A text of students.

A text from a friend who teaches composition at a large flagship state school in the Southwestern U.S.:

Student quote of the day: She was a punk gothic who enjoyed attending rock concerts with tattooed partners of the opposite sex.  [Acronym of the university], baby!

. . .

Generic vs. Name Brands.

The other month I ran out of generic brand oats, and when I was at the store, the only large container of oats they had was Quaker, so I shelled out a few bucks more to get that and cause the earth less harm through less packaging, though it pained me just a bit to spend more money.

I have to say, though, that oats from Quaker are a lot better quality than the generic brand; they have a firmer texture when cooked, and ooze less gluten out into the water, and contain less chaff that should have been sorted out.

I’ll still get the generic brand next time I run out of oats, though, if the store has re-stocked them by then.

Impressions of Washington D.C.

As soon as you go into the neighborhoods off of downtown Washington D.C. – or at least the neighborhoods where I was – there’s just this overwhelming sameness, of row houses intermittently broken with bland but expensive bars and chain stores.

Some of the only life was 2 longtime (black) residents I met who were working in service jobs in the city, one a hotdog vendor near the Smithsonian who I chit-chatted with and who then gave me a free bag of chips after I realized I was still hungry after eating the hotdog I had bought and getting back in line to buy some chips, and the other a cashier at the FDR memorial souvenir store, who helped me sort through gift possibilities for my mom, and then was telling me about all the (white) yuppies buying up houses and building expensive stores in his neighborhood where he grew up and still lives, and all the long-time (black) residents just sitting on their porches and staring at these stores they can’t afford to shop at and just hating them, but also selling out their property when they get offers since the money is just too good to pass up.

“I wouldn’t live anywhere else but D.C.,” the souvenir store cashier told me, though he also said he has never travelled anywhere else and wouldn’t have any money to do so till he finished school.

. . .

[. . .]

Spanish Thanks.

Through reading the free Spanish newspapers of the city, I’ve noticed how Spanish uses the infinitive where English uses the gerund, and have even started to imitate that use in conversation, e.g. when I thanked the (younger) (shorter) (round-faced) (Mexican) woman who was the cashier at the cafeteria where I met a friend for Thanksgiving dinner –

!Gracias por trabajar hoy!

- which I hope was correct.

Even if it wasn’t, she lit up and smiled appreciatively, and then at my apology for lack of knowledge and pleasant request taught me how to say “Happy Thanksgiving” in Spanish (‘Feliz dia de accion de gracias’).

Campaign 2012 Tidbits (31 of 31): Paul Ryan re: Election day.

From Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s Double Down – Game Change 2012 (New York: Penguin Press, 2013), p. 466:

“On election morning,” Ryan said [to NJ governor Chris Christie two after the election], “they told me and my wife we were going to win.”

“Well, that just shows how shitty they were,” Christie harrumphed.

. . .

Campaign 2012 Tidbits (30 of 31): Ann Romney on the day after elections.

From Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s Double Down – Game Change 2012 (New York: Penguin Press, 2013), p. [465]:

“How did this happen?” [Ann Romney] asked over and over, saying she feared for the future of America.

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