Monday, December 31, 2007

that thing you do

Library Thing works exactly as one would hope it would. It's easy and the possibilities seem endless. I 'cataloged' 6 books, tagged them 'favorites', and then checked on a few other users who listed those titles. It's fun to explore 'Zeitgeist' and see 'top books' (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) and top authors and all of the various categories. I do plan to list many more titles in my library eventually. Library Thing is also good for reading suggestions from other users. Very useful!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

mondegreens

My favorite parts to flickr are the sharing and the making. And the maps. That about sums it up, doesn't it? I explored photos in 'galapagos' and there are some really outstanding images. When I open my account, after resolving an issue with Yahoo who claims I already have an account, I am looking forward to exploring "make stuff" and seeing how that works.

Tis' the season for everyone's favorite mondegreens.
Even if you are not familiar with that term, you are familiar with, and may have even committed misheard song lyrics.
Sylvia Wright coined the term in an article in Harper's Magazine in 1954. She realized that the last line in a poem her mother used to read to her which went, so she thought:

'Ye Highlanders and ye Lowlanders
Oh, where hae ye been?
They hae slain the Earl Murray
and the Lady Mondegreen'

actually ended:

'And laid him on the green.'

Mondegreens from Christmas songs:

Deck the Halls with Buddy Holly
Good King Wences' car backed out, on the feet of heathens
Round John virgin, margarine child

and many more.

Popular music has has a few zillion mondegreens, some posing as directions.
'There is a bathroom on the right', just so you know.

The search goes on.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

The RSS experience

It seemed like there were quite a few steps involved in the RSS experience what with the aggregator, the subscriptions, feeds, and checking out all the fun podcasts and stuff to subscribe to. I ended up with 18! I will delete some of them. My favorite so far is a podcast from GrammarGirl . I listened to one podcast about the use of the words addicting and addictive. Funny AND informative! Listening to podcasts could be addicting!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Beyond the giant ball of string or twine or whatever

"43 Things..." is so yesterday, but I'm slow. On my list, besides actually finishing an oil painting, is visiting quirky roadside attractions. The ones I, or a very related person has seen:

Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska
While it's unlikely any Druids visited this part of Nebraska, the feeling here, amid these gray, planted-in-the-earth American cars (and one Japanese) is very spiritual in a prairie/desert/farmland windchiming kind of way. There are other 'henges' around - You may have heard of Stonehenge in England but have you heard of Stonefridge in New Mexico? It should have been called Fridgehenge...crisper!

The Giant Pinto Bean, Bow Island, Alberta
Though it's an expensive place to visit now that the Canadian dollar is better than ours, it's quirky AND humble.

Life-size Butter Cow, Iowa State Fair
"It's actual size but it seemed much bigger..."
Needless to say (but I will anyway) it's in a refrigerated room.

Trees of Mystery, Northern Califonia.
We didn't pay to see the actual Trees of Mystery. Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox near the parking lot were fulfilling enough.

Oregon Vortex, Gold Hill, Oregon
It was for sale in 2003. Property values look larger on one side of the room than the other. Optical illusion?

Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota
An ear for art!

I still need to see the Spam Museum in Austin, MN. and many other offbeat spots listed in roadsideamerica.com and others.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

First lines

"Context is everything. "
Jonathan Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn

"
I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."
Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle

"Come on, water, I know you are in there."
Me, shimmying to get the water running from a motion-activated faucet.
This is probably not a first line.