From the State Fair.....

Do they now?

Ode to Ain't

I would like to pay my respects to one of the most misunderstood words in the English language, "ain't." After all, ain't ain't a word and you ain't supposed to say it, right? Sadly, "ain't" is a word. In fact, it was a well respected word in the English language until the 19th century when prescriptive grammarians decided it was wrong. There is proof in the actual structure of English that it once served a purpose. All the personal pronouns used to have two contractions with the verb "to be:"

They are not     They're not     They aren't
We are not        We're not        We aren't
You are not       You're not       You aren't
He is not           He's not          He isn't
I am not            I'm not            .....

Unfortunately, "I" is left out now. So the next time someone says to you, "You aren't funny..." You either have to awkwardly answer:
"Aren't I?" - which makes no sense since you can't say, "I aren't funny"
or
"Am I not?" - which is ridiculously formal.
 Life would be so much easier if we could all just say "Ain't I?"

Well, R.I.P. "ain't." I wish we could be seen in public together. Life is just full of injustice i guess....

The List...

Well, the upside of having my wisdom teeth out is that I've had a lot of time to read. I've also had a lot of time to waste on the computer. Anyways, I thought I would put together a list of books I want to read at some point in my lifetime....

East of Eden
Le Petit Prince
Walden
Gulliver's Travels
The Prince
The Canterbury Tales
Catcher in the Rye
Don Quixote
The Pope's Ceiling
Walking
A People's History of the United States
Syntactic Structures
Manufacturing Consent
West with the Night
A Christmas Carol
The Qur'an
The Great Gatsby
The Republic
The Screwtape Letters
Common Sense
Alice in Wonderland
Pensées (Pascal)
Civil Disobedience
The Search for the Perfect Language

So, after writing this, I realized most of these are books I've started and just never finished... a bit depressing maybe. I'll finish them all. Eventually. Also, I'm planning on adding to this list, so I would be more than happy to hear any suggestions that are floating around out there.

Merry Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the coolest kid on earth! You are the best, but I don't think I could find the words to tell you how great you are. Thanks for making me feel young (and that's saying a lot since I'm 473 years old). Don't grow up too fast...

Dreamy....

 (This is the part where I write a creepy post so that Allen never looks at my blog again)

Happy Belated Birthday Ringo!!!!

Ringo Starr is probably the coolest member of the Beatles... mostly because of the movie Caveman. I don't know how you could combine neanderthals with the 80's and NOT create a masterpiece.

Possibly the best movie ever made. Happy Birthday Ringo!

Cavz R Kul

 

Well, I had my first real experience spelunking last week (I have waited YEARS to use that word in a sentence), and I have to say it was pretty awesome! I decided I like caves.... in a way. I think they are one of those places where it's impossible to feel completely at ease. I mean, after a long day of work, I don't think anyone would pack along their favorite book and settle down in a cave for a good read. As much as I don't want to admit it to myself, I think there's a part of me that is slightly afraid of them. In the back of my mind, I will probably always worry that the ceiling is going to collapse, or I'll get eaten by a bear, or I'll come across a group of rabid vampire bats. Despite that, there is something I just really like about them... 

 

There is something.... I don't know... different about being in a cave. It's like stepping back in time or something. They are beautiful, but it takes patience to appreciate them. You never get to see them all at once. I think darkness is thicker in caves; you could probably stand in one for hours and your eyes would never adjust. I guess you eventually piece together what it looks like after shooting a flashlight around for a while. 

 

Anyways, I think caves get a bit of a bad rap. Just think of all the things we would miss out on if it wasn't for them... 

Prehistoric paintings.... Awesome day trips... Cheese...

Caves are pretty great.