21 December 2010
24 October 2010
04 October 2010
No. 29: You Should Know Better!
...and I do. That's kind of the problem. Let's be Grammar Nazis for a minute (mostly just cuz it's fun), and address something I've never heard anyone talk about.
I KNOW that a potential student visiting my university is a prospective student. Some people don't; I acknowledge that, and I'm not being judgy by pointing it out. But even thought I KNOW that this word is prospective and not perspective, I still say perspective, because I don't want other people to think I'm being pretentious or subtly correcting them by saying prOHspective, which is kind of unavoidable if you pronounce that "o."
Why are we afraid of doing things right? Why do I consciously pronounce this word wrong? Why do people who "know better" say things like "ain't"? (Although, admittedly, this is just kind of a regional thing, and it's pretty accepted now in some areas.) What other words do we say incorrectly, just so people won't think we're judging the way they talk? Just a thought: by doing this, we're admitting that we don't want them to judge the way we talk, right?
Ginger and I had a conversation last night about grammar in speech and stuff like that: we agreed that as long as you are understood, it doesn't really matter if you say "me and him" instead of "he and I." It just doesn't. In formal writing, sure, you're expected to be technically correct. But in everyday conversation, grammar isn't quite as important.
But what about the words themselves? If you've made up a word (ain't), or confused one word with another (prospective/perspective), can that be a hinderance to communication? Or is it more of a hindrance to use correct pronunciation and words that actually exist? If I say prospective, are people always going to know what I'm talking about? Or is it better, in that situation, to say it incorrectly?
What's more important? Being correct or being understood?
I KNOW that a potential student visiting my university is a prospective student. Some people don't; I acknowledge that, and I'm not being judgy by pointing it out. But even thought I KNOW that this word is prospective and not perspective, I still say perspective, because I don't want other people to think I'm being pretentious or subtly correcting them by saying prOHspective, which is kind of unavoidable if you pronounce that "o."
Why are we afraid of doing things right? Why do I consciously pronounce this word wrong? Why do people who "know better" say things like "ain't"? (Although, admittedly, this is just kind of a regional thing, and it's pretty accepted now in some areas.) What other words do we say incorrectly, just so people won't think we're judging the way they talk? Just a thought: by doing this, we're admitting that we don't want them to judge the way we talk, right?
Ginger and I had a conversation last night about grammar in speech and stuff like that: we agreed that as long as you are understood, it doesn't really matter if you say "me and him" instead of "he and I." It just doesn't. In formal writing, sure, you're expected to be technically correct. But in everyday conversation, grammar isn't quite as important.
But what about the words themselves? If you've made up a word (ain't), or confused one word with another (prospective/perspective), can that be a hinderance to communication? Or is it more of a hindrance to use correct pronunciation and words that actually exist? If I say prospective, are people always going to know what I'm talking about? Or is it better, in that situation, to say it incorrectly?
What's more important? Being correct or being understood?
14 September 2010
No. 28: Razorback Football. (This one's all Hayley.)
Yay. :)
I know this is coming a little late, but we're currently NUMBER 12 with a 2-0 record! Yeehaw! Next game is at Georgia, 11am, on ESPN. So, naturally, I'll be out of town and not near a TV. Thank goodness for straight-to-your-phone quarterly updates. :)
Football - Schedule - University of Arkansas Athletics
I know this is coming a little late, but we're currently NUMBER 12 with a 2-0 record! Yeehaw! Next game is at Georgia, 11am, on ESPN. So, naturally, I'll be out of town and not near a TV. Thank goodness for straight-to-your-phone quarterly updates. :)
Football - Schedule - University of Arkansas Athletics
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| * Conference Games | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
02 September 2010
No. 27: Pop Culture. In [almost] all its forms.
Last night, we invented a new game. (I guess this is as opposed to inventing an old game...which would just be re-inventing. But sentence rhythm, okay?) The automatic title of this game (due to unintentional constant use during the invention) was "Ergo, Buffy!" It's played in a manner very similar to Six Degrees of Separation--only the end is always Buffy the Vampire Slayer (ergo, "Ergo, Buffy!"). This started because an Oral-B commercial reminded Ginger of That Thing You Do! We can do it from Burn Notice, Lost, Titanic, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, The Hangover, and George Clooney. The only one we cheated on was Snoopy. (Go ahead, you try it!)
We also (we, again, being Hayley, Ginger, Sarah, and Emily) like to do our best to include nerd chic pop culture into our school/everyday lives. For example: Emily is in Basic Econ this semester, and the class roleplays on an island. Emily is waiting for the perfect moment to stand and announce, "If we can't live together, we're going to die alone!" or "Don't tell me what I can't do!" Another example: Sarah and I (Hayley) have recently gotten way into The Big Bang Theory. Today at lunch we played "Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock."
Name some pop culture entertainment proper noun (e.g., movie, tv show, actor) in the comments, and we'll get to Buffy. Promise. :)
**Burn Notice to Buffy
We also (we, again, being Hayley, Ginger, Sarah, and Emily) like to do our best to include nerd chic pop culture into our school/everyday lives. For example: Emily is in Basic Econ this semester, and the class roleplays on an island. Emily is waiting for the perfect moment to stand and announce, "If we can't live together, we're going to die alone!" or "Don't tell me what I can't do!" Another example: Sarah and I (Hayley) have recently gotten way into The Big Bang Theory. Today at lunch we played "Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock."
Name some pop culture entertainment proper noun (e.g., movie, tv show, actor) in the comments, and we'll get to Buffy. Promise. :)
**Burn Notice to Buffy
Burn Notice. Jeffrey Donovan. Monk. Tony Shalhoub. Spy Kids. Antonio Banderas. Shrek. Cameron Diaz. The Holiday. Jack Black. Community. Owen Wilson. Night at the Museum. Ben Stiller. Zoolander. Billy Zane. Titanic. Leonardo DiCaprio. Inception. Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (500) Days of Summer. Zooey Deschanel. Emily Deschanel. Bones. David Boreanaz. Ergo, Buffy.
**Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock (rules)
scissors cut paper
paper covers rock
rock crushes lizard
lizard poisons spock
spock smashes scissors
scissors decapitate lizard
lizard eats paper
paper disproves spock
spock vaporizes rock
rock crushes scissors
01 August 2010
No. 26: International Justice Mission
Okay, let's be serious for a sec. Millions--tens of millions--of people around the world are victims of "injustice." Not injustice like getting passed up for a promotion or getting cut off in traffic--that's more the trivially unfair. "Injustice" is a sin. An act of violence, oppression, or abuse of power by those who have the upper hand. Injustice is what happens when innocent people are denied justice, and God is not a fan.
Gary Haugen, who founded IJM in 1997, came and spoke at Fellowship Bible Church this morning. He talked about how he first discovered God's passion for justice in 1994, when he was the chief prosecutor of those who led the Rwandan genocide. His question to Fellowship was this: "Are Jesus and I really interested in the same things?" It's easy to know what you're interested in...you. Maybe family and friends, people you like. But God is interested in the whole world, and He is passionate about His world and justice in it. Gary Haugen told stories of children in slavery....how can they believe that God is good? If we look in the Bible the answer is clear: We show them. Matthew 5:14 says, "You are the light of the world" [emphasis mine]. The thing is, these people who are suffering and oppressed won't believe that God is good unless we show them how good He is, which has been God's plan all along.
All that to say, IJM works around the world to secure justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. (I stole that straight from the website.) After listening to Gary Haugen talk about what they do, I got his book, Good News about Injustice, to read here before I go back to school, and I'm currently looking into the possibility of an internship in their DC office in a year or two. I'm not passionate about much, but this is something I feel God has really laid on my heart, so please pray that I'll continue searching, learning, and getting involved.
~Hayley
If you want to learn more about International Justice Mission or get involved yourself, check out their website, Twitter, or Facebook.
Gary Haugen, who founded IJM in 1997, came and spoke at Fellowship Bible Church this morning. He talked about how he first discovered God's passion for justice in 1994, when he was the chief prosecutor of those who led the Rwandan genocide. His question to Fellowship was this: "Are Jesus and I really interested in the same things?" It's easy to know what you're interested in...you. Maybe family and friends, people you like. But God is interested in the whole world, and He is passionate about His world and justice in it. Gary Haugen told stories of children in slavery....how can they believe that God is good? If we look in the Bible the answer is clear: We show them. Matthew 5:14 says, "You are the light of the world" [emphasis mine]. The thing is, these people who are suffering and oppressed won't believe that God is good unless we show them how good He is, which has been God's plan all along.
All that to say, IJM works around the world to secure justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. (I stole that straight from the website.) After listening to Gary Haugen talk about what they do, I got his book, Good News about Injustice, to read here before I go back to school, and I'm currently looking into the possibility of an internship in their DC office in a year or two. I'm not passionate about much, but this is something I feel God has really laid on my heart, so please pray that I'll continue searching, learning, and getting involved.
~Hayley
If you want to learn more about International Justice Mission or get involved yourself, check out their website, Twitter, or Facebook.
28 July 2010
No. 25: Summer, a time for television
So, um, in addition to Buffy, I (Hayley) have gotten Ginger hooked on Veronica Mars, another super-awesome show (cancelled long before its time!). It's like a combination (sort of) of Brick and Buffy (funky, I know). It's super witty and clever (in the sense that those words mean different, distinct things), as well as drama-filled and action-packed. Oh! And there's also this fella...
Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls)
And not to brag or self-promote or anything like that, but check out this awesome Logan/Veronica fan video :)
**Such Great Heights**
Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls)
And not to brag or self-promote or anything like that, but check out this awesome Logan/Veronica fan video :)
**Such Great Heights**
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