Sing it, Rex!!

How did we come to this?

A recent exchange on an LJ comm with another soul left a tidbit from "My Fair Lady" running through my mind:

"Her English is too perfect!! Which clearly indicates that she is foreign. Whereas others are instructed in their native language, English people aren't."

Really, the whole of the plot of that musical is built on the class distinctions created by language. And I don't mean which language you speak, but rather how you speak the English language.

This, I believe, is the final "barrier" being assaulted by the Though Police. They wish you to believe that we live in a classless society. Not true. And that you should not distinguish between one person and another based on their facility with the English language. Even if it happens to be their native tongue.

I stand forth and declare myself a languagist. If I notice multiple misspellings and grammatical errors in your resume, I will indeed place it directly in the circular file. There is absolutely no excuse in this day and age. Even lj has a spell check mechanism. Which, ironically, highlights "lj" as a misspelling. I contend, as well, that anyone proffering written commentary on my A&S entries had better at least be able to spell the basic terminology of the art. Failure to do so will result in my considering said commentary to be baseless, or at least coming from a source ignorant of the craft. Why? Because the carelessness required to draft commentary with such errors makes you look ignorant.

And, I'm sorry to say, no liberal whining about the inequality of the educational system will change that.

Then, there is the aspect of courtesy. How is it rude of ME to refuse to answer questions posed to a list in an E-mail that looks like this:

"Hi all the dress makers form is still avalible along with the singer sowing
mackine and a sewing stand and aunt virg told me she found a portable cloth
steamer 3 ft long call and ill give give you her # to talk direct my # is 989
906 1815

Thanks
*name deleted*

PS I didnt save the numbers of anyone that called"

Whilst it is NOT rude of the poster to clog the list with something that makes my retinas bleed. It takes twice as long to wend my way through it. Why should I be expected to expend the time to read a message that the author cannot be bothered to type correctly?

Anybody with the most basic education can do better than this. Especially when coupled with the electronic aids currently available. I can only assume that the existence of these aids is part of the reason for the general decline in linguistic ability. If you never lose points on an essay for poor grammar or spelling, you never learn it to start with.

Shall we even get started on the recent elimination of cursive script from public school curricula as "obsolete" and "irrelevant?" All the art and beauty is gradually being lost from social interaction. Bring back calling cards!! Engraved stationery!! Dammit, I'm going to teach my girls copperplate!!

This is not to say that I don't manage some impressive spelling and grammatical errors myself. I do. But I make an effort to make public communications as clear as may be. (Gee, did I just end a sentence with a preposition?)

In short (well, too late for that, but anyway), I reserve the right to treat someone who speaks (and types) like a lady, and someone who speaks (and types) like a guttersnipe accordingly. So if you want my full and undivided attention - speak softly....and with good diction.

I was at JoAnns, looking for something entirely unrelated, and ran across some fabric that I'm now of two minds about.

It's a "Holiday" fabric, of poly taffeta, with a flocked pattern. Normally, something I would avoid like the plague. However, it's a gunmetal color, with black flocking, in a pattern that looks very, very, very close to the skirt in this portrait:

<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Caterina_van_Hemessen_Portrait_of_a_Woman_with_a_Dog.jpg/458px-Caterina_van_Hemessen_Portrait_of_a_Woman_with_a_Dog.jpg /> Now, this fabric wouldn't drape well. But wouldn't have to, given the style. It's almost an invert of the brocade painted. What do y'all think?

My child continually makes me scratch my head. It is one thing to cognitively understand that autism and associated syndromes can fundamentally change the mechanism by which language is acquired. It is another entirely to watch it in motion.

Anneliese does not speak much. She CAN. She just would rather not. And when she does, phrases or very short sentences are all you will get. At least in English.

Last night, John pulled up "Hero" on the DVR. In Mandarin, with English subtitles. Anneliese was playing with her own toys on the other end of the room. She trotted over and watched selected bits with us (nothing objectionable - the occasional Hong Kong wire work, or People Talking). Then went back to her toys. When I cocked an ear at her, I heard a very strange thing - she would chatter in her usual string of near-gibberish (in this case, singing "Squirrels in My Pants" in her own inimitable fashion) in her normal tone of voice. Then stop, and her voice would raise in tone significantly - as she chattered on in what sounded like Mandarin. Enough so that I though for a few moments that she had found a Chinese video online. Back and forth she went. Much more complex than the occasional word served up by "Ni Hao, Kai Lan." She's done this occasionally with other languages we DO know - and we could pick out words. ?!?!?!?? So, so bizarre.

Then there are the people who I don't know who try to friend me on Facebook. For some reason, I find this much, much more bizarre than "friending" from strangers on lj. I generally chalk that up to interest in something I'm doing. And most often, when I visit these folks' journals, I find that indeed they post about similar projects. FB - these people are friends or acquaintances of friends or acquaintances. WTF? Are you so desperate for a virtual life that you measure your volume in the size of your friends' list?

Third - what is the allure of "New Moon?" I really don't get the whole Twilight phenomenon. Especially as the message to girls seems to be, "It's OK, honey. Stalking just means he REALLY likes you." Eh. Though I am amused that there is finally a film to prove to the studios that they can have a successful movie that is neither filled with toilet humor, body parts, nor sex scenes filtered to the point of blurriness to hide the bodies of aging stars. I'm just not sure I wanted it to be this movie.

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity

• Update your journal with the answers to the questions

• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions (I'll also answer more, if asked)

The questions that reabhecc asked me:


1. Which of the states you've not visited would you most like to go to?

Hmm, two thoughts come to mind. First, Maine. I'd love to see Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. The other is Minnesota. I'd like to visit the Twin Cities, Mall of America, and go visit my Aunt Carol sometime.

2. If you and your family could pick up and live anywhere for a year, all-expenses paid, where would you go?

Maybe Scotland? If I can be completely fantastical about it and not worry about mundane notions like Special Ed for Anneliese, etc, etc.

3. How did you pick your children's names?

Both times we had trouble coming to a conclusion. Anneliese was born 3 months early, hence the not having decided. They asked me mid C-section what her name was. I pronounced it, spelled it, and John (wisely) opted not to argue. Aurora was more a tie-breaker between what he wanted and what I wanted. We try to go for unique without being weird, and a name that has both a formal option and a nickname available for familiar use. (Liesl and Rori).

4. Which of the Disney Princesses do you like best or at least dislike least, and why?

I've always preferred Aurora. Ahem. Gee, that a surprise to anybody? I think it's a supressed wish for dance lessons when I was younger. And she's so darned graceful. The whole medieval thing might have something going for it, too. Plus, her voice doesn't annoy me. Can anybody really stand to listen to Adrianna Caselloti for very long?

5. Dark or milk chocolate?

Milk. Hands down.

6. Would you rather live in a house with a small dining room and big kitchen or a small kitchen and large dining room?

I've always lived in a house with a kitchen - and a kitchen table. So I'm going to go big kitchen, small dining room. Which I probably won't use anyway. Easier to move the couch over and set up a folding table. ;-)

Is it really necessary to post to multiple large, public lists the exact nature of your specific mental illnes, the treatment you have planned, and it's potential side effects? Srsly? Granted, I now look at some of your previous posts differently. And by differently, I do not mean better.

Things I'm getting tired of: General obliviousness.

( Cut for extended complaining )

Well, John had a near-death experience last weekend. He went to Lake City to get our meat - we split a side of beef with my parents. On the way home, he came around a curse to find, not the straight-away he expected, but rather a 90 degree turn. With no warning. (Must be somebody else hit the sign ;-) He immediately panicked, thinking about missing Anneliese's wedding, and Rori's graduation, while the Garmin (and it's weighted stand) flew across and smacked into the passenger side window. He was, however, driving the Audi. Ilsa dug her claws into the pavement and swung around the turn with the attitude of "What? I'm only doing 60 and it's a 90 degree turn?" Heh. Love that suspension. All is well.

Mistress Sarafina gave me an extra track for RUM, and I think I STILL may have managed to overbook. Eh, I can't count. Or rather, I forgot Duke Eliahu wanted 1 1/2 hours per class. There still may be things that don't come through. And it's a better problem to have than the reverse. In addition, I might just bring some notes myself and ask a few of the latecomers to bring THEIR notes. So that, should a teacher or two no-show, I can fill in the gaps.

The girls are doing well. Anneliese is getting better and better about following along at Dance Class. Still not QUITE sure what we'll do for the month of January. Linsey won't be able to be there, as she's being forced to pick up a 101 course in order to graduate. (Been there.) So I'll ask her in a week or two if she thinks Anneliese can go by herself, or if one of her classmates might be able to fill in.

In addition, the Grand Rapids Ballet Company has put Anneliese on the waiting list for their Pre-ballet class. I think we'll let her try that alone, unless Linsey really feels otherwise and is available THAT day, too. But they do have some experience with Autism and are willing to try it. Now I'm debating about taking her to see the Nutcracker, to gauge her interest level.

I bought some steel bones for the lacing strips on the bodice of my dutch gown. And some buckrum strips for the waistband, as well as some wool for the hem. Hopefully I can play around with that some, soon. And hopefully I'll be feeling a little more up to it.

( Cut for female details - enter at your own risk )

All-in-all, hoping for a better weekend to come, as we're visiting the folks. We can't go home for Thanksgiving, as I have to work. Which was OK with Mom and Dad, as I think they're planning to go up north and visit my Grandmother anyway.

And, it should be noted, a mere 3 weeks until vacation!!! I nudged my travel agent today, and she's mailing out the paperwork/itinerary/tickets tomorrow. Yeah!!! Orlando, here we come! All that's left to do is finish gathering all the stuff we need to pack, set up the stroller rental, set up the in-room sitter, and but the Photopass CD. Keen.

A general update later on doings and goings on - travel, sewing, chickens, children and the like.

For the moment, I pose a philosophical question to the air:

Where do you draw the line between using research and plagiarism?

If you take a class on a technique is it appropriate to:

Enter an identical item to the one taught in A&S competition?
Teach a class on the same technique?
Teach a class using the instructor's class notes - after all, they're on the web. With the author's permission? Without permission, as long as you leave the author's name on it?
Is there, for instance, a difference between using someone else's classnotes for a calligraphy class, and using their published ductus but teaching the technique with your own notes?

When developing a class to teach, is it appropriate to:

Print off someone else's website to use?
Photocopy a section of a book to use? How much of a section?
Copy occasional paragraphs from others' work into your notes - not directly credited, but listed in a bibliography as a source?
Copy images from other sites and print the images alone to use?
Base a class entirely on someone else's research, but put it in your own words? Does your answer change if the research in question is unique in nature?

Does your answer to any of the above change based on the person? Do you expect more of someone actively pursuing the Arts and Sciences than you would, say, a relative newcomer? DO you consider there to be two groups of instructors: One that does and presents original research, and one that teaches how-to and technique based on others' work?

Lastly, do you feel that it is necessary upon reaching a certain level of achievement within an art or science to branch out of what has been done before and begin to make your own conclusions and interpretations - not based on someone else's work but based purely on the evidence at hand? In other words, is a "thesis topic" a necessary element? Rather than merely using others' redaction of recipes, there is a point at which you need to not only redact a few yourself, but to compare similar recipes of a region and time and begin to reconstruct flavor profiles, for example.

Speak to me of the boundaries of intellectual property. For myself, I feel like the raw information is available for anyone to use. But the theories, conclusions, and interpretations I present are mine alone. Support them, discredit them, argue till you're blue in the face - but credit the source. Yes, it's possible for someone to independently have found the same sources and reached the same conclusions, but is it likely?

What say y'all?

Anneliese had picked out the Mulan costume for Halloween this year. I considered this to be a good thing, as it was big enough to cover wearing pants and a shirt underneath. So I put her hair up in a ponytail, wrapped it with a ribbon, and did her face in white make-up. She was delighted. I'd been on the fence about taking Rori at all. Seven years is a big age difference for something like that. So I just put her in the little panda shirt Mom got her, and loaded her up in the stroller, muffled in blankets. She seemed to enjoy things for the most part - till the last four blocks. Partly my fault - Mama forgot to bring a pacie. We gave out rather a lot les candy than previous years. I'm guessing because we were the ONLY house on our block passing out candy. Not worth the hike, probably.

Oh, and John found his new hero. One house we went to did it ALL the way up. Music playing over outdoor speakers, a dozen jack-o-lanterns on the porch rail, a "skeleton" buried partially in the lawn, and creepy "eyes" blinking on and off in the darkened windows. Plus strobe lights in the lawn pointed at the house. Tres Cool.

Sunday was sewing day with 'Laina. Pammy stopped in to hang out for a bit. And iron. ;-) It's her calling. I got the bodice to my Enkhuizen overgown mostly done. But I had a brain cramp on the math for organ pleats. Whoops. And now I can't find the tutorial page, either. ANybody have it handy? It's probably OK that I couldn't get that part done, though. On thinking about it, the wool is so very thin I think I should probably pad the pleats. Maybe run a 3" wide strip of wool flannel along the top of the skirt to give them more "oomph."

This morning I am unfond of Daylight Savings Time. Why do we still do this? Not enough people farm to make it an issue. Now it's extra dark when I get up. *sigh* Even the big ol' full moon was gone. (Hmmm, Full Moon - that ought to make for an interesting day at work).

Anneliese has no school the next two days. Poor John. He's such a trooper.

If I get time this week, I'm going to play with Joomla. Interestingly, it has a feature that enables both right-click protection and also prohibits the keyboard copy shortcut. Keen. Then maybe I can put up a costuming diary on the Enkhuizen dress.

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Sometimes Christie's is good for something.

Off the WK Needleworkers Guild list:

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=salesummary&pos=9&intObjectID=4457179&sid=d9263e18-b8c4-4719-8184-aeeb3bafca9f

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=4457270&sid=d9263e18-b8c4-4719-8184-aeeb3bafca9f&link=next&page=10

I am coming to accept the fact that a fulltime job, two small children, a long commute - and mostly, the raising of a special needs child - will prevent me from realizing a number of ambitions for the immediate future. I lack the time, energy, and ambition:

- to really bother trying to launch a new career designing fabrics or launching a pattern line

- to pursue the skill set necessary for consideration for the Order of the Laurel

- to construct all the projects running around in my head

- to even get my home into the state I'd like it

But every now and then, something DOES go my way. I went to JoAnn's today to get fabric for a corset. I looked at the cotton duck, but it seemed a little coarse and stiff. So I went wandering through the twills. I happended across a bolt of burgundy herrigbone twill of a weight and pattern very similar to corset coutil. It was labeled $6.99/yd, but rang up $2.50. I nearly went for the rest of the bolt. ;-) 100% cotton, even.

Yeah, me. Now to shop for binding, cable ties, and to draft a pattern. ;-)

Second question on the Corset thing....

At what social class do corsets then disappear? Who was too poor to afford one, or worked too hard for it to be practical?

What sort of supportive garment would you put under a late 16th century Dutch gown like this:

( cut for politeness and pics )

A la Antoinne.

Or, rabbit pot pie - Michigan style. ;-) Cooked the bunny, made a white sauce with the pan drippings and some turkey broth, added some peas and carrots and pour the whole mess into a casserole dish. Being lazy, I dropped on some bisquick (won't do that again - great-grandma's biscuit recipe is better), and baked. Voila. Dinner. (Or would have been voila, had I not turned off the oven, instead of the burner. Whoops.) Also made the Brewer's Blondies from Baked. Good, but not really probably worth a repeat. Next on the list: Malted cake.

Still musing on a new gown for Masque.

Oh, and needing to tot up my teachers before I run out of spots. ;-) What a happy problem to have!! I'll find room for all the great people who have been so accomodating. ;-)

It's my bed time. Cause I'm needin' the sleep lately. Maybe we'll get the girls in for flu shots this week. Though Mom was fussing at me about something she watched on TV where some "endocrinologist and immunologist" (OK, weird combo suggesting Quack!) who was insisting Thimersol DOES cause autism. *head desk, head desk, pound, pound, pound* Well, guess what, I already have one autistic child and in spite of it I'd rather not lose either of them to the flu!!!

Oh, and I got my new King Arthur Flour catalog today. I'm happily going through it with a marker, making my Christmas list!

No real news on the job front. An odd call or two from various other entities fishing to see if John is worth pursuing. Nice to be wanted. I hope.

I'm slow....

I just noticed that RUM is happening in conjunction with the Masque of Courtly Love. Now, I intend to finish one of the Dutch regional gowns for the day. But I suppose I needs something for the Masque, if we opt to stay.

So, what do y'all think I should make?

One of the van Hemessen gowns? (Either the one with the polka-dot cuffs or the brocade skirt and pink undersleeves.)

One of the later period outfits with the bodice and skirt as seen in some of the wedding or skating scenes?

A Cranach gown?

Something Italian/Venetian - since it is a Masque?

Some other German/Swiss/Dutch regional gown?

Something else entirely? Provide pictures!!

and boy do I get it.

I ask the hubs this morning (for the 3rd time) to please call and transfer my Rx and go pick it up. He says "I will get that taken care of before 10 AM!"

Fast forward - 3:15 PM - Phone call. "Honey, not all branches have a pharmacy. There isn't one in Holland, so we'd have to use the Muskegon one" Fine, I say. We have a "Preferred" membership, so it might even mean a discount.

Then I think about it for a while - Anneliese gets home at 4 PM. He does NOT have time to go get it. Call him back. Confirm that he had no intention of doing so. So, one of us goes once I get home? Ah, but the pharmacy closes at 6.

So he pulls the martyred "I shall go gather up the children and go now" routine. F it. Don't bother. I'll do it tomorrow myself. And suffer tonight and tomorrow until I get a chance after work.... cause I'm out.


Must. Control. Fist. Of. Death.

just dreary and drizzly. And things are conspiring against me all the way around.

I learned this weekend that hydroxyzine can kick my ass and take names. I took one capsule in the evening, and it didn't seem to do anything. So I took the second. Um, yeah. I was a zombie until 5 PM on Sunday. Went back to bed for 2 naps. Pretty much whenever Rori slept, I did. Oi.

I took Tuesday afternoon off, and took Anneliese to dance class. Mistake. Between being tired, the break in rutine (Momma instead of Daddy), and the instructor's boys watching a video in the entryway... she wasn't really at her best. In fact, sobbed the first half hour. After the mid-class break she did get with the program a little more and try to keep up with the class. And at least I've seen enough of their steps to try ot work with her a little this weekend.

Leslie went a few rounds with the dingle-berry that runs one of the local rescues. Who informed us that we should give HER a discount, as we'll get a client out of it. Sorry, dipweed. They're already my clients. She also huffed and puffed and informed Leslie that SHE is in it for the animals, while we're in it for profit. I'd have let her have it with both barrels. Fine, lady. YOU go scrape up 80K and spend 4 years getting the degree. Then you can spay and neuter all the critters you want. Grrrrrrr.

I'm filling up my class lists for RUM. ;-) Little by little and bit by bit!

*yawn* Want NAP.

The damned annoying NoOb who posts incessantly on two of the lists I'm on (cooking and heraldry) has now joined a 3rd!!! (Scribal).

ARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!


She's so damned annoying. If one of my Tree-Girt-Sea peeps wants to accidentally run her overwith a bus or something, I'd be eternally grateful. *sigh*

(And I'm watching Dancing With The Stars - Chuck Liddell is wearing the shirt made famous by the Marvin Suggs, who played the Amazing Muppaphone. Too funny!! Bruno called it a number straight out of "ZombieTown - The Musical")

Look:



Hmmm. Can't find a pic of Chuck in That Shirt. I'll keep looking.