Lighting Candles: Save the Whales...I mean...the WORDS!

You know the thing where you should have gone to bed like an hour ago? But instead you screw around on the internet? And then you find something that totally sucks you in and consumes an inexcusable amount of time?

That's where I'm at right now.

Not helped--in the slightest--by the fact that my very sweet and well- intentioned husband accidentally brewed a pot of coffee. (Brew delay can be a tricky thing, folks.) As such, we have an entire pot of coffee wafting it's morning-time goodness through the apartment. My olfactory capacities can't quite grasp the concept that I should be retired for the evening, not battling to stay awake. Oh Peace Coffee, your powers know no bounds!

So there I am...sifting through my Twitter feed, and I see a tweet from Good that I can't help but investigate. It's a link to an article about how the Oxford English Dictionary is undergoing "a campaign to save forgotten words from obsolescence."

Your lubency to learn new words is inspiring.

The good folks at the OED go on to tell us that "90% of everything we write is communicated by only 7,000 words." That's a little stunning to me. I mean maybe not once I stop to think about it...but really? Only 7,000? For all the flosculations we read and hear every day, that's astounding!

This is clearly an important cause.

We've gotta save the words, people!

Before they're gone forever!

So quit with the blateration, and get yourself over to their website. Adimpleate your brain with some great, olde-timey treats. Or at the very least, enjoy perusing the traboccant collage of words.

Do you know what an oporopolist does?

You can adopt a word and promise to use it every day, teaching it to others and ensuring that it remains part of our vernacular. You can also sign up for word-of-the-day emails. But make sure you're ready for all that responsibility! That's a lot of new words to use.

My word, by the way?

foppotee: a simple-minded person

Post yours in the comments below...can't wait to see what word you've saved!

Happy Belated Bloggin' Birthday to Me!

Does this count as dinner?

Last night I came home from work around 6pm. Although I hadn't had a stressful or tiring day, I crashed on the couch...cranked at Jay for no particular reason...ate a few Tater Tots...watched about half of a rerun of "Bones."

Jay kept telling me to take a nap. (A deft I-have-a-tired-and-cranky-wife coping mechanism, no?)

I kept telling him I wasn't tired. (A clumsy I-am-a-tired-and-cranky-wife defensive maneuver, no?)

Finally, at 7:49, he convinced me to retire to the boudoir for a little siesta, promising to wake me up at 9pm for the Twins game.

I have vague memories of his unsuccessful attempt to roust me from my slumber. Yeah, I pretty much slept through the entire night. Apparently I was tired.

So I didn't get to post the post I wanted to post last night. The post which exclaimed:

Happy Birthday, Warmed the World!

Yes! My little blog turned one yesterday...she's growing up so fast!

Actually, I'd been debating whether I wanted to celebrate the one year anniversary/birthday of the blog...or if I wanted to celebrate the 100th post, since those things likely wouldn't be happening very far apart...I think this post will be my 90th.

But then I remembered that some 25-26 posts in December were for the Reverb 10 Project. And while I certainly wrote the posts, and they were mostly done in a style/tone relatively consistent with the rest of this Warmed the World business, they weren't exactly mine, you know? Someone else wrote the prompts... someone else was driving the bus...the genesis came from outside, if you will. I guess I just felt like all the posts didn't count as my own.

(That's what happens when you're a bit of a data/research geek, by the way. You get all worried about operationalizing what "counts.")

Any excuse to have cake...

Anyway...

So a birthday it is!

I've been blogging for a year now. I've stuck with it. I've embraced it.

I not yet fallen off the bloggin' wagon. I haven't run out of material. I've invented some new "features" and have adjusted (to a certain extent) the tone/structure of the posts. I think I've been true to the mission I set forth, yet have been flexible in regard to how that mission is achieved.

I feel like the blog has evolved and grown. I feel like I have grown too.

This blog has very much become a part of my identity. I find myself thinking in terms of blog posts (lucky for you, they don't all make it to the e-page) and scripting them while I'm in the middle of certain events. I find myself excited to process and analyze and share...to dig deeper into the meaning of the occurrences in my life. Why was that particular experience so stimulating? or enjoyable? or emotional? or significant?

When I catch myself trending toward cynicism or angry hyperbole, I try to remind myself that I'm the one writing the stupid blog about celebrating the things that make our world a better place. I'm the one writing posts entitled Buck the F@ck Up! I'm the one challenging my tens and tens of readers to see the world through a more positive lens. So I'd better take my own medicine and heed my own advice.

Does anyone know where my sunglasses are, BTW?

This doesn't mean, mind you, that I'm running around with rose-colored glasses glued to my face. Did you see  the part up above where I was a cranky, cranky woman last night? So cranky that I got sent to bed with only Tater Tots for supper?

The blog does, however, cause me to give pause and reflect on my reactions to things. When I'm angry or in a funk, it often challenges me to try to find a productive way to vent. Or if I just need to thrash around in irascibility for awhile, the blog is an e-reminder to eventually "snap out of it"...just like my mother has been telling me for decades.

The best part of this endeavor has been connecting with friends (new and old) in creative and meaningful ways. And I love that I have new blogosphere friends! I like that we read each others' work and share our thoughts. I love that I've never even met some of you, yet here we are...e-connected. I love it when folks that I don't get to see very often say "Hey, I read your blog...I think about those things too!"...it's wonderful to feel part of a world-warmin' community.

So yeah...a whole year of blogging. I can't believe it! I love it! It's almost hard to imagine my life without it...it feels like it has always been a part of me.

And a big-ol', heart-felt hanks to all of you for following along. Thanks for reading and commenting...for your encouraging words and your great suggestions. I like to think I'd keep blogging regardless of the audience...but it's so much nicer to do with such a supportive e-community.

Here's to another year...or so...of sunshine!

Made My Day: Every Single Person I Encountered at the U of M Libraries Today!

So I decided that this is going to be the summer that I learn all about the American Civil Rights Movement. I mean I know the most basic of things: Rosa Parks and voter registration and lunch counters and bus boycotts and James Meredith. I know Martin Luther King Jr. and "I have a dream." I know Malcolm X and "By any means necessary." But I don't know any of it in real depth.

Center: James Meredith ... Right: John Doar

And I should.

I should know these stories.

I should know this history.

I should know it well.

The group that started it all...

I think the inspiration came from all of the recent articles (such as this...and this...and this...) honoring the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides that took place during the summer of 1961. This is part of the Movement that I don't feel like I know anything about. It's alarming when you consider yourself a relatively educated person and then realize that there are so many stories about your own country of which you know precious little.

So I did a little web research and headed over to Wilson and Walter libraries to gather a good stash of books and DVDs. And because I'm me, you know I couldn't just go pick up the materials and be on my way. You know I had to chatter on and on about how excited I was for my new summer project. You know I was yapping at anyone who would stand still long enough to hear me.

And do you know that not one person rolled their eyes at me? Not one person gave me the "Yeah, yeah...shut up lady"? Every single person was excited on my behalf. Every single person joined in the conversation. Every single person offered their assistance with enthusiasm.

The subject librarian I called asked for my email so she could send me a reading/resource list.

The undergrad listening to his iPod and shelving books (in his Joe Mauer t-shirt) helped me look for a misplaced book. When we couldn't find it, the guy at the Wilson Library circulation desk assured me they'd contact me once a copy was located. When I asked him (after he processed the 5 books I was checking out) what I needed to fill out the get the process started to find the missing book, he smiled and said "It's already happening!"

The wonderful Walter reading room!

A student staffing the Walter Library learning commons (full of tapes and DVDs) gave me tips on how to get an extension on their 3-day check-out policy...and then she told me how much she loved what she learned in her history class when they talked about the Civil Rights Movement. At the circulation desk, one student double- and tripled-checked the holds/reservations list on the DVDs while the other one scanned all my materials (not due until Monday!).

I think there are times when our parade gets rained on...when we're marching to the beat of our own drum because no one quite gets where we're going. No one plays along. And while it's always up to us to be tough and carry our own torch in life, really, the journey is so much more fun when there are folks cheering us on as we go. I felt wholly bolstered today. There was no sarcasm or apathy. There was only tangible support and shared enthusiasm. It was awesome.

That today went the way it did only contributes to my excitement about this summer endeavor. I'm off to a great start...with sincere thanks due to all the helpful and delightful people I encountered!

_____________________________________

If you have any suggestions for my summer project, please do let me know. I just watched this tonight (it was AMAZING!) and am now making my way through the Eyes on the Prize series. Am happy to know about any books, articles, websites, films, etc. that you think I should see. Share! Share! Share!

Lighting Candles: "The Lies They Tell Us" by Mosharraf Zaidi

Waking up on May 2, 2011 felt significantly different than waking up on May 1. Perusal of the web--at both the macro/wide-angle and micro/personal levels--showed dramatically different responses. Just on my own Facebook page, I saw friends engaged in unabashed celebration, while others were saying they could not and would not revel in the death of another human being...even if that human being was Osama bin Laden.

My feelings were somewhere in the middle.

I'm glad the world is rid of this man. Very glad. And I don't mind that it transpired the way that it did. I don't believe he could have been brought (alive) to justice. I don't believe that it would have served any purpose. I admire the skill of our military special ops forces and the intelligence gathering that led them to find bin Laden. I appreciate that tough decisions had to be--and were--made by many leaders.

But that's just me.

I also don't believe that it is a time for raucous, jeering, faux-patriotism. I think the situation is so complex, so open-ended, that to cheer in the streets--immediately cathartic as it may be--sort of cheats the situation of the solemnity and reverence that it deserves. This is just the next chapter...and not necessarily an easier one. I didn't feel like "celebrating" at all.

But that, too, is just me.

I don't pretend to know what will happen next. I am not so naive to think that the world is significantly safer. I know this is likely not the case. But I also do not believe that there will be a horrific rash of attacks in the near future. The truth likely lies---as it usually does--somewhere in the middle.

I don't know enough about the rest of the world, in general. But I really don't know enough about the Middle East...and if we're being really timely about it, I do not know enough about Pakistan.

Thanks to Twitter, I've found a new person from whom I can learn: journalist/columnist Mosharraf Zaidi. All thanks due to his Twitter stream, I've gained no small amount of new knowledge in the last 24 hours. I have a long way to go, but his writing is a great place to start.

This story paints a pretty basic picture of feelings in Abbottabad, while this one ("The Lies They Tell Us") really gets at the complexity of the situation between the United States and Pakistan (and between the Pakistani government and its people). He has a trove of work, and I'm making my way through it. But the aforementioned articles are a couple of great (and recent/timely) examples.

There are plenty of usual suspects to follow in the media...I think many of us feel like we're hearing the same thing over and over. Mr. Zaidi's voice is helping me see new and complex things in new and complex ways.

I am grateful for Mr. Zaidi's work...and to Twitter for e-bringing us together.