English

If you ever feel stupid, then just read on. If you’ve learned to speak fluent English, you must be a genius!! This little treatise on the lovely language we share is only for the brave. Peruse at your leisure, English lovers. Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France (Surprise!). Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.

Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham.

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an odd, or an end?

If teachers taught, why didn’t’ preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which, an alarm goes off by going on?

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

P.S – Why doesn’t “Buick” rhyme with “quick”?

Step off!

Okay, so I know I haven't blogged in... well, a LONG time. Whoops?

So, right now, I'm in the Charlotte airport trying to kill some time on my 3 hour layover before my flight leaves for Seattle. Thankfully, there is free wifi, I knew I liked Charlotte.

So, I have noticed a few things.

(1) As busy as this airport is, and with as many people there are on all sides of you... most people think they are alone or have no sense of what is appropriate in front of other people. I have found one person picking a wedgie, another digging in their nose and a third was belching so loudly that I heard it through my headphones. Seriously people?

(2) My feet must be invisible to other people. I'm sitting on the floor next to a column. As people have walked by to find a seat (which by sitting on the floor, I have kindly left open for them) they have ALL stepped on my feet. I would like to point out that my feet are not only just in front of my body, not even as far out as they could go. Maybe I should change this to, I'M INVISIBLE!

(3) Some people are amused by the simplest things. Now granted, I probably fall into this category, but I still felt it necessary to point out. There is a young man (probably a little older than me) sitting in a chair a good 6 or so feet away from me. He has been watching the invisible foot fiasco and laughing hysterically the whole time. Now that my feet are tucked underneath me, he laughs every time I look at him... which is entertaining to me ;D

(4) Little kids are the coolest! The girl behind me was watching what I was doing on the computer and she saw that I was listening to Be A Man from the Mulan soundtrack (don't laugh, that's an awesome song- just ask Bryce). She tapped me on the shoulder and asked if she could listen too. We then proceeded to have a quiet sing along together. AWESOME!

(5) There are some very unique people in this world. I can't describe them all. But one had a bright green handlebar mustache, another a spiked mohawk that I'm pretty sure is as tall as I am, and another had on the weirdest concoction of clothing I have ever seen in my life.

Okay, that's all for now. Hopefully I will update while on this trip. Yay for the west coast!!!

-Britt

Duck Tour

Really... I don't think I need to continue this post, the title says it all... don't ya think?

Okay, well for those of you who are confused (as I was at first), I will continue. In Seattle, you can ride a Duck... not just any old Duck... but an amphibious truck. No need to go back, you read that right. They are amphibious landing crafts from WWII. Obviously that means this is a land and WATER tour. And it is amazing!

Seriously, if you visit Seattle, you HAVE to ride the duck. The website is http://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com/main.htm. Go check it out... there is tons of information on there, including info about the Captains.

Speaking of Captains, our personal captain was Jack Tupp. Pretend it's mad gab and figure it out. Yeah, we were riding with captain jacked up! All of the captains names are like that... just check out the website, they get pretty creative... I think my favorite is Lou Segusi. Anyway... the captain was one of the best parts of the tour.

As he drove us around Seattle, he talked about the historical landmarks, and folklore. He also had us sing song and do dances... he was quite ridiculous and extremely hilarious! You can tell he has fun doing what he does... and I had fun listening to it.

Below are some pictures from the tour, I didn't take a whole lot because I have seen most of Seattle already, but these are a few cool ones.

I have to say, driving right down into the water was definitely a highlight of the tour. You just drive right on in!!! And then you putt around in Lake Union for a while and get some beautiful shots of the Seattle skyline. You also get to see the houseboat used in the film Sleepless in Seattle.

Don't stand under this tree in a lightning storm...


Taken from the boat in Lake Union... Seattle Skyline.

Like I said, easily one of the best things I have done in Seattle. It's a must do... along with the Space Needle.

However, the duck tour wasn't the only thing I did today. I also got a massage... fo' free! As it so happens, my step brother has massage training... and some good massage training at that. He was nice enough to treat me to an amazing body massage on his very own massage table. He did an amazing job! My body felt completely different/relaxed afterwards. I was amazed at what a good massage can do. And now I want another one ;D
I'm beginning to see why people pay for them.

Anyway, that's all for today... not much planned for tomorrow either... we will see what happens.

-Britt

Saddle Sore

It’s not just an expression, it’s the real deal… I speak from pain… I mean experience. So, today was horseback riding. We needed to get out before the heat became unbearable so we headed out around 9am… that hour of course meant that I woke up and was on saddle in the same movement.

Now, I have ridden horses before, but not like this. I would generally ride in a large group of people with extremely well trained horses and a guide that would fix all your problems. I’m not knockin’ it, that’s a fun way to ride, but it’s nothing like this.



I was riding Torro, a horse owned by a friend of my stepmom’s. Now, Torro is extremely well trained as well, but I still had to know how to control him while in the saddle. His owner gave me the basics of turning, stopping and moving forward… and then I was on my own. Well, not really, we all rode together, but you know what I mean.

The ride was about 2 ½ hours long… which is WAY too long for a novice. It wasn’t that I couldn’t handle the horse or I got bored with the trail… Torro was great and the ride was AMAZING! It was the sore backside! I don’t care who you are, if you aren’t used to sitting in a saddle, it’s gonna hurt… a lot! Not only that, but you use muscles to stay on the horse that you don’t realize you are using… and is some cases you didn’t know you had.

When we got back, I dismounted (on the wrong side of course…) and tried to walk. Tried is the operative term there, my thighs hurt from tensing to stay on the horse, my knees hurt from being in the same position for two hours, and my backside hurt just cause… I made it back into the house however and collapsed on the couch.

I know it sounds like I’m complaining… but I’m not! Horseback riding is so much fun!! I wish I could do it more often… I’m just warning the novice’s out there, be prepared for soreness!

There isn’t anything planned for tomorrow, so don’t expect a post… but I think I’m going to be glad, cause my guess is, the pain is only going to get worse ;D

-Britt
P.S. I didn’t fall off like I thought I would… go me!

Go Mariners!!!!

Or not… So, that was the big event today, the Mariners Game. I got up early to catch an 8:30am train to Seattle in order to make it to the city for the 1:10pm game. Which reminds me, why do sporting events start at such random times?

Anyway, the train ride was pleasant. I sat next to a young lady of 15 years who enjoys talking even more than I do (hard to imagine, I know). We conversed steadily for the first 3 hours of the trip and left each other in semi-silence for the last half hour. During the conversation she asked me about myself. I of course told her that I’m a student at NCSU, but then I went on to talk about Student Venture. She thought the organization (all of Campus Crusade) was really cool, and she was interested in hearing about it and what we believe. Turns out, she is Jewish… she even went to a Jewish academy in Portland at one time. We had a long discussion about her religion and my faith… I don’t know how she felt about it, but I do know that God’s word does not return void.

I got off the train to find my dad, stepmom and stepbrother waiting for me just outside the station. I was greeted with “oh I’ve missed you”, “look at how big you are” (I’ve haven’t grown since age 15) and “I can’t believe you’re going to be 21”s while we waited on my checked baggage. We quickly threw the baggage in the van, loaded up and headed to the stadium… which is within walking distance of the station… but it was really hot!

In the stadium..


And I mean really hot! Take a look at the sunburn I got from the game. However, I feel the game was worth it. The Mariners lost, quite miserably actually… but I always feel that being at professional sporting events is worth the trouble. As long as you have an interest in the sport. So, after dropping lots of money at the stadium, getting third degree burns and eating extremely garlic-y fries we headed home.


The sunburn... I should have taken off my vest, at least then it wouldn't look so weird!


The rest of the day was spent recovering from the extreme heat of the game and resting up for tomorrow… I’m to ride a horse in the morning… watch out ground, here I come ;D

-Britt