procrastinating...

I've finished all my schoolwork that has to be done today, which is good, but now part of me feels guilty because I'm not ahead, and I usually am. Anyhow, so instead of going over that big, thick book on my desk with 'College Trigonometry' printed on it, I'm procrastinating by iPod Touch-app-shopping. Only it's not really shopping, because I'm only downloading free apps, but still... I can think of better things to do with my time, only they're probably not quite as much fun as deciding which of the three million free Sudoku apps I want to download. 

'simile'

I don't like the word 'simile'. Why? Because it's of Latin origin (from the word similus, meaning likeness), but is pronounced as if it were Greek. In Greek, a final 'e' preceded by a vowel and a consonant makes a long e sound, e.g. Aphrodite, Persephone, and in Latin, in the vowel-consonant-e combination, the e makes a short e sound. 

Therefor, 'simile' should either follow English pronunciation rules (SI-mile), or should follow Latin pronunciation rules (SEE-mee-lay). 

Can you tell that my mother has a degree in linguistics? 

icky

I have a horrible, miserable cold and no brain to speak of whatsoever. Did I mention that I have a bunch of schoolwork to do? Yuck. 

Christmas vacation is over, and I feel like it should have only just started. One week of vacation really isn't enough at all. I wish I had the same winter schedule as Chinese schools do, where you get six weeks off in the winter. But then again, I want a proper summer vacation as well, and I guess that I can't have it both ways, though not for want of trying. 

food is lovely

A bunch of people are going to Ann's house for pie. Rational pie! Yummy! And there's a potluck Christmasy kind of dinner on Saturday, because we managed to get hold of a turkey. Mom and I are taking five-cup salad, which is our traditional family Christmas and Thanksgiving dish, because even though we don't really celebrate either of those holidays, we used to spend them with family when se lived in the States. 

Anyhow, the salad has one part canned pineapple, one part canned tangerine segments, one part coconut flakes, one part mini marshmallows, and one part sour cream. Anyhow, you mix all the stuff together in a big bowl and put it in the fridge overnight. Mmmm.... 

happy Christmas!

Right. So on Christmas Eve, I watched Evita, made accounts for a couple of fictional characters, and drank eggnog (minus the rum, of course). This morning, so far I've sat around in my pajamas, successfully not done schoolwork, and eaten an orange roll. There's no holiday like Christmas. 

oops!

Apparently I'm supposed to write in first person. I just slipped up and wrote approximately 500 words in first person instead of third, and it felt so right. I can't imagine what I was doing before. 

cold

Yesterday afternoon, I went shopping. Usually, I don't do shopping, but I went for the doughnuts. See, there's one place in China at which you can get good doughnuts, and I wasn't going to let a little shopping get in the way of doughnuts. Cake doughnuts with cinnamon sugar are the best things ever. 

Yesterday was bitterly cold, down to 12 degrees Fahrenheit, with wind from the northeast at 22 mph. Brrrr! 

It snowed a bit this morning, but didn't stick at all, which is sad.