Wiped Wednesday

I was eaten alive by several million mosquitoes yesterday, and the extremely hot weather today produced a slightly-baked feeling that has lingered on into the evening, so I will try my best to keep this kind of short. At least I managed to avoid burning all but a very small patch on my chest. 

I was happy to see two early entries in the Limerick Challenge. Check them out here.

In a tribute to my love of description, I will share my favorite of a popular genre on YouTube called "literal music video." In this, someone replaces the words of a song with a description of what's going on in the video. Enjoy!

Grammar Geek-Out #5

5. Define case. Illustrate each case.

I have no idea what that term means, so I'm going to have to look this one up from the get-go. 

For nouns and pronouns, case is the description of their function within a sentence. Nouns and pronouns can be subjective or nominative, where they act as the subject of a sentence or clause; possessive, where they show possession of something else; and objective, where they function as the recipient of an action or are the object of a preposition.

Except for possessive forms, nouns do not change in English (this is something that is easier than in other languages!). The possessive usually just involves adding an s and an apostrophe. Pronouns do change, however. 

Examples: (for the word "tree")

Subjective: A tree grew in our front yard.

Possessive: The tree's leaves were broad and shiny.

Objective: A big storm broke a few branches off of the tree.

(for singular pronouns)

Subjective: I want to make a phone call.

You have to go home now.

He will be in trouble if he misses curfew again.

Possessive: My phone is almost dead.

Your luck may be running out.

She can call her dad to pick us up.

Objective: That phone belongs to me.

      I can't believe you thought it was yours.

      He sees his mom's car coming.

I love the rest of my source material here, there is a lot on how to use I vs. Me, etc, but it's getting late and I'm afraid the boy will be up early for the third morning in a row, particularly because Dad is going golfing again at oh-dark-thirty. Sigh. So if you want to see more, click here.

Haiku News

Gunman in the gym

targeted women because

they rejected him.

Teller stops robber,

but because he disobeyed

policies, is fired.

"Jungle monkey" cop

sues Boston 'cause civil rights

were violated?!?!

Wiggly Wednesday

I think between my grammar geek-out below and the elegy challenge, I should lighten the mood a bit by sharing one of my favorite YouTube features. If you haven't already discovered "Auto-Tune the News," you really should check it out. There are many more where this comes from, but this is my favorite so far.

We have our first two entries for the elegy challenge. It is amazing, Alicia and Paige are friends, and they managed to write very complementary poems in a very short time span. If you haven't already, check them out.

I finally made it to the children's haircut place before it closed today, and the boy was great, except that he wouldn't sit still and kept trying to stand up in the little car-chair. He was having a really enthusiastic conversation about the thing he kept trying to get to, although I couldn't see anything that interesting in his line of sight. I will really enjoy it when I actually know what he is saying. He's cute now, but sometimes I really wonder what he is trying to say. I'm just glad he didn't decide to cry. I didn't realize how much hair he actually has now until I noticed that it took the hairdresser at least 5 more minutes to cut it this time, and she pointed out how much new growth he has at the hairline. He may be like his uncle and dad and have to have it thinned out when he gets it cut when he gets older. He always looks so much older when he has a haircut. I like that it doesn't stick out funny all the time and is easier to wash, but it's hard to see how grown-up he looks...it's a trade-off.

Wednesday Grammar Geek-Out #4

4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of "lie,"  "play," and "run".

I admit, I will need to just straight look this one up, because I'm not sure what "principal parts" refers to. 

The principal parts of a verb are the four forms a verb can take. These are the present (or infinitive), the past tense, the past participle, and the present participle. Participles are forms in which the verb is combined with an auxiliary verb to form a verb phrase. The present participle combines a form of "to be" with the infinitive form of the main verb, and adds -ing to the main verb (ex: she is walking). The past participle combines a form of "has" to the main verb and adds -ed to the infinitive of the main verb (ex: He has finished his homework). Participles can also function as adjectives: "your mother is charming," "he is a devoted father."

So, the principal parts of the listed verbs:

Lie: (to) lie; lied; (has/had/have) lied; (am/is/are) lying

Play: (to) play; played; (has/had/have) played; (am/is/are) playing

Run: (to) run; ran; (has/had/have) run; (am/is/are) running

So, "lie" and "run" both have an irregular form; I suspect this is why they were chosen.

Haiku News

Pacific Northwest

suffering from record highs

and no a/c there.

Tanning beds are found

to be carcinogenic--

why am I not shocked?

Ricky Berens has

a swimsuit malfunction, but

at least his butt's nice...

Wild Wednesday

One plus of having my mom is around is for me to finally get the push I need to get going on a few things on my to-do list. The first one was to get someone in to look at a few of my annoying appliances. Fortune smiled on me most in the kitchen, where I had a broken-but-replaceable part in my fridge and discovered the storage drawer under my stove is actually a broiler drawer--who knew? 

My luck ended when the guy took a look at my washer and dryer. Apparently it's a miracle that my house hasn't burned down yet, since my vent and dryer were packed full of lint. If you haven't had your dryer vent cleaned lately, please do me a favor and have it cleaned!! He showed me a handful of scorched black lint from the bottom of my dryer...scary stuff. Long story short: we became the owners of a brand-new washer and dryer. At least now they'll work. Sigh.

Grammar Geek-out Wednesday #3

3. Define verse, stanza, and paragraph.

Great, a nice short one this week. I'm not sure if I'll know exactly what the 1895 definitions are but I'll just do the modern ones, OK?

Verse has a lot of definitions. Let's list a few.

1. a line of a poem

2. a poem

3. metrical writing.

4. metrical writing distinguished from poetry by its inferior quality

5. a particular type of metrical writing, such as elegiac verse.

6. the collective poetry of an author, nation, etc: Shakespearean verse; American verse

and so on.

a stanza is like the paragraph of poetry--it forms its divisions. It is usually at least four lines and has meter, a rhyme scheme, or both.

a paragraph is a portion of written matter dealing with a particular idea, signified by an indent in the text.

Haiku News

Book challenge whips up

debate over sex content;

what freedom of speech?

Judge rules the exam

to become New York's Bravest

discriminated.

After riding train,

dragged behind homeless's bike,

shark found in the street.

Spider-Baby...

He had already tried to climb on the wagon that holds his wooden blocks and various books and small toys, but today the boy stepped up on this oversized musical block to try and climb on a grown-up chair. He really enjoyed it when I picked him up and sat him in the chair. In fact, he didn't want to come out! What a silly little guy.

I'm going to keep this short today, since I have a few regular sections to keep up on here, as well as a plethora of household chores to complete, preferably before midnight, since the boy was up at 6:30 this morning.

Wednesday Grammar Geek-Out #2

2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw this one; I am hopeful that it will be shorter than last week. The first half, naming the parts of speech, I can (nearly!) do by heart. It is the second half that I will need some research to decipher. 

The parts of speech are noun, verb, adjective, adverb, conjunction, pronoun, preposition, and interjection. In looking around to make sure I remembered them all, I stumbled upon an old poem by David B. Tower and Benjamin F. Tweed that used to be memorized in schools to remember all the parts of speech. I will copy it below for your enjoyment. 

Three little words you often see

are ARTICLES: a, an, and the.

A NOUN's the name of anything,

as: school or garden, toy or swing.

ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun,

as: great, small, pretty, white or brown.

VERBS tell of something being done:

to read, write, count, sing, jump, or run.

How things are done the ADVERBS tell,

as: slowly, quickly, badly, well.

CONJUNCTIONS join the words together,

as: men and women, wind or weather.

The PREPOSITION stands before

a noun as: in or through a door.

The INTERJECTION shows surprise,

as Oh, how pretty! Ah! How wise!

The whole are called the PARTS OF SPEECH,

which reading, writing, speaking teach.

The same site I found that poem on comments on the fact that the writers left out pronouns, and suggest the following to add to the poem: "A PRONOUN replaces any noun, / he, she, it, and you are found."

OK, WikiAnswers says that the parts of speech that "have no modifications," i.e. don't change form or spelling depending on the amount or types of surrounding words, are prepositions and conjunctions. 

So, I need to define these terms.

A preposition is a word used in front of a noun or pronoun to form phrases that normally express a spatial or temporal relationship, such as in, on, by, to, before, or since.

A conjunction functions as a connector between words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. Examples of these are and, because, but, however. Phrases that function this way are also considered conjunctions, such as in any case. 

Haiku News

Rights activist killed

was openly critical

of Chechnya's prez.

List of people charged

in Billings home invasion

now has swelled to eight.

Unsuspecting folks

hit with an ungodly charge

from programming glitch.

New "Potter" debuts,

sets new record for midnight.

Take that, "Transformers."

A new, geeky endeavor.

In case anyone was unaware, today is one of those rare "consecutive number" days we have had since the new millennium: 07/08/09. In honor of this day, and in case my geek-out below makes anyone's brain hurt, I thought I would share a video from the children's album of one of my favorite bands, the Barenaked Ladies. Fear not, there is absolutely no nudity. And actually, none of them are women. They're just weird that way. Anyway, here it is:

I must also mention that we have a worthy entry into the fray of the Sonnet Challenge! Please join Cicely...but in the meantime, read hers here. 

A friend of mine recently shared with me a copy of an eighth grade final exam from 1895 in Kansas. Her grandmother sent it to her, with the prologue that THIS is what it took to have an eighth grade education back then. The whole test was to be completed in five hours, and there were sections involving math, geography and American history, but I am going to restrict myself to the sections on grammar and "orthography" (i.e., spelling). These are really unusual questions nowadays, though clearly back then they were taught many more grammar rules and spelling rules than we are today. As a former 7th, 8th, and 9th grade English teacher, it is really strange to look at a test meant for the students I used to teach and realize that I don't even know for certain how to answer many of the questions. That inspired me to take a few of the questions from this test every week and try to answer them. I am not going to be foolish enough to claim that my answers will be 100% correct; if you find something wrong with my attempts feel free to call me on it; I'd rather have the right information here than appear to be the ultimate authority when in fact I was never formally taught grammar. I just read a lot and picked up proper usage from there. I don't know what a lot of it is *called,* so I feel like this is an opportunity to learn, just for fun. Yes, I know that is totally geeky. Feel free to skip this section if you don't find it interesting. Anyway, enough preamble; let's get on with the geek-out.

Wednesday Grammar Geek-out #1

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.

Immediate reaction: Well, you use a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence, and you capitalize proper names of people, places, and things (George Washington; Dover, Delaware; Xerox copier). Now I'll go look for what I'm forgetting, since that's probably only two.

So, we have:

1. Always capitalize the first word in a sentence. 

2. Always capitalize proper nouns. That includes each part of a person's name; given or pet names of animals; geographical and celestial names (Alpha Centauri); monuments, buildings, and meeting rooms (Sears Tower, Room 222); historical events, documents, laws, and periods (the Civil War, the Stamp Acts, the Reformation); months, days of the week, and holidays; groups and languages (Freemasons, French); religions, deities, and scriptures (Judaism, Allah, the Bible); awards, vehicle models, brand names (the Academy Awards, Ford Focus, Kleenex). 

3. Capitalize a quotation if it is a complete sentence or if it is an interjection or fragmentary response (examples: He asked, "Why did you come back?" She answered, "Because you wanted me to." The response is still capitalized because it is a fragmentary response).

4. Proper adjectives are normally capitalized. This includes brand names (Mexican food, Canon camera).

5. Personal titles are capitalized when used with a person's name or as a direct address (President Obama, the Duke of Edinburgh; "Thanks for calling, Pastor"). If the title is used as a general word, it is NOT capitalized (he is studying to become a doctor; the duke sends his regards). Presidents and royalty are always capitalized (the Queen). Titles for family relationships are capitalized unless they are modified by a personal pronoun (Mom won't let me go; My mom won't let me go).

6. Capitalize the first and last words of a title, and all other words except a, an, of, conjunctions and prepositions of four letters or fewer (The Chronicles of Narnia, Six Characters in Search of a Plot). Capitalize only specific names of classes, unless it is a language class (English, math, Introduction to Applied Mathematics).

7. Capitalize the first word and all nouns in the salutation of a letter, and the first word in the closing of a letter (Dear Sir, My dearest Aunt; Sincerely yours, With best wishes).

8. The first letter of a sentence following a colon is capitalized (Grapes were not squeezed for juice: The pulp was pressed). If what follows the colon is NOT a sentence, the first letter is not capitalized (The following things were in my gym bag: running shoes, a water bottle, and a towel).

9. The first word of each line in poetry is usually capitalized. (N.B.: I don't like to do this in my free verse, or if I have a line carry over from the previous line, but I know it might not be "correct.") The single-letter words I and O are always capitalized. The word O is used in direct address, such as "O Pioneers!" and "O Tannenbaum."

 

I guess I found enough. If you want a few more, and some tricky exceptions, knock yourself out here. I think that is quite enough for this session. There are five more questions on this part of the test that are not an essay question, so that should give me plenty to chew on for over a month.

Haiku News

McNair shooting ruled

a murder-suicide; his

girlfriend killed them both.

Cash-strapped L.A. spent

$1 million-plus on police;

donation site crashed.

Kim Jong Il looks gaunt,

seems frail at memorial;

Un seems no better.