You come across the weirdest things

"American"
As the Official Language of the United States

By Washington J. McCormick

Washington J. McCormick, a Republican Congressman from Montana, in 1923 proposed to displace English in favor of "American" as the national language. Apparently, this was the first official-language measure ever considered by the U.S. Congress. The bill died in committee, although it was adopted later that year by the state of Illinois. McCormick's rationale for the change was quoted in The Nation on April 11, 1923:

I might say I would supplement the political emancipation of '76 by the mental emancipation of '23. America has lost much in literature by not thinking its own thoughts and speaking them boldly in a language unadorned with gold braid. It was only when Cooper, Irving, Mark Twain, Whitman, and O. Henry dropped the Order of the Garter and began to write American that their wings of immortality sprouted. Had Noah Webster, instead of styling his monumental work the "American Dictionary of the English Language," written a "Dictionary of the American Language," he would have become a founder instead of a compiler. Let our writers drop their top-coats, spats, and swagger-sticks, and assume occasionally their buckskin, moccasins, and tomahawks.

---

1923 Declaration of "American"
as the Official Language of Illinois

Whereas, Since the creation of the American Republic there have been certain Tory elements in our country who have never become reconciled to our republican institutions and have ever clung to the tradition of King and Empire; and

Whereas, America has been a haven of liberty and place of opportunity for the common people of all nations; and

Whereas, These strangers within our gates who seek economic betterment, political freedom, larger opportunities for their children and citizenship for themselves, come to think of our institutions as American and our language as the American language; and

Whereas, The name of the language of a country has a powerful psychological influence in stimulating and preserving the national ideal; and

Whereas, The languages of other countries bear the names of the countries to which they belong, ... now therefore

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: The official language of the State of Illinois shall be known hereafter as the "American" language and not as the "English" language.

See more English first stuff, if you can stomach it.

Errands

There was something about teaching English to non-natives that often caused me to look at everything around me as a possible lesson idea. If not as material for a full-fledged class, I would often store experiences or found objects away as good real-life examples to support some language point. Well, today I was running errands on my way home and as I grooved along in my little car, rocking out to Cheb Mami, I thought to myself, "Self, jeepers, but errands do end up spending you a lot of money in just a short time!" Fortunately, I had a good mix of picking up and dropping off, not to mention pick-up dates, so the output of cash will be spread out a bit over the next week. I don't know why I really care, it all comes out of the same month's paycheck anyway! Just psychological, I guess.

But I digress. The other thing I thought of was how today was the perfect example of something I could use to practice a language point that never failed to make my Spanish students' heads like to pop off: to have something done. The main reason for this is that there is no similar structure in Spanish, so generally students wouldn't see the need for such language, but would rather just express the situation in another way. Something like, I took my suit to the dry cleaners. Everyone knows why you would do such a thing, so why say you took it to have it cleaned? Hmm, they've got a point there! An additional problem was that inevitably, the list of examples would include things you just didn't have done that often, so the language would then seem even more useless to them. Generally the course books would end up inventing a situation in which many services where used: getting married, remodeling your house, but which are, shall we say, not everyday occurrences. Nonetheless, I amused myself by seeing how long a list I could make for my theoretical class. So, there was:

- I'm having my cute little patent leather boots reheeled.
- I'm having tips put on my cute little patent leather boots.
- I'm having my sassy little slingbacks resoled.
- I had my gray cardigan dry dry cleaned.
- I'm having the celluloid on my gold and black enamel mourning pin replaced with glass, as it broke.

I just couldn't manage to make stopping at Petco to pick up some food and catnip into anything, though. Maybe "I had my cat gotten high"? Speaking of which, think I'll do that right now.

CCXCII

December 2005

Lance Cpl. Craig N. Watson 21
Sgt. Andy A. Stevens 29
Lance Cpl. Andrew G. Patten 19
Lance Cpl. Scott T. Modeen 24
Cpl. Anthony T. McElveen 20
Lance Cpl. Robert A. Martinez 20
Lance Cpl. Adam W. Kaiser 19
Lance Cpl. David A. Huhn 24
Lance Cpl. John M. Holmason 20
Staff Sgt. Daniel J. Clay 27

[All of these people died in the same "incident". It's an odd thing, doing this list, for some reason my mind tends to focus more on imagining the reaction of the people around the one who gets killed. The people who will remember the last thing he or she said or did. In this case, I wonder if there was anyone to remember. This was a homemade bomb explosion at an abandoned flour factory on a Marine outpost.]

Source: CNN.com

In which I do my part to aid the economy to the tune of $32/minute

After over a year of watching DVDs on my computer as it perches rather unstably on the top of a bookcase and talking about how one of these days I'm going to get around to buying a television, I did, get around to it that is.

Last night, determined to finally suck it up and spend the money and armed with my no-interest-until-February-2010 credit card, X and I headed off to do the Southcenter thing. Fortunately, we thought to check what time Best Buy closed, it being 8:26 or so, and upon discovering that it was 9 p.m. instead of 10, as we'd expected (the economy?), in we nipped and in less than 20 minutes, out we walked with a brand new 32" Samsung flat screen monstrosity. (I have never owned a television bigger than 17 inches and had gone in expecting to "upgrade" to 26", but 32" was about the same price. After an initial fright at its largeness, I'm actually enjoying a nice big, bright picture for my moovee experience.) So there you have it, first a nearly-new car, now a (far too shiny) big new TV: I must be an adult!

A bit shell-shocked at such rapid spending, hunger set in. After an always satisfying dinner at Pho Tai, we popped into Half Price books, he to seek out stuff on caves for artistic purposes, and me to search for something on creating illuminated letters (with the obligatory check to see if there was anything by Jonathan Carroll in hardcover and a troll through the sale section).

When we got back home, setting the thing up was a relative breeze (except for that one part we didn't know where to put), and after much futzing with cable organization on my part, we settled in to watch Innocence. It was lovely, but the dark scenes were a little dark. Don't know if its the boob non-tube or the film, but it still looked good and was a nice choice for first viewing. Unfortunately, can't tell you how it ends, as I fell asleep after about 45 minutes (not out of boredom, out of lateness), but I believe the word X used to describe the rest was "harrowing"!

CCXCI

November 2005

Pfc. Marc A. Delgado 21
Pfc. Ryan D. Christensen 22
Spc. Gregory L. Tull 20 [Iowa Army Nat'l Guard]
Master Sgt. Brett E. Angus 40
Sgt. Jerry W. Mills Jr. 23
Sgt. Donald J. Hasse 28
Cpl. William G. Taylor 26
Cpl. Joshua D. Snyder 20
Staff Sgt. William D. Richardson 30
Sgt. Grzegorz Jakoniuk 25

Source: CNN.com

Accountability

So, I just almost got into a car accident. I was driving along down Fauntleroy when somebody pulled out in front of me making a left turn. I was able to slam on my brakes in time and nobody got hurt. She had made a mistake, no harm done. So why am I still thinking about it and steaming? I'll tell you: because of the other driver's reaction. There was no, "OMG, I'm so sorry!" or even a shrug and an "Oops, I screwed up!". No, when she saw me screaming, "Jesus! What the fuck?" she just gestured to the school bus making a right turn beside me and indicated that gee, she just couldn't see me what with that big orangy yellow thing there. Sorry, lady, that just doesn't cut it. You can't see because of a behemoth vehicle transporting children to their place of learning, you don't take the left. It's that simple. Don't even give me that you thought the bus might be stopping and putting out its stop sign so I in turn would have to stop. No, the bus was clearly turning right and signalling as such. You were responsible for endangering my personal safety and you should accept that responsibility. Blaming it on "interference" is just not acceptable. Why do people persist in always trying to shift the blame, trying to get out of having to accept the possible consequences of their actions?

I think we have bred a culture in which people are always trying their hardest to get out of things so that they may continue to act with impunity without any annoying nagging bad thoughts of guilt or responsibility tugging at their brain. I repeat: This is just not acceptable. If she had admitted her mistake and simply mouthed a "sorry," I would be remembering it as a scare and reminding my own self to drive more safety. As it is, I'm just pissed off.

CCXC

November 2005
Sgt. Dominic J. Sacco 32
Sgt. John Jones 31 [British]
Pfc. John W. Dearing 21 [Michigan Army Nat'l Guard]

Sgt. Denis J. Gallardo 22
Sgt. William B. Meeuwsen 24
Spc. Allen J. Knop 22
Staff Sgt. Aram J. Bass 25
Spc. Javier A. Villanueva 25
Staff Sgt. Steven C. Reynolds 32
Sgt. 1st Class Eric P. Pearrow 40

Source: CNN.com

Pet peeve of the day

Coffee house employees who think that just because it's hot behind the bar where they're running around and steaming the milk that their customers, seated right in front of the entrance and typing away, which we all know does not (unfortunately) expend great amounts of activity and raise one's body temperature, will not be frozed to death when they prop open the door.

It ain't spring yet, folks!

CCXXXIX

November 2005

Sgt. Luis R. Reyes 26 [Colorado Army Nat'l Guard]
Pfc. Anthony A. Gaunky 19
Master Sgt. Anthony R. C. Yost 39
Lance Cpl. Tyler J. Troyer 21
Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas 20
Pvt. Christopher M. Alcozer 21
Spc. Michael J. Idanan 21
1st Lt. Dennis W. Zilinski 23
Staff Sgt. Edward Karolasz 25
Cpl. Jonathan F. Blair 21

Source: CNN.com

Blogging vs. Facebook

I had a lovely dinner with some old friends last night, one of whom I hadn't seen in about 14 years, but who got back in contact with me through Facebook. The relative merits of Facebook and blogging regarding communicaton and staying in contact obliquely cropped up a couple times in conversation. A conversation which might not have been occuring had it not been for Facebook. This is one of the reasons I simply cannot jump on the Facebook sux bandwagon: It's a good way to stay in touch and see what people are up to, and is much more interactive than blogging. And it does so in a fun, easy and very customizable way. Let's face it: most of just don't have the time or energy to write lots of long blog posts, nor do we have the time to devote lots of "quality time" to all the people we have in our lives but would still like to retain contact with. Yes, when one blogs, one can be seen to be starting a conversation, sharing experiences, thoughts and ideas, and (I imagine) one hopes for both readers and comments, but one does not always get either. Just writing a blog post may seem like a call for response, but tagging someone on a note, sending them a message or a flower or any other the myriad other time-wasting nonsense activities Facebook is such a good outlet for is not only more, shall we say, insistent, but it feels like there is the desire to start a two-way conversation. It feels much much less navel-gazing (although I will agree that those who do insist on staring at their former umbilical cord docking station will persist regardless of the medium) than blogging does.

That said, I miss blogging, and while I do not write, I often have posts rambling around in my head trying to take shape. To wit: tomorrow's post about how they don't want my blood is sure to get those vampires among you salivating.

CCXXXVIII

November 2005
Staff Sgt. James E. Estep 26
Cpl. Joshua J. Ware 20
Cpl. Jeffry A. Rogers 21
Pvt. Dylan R. Paytas 20
Sgt. Jeremy E. Murray 27
2nd Lt. Donald R. McGlothlin 26
Lance Cpl. John A. Lucente 19
Lance Cpl. Roger W. Deeds 24
Spc. Vernon R. Widner 34
Staff Sgt. Ivan V. Alarcon 23

Source: CNN.com

Teaching

You know, it's generally easy to teach the outgoing, confident student. It's satisfying in that you get immediate feedback and can engage them in a variety of ways. It's the shy or the insecure or the weak students that are such a challenge. Yet they are also the most rewarding in the end. When you have an experience like I did today and feel like you managed to give a student the right combination of support, attention and space for them to learn and feel comfortable in the class, it's the most profound feeling of making a real difference in someone's learning. The strong student is going to learn with or without you, and sometimes even despite you. But the weaker one needs the right touch to make learning a pleasure and not a chore or agony. The look and statement of sincere thanks on the face of a student I'd never seen before today was a little treasure to make this fine Friday seem all the brighter.

CCXXXVII

November 2005
Lance Cpl. Scott A. Zubowski 20
Staff Sgt. Stephen J. Sutherland 33
Lance Cpl. David A. Mendez Ruiz 20
Maj. Ramon J. Mendoza Jr. 37
Lance Cpl. Christopher M. McCrackin 20
Cpl. John M. Longoria 21
Lance Cpl. Nickolas D. Schiavoni 26
Spc. Alexis Roman-Cruz 33
Spc. Matthew J. Holley 21
Pfc. Travis J. Grigg 24

Source: CNN.com

Volunteer reader

Yesterday I did my first shift as a United Way volunteer reader. I am assigned to a daycare center in Burien with kids ranging in age from two to five/six. I will be going just an hour a week. As is to be expected, the first day was a bit disorienting, but I still had fun, and I can tell that once I get my bearings and get to know the kids, it'll be even more satisfying. I only read to two girls yesterday, and it was fascinating to see how different their reactions were. One couldn't wait to get her hands on the books, but didn't seem interested in the stories that much. She responded much more to being asked questions and talking about what she say. The other couldn't wait to "read" me the stories herself and picked books with lots and lots of text, rather than simple picture books more her level. They were both obviously bright, aware kids, but the two interacted with books and reading in very different ways.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie was the only title to get chosen by both girls. It's a favorite of mine. I think I'll bring in a couple of the "sequals": If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, If You Take a Mouse to School, If You Give a Pig a Party, If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.

An interesting adjunct to this observation came this morning as I was driving along listening to NPR. Weekday featured an interview with Sir Ken Robinson talking about creativity and different intelligences. It was one of those stay-in-the-car-and-listen-a-little-more features for me.

CCXXXVI

November 2005
Staff Sgt. Brian L. Freeman 27
1st Lt. Justin S. Smith 28
Lance Cpl. Jeremy P. Tamburello 19
Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn C. Cashe 35
Sgt. Joshua A. Terando 27 [Illinois Army Nat'l Guard]
Lance Cpl. Daniel F. Swaim 19
Staff Sgt. Michael C. Parrott 49 [Army Nat'l Guard]
Pfc. Antonio Mendez Sanchez 22 [Puerto Rican]
Cpl. Donald E. Fisher II 21
Sgt. Tyrone L. Chisholm 27

Source: CNN.com