Cuddle Parties

I saw this promoted on a UU listserve and it sounds like my worst nightmare. Touching people I don’t know and probably having to talk to them as well.

Grammar Note

Sometimes, I like a blog because it is a place just to “put things out there” that perhaps the world would want to know.

I have always felt like I wasn’t sure if the possessive form of something that ends in s should look like this Dickens’ novel
or like this Dickens’s novel.

I tend to like the second one. So I finally decided to look it up and guess what Chicago Manual of Style says?

Ugg! At first I thought the answer was easy, but it isn’t. There is a whole set of rules depending on if it is a proper noun or not and what the last sound in the word is. For instance, Raoul Camus’s anthology (where the s is pronounced) would look different than Albert Camus’ novels (where the s is unpronounced).

But, lo and behold, rule 7:23 saves us:

7.23 An alternative practice
Those uncomfortable with the rules, exceptions, and options outlined above may prefer the system, formerly more common, of simply omitting the possessive s on all words ending in s—hence “Dylan Thomas’ poetry,” “Maria Callas’ singing,” and “that business’ main concern.” Though easy to apply, that usage disregards pronunciation and thus seems unnatural to many.

So there you have it. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, if you want to make a singular word (or a plural word with a singular meaning, like The United States) that ends in an s possessive, you can just throw an apostrophe on the end of a the word and that’ll do it.

Times They Are a’ Changin’

So I am doing some research about how foundations can set up a system where letters of inquiries, proposals, and such can be submitted online. In my search I turned up this great article from 1997 - only 10 years ago. It is titled: “Why the W.M. Keck Foundation Went Online.” It is a whole article about the cutting edge decision of this foundation to - yes, that’s right - develop a web page. The question at the heart of the article is: What motivates a Foundation to venture out onto the Internet?” and we are told that “her candid responses offer a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse of how this respected foundation established itself on the World Wide Web.” This was only ten years ago. Could you imagine having such a conversation today?

In a week when I had a computer crash and our internet stopped working at the same time, and I am highly annoyed that  my adobe acrobat isn’t working and that Mcafee won’t install correctly, it is amazing to see how much technology is a part of our lives (and how #*%@(#& difficult it is to fix stupid little things on a measly little computer) and how fast it has happened. I know. Not some sort of rare revelation, but I found the article amusing and food for thought.

I can’t believe how disruptive it is when my computer isn’t working well and web pages load too slowly (for some unexplained reason).

I need to go to the beach.

Special Love Your Life Issue

This shouldn’t be funny. But it is in a weird sort of way. Somehow I get Ladies Home Journal (that’s not the funny thing).  I don’t pay for it, it just started showing up one day. Of course LHJ isn’t quite my style, so I just throw them in the “Goodwill” bag and I donate them. I can’t stand to throw away a magazine someone else might read.  But anyway.  The funny thing is that  the May 2007 issue which just arrived today has at the top “Special Love Your Life Issue”.  Yet.  Yet, some of the other headlines on the front cover include “The Best Low-Fat Ice Creams,” “The Most Important Insurance You Don’t Have,” “Sensational Summer Skin: The Safe, Natural Way,” “Win a Free Stress Makeover” and “Deadly Superbugs: How to Spot and Stop Them.”  I guess love your life except for fatty foods (because, really, you know you are too big)… love your life except in that you don’t have the right sort of insurance… love your life except that you could easily be killed by a deadly superbug and your skin isn’t good enough AND you need a “stress makeover” whatever the hell that is.   Thank you LHJ.

Make Maps of Where You Have Been

A great way to avoid doing more pressing work.

Austria - Germany - Luxembourg - Austria - Ireland - Spain - Greece - Belgium - Liechtenstein - Italy - Netherlands - Belgium - Switzerland - Vatican City - Czech Republic

I only included states that I could actually remember being in. I think I have been through Georgia and Maryland, but I figure if I can’t remember when, it doesn’t count.

We have a world map in our office with little pins in it where we have been so I thought this was fun. W. of course beats me having been to China, Taiwan, etc. I didn’t count countries where I only landed in the airport. I wish it showed boarders and names of the country on the map. You can do it here http://www.world66.com/myworld66

I wanted to add Nicaragua and Costa Rica, but they didn’t have a Latin American map.

Gosh, I feel like I would be such a good professional traveler.

It’s gonna get up to 48 degrees on Saturday!

This makes me so happy.  It is 41 now and it feels so nice out. Well, at least nicer. I still have a hard time saying “nice” and “48 degrees” in one sentence. When we first moved to Boston, I would have been ready to start putting my winter clothes away - March is almost here, right? Spring should be here soon!

But I have learned to appreciate the non-miserable weather, love the sun, but not get my hopes up. Because it can always blizzard in May here. Like it did our second year leaving here.

But guess how hot it will be in Nicaragua March 22-31 when I am there? Hot! Whoo-hoo! When I lived there, it took me several weeks to get used to sweating all the time. Like dripping, wet, yucky sweating. That is just how it is.  All the time, pretty much.  But I did get used to it and I would always prefer that to coldness.

Just my thoughts on the weather today.  Because I know you wanted to know.

And I will be blogging live from Nicaragua while I am there.  I’m so looking forward to it! I just hope my friends and family aren’t completely shocked when they realize I have forgotten Spanish.  Aye! I need to find a tutor fast.

Just so you know that I know…

I realize some recent posts have been a tad long and more like essays than little blog thoughts and posts. I’ll try to mix it up a little bit. I understand that not everyone wants to read 10 essays summarizing my Thoughts On Life.  But sometimes it just can’t be condensed.  Such is life on a blog.  But I really do appreciate those of you who read either a little or a lot.

My first (sort of) identity theft

So it seems like identity theft isn’t the right term, but the point is that someone (or based on my research) it seems like some COMPANY had stolen my credit card information and was just charging my credit card every month. Hoping I wouldn’t notice. I knew this sort of thing was bound to happen given how much I use the internet to buy things. But I still don’t like it. The only good thing is that my credit card company lets me file a complaint online and they take care of it - not me. So if VISTAPRINTRWRDS charges something to your credit card - watch out. They are a’ trickin’ you. It seems like lots of people out there are charged $9, but I was charged $14.95. For two months. Grrrr. So it isn’t really full fledged identity theft, but it is definitely shady and annoying too. I did read that it is best to handle it through your credit card company rather than calling the number (which you can find via google) and trying to get the “company” to remove it. The credit card company will then charge them a fee, as well as refund what they billed you. I’m sure this must be illegal, but I guess the government just can’t keep up. Oh well. Glad it was fixable. Just wanted to remind people to check those statements carefully!

Business Cards and Dry Cleaning - Some Suggestions

I had four pairs of pants with stains I thought were permanent - rust and grease and wine. I had tried to get them out myself with various methods with no luck. I happen to be reading Best of Boston and read that Ecoluxe is the Best Dry Cleaning Service in Boston for several years running and it said they could get out any stain AND they are environmentally friendly. Could this be true? I drove all the way to Brookline to have my pants cleaned and all the way back to pick them up. And…. it was so worth it. All pants are now like new. Ecoluxe got all the stains out. And they are also very friendly, which, in Boston, is quite the bonus. So, if you have a tough stain and live in the greater Boston area, I want to strongly suggest Ecoluxe.

Secondly, if you are a student or a minister in need of some snazzy cards, I got some made at VistaPrint and paid only shipping. Until September 30th you can get FREE (only a little shipping) BUSINESS PREMIUM cards here which means that they don’t put their logo on the back of the card and you can pick from a zillion designs. And you can upload your own picture of your favorite chalice if you want too.

Good businesses that are affordable and do what they say they will are just so nice.

Amazon Tracks My Interests

I noticed on the Chalice Blog that if you have an amazon.com wishlist and/or you frequent the site they (whoever the “they” at amazon is) will make this little collection of topics that represent the books you look at most and/or have on your wishlist the most. I thought it was sort of cool. Below are the topics that it tells me I am most into. I can’t say that it is terribly accurate - while I’m sure I do have “gay and lesbian” stuff on my list and that I search for things on this (queer theology/queer theory would be more accurate but probably they don’t have that category) it out of proporation to feminist interest which are more substantial. And why “Moore, Thomas” is in there and tied with “modern” beats me. Obviously they have not developed a perfect algorithm, but oh well. Still fun to distract me on this amazingly hot hot day.

Contemporary Cultural Culture Development & Growth Ecology Economic Policy & Development Economics Ethics & Morality Feminist Feminist Theory Fiction Gay & Lesbian Healthy Human International Literary Criticism Modern Moore, Thomas Picture Books Political Sexuality Spanish Theology United States Women

Ooooo, follow up! Follow up! I was going to look at another book on amazon and my little categories looked all different. So the reason that amazon’s “algorithm” is not perfect for this is because there isn’t one and they just pick random categories that seem to match your interests. That makes it much less fun.