My lovely wife, Susan, sent me an e-mail this morning telling me that she was scheduled to be the announcer for the school geography bee today at the school where she works. Someone neglected to follow through on a promise to give her the materials last week so that she could have looked them over and been sure by today of how to pronounce all the place names, so Susan expressed to me a little anxiety about that. Here was my helpful advice in reply:
Make a lot of gutteral noises and back-of-the-throat hacking to simulate "authentic" local pronunciations. If it's a foreign country, all J's and X's are silent. All R's are rolled exotically. All V's are pronounced as B's, and all C's are pronounced as CH's (as in "church").
Emphasize random syllables. If a student asks you to repeat a pronunciation, roll your eyes extravagantly and say the word louder, but pronounce it slightly differently this time (perhaps just a vowel). Continue this pattern if he/she asks for more repeats, each time altering a different vowel or consonant.
Once the bee moves into the finals round, apply these pronunciation rules even to American place names. "Cincinatti" becomes "CHIN-chin-ah-TEE." "Washington" becomes "bah-SING-tone." "North Dakota" becomes "SHANK-eye-SHEK." Good luck!
Above all, make it fun for you, even if not for the students.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Wonderful Weekend
What a terrific weekend we just had! Susan and I took half a day off from work on Friday so that we could drive to Harwood, ND (just north of Fargo) for our annual Christmas celebration with our friends the Zanders. The tradition is that we invade their home for a weekend and let them feed, house, and entertain us before we blast on out again. Accordingly, Janelle made a delicious supper (including two kinds of lasagne, Caesar salad, wine bottled by their neighbors, and a variety of Christmas baking) that we enjoyed before gathering in the living room to exchange gifts. They have three kids with a fourth on the way in February, and the already-born ones and our own three kids have a great time playing together. That affords us quality visiting time of our own.
Saturday Janelle made a huge brunch (eggs, hash browns, French toast, sausage, filled pastry, juice), and the kids continued playing (Abigail made mud pies in the back yard!). We adults continued visiting and reminiscing and laughing--very relaxing. We left around noon for East Grand Forks, MN for the annual Christmas party hosted by our friends the Almlies. They are in a new home as of this fall, so we first got the grand tour of the grand home: three floors, four bathrooms, four garage stalls, beautiful woodwork throughout, lots of space, modern fixtures, etc. It is beautiful and envy-inducing.
Then we helped (very little, I might note) to prepare for their themed Christmas party. The theme? "Get Lei-ed." It was a luau with tropical decorations (inflated fish suspended all over, beach balls, leis and sunglasses available for each guest, a lit palm tree in the corner) and foods (rum punches, coconut and pineapple for dipping, and a huge variety of appetizers). My contribution was to crack open the coconuts and pry out the meat to add to the tray of other fruits for the chocolate fountain (yes, they own a chocolate fountain--this should indicate how often they entertain on a grand scale). They put in a lot of work to plan and execute their parties; it's humbling.
Our girls and their kids spent the night with the children of another couple who attended the party, our friends the Langeruds, who happen to live one street over from the Almlies. There were lots of people at the party (they had invited 72!), many of whom we have met at previous Almlie get-togethers and several who have been our good friends for years, including the Langeruds, the Borysewiczes, the Hill-Brandts, and the Christenson-Kropps. It was a terrific party with lots of fun and laughter. Some pictures follow.
I saved the coconut shells after extricating their meat for the chocolate fountain. At some point Jay scurried into the garage for the tools to string two of the shells into an impromptu brassiere . . . for me! Here, Job fits me with the outer undergarment while Kristen looks on and, finally, Jay feels me up.
We spent the night in the Almlies' guest room. ("Night"? After the last of the guests left, we finally got to bed at 4:00 A.M. The Almlies' kids were in a Sunday school program this morning, so we got up again at 8:00 A.M. to get ready and leave in time for them to make it to church. Yikes!) We headed for Fargo and ate lunch at the Olive Garden. Then we did some shopping and even bought some home decor items for ourselves at Pier 1 Imports. The drive across North Dakota--both directions--was very easy this winter. There was virtually no snow anywhere this weekend, and temperatures were pleasant in the 40s and mid-30s each day. We listened to Christmas music CDs, Susan read, the kids napped, and we all enjoyed a relaxing drive to each of our destinations. We're very appreciative of our wonderful friends and the great times that we have every time we get together.
Saturday Janelle made a huge brunch (eggs, hash browns, French toast, sausage, filled pastry, juice), and the kids continued playing (Abigail made mud pies in the back yard!). We adults continued visiting and reminiscing and laughing--very relaxing. We left around noon for East Grand Forks, MN for the annual Christmas party hosted by our friends the Almlies. They are in a new home as of this fall, so we first got the grand tour of the grand home: three floors, four bathrooms, four garage stalls, beautiful woodwork throughout, lots of space, modern fixtures, etc. It is beautiful and envy-inducing.
Then we helped (very little, I might note) to prepare for their themed Christmas party. The theme? "Get Lei-ed." It was a luau with tropical decorations (inflated fish suspended all over, beach balls, leis and sunglasses available for each guest, a lit palm tree in the corner) and foods (rum punches, coconut and pineapple for dipping, and a huge variety of appetizers). My contribution was to crack open the coconuts and pry out the meat to add to the tray of other fruits for the chocolate fountain (yes, they own a chocolate fountain--this should indicate how often they entertain on a grand scale). They put in a lot of work to plan and execute their parties; it's humbling.
Our girls and their kids spent the night with the children of another couple who attended the party, our friends the Langeruds, who happen to live one street over from the Almlies. There were lots of people at the party (they had invited 72!), many of whom we have met at previous Almlie get-togethers and several who have been our good friends for years, including the Langeruds, the Borysewiczes, the Hill-Brandts, and the Christenson-Kropps. It was a terrific party with lots of fun and laughter. Some pictures follow.
Erin and Jay filled the floor of one garage stall with sand for beach fun! Here, Erin builds a sand castle and models her bathing suit and grass skirt.
Here's Jay, my "brutha from anotha mutha." Unfortunately for him, lots of people seem to think we look alike, assuming we're brothers or, even worse for him, mistaking him for me.
Here Erin visits with Nicole and Jesse beneath the parasol of a deck table in one of the garage stalls.
Erin and Job (and, below them, Mishka) model their shades and leis.
Here's Kevin (I) laughing with Kevin (he).
Don't be too awed by the coolness of Nicole and me to notice the inflated tropical fish hanging overhead.
I saved the coconut shells after extricating their meat for the chocolate fountain. At some point Jay scurried into the garage for the tools to string two of the shells into an impromptu brassiere . . . for me! Here, Job fits me with the outer undergarment while Kristen looks on and, finally, Jay feels me up.
We spent the night in the Almlies' guest room. ("Night"? After the last of the guests left, we finally got to bed at 4:00 A.M. The Almlies' kids were in a Sunday school program this morning, so we got up again at 8:00 A.M. to get ready and leave in time for them to make it to church. Yikes!) We headed for Fargo and ate lunch at the Olive Garden. Then we did some shopping and even bought some home decor items for ourselves at Pier 1 Imports. The drive across North Dakota--both directions--was very easy this winter. There was virtually no snow anywhere this weekend, and temperatures were pleasant in the 40s and mid-30s each day. We listened to Christmas music CDs, Susan read, the kids napped, and we all enjoyed a relaxing drive to each of our destinations. We're very appreciative of our wonderful friends and the great times that we have every time we get together.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Postcard Secrets
My supervisor lent me a gift she just received: the book My Secret, a collection of postcards compiled by Frank Warren. He encourages people to send him postcards on which they have written secrets in order to experience the relief of revelation with the safety of anonymity. Many of them are available on the Web site PostSecret. Some of the secrets are goofy, some are heart-warming, others are heart-breaking. The content of each message is only half the overall effect; the way in which the card is decorated and lettered has a lot of impact, too.
The book is a quick read, but it's thought-provoking. What are my own secrets? Which of them are hurting me, and which are good to keep? With whom do I share secrets? How do my secrets define me? What secrets hold me back, and which ones keep me motivated to do certain things? If you'd like to experience the beauty and catharsis of being privvy to others' secrets and to the manner in which they have chosen to express them, check out the Web site or buy the book.
Other PostSecret books:
The book is a quick read, but it's thought-provoking. What are my own secrets? Which of them are hurting me, and which are good to keep? With whom do I share secrets? How do my secrets define me? What secrets hold me back, and which ones keep me motivated to do certain things? If you'd like to experience the beauty and catharsis of being privvy to others' secrets and to the manner in which they have chosen to express them, check out the Web site or buy the book.
Other PostSecret books:
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