docoflove1974

Hah no way. Mostly because they don't quite look good on me. Maybe once I tone my legs a bit more, then the thigh-highs can come out. Besides, the buckles might be a bit much for a college professor.

There is constant work being done on Mozarabic Ibero-Romance, but it's a long process. As far as I know, there isn't evidence of anything but boca (or a version thereof) in that speech community, but perhaps something else has been uncovered. But I'd agree with Silentium that loan words alone is not evidence enough alone; one would have to look at the syntax and morphology more closely.

BREAK OUT THE SNOW PLOWS! Oops, you probably don't have many of those in Ol' Swindon Towne.

They must do what my neighbor's cat does: find a quiet, dry and warm place to curl up and sleep it off.

Hmmm...I think you and I need to apply to be test drivers for Top Gear, Mr. Caldrail Sir. Of course, that means I have to learn to drive a standard transmission...oh, the price of education... :D :D

I don't know if anyone is interested, but this just came through the listserv at LinguistList yesterday. A free and public talk on Aramaic and its role in Proto-Afroasiatic. ________________________________________________________________________ On Monday, 16 February 2009, William Fulco will deliver a lecture on the evolution of Aramaic dialects as a model for understanding linguistic evolution in the greater Afroasiatic language phylum. The lecture will take place between 1:40 and 3:00 PM in the Alexander Library Scholarly Communication Center at 169 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ. William J. Fulco, S.J., PhD, is the National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. In addition to a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from Yale University, he holds graduate degrees in Classics, Philosophy and Theology. His interests encompass ancient languages, archaeology and Biblical studies, all of which he teaches at LMU. He has published widely in reconstructive Afroasiatic linguistics and the study of the Hebrew scriptures. He is well known for his work in reconstructing Aramaic for the script of the 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ" directed by Mel Gibson, and is currently working on a script in Punic for the upcoming film "Hannibal the Conqueror", directed by Vin Diesel. The lecture is free and open to the public. It is being sponsored by the Department of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures (AMESALL), The Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES), the Office of the Vice President for Undergraduate Education, the Department of Jewish Studies, and the Department of Comparative Literature. For further information, please contact Charles H

Yeeeeeeeeek, slushball fights...those tend to hurt. Hope the feral trollies are ok.

Yep, you could be right. I fully admit to resembling a low-flying aircraft in my Corolla on the highways, but still done while paying attention. While I do have a hands-free device for my cell phone, I really don't use it...I just don't like talking on the phone while driving. I admit to singing, talking outloud to remind myself of something, but esp. if I'm in the car by myself I tend to pay attention. You never know when the Highway Patrol will be out there.

This has been a very busy week so far, one of many in the coming 8 weeks. My schedule is in full-throttle: 5 courses, meetings galore, students adding, dropping, needing help. I actually love it--to put it mildly, I don't have time to be bored--but it's ruining my reputation. Normally I'm an evening person...most of my energy comes after 3pm, and it's damned near impossible for me to fall asleep before 11:30 or, really, 12. But having to wake up at 5:30 each weekday morning, well, it puts a damper on that whole night-owl image. Last night I came back home from the night class at 8:30, and was wiped out...I barely stayed awake until 11. This just won't do. An acquaintance hipped me in on fish oil, that it helps with the mental synapses that get overfired when we're up and doing a lot of things for a long period of time. I need to try this. Regardless, this semester I seem to have a great group of students, no dead weights as a friend calls them. These would be the folks who show up to class when they feel like it, participate when they want, and could give a care less about their grade. I tend to weed most all of them out by the first or second class; I don't teach easy classes, and I don't ever want my students thinking that they can sit and do nothing and still pass. But occasionally there's one or two who figure they can charm their way into making class easier for them--if I smile and compliment the professor, maybe she'll not care that I'm talking in the back of class to my friends and texting my homies at the same time. Um, nah, not gonna happen. They tend to drop about half-way through the class. It leaves me with the workers, those who want to learn and earn their grades, and that's just fine with me. Separating the chaff from the wheat, so to speak. The weather here has returned to winter: cool and rainy for the next few days. I'm kinda happy about it, if for no other reason than the fact that I can wear my black leather knee-high boots. Yes, I love me some shoes, and despite a fixed income I still manage to get bang for my buck. Ok, my shoes serve many functions--I walk around in them all day so they must be comfortable, yet stylish as I don't ever want to be mistaken for the mousy bookworm who could care less about image. Dude, I stand in front of people all day long...I gotta look good. Not perfect--that's not obtainable for me--but well-put-together. And I hate always wearing pants on rainy days...so while I spent a little more on these boots than normal, I don't really care. I like them, I want them...they're mine!

The question now becomes: is it proper for one to make a big snowman (or as big as can be) to display that winter has indeed come to Swindon-town?

I heard that it's like fall most of the year in England...cold, damp, windy, foggy, cloudy, even rainy. No real winter, but no real summer, either. Sounds at least true for Swindon? Today it's hazy here in Baghdad-by-the-Bay; the fog didn't quite want to leave, but it didn't quite feel like sticking around, either. It's our last day of sun for a while...supposedly we'll get a nice watering over the next few days. We really need the rain, but who knows if we'll get enough to stave off a drought. I'm pessimistically optimistic.

I think the question of late Romanization is definitely part of the equation, and the same could be true of the 'language of culture' aspect--I certainly wouldn't argue it. I don't have anything here which talks about it, but I'd be very curious as to what, if anything, has been written about and argued.

The Wikipedia article makes reference to Ladino, the variety of Medieval Spanish spoken by the Sephardi...but an important note is that they, too, were expected to convert to Islam and speak Arabic in North Africa. It's why most of them spread out over Europe and, especially, the Ottoman Empire. Ralph Penny talks briefly about it in his History of the Spanish Language (1991:21-24). As for Latin in Africa...I just flipped through the major handbooks (Meyer-L

I was under the impression that the Arabic-speaking 'conquerors' (for lack of a better word) were fairly strict in Africa with regard to linguistic and cultural policy--namely, that people either conform to Arabic and the Islamic life or be put to the sword--but that by the time they got to Iberia this policy had softened. I know I've seen documents from monks who say this, but considering these monks hardly left their region, let alone Iberia, and they wrote this centuries after the Moorish invasion, I don't know how accurate their stories are.

I know...when one car is cutting in and out of lanes, barely missing the other cars around them. I can feel my eyes widen as big as saucers, I seem to gasp for air, and I'm praying that the other drivers are aware of what's going on. Freaky!

I would think so! Your guardian angel (or whatever) was following you that day!

It could also be related to the Rumanian issue that Kosmo referred to: that, say, the morning star was referred to as Venus, the evening star as Lucifer--meaning, that they were thought of as different entities by them. After all, both 'morning star' and 'evening star' in English refer to the same entity: the planet Venus. But I'm only guessing here.

There are certain sounds that hit when we're helpless to do anything except pray. Among them are the sounds of screeching tires directly behind you. It happened to me twice today. Both times--once going to work, the other coming home--I was stopped in traffic, not able to go anywhere. Both times I had a split second to look up at the rear-view mirror and gasp. Both times the drivers swerved just in time to avoid me and go into the next lane. Accidents averted. I thought about this for a while...there wasn't much I could have done, save for brace for impact. I'm sure most all of us have done it...you're driving, the brakelights in front of you instantly shine their warnings to all behind them...and for whatever reason you pick them up a hair late. You slam your foot (maybe even both feet) down onto the break pedal, hoping to be able to stop your vehicle in time. You swerve into the next lane--hopefully it's the emergency lane--and narrowly avoid disaster. You practically give yourself a heart attack...and you probably gave the person in front of you one, too.

Since my semesters started last Tuesday, I've been waking up during the week at 5:30. Thankfully I'm able to hit the snooze a couple of times, but it's still too damned early to wake up. I really don't like it. But, hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Because of the shock I was now putting my body into every morning, I decided that I'd ease back into my exercise routine, skipping my thrice weekly dates with my gym for a week or two until I knew how much energy I would have after teaching in the morning. Sensible enough, I supposed. Yesterday was the first day back to the exercise routine. I knew I wouldn't have much time--maybe an hour at most in the cardio room--but at least I'd get some in. I also figured that I'd go on the treadmill for most of my workout, thinking that I'd walk most of my routine, again to ease into the whole moving mine arse thing again. But as I got loosened up on the machine, I got to thinking that I could use with a jog. This is funny on a few levels. If you put me in water, I instantly grow gills...I can swim for ever and ever. On land, I'm much more suited for walking...I can do that for a while. But running? Erm, well, yeah, not so good. I've never been a good runner; I usually either lose my breath too much, or my knees ache. As I've lost weight it's gotten better, but I still can't jog for more than say 10 or so minutes at a time, and it seems that the treadmill works better for me than out of doors. Also, while I can go on the eliptical for an hour, the thought of running usually isn't a very pleasant one...I admit to laziness when it comes to exercising (is that possible?). So yesterday I'm on the treadmill, with the thought in my head of jogging for a while, just to see how much I can do. 20 MINUTES AT 4.5 MILES PER HOUR!!!! Quite the record...I can't do much more the 4 MPH normally as it's too fast. I was shocked...and quite winded. I wasn't really able to do much more after that, but I was still impressed! Of course, then I realized that I tend to do this, that when I've had a layoff from exercise, the first day back I seem to be able to do quite a bit. But then...then, the second and third and subsequent times I return to the gym, I won't be able to duplicate the energy and stamina. So, tomorrow, I'm in the pool. I'm gagging for a swim. My gills are dry.

EOP&S (Extended Opportunity Programs & Services) is a California-run program which helps community college students with the various elements of student life that one glosses over. EOP&S can arrange for students of meager means to get a free bus pass, a laptop, and numerous other resources that honestly we take for granted. Typically there are around 200 spots per campus--this seems like quite a few, but when one realizes that each community college campus can have anywhere from 6,000 to 20,000 students, well, those spots can be precious. I guess another sign that we are in harsh financial times is that at both of the campuses where I teach, the EOP&S slots are completely taken for the Spring semester (which just started). Unreal...so many people are just barely scraping by, I guess. And since our oh-so-wise Legislature can't get their collective asses in gear, we don't have a budget yet...and will run out of money come Saturday. If you have an income tax refund coming from the state of California, well, you're getting an IOU instead. I'm honestly wondering if I'll get paid next month; I get paid Friday, and I'm cherishing that deposit. I'd love to tell the student loan folks that I can't give them real money this month, but I can give them an IOU from the state...it's just as good as money, or so they say. And yet...and yet there is quite a bit to be thankful for. It looks like I'm employed for the forseeable future (just wish it was full time...ack...positive thoughts...), my rent isn't going up, and I'm still able to smile and laugh with (and at) the world. It could be worse.... Like, say, the City of Oakland. To ring in 2009, BART (that's the subway system) Police arrested a couple of eejits at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland. And then proceeded to shoot one of the eejits...while he was handcuffed and laying on the ground. This set off protests (agreed) and riots (eh, if you must)...which the Oakland Police botched up royally and didn't even attempt to control except at the very end. One of the major cable companies wanted to shoot a tv show in Oakland, with the main characters being a giggalo and his ho's trying to go straight...the city said that they didn't want to add to their negative reputation, yet in doing so they lost literally millions of dollars per year just from the revinue this show would bring. The Chief of Police has just resigned, saying that the City Council can't be trusted and is thwarting the Force's ability to do its job. And now news comes today that a former intern of the mayor stole the bank account information of two of the mayor's chief administrators, not to mention abused financial information at the law firm where she (until recently) worked. I'd like to say I feel sorry for Mayor Dellums, but I can't. Oakland hasn't gotten the reputation for being nothing but a slum of 1,000,000 people for nothing.

As for me, I'm a Tiger...I'm ready for it to be my year again. I could see you on Hamilton Island. I wonder if they have feral trollies....

We're back to winter weather here in NorCal...either clear and cool or damp, windy and somewhat rainy. This is actually comforting; that stretch of 10 days with record warmth in San Jos

*scratches head* Steven Pinker is an interesting character. He has a way to make linguistics palatable and interesting to the average person; his Language Instinct is a perfect example. But he occasionally leaves out concepts not out of lack of knowledge, but out of entertainment. Make it more appealing to the common person, to so speak. I think the part he forgot to mention was that an oath is an active speech act...meaning, by repeating the oath, the person in question is not merely communicating but is actively doing something with the utterance. Pinker should have talked more about that...but that's just the linguist in me.

What, don't you want a Barack-in-a-box?

The president of the college made a big but welcomed decision for today. It's the first day of classes for the spring semester, and of course everyone wants to watch the inauguration instead of going to class. So Tom decided that the main theater would broadcast streaming video of the festivities all day long, starting at 8am. I personally thanked him a couple of times; this was truly a community-building event, and he did the right thing. Many 8am classes came in and watched instead of doing classes. So I sat in the back row of the theater (I had to leave by 9:30 to go to my class, and didn't know when things were going to end), next to some of my colleagues. One of whom, Alicia, is involved in local politics; she had received numerous local and national invitations to go to various festivities, but since she's teaching all day today, well, this would have to do. The theater ended up being packed--I think it holds some 300 people--as we watched history unfold. My feelings are honestly all over the map. I'm elated to be rid of the previous president; I never voted for him either for governor or president, rarely agreed with his policies, and felt that he took us backwards in so many ways. I'm respectively optimistic; lately I find myself saying a prayer here and there for not just President Obama, but his entire staff, that they are able to make the 'right' (or the 'fair') decisions that are needed. I'm content that a social barrier has been destroyed, but am mindful that there are so, so many more to break. Perhaps more than anything, I was truly grateful to be part of a moment. My country, which I love in a way that I can't quite explain, is turning a corner. In doing this, our community is healing, is supporting itself, is trying to make a difference. I watched as member after member of the campus--students, staff, faculty, administrators--piled into our theater just to watch a man take his place as one of, if not the, most powerful people in the world. We sat there, coming from various backgrounds, from every socio-economic level, sharing a moment. I can say that I sat with my community when Barak Obama was inaugurated as President of the United States. I never did get wrapped up in the whole 'audacity of hope' that permeated from the campaign, perhaps because I'm a bit of a cynic. But this morning, as I sat in the theater, I truly started to feel hope--and I hope that this continues.