This post (at least the first part) is pretty much going to be about my friend, whom I will call Marbles. Marbles is a linguist and I recently discovered that there are many benefits of having a friend in this profession. More than you might think actually. First and foremost is the sheer coolness of being able to say that you have a friend who is a linguist. I mean, who wouldn't think that was cool? More than this though is being able to consult a linguist when you don't know the answer to something. Like why, for example, a person from a place that has an accent, we'll say Arkansas theoretically, would NOT have an accent even though they were born and raised there and their parents have accents. Further complicating the mix is the fact that this theoretical person has siblings who also don't have accents and this person used to have an accent but has since lost it. So what gives?
For this, I give you Marbles' answer:
"This guy probably had an accent when he was young b/c that's the way his parents talk. So they were his main influence. But once kids enter school, they quickly adapt to the accent and speech patterns of their peers. (Aka they want to fit in so they change the way they talk to match what everyone else was doing.) The kids at their schools must not have much of an accent or something. That would explain why all of the kids in the family don't have an accent (and the siblings would reinforce each other.) Also, this change to having less of an accent is reinforced by the media, travel, and the internet...so most accents aren't as strong as they used to be or are dying out. "
Can I just say Awesome! I think I finally understand a little bit about the joy that my friends feel when I answer random questions for them. See, I kind of always thought that my friends must think I am a know-it-all, which is not really a good thing and so I was kind of confused as to why they would still like me (I mean, not that I don't have other good qualities but I was confused as to why my know-it-allness seemed to be the most celebrated quality. It's kind of counter-intuitive.) Anyway, when I consulted Marbles on this "theoretical" question I figured that she would know the answer, and she did, but even more than that she included fascinating information that I would never have guessed at, namely that accents are diminishing due to the media, travel, etc. (That has got to be one of the most ridiculously ungrammatically correct sentences I have ever written.) Who knew?! Well, Marbles did, but now that she has shared that information with me I am thouroughly fascinated and edumacated on the subject of accents.
And that is not the only benefit of having a friend who is a linguist. Oh no. There's more. (And if you call now, we'll include the all new whizamagidgit absolutely free!) In addition to this cool information and the answer to my question, a linguist has an appreciation for all accents and will not laugh at you when you try to speak in a Brooklyn accent or fail horribly at a Scottish one. In fact, she will probably speak them along with you (probably better than you too:). And if your linguist friend happens to be Marbles and going to pursue a Ph.D at Penn State she will also be happy to tell you about Pennsylvania Dutch, which she will be studying and which is the German-ish language spoken by a lot of the Amish. And once she has studied that she will be able to tell you what kinds of words they use for technology that they might not use (Television, computer, etc.) Do they spanglicize it like computadora or do they just use the english word or do they make one up or what? Interesting, I know. And I will be sure to keep you posted as her studies progress:)
So, there you go. Just in case you were wondering if you should befriend a linguist know you have the go-ahead.
On to dilemnas: First, I realize that I spelled it wrong but that is how I am going to spell it for the rest of my life. I don't know why I thought that was how it was spelled in the first place but somehow it got stuck in my head and now it has become sort of an inside joke with my family so I must continue to misspell it for the remainder of my natural life (which is an odd phrase, no? I mean, is there an artificial life?) Anyway, the dilemna is what to do for my internship. There are a couple opportunities that have come up and I am not sure what to do. So, I will tell you what they are and you can make my decision for me:)
1) Migrant Health Outreach worker in New Jersey. May through August. $10 per hour using my spanish skills to discuss health issues with migrant farmworkers.
Pros: $$$, see another part of the country, get all my hours, use my spanish (which has gotten so bad that I really could use the practice, though I would feel sorry for the poor farmworkers getting me as their caseworker)
Cons: It wouldn't really allow me to network to get a "real job" back in Utah, which is sort of my plan lately. Not sure if it would help me develop my health ed. skills (which is much more than just teaching health, I have discovered)
2)Ouelessebougou-Utah Alliance. 200 hours. Non-profit doing aid work in Mali. Not paid. Based in Salt Lake (not Mali, otherwise my decision would be made:)
Pros: I could live at home. I like the idea of a non profit. Would allow me time to network in Utah. Possibility of going to Mali in the future.
Cons: I would have to help write a grant and I would rather poke my own eyes out. No money. Commute to Salt Lake. Also not sure if it would help me develop my health ed skills. No real possibility of a position opening up there since they only have three full time people in Salt Lake.
3) Other Utah options, including Multicultural Health Services, Clinica de Buena Salud, Diabetes clinic, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Health Department.
Pros: Networking in Utah, possibly paid, live at home, develop my skills
Cons: maybe not paid, possible commute, haven't actually applied so I don't know that I would get one.
So, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I have been working on an internship for forever and I am mostly just sick of it, but it is probably good practice for the job search so I should just stop complaining I guess. Anyway, I think at this point my brain is just fried and that is contributing to my indescisiveness. (And my inablility to spell).
And that is about all from me. Just one last thought. Or question I guess. (Do you like how this blog is called Ask Linds and yet I am the one who asks all the questions lately? See, that was even a question!)
Anyway, the question is: How do you plan your life not knowing what the future may bring? Up until this point I have just lived my life as if I would be single until I graduated. And wouldn't you know it, that is the case and things have worked out ok. But now I am not sure where to go from here. I can continue to live my life as if I will be single forever but I don't really think that will be the case. Do I plan for another five years? Do I take a job in Indonesia and then meet somebody two months before I move and tell them "Sorry, you have to move to Indonesia to keep seeing me"? Do I decide to go to a grad school that will take up a significant amount of time and pursue a full time career and if I do meet somebody keep going in that direction?
I don't know. I think I just need some perspective because I am sure the answer is just that you take it as it comes and stop fearing the unknown. But maybe one of you will have a fresher way of putting that so that it doesn't sound like the therapist telling his patient who is afraid of being buried alive "Stop it or I'll bury you alive in a box!"
Anyway, I had better end this post before I use the word anyway one more time. And I may have to update this thing more frequently so that each entry doesn't become a chapter in a really lame novel.
So I will leave you with those thoughts and one additional benefit of having a friend who is a linguist. That is, if you ever have this problem in a foreign country, you will know how to say this phrase in no less than five languages: I Have a Cat in My Pants!
(And she will be able to say it in no less than 15!)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A Retraction. Sort of.
I was reviewing a few of my blog entries and it seems that I have some pet subjects. I don't think I realized that I talked about them as much as I did. On the one hand I feel that it makes me even more boring than I thought was and that I should move on and discuss other issues. On the other hand, there are not a lot of things that get me riled up, or even that I am particularly passionate about. (One of my favorite words is "meh" so that should tell you something.) So I think I tend to dwell on those things. And I am not stopping today. So if you are sick and tired of me beating the dead horse of daylight savings time then just ignore this post and try to catch up on the hour of sleep that you lost this week. But if you want to possibly be shocked then keep reading.
You see, I have learned a few things about daylight savings time that have made me reconsider my position on its existence. In case you forgot, I pretty much consider it the bane of my existence. But I am afraid I will have to issue a retraction on that position. Sort of. Allow me to explain.
First, it is important to understand the reason why I hate daylight savings time so much(which I will now abbreviate DST for the rest of this post.) You might be surprised to learn that it has very little to do with the loss of sleep. I actually don't care about that too much. And anyone who knows me knows how shocking this is because I LOVE sleep. Almost more than anything. I would probably rather sleep than eat and I love food. So you would think that losing sleep would be a big deal to me. But in this case, it's not. The reason being that as much as I love sleep, I hate it when it gets dark at 5:30 in the evening. HATE it! It makes me feel so unproductive no matter how much I accomplish. It just makes the day seem so much shorter, despite it actually still being 24 hours. SO, when it comes to losing an hour of sleep in exchange for more daylight, I will take the sun. Always.
Now, up until this week I was under the impression that DST ENDS in the spring and BEGINS in the fall. I realize that is a fairly large mistake to make, especially when I profess such a hatred for the practice. You would think that I would at least understand something I have chosen to despise. I chalk it up to the fact that it is a tricky concept to grasp and I can't be blamed for misunderstanding something as complex as the reordering of time. (See, when I put it that way it almost sounds plausible that nobody is capable of understanding DST. Then I don't feel so bad for not getting a fairly basic concept:)
Anyway, my hatred of DST comes from the fact that I was under the impression that when it starts we LOSE daylight, and when it ends we GAIN daylight. So of course I would hate a concept that I believed deprived me of precious daylight.
So now I have a dilemma (not a dilemna, as I always thought the word was). Do I continue hating DST despite the fact that it actually extends daylight hours, something I like? Or do I admit my mistake and make my peace with the institution?
Well, after much debate I have come to a conclusion. Drumroll please.
I, Lindsey Schultz, will continue to hate daylight savings time. And there is still a good reason to do so. You see, the earth has a natural cycle wherin it rotates on an axis and orbits the sun. The effects of these motions are what account for the various seasons. As it turns out, in the course of this spinning and rotation the days naturally get longer in the summer and shorter in the winter. (I guess that's confusing because there are always 24 hours in a day, but what I mean is that there are more hours of sunlight in the summer.) This results in the longest day of the year falling around June 21, known as the summer solstice, wherin there are 12 hours of daylight. 12 glorious hours! Of course, this is countered by the winter solstice, falling in December, in which the sun gets really tired and goes to bed early. But, from that point on the days get gradually longer and longer, which makes me happy.
So what it really boils down to is the principle of the boiling frog. If you throw a frog in hot water he will hop right out, but if you gradually increase the temperature he will slowly cook his own goose (or frog. I'm mixing metaphors here.) Anyway, the same goes for me. I would like to think that I would be smarter than a frog and hop out of the slowly warming water, but most likely I wouldn't. (Plus I like really hot showers so that would probably work against me too.) So if you got rid of DST I might notice that the days were getting longer or shorter, but it would happen so gradually that I wouldn't wake up one morning in March or November feeling robbed of either sleep or daylight, as I do now. And you wouldn't have to listen to my constant rants on the subject. Like I said, write your congressmen.
So, this is why daylight savings time will stay at the top of my "Things That Must Go" list. But on the bright side, at least I have a better understanding of my dislike of it.
A few other random notes about DST:
There were missionaries in my mission who were from Arizona (the smartest state in the union, due to it's refusal to participate in DST) who actually thought their companions were trying to play a trick on them by telling them to change their clocks. That would be a hilarious joke, but unfortunately it is one that the government continues to play on us each and every year, making it cumulatively less and less funny.
And aside from the government, guess who else is in on the joke? Lobbyists. Yep, lobbyists from the candy companies. And why would the candy companies benefit from DST? Three words: Trick or Treat. Yes, the candy companies are responsible for extending DST so that the little ghouls and boys don't have to go trick or treating in the dark. Kind of makes me wish dentists were more effective lobbyists. Though the downside to that would be SWISH. Did anyone else have to take SWISH in elementary school? It was a flouride treatment that they brought in and you had to swish it around in your mouth for 1 minute and then spit it out and then you couldn't drink anything for 20 minutes. It was awful! I hated it even more than DST and finally convinced my mom to stop making me take it when Alan Erdmann threw up after taking it. Seriously, it was that bad. So I guess I will just have to look on the bright side. I could be taking SWISH in the dark:)
You see, I have learned a few things about daylight savings time that have made me reconsider my position on its existence. In case you forgot, I pretty much consider it the bane of my existence. But I am afraid I will have to issue a retraction on that position. Sort of. Allow me to explain.
First, it is important to understand the reason why I hate daylight savings time so much(which I will now abbreviate DST for the rest of this post.) You might be surprised to learn that it has very little to do with the loss of sleep. I actually don't care about that too much. And anyone who knows me knows how shocking this is because I LOVE sleep. Almost more than anything. I would probably rather sleep than eat and I love food. So you would think that losing sleep would be a big deal to me. But in this case, it's not. The reason being that as much as I love sleep, I hate it when it gets dark at 5:30 in the evening. HATE it! It makes me feel so unproductive no matter how much I accomplish. It just makes the day seem so much shorter, despite it actually still being 24 hours. SO, when it comes to losing an hour of sleep in exchange for more daylight, I will take the sun. Always.
Now, up until this week I was under the impression that DST ENDS in the spring and BEGINS in the fall. I realize that is a fairly large mistake to make, especially when I profess such a hatred for the practice. You would think that I would at least understand something I have chosen to despise. I chalk it up to the fact that it is a tricky concept to grasp and I can't be blamed for misunderstanding something as complex as the reordering of time. (See, when I put it that way it almost sounds plausible that nobody is capable of understanding DST. Then I don't feel so bad for not getting a fairly basic concept:)
Anyway, my hatred of DST comes from the fact that I was under the impression that when it starts we LOSE daylight, and when it ends we GAIN daylight. So of course I would hate a concept that I believed deprived me of precious daylight.
So now I have a dilemma (not a dilemna, as I always thought the word was). Do I continue hating DST despite the fact that it actually extends daylight hours, something I like? Or do I admit my mistake and make my peace with the institution?
Well, after much debate I have come to a conclusion. Drumroll please.
I, Lindsey Schultz, will continue to hate daylight savings time. And there is still a good reason to do so. You see, the earth has a natural cycle wherin it rotates on an axis and orbits the sun. The effects of these motions are what account for the various seasons. As it turns out, in the course of this spinning and rotation the days naturally get longer in the summer and shorter in the winter. (I guess that's confusing because there are always 24 hours in a day, but what I mean is that there are more hours of sunlight in the summer.) This results in the longest day of the year falling around June 21, known as the summer solstice, wherin there are 12 hours of daylight. 12 glorious hours! Of course, this is countered by the winter solstice, falling in December, in which the sun gets really tired and goes to bed early. But, from that point on the days get gradually longer and longer, which makes me happy.
So what it really boils down to is the principle of the boiling frog. If you throw a frog in hot water he will hop right out, but if you gradually increase the temperature he will slowly cook his own goose (or frog. I'm mixing metaphors here.) Anyway, the same goes for me. I would like to think that I would be smarter than a frog and hop out of the slowly warming water, but most likely I wouldn't. (Plus I like really hot showers so that would probably work against me too.) So if you got rid of DST I might notice that the days were getting longer or shorter, but it would happen so gradually that I wouldn't wake up one morning in March or November feeling robbed of either sleep or daylight, as I do now. And you wouldn't have to listen to my constant rants on the subject. Like I said, write your congressmen.
So, this is why daylight savings time will stay at the top of my "Things That Must Go" list. But on the bright side, at least I have a better understanding of my dislike of it.
A few other random notes about DST:
There were missionaries in my mission who were from Arizona (the smartest state in the union, due to it's refusal to participate in DST) who actually thought their companions were trying to play a trick on them by telling them to change their clocks. That would be a hilarious joke, but unfortunately it is one that the government continues to play on us each and every year, making it cumulatively less and less funny.
And aside from the government, guess who else is in on the joke? Lobbyists. Yep, lobbyists from the candy companies. And why would the candy companies benefit from DST? Three words: Trick or Treat. Yes, the candy companies are responsible for extending DST so that the little ghouls and boys don't have to go trick or treating in the dark. Kind of makes me wish dentists were more effective lobbyists. Though the downside to that would be SWISH. Did anyone else have to take SWISH in elementary school? It was a flouride treatment that they brought in and you had to swish it around in your mouth for 1 minute and then spit it out and then you couldn't drink anything for 20 minutes. It was awful! I hated it even more than DST and finally convinced my mom to stop making me take it when Alan Erdmann threw up after taking it. Seriously, it was that bad. So I guess I will just have to look on the bright side. I could be taking SWISH in the dark:)
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