Have you Shakespeared today?
Think you don't know any Shakespeare? Liar. The fact is, most people know more Shakespeare than they are aware of...How many of the following everyday expressions do you know?
Eaten out of house and home
Pomp and circumstance
Foregone conclusion
Full circle
The makings of
Method in the madness
Neither rhyme nor reason
One fell swoop
Seen better days
It smells to heaven
A sorry sight
A spotless reputation
Strange bedfellows
The world's (my) oyster
As luck will have it
Hearts of gold
Hold a candle to
I have not slept one wink
Neither here nor there
Or have you used any of the following words?:
arch-villain * bedazzle * cheap (as in vulgar or flimsy) * dauntless * embrace (as a noun) * fashionable * go-between * honey-tongued * inauspicious * lustrous * nimble-footed * outbreak * pander * sanctimonious * time-honored * unearthly * vulnerable * well-bred * obscene * cold-blooded * beached * jaded * gossip * exposure * frugal * hurried * impede * label * gloomy * equivocal * fixture * elbow (as a verb) * olympian * dishearten * green-eyed * critic * bump * blanket (as a verb) * deafening * epileptic * majestic * moonbeam * besmirch * tranquil * rant * worthless
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0419_040419_shakespeare.htmlhttp://shakespeare.about.com/library/weekly/aa042400a.htmShakespeare's influence is reflected in the everyday expressions we use. Many have become rather cliche because of their familiarity and overuse, but that's the power of the Bard for you. According to About.com, more than 1700 words in our language were invented by Shakespeare, whether or not he completely made up the words or just changed the way we use them. Think you have that kind of power? See if anything you invent is still around in four hundred years.
Objection Overruled
Oh, how I love the wonderful world of slam poetry. I came across this poem in my English Education seminar about a month ago and thought it was great--mainly because you really do hear people knocking the teaching profession as an "easy way out" of doing something more difficult in college. I was told I wouldn't make any money with this career choice, but who says a career is supposed to be about how much money you make? The person Mali is talking to here is actually a lawyer....."Objection overruled, or You can always go to law school if things don’t work out" by Taylor Mali.
He says the problem with teachers is, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?”
He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true what they say about teachers: Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his and resist the temptation to remind the dinner guests that it’s also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we’re eating, after all, and this is polite company.
“I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor,” he says. “Be honest. What do you make?”
And I wish he hadn’t done that (asked me to be honest) because, you see, I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking: if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor and an A- feel like a slap in the face. How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups. No, you may not ask a question. Why won’t I let you get a drink of water? Because you’re not thirsty, you’re bored, that’s why.
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home: I hope I haven’t called at a bad time, I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today. Billy said, “Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don’t you?” And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful over and over and over again until they will never misspell either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math. And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart)
and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true: I make a goddamn difference!
What about you?
Poem by Taylor Mali, reprinted with permissionEducation World® Copyright © 2002 Education World
Person of the Year
Vote for
Time magazine's Person of the Year!
Steve Jobs
Bill and Melinda Gates
J.K. RowlingPope Benedict XVI
The Google Guys
Rick Warren
Condoleezza Rice
Valerie Plame
Bono
Mother Nature
George W. Bush
Lance Armstrong
http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/2005/walkup/index.html?cnn=yesOkay, so who wants to guess who I voted for????? And any smartasses out there who say George W. Bush, proceed with caution.
What a Spaz
Nymphadora Tonks: Character in the Harry Potter series--hilarious and klutz extraordinare. She's also my new kitty. And what a spaz she can be. I wish
I could find the excitement in a Smarties wrapper or a twistie tie for hours on end. I wish I thought anything that moved (like toes, fingers, an earring, hair, or string to name a few) needed to be attacked viciously and without mercy. And I certainly wish that my every need and desire were attended to the
second I voiced my complaint.
However, I do find entertainment in watching this display of simplistic existence. Who wouldn't find it hysterical to open their door at 6 a.m. to go down the hall to the bathroom, only to have their leg immediately attacked by the ferocious "beast," who has--without a doubt--been crouching there for hours, waiting for her moment to shine. Laughter is the natural reaction when your cat charges you and runs head-first into the leg of the hallway table. It is also the natural reaction when she tries to jump from the table to the counter and misses. Or when she chases her tail like a dog. It is especially amusing to watch a cat try and charge you by running on her hind legs (doesn't she KNOW she's supposed to use all four?)
So, just as Ron gripes about Scabbers in the first three Harry Potter books and Pigwigdeon in the next three and readers know he still loves them more than he'd ever admit, so should my friends know I love Tonks no matter how crazy she gets. You've only been here for a month, Tonks, but you've brought us a thousand laughs already. We love you!
(But seriously, what a spaz.....)
Nymphadora (Tonks) - "Nymphadora" translates as "Gift of the Nymphs." A "nymph," in Greek mythology, refers to a member of group of female spirits found in different types of nature. They are further classified by where they were found. They also had the ability to change shapes, a very clear connection to Tonks's own ability to shapeshift. In Latin, "nympha" translates to "a bride" and "Nymphae" to "the Nymphs."
Thanks, MuggleNet.com :)
Pulling an Ashley
Disclaimer: This first post is being written under the influence of extreme peer pressure--so basically blame Miss Luscious Luka if it lacks the luster of her posts.
"Pulling a Dani" means stepping off a curb and walking straight into CyRide or ordering the Wall Street Journal only to later forget about it and wonder who the moron is that hasn't been picking up their highly coveted literature. "Pulling an Anne" means writing an "S.A." for lit class or having Spongebob Squarepants hallucinations. Usually, I am the one laughing at (I mean with) my friends. Now they have reason to mock me. In an unprecedented set of events Saturday night, I made walking into a bus and writing an "S.A." look like acts of the highest academic merit. Here is what it takes to truly "pull an Ashley.":
1. First--get totally sloshed. At home. Alone. (Hey, can I help it my drinking buddy was lame and had to go to Pep Band? Nooooooo.....)
2. When the roommate comes home, insist on getting her sloshed, too. (Because two drunks can take care of each other, right?)
3. Get to the bars quickly--(before you've had a chance to sober up even slightly; after all, that would be a waste). Drink as many shots as your roomie will buy you. (liquor after beer, that's how it's supposed to work, right?)
4. Dance. A lot. Get excited about EVERY blasted song that is played no matter how misogynistic, degrading, or just plain unoriginal/inartistic your (unfounded) pedantic musical self has labeled them when you were sober.
5. Leave the bar. Run ahead of your roomie and your roomie's friend because you're cold and--hell--you know the way home. You don't need their slow asses to help you get there, do you?
6. Take a very wrong turn. When your roomie yells that you are going the wrong way,
DO NOT GIVE IN TO HER FOR ANY REASON. She obviously has NO idea what she is talking about and is too drunk to understand that you are always right. Sheesh. What a lush.
7. Proceed walking until you reach a place that looks familiar--HOME. But why is the door locked?
8. Find you neighbor friends upstairs. They'll be up at 2 a.m. Or not...
9. Find a person who has a phone. Call your friend in Indianapolis. She will know what to do to help you in Iowa City.
10. When that doesn't work, go home and pound on the door until someone answers. When it isn't your roommate (or anyone else you know, for that matter), act really confused. Why has this person taken over your apartment?
11. Fall asleep on the couch. Wake up in what is clearly NOT your apartment by any means. Walk outside. Stop. Turn. Look at the door you've just closed. Oh yes. This is where you lived LAST YEAR.
Congratulations. You've just won the Collegiate Drunken Darwin Award of the year. Celebrate by getting totally smashed.
