the word in language is half someone else's

time I got up: 8:30
time I thought I had gotten up: 10:30
time it took me to realize that I had gotten up two hours early: 110 minutes.

sections of class I teach: 3
average number of students per section: 22
inches of exam I brought home with me: 3.5
inches of exam I left at work: 2

times I wrote "THIS MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE" on a student's paper: 0
times I wanted to: MANY.

sections of the exam: 10
sections of the exam graded yesterday: 1 (x3 sections)
sections of the exam graded today: 8 (x3 sections)
sections of the exam left to grade: 1 (x3 sections)

cups of coffee consumed: 2.5
showers taken: 0

my awesomeness: ∞

we can all ignore the part where % of yuletide written is still sitting at 0, right? right? .../o\

I caught them washing the el last night.

When I got to the red line station, the attendant told me to watch my step on my stairs. I was confused, but nodded amiably. There was a hose running down the stairs: I stared at it, somewhat bemused, but went down to the platform anyways.

And they were washing it. Two guys manning high-powered hoses, three guys with long-handled scrubbing brushes. There were suds everywhere—I wound up sitting on the stairs and just watching.

I mean, it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise, you know? If you'd asked me whether or not they washed the el platforms, I'd have shrugged and said, well, yeah, I guess so. And of course washing is done with, you know, soap and water. It all stands to reason!

...but it was still really startling. When the train finally came, it was a cloud of cold, damp, chlorinated air. I'm still not entirely sure it happened.

*

I remain steadfastly committed to my plan of marrying the Hush Sound on the astral plane. Collectively. They are adorable and amazing and my VERY FAVORITE SOCIOPATHS EVER.

Also, Bob Morris will never not be an extra from Firefly, in my heart of hearts.

*

The new Panic is also made of fabulous. Less fabulous: the paper that is due in less than 24 hours, now, and is...still basically unstarted. /o\ I'ma gtfo and do that, so if you see me on the internets feel free to thwap me with a stick.

guys, I'm doing my prag homework, and I swear to god that one of the assumptions the professor wants us to start with is just not true. SO. I am asking you! You don't need to know anything about pragmatics or about linguistics to answer this, I swear - y'all speak English, and that's enough. I really just want to know what your instincts are about these sentences, to see whether or not I am at all right.

Ready? OKAY! ( a totally informal (but quite possibly very helpful) poll! )

"A sign, or representamen, is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity."

Why, thank you, Mr. Dead Philosopher-Linguist. That's really fucking helpful, that is. *sporks face*

edit: I really really really hope that this is one of those readings you warned us about, Professorlady - the ones that we're reading mostly to get a sense of how OMG DUMB people used to be about this stuff. Because if I am going to have to actually remember anything other than OMG DUMB from this stuff? I am probably going to cry.

...if anyone has some good vibes to spare, please to be sending them my way?

(HINT: I'm the one wandering around in a bra and pajama pants, trying to translate phrases like "the sleeping bear dunes" into Arabic.)

( Christmas Wishes! )

In other news, I'm 45 minutes from handing in my last syntax assignment of the quarter (Icelandic case marking, ack!), which means that your days of listening to me whine about syntax are over. Unless I've failed the class, in which case you'll hear me again next fall, when I re-take it and hate my life EVEN MORE.

But let's not think about that. Let's just rejoice in the end of the Days Of Syntax, and welcome in the Days Of...well, technically it's the Days Of Finals And Sublet-Hunting, but I'm hoping that those will soon become the Days Of Writing Lots.

1. I am not dead! Really a lot not.
1b. ...but I will be tomorrow. Fuck.


2. Syntax continues to hurt, but I think I'm getting the hang of it!
2b. Or at least this assignment is prettier than the last one.
2c. I think.
2d. Never as much fun as phonetics, though. Too bad, bitches.

3. I'm slow to get angry. I mean, something will happen, and I'll just kind of smile and nod, and then I'll get home, and be kind of annoyed, and I'll talk about it, and gradually, over the course of the conversation, grow more and mroe agitated as it finally sinks in that no, really: I'm fucking pissed off, over here.
3b. For a while, I thought this was a bad thing, coming mostly from my reliance on the opinions of others. Now, though, I don't think that that's the case. My reactions are my own - I just don't like to express them in haste.
3c. The exception, of course, is when I'm in a genuinely pissy mood. Then, everything pisses me off, and I'm snappy as all hell, but I get over it in a hurry.
3d. These may actually be related - I've had some bad experiences with snapping at people just from stress, so when I can, I try to hold my reactions back until I can control them and sort through them in some sort of safe space.
3e. Which I knew? I mean, I know I've said that before, and meant it, but as of today it really sank home.
3f. And no, it's none of you. Real life, pshaw! I reject your reality and substitute my own.

4. I don't think that you should be or feel obliged to spend time with people who make you feel bad about yourself. Sometimes it's unavoidable, of course, but when it's not? Don't touch that stuff, man.

5. You know what's a great word? Concatenation.
5b. Which means things that are linked or overlap or what have you.
5c. Example: I wonder what the concatenation of interests is on my flist? Like, say: who likes f/v/k AND genderswap?
5d. OK, yeah. That one is maybe not an entirely rhetorical question, but given the probable size of the set in question, I don't think you'll ever see the relevant texts.

/geekery