From 12-09-2009: But today, someone said to me, with a heavy Latin accent, no one in America speaks English!! And I was astounded at his revelation of all Americans, and he continued to respond to my correction of his advertisement- printed with many oddities in grammar, spelling, text but also the word lent on it. I said, lent what is lent? In the sentence it was clearly not, the Christian season before Easter, and I said, what is this word? He said, lent! and went on to proclaim, that we all said it. In his own way, it was clear that he wanted to get by, as much as I find this resourcefulness fun, it is vital in print that we use properly spelled words, esspecially in advertising, its NOT negotiable. The printed word needs to represent, what we mean the most, and lent is the way he heard, Length, only if he had ever heard it said phonetically, or read it , he would have known, but unfortunately for him, this was just another reason for anger, and it was as if he stigmatized himself, I will always relate lent to length now, hes changed my definition in my head. Slang does this, it takes words and re negotiates their meaning, and often we can sound very old, or very un-cool, by using slang that is from a particular era. Slang is not what I think of as proper English, and usually is not the standard for publishing in print or for media. Does the Bible have slang in it?
I understand that many of us are frustrated with the world and the way it is, and how we can’t control it. The generation gap widens each time words are changed and used in order to separate the young from the old. I know I should have patience with anyone who wants to discuss events and have opinions, no matter what their rhetoric might be, but there is a fine line between optimal accents that allow someone to know your background, and being intolerant of the language that you communicate with. Being good or bad with it, it is your words that people hear first, and no matter who you are, or how well dressed you are, your education will show in the words you choose. It is said that when you put junk in you can only get junk out, meaning - junk food will, only produce a person with a personality of a Twinkie. This is true of junk-media, music, and books, you cannot possibly expect to speak better or command the English language without the study of all genres, and not excluding the classics as a base.
In this United States, we have forgotten the question of what language do we speak, is it English? Webster's Dictionary has a new video that automatically opens and plays when you use the web site. And it proclaims that our language is a mongrel of a language. What an image that is, and coming from our book of definitions, I almost find that thought detrimental to my ability to see myself with any culture what so ever.
It was Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect of the 20th century, who said, it is us who designs our own life, we make our buildings we make our cities and towns; we make the blueprints, for our beautiful lives. We do. I was happy with this, it was a point I felt needed to be made so that my mistake of working there wasn’t so severe, I learned something very important. I don’t know enough about writing, or English to ever stop learning, and I will not hesitate to talk about with my kids. But I also can see that people are free to say whatever they want, and I can’t really look at others by simply what they say, for I can be judged myself. People make statements, and they want us to react, and that is when we need to stand up for ourselves, similar to this time when I felt this was important to write:
02-11-2009
I wrote a book about the first American Panda, and within the pages I weave a consistent thread of knowledge that animals are unable to defend themselves against the threat of the hunter with a gun, who just kills for the sport. It is never a nice thing to see an animal caged in a zoo, unless this animal needed the first-aid, and attention to live and now survives well by the care and love of educated people. So when did PETA decide to make humans the enemy? How did we all get on the black list for being supremacists and have to defend our rights to have pets, to eat meat, or to wear leather? When did this start? This will require some research on my part and know that I will be following up on the people of PETA and their ways. I will be provoking some serious questions and debate the rights of people who stomp on other peoples freedoms.
What is this, the people of PETA think that if you own a pure bread dog you may as well be in the KLU KLUX KLAN? Wow, that's harsh! Isn’t that just a little strong? For those who probably might think that the Klan is just about white supreme idiots, how does that relate to animal worshiping, or animal training, or animal showing. If I saw that, in front of any animal show I would have to accuse them of being the kkk. I would say that they are in fact doing the same thing, creating a group of people who are evil in the ways of actively hurting others freedoms, they discriminate against others by actively and grossly exaggerating the facts. Would those animals be able to survive in the wild without the care of humans? Where would they live in the wild? Domesticated animals are a part of the fabric of the Human Spirit, and this is more of an attribute, animals are vital to the lives of people . How is loving your pet, taking care of it and showing it, linked to the terrorism of the kkk? When you watch the story of Gandhi they demanded that no one buy products that hurt people, his wife said, beauty that causes pain is not worth it. I agree, we should not hurt helpless animals, but helpless people, who is in pain here? In this case I would say it was the people, and the animals have no idea what the kkk is. I guess that is what they wanted us to think. I still have issues with Peta, they continue to say the strangest things to bring up animal suffering at the hands of humans. Nature is cruel too, but we won’t even talk about that… I have a Daughter that belongs to Peta… she gets stickers, and even submits artwork! Freedom comes in so many forms, I would have not believed that this is what it has become today, the right to say and do whatever you want, and the right to undo what many believe is a wholesome living, called farming. What would my own Grandmother say? Well if you don’t know, I will tell you, she’d say, we never did that on our farm! And get on with it! When did life become so controversial?
I keep saying that we make a good life, and then wait for someone to outlaw it!
In closing I need a good laugh and a bitter sweet memory, I sometimes really miss my little life as a Berkeley Girl working at the Sandwich City, and I know I miss the Marvelous Marin days, with the rolling hills, the great shops and beaches. I had some very funny stories that have always brought me to smile, like watching Neil Schon speed off in his Ferrari, while my Mustang’s headliner blew-up, and BFF ‘n I said, hold up the roof…When I was taken to meet Prince at his Purple Rain concert dressed in horrible 80’s garb, or when I sat in front of Eric Clapton and he looked at me while he sang Good night Irene, some things we never forget, because they were really fun or embarrassing. And then some things we remember because we wish we could just go back and change them. In the movie 13 going on 30, the main character, realizes that she was not the person she thought she was, growing up, and she lost the chance to love someone because she was a child making childish choices. Even as adults we can do that, like I mistakenly told Todd Rungeran that the wait for a table at the Sausalito Houlihan’s would be, two hours, simply because I did not recognize him…
(Hello it’s me, I’ve thought about your for a long long time …Think of me…).Or when I ran up on stage to dance with Chris Isaak! Sometimes we just let ourselves off the hook, and act silly! But we should never regret the past, there is no changing it.
We all want to know what love is, and we want someone to show it to us.
I believe that the city streets and the countryside has its own secrets that can’t possibly be learned anywhere else but there, and just as different and strange the land and the animals are in both places, people are pretty much the same where ever you go. It’s family that makes a difference. In the way we talk, and see the world, in the lessons of home and pets and manners, and in humility, we come by it all by honest experience, and no one is immune to it. Everyone has miracles in their life, and heartaches.
Our heart goes with us, where ever we go, so we always know that love lives in us. It is also in our tears, and our smiles, our music we play and listen to, and our letters and our artwork; it is in our homes and the places we go for retreat.
Love and Pandawishes.
You know you're from SAN FRANCISCO when…
Basic Info
Type:
1.You say "the city" and expect everyone to know that this means San Francisco.
2.You have never been to the the Golden Gate Bridge or Alcatraz.
3.You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Union Square to the Embarcadero at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.
4.Hookers and the homeless are invisible.
5.The BART or MUNI makes sense.
6.You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual. 7.You've considered stabbing someone just for saying "Frisco".
8.If you have lived in San Francisco for more than ten years. Not including living at home with your parents.
9.You call an 5' x 7' plot of patchy grass a yard.
10.You consider Marin "upstate". 11.You think Golden Gate Park is "nature."
12.Your family immigrated here to give you a better future.
13.You're paying $1,200 for a studio the size of a walk-in closet and you think it's a "steal." 14.You've been to Oakland twice and got hopelessly lost both times.
15.You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the U.S. pay in rent.
16.You haven't seen more than twelve stars in the night sky since you went away to camp as a kid.
17.You go to dinner at 9 and head out to the clubs when most Americans are heading to bed. 18.Your closet is filled with black clothes.
19.You haven't heard the sound of true absolute silence since the 80s, and when you did, it terrified you.
20.You pay $5 without blinking for a beer that cost the bar 28 cents.
21.You take fashion seriously.
22.Being truly alone makes you nervous.
23.You have 27 different menus next to your telephone.
24.Going to Berkeley is considered a "road trip." 25.America east of the San Francisco Bay is still theoretical to you.
26.You've gotten jaywalking down to an art form.
27.You take a taxi to get to your health club to exercise.
28.Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes.
29.$150 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag.
30.You have a minimum of five "worst cab ride ever" stories.
31.You don't notice sirens anymore.
32.You live in a building with a larger population than most American towns.
33.Your doorman is Russian, your grocer is Korean your deli man is Israeli, your building super is Italian, your laundry guy is Chinese, your favorite bartender is Irish, your favorite diner owner is Greek, the watchseller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was Pakistani, your newsstand guy is Chinese and your favorite falafel guy is Egyptian.
34.You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.
35.You secretly envy cabbies for their driving skills.
36.You think $5.00 to cross a bridge is a fair price.
37.Your door has more than three locks.
38.Your favorite movie was filmed downtown. 39.You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
40.You run when you see a flashing "Do Not Walk" sign at the intersection.
41.You're 35 years old and don't have a driver's license.
42.You ride in a subway car with no air conditioning just because there are seats available.
43.You're willing to take in strange people as roommates simply to help pay the rent.
44.You know where to get the best Pho in the Tenderloin...45.You have bought a home anywhere but in San Francisco.
46.When you're away from home, you miss "real" pizza and "real" bagels.
47.You know the differences between all the different Irving Street Pizzas.
48.You're not in the least bit interested in going to the Embarcadero on New Year's Eve.
49.Your internal clock is permanently set to know when Alternate Side of the Street parking regulations are in effect.
50.You know what a massage parlor really is.
51.You know how to fold the San Francisco Chronicle in half, vertically, so that you can read it on the subway or bus without knocking off other passenger's hats.
52.Someone bumps into you, and you check for your wallet.....
53.You cringe at people who ask you for directions back to their hotel when San Francisco is only 7 miles by 7 miles and they are two blocks away from their hotel and they have a map marked "you are here".
54.Film crews on your block annoy you, not excite you.
55. People from other states cant tell a polar bear from a peanut, but they know you're from San Francisco the second you open your mouth.
56. When you are able to make a right turn at a red light.. you think it's the best thing ever.
57. Rather than waiting safely on the sidewalk to cross the street, you wait inches away from speeding traffic waiting to cut through it.
58. Your local news is national news.
59. You walk a mile in 13 minutes and think that everything should be open 24/7.
60. You go clubbin' at 1015...
61. You think you know better than everyone else in the world.. when in reality.. well.. you do.
62. Yellow light means speed up.
63. Red light means speed up because you know have that 1 second pause until the other light turns green.
64. Communicating with people on the road only takes one finger.
65. You order your dinner and have it delivered.. From the place across the street.
66. You cross the street on a greenlight, and if you get hit by a car you blame the driver for "not watching where they're going.
67. You can tell a gunshot from a firecracker and not get scared, but when you go to the burbs you get scared of hearing a cricket.
68. You have asked a bum for some spare change before he was able to ask you and he pulls out a $100 dollar bill.
Thats the San Francisco, CA- I remember with one thing left out, can drive all three briges in one day, and figure out how to pay non of them..:)
