I dearly love hollyhocks, although one must be patient with them as they are biennials. And double hollyhocks! Very nice.
Cat--what listener said. Between serious bleeding and then chemotherapy my hemoglobin was significantly depressed during my medical adventures; it really sapped my energy for a couple of years. I was honestly surprised at how strong the effect was--and how long it took my bone marrow to recover from the chemo. Feeling great now.
I have realized that my native speech seems to have been strongly influenced by the Inland Northern (US) accent and dialect, which was considered the standard of American English before the Northern Cities Vowel Shift began. I am going to restore certain aspects of it to my speech. [e.g.: pronounce "route" as "rout" (Fowler notes it as an earlier pronunciation in the UK, particularly in military usage), and "root" (of a plant) as "foot" or "soot." The latter is SO EASY that I suspect it was the way I used to say it, but have forgotten.) I was just now listening to some clips of Richard M. Daley and Richard J. Daley, and I have not the least difficulty understanding them. Their accents are very slightly more nasal than mine, and their enunciation is excellent--just as we were taught. Ditto for Gerald Ford. The Pacific Northwest has more than a little cultural affinity with the upper Midwest. Another example is brown business suits.
On the way home from work today I saw that some farmers are starting to make raisins. The Thompson Seedless grapes are very yellow, and surely very sweet--much more so than the ones picked for table grapes.
Oh yes--we said "pop" for the carbonated soft drink, although the linguistic maps say we shouldn't have; and my folks (particularly my father) called a couch a chesterfield, which is supposed to be typical of Ontario and thereabouts! [My mother later adopted the affectation "sofa" since that sounded fancier and more modern--like a "Hollywood" bed (one without a footboard).]
We are much too far away to have felt Mother Nature's building inspector at work in Napa; Naomi said there were reports people in San Francisco felt it, but not where she lives on the San Francisco Peninsula. Because of the geology of California earthquakes are not felt nearly as far away as they are back east, on the North American craton. I have only glanced at the news about Napa, but the same sorts of buildings always fail in even moderate earthquakes; unreinforced brick buildings are notorious. Mobile homes require extensive special bracing; and old frame houses need to be CONNECTED to steel-reinforced concrete foundations. The one redeeming feature of old "brick" buildings out here is that they are typically frame buildings with brick exterior walls because brick was so much more expensive than wood--so the exterior walls collapse into the streets, but the buildings themselves do not collapse. It is rare for any post-WWII houses to fail.
I'm glad to hear that post-WWII houses generally do well. Yes, we have some truly interesting geology, here in the east, which means we feel tremors from quite a distance. Perhaps that's how we know we're all interconnected. ;-)
puddle, how is it possible that you need to put the oven on a bit and I'm sweating in mid-80's? Someone has the weather map upside-down again! Let's trade!
It was a beautiful day today here, if a bit hot (84F). I drove down to East Middlebury to bring my mother's painting to the expert who will clean and retouch it. I can hardly wait to see it done! Should be ready about the third week in September.
I remember seeing a TV program about a famous 20th-century Japanese painter that included a segment on the restoration of one of his most famous paintings. The most amazing thing was how they replaced missing chips of paint. They photographed sections of chips from the edge of the missing portions, then made up acrylic paints to match the colors of the layers of oil paints, and applied the acrylics in the same order as the oils. The result was absolutely perfect. (To get rid of eruptions of salts they simply dabbed with damp cotton.)
Howard Dean--Zounds!
ReplyDeleteI dearly love hollyhocks, although one must be patient with them as they are biennials. And double hollyhocks! Very nice.
Cat--what listener said. Between serious bleeding and then chemotherapy my hemoglobin was significantly depressed during my medical adventures; it really sapped my energy for a couple of years. I was honestly surprised at how strong the effect was--and how long it took my bone marrow to recover from the chemo. Feeling great now.
I have realized that my native speech seems to have been strongly influenced by the Inland Northern (US) accent and dialect, which was considered the standard of American English before the Northern Cities Vowel Shift began. I am going to restore certain aspects of it to my speech. [e.g.: pronounce "route" as "rout" (Fowler notes it as an earlier pronunciation in the UK, particularly in military usage), and "root" (of a plant) as "foot" or "soot." The latter is SO EASY that I suspect it was the way I used to say it, but have forgotten.) I was just now listening to some clips of Richard M. Daley and Richard J. Daley, and I have not the least difficulty understanding them. Their accents are very slightly more nasal than mine, and their enunciation is excellent--just as we were taught. Ditto for Gerald Ford. The Pacific Northwest has more than a little cultural affinity with the upper Midwest. Another example is brown business suits.
On the way home from work today I saw that some farmers are starting to make raisins. The Thompson Seedless grapes are very yellow, and surely very sweet--much more so than the ones picked for table grapes.
TTFN
Alan
Oh yes--we said "pop" for the carbonated soft drink, although the linguistic maps say we shouldn't have; and my folks (particularly my father) called a couch a chesterfield, which is supposed to be typical of Ontario and thereabouts! [My mother later adopted the affectation "sofa" since that sounded fancier and more modern--like a "Hollywood" bed (one without a footboard).]
ReplyDelete--Alan
Great to see you here, Alan. Tough day for Napa!
ReplyDeleteWe are much too far away to have felt Mother Nature's building inspector at work in Napa; Naomi said there were reports people in San Francisco felt it, but not where she lives on the San Francisco Peninsula. Because of the geology of California earthquakes are not felt nearly as far away as they are back east, on the North American craton. I have only glanced at the news about Napa, but the same sorts of buildings always fail in even moderate earthquakes; unreinforced brick buildings are notorious. Mobile homes require extensive special bracing; and old frame houses need to be CONNECTED to steel-reinforced concrete foundations. The one redeeming feature of old "brick" buildings out here is that they are typically frame buildings with brick exterior walls because brick was so much more expensive than wood--so the exterior walls collapse into the streets, but the buildings themselves do not collapse. It is rare for any post-WWII houses to fail.
ReplyDelete--Alan
I'm glad to hear that post-WWII houses generally do well. Yes, we have some truly interesting geology, here in the east, which means we feel tremors from quite a distance. Perhaps that's how we know we're all interconnected. ;-)
DeleteAnother cool summer day. I had the oven on for a while this morning to take the chill out.
ReplyDeletepuddle, how is it possible that you need to put the oven on a bit and I'm sweating in mid-80's? Someone has the weather map upside-down again! Let's trade!
DeleteIt was a beautiful day today here, if a bit hot (84F). I drove down to East Middlebury to bring my mother's painting to the expert who will clean and retouch it. I can hardly wait to see it done! Should be ready about the third week in September.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing a TV program about a famous 20th-century Japanese painter that included a segment on the restoration of one of his most famous paintings. The most amazing thing was how they replaced missing chips of paint. They photographed sections of chips from the edge of the missing portions, then made up acrylic paints to match the colors of the layers of oil paints, and applied the acrylics in the same order as the oils. The result was absolutely perfect. (To get rid of eruptions of salts they simply dabbed with damp cotton.)
ReplyDelete--Alan
I've seen that program too, Alan. It's wonderful what can be restored!
Delete