Snicker, snicker. Snort snort

I'm sure glad that today is hump day. For the first part of the week, everything I touched turns to crap. If I wrote something, there was a typo. If I wore a white shirt, I spilled coffee on it first thing in the morning. My biggest screw up of the week was that I found out that I must have filled out the wrong paperwork when registering Henry for Kindergarten. Luckily, a teacher alerted us to this fact and they had a spot for him. The correct paperwork was turned in this morning and all is well now. A great big thank you to huzzy, who had to have the potentially painful conversation with catholic school administrators that we could not produce a baptismal certificate, as our pagan child was not baptized.

I rediscovered this website today and it's really making me laugh. http://www.engrish.com/

Word of the week:
heuristic 
–adjective
1.
serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2.
encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error: a heuristic teaching method.
3.
of, pertaining to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.
4.
Computers, Mathematics. pertaining to a trial-and-error method of problem solving used when an algorithmic approach is impractical.
–noun
5.
a heuristic method of argument.
6.
the study of heuristic procedure.

Avatar

Blogity, blog, blog, blog… Ten years ago, only creepy technology dorks knew what a blog was. Today, even my sixty five year old mother uses the word. I find it funny how new words are born into our language. There is an odd beauty in watching a language evolve. What is really interesting, as I have pointed out in previous columns, is when a word, for no discernible reason, comes back from obscurity . That is why I’m starting a “Word of the Week” feature in my blog. Each week, I will highlight a recently learned, new, or comeback word that I find interesting. I have enlisted the help of dear old Meriam-Webster to help me out with the definition.

This week’s word:
av·a·tar
Pronunciation:
\ˈa-və-ˌtär\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Sanskrit avatāraḥ descent, from avatarati he descends, from ava- away + tarati he crosses over — more at ukase, through
Date:
1784
1: the incarnation of a Hindu deity (as Vishnu)2 a: an incarnation in human form b: an embodiment (as of a concept or philosophy) often in a person3: a variant phase or version of a continuing basic entity4: an electronic image that represents and is manipulated by a computer user (as in a computer game)

Sarah Palin is the avatar of modern right wing values.

One other comment before I go…I sincerely hope that Obama gets this whole health care thing worked out for the U.S. Of course I want the uninsured to have access to medical care. But, I also want people not to have to work dead end jobs just for the benefits. Imagine how much more enjoyable life would be. Imagine how much happier the people in this country would be. I bet the use of anti-depressants and stress related medical conditions would plummet…thereby coming full circle to help out the health care system. And that’s one to grown on.

Schadenfreude

Dear Schadenfreude,
Welcome back. The English language had banished you to a far away island where words that no one uses anymore go to die. But you fought back, and you won. Vive Schadenfreude!

Normally summer TV is so bad that I actually (gulp) read books. I’m still waiting for my book to come in from the library so I’ve been channel surfing and have come across two gems that can’t be missed.

NYC Prep
I can’t take my eyes off this real-life gossip girl style reality show on Bravo. These kids (age ranging between 16 and 18) tromp around New York like jet setting 35 year-olds. They spend thousands of dollars shopping, traveling and throwing parties. They have casual sex and social climb like hardened pros. Once I got past asking where their parents were and how they can drink in bars, I became fascinated by their seemingly vacuous lives. Through all the bitchiness and brat behavior, the show reminds me that teen angst knows no bounds. Social awkwardness, the sting of rejection and sheer loneliness are painfully visible, even through designer clothes. And let’s not discount how funny it is to watch children pretend like their adults. Favorite quote (from a 16 year old): “It would be social suicide to mess with Jessie. Plus, she’s my in to Project Smile” [the “in” charity that helps children with cleft palettes].

Is She Really Going Out With Him
This is the funniest show that MTV has produced…maybe ever? The premise of the show is profiling a “hot” girl who is dating a jerk that everyone around her hates. Rather than taking the obvious route of an intervention style, self-esteem questioning confrontation show, MTV has taken us on a photographic safari where douche bags are the big game of choice. A Robin Leach style voice narrates the show like Wild Kingdom, naming each type of douche bag by their scientific genus (i.e. “Rocker-bag” or “Beach Bag”). They then follow their prey around town, documenting the life of the “ass-grabbing ass clown” (yes, they actually say that). They follow the gentleman to the gym, the tanning salon, the clubs, the strip clubs, the salon, and shopping….all favorite activities of douche-bags. Ultimately, the girl must make a choice at the end of the show to keep their worthless boyfriend, or send him on his merry way. No matter what the choice at the end, the show leaves me laughing….and wondering why so many people love neck tattoos and side-cocked trucker hats.

Thank you Schaenfreude. It's becoming clear to me why a word meaning "laughing at the misfortunes of others" would have such a strong resurgence.