Biblio-Blunder: Quiet in the Library!

Biblio-blunder is a recurrent feature in which the Mrs. BG gals (mainly me, unfortunately) share our bookish gaffes with the world. Click on the label biblio-blunder to read more. 

Have you missed my silliness? Possibly not with all the entertaining and informative posts published by the fabulously talented DeLynne, Izzy, Tracy and Leslie--- but I have certainly missed reporting all the silly bookish happenings from rural Oklahoma. 

Even with all the aggravations that have thwarted my blogging recently (hurricane flood, major work deadline, computer virus and worse), little absurdities continue to make me laugh (mainly at myself) and to perk up my day. Actually, this particular event was not so much a perk up as it was a jumpstart of adrenaline.


Now, it has been awhile since I have had a goofy doofus moment to share (or biblio-blunder as it is now known)--  but this one is a doozy:  

As I  sat in the school library totally immersed in speech therapy paperwork, an odd sound caught my attention. A hissing coffee maker sound. After ignoring it for a few seconds, I glanced around for the source. Nothing hissing on my table so I turned to get up and looming right behind me was a six foot tall figure that looked something like this:

AAIIEEEEEE!   Yep,  a bloodcurdling scream right smackdab in the middle of the library!  An oscar winning scream!  Okay... Okay.. that is an exaggeration but it was definitely a scream worthy of one of the  horror movies  that Enbrethiliel features at Shredded Cheddar. For all I know, librarian's ears pricked up world wide... Okay, that is another exaggeration but the mental image tickles me. 

What I do know is that the scream scared the bejeebers out of my lurker---  which gave me immense satisfaction. Mwahahahha!

Poor lurker---  He exclaimed: Didn't you hear me breathing!!
As if the scream was my fault!  Wonder if my claim that he sounded like a coffee maker crushed his ego? Probably not if the heehaws, as he raced down the hall, were any indication.

Vengeance will be mine though. You see, I have discovered his identity...

Have you ever committed a 'too loud' biblio-blunder in a library?  

Dinner Dictionary; Dialect

from http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/dial-map.html

This Friday I had the pleasure of dining with my friend Miriam and her lovely girlfriends. We had Thai takeaways and watched an episode (they are movie length, but episodes just the same) of Montalbano.

At the table were four of us

• A French woman
  
• An American (me, clearly)
  
• A first-generation Australian of Italian descent, and
  
• A first-generation Australian of Maltese descent.
  

Each speaks at least two languages, and naturally the conversation turned to linguistics. The Italian woman explained that her parents were from different areas of Italy, and spoke different dialects. She said that her own Italian was a mish-mash of Standard Italian and the two quite different dialects.

We then debated the definition of 'dialect' and whether or not English had any. We agreed that maybe Cockney fit the definition, but there were probably no English dialects, since most English speakers could understand one another (except maybe Americans who are rarely exposed to other Englishes).

My search of internet wikis and dictionaries has proved us both wrong and right. Cockney is, indeed a dialect, but there is an enormously long list of English dialects. I should have thought of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), which I understand and have to translate for my Aussie husband. There's even Texan, my native language.

'Dialect' is defined as differing from a language in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, while still being mutually intelligible.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_dialects

This is in contrast to the way Italo-philes (and Wikipedia) define Italian dialect. In Italy dialects are not understood by one another or Standard Italian speakers. In reality, these should be called languages. So, by our definition as Romance language speakers and Mediterraneans, English doesn't have any dialects.

If you're curious, the website where I got the US map explained it all really well.

What with all the talking and nibbling and chatting and eating (at the table--the hostess was French, after all!) we didn't actually finish the movie until one in the morning. It's a rare evening when I crawl into bed at two am, but it was worth it!

Have a look at the list of global Englishes and see which dialect you speak. We'd love to see a comment below.

Traveling in place: India

First, thank you Man of La Book for giving me the courage to say I occasionally hate books and don't finish them. The last book I put down with irritation shall remain nameless, because someday, if I write a book and someone hates it, I don't want them to mention the title. Read it forward?

Instead of the karmically unmentionable book with an Indian theme, I read "Climbing the Mango Tree: A Memoir of Childhood in India, a biography by Madhur Jaffrey. and loved it from the forward to the last word so much so that I hardly know where to begin so I'll tell you how she began,
"I was born in my grandparents' sprawling house by the Yamuna River in Delhhi.  Grandmother welcomed me into this world by writing Om, which means, "I am" in Sanskirt, on my tongue with a little finger dipped in honey." You can't say enough about the upside to a really good grandmother.

 Jaffrey is a titan of the culinary world, was friends with James Beard to the point of having taught some his classes when his health began to fail and while she began as an actress she has become a prolific cookbook author, specializing in, get ready... Indian cuisine!  Shocking! I know!.   So why not one of her many cookbooks?  Well, I chose her biography because I'm trying to lose weight and just didn't think it would be a good idea to have any more reasons to want food.   My husband and I go out for India food. Fewer leftovers=smaller sit down ( optimally at least ).

Kakri cucumbers.  Seeds available from
Diamond Seeds

Needless to say, food is a main character in her biography from the honey on her newborn tongue to the summer cucumbers called kakri  hawked in the streets of Delhi by vendors crying out "Laila ki unglian hain, Manju ki pasliyan", "These are the fingers of Juliet, the ribs of Romeo"  though I'm not sure how you get either Romeo or Juliet from that.  She translated and I figure she knows more than I do about Hindi(?).   The book is a good read and a tour of India taken from your own cozy book nook.
Maybe you have the last few summer kakri sitting sadly on their withering vines and if so, though this isn't even remotely Shakespearean, maybe you'd like an idea about what to do with them:

Raita Salad

• 1 cucumber peeled, seeded and coarsely grated
• 2 cucumbers peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 cups non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup finely chopped mint, firmly packed
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne ( to taste and omit if heat isn't your thing )
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• salt and pepper to taste

Hindu Temple, Calabasas, California.
Take off your shoes.. Thank you.

Combine all the ingredients and allow them to marry in the fridge for an hour or so. The Greek yogurt has a very high protein content and thus this is a good salad to pair with some steamed rice  as a meal.  This is also delicious served as a condiment to grilled meats and how much damage can you do with vegetables and non-fat yogurt?  I will tell you, using Greek yogurt makes a difference.  

Little Boys Will Be Little Boys - Our Bedtime Stories

I was thinking about this today, about which story I will be reading to my little ones tonight.
My boys like non-fiction stories about dinosaurs, sharks, and other PREDATORS (duh-duh-DUH). I sigh and read them, with feeling (ok, Izzy?)




But sometimes, I get to read the stories that I prefer. They are compromises, still about dinosaurs and reptiles, but sweet stories. Fiction, of course!

One of my favorite series are the "How Do Dinosaurs..." by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague. These are sweet little rhymes written for children who pretend to be dinosaurs. The drawings make me smile, as I see my own little dinosaurs acting like those in the illustrations - in this case, before going to bed!



Another group of books that I enjoy reading to them are written by Ann Whitmore Paul. The books we particularly enjoy are the ones written in English, but with Spanish thrown in. Adorable retellings of fairy tales. For example, Tortuga in Trouble is a twist on Little Red Riding Hood.

These stories make a nice change for us, and since they are not too long, on nights when I don't have much time, I can get in a story that relaxes them and gets them to slip into to Slumberland.

Bedtime Stories

Confession time; I, Izzy Rose, 13-year-old, am not too old for bedtime stories. In fact, I would be very upset if bedtime stories were discontinued in my house. They're not as childish as they may sound, and only the finest shall be read to me as part of my nightly routine. A fine collection of old and new, including A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, A Wrinkle in Time, Chinese Cinderella, The Lost Island of Tamarind and Wee Free Men.

It is comforting to be read to at night and often puts me to sleep before the chapter is even done. The elements of the story and the reader must fit a certain criteria tailored for me and my sister's tastes. Criteria:

• The reader must have a comforting voice, and is not allowed to read in a drab monotone. (no offense Dad)
• The book cannot include any blood, guts and gore, especially no vomit.
• If there is a chapter with a suspenseful, uncomforting ending, the reader must let me stay up late, reading with a huge dolphin torch, to see if everything turns out okay.
  
• Must have a good storyline, and keep me entertained.
• If demanded, reader must read another chapter.
• If book is not liked, reader must switch immediately.

That is all. And they lived happily ever after.