Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Pot-ay-to, Pot-ah-to

I know I'm supposed to be the "Grammar Nazi", but I actually only learned how to spell the plural form of "potato" and "tomato" very recently. I was always confused about whether or not there was an "e" at the end of those words. There isn't. It's just one of those flukes of the English language where you randomly add "es" to make it plural instead of just "s". Is there any reason for this that anyone can see? It doesn't make sense and now every time I have to write "potatoes" it aggravates me and I want to rip the "e" out of there! But I can't because then it won't be right.

Have you ever written a word, and you know it's spelled right, but it just doesn't look right? And you wonder "Whose idea was it to spell it this way anyway?" You know, back in the day, they didn't have set "correct" spellings for all words. They just kinda spelled it however they wanted. There's stuff in the Declaration of Independence that's alllll misspelled, according to todays standards. I would've thought that when they set the "correct" spelling for each word in stone they would've gone with what our founding fathers deemed correct.

And maybe I'm taking this too far, but have you ever just listened to a word as it's coming out your mouth and thought "That's just weird." And the more you say it, the more strange it sounds? Take the word "snack" for example. Say it out loud a few times and listen to yourself. It sounds SO weird to me!!! It's almost like there's an invisible "y" in it when it's said. I have to think somebody giggled over using that word to mean "mini-meal in between 3 basic daily meals". Imagine that at some point in time, someone came up with every word we use and made it mean something. I mean, sure, a lot of our words are derived from Latin and other languages. There are some similarities. But then there are others that are purely American words where someone just spat out some vowel and consonant sounds and said "I think I'll call it... A rock". I dunno. These are just random things I've thought over the past few years.

I really do want to study English. And I really do want to be an editor of some sort. Oh well.. That dream goes back up on the shelf.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

My Hiding Place

When you were little, did you ever have a place you would hide when you were upset or angry with your parents? I did. At my old house, there weren't many places you could get away. The tree house was a pretty good place, but they never had any trouble finding me there and making me come down. And so I found refuge at the back of my closet. There I would sit on top of all the spare blankets and pillows, surrounded by familiar old stuffed animals. When I felt sorry for myself I would climb behind all our best Sunday dresses and sit there and cry - in later years, pray - until all the frustrated emotion was gone. I laugh about it now. There's no way they didn't hear me since my closet was just opposite the living room wall. But for whatever reason they never pursued me there. To this day I have that space memorized, from the flower and lace pattern of my winter dress, to the uneven texture on the walls.


I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I retreated there until I was almost 15. Even when we moved I cleared out the space behind old prom dresses and huddled into the narrow corner. But I soon ran out of room to put things, so I was ousted from my closet, finally. One day in wandering to the end of the street Jordan and I found some 4 wheeler trails in the woods near our house. You have to cross a dug out canal to get to it, and it's there that all the drains from the neighborhood empty out of a 4 foot steel culvert. So my new "hiding place" was found. When you stand on the small patch of broken concrete at the bottom of the culvert you're just low enough to not be able to see the street or the houses, and when there's water running out of it you can't hear the traffic anymore. My favorite time to go is on a rainy afternoon with my bible and journal. I'm not one of those people who can shut out the noise of the world with ease. I'm too easily distracted by familiar surroundings, even when I'm by myself. I have to get away to truly get alone. There are times when I'm only able to spend a few minutes there, and others when I spend hours sitting and listening to the sound of the frogs and crickets. I've had some of the best times of prayer and worship sitting on the culvert or standing on the concrete while the water runs between my toes. (picture of my "place" taken with my phone - sorry for the poor quality!)


I guess you may not really see it as a true "hiding place" since there's no real hiding involved. My family knows when they can't find me they should look there. But I don't see it as a literal place to hide anymore. Just a place where somehow I can escape without having to go too far. I retreated there last night just as the moon was beginning to emerge. Mrs. Sharons favorite song was going through my head :


You're calling me to lay aside the worries of my day


To quiet down my busy mind and find a hiding place


I know that He is my strong tower, my hiding place, but it's nice to know that I have a real hiding place to retreat to when I need it.


PS: A blueberry farm at dusk isn't a bad place to retreat either.. You might try that sometime. It makes it even better when the blueberries are only $1 per pound.. hehe

Sunday, June 17, 2007

BJ needs instant messenger

Yes, you do. If I were looking at you right now I'd give you that open eyed-yebrows -up- pointing-my-finger-in-your-face-you-really-need-to-do-it look you always give us. Now you really need it! Because I hate texting. I'm so bad at it. I don't want to be good at it. And I know an "e" is missing up there. But if I try to fix it then I have to re-type all of this. And I'd better not mess up because then I won't be able to fix it without it being dumb. Gah... This happens on Microsoft Word sometimes. I forget how to fix it though. I'll have to rummage around blogger and figure it out.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Somebody besides Jordan

No Jordan, I do not like pink. Yes I said feminine, but you can do feminine without pink. And why didn't you leave my font the way I had it? You listed all of them, and unlike some, I don't have typefaces memorized. I only said "times" because it's the only one I recognized. I liked my old one.

I want it different. I hate this. Would somebody who please knows what they're doing try to fix it??? I want a picture thing at the top, and I don't know how to do that. Gah.

Stupid blogger.. silly sister..

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Thank You Mr. Litterbug

First off: Yes, I know, I messed up my blog COMPLETELY and it's ugly, and I hate it. Any volunteers to fix it for me? Anybody? I really don't have the time this weekend, or tomorrow.. and the last time I tried to change it I got frustrated 'cause I couldn't figure it out and I just settled for whatever, and I want something unique, but fitting for me. You guys know me well enough to know what would suit me. And I'll gladly give my password out to anyone who wants to try. Pleeeease?

Secondly: God is revealing so many things to me right now about myself. He's showing me areas where I've walked in religion and had no idea I was doing it! I never realized it before but I've been living as though I believe things that I detest with everything in me! It's ripping me apart. Which is a very good thing. There will be time to write more on that later.

Thirdly and lastly: Someone decided to drop their styrafoam trash on the middle of Greenwell Springs Rd tonight. And when you see it reflecting your headlights at a far distance, and your contacts are a bit blurry it looks like the reflection off of tennis shoes. And I thought it was someone standing there in the middle of my lane. And I almost had a heart attack. Thank God no one was behind me because I didn't trust my inclination that it wasn't somebody so I braked really hard. I was so relieved to find it was not a person, but very annoyed with the person who threw that kinda trash out their window. So I had my little dose of adrenaline for the day.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

My True Art Form

        I know this blog has been long neglected. Lately I've written a lot of things, but they aren't worth posting for everyone to see. I've come to discover that while I love creating art in the physical sense of drawing, painting, photography etc. my true art form is words. For the past 6 years of my life my outlet has been in written word. All of you at some point have received a note or letter from me, so you know that's how I best communicate. Remember when Kandi banned me from writing and journaling, just so I would learn to actually talk? I remember Jamie telling me once that it's out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, not "the hand writes".. Haha. Now you can't get me to shut up.

        If I had time and money to study anything I wanted to I would study classic literature and become an editor. It would combine three things that I'm good at: reading, writing, and criticizing other peoples work.. Or.. Critiquing it, if you'd like to use a nicer word. The only thing is that I have no imagination for the creative whatsoever. It's funny that I can pick someones story apart, but I couldn't write one myself worth anything! If you put me in a creative writing or poetry class I would fail miserably. I can't just pull things off the top of my head and compose a story or a poem. If I write it has to be from life, facts, actual events. That is where I find my inspiration. I can take any actual event and embellish it. I love the challenge of doing that! I think I would be good at writing biographies or allegories.

        I know I'm a total nerd but I actually miss the high school days of having to write essays before a class period is over. I want to take some classes or something in writing. My skills are rough at best, but with training I think I could get better.. And who knows but one day I may be able to put those skills to use for the kingdom of God? I really do want to pursue this.

        I've got some things written that it wouldn't hurt to put on here. Little stories, or allegories and just silly things I've written. You'll probably see them start popping up every now and again. But beware..who I really am comes out in my writing..

Bekah Hope

 
 

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

























Green Lantern
60%
Robin
58%
Spider-Man
55%
Wonder Woman
53%
Catwoman
50%
Superman
45%
Supergirl
43%
Hulk
40%
The Flash
30%
Iron Man
25%
Batman
20%
Hot-headed. You have strong
will power and a good imagination.


Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz