. although typing this explanation...oh well):

4 flower pots for christmas gifts of basil plants to go in -
(3 @ 49 pence, 1 @ 29 pence)
1 scrabble game - 1.99 GBP
1 sweater (called a jumper) - 3GBP
1 scarf - 1.99 GBP
1 pair boots - 5GBP
2 packs christmas cards - 99 p each
20 skeins of mohair yarn -- 10GBP!!!! OMLGIH!
1 sheet - 5.99GBP (full price)
1/2 dozen eggs - 1 GBP

I should not be allowed out unattended.

Georgia (my Greek friend) is teaching me English -- hahahahaha! So last week's word was "minger", pronounced "meng-ah". This means someone terribly unpleasant, disgusting, ugly and foul. It may be morphed into an adjective, "minging", as in "That warm mayonnaise is totally minging". Here is a site for perusal: www.mingers.com.

Saturday timeline

2. 00 am -- finally read myself crosseyed (mmm, sleep...)
7.47 am -- FRANTIC banging of Postman on front door (doWHAT?)
7.52 am -- slow starting car + warm-up time outside window
7.59 am -- car leaves -- ta-ta! (mmm, sleep...)
8.11 am -- mechanic arrives for work
(think am developing keen sense of Cat, because i now recognize the mechanic's car by its sound. including little "rreeeenk" sound of handbrake.)
8.12 am -- mechanic rattles gates of tunnel underneath room while unlocking.

Ooooooh, wonder what excitement rest of day holds. Guess should have tea so's to be ready...
(poor Postman...if he was delivering mail at 7.47, WHAT time did he have to get up?!? eeeew!)


Okay, so now it is 8.38 am, am fully waked and probably for good... Anyhoo, here is a nice picture of the frost on the roof of the mosque, formerly known as a methodist church, across the street. Of course, i DIDN'T go out side for this picture. Dont' be ridiculous. That would mean I had to exit the pajamas. Instead, is view from far edge of my window.

Tea for one and a futon

So have caved to the weakness of the back and just purchased a lilac futon mattress (for ₤90 -- no chocolate this week!) to place over my other mattress. (this is the color of lilac, not that it is filled with lilac.) It is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow morning, so am looking forward to waking up on Sunday morning without a wonky spring digging into my hip! Certainly a reason for celebration :) On another positive note, this will make my bed look taller and tall beds are good. To continue foolish rant of good cheer, the lady who sold the mattress stopped midway through our conversation and said, "WHERE are you from?!?" She is from Tampa Bay, FL and moved here 2 years ago after meeting a Welsh man while on vacation in London.

Besides the lady in the mattress shop, the suit salesman who sold Maurizio his suit today was as Scottish as can be -- AND he was born in FORT WORTH!!! so we chatted. It is really wierd how you can connect with a stranger for the simple reason that you happen to have been born in the same country. And then you interact with tens of other people every day with no bond made at all. Very random phenomenon, and am quite sure that this is common. It is just intriguing, and yes, bizarre, to observe yourself observing yourself observing yourself. Will stop now.

Winter Wonderland is set up and functional in the city centre! Will have to go ice skating some time... Last night the new Dr. Who and Billie Piper (new sidekick) turned the lights on for the city. Missed it. But I got to see kittens selling alcohol, so all is well!

Frost on cars this morning :) Must knit mittens and a hat -- ears so cold!!!!

Spoons are propogating again.
Current count: 3

Harry has arrived!

For my fellow nerd friends, I have just heard the first actual advertisement on the radio announcing that the movie is "At Theatres NOW!"

Will not be one of the throngs of dressed up people tomorrow/today. Do not like going to movies with the masses. Actually, my preference is to go to the movies and find an empty theatre! Brilliant plan is to go at 1.00 next Wednesday.

Kittens and beer

There is really nothing quite like kittens to advertise the healthful benefits of beer. and cheap wine. In addition to the kittens, the fact that Blossom Hill is one of the specials makes me smirk.

This advertising hint was obtained because on my way home from downtown, I fortuitously met Katharine (my friend from Iowa), Dawn (who lives in Caerphilly) and Stefanie (from Germany) -- all in my department, but on different courses -- for a pint at the Woodville ("Woody") pub. Otherwise, you all might have missed this cunning marketing ploy.

This evening, there was a small fire and lots of alarms next door to the Oxfam Book Shop with three fire trucks. While we didn't have to evacuate from the shop, next door's people were all in the street and a fire inspectoress kept dashing through the shop. I bought no books today! hooray!

On the way home, (sorry, I just have to be amused by life) I took this picture. He was waiting there for his people who were shopping. Isn't that just marvelous?

Tonight is (now was; easily distracted, you know -- couldn't compose and watch at the same time) the beginning of the new season of Little Britain, a joyous and healthful show (due to the laughter). It is absolutely riotously funny!

Other items possibly of interest:

Maurizio has gone to his Thursday Salsa lesson.

Fabiana rode by herself to the Super Tesco store in the dark and worried me.
She made it back :)

The map of France has fallen off the wall.

I am attaching cunning labels with the phonetic alphabet to my keyboard.

Oooh, and you can try accessing pictures at: www.flickr.com/photos/bonnieblueinwales/ If anyone has problems, it is something I have done, and you should let me know. Will now (or maybe tomorrow...) try to figure out how to put an image+link in side menu bar.

Frost on the roofs!

There was probably frost on the roofs yesterday but I didn't realize it. This morning, it was CLEARLY frost! Very pretty!

Am playing with multiple online photo albums and hope to have something for people to look at soon. This is yet another reason I need a Nanny, or Minder. Technology testing, piddly stuff like bills, laundry, banking -- those are things that really aren't so much fun to investigate; it's just they keep BEING there waiting to assault my cheerful and sunny disposition. Kind of like an Aura of Menace.

This morning, I have tested Yahoo Photos and Flickr. Last night, I tried Snapfish and Shutterfly. Blogger will tell you to do Picasa, BUT there is no web address to give out where people can look at anything. 47 minutes ago, i liked Yahoo, because Flickr has limits on the number you can post. But have just realized that Flickr lets you choose a name (such as bonnieblueinwales) and this makes me happy. And the organization of Flickr is similar to my Codified Ideals of labelling and color-coding -- tag words and whatnot. Got to love cross-referencing.

(Between all of this, have been orthographically transcribing a 30 second segment of communication, so haven't been completely faffing about -- what was just said is that I have been making a transcript from a spoken segment assigned to me yesterday. This is not so easy as it sounds; must include pauses, word stress, little extraneous vocal sounds. Then we transcribe this into IPA alphabet -- that is what I am naively looking most forward to!)

Pomposity

am frustrated since my phonemically transcribed sample (of the text, "Having an aura of menace is like having a pet weasel") will not paste into Blogger since the font is not transferring and it is not in my range of knowledge to know how to add the font to the html. Blast.

On a positive note, Georgia and I just installed the IPA font into my computer and we are so happy! Have included the link above, so everyone can install it onto their computers, too. Today we got our first transcription assignment and are SOOOOOO excited! No, really!

Sadly, trying to paint the symbols onto the keys with white-out pen is not a good plan. Shall have to make tiny stickers. Should I color-code them, too? Per'aps, per'aps...

Travelocity has reduced fares to fly to London in two of my selected markets -- hint.

hint.

hint, hint. :)

Having all the numbers work correctly in figuring Variance and Standard Deviation is SUCH a lovely feeling! It's actually FUN! (no mockery.) Well, not quite as lovely as a nice square or 10 of Cadburry Dairy Milk, but still new and exciting.

Have almost finished reading Women, Men and Language this afternoon -- hey, guess what! We really do seem to speak different languages. Analysis of each and every person in my acquaintance will now begin. :) hee hee.

Am turning into Judith (this may not shock some) and saving jars and produce bags for storage now. Aren't you proud? I am so sensible.

Notes on paper towels

Well, not notes "on" paper towels. Notes about paper towels.

It has been brought to my attention, by alert reader La-La (aka, Laura), that some persons may be concerned by the small size of the paper towels, appearing in yesterday's informative entry on milk warnings.

Firstly, like many things here, "paper towels" are not "paper towels" but "kitchen towels". "Whipped cream" is not "whipped cream", either. But that is getting onto something else completely. Secondly, Yes, they are tiny. I was alarmed by this at first, but now have developed a slight fear of the monstrous towels back home. You DO all know what they represent, don't you? :) Of course you do! Finally, No, there is no select-a-size. That is also representative.

And, alert reader, Pablo (aka, Paul, Polly, P.A.P.A-Partner,Al&Paul'sArsenal) has related SMASHing flight deals from "there" to "here".

So, y'all come, now, ya heaah?!

Norwegian Christmas trees

Tonight was my presentation to my own Rotary club -- Llandaff.

To pronounce this:
1. say the word, "antler".
2. drop off the "an" (leaving "-tler").
3. drop off the "er" (leaving "-tl-").
4. Use that "tl" sound for the "Ll" sound and say the whole word.

VERY GOOD!!

(this is the only picture; Graham isn't a big technology fan and he likes my camera even less, because I am always clicking away!)

Played some '30s red-light songs to the club, since I mention St. Paul's Bottoms in my talk, and they LOVED it :) Graham said my delivery was smoother tonight, too.

We had lamb for dinner. Am so VERY glad that Liver is not the national meal of Wales!

Something I learned this evening: Norway sends a Christmas tree to the City of Cardiff each year! Ones are also sent to London, and possibly Edinburgh and Belfast. This is to thank Great Britain for defending Norway during the WWII.

I am so very impressed with the attention and respect that people give to WWII here. On the radio on Sunday (which was actual Remembrance Sunday), I heard that there are something like 70,000 war memorials in the United Kingdom. 1,700,000 British men and women died in the 2 World Wars.

Also, almost all final elements for Lisa and Ben's trip are arranged!!!!! "Calennig" means "New Year's gift" -- am assuming in Welsh, but you never know -- and that is what the celebration here is called. Hogmanay it is not (the original plan), but that will leave something for the future! I am the best travel coordinator EVER.

Well, this will be finally... A line from Lemony Snicket, The Slippery Slope:

"Having an aura of menace is like having a pet weasel, because you rarely meet someone who has one; and when you do, it makes you want to hide under the coffee table."

Here is an arty picture (i.e., not so perfect, yet also cool) of the menacing moon over my house as I was leaving to go to Rotary this evening. Front door to the Hobbit Hole is the tiny one to the R, past the two people (?) walking. Door to far left is the door to the other place that shares our address; this is where much of our mail goes first. Door in middle is not a door; well, there are two, aren't there? Neither one is a door.

Time was 5.55, so you can see it gets dark early now. It is about 6C right now.

milk allergies anyone?

Just noticed this on my milk jug (of Fresh Welsh whole milk, to L ) and thought to share....

There is a little red box on the back (about 1 inch wide by 1/4 inch high). Inside this box in white letters is a warning announcement, "Allergy advice". (click to enlarge if you like)

Beneath is the following text (white background, red text):
*Contains milk

Milk very nearly snorted out my nose.


On another note (pun fully intended), my phone is set to croak like a bullfrog when it rings!

Lemony Snicket

Have I mentioned before how absolutely marvelous A Series of Unfortunate Events is? Possibly you may have heard me mutter something about it under my breath.... I don't often repeat myself. (NO laughing aloud)

Really, I think it is some of the cleverest children's literature and think all of my friends need to a) listen to the books themselves (the ones read by Tim Curry are best) and b) [well, the ones with children's minds to mold!] must read them aloud or play them so that their offspring may acquire skill in using words like "somniferous" in everyday speech acts.

It is my opinion that these books will not overwhelm intrinsic cognitive load, because the new material is presented in a normalized manner that allows for contextualization. As well, new words are defined in a subtle and uncondescending way and I really like that. Down-talking to children annoys everyone. Right? Right. Can anyone tell I have been doing my homework?

Okay, so right now, Maurizio and Fabiana and I are Skype-ing about some wireless card (?) and our internet connection (what? ?). This is quite amusing because they are downstairs in the living room and I am upstairs in my room -- hee hee. Now they are Skyphoning, but it is too far to go get my microphone headset off of my desk.... lazy Bruner.

Go and read or listen to books on tape (or CD, of course. it's JUST a term.)!!!!!!! Your compliance will be appreciated.

Exit soap-box Left.
Thank you.

Fair Isle

Reading material for investment opportunities in Fair Isle.

I plan to go there. Have not decided if I will stay or not. You may all come and visit me, though, if I do. It is to the north of the Orkney Islands (at the tip top of Scotland). They have a Knitting Cooperative :) To further assist all of you, a link is provided to the R.

Tonight was Quiz Night hosted by Cardiff Rotary -- there were about 100 people there. Hiroko and I were on the same team and our table's team was named the "Bayou Babes" even though there were men in the group, too. Lots of questions about the US. Very proud b/c I had right answers about 1) the last Western European country to give the vote to women (Switzerland, this was a guess based on their stereotype of being extremely conservative, and it was right!) and 2) that the letters "ZA" on a car license would refer to South Africa. Both of these I was not agreed with and so we got them wrong :( Boo. Also knew that Julie Andrews played Eliza Doolittle on stage. I did not, however, know that a "pillar box" is a post box on the street corner (part of this was due to the fact that it sounded like they were saying "pillow box" and what is THAT?).

The most important thing I learned tonight:
Sir Isaac Newton invented the cat flap.

Unfortunately, I did not know what the state at the top border of the Mason-Dixon Line was. Explained that We only care about the States to the South of the northern Maryland border -- who cares about the other side? hee hee.

Then, I had to explain what a crawfish boil is. And what winter is like in Shreveport (kind of similar to here). And then I tried (and failed) to explain Bunco. There was a lot of explaining tonight.

Have now been here two months -- oh my!

Lint trap

If there is no lint trap on a machine that performs the task of drying laundry, WHERE does the lint go?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I have a new phone. And number. And voicemail!! And the idiot who told me that I needed an "international" passport is still apparently under the impression that "international" must be actually printed on the passport instead of, oh, say, the name of another country. (Note: he is not the brightest crayon in the box. Nor is he of British origin.)

Working Memory

Working memory is the active processing part of your brain.

It can only hold about seven chunks of information simultaneously, although this may be less if one is doing something requiring more focus (higher intrinsic load, usually something new or unfamiliar to the lear....

Ooohh, look at the pretty cloud!

Tea time!

(Really, though, i think this is pretty cool stuff)

Wales v. Fiji

Participated in rugby migratory activity this evening. Migrating is fun!

73,045 people were in attendance tonight!

Only one person got arrested for running out on the pitch. Right next to two signs that said "NOTICE: It is a criminal offense to enter the pitch!". I missed taking a picture of him -- he was really proud of himself though and kept turning around to show his cuffs to the crowd. I wish I could find a good man like that.

Hiroko's counselor, Steve, and his wife Felicity, met us and took us to the game. Hiroko did not go, because she lost nearly her whole paper somewhere on her computer last night and has been quite vexed about the whole thing. Understandably. Came home today to her vacuuming :)

Good times were had by all (except don't feel as if fully participated culturally, because had no Brains. But was too into game and it was too much trouble to climb out and go downstairs. lazy Bruner.)! (Above are, from R to L, Mari, Monirah, Fabiana and Steve)

Roof of stadium was closed tonight. Because of rain and, possibly, because it is 7C. Just maybe.

Coolest thing was when more than 70,000 people became utterly silent for a whole minute for Remembrance Day. Then a trumpet solo. It was very impressive.

The Fiji Team does a tribal dance before the game. They did play better than Wales for most of the game, but it did not help them in the end. (Team dance to R)

Okay, so in rugby, you cannot pass the ball forward. You can only PASS it backwards (yes, away from the goal line you are trying to reach). However, you may run or kick it forwards. There are loads and loads of penalties for everything. The clock only is stopped for serious injuries; the rest of the time, the medics just run out on the field and attend to the bodies littering it while the game is still going on! There is blood. No one worries about this. Punching is not really allowed, but "it is kind of a grey area".....right. You can also catch someone running at you with the ball (from the other team, obviously) and pick them totally up off the ground and throw them back down. (This appears to work best if you use their leg and neck areas together to get a good grip.) The only time this is frowned upon is if you nail them into the ground upside down, i.e., on their head. Periodically, there is this Grand Testosterone Moment called a Scrum (to L, sorry it's kind of small); this is where half each team lines up across from each other and then forms a circle (which has another guy with the ball in the middle of it) and then the teams PUSH, PUSH, PUSH as hard as they can to move the ball guy one way or the other. When the ball guy sees that they are going no further in the right direction, he throws the ball -- backwards, remember, or you get a penalty -- and then it goes into mad play again. Equivalent to touchdown is a "try" -- it is worth 5 points, and the ball has to actually TOUCH the ground. There is point conversion (0ne of the only things that made sense in all this), and it is for two points. Tricky thing here is that you have to do the point conversion from a point parallel to the spot where the ball touched the ground for the try. So you get interesting angles. It is all quite fantabulous.

The game is two halves of 40 minutes each. Final score: Wales 11, Fiji 10.

And there was much rejoicing!

My rejoicing will be continuing reading half the night about Cognitive Load Theory (CLT).

Steppin' Out With My Baby

Has anyone noticed that Fred Astaire mentions that he has a 'bright shine on [his] shoes and on [his] nails' in "Steppin' Out With My Baby"?

Second part of that makes me smirk.

Perhaps this observation is only mine.

Armistice Day

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Today is Armistice Day, 11th day of 11th month. At 11.00 am, we had a moment of silence in class.

***************************

This was after the professor had the audacity to criticize Rhett Butler's grammar in, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." He said that Rhett "missed it". He seems to be under the sad delusion that it ought to be, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." This is wrong. It doesn't work with the emphasis on the last word. It just doesn't.

May the wind be always at your back

Today's cultural addition to my experience is that I understand what a nice blessing this really is :) I always thought, "Oh, well isn't that nice..." BUT it really is nice to have the wind at one's back. Especially if it is raining and one happens to be foolishly wearing glasses.

For some reason a Hee-Haw song is stuck in my head: "Where, oh wheeeeere are you, toniiiight?" And so forth.

Number of books I bought at the Oxfam shop today = 0!!!!!!!

Number of books I seriously anguished about buying = 1.
(we can't always be perfect.)

Someone is practicing the recorder. I hear this through my open window. They really do need to keep practicing. Just, perhaps, on another STREET.
(Of COURSE, i am aware that i could shut my window, but i LIKE fresh air.)

On Radio 4, "Genius" has just started. This is show where people get to put forth ideas to fix life in general, kind of like my ideas for a Dictatorship. Last week, my favorites were the basic intelligence question requirement before ATM withdrawals (leading to a more intelligent population through natural selection) and the breath-alyzer cell phone .
Now they have suggested petticoats printed with pictures of Sigmund Freud -- then people would buy Freudian slips :) hee hee hee!

But anyway, may the wind be always at your back.

Mastering the Universe

Demand: Go to this link and listen to why I love radio here so much! This is Mastering the Universe and it is outstanding! Some of you will know Dawn French -- Virginia, Katie, Paul....

"Spoiling someone else's pleasure is the most deeply rewarding of all the controlling arts. Feeling cold in restaurants, hiding behind your hair, answering in monosyllables, making a little tutting noise when anyone says something amusing - these are just some of the tried and tested fun-prevention techniques which have been used by miserable sods down the centuries."

It's only 15 minutes, so no complaining. You'll click on the "Listen Again" link on the right hand side and it should open up a new listening window with the player in it. You may listen to it there or open it in RealPlayer. Am trying to figure out how to save the episodes onto my computer, so if anyone has any ideas.... anyone? anyone? This week's episode comes on Radio 4 in 40 minutes :) It is "The Joy of Sulks".

At the very end, you will hear the intro to "A Posset Full of Death" -- HYSTERICAL parody of The Name of the Rose (book and movie. movie starred Christian Slater.). So you really ought to listen to that, too. And you can even hear the back episodes. Which I am about to do. While reading, naturally.

1,568

Total 1,718 - 150 example text words in cunning little boxes = 1,568.

and there was much rejoicing.

And two copies are printed for turn-in on Friday! Two whole days early! (This really feels quite odd and out of character.) It will not be looked at again (the next time would be like #27 or something and my contacts are dry enough) before being turned in, because if any errors were found, it would have to be re-printed and at 5p per page, that isn't going to happen. This is another culture shock, printing -- at Centenary, paper is just shooting out of printers! At no charge!

Tony Blair has just suffered his First Major Defeat of his career in the Commons -- the issue was detaining terror suspects for up to 90 days without being charged. It has not passed. So now they will vote on having a limit of 28 days.

Last night was the 13th night of rioting and violence throughout France. I think some cities actually imposed curfews for the first time last night, even though they have been legally allowed to do so for several days now. The 'good' news is that the number of cars being set on fire was down 'sharply' from 1,400 to a mere 617 last night. Only 116 towns experienced violence as well, down from 226.

Katie and Scot and Baby Punkin' Harrisen better stay close to the civilised part of Paris! Next time, they need to come to Wales; the Welsh wouldn't put up with that rubbish behaviour...

News flash:
Now, the Commons has voted in favor of 28-day detention for terror suspects.

Watched about 20 minutes of basketball today while scarfing lunch between lectures. No bleachers. You'll sit on the floor, and you'll like it! Game started late since half the team didn't show up until 20 minutes after the start time and the game actually started without them. Funny part about this was that when the 2nd half of the team came in, they went to their bench and just stripped down to their underwear and changed into their uniforms right there! I was thinking, "Noooooooooo.......they're not really going to......OOOOp! yep, they sure DID."

Then, we learned about the "indefinitely complex noun phrase". My brain feels complexed.

Tea time!

editing

So, SFG paper is now down to 1,839 words. Subtracting the 150 words that are in the examples and therefore really don't count as main text. Leaving 1,689. Would be happy if I could get rid of 100 more words. Tomorrow's activity.

• After Phonology.
• And dropping by the Cardiff U v. Aberystwyth U basketball game that Travis (one of the Rotary Scholars in Aberystwyth) will be here playing.
• And an extra lecture about the "Indefinitely Complex Noun Phrase."
• And finding an intelligent-sounding research article to review for Methods, due Monday.
• And stalking bank personnel if there is time.

Georgia's boyfriend, Brian, made me a new toy this evening -- a CD that is interactive and has 26 Beatles albums, with cover art and lyrics! Had a lovely evening visiting between worries about our papers.

And, Leeza has FINALLY gotten on Yahoo IM so's we can tawlk!


Rhetorical question: Why are there still fireworks going off?

Where the BLOODY hecks is my bank statement?

Played hookey from undergraduate lectures today.

Almost finished my SFG paper.
Small problem: it is supposed to be 1,500 words. It is 1,958.

Now I am going to my friend Georgia's house to read each other's papers and fret.

Just found the Welsh radio station. This amuses me. It sounds very phlegmy.

Keep looking for the bluebird,

...and listening for his song...

something on the radio -- listening to old music, of course! big nerd.

Tonight I made my first official Rotary presentation to Bridgend Rotary Club, and other than a little fast-talking and a dry mouth, it all went well :) They were all so very friendly and liked my accent. In the UK, dialects are so distinct that origins are quite easy to determine and they wondered if it was that easy in the US to tell where people are from.

Meeting was at The Great House (Ty Mawr). Absolutely marvelous dinner! (am eating LOTS of lamb) For puddings (dessert), I had rhubarb something -- it was kind of like a cheesecake texture but much lighter. Rhubarb flavor was like tart apples crossed with the kind of mongrel pears we had on the farm when I was growing up (although that is debateable, I suppose).

Here is your history lesson:

Ty Mawr is believed to have been a gift from Elizabeth I to the Earl of Leicester and that he used the house as a hunting lodge during his liasons with local maidens. There is a direct link with the Maid of Cefn Ydfa and The Mackworth Estate. (you will need to scroll down to a distinct break in the page to get to the story. tragedy & scandal!)

The original structure first appears in records around 1586 as Yeoman's cottage, enlarged in two stages in the early 17th and 18th Century to give the house the appearance and status of a house belonging to the gentry.

Prince Charles visits and dines here when he is in the area.

my wrist, my wrist!

is suffering from that wierd joint thing again. it is probably because i am holding my hands like a praying mantis to type while sitting on my pillows. or it could have been the slowness of my brain that has prevented me making reasonable progress on my web site, therefore making it necessary to repeatedly click back into the SiteBuilder to change one little thing...

However, at this moment, I am excessively proud of the schedule that is now posted on www.amriebruner.com -- you are encouraged to visit this site and comment favorably on my skill. however, this skill only extends to the first page, so no need to be gratuitous with your admiration.

This site: 2createawebsite is really smashing for bookish persons like myself, who are attempting to look technologically competent.

Persons who know me fairly well may suspect this activity as a behaviour stemming from my mental state. And chocolate. And, oh all right, five cups of tea.

Yes, you might indeed be correct in assigning a diagnosis of Procrastination. I am really trying to be motivated, especially since Fabiana has read 7 newspapers today (eek!); but am kind of depressed because it seems the part of my paper (the thrilling one on Systemic Functional Grammar -- S.F.G. [smirk]) that was most pleasing to me has been kind of negated by my professor since it kind of goes off on a literary tangent instead of focusing on the syntactical elements of individual clauses. It was so entertaining, though, and very well thought-out! So sad.

On a positive note: the paper is not due until Friday, so I am actually acting rather out of character overall. Success! Analysis of my behaviour has actually ended up with impressive justification for it :)

aqui estan dos fotographias de ayer.


Below are Hiroko and me putting out the sign. To (R) are me and Rotarian Steve Rogers taking money.




Well, love and hugs to all (the people I know personally, that is, not random readers of this nonsense)!

These are a few of my favorite things.

Two things I miss at this very moment (12.09 p.m., Sunday):

a gas stove
thunderstorms

However, do not fret yourself. I am consoling myself with Cadburry Chocolate with Fruit and Nuts. And Noam Chomsky (ooh, brain cramp again).

Squirrel contraceptives, pirates and New Zealand

This may at first appear to be anne-marie just being schitzophrenic again. And, admittedly the whining zooms of little mosquito fireworks outside my window MAY indeed cause this in the very near future....oh, wait! They STOPPED -- yay! (I do not know the name of this particular, yet very common, firework because of my sheltered childhood. This is so upsetting.)

Anyhoo, just returned from Bonfire Night Excursionary Activity. It was quite fun (despite the rain. and the sluggish bonfire. and the buckets of mud that we walked through. along with 73,000 other people. but we all know that i love mud, so that wasn't a big deal.). All in all a good outing that ended with one pint at the Pen and Wig (isn't that just the best name?). I had even found a Pound on the street, so that was reason to celebrate! And that made me a lot happier than pennies do! Not to denigrate pennies, or make them feel uncomfortable or marginalized. I appreciate pennies very much.

This is an annoying picture of Monirah (my friend from my course), Fabiana and her friend, Emmanuelle. It's kind of cool small, but photo editor is not helping me here.

Back to the title -- this is merely a small selection of the items I have to report from today.

Firstly, squirrel contraception was the radio topic this morning when I was preparing to leave the house at 8.00 to go to the Cardiff Bay Rotary Club Charity Car Park. The basic premise is putting out contraceptive-laced yummies for the squirrels to reduce their population since they are becoming such a nuisance here. If I heard correctly, this is the black squirrel. They destroy bird egss, kill baby birds and also have decimated the red squirrel population. The question is how would you make sure that the squirrels ate this on a regular enough basis. Sadly, and I know to everyone's great disappointment, I had to leave and did not get to hear the outcome of this brilliant discussion. But it did make me think of a friend's clever idea about controlling other populations :)

Car Park news -- I was finally able to get a semi-decent picture of a magpie!!!!! I really hope everyone will be able to see the blue on his wings. He was very saucy and did not want his picture taken; and so kept galloping just a bit further.

But on to other news. PIRATES (are we living in the 1500s?) attacked a cruise ship off the coast of Somalia today, launching rocket grenades (oh, i guess this is the 20th century part) as part of the assault. The "well-prepared" crew immediately went into "trained" defense positions and, I suppose, saved them from being pirated. Although I am still not clear on the outcome of the battle -- but I do know that one crew member suffered injuries. Passengers were advised to stay below decks. okay.

Riots continue in and around Paris for the ninth straight day. Consult Drudge; I hear he is reporting this back home. Am also slightly amused by the image of The Sun on his front page -- that is the most rubbish newspaper here and is the butt of many jokes of intelligence level.

Hunting season opened in the UK today -- to much protesting on both sides. This is the first year that fox hunting ban is in effect. But people still went out on the hunts...but without their dogs. Haven't had time to check if they were successful in killing foxes, but it was more of a principle thing. There still are people here who do like their guns. [BTW, there was a rather amusing radio show this week on how much the Swiss and the Americans love their guns. To enlighten you all, this is completely male-dominant behaviour and...well, you can go on from there.)

Let's see: there were notes on the news about how fireworks adversely affect animals, causing trauma and requiring that they be medicated.

Also, there was a small protest this week about Bonfire Night continuing to be celebrated in this modern era. Turns out that it MIGHT promote terrorism because it is glorifying the villification of a VILLIAN who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and the King in 1605. It was apparently thought that perhaps it might offend Roman Catholics, since Guy Fawkes was Catholic and trying to overthrow (well, actually decimate) the Protestant Government. This was quelled and so i was able to walk through buckets of mud to see FIRE with my friends! Fire is good. Sadly, this is the best bonfire picture i got (camera was on nighttime portrait and it didn't turn out so perfectly. think of it as art.)

Moving right along -- this was a mentally draining day, especially since I actually wrote some on my paper about Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) and read Noam Chomsky, too. Brain cramp. :) -- oh, and this should not be left to last -- shame on me. Today was the Wales v. New Zealand rugby match. There were 70, 000 people in attendance and mercy was it crowded in the city centre today! Really an electricity in the air. However, by the time we went to the fireworks, it was all over and much less electric. The All-Blacks (NZ) won 41 to 3.

To your left, you will see the Cardiff Drummer Guy. He randomly plays stationary objects as drums (such as trashcans). When I first got here, he was in a tank top and shorts and sandals -- actually rather scantily clad. Then he also wears this mesh shirt that is really a travesty. Today, we seemed to be going for a Star-Trek: The Next Generation crossed with an 80s Madonna/Prince back-up singer crossed with Egyptian Mardi Gras.

Finally, just so that won't have to be the last item... that SONG is still being played.
Show me the Way to Amarillo graced us when Fabiana and Monirah and I rode the fun carnival ride (to R). (Monirah is my friend in Forensic Linguistics; she is from Kuwait City.)
Show the me the Way to Amarillo assaulted our ears again for the fireworks display. I laugh hysterically whenever I hear it.

NOTE: word may be passed to Mr. Travis that Cardiff has a few things to learn from Keachi, Louisiana Fourth of July.

Am now listening to Opera on Classic FM to finish off the day. Perhaps I am a bit off-balance...

Foxes are getting married.

This is what they say in Japan when the sun is shining in the rain.

Here is the first thing I saw on my way out the door to class this morning. If you look very, very carefully, you can see that this is a double rainbow!

Thank you to Hiroko for being the photojournalist.

Happy Windsday, Piglet!

Oh, the wind is lashing lustily;
And the trees are thrashing thrustily;
And the leaves are rustling gustily.
So its rather safe to say
That it seems

That it may turn out to be...
It feels that it will undoubtedly...
It looks like a rather blustery day, to-day.

Notes of the day

• It is hard to keep your hat on on a rawther blustery day.
• I would like to be regularly told that my voice is dripping with molasses.
• Renewing library books online makes me happy.

So it all becomes clear now...

sort of.

as to...why there have been policemen (in their nifty bobby hats) lingering in the sidewalk outside my window since I got up this morning!

Something Significant appears to be going on at the mosque across the street. There is now a very large group of people milling about outside (and talking very loudly). Perhaps it is the end of Rhamadan (sp?)? Perhaps this is their grand opening since there has been construction going on? No idea. But at least I am slightly more aware of my surroundings.

Back to "A clause in English is the simultaneous realization of ideational, interpersonal and textual meanings. But these components are not put together in discrete fashion such that we can point to one segment of the clause as expressing on type of meaning and another segment as expressing another. The choice of a word may express one type of meaning, its morphology another and its position in sequence another..."

This is just great! Intellectual validation for my already honed and overused skill of OVERANALYSIS.
:)

Dead Woman's Bottom

No, this is not vulgar. Or at least it is not vulgarity of my creation :)

This is the name of a hamlet in Somerset, just south of Bath and close to the town of Frome. Therefore, I repeat (for my mother), this is not my invention.

I learned this particular bit of information at the Blackwood (Coed-Duon) Rotary International Night last evening at Maes Manor Hotel :) The man sitting next to me was a former Headmaster of a school (giving believability), and apparently his father came to Wales from this particular hamlet. I have not been able to find Dead Woman's Bottom on my road atlas, although sort of close to Frome are also: Leigh upon Mendip, Queen Camel, Wyke Champflower.

Pajamas!!!!! Or pyjamas?

Ooh, ooh, ooh - I just LOVE mail!!!! And pajamas. And pyjamas.

Even if you do have to collect the mail from the post office 7 minutes away and then cunningly rig up the box to the back of your bike with sheer ingenuity and a bike lock... :) My mama has sent me new pajamas (and vitamins and minerals and atkins bars!) so, yay hooray! It is only 2.30, but I am going to be pajama-ed for the rest of the day now :)

This was the contrasting highlight of the day after NEEBI (New and Exciting Experiences with Bureaucracy and Idiots). ha ha. Apparently some wires are not connecting in my head relative to that of shop workers and other people in the "service" industry. So one needs the following to get a mobile phone on a 12-month up-front payment contract:

1. proof of identity
2. proof of address
3. money

But, aye, here's the rub (am now in Pirate Persona. this helps me cope.):

1. my passport is NOT proof of my identity.
2. my Louisiana Driver's License is NOT proof of my identity.
3. my bank statement is NOT proof of my mailing address UNLESS money is listed on it. And here we get into another amusing issue of the length of time it takes for funds from a check from the US to appear in an account here. One MIGHT think that the money was being transported by the original Mayflower :) After being de-shipped, it is perhaps being brought to the bank personally by a three-year old on a really slow and lame mule, through the lovely Pembrokeshire countryside!
4. our bills are included in our rent, so there are no utility bills to serve as proof of address.
5. it doesn't matter if I have the money coming from elsewhere.

However, the shop person HAS now agreed that, as I do not look too shifty, WHEN my bank statement comes in showing some cashola (it has now been 30 days), a credit card will be allowed as proof of identity and I can get my new bloody phone! I am also being encouraged to list my current address as 3 years (or I can't have the phone in my name! Could we PLEASE have another hoop? Can anyone think of one? Just kidding.)...

Aaaarrgh! (again, in Pirate voice; not whiny voice.)

Signing out,
amrie, non-identity, unfunded, non-person pirate.