Tuesday, September 07, 2004

a thought or three

I know I've been negELcting my blog (that one's for you, Mr. Gambill). So, no reminders necessary. ;o) I will try to post more soon. I've been in an anti-writing mood again lately: every time I sit down with the intention of writing something--blog, email, novel, lessons--anything, I get this overwhelming sensation of tiredness. However, I'm well aware that the only way to banish that feeling is just to grit teeth, handcuff self to desk, and put the thumbscrews to self until self gets her butt in gear and does what she needs to do.

So, now that you have that lovely mental image, let's move on.

This isn't going to be a long post. In fact, I'm almost done. I have only two more thoughts to share:

One is a gripe. It frustrates me when people write "definatly" or "definately." The word is definitely. As in, de-finite. No longer finite or in question. Whatever the issue is, the possibility of finiteness has been taken out of it. I know that's not the correct etymological explanation for definitely; however, it helps one remember the correct spelling.

Yes. I know I'm a total grammar and spelling snob. What can I say, I was raised on My Fair Lady. ;o)

Second and final thought is a quote I'd like to share:

"There is a way of perceiving that leads to cynicism and divisiveness, a closing off of possibility; and there is a way that leads to a higher faith and love. To 'believe all things' means always to orient yourselves toward the highest possible outcome in any situation and strive for its actualization."

~Cynthia Bourgeault
Love Is Stronger Than Death

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Courtney! I wanted to tell you why some of us often spell definitely- definately. Sometimes, when you have an accent perhaps Montanan but who knows, you say things funny and I know, I for one, always say definitely: defunutly. But, since I am a genius and a former honors student I do know that there is no u in definitely. So as I learned how to do so long ago, I sound it out. def-uh-nut-lee or de-fun-ut-lee. haha, thats fun. anyway, I'm not sure why but my selfness always tells me that its ends in a y so that elminates the ee at the end and I just can't imagine it with u's so I have to pick a new letter for that. So i try to think of some vowel that also makes a uh sound. The only one I can come up with is a, as in A-nother or A-nonymous or A-merican. So, all that was said to say, don't be frustrated with us perhaps slower folk who put some sort of twang to a word which causes a mis-sounding-out, which causes mis-spelling. Wow, that was a long explanation, but no worries, just killing time while my laundry is in the washer. I miss you guys all very much! Hopefully I'll get a chance to write you soon! Much love and prayers-Jamie

Anonymous said...

Oops, I spelled eliminate wrong, but don't worry and don't feel the need to put a post of that because it was a typo this time, not a mis-sounding-out. I'm definAtely going to have to review my comments better before I post them for all the world to see. HAHA, I'm so funny. Okay for real out this time. Love to all-Jamie

thegermanygirl said...

Jamie, you should do laundry more often, for I enjoyed that explanation very much. See, most people misspell out of sheer ignorance. But you, you have a logical, well thought out method for deciding how to spell a word. I respect that, I really do. I'm glad your selfness tells you which words should end in -ee and which ones should end in -y. Most people's selfnesses just don't speak so clearly, which causes a great deal of confusion in the grammar and spelling department.

I'm glad we had a chance to talk about this, Jamie. I think this talk has been long overdue, and I'm convinced we're both better people for it. Thanks. Love ya!

Court