Today is the 69th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, that ushered in the US's entrance into World War Two. Please spare a moment of reflection for all those who died that day, including the ones aboard the USS Arizona.
Annie
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
This Wonderful(?) Wintry Season
Brrr, it's COLD! I know it's December, I know it's supposed to be cold. There's frost on the grass right outside my window. I've got the heat turned up. The commercials on the kids' channel Sprout are advertising "The Snowy Side Up Show" and "Elmo's Christmas Movies." Some of my on-line friends are digging out of several feet of snow and school's been canceled in some places. We've been rained on, drizzled on, sleeted on, with cold, wet stuff. College football teams battle it out for Bowl games, and the Super Bowl is next month! The malls ring with Christmas music and I still have to figure out where to put up the tree.
But I still enjoy this season. So many different cultural holidays (Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas, Festivus, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day (December 26), birthdays (mine is the 18th, an aunt's is the 25th, Banshee Girl on the 5th of January, Hubs on the 6th of January) and traditions (cookie goodie boxes!).Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, opening presents at 2 AM Christmas morning, and seeing the kids enjoy their new toys and clothes.
Christmas carols, traditional and all the variations thereof, both reverent and irreverent. Before my hands went kaput, I used to play the piano for hours to fill the house with music. My playlist has the Wiggles' "Go Santa Go" with Mannheim Steamroller's "Carol of the Bells" and Bob Rivers' "Wreck the Malls".
I love this season, even with the weird weather this year.
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
But I still enjoy this season. So many different cultural holidays (Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas, Festivus, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day (December 26), birthdays (mine is the 18th, an aunt's is the 25th, Banshee Girl on the 5th of January, Hubs on the 6th of January) and traditions (cookie goodie boxes!).Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, opening presents at 2 AM Christmas morning, and seeing the kids enjoy their new toys and clothes.
Christmas carols, traditional and all the variations thereof, both reverent and irreverent. Before my hands went kaput, I used to play the piano for hours to fill the house with music. My playlist has the Wiggles' "Go Santa Go" with Mannheim Steamroller's "Carol of the Bells" and Bob Rivers' "Wreck the Malls".
I love this season, even with the weird weather this year.
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Dear Santa (Wish List 2010)
Dear Santa,
Here is my list for this year:
a gift card to any bookstore (Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million, etc.)
a gift card to any art store (Michaels, A.C. Moore)
some clothes to jumpstart my wardrobe
a ticket to Barbados
a week-long stay at the Spa at Hershey's.
a month in my home country (England) and a car to drive all over
Jewelry from Fire Mountain Arts
An iPAD/electronic tablet for art
The Wii fit (so I can get in shape and lose 10 pounds)
The Doctor Who Series 5 DVD Collection
and most importantly...
a world that my kids can grow up without hate and fear.
Thanks, Santa
Annie
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
Here is my list for this year:
a gift card to any bookstore (Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million, etc.)
a gift card to any art store (Michaels, A.C. Moore)
some clothes to jumpstart my wardrobe
a ticket to Barbados
a week-long stay at the Spa at Hershey's.
a month in my home country (England) and a car to drive all over
Jewelry from Fire Mountain Arts
An iPAD/electronic tablet for art
The Wii fit (so I can get in shape and lose 10 pounds)
The Doctor Who Series 5 DVD Collection
and most importantly...
a world that my kids can grow up without hate and fear.
Thanks, Santa
Annie
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Admin Post: Art Blog and Zazzle Art Store Name Change
Note to my readers! I've renamed my art blog to Phoenix Fire Arts. The new feed address is http://feeds.feedburner.com/PhoenixFireArts
Please readjust your feeds accordingly!
The Phoenix Fire Art store on zazzle.com is at the same address http://www.zazzle.com/artistmum1*
New Christmas cards, posters and apparel will be available by Monday, 6 December! Browse the store to find ideal gifts!
Thanks,
Annie
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Song Lyrics: Two Hanukkah Songs
In honor of Hanukkah, I'd like to share two of my favorite songs of the season. I'm not Jewish, but I have friends who are, so this is dedicated to them.
Dreidel Song (I am a Little Dreidel. Yiddish: Ikh bin A Kleyner Dreidel)
I have a little Dreidel
I made it out of clay,
And when it's dry and ready
O Dreidel I shall play.
A dreidel ("Sevivon" in Hebrew) is a 4-sided top. Each side has a Hebrew letter: Nun, Gimel, Hei, Shin, which is short for "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham", "A Great Miracle Happened There." Each player starts with the same number of tokens (like chocolate coins, or 'gelt') and spin the dreidel during their turn.
If Nun comes up, nothing is done
gimel, , the player takes the entire pot in the middle.
hei , the player takes half (or half plus one, if there's an odd number)
shin , the player puts one token in the middle.
The few times I've played the Dreidel game, I've always been the first one to run out of money. I'm the first to admit I have lousy luck in games of chance.
Oh, Chanukah! (Chanukah is another spelling of Hanukkah. It's the same thing.)
Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
Dreidel Song (I am a Little Dreidel. Yiddish: Ikh bin A Kleyner Dreidel)
I have a little Dreidel
I made it out of clay,
And when it's dry and ready
O Dreidel I shall play.
A dreidel ("Sevivon" in Hebrew) is a 4-sided top. Each side has a Hebrew letter: Nun, Gimel, Hei, Shin, which is short for "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham", "A Great Miracle Happened There." Each player starts with the same number of tokens (like chocolate coins, or 'gelt') and spin the dreidel during their turn.
If Nun comes up, nothing is done
gimel, , the player takes the entire pot in the middle.
hei , the player takes half (or half plus one, if there's an odd number)
shin , the player puts one token in the middle.
The few times I've played the Dreidel game, I've always been the first one to run out of money. I'm the first to admit I have lousy luck in games of chance.
Oh, Chanukah! (Chanukah is another spelling of Hanukkah. It's the same thing.)
Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah
Come light the menorah
Let's have a party
We'll all dance the horah
Gather round the table, we'll give you a treat
Dreidels to play with, and latkes to eat
Let's have a party
We'll all dance the horah
Gather round the table, we'll give you a treat
Dreidels to play with, and latkes to eat
Menorah: A candleholder with nine branches. The ninth candle is the "shamash" (helper) from which the other eight are lit, one candle per day of Hanukkah.
Horah: A circle dance
latke: Potato pancake
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Detective Inspector, Grammar Police, American English Division
I used to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) to non-native speakers. Since I live in the US, I adopted and used the American English spellings for my lessons. I'm a native-born Brit and it took me a while to adjust to both spellings, depending to whom I'm talking, or to whom I'm writing. I'm sensitive to word spellings and constructions because I also do line editing. I'm so used to AE that a British friend dubbed me the title of this entry (in the most affectionate manner, of course).
So D.I. Annie presents to you some differences between British English and American English:
Just changes in spelling, but same meaning:
colour/color
honour/honor
favour/favor
centre/center
criticise/criticize
authorise/authorize
traveller/traveler
defence/defense (nouns end in -ce. If it's a verb, the British use the -se spelling)
cheque/check
storey/story (as in floor of a building)
aluminium/aluminum (note the extra "i" in the British spelling. It's pronounced "a-loo-MEE-nee-um")
anaesthesia/anesthesia (the British keep the extra "a")
grey/gray
Some British English (BE) words and their American English (AE) counterparts:
Davenport:a small writing desk (BE)
a sofa (American and Canadian)
Bomb (v): A smashing success (BE)
a failure (AE)
table (v): to consider immediately (BE)
to postpone till later (AE)
access (n) custodial rights (BE)
permission to go somewhere (AE: visitation rights)
Bristol fashion (adj) all taken care of (BE)
taken care of, all A-OK (AE)
Bungalow (n) modest house, cottage (BE)
one story house (AE)
Call (v) dropped by, visited (BE) The British say, "He telephoned" or "He rang." to refer to a phone call.
telephoned (AE).
catch (you) out (v) spot an error (BE)
The Americans say "Catch an error" or "Spot an error."
pavement (n) (BE)
The Americans say, "sidewalk."
razzle (n) A binge (BE) "To go on the razzle." means "to go on a spree" for Americans.
"razz" (v) to tease (AE).
run in (v) Breaking into a brand new car. (BE)
to meet unexpectedly, have an accident (AE).
slag (v) to mock, deride, tease (BE) to "slag (someone) down" means to "give someone hell, read them the riot act, call them on the carpet"
(n) destroyed (AE, military). "It was reduced to slag."
shake (someone) down (v) to let someone stay the night at your place (BE)
"shakedown cruise" in American naval terms is the maiden voyage of a newly commissioned ship.
flat, n. apartment (BE).
It's an adjective in AE, meaning two-dimensional.
bonnet (n) a car hood (BE)
a ladies' hat (AE)
boot (n) the trunk of a car (BE)
a shoe that goes above the ankle (AE)
zebra (zebra crossing) (n) pedestrian crossing (BE) Also called pelican crossing
crosswalk (AE). Also a sports term for the referee (who wears a black and white shirt)
wash up (v) wash the dishes. "Do the dishes" doesn't exist in BE.
use the restroom (AE)
And to clarify some numbers:
A zero in the US is a naught or a cipher in England.
A million in both countries is 1,000,000 (1 with 6 zeros)
A billion in the US is 1,000,000,000 (1 with 9 zeros). In England, it's a milliard.
A trillion in the US is 1,000,000,000,000 (1 with 12 zeros). In England, it's a billion.
A quadrillion in the US is 1,000 x 1 trillion (1 with 15 zeros). In England, it's a thousand billion.
So a billion in the US isn't the same as a billion in England. It does make a difference...a huge difference, by about 1,000.
And some commonly misused proper names:
(Note: Most people think of themselves as Scots, Welsh, Irish, etc. first, before being British)
British: a naturalized subject of Great Britain (it can include someone from Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland, or from any Commonwealth Country)
Briton: a person from Great Britain/England (shortened to Brit)
English: specifically from England in culture and outlook. (DO NOT refer to a Scot, an Irishman or a Welshman as "English". Just don't.)
Scot: A person from Scotland
Scottish: from Scotland (i.e. bagpipes, kilt, etc.)
Scots: Scottish English, Scottish dialect of English (NOT the same thing as Scottish Gaelic, which is Gaidhig)
Scotch: This is the English word for Scottish dialect (see above). The Scots themselves would not use this for their language. It's also in certain expressions "Scotch whiskey" (whisky in England), and "Scotch tweed".
(Most terms from British English A to Zed: Revised and Updated Edition by Norman W. Schur, updated by Eugene Ehrlich ©2001 by Checkmark Books, New York)
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
So D.I. Annie presents to you some differences between British English and American English:
Just changes in spelling, but same meaning:
colour/color
honour/honor
favour/favor
centre/center
criticise/criticize
authorise/authorize
traveller/traveler
defence/defense (nouns end in -ce. If it's a verb, the British use the -se spelling)
cheque/check
storey/story (as in floor of a building)
aluminium/aluminum (note the extra "i" in the British spelling. It's pronounced "a-loo-MEE-nee-um")
anaesthesia/anesthesia (the British keep the extra "a")
grey/gray
Some British English (BE) words and their American English (AE) counterparts:
Davenport:a small writing desk (BE)
a sofa (American and Canadian)
Bomb (v): A smashing success (BE)
a failure (AE)
table (v): to consider immediately (BE)
to postpone till later (AE)
access (n) custodial rights (BE)
permission to go somewhere (AE: visitation rights)
Bristol fashion (adj) all taken care of (BE)
taken care of, all A-OK (AE)
Bungalow (n) modest house, cottage (BE)
one story house (AE)
Call (v) dropped by, visited (BE) The British say, "He telephoned" or "He rang." to refer to a phone call.
telephoned (AE).
catch (you) out (v) spot an error (BE)
The Americans say "Catch an error" or "Spot an error."
pavement (n) (BE)
The Americans say, "sidewalk."
razzle (n) A binge (BE) "To go on the razzle." means "to go on a spree" for Americans.
"razz" (v) to tease (AE).
run in (v) Breaking into a brand new car. (BE)
to meet unexpectedly, have an accident (AE).
slag (v) to mock, deride, tease (BE) to "slag (someone) down" means to "give someone hell, read them the riot act, call them on the carpet"
(n) destroyed (AE, military). "It was reduced to slag."
shake (someone) down (v) to let someone stay the night at your place (BE)
"shakedown cruise" in American naval terms is the maiden voyage of a newly commissioned ship.
flat, n. apartment (BE).
It's an adjective in AE, meaning two-dimensional.
bonnet (n) a car hood (BE)
a ladies' hat (AE)
boot (n) the trunk of a car (BE)
a shoe that goes above the ankle (AE)
zebra (zebra crossing) (n) pedestrian crossing (BE) Also called pelican crossing
crosswalk (AE). Also a sports term for the referee (who wears a black and white shirt)
wash up (v) wash the dishes. "Do the dishes" doesn't exist in BE.
use the restroom (AE)
And to clarify some numbers:
A zero in the US is a naught or a cipher in England.
A million in both countries is 1,000,000 (1 with 6 zeros)
A billion in the US is 1,000,000,000 (1 with 9 zeros). In England, it's a milliard.
A trillion in the US is 1,000,000,000,000 (1 with 12 zeros). In England, it's a billion.
A quadrillion in the US is 1,000 x 1 trillion (1 with 15 zeros). In England, it's a thousand billion.
So a billion in the US isn't the same as a billion in England. It does make a difference...a huge difference, by about 1,000.
And some commonly misused proper names:
(Note: Most people think of themselves as Scots, Welsh, Irish, etc. first, before being British)
British: a naturalized subject of Great Britain (it can include someone from Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland, or from any Commonwealth Country)
Briton: a person from Great Britain/England (shortened to Brit)
English: specifically from England in culture and outlook. (DO NOT refer to a Scot, an Irishman or a Welshman as "English". Just don't.)
Scot: A person from Scotland
Scottish: from Scotland (i.e. bagpipes, kilt, etc.)
Scots: Scottish English, Scottish dialect of English (NOT the same thing as Scottish Gaelic, which is Gaidhig)
Scotch: This is the English word for Scottish dialect (see above). The Scots themselves would not use this for their language. It's also in certain expressions "Scotch whiskey" (whisky in England), and "Scotch tweed".
(Most terms from British English A to Zed: Revised and Updated Edition by Norman W. Schur, updated by Eugene Ehrlich ©2001 by Checkmark Books, New York)
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The "Fiction" in Science Fiction (part II)
Yes, scientific accuracy is important in a science fiction short story or novel. A glaring mistake can pull the reader out of the story and ruin the experience for him or her.
Then there's something called "suspension of disbelief". It's the concept that allows us to believe in blue-skinned humanoids with antennae on their heads, or a sentient android, or a time-traveling alien who can alter his appearance before he dies. It allows us to believe in Warp 9.8, hyperspace drive, and a floating space station not far from the event horizon of a black hole. Or a man being trapped in a computer, fighting for his life in a deadly tournament.
Science is one important part of science fiction, but the fiction part is important too. As I stated before, each author puts his or her unique spin on the same concepts, and that is what makes each story unique. Bug eyed aliens (or Reptilians) take over Earth? How do our heroes triumph over the bad guys? Do our heroes stumble all over the universe, finding problems to solve in every space and time? What kind of adventures do they have? Good storytelling transports the reader into that particular world and as the pages turn, he or she becomes so engrossed in the story that the words "THE END" is a disappointment.
That's a hallmark of good writing, no matter what genre. Science Fiction, in particular, should be a balance of science and fiction, in order to tell a good story.
P.S. Can you identify the various SF series/movies/books mentioned in this article (Parts I and II)?
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
Then there's something called "suspension of disbelief". It's the concept that allows us to believe in blue-skinned humanoids with antennae on their heads, or a sentient android, or a time-traveling alien who can alter his appearance before he dies. It allows us to believe in Warp 9.8, hyperspace drive, and a floating space station not far from the event horizon of a black hole. Or a man being trapped in a computer, fighting for his life in a deadly tournament.
Science is one important part of science fiction, but the fiction part is important too. As I stated before, each author puts his or her unique spin on the same concepts, and that is what makes each story unique. Bug eyed aliens (or Reptilians) take over Earth? How do our heroes triumph over the bad guys? Do our heroes stumble all over the universe, finding problems to solve in every space and time? What kind of adventures do they have? Good storytelling transports the reader into that particular world and as the pages turn, he or she becomes so engrossed in the story that the words "THE END" is a disappointment.
That's a hallmark of good writing, no matter what genre. Science Fiction, in particular, should be a balance of science and fiction, in order to tell a good story.
P.S. Can you identify the various SF series/movies/books mentioned in this article (Parts I and II)?
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)