etben: flowers and sky (Default)
etben ([personal profile] etben) wrote2009-10-30 01:37 pm
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awesome things i have done today

A) during our pre-reading discussion for a poem by René Philombe, one of my students brought up the good old "eskimos have 30000 words for snow!" thing, talking about how language "warps your brain*". I had a moment of LINGUIST FURY where I brainvomited about Sapir-Whorf and polysynthetic languages and the eurocentric (indo-euro-centric?) bias of early-1900s linguistic fieldwork.

...and then I looked up and my whole class was going o____O at me. WHOOPS. I took some deep breaths, and now I'm feeling better, but damn, I miss actually getting to study linguistics.

B) On the other hand, I looked ahead to the next chapter to start my lesson planning, and HOLY SHIT WE GET FUTUR PROCHE NEXT CHAPTER HECK YESSSSSSS. It combines the irregular verb aller with the infinitive of all the other verbs we know and gives us the FUTURE. How is that not awesome? I did a little dance when I saw the chapter heading, ngl, which is how I know that I am in fact on the right track with my life.

C) Current plan of attack in re: halloween party is to get cat ears from CVS on my way home, dress in black, staple a caption to my shirt and go as a lolcat. On the one hand, it's not very awesome; on the other hand, I'll settle for not actually being naked. Other frontrunners: cover myself in screenshots of porn and cats and go as the internet; wear leggings as pants and a disaffected sneer and go as "kids these days".

*his words, not mine.

[identity profile] strobelighted.livejournal.com 2009-10-30 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Your linguist nerdery and enthusiasm brings me joy.
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[identity profile] etben.livejournal.com 2009-10-30 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
I miss being a srsbsnss linguist so mucccccch, even though I wasn't really ever that serious. I keep thinking seriously about going back to school to be a nerd, and then I decide that I can't handle the masturbatory impracticality of it, not to mention going through the admissions roulette again. So I decide I want to go ahead and get my teaching certificate and hang out with high schoolers instead, but then I feel like I am not living up to my ~~potential~~ if I do that. Brain, stfu! you do not REALLY believe that a life without a PhD is not a life worth living, and I KNOW you don't really believe that, so CUT IT THE FUCK OUT ALREADY.

um. possibly I am...having a hard time with my future? idk idk. real life is hard; I just want to be awesome.

[identity profile] strobelighted.livejournal.com 2009-10-30 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Silly, you're already awesome!

<3333
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[identity profile] etben.livejournal.com 2009-10-31 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
lol MOST delusional, but ilu2.
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[identity profile] lordessrenegade.livejournal.com 2009-10-30 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
there's nothing saying you can't get your teaching certificate and THEN have a PhD. being young: it's apparently pretty awesome. \o/?
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[identity profile] etben.livejournal.com 2009-10-31 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
you and your earth logics again! ♥ IDEK if I for sure want to go back to school for srsbsnss things (so many academics are dicks! but at the same time, &learning;!), but I guess I don't need to make that decision RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW. dear hindbrain: please to be chilling the fuck out, jfc.

also HI! I am here now! and full of food! ...and sloth. *lazes*</small.

[identity profile] riadsala.livejournal.com 2009-10-30 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Je vais aller a la plage! Nous allons fermer la porte! Est-ce qu'on va manger les ananas maintenant?
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[identity profile] etben.livejournal.com 2009-10-30 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)

[identity profile] pearl-o.livejournal.com 2009-10-30 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I UNDERSTOOD ALL OF THIS! \o/

Also marie you are still my favorite linguistics nerd.
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[identity profile] etben.livejournal.com 2009-10-31 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
:DDDDDDDDDDDDD félicitations, bb!

erica WHY IS LINGUISTICS SO AWESOME? srsly. &linguistics; &you;

[identity profile] siegeofangels.livejournal.com 2009-10-30 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
A LOLCAT is possibly the best costume ever. What will your caption say?
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[identity profile] etben.livejournal.com 2009-10-31 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure! I actually have gotten out of the habit of searching for lolcats, what with the whole "having a job I actually want to keep" thing. And probably INVISIBLE WINTER SEMESTER CONTRACT would be too bitter...
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[identity profile] go-gentle.livejournal.com 2009-10-31 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
the eurocentric (indo-euro-centric?) bias of early-1900s linguistic fieldwork.

fixed that for you!
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[identity profile] etben.livejournal.com 2009-10-31 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
lol inorite? but they were asking me specifically about that story, and I like to believe that the field has made a liiiiiittle bit of progress in realm of "not being eurocentric douchebags" over the past hundred years.
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[identity profile] go-gentle.livejournal.com 2009-10-31 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
sometimes I think so. and sometimes I read Everett on Piraha (http://ling.auf.net/lingBuzz/000411).
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[identity profile] etben.livejournal.com 2009-10-31 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
*headdesks*