I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

- de Tocqueville 1831































Sunday, December 12, 2010

LET THOSE WITH EARS HERE

I know what your thinking.  Doesn't the dufus know to use the word hear instead of here? 
The answer is most vociferously no!  

Why,  oh why,  does the written language have to be so dang difficult?  When we speak we don't differentiate between here or hear,  and yet the listeners understand what were saying,  why?  context that's why.

It might be a shock to you that I did not do so well in English during my formal years of education  (Okay,  it would not be a shock to anyone who has read my blog before).  I didn't do so well in math either.  What did I do well in,  you might ask?  Uummm....  in the one semmester of typing class I took,  I got very good at disassymbling the typewriter and putting it back together before the teacher could catch me.  I did okay at lunch.   Oh, and their (or is it there) was band.  In my senior year of high school I spent four of my six classes in the band room......but I digress.

Back to the question at hand,  why is it so hard to write English?  You Brits are a bit tricky the way you throw in extra letters like u in words like labor and neighbor and how can you possibly justify saying worcestershire with just three vowels?  Of course your not as bad as the French.  Back when I was driving over the road I asked on the CB if any one knew where versailles Indiana was.  Having studied the french revolutioin I knew how to properly pronounce it but my fellow truck drivers  (being one hundred percent American) were totally askance as to the township I was looking for,  until I pronounced it the way it's spelled.  Who ever heard of silent Ls and how does one get shree out of shreve,  as in Shreveport?  

Let's talk about punctuation,  I swear that when I was a child their (or there) was only the period.  Do you remember your father telling you that there (or thier) is no such word as can't?  Thats because the apostrophe hadn't been invented yet.  Okay I understand that the comma is very useful and if anything I now overuse it but when should I use parenthasies instead of comma's  (should I be capitalizing the names of these punctuation marks)  and when do I use the colon or semi-colon? 

I'm starting to think that their (or there) is and has been for some time a conspiracy amongst english teachers to keep the english language as confusing as possible.  I dont know why they would do such a thing.  Is it possible they envey the French?  Certainly it looks as if  the British are moving toward "French-ification"  (a word for Randi to admire).  

Perhaps I could convince someone to come clean and uncover the truth behind This trend of befudduling our language.

 Or maybe I'm just crazy.  

Sunday, December 5, 2010

A Chrismas Poem (Don't Worry it's from my Daughter)

Their  are some things I do well,  some things I do OK at and some things that............let's just say I'm grateful  to my daughter for her love of Christmas and her talent with the written word. 

If I do not write again before the "great holiday" I leave you with this poem from her and wish everyone a very merry Christmas.




A Christmas Poem (a little early, mayhaps?)



Silver bells ring with music so clear,

Across the country for all to hear,

And as their music plays so comes the snow,

The clouds gray compared to the white below.



Silver snow as the moon shines to the ground,

Silver snow falling without a sound,

And in the silver is the gold,

Rich with love and with courage, bold.



Silver ring the bells and silver snow falls,

And the cheer of winter ever calls.

December is the best month of the year,

Whether there or whether here.



Some have snow and some have none,

Some have holidays but that's only some,

I welcome winter with its cheer,

It's the best time of the year.



Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Hanukkah all,

From greatest great or smallest small,

Somehow there's a feeling in the air,

That makes everyone want to share.



Smiles to strangers and hugs to friends,

Kisses under mistletoe; traditions never end,

Lord's birth or just giving,

This shows life is worth living.