...and I'm checking it twice.

One of the best things that I like about my job(s) is that I can finally get my family nice presents for Christmas. It might not sound like a big deal, but it is something of a feat. That's because I have a BIG family. @_@ Big. Like, with nieces and nephews and siblings-in-law and such.

This year, though, because my mother was away until last week and didn't have time to go shopping, we all agreed to postpone our traditional gift-giving until the 31st. Fine by me, because it means I didn't have to deal with the Christmas shopping rush, plus I can go buy presents during the vacation days. As it is, I'm enjoying making my list, but here's the thing. I want my gift for my mother to be special, so I've been planning on getting her flowers (in... plant form, not bouquet O_O). She loves flowers and I'm sure she'd be happy to have more around the house (and really, so would I). I'm pretty sold on this idea of mine except it presents the following problems:

1. I don't know my way around a plant shop. Case in point: I don't think they're even called plant shops. <_<; style="font-weight: bold;">2. I don't know how to pick specific flower... varieties.
3. LOGISTICS. Let's say I buy half a dozen plants at least. There is the matter of carrying them and transporting them back home. O_O I would expect that to be quite a challenge.
4. STORAGE. I live in a cramped house where every square meter is occupied by clutter or human beings or dog. It will be difficult finding somewhere to HIDE those plants so she doesn't find out about it until the big reveal.

Anyway, any help or suggestions for those things would be greatly appreciated. ... What's that? You want to GO WITH ME when I go flower-shopping? xDDD Ok no seriously if anyone wants to go with me, let me know and IM me ASAP. I'll buy you dinner. Dinner and a cream puff. Seriously.

By the way--FAIL. It sort of slipped my mind that the presents for people outside of my family were not to be postponed until 31st. T__T I haven't shopped for those, either. So to my friends and MotherTongue capo xDDD -- I shall hand thee thy gifts in January.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE. :3 ♥ ♥ ♥

Step away from the thesaurus.

HAHAHAHAHAHA.

So now there's a study supporting something that I've believed in for a while: that unnecessarily using big words and complicated language just makes you sound dumb.

The researcher, Daniel Oppenheimer, gathered a selection of writing samples--some written in normal, simple language, and others modified to use overly complex language and bigger words. Then these were handed to students to a group of evaluators. Guess what: the more complex and flowery the language of the sample, the less intelligent the students perceived its author to be.

It's not really that surprising when you think about it. It's true, having a large vocabulary can indicate that a person is knowledgeable. But the unnecessary use of big words and difficult language--which, let's face it, a lot of people do for the sake of sounding important or intelligent--can sacrifice fluency and clarity. Basically, it doesn't matter how impressive you think your two-dollar words are--if you cram them in it to the point that the language becomes unnatural and unclear, then you're doing it wrong. (“The chief virtue that language can have is clarity.” – Hippocrates)

There's a lot more to be said about being able to express complex ideas in simple language, not the other way around.

And personally, really, I think using big words to sound impressive is just lame. It always just sounds like you're really, really trying. xD

Here's a blog entry that briefly explains Oppenheimer's study (which is titled "Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly". LOL.); and here's the actual study in PDF.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

So the other day I was using Wikipedia's random article feature (to get topics for work), and I got this:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Naturally, my inital reaction was, what the fuck with all the buffaloes. But I read the rest of the wiki page, and it said that that long unintelligible string of buffalo is actually a grammatically correct sentence.

Needless to say, I was like "!?!??" My co-worker and I were like, no seriously, how the fuck is that a sentence? But after a while, I got it. It is a grammatically sound sentence, and it makes sense. First, you have to take note of the usages of the word buffalo: a modifier (Buffalo, New York), a noun (buffalo the animal), and a verb (to buffalo: to intimidate).

So in this sentence, "Buffalo buffalo" is a noun phrase that means "buffalo (the animals) from Buffalo (New York)". The next three words actually modify that phrase. We have:

"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo..."

which means, the Buffalo from buffalo that are buffaloed by buffalo from Buffalo.

STILL WITH ME? Let's move on. Talking about those buffalo, we proceed with the rest of the sentence:

"...buffalo Buffalo buffalo."

So the aforementioned Buffalo buffalo, who are buffaloed by Buffalo buffalo, also buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

To make it clearer:

The Buffalo buffalo that Buffalo buffalo buffalo likewise buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

or

The Buffalo buffalo which are buffaloed by Buffalo buffalo also buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

This entry is lovingly dedicated to my grammar Nazi friends~. ♥ :3

x x x x x

An announcement of sorts: I think I'll do Project 365. :D

It's supposed to look not quite right.

Because of topic research for work, I've been looking into steampunk a lot lately. It's pretty kickass, in an odd and very anachronistic kind of way (which is the point of it, really). For those who don't know, steampunk is a subgenre of fiction that imagines technological inventions existing at a time way before they were invented. Apart from distorting the timeline, the inventions are also created differently from how they actually turned out. We're talking, steam-powered computers. Look--

See, steampunk enthusiasts often mod new things to make 'em look old and retro-futuristic. It's fun, 'cos the people who get into it... really get into it. Like this guy who made hand-crafted variable-aperture brass goggles.
It's all really cool in a horribly geeky way and therefore I love it. xD Kind of makes me wish I at least knew how to weld--I'm already imagining what I could do with my old USB MP3 player. Sadly, crafting isn't my strong point; I tend to superglue my fingers together. Imagine what I could do with a soldering iron.

x x x x x

Long overdue plug: Sid's new blog over at WordPress looks rather healthy and makes sense. :D

I hope you're not bored.

This guy, Arthur Schopenhauer, has a very sad thought for you to consider. According to him, boredom proves the vanity of human existence. Way he saw it, if human existence were in itself a good thing, then we wouldn't even feel boredom, because merely existing would be enough to keep us satisfied.

I would never agree to think of life that way, but I can't totally blame him, either. I suppose if I looked like this--

I'd be pessimistic too.

That said, I can't imagine how it's even possible for someone with that kind of hair to ever get bored.

...Yes, I am an ass.

And all that crass.

What, if this article from the Philippine Star is anything to go by? Then Ryan Ross is a discourteous bratty rock star. Oh, sorry, I mean Ryan Ross is allegedly a discourteous and bratty rock star. Fortunately, I am over that phase of my life in which I pretend to like musicians for their wonderful personalities (Oh but in the case of Question?... they really seem like nice guys. I digress.) That, and I am willing to give Ryan the benefit of the doubt. And, I really, really like his lyrics. And I'm going to their concert, so I feel obligated to defend them. For my money's worth. xD

That aside, I'd rather put in my two cents about the article itself. Particularly, the paragraph right after the interview part, in which the writer calls Ryan Ross a "shmuck" and imagines him in an S&M orgy with groupies--among other low blows. Fine. Assuming the interview really did go that badly, then Ryan was an asshat, and the writer had every good reason to be pissed off. But as I've pointed out (in a message board, oh lulz), it's one thing to have a cranky rock star being an ass on the phone, and quite another to have a writer from a major daily slinging such cheap insults in writing. (Name calling? Really now.) What. The whole Brian Gorrel incident, and now articles like this? The Philippine Star is shaping up to be one of the classiest newspapers around. Watch your ass, BusinessWorld.

Is it can be havin suffishint educashin tiem nau.

Last week I was with a bunch of friends who've gone back to university for post-grad studies. They make university life sound totally fun cool interesting, I've had to wonder whether or not I should maybe go back for a second degree myself.

After thinking about it more than a few times, I've come to a decision.
LOL. I didn't know I had such strong opinions about formal education until now. But the more I think about it, the more I feel tempted to agree with Mr. Conrado de Quiros, who once said he quit school because it "got in the way of [his] education." Not that I'd go that far. (Because I am neither that smart nor talented. AFADFAKJFPHAIL. T_T) All I'm saying is, I guess some people are inclined toward formal studies, and I'm not others aren't.

It's weird because the thing is, I actually love to learn stuff. If I didn't, I probably wouldn't give up watching half of Attack of the Show just to catch Jeopardy. LOL LOSAR. But I've realized that I have to be really interested in something at that precise moment. Like, I learned Spanish, if I remember correctly, out of sheer enthusiasm. (Fandom = excellent motivator.) XDDD But that's the thing, I have to be really into it. And I have to do it on my own will. Basically, nobody tells me what to learn. BECAUSE I'M BAD ASS THAT WAY. :D

Don't get me wrong. I do appreciate higher learning. I have to, living in a country where not having a degree doesn't leave you with a lot of options. My beef is with the way it often becomes pedantic to the point of wasting time. I have no problem with learning a shitload of terminology if it helps me understand the world a little better. But don't give me ten shitloads more just so I can sound smarter than the person next to me. By the way, I also have a problem with theology classes masquerading as sociology classes. And freshman algebra. Like, I'm a journalism f♥cking major, don't make me f♥cking take algebra.

So now I just completely undermined everything I said above by making it obvious that I'm just a bitter brat who sucked at college.

And failed freshman algebra.

Bleach your skin and tape your eyelids.

I guess I'm a little...surprised? Apparently an increasing number of Asian girls are getting into the trend of using "eyelid stickers" (or tape) to fake the double-eyelid look. I don't know how new this is, but I found out about it just recently.

To be honest, since it doesn't really apply to me, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I guess on one hand it's nowhere near as drastic as surgery. But there's something about it that bothers me in the same way as our country's--or at least, our country's market's--unhealthy obsession with skin lightening. (More on that later.) Of course, on the flipside, tanning has become entirely common with lighter-skinned folks. I'm no hard-liner when it comes to these issues--to each his own, right?--I'm just saying. Kind of makes you wonder if changing your looks to deviate a little bit from your own ethnicity is the norm now.

That said... am I the only one who is extremely annoyed at Heart Evangelista's TV commercial for Palmolive soap? I'm talking about the one that casually goes, "I look white. I stay white." Good god. It just flung all ethnic sensibility out the window. In fact, I would love to think that that was just a lapse in judgement, along the lines of "OH MY GOD WE SO DIDN'T REALIZE HOW INCREDIBLY RACIALLY CRASS THAT WAS". Because my only other option is to think that they consciously decided to be that blatant with their choice of words. Either way I thought it tasteless, and I hope their product (or endorser, or both) ultimately flops.

And I never liked Heart Evangelista anyway, so there.