Rob's Halfway House - #10

[vampirelover109]

Hey girls

I had a busy day at my psychology lecture yesterday but had such a great time really enjoyed myself I did do some hard work though by the time I got home I wad so tired I had.a bath,dinner and watched the champions league final.Todays been a nice relaxing day Ive had a duvet day watching criminal minds on dvd gotta.have.my fix of spencer

WOOP WOOP BOOKED MY FLIGHT TO CHICAGO TODAY SO EXCITED

Em- hey sweetie Its great to see you stay strong honey thinking of you

Right ill be back laters

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Songbird]

Amy, I have NO sense of direction. I did travel here once by myself, but I only had to get through the airport alone and then hubs (then my BF) was there to pick me up. I don’t see myself travelling anywhere alone, even in the US…I’d rather have someone to share the experience with. But add on not speaking whatever language is spoken there and it becomes overwhelmingly intimidating by myself. Your mother’s day was completely unfair!!! That is supposed to be your day to be pampered! I agree with Caryn….send them back to dad and say “Your turn today”.

Suzan, well, I’m sorry about your test then. I guess if you barely filled out enough to pass, that’s not a good sign. Was it just an extremely hard exam? We WERE planning on driving all the way to Paris, but I started looking at hotels and holy crap are they expensive!! So hubs started looking around and found some bus tours for about 400 euros total that includes travel there and back, hotel for 4 nights, and some excursions. So the only thing left is food. I looked at Thalys (thank you so much for the tip!) and it was 80 Euros for the both of us, which is cheaper than we could drive, but then with hotel costs separate it would have been more expensive than the bus tour deal. So if hubs can get the time off, we’ll do a bus tour and then just not do any of the optional excursions, but spend the time with my friend instead.

Lynne, I’ve really been enjoying reading the little blurbs you’ve put on your author page. I think you are doing a good job with it! I’m sure you know what your characters look like….have you ever seen an actor or actress and thought “That looks like such and such a character!” or “I’d like them to play this character if there was ever a movie”? I like Suzan’s suggestions about doing a booklist on your page. JK Rowling does that, too. So many people want to know what books she loves because they will probably love them, too. If they like your writing, they’ll want to know what stuff you love, because it probably influenced your style and they will enjoy it, too, because it must be good to have inspired such great writing. Relax…I’m sure if you’ve gotten this far, your publisher is thinking seriously about publishing your work. It must be really hard to wait though.

Christina, wow, that’s so cool! Is the gift card for your company or is it for a store like Target or some such? Your company seems really great to work for…like they really appreciate you and the work you do. At my work, for our birthday we get a card. We used to get flowers, but not anymore. Or at least, I didn’t get anything for my last birthday…and they don’t do anything for anniversaries of working there. Is your company a small one? There’s a titanic museum? I would love to see that! How scary for your trainer!! Is it someone she knows?

Marielle, did you have a good time at the Celtfest? It was GORGEOUS weather this weekend! Where is the Celtfest? Sounds like a good time. Ah, if you told the woman that 50 Shades is not for under 18s I’m sure she got the idea. We are going to the city part of Paris. I’d love to go to DisneyLand Paris, but we’ll take the kids when we do that. This trip is strictly to see my best friend since I haven’t seen her in about 13 years. Aww…so great that your brother is home and has a gf…when will you get to meet her?

Suzan, I’m with you…it takes soooo long to do the long posts. Of course today, I start on the mega-post and had 9 pages to go through since my last post and after a very long weekend and not much rest, I fell asleep typing. Whoops…guess it will take that much longer. I giggled about your comment to Marielle about your dad reading on the train. I think my husband will miss that part of finally having a car again starting Friday afternoon!

Sean, hope your grandmother is feeling better. Does your grandma have insurance to cover the medicines she needs? You mentioned having to use your own money, but it sounds like it will be a while that she will need this medication, right? I hope it helps her! I’m with Susie on the swearing and such in interviews….I don’t like it and I think it makes people sound uneducated and rude. And I’m only 35. I think it’s personal taste more than age….true, it’s becoming more and more acceptable, just like a lot of things. But I don’t think it’s necessarily age, though I must say I don’t consider Susie to be that old. I think anyone who reads stuff like Twilight has to have a pretty young/cool outlook…or at least anyone who ADMITS to reading it, because there’s such a stigma out there that it’s only for young teen girls, etc. That kind of language just isn’t necessary. So the use of it seems fake…like you are trying to look cool. But we know that Kristen is NOT uneducated and rude, nor does she need to fake being “cool”…so it’s not necessary for her to resort to the foul language. Though, I must admit that I have serious problems swearing myself, even to repeat something someone said to me, not even in a professional setting, butjust with friends hanging out. (the boys in my calculus class in high school used to dare me to say the F word every day because it would have been so out of character for me...I did once to shut them up and they wrote it on a calendar) But if I were sitting at work talking to someone I work with, that language would be completely inappropriate, and I see interviews as part of an actor’s job. I won’t watch Chris Rock’s stand up comedy because it’s so profane. But I do think it’s more appropriate in that setting than in an interview. Just my own personal taste…I have friends who are absolutely vulgar and always have been, so I’m not like “oh, I can’t stand people who swear!”, just not something I see as necessary or appealing. And the further I read, I see that Susie and Lynne have pretty much covered it already, so I shall remove myself from the soap box and let them carry on, and I will eagerly await Susie’s dissertation.
Glad there were no surprises with your physical. It’s great that you’ve lost weight…that can also contribute to things like Diabetes and such. So if you are losing, that might keep you from becoming more than just borderline diabetic. Your blood pressure being borderline isn’t a surprise after the week you’ve had…maybe you could do something to relax you, like listen to some soothing music or reading something to take your mind of the crappy stuff. Or go for a walk….exercise is good for your heart AND for relieving stress! Happy Birthday to your dad!


Tonise, 9 days till what? The end of school? Your iPad sounds pretty cool! Does it ever make mistakes with the voice recognition? Yikes…that sucks about the school calendar. I didn’t realize it was going to cut so much vacation time out! The kids NEED that time off once in a while, as do the teachers!!

Susie, sounds like a great mother’s day! Would you be willing to share your pie crust recipe? I have one, but it’s not great. The Dutch use a completely different style of crust that is more cookie or cake like….thick and crumbly rather than thin and flaky, so no ready to use crusts available here. We’re getting the new car on Friday, so in plenty of time, thank Goodness, but we checked prices and it will be cheaper to take the bus to Paris. My in-laws have agreed to babysit, but of course if my FIL is not mobile at that time because of his recovery, they will have to cancel. My MIL can’t take care of him AND 2 little kids. So we’ll get cancelation insurance, just in case. But this is also hinging on hubs getting that week off. There will be a huge problem if he doesn’t, because he is not taking ANY time off this summer in the vacation period and he has the right to 25 vacation days in a year, and he asked nearly 6 weeks in advance of the time off. It’s not his fault that they didn’t look at the request for 2 weeks after he made it. So if they deny it, there will be some hell to pay. We’ll find out tomorrow. But it’s looking good so far.

Ashley, what great experience. We had to do a lot of work on this house, too. We hired professionals for electricity and for the tiles in the bathroom and for one bit of carpentry/plumbing to make a water hookup for a laundry room. The rest we did ourselves. We did the laminate floors, the tiling in the laundry room, insulation, painting and wall papering, removed a doorway and a built in cabinet and replaced them with solid walls, installed the toilets, etc…I say we, but hubs actually did most of it because was in rehearsals for an opera, then I had some problems with my wrist and was in a cast for a few weeks, and then I was preggers. I did do most of the painting and wallpaper, though. But hopefully your skills will help make the job go faster!

Lulu, how exciting! I would be nervous, too…hubs and I thought we wanted twins but after Bug was born we were so glad she was just one baby. But people do it all the time, so I imagine it’s something you adjust to…just like any baby. You’ll get handy once you develop a system that works if you end up with twins.

Looks like I missed JennJenn’s birthday, so happy belated!! I hope it was a great day!

Brenda, good luck with the interview! Didn’t you just recently start your current job? Or is this the same thing but more of a promotion? I will try to have enough fun for EVERYONE in Gay Paree if we get to go…I don’t see how I can help it if I’m with my best friend…she’s a spaz and SUPER fun.

Tracy, it must have been really disappointing for your daughter’s team to be so close to winning and not make it, but it sounds like they did really well anyway. I bet you are a proud mama!

Ann Marie, I hope your mom is ok!! Keep us posted!

Desiree, good job on the exam!! I’m sure you rocked it!

Jaclyn, how did it feel working on the weekend? Was it kind of weird? How’s the job now that you’ve had a bit of time to get used to it? I love seeing you write “hubs”, too!

Whew, good to see you Grayce!! Glad you had a nice trip! I thought of you on…Thursday I think it was…we were watching a show on discovery about an auction house…something Kings…Auction Kings, maybe? But they had dollhouse furniture made by some guru….like THE dollhouse maker. It reminded me of you. It’s so sucky how expensive gas is. We pay something like $9 per gallon here. It makes it SO expensive. It costs about $70 to fill up the tank on what would be considered a small car in the US. It’s insane!!! Traveling is just…horrifyingly expensive. I think that’s why bus deals are so great right now…no one can afford to drive anywhere themselves! Your story about your dad haunting you if you went near the democrats cracks me up. It reminds me of my mom. My mom wasn’t really that politically minded as far as calling people up or handing out flyers, but she was a staunch conservative Christian who always voted republican, no matter the candidate. I remember the first time I got to vote was on a bond issue in our county. It was not one I’d have voted for anyway, but my mom, just as I was going into the booth said “Don’t forget, you’re voting no!” I had always done exactly what my mom said to do and I didn’t think for myself other than to think “What would mom think of this?” She told me who to vote for in elections and I did it without really even thinking. Now, I’m so opposite from what I used to be. I used to be prude and conservative and judgemental…then I went to college and met people and was encouraged to think for myself (by everyone other than my mom who was angry at my “rebelling” and not doing what she told me to do) and found out that a large majority of my college friends were either gay or bi. That knocked the judgement right out of me! My mom would probably roll over in her grave if she saw half the rants and links I post on FB!
[quote=GrayceM]Tell her if she wants to reach out next time she's in the states, I'd love to contribute to the "Songbird Baking Fund"....hmmm with this site, that could sound a little kinky but you know what I mean by that.[/quote] ROFL!!! If I’d been drinking anything it would have come out of my nose!!!! Yes, I’m really lucky to have several contacts. My best friend just sent me S’mores stuff and reeses. And hub’s cousin’s wife is in the states now and will be bringing me twizzlers and jello mix. And now with the recent discovery of the store that sells different kinds of flour, I’m good to go..I think. My MIL was so sweet…I went grocery shopping with her last week and I was looking for corn flour. So she knew it was hard to find and this weekend she excitedly produced a box of what she thought was corn flour…I almost didn’t have the heart to tell her it was corn starch, not corn flour. But if I didn’t tell her, she’d just keep buying more of it for me to do something nice for me…she’s like that.
Can I ask you what’s on your “bucket list” or is that too personal? Don’t answer if you don’t want to.

Hi Boo, I don’t think I know you, but I hope you start feeling better after your chemo. Do you have radiation, too? Stay strong!

Hi to anyone I may have missed.

Wow…that took me even longer than I thought it would…though I have to admit it didn’t help that I fell asleep for a bit in there. Long weekend. My in-laws celebrated their 40th anniversary. The neighbors came over and decorated the front garden and door and one of them had a 3 month old baby he brought with him, so I got to get my baby fix holding her. Bugaboo was particularly fascinated with her and was SO sweet…she had some gas cramps and kept burping and crying and Bug was trying to make her happy by making Lady (her stuffed animal) dance for her, and we sang Lady’s lullaby to her together (from the movie), and she was just so gentle and trying so hard. She has a princess book that has this tube with crystals and little pictures in it that you are supposed to find as you are reading the stories…but the baby liked the sound it made, so Bug sat there shaking it for her and letting her grab Lady’s ears and such (usually no one gets to touch Lady). So we got our baby fix and then the next day was the party, and Bug was so excited that she finally got to wear her dress. She’s been anxiously awaiting it…Wednesday she says “Mommy, I want to wear THIS dress” and I told her she couldn’t because it was for the party on Saturday and she sighed and said “I know…I already told myself that.” So the day of the party, we knew it would be a long day, so we made the kids take a nap in the afternoon, but I went upstairs to get something and heard them talking and I was about to scold them for it when I heard what bug was saying...very slowly "and...wag...um....wagged...his tail and..." She was reading a book for Mr. Man because he couldn't sleep without a story. So before they noticed me I went and got the camera and snuck back to take a pic. The party was pretty fun and there was some good food. The musician cracked me up because he was GREAT with instruments...he played the keyboard, the sax, the guitar, and the violin...but his English was HORRIBLE and according to hubs, his German wasn't great either. I was laughing so hard...he was singing "You look wonderful tonight" and the word "wonderful" came out like "Won't ER fool" with a really exaggerated "R" sound. Hilarious. And my FIL speaks no English and Bug had wanted this bedtime story from a book she brought, but it's in English and so he looked at it to see if he could fake it...I told my husband, there was one song that the guy was singing and I couldn't understand a word he sang. It was supposedly in English, but it sounded like my FIL trying to read that bedtime story. So it was really entertaining. The only bad thing is that I want to strangle my bratty nephew…or maybe his father for letting him be a brat. He spent the entire party either intentionally trying to hurt Mr. Man (sticking out his foot to trip him, or grabbing him by the collar and pushing him over) or trying to get him in trouble (daring him to do things he knew I had just told him not to do). But my son was sooooo good. I only had to put him in the corner twice for not listening, despite his cousin’s best efforts and horrible example. So I’m proud that he withstood it so well and didn’t cave to the pressure…he’s only 4 so that says something. By the end of the night he was SOOOOO tired and he just curled up on hubs’ lap and kind of zoned. Hubs no more than put him in bed and he was OUT. But it was such a nice evening. I put pictures on my FB if anyone’s interested…most of them are of my kids, but there are a few others in there, too. This week I may not be here much. Bug turns 6 on Tuesday, so I need to make cupcakes tomorrow for her to take to school on Tuesday, then Wednesday my in-laws are coming to celebrate…Bug has requested McDonalds. Blech. But it’s her day…so McDonalds it is. Then Friday is her party with her school friends after school. And Sunday is the big party for our family and friends, but my in-laws won’t be there because of my FIL’s hip surgery on Friday. So I’m going to be spending my week baking, cleaning, making Princess games for Bug’s kid party, etc…so I will probably be super busy and you won’t see much of me until next Monday. So have a great week and I'll try to drop in when I can.

[Tornado]

It's Monday. Back to work for our business today. Things did pick up a little last week, but we still need more work if this month is going to cover our expenses. And May is usually a good month!

boo - I'm not sure we've met, but I'm sorry to hear what you've been going through and I hope you'll be better soon.

Songbird - You've had a busy weekend! I'm glad it was good, though! There is actually a short book list on my page already, but you have to click 'about' to see it. Yes, I've always cast roles in my head, although I did it more for the screenplay I wrote than my book. I hadn't even thought of the book until now. But some of the suggestions people have made have been very good.

[Chernaudi]

Hi everyone

Songbird: I wrote to Susie about that, and she says that she's holding the editors more responsible than Kristen for the language in the interview. After all, the writer/editor could've chose Kristen's "cleaner" comments, or changed the words used. But instead they chose to only use the comments where Kristen said the F-word. Elle is a mag aimed at 18-35 year olds, so if that was their decision, that's not surprising.

And as I also said, I was disappointed mostly in that the article was only 2 pages long--two friggin' pages! Its like they wanted to keep the article as short as possible so they can have as many sexy pics of Kristen as possible. As a guy, it sort of makes sense--those photos have prompted me to have the dreams about Kristen that I've been having--but a longer article would've been nice. Lots of cool stuff probably got left out, and that's why some of her interviews that have been posted on Robstenation are better, along with transcripts of Kristen's promo stuff from Mexico. I just know that I can write more than two pages about Kristen Stewart, and she does know in the context of a situation to keep her language under control--as I've said, Rob's sworn more than his fair share in interviews, too, but in public they try to keep things at least PG rated.

And I've already suggested things to relax, but for lack of money or a girlfriend, I can't do most of them--and it's not just sexual things, either.

Everyone: Audi has now won every European 24 Hour endurance race of note--they've won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 10 times (11 if one counts the Audi backed Bentley program win in 2003), they won the 24 Hours of Spa last year, and today they won the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring.

I have to go back to the place that I had my physical done to have my TB test looked at sometime tomorrow. I have some GT4 to play (didn't get to it last night) after my motorsports shows go off tonight.

And we now know why Kristen's skin is so good--she claims that ever since she was a teen she's used stuff like proactive. I also wonder about her sleeping habits as she doesn't seem to be excessively tired even with all the crap that she's been doing. Maybe she just sleeps a lot when she's not working--either that, or Kristen gets amped when she's around fans, or both.

And here's Kristen's shoes I was talking about yesterday--and it's pretty clear why I like them, and why she didn't and why I feel for her when she wears stuff like this:

http://www.imagebam.com/image/583d61191113649

Ouch!: http://www.imagebam.com/image/5bdde5191166651

After seeing those pics, would you buy them?

Oh, and can someone tell me why when I think of SWATH or Twilight of a fan fic character that I have that was inspired by Kristen I think of the Castlevania video games?

I'll be back later. And sorry, no more Kristen dreams yet

[Suzan]

Hey girls and guy!
Happy StewartSunday! Still haven’t caught up on all the interviews Miss Stewart has done. What a busy girl she is! And the fact that I’ve been pretty busy myself certainly hasn’t helped. Lots of family obligations this weekend. I did go and watch Dark Shadows in the theater. The movie was so funny and Johnny Depp is fantastic in it. Still towards the end I felt myself loosing a bit of interest for the plot. It was a bit cliché in my opinion. Anyways…

Quickly:

Lulu – Great to see you here again! Congratulations on trying for another baby! Good luck! A new haircut always takes some getting used to. I’m sure you look great.

Susie – Is your son moving to another dorm or were you helping him move back home for the summer? Anxiously anticipating your F-word plea. BTW; I took your advise and didn't check for grammar this time... Hope I did alright, hihi.

Sean – I’m glad your grandmother is alright. Did I understand correctly that you’ll be starting work soon? What kind of work? Congratulations on the weight loss! Keep taking care of yourself. It’s very important with heart problems and diabetes running in the family. I speak from experience. I have to agree 100% with what you said about Kristen. She’s really coming into her own. I really envy her for being so passionate about her work and she seems to get more and more comfortable with every aspect of it.

Marielle – I think Rob and Kris really handle the press well with regards to their relationship. It’s private; I get that and I don’t want to know if they’re not willing to share that information. But that fact that they’re not hiding it anymore makes me smile. Glad you had fun at Keltfest!

Brenda – Your HumpDay pics… His back always gets to me for some reason. I hope you get the job! That would probably be much better than multiple part-time jobs, right?

Tracy – I have to agree about Fifty Shades - assuming from all the comments here that there isn’t much difference between MotU and Fifty Shades. I’ve almost finished MotU and I have to admit that I’m not enjoying it as much as I thought I would from all the recommendations. It’s alright, but definitely not on my favorite-fanfics-list. Makes me glad I read MotU before spending a lot of money on the books.

Ann Marie – I hope your mom is doing alright. Let us know how the x-ray went, okay? What is the lecture for? Are you (going to be) studying psychology? How fun!

Lynne – Yep, it is satisfying to come back to a clean house after a weekend away. Make you feel like you have a much clearer head as well. I was trying to come up with actors who could look like Daniel, but couldn’t think of anyone. Except this Dutch actor Tim Murck, but he doesn’t have brown eyes and he’s about 28/29 now I believe. I think he only popped in my head because I used to have a little crush on him when I was in high school, hihi. Can you blame me? (BTW; I saw Penn Badgley on the list at fb. He's the guy that plays Dan in Gossip Girl...) It’s so weird to see you posting about going back to work on Monday morning, when it’s still Sunday evening here…

Tonise – Your poor students! Working their little buts off when they’re not even getting grades! About the departmentalization – Do you mean that now you’re teaching all subjects to one group of children and next year you’ll be teaching basically one subject to multiple classes? Just to make sure I understood what you meant.

Jaclyn – Your project descriptions made sense to me, yes, hihi. I think my project right now is a bit similar to your first project. I’m working on the interaction of small molecules (non-peptides) at the adenosine A1 receptor through allosteric modulation. And I’m particularly focusing on changes in the Kon and Koff of the orthosteric ligand (like adenosine itself) upon these allosteric interactions. Does that make sense to you?

Caryn – Yes, I couldn’t help the grin that came on my face when I saw the girl reading Eclipse. I didn’t want to bother her in the overcrowded train. Besides, I’m way to shy to pick up a conversation with a complete stranger like that. I was actually reading ELLE with Kristen on the cover and I think she noticed, because she gave me a little smile back, hihi.

Grayce – Glad you had fun on your trip. Where did you go again? TVD is great! I was reluctant to start watching as well, but it’s actually pretty interesting. It’s fast paced and definitely has you on the edge of your seat. I hear the books are a lot different than the tv-show though.

Em – I’m glad your chemotherapy is over for now! Hope you’re doing relatively alright. As for me: Finally started my Masters at univ. Busy with my first internship right now. Here’s an extra dose of Robcrack for you. You deserved it! Please come back soon. We’re always here.

Susan – It was a hard exam, but it was also the fact that I wasn’t feeling well the weekend before and I had a migraine on the day of the exam. Just couldn’t concentrate. Sigh. Anyways. You’re right; hotels in Paris are expensive, especially this time of year. That bus tour sounds like a good option than. Hope you get to go and you have lots of fun with your friend! I can afford to spend that amount of time on a megapost on the weekend, but I would much rather come here more often than that. So I just have to stick to a strict schedule of posting little posts every day, hihi. I’m glad you and your family had fun at the party. Good luck with all the other birthday duties this week!

Happy Belated Birthday, JennJenn and Kristner!

Hi Christina, Desiree and everyone else I missed!

Good night, y’all!

[Tornado]

Suzan - is that where Penn Badgley came from? All the photos have shown me just how many people in the industry I don't know!

[boo]

I think those shoes of Kristin's are pretty hot. If I wasn't a gimp I might buy them. Not for hikes, that's for sure but for an evening out, maybe.

[Susie]

As Promised, here it is!

Susie’s Thoughts on the Overuse of the “F” Word

This is my attempt to exonerate myself from being associated with “the older, uptight crowd that is clueless about pop culture.” Some fun facts about me regarding this: On one end of the spectrum, I’m very politically liberal and not very religious – eg. NOT UPTIGHT. On the other end of the spectrum, I can’t help it that I’m “a lady” or “refined” - I inherited it from my grandmother. Eg. UPTIGHT. You see, the two extremes balance each other out, so I’ll just consider myself middle-of-the-road.

You’ll be happy to know that I did not write this in dissertation format. Instead, I opted for more of a bullet point presentation. In fact it could be read as a flow chart and if it were possible to post that format on the Lex, I would have. It is mostly based on what I learned in my linguistic courses when I was working on my Masters in ESL.

I will not judge those who use the word in question because it is all just so linguistically predictable. I do reserve the right to find it offensive, though. What has zero meaning to half the population is offensive to the other half, and this is also predictable.

The Origin - Increased Use of the “F” word in the last 10 years

1) Hollywood has increased the use of the “F” word in movies to get an R rating and higher box office sales.
2) Rap music, for shock effect initially and then marketability
3) Video Games, also for shock effect, but also marketability

Linguistic Fun Facts:

1) Language is highly imitative – that is why we are all able to acquire languages.

Therefore, it is very easy to start using words and phrases that are in popular culture. If you hear it enough you’ll start using it yourself. In fact, it is difficult NOT to if you are immersed in that culture.

2) Language is habitual – you don’t have to actually think each word you are going to say – it just comes out. This is especially true for commonly uttered phrases.

Thus it is difficult to self-edit when in social settings that require “clean” language: work, school, doing any kind of business, medical care, etc. Some people are very good at having different linguistic personas, but some have more difficulty with it.

3) Social language patterns are more strongly set the older you are because you have had many more years using those patterns.

The explosion of “F” word in Hollywood happened long after my peers and I had already solidly established our social language. This social language included a list of words not to be used in public. Because that was so firmly established, we weren’t as likely to start imitating the pervasive use of a word on that list. In contrast, younger people with very sponge-like language receptors in their brains and fewer years of cemented social language rules picked it up almost automatically. This group is also highly socially interactive, thereby enabling the spread of the word exponentially.

4) Teens and young adults in our culture have always developed slang that sets them apart from the adult world, as a way of separating from their parents.

The “F” word therefore easily became part of this slang.

5) All languages have offensive words and expressions that are reserved for those moments when you are really mad at someone or something. These are called expletives. In today’s culture, it seems that these expletives have lost their power because they have entered everyday speech.

The problem is when these words lose their power, and no words are left for those moments when we get angry, we are more likely to resort to violence to settle our disputes. There are no words left to shock and to offend.


Finally, aren’t there several other words that could be used? Our vocabulary seems to be shrinking just when we need it to help us express the complexities of a changing world. If the F word doesn’t mean anything, then what does that say about our culture? That we need fillers? That we can’t express ourselves? And if the F word is indeed used to offend, what does that say about our culture? That we’ve lost some level of civility?


Thanks for reading!

[older_twilight_fan]

Hello everyone~

Hope all of you are well and enjoyed your weekends. We had a rather busy weekend attending a couple of my son's baseball games, completing a five-hour stint volunteering at the high school Girls Basketball AAU State Tournament, and most importantly--celebrating my daughter's confirmation at church today. For those of you unfamiliar with the Methodist denomination (or who might not be bored to tears by this explanation ) we often baptize our children as infants with the parents sort of "vouching" for the child, for lack of a better term. When children reach the sixth grade (or seventh grade in some churches), they can choose to be confirmed in our faith and become active members of our church, now that they are old enough to speak for and decide for themselves whether they want to do so.

In our church, this process began about nine months ago, when the children were assigned an adult mentor who helps guide them through this process. They meet together with other confirmands and mentors about twice a month to learn more about our church, the Methodist denomination and our history, as well as other faiths and denominations. They also regularly attended "field trips" to churches of other faiths, served others through various service projects, spent one-on-one time getting to know their adult mentor and explore their own faith, and attended an overnight retreat last weekend with the adult mentors, confirmands and some of the church staff to take part in team-building activities and summarize all they've learned throughout this process. All of this culminated in a moving and somewhat emotional church service this morning (for the parents ), when sixteen fine young people were officially confirmed in the Methodist tradition and became active members of our church. It was a very special day for our family, and we were glad to have my Mom and hub's parents there to celebrate with us. We've attended our church since I was pregnant with my daughter thirteen years ago, and I've watched many classes of confirmands join the church over the years.....it was amazing to see my sweet baby girl standing up there doing the same. She's growing up to be such a special young lady and we couldn't be prouder.

Thanks for indulging me and letting me babble on about my precious daughter.....

Susie~ I loved reading your thoughts on the overuse of the "F" word, and thanks for sharing. I think this bit was my favorite:

5) All languages have offensive words and expressions that are reserved for those moments when you are really mad at someone or something. These are called expletives. In today’s culture, it seems that these expletives have lost their power because they have entered everyday speech.

The problem is when these words lose their power, and no words are left for those moments when we get angry, we are more likely to resort to violence to settle our disputes. There are no words left to shock and to offend

....you're absolutely right. It's like the "F" word isn't even an expletive anymore. I hope you're enjoying having SonnyBoy at home, and I bet he's loving the home cooked meals. I think you had mentioned that Daughter Dear was going to Argentina for service work....good for her. Will you be able to stay in touch with her fairly easily via e-mail, etc.?

Desiree~ Congrats on finishing your class and hopefully getting good results on the exam.

Lynne~ I look forward to reading your fanfic when you have a chance to e-mail it to me. I sent you my address via a Facebook message. I hope business picks up for you and your husband this week.

Suzan~ I'm glad to hear you liked Dark Shadows, but thanks for the honest review that you lost a little interest in it near the end. It does look very campy and funny, but may be a good one to watch on DVD. I'm thinking about taking my kids to see The Avengers this Thursday to celebrate the start of summer vacation. I thought I saw the running time was just over 2-1/2 hours , and I'm wondering if that might be a little long for them. They're twelve and ten-years old, and I need to check out the ratings and reviews a little more carefully just to be sure it's not too violent for them. I don't blame you about passing on Fifty Shades, especially if you weren't enthralled by MOTU (which I've never read). I actually don't think I've enjoyed reading the Fifty books nearly as much as my coworkers, but that's probably because I'm no stranger to really well-written fanfic, so I'm a little spoiled, (and they've never read fanfic--as far as I know). It sounds like you may have found a kindred spirit in Jaclyn, as far as discussing your job descriptions and past or current projects.

Sean~ Maybe you should write an article about Kristen, as I think you could expound on her virtues more thoroughly and definitively than any other source or news outlet. That's good news that your physical seemed to go relatively well.

Jaclyn~ I'm sorry you're having to work on Saturdays and know that's a bummer, even if you have Monday off work. How many Saturdays (or weekends) will you be required to work? Thanks for sharing the Friday Robcrack with us.

Grayce~ I'm glad you enjoyed your time away but am sure it's good to be home. I know you'll be thrilled to get to the mini dollhouse store when you visit with your in-laws, and let us know what you find. The gas prices are hell on my paycheck too as I drive a total of fifty miles per day, to and from work. How far is your commute? I haven't seen or read any reviews about Battleship, but know my ten-year-old son thought it "looked cool". Have you or the boys seen The Avengers? I'm assuming it's fine for my ten and twelve year old to see, as they've seen several PG-13 movies; but will research it a little more first to be on the safe side.

Marielle~ I'm glad to hear you had a great time at the festival and look forward to seeing your pictures. I hope you enjoy using your new camera. I think hubs and I may purchase a nicer camera (not point-and-shoot) for our anniversary next week.

Brenda~ Sorry you seemed to have somewhat of a craptastic week, and I hope this next one proves to be better. I know it must be difficult to say "no" to your employer regarding new cases, especially when you may feel that a particular child might not have an advocate otherwise....but you have to consider your needs and the needs of your family, as well. Perhaps if you have a specific "reason" to say no prepared in advance (whether slightly fabricated or not ).....certain family obligations or kids' activities or husband being out of town.....it might make it easier for you to pass on that next case. I understand what you mean about pop culture obsessions....and some of my past obsessions of varying degrees have included Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, the television show The Office, and a couple of other young adult book series by Cassandra Clare and Veronica Roth. I read and enjoyed several Tom Clancy books back in the day and fell a little bit in love with the character of John Clark.

Songbird~ I hope your trip to Paris to visit your good friend works out for you and your husband, and am keeping fingers crossed that your hubs actually gets his vacation days, your in-laws are able to take care of the kids, and that FIL has no complications with his surgery. It sounds like you had a lovely, but tiring weekend celebrating your in-laws' anniversary, and hope you're able to recuperate just a bit before you jump right back in it, getting ready for your daughter's 6th B'day. I'm sure she'll have a wonderful week with all those fun days and ways of celebrating her birthday. She sounds like quite the gem, especially how sweet she was reading to her little brother and helping console the crying baby over the weekend.

Caryn~ I hope you were able to successfully put out all of your fires at work and had a chance to recuperate over the weekend. I liked reading your thoughts about the evolution of Rob and Kris and their relationship, and also agree with what you said about how different it can be reading stories from Bella's versus Edward's perspective and voice.

Ann Marie~ Congrats on purchasing your tickets to Chicago! Hope all is well with you.

Emily~ Sending postive thoughts and vibes your way, and sorry you've been going through a rough time. Thanks for checking in with us. Here's a little Robcrack for distraction, as requested.

Hi to Missp and Lulu and anyone else I've missed~

[Tornado]

My email is not working at the moment! ARRRRRRGH! Can someone else please email my fanfic to Tracy? Thanks!