a matter of semantics

I was recalling recently how other kids used to always tell me that I was too serious when I was growing up. And I didn't understand what was so bad that it had to be pointed out. What's wrong with being serious? Didn't it mean that I was placing importance on something? That I was giving it value and attention? 

It took me years to understand what they meant by being 'too serious.' I took a career class at the local junior college and as part of the course, we took several different personality and aptitude tests and one particular measurement stands out in my memory: it placed the word 'serious' on one end of a scale and the word 'cheerful' on the other, and we were to mark where we would say we were. So I finally figured out after all that time that people were telling me to be more cheerful. What they meant by 'too serious' was, oh, too dour or something like that. Which reminds me of another thing people have sometimes said to me: "Lighten up!" Okay, well, now I understand what they were/are trying to tell me. 

Which reminds me of another example of a misunderstanding due to semantics: One of my roommates in college was having relationship problems with his girlfriend. He was feeling confused, but for some odd reason when he tried to communicate this to her, he kept using the word 'smothered' instead of 'confused.' So she backed away and tried to give him more space. Which confused him even more. And then he told her he was feeling even more smothered. So she gave him even more space. And so on... until they broke up.

Communication problems... c'est la vie . 

Italian food

Time for a food thought of the day. Actually, I've had this in mind for awhile:

An appetizer of bread with butter and/or a dipping sauce. 

An entree of cannelloni.

And cannoli for dessert.

Wouldn't this be a fantastic meal? I've always loved cannelloni, one of my favorite pasta dishes along with the shell-shaped ones, and then it seems only fitting to have another similarly shaped dish for dessert. I'm actually not all that familiar with cannoli (okay, okay, according to Wikipedia they are actually Sicilian), except for a famous line in 'The Godfather': "Leave the gun... take the cannoli" but they look delectable. 

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And then, taking a different route with dishes that somehow don't seem to have much in common: 

An appetizer of bread with butter and/or a dipping sauce. 

Pizza.

And tiramisu for dessert.

How great does that sound? Of course, I usually stuff myself so much with pizza, I rarely leave any room for dessert, but I think tiramisu would be worth making room for. Doesn't tiramisu sound like a Japanese word? That always threw me off.

Anyway, something to look for and look forward to the next time I go to an Italian restaurant. 

plenty of bookmarks

I like shopping for books. My favorite gift to get is an Amazon gift card. It used to be a Tower Records gift certificate back when I was buying plenty of records and CDs and sometimes books, but Tower is nevermore and besides, I'd just as soon window-shop at my computer. 

What I like to do is while away the hours browsing the Amazon.com website - does it get any better than seeing virtually everything that's out there, often having the opportunity to read excerpts plus customer reviews? I'm so hooked looking for books and sometimes music, I have to remind myself that there are a whole bunch of other shopping categories there. 

Anyway, last night I was wondering if there was a stack of index cards lying around. You see, they have made my easiest and most affordable bookmarks in the past. What I'll do is get out the paper cutter and cut the cards into inch or so wide strips and voila! Instant bookmarks! I suppose another option would be to simply use sheets of paper and cut them into strips; although that would work fine, the card stock of index cards works perfectly. Yes, I do have a small collection of actual bookmarks, but they are kind of fancy and I'm a little hesitant to use them in a practical sense. 

So, after wondering about the availability of index cards, I had an epiphany: why not cut up greeting cards? I've never quite known what to do with them after initially enjoying them - as part of a gift, for the holidays, or for whatever occasion. Sometimes they might even be thrown into the recycle bin. I had a roommate in college who would open a card, read it, perhaps take out the check that was included, then immediately throw the card into the trash. Well, I'm much too sentimental to ever do that. But what to do with the card? 

And now I'll have in mind to use them as bookmarks! Sure, I'll be cutting them into not-too-thin strips, but I'll still have them in my possession and make use of them. They are the right card stock thickness and I can't wait to see how this all works. Of course, some cards are too nice to cut up, but I have several plain ones that accompanied my latest Amazon gift cards...