The Maple Leaf Rag

Yesterday, in the cold and blowing snow, I heard my first cardinal of the season. This morning, in the cold, I heard him again. His song sounded so cheerful and pleasant outside my living room window. The male cardinal is a bright red bird with a song that goes on and on all  day, from about 4 in the morning until the late evening. He sits on the highest branch as says " Look at me! Look at me!" He's looking for a mate to settle down with for the summer. Sometimes two or three cardinals will be in three different trees singing in a competition for the female cardinals.

This weekend will be sunny and the temperature will be above 0 finally. I'd really feel better if the snow disappeared and the flowers came up out of the cold ground. Each year it's like being reborn! This winter, as I have mentioned before, has been incredibly long and dismal. Better days ahead!

My last video SUCKED I know but it was a spur of the moment thing. Hopefully tomorrow, Thursday, my co-star and I will be able to put together something better. If you have suggestions for videos, or topics that you want to see us discuss, feel free to send me a message or comment here on my blog. OK?

If you've been looking for an online source for English books of all types, here is a link that will keep you busy for a long time:

http://dailylit.com/

There are links at the top of the first page for books you have to pay for but at the bottom of the page there are links to free books. Topics include: classics, crime, biography, women's fiction and so on. 

You have to register on the site, which is free by the way, and then set up to receive installments of the book you choose.


Read  the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) at the top of the page in order to figure out the process of reading these books online. Let me know if there are any problems with the link or with the site.

This morning I dropped my wife off at the subway and went to get some bread at the local bakery. Then I got some milk at the corner drug store (I know, it's strange but they have the best price for milk at the drug store). As I was walking out of the store I thought I should get eggs too. "I'll get the staples" I thought.

The staples? Well, then I started to think about this crazy language we call English. If English people are so smart, why don't they use a different word for everything instead of the same word for several different things. Staples are bread, milk, flour, eggs and salt (maybe with beer thrown in for me). But staples are also the things that hold paper together. The square U shaped pointy things that you use in a stapler. Couldn't we have thought of another word for one or the other of those things?

Then I thought of paper clips and then the word trombone. Trombone in French means a paper clip but a trombone in English is a musical instrument, with a slide. Did the French call the trombone after the paper clip or did the English name the musical instrument after the French word for paper clip?

Ok, here's what I think we should do. Let's vote that we have enough, no....too many English words. Let's drop about 100,000 of them and make up new words for the things that we don't have individual names for. Things like staples or nails (would that be finger or steel nails?), or any of the dozens of words that are so damn hard for everyone to figure out because they mean two completely different things! 

That's it for Friday February 15, 2008. I feel better. I think the world will be a better place now thanks to this blog. Have a great weekend everyone!

P.S. I have tried to keep up with your messages. If I've missed answering anyone, PLEASE write back to me and tell me. Apologies if I've missed sending a reply to anyone.