still more oddities, observations, & ?'s...
I easily passed Mrs. Bryant's English test on pronouns in eighth grade at Eastwood Junior High (now Eastwood Middle) in Indianapolis, Indiana. English was my deal.
As for Mrs. Bryant, she was outspoken and often shared with her charges her thoughts about cultural events and the state of the world in general.
She didn't tolerate laziness, a negative attitude, or failure to do homework. Those choices were not on the table and were never an option in her class. Not one of us wanted to incur her dressing down by not turning in required work.
The word was out in seventh grade, Don't get Mrs. Bryant for English next year.
When it came to the pronoun test, I-they-you-he-she...easy stuff.
So, who would have ever imagined that decades later, the world would be coping with figuring out which pronoun, if any, is politically correct?
HUH? What's up with that?
Along those same lines, I noticed entertainment writers avoiding the word actress because it is gender specific. Today, women who act are actors. I always thought actor was gender specific.
In her obituary, Raquel Welch was referred to as an actor.
Another noun that comes to mind because of a recent conversation, comedienne. I was chatting with a woman and I referenced Tina Fey as... a funny comedienne. My listener jokingly corrected me and said the word is comedian. Come to think of it, maybe she wasn't japing me. Once again, I thought comedian referred to a male.
All of this information combined makes me wonder....Will the new use of pronouns change the method of teaching English and specifically, pronouns?
And, it's not only English, but, most other languages. Many words in Spanish and French reference male or female as do most dialects.
Mrs. Bryant and the use of pronouns (or not) is just one of many observations in this third, oddities, observations, & ?'s.
The story last December about EV vehicles not having AM radios because of an electromagnetic issue seems all but improbable. Some analysts even go so far as to forecast the death knell for AM radio. It's not the first time AM has been all but tossed on the scrap heap.
Many naysayers thought the burgeoning popularity of FM in the late 70s, early 80s, caused by auto makers installing FM receivers in cars for the first time, would all but end Amplitude Modulation.
Motorola produced the first mass market car radio 92 years ago. It wasn't quite that long ago when I began my broadcast career at an AM outlet on the shores of Lake Michigan.
According to Nielsen Research, 58 million people listen to an AM radio station at least once a week.
I noticed Kari Lake sought legal action following her loss in the Arizona Gubernatorial race. After she made fun of an 82 year old man who was attacked by a man wielding a hammer, I wanted her to lose. Before that, I was ambivalent.
Last August, we took a trip to Lake Michigan and stayed overnight in a Holiday Inn in South Bend, Indiana. A sign prominently displayed at the check-in counter read:
Lobby quiet time is from 10pm-10am. Please observe these hours. No guest permitted in lobby between these times.
What's up with Christmas cards, or, rather the lack of them? There was a time when receiving 30 or 40 cards during the season was the norm.
Regina and I went to see the Broadway Series production of, Oh, Pretty Woman, at the Kentucky Center for the Arts last November.
I didn't realize when I purchased the tickets online that our seats were in the nose bleed section. I have acrophobia.
When we were seated, five stories up, no rail in front of us, just a steep drop into the seats below us, anxiety immediately took over. As I was reflecting on my immediate future prior to curtain time, Regina turned to me and said, Are you ready to go?
Later, she would claim my face was contorted into someone unrecognizable, but, I didn't believe her.
As we left, the usher at the Exit gave us a quizzical look. I told her the seats don't work for me because of the height. She responded by calling for a Floor Supervisor on a two-way radio and explaining the situation. Mimi arrived and with no questions asked, guided us to a first floor, 3rd Row seat.
This young lady did all she could to make us feel like welcome patrons and I was grateful for her professionalism, especially the part about not making fun of me.
Dry January is over. I wonder how many people cheated? Would it be the same numbers as those who forgo New Year's Resolutions after one or two weeks?
I read where former President Trump's taxes were released. He didn't have to pay any taxes for the past couple years. That was a shock.
MNF watchers were stunned when Damar Hamlin's heart stopped as he was getting up from making a tackle. People from all over the country gave millions to Hamlin's Foundation benefitting children and others.
Having committed more than my share of verbal gaffes while in front of a microphone over a 34 year span, I empathized with President Biden last month.
Mr. Biden visited Covington, Kentucky to pay tribute to the bipartisan effort to build the Brent Spence Bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky.
During his opening remarks, he was acknowledging the political bigwigs who were present when he addressed the Covington, Kentucky mayor as Joe Covington, instead of Joe Meyer. He did correct his error.
Speaking of the Chief Executive, I don't recall ever seeing him as energetic as he appeared during his latest State of the Union address.
Ultra conservatives now own the House of Representatives as McCarthy made every deal possible with extremists so he could be House Speaker.
Marjorie Taylor Greene's outburst during the president't SOTU address was disrespectful and embarrassing.
What's up with newly elected Congressman George Santos? His list of falsehoods is lengthy and disturbing. How can his party not ask him to resign?
I have noticed the higher cost of groceries at my favorite supermarket. In some cases, such as eggs. prices have increased 70% over last year.
The Louisville newspaper printed a story about the difficulty of buying an all electric car because of supply, or, rather, the lack of. Some manufacturers are taking orders a year in advance.
Prime living quarters for the under 40 crowd on the outskirts of downtown Louisville is an area called, NuLu. There appear to be as many restaurants and bars closing as there are announced openings.
I noticed Beyonce is coming to Louisville in July. The procedure to get tickets seems complicated. Is that because of the Taylor Swift fiasco?
Pretty hard to dispute climate change. I saw these numbers from climate.nasa.gov. Antarctica is losing ice mass (melting) at an average rate of about 150 billion tons per year, and, Greenland is losing about 270 billion tons per year, adding to sea level rise.
I imagine the opposition would say, Well, of course those numbers show a decline, it's a government sponsored website.
Coming up: an update on the Ukraine-Russia war; another job$ somebody's gotta do; what do those guys sitting in McDonalds at 6:30 really talk about; what favorite memories do you have, and; another report on what worries POS.
And, finally. The Total Nutcase Award for February goes to Kentucky Representative Robert Goforth, of East Bernstadt, Kentucky. He sponsored Housebill 30 now in front of a legislative committee. It states that guns could legally be carried into day care centers and elementary schools, as well as onto college campuses.
What did Goforth say was the reason he wanted to see such a bill passed?
"I'm trying to protect the public," Goforth told reporters.
HUH? What's up with that?
I can almost see Mrs. Bryant now as she marches at the Kentucky State Capitol protesting such absurdity. There is no way that bill gets out of committee if she were still with us even though she lived in Indiana.
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