April Book Reviews: Dewey 400--Languages

Books on language, grammar, and usage. (English)

A Man of My Words : Reflections on the English Language,  by Lederer, Richard, 1938- ; New York : St. Martin's Press, 2003. 

My favorite of this month's non-fiction, A Man of My Words was both entertaining and highly educational. Lederer explores the vagaries of English language, grammar and usage with a delightful mix of example (as in the case of puns), explanation, definition, and even controversy.  I recommend this book for anyone interested in the joy of words as well as for the dedicated "verbivore."








The Story of Ain't: America, Its Language, and the Most Controversial Dictionary Ever Published,  by Skinner, David, 1973-New York, NY : Harper, [2012], ©2012

This book had an interesting take on the history of dictionary publishing. I felt a bit like you do when you take a class and somehow skipped the prerequisite introductory class. It was explaining names and events that seemed to presume a familiarity, but with which I have no familiarity.

I might have stuck with it if I had not gotten thoroughly immersed in "A Man of My Words" and switched almost entirely to reading it instead, along with some non-fiction. 

bull.shit [boo'l-shit] a lexicon by Mark Peters, New York : Three Rivers Press, [2015]

This book was full of short entries explaining the background of many words and phrases that mean nonsense, horse manure, and, well (please excuse my language) bullshit.  It was entertaining for a little while, but I did not feel that I was learning much. The book had the adolescent tone of a boy who is throwing out swear words just because he can, hoping for some shock value or at least entertainment, all the while justifying his use of them by their legitimate meanings.  

French learning programs

Starting out in French, New York : Living Language, [2008]  This was the easiest to use in the car. With no booklets required, I could just drive around and repeat the phrases and practice my accent. The french part is pronounced by a native speaker.  I like the way it simply explained the meaning of words in a conversation, as they are used. Maybe later it gets into the spelling or historical background--I never got past the first CD because I don't drive that much.

French complete course the basics.
	New York: Living Language/Random House, p2005. Because it required the booklets, it was not as efficient for learning while driving. The first CD's seemed to be mainly lists of words to say after the speaker, with no meaning given. Since I am not entirely a beginner, I was able to understand and repeat most of them, but it seemed like a pointless exercise. I never got past the first few lessons.

French/English Dictionaries

Concise Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary : French-English, English-French Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press ; [Paris] : Hachette Livre, 2009. This, among the three French dictionaries I found, was the most useful. It had more words and a very nice layout.

	750 French Verbs and Their Uses, by Mathy, Jean-Philippe.  New York : Wiley, c1992.] This was somewhat useful. Like any French/English dictionary, it is much more helpful if you know the root verb you are seeking.

Harrap's everyday French and English dictionary.  New York : McGraw-Hill, c2009. This was okay, and easy to use. I just found that for myself, I liked the other one better.

What has changed about my motivation?

I've worked out before, but as other things come pressing in, it becomes less important how I look in my clothes.  This time around is different. I started avoiding mirrors, or at least the reality I saw in them. I was busy, living my life, and did not have time to worry about all that. I'm in my fifties, in school, working, and letting things go.

When reality hit, it hit hard. It wasn't about looks or self-esteem. It was about health.

In July of 2015, I caught a weird virus that affected my nervous system and threw me into almost instant vertigo. Within two days all I could do was crawl and vomit. It was horrible, not a nightmare I would wish on anyone.  As I began to heal, I had to walk with a walker for a while and do physical therapy to regain my balance.  I was fortunate; except for a slight loss of hearing, I have recovered very well.

In November, we moved. It was exhausting!  I kept pushing through the fatigue until I hit crash point. My husband wanted to drive part way to our new city at the end of our last day of packing and cleaning. I just looked at him, and I said, "I'm done. I can't drive tonight. I'm so done I can't even drive up to the office and turn our apartment keys in."  Though he was disappointed, he took care of the keys, took me to dinner, and found us a hotel.  We hadn't even left town!

Late November or early December, I tripped at the end of a driveway and fell.  I got up and made my way to my car. I cried for a minute, talked myself into being brave, and drove home. I never even told the homeowner I fell. I just wanted to get home to my safe little place.

Within days I was at the doctor's office getting both my knee and wrist checked out. Neither were broken, fortunately, but both took plenty of time to heal.  In fact, my knee is not healed yet, and may never be.

That fall was a wake-up call. I had to take it easy for a while, and going to visit and play with my grandchildren was physically difficult. Their parents don't drive, but we rented a car while we were there. Still, we took a train one day, and went shopping, and I was in awe over how trim and fit my daughter-in-law was, just from walking regularly--taking her children to school, getting to work, doing her grocery shopping--she looked great!

I don't expect to look like a 30-year-old. I don't expect to feel like one. But that fall told me something very important. It told me how much a little thing can affect my quality of life just because I'm so out of shape.  When all the extra 75-100 pounds of me went down face first, that's a great deal of pressure on the parts I landed on.  I mean, I thought I was doing okay from walking so much while in school, but the eating habits and lack of regular exercise after graduating all caught up to me as I lay there on the ground taking stock of whether I could even get up.

It's not just about my cholesterol and blood pressure, though they are high. It's not just about my thyroid and depression, or even balance or lack thereof.  It's about the potential damage.  When I fell down, there was nothing to stop me, and little muscle tone so I could catch myself and absorb the shock to my joints.It's about the total picture of my life. Health. Looks. How I feel about myself. Accident prevention.  I don't know; I guess it was just the last straw.

I know I can't reverse aging.  I can, hopefully, slow down its progress--or at the very least enjoy the process with less fear of health issues.  It's about being able to fully be me. I don't know how to express how deeply it hit me this time, but it's a far deeper motivation that how I look. It's about doing yoga and riding a bike and swimming with the grandchildren. It's about being able to walk as much as needed at my son's wedding in September. It's about feeling good inside and out.

Orthopedist or Drivers' License Division

I went to a highly recommended orthopedic clinic.  I think it's rated a little lower now, after I completed the survey they sent out.

I won't go into the long and boring complaining details, but let me put it this way:  I wanted to see a doctor, not get shipped off like a cow at auction.

I walked in, and there was a check-in kiosk. What? I don't even know my user name and password. I looked up and a clerk invited me over to her desk.  She took my insurance card and identification card and waved me off to a chair.  I sat there until I got called up, whereupon a second clerk asked me two questions that were not on the preregistration I did online, gave back my documents, and waved me back to my chair to wait. And wait, and wait.

That was just the beginning, but I was definitely feeling more like a number than a person. I'm surprised they didn't look for ear tags and a brand.  Just keep herding this cow from one station to another.

The upshot of it all was that I was told that I have arthritis in my knee. Does that have any bearing on why my knee has not healed from an injury five months ago?  No new X-rays.  Just a steroid shot in the knee and a prescription for a powerful anti-inflammatory drug and a six-week followup appointment scheduled.

At least now I know that what I was told years ago was bursitis is actually arthritis, and I probably have it in both knees, though he only had the x-ray of one.  No cure, I suppose, but I'll definitely be looking at supplements to see what may help. I don't think you can rebuild cartilage, but there must be a better solution than taking drugs for months.  I wonder, though, if the doctor who told me it was bursitis had examined me more closely, if something could have been done then to treat it.

The good news is that for now, at least, I don't have to have surgery or anything like that, and I don't have to quit exercising--the fear that has been keeping me back from seeing a doctor for a few months.

In no particular order, unless two go together, here are other pictures from my walk last week. They're just kind of fun. And no, I am not going to be a dad!  I just thought it was neat, and it reminded me of my sons when their babies were born, and of my husband proudly carrying around our first-born.

Sign at the beginning of the
dirt trail that goes off of the paved trail.

Tracks from the critters that can't understand
the picture on the sign, or why it is there.

Dog print

Probably another dog print.

Raccoon

Raccoon, front and back.
Notice how it has "fingers." 

Carpenter Ant

Same carpenter ant. He was quick.

This gives the feeling of huge manor house in English countryside.
In reality, it is an apartment complex. What at beautiful setting to live in.

A fellow doodler. I want to buy the right color pen and go
write on one of these. I've always wanted to graffiti something
but I don't want to deface public property.
There's just something about leaving your mark
on the world.

The truth lies somewhere in between?

Jumpy little spider. I had to get close and move very slowly to get this photo.

Spider on a log. He thought he was hidden so he sat very still.
He really did blend in with the stick until I got close.

Same spider, even closer. Sshhh, don't tell my husband. I always
expect him to deal with spiders in the house. 

What? There are no fitness fairies to get me to my goal? I've gotta do it myself?

Two posts, seen right together on the Crescendo sculpture: There's not much I can add. 

In this case, no one can do it for you.

On Patience and the Process

Sometimes it is hard for me to trust the journey when I feel stuck, like I'm not making progress, but I know if I am doing the right things I will break through eventually. It may take me in unexpected directions, but that's okay. I never expected to be given a bike, but now I am happily riding.  Etc.

Wednesday Walk

This one walk provided material for several posts, if I am to keep them short.

There is a long and lovely bike/walking trail that winds through our cities and townships. On Wednesday we drove to one of the entry points and started off on a walk. Soon we discovered a small side path that went off the paved trail and was open only to walkers, not to bicycles. We headed down there, and my feet said thank you for getting them off the pavement. Even though the dirt is hard-packed it still felt better on  my feet. I'll post some pictures of that later, but for now I want to focus on an inspirational sculpture in the park there.

At the end of our walk, we detoured off to examine this sculpture, which we thought looked like a giant blue crookneck squash. From the distance it looks like it is created of mosaic tiles.

Sign near the sculpture, 
giving little explanation.

This picture gives perspective
on the size of the sculpture.

A closer view of the composition of the sculpture.

As we drew near, we could see that the outer surface is actually composed of 

plexiglass tags with writing on them.  They were fun to read. Some were serious, others joking or just drawings. There were several with words of wisdom.  I'll share others another day but my favorite is this one.

I'll just leave it here for now, and expound on it another day.