Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 154
February 26, 2013
February 24, 2013
Holland Or Netherlands
I knew the country was the Netherlands, but I think I'm more confused about everything else after watching this.
February 21, 2013
Talking Minnesotan Part 2
There are some distinct Minnesota ways of speaking that have nothing to do with an accent. You can check out my previous post for my rant about Fargo and the stereotype that everyone in Minnesota talks like that.
Do you want to go with? That is a full sentence in Minnesota. You can fill in whatever word you like at the end--me, us, him, her, them, etc. In my search of the internet, I saw this attributed to the German speakers who came to the state because it matches their sentence structure.
For me, I don't understand what the big deal is. If you're having a conversation with someone about how you plan to go to the Mega Mall (that's what we call the Mall of America near the airport) this weekend and say, Do you want to go with, that you pretty much can assume the me at the end. Why add an unnecessary word?
Minnesotans also will say, will you borrow me a pencil. Meaning lend, not borrow. That was attributed to Scandinavian speakers and their language. IIRC, it was that lend and borrow were the same word in that language or something like that. Sorry, I viewed many websites about the topic and can't remember exactly. I slip into this one from time to time, but I had a high school teacher who pointed this out to my class and explained why it was wrong, so I've mostly broken myself of this speech habit.
Minnesota Nice plays a role in how we talk. We don't like to offend anyone by making too strong a statement so we say things like that's quite the deal or it could be worse because it always could be worse. This is actually one of the things about living in Atlanta that scrapes against me--how in-your-face people are about things like politics and religion. That's not something that happens much in Minnesota and I'm always taken aback when I hear it here.
The Minnesota hotdish thing was bigger in the past than it is now, IMO. Healthy eating doesn't include hotdishes loaded with cream of mushroom soup and tater tots. I do believe these are still staples, though, at church dinners and funerals. I'm going by conversations I've heard at work from people who actually cook. Me? I'm a disaster in the kitchen and don't have the patience to make a hotdish. :-)
In Minnesota, the weather is a legitimate topic of conversation and can easily last twenty minutes. I've met people from states where they have no real weather to speak of and they are astounded by this. I attribute this to a few things--first, we do have lots of interesting weather in MN and it can change rapidly. Second, it is farm country (outside The Cities) and farmers have an interest in what the weather is doing. Third, it's an easy way to make small talk with someone. No matter who you meet, if they're from MN, you have the weather in common.
I noticed a few typos in here. I corrected the ones I found and please forgive the others. I was passionate as I wrote these last two posts. :-)
Do you want to go with? That is a full sentence in Minnesota. You can fill in whatever word you like at the end--me, us, him, her, them, etc. In my search of the internet, I saw this attributed to the German speakers who came to the state because it matches their sentence structure.
For me, I don't understand what the big deal is. If you're having a conversation with someone about how you plan to go to the Mega Mall (that's what we call the Mall of America near the airport) this weekend and say, Do you want to go with, that you pretty much can assume the me at the end. Why add an unnecessary word?
Minnesotans also will say, will you borrow me a pencil. Meaning lend, not borrow. That was attributed to Scandinavian speakers and their language. IIRC, it was that lend and borrow were the same word in that language or something like that. Sorry, I viewed many websites about the topic and can't remember exactly. I slip into this one from time to time, but I had a high school teacher who pointed this out to my class and explained why it was wrong, so I've mostly broken myself of this speech habit.
Minnesota Nice plays a role in how we talk. We don't like to offend anyone by making too strong a statement so we say things like that's quite the deal or it could be worse because it always could be worse. This is actually one of the things about living in Atlanta that scrapes against me--how in-your-face people are about things like politics and religion. That's not something that happens much in Minnesota and I'm always taken aback when I hear it here.
The Minnesota hotdish thing was bigger in the past than it is now, IMO. Healthy eating doesn't include hotdishes loaded with cream of mushroom soup and tater tots. I do believe these are still staples, though, at church dinners and funerals. I'm going by conversations I've heard at work from people who actually cook. Me? I'm a disaster in the kitchen and don't have the patience to make a hotdish. :-)
In Minnesota, the weather is a legitimate topic of conversation and can easily last twenty minutes. I've met people from states where they have no real weather to speak of and they are astounded by this. I attribute this to a few things--first, we do have lots of interesting weather in MN and it can change rapidly. Second, it is farm country (outside The Cities) and farmers have an interest in what the weather is doing. Third, it's an easy way to make small talk with someone. No matter who you meet, if they're from MN, you have the weather in common.
I noticed a few typos in here. I corrected the ones I found and please forgive the others. I was passionate as I wrote these last two posts. :-)
February 19, 2013
Talking Minnesotan
Over the weekend, I did a little searching for how Minnesotans talk. Unfortunately, a lot of what I came up with involved an out-state accent ala Fargo. Um, no. Not in the Twin Cities.
Or I guess I should say you won't hear that accent from people who grew up in the Twin Cities. (FYI, we always refer to them as The Cities.) People who grew up out state might have that accent to some degree, but they tend to lose some of it the longer they live in The Cities. Notice there are only two parts of Minnesota--Out State and the Cities. :-)
One of the blogs I stumbled across was by some woman who'd moved from California to Virginia to Minnesota and her post irritated the crap out of me. First of all, no one I've ever talked to pronounces bag like beg. Ever, chick. Not ever. Second, I've never heard anyone call a snack, lunch. FFS. Lunch is the noon meal, dinner is the evening meal.
Of course, some of the terminology changes in farm country. They call lunch Dinner and Dinner, Supper. But in all my years in MN, not once, not even when I attended college in Morris, MN, have I heard anyone--city or out state--refer to a snack as lunch.
This same blogger bitched about use of the word pop. This is another FFS. Half the country says soda, the other half says pop and some say tonic or Coke. If you want to actually see some statistics on it, there's an entire website devoted to it.
Anyway, my irritation with said blogger is what's inspired this post. I'm so sick of seeing people perpetuating the stereotype that we all sound like the movie Fargo. BTW, according to what I learned in my college linguistics class, the "standard" dialect used by newscasters, movies, radio, etc as the US accent? That's the Northern Dialect. Where does Minnesota fall? Into the Northern Dialect.
But yes, there are some moments where we do sound "Minnesotan." Sometimes that long O just rolls out unexpectedly. Sometimes I do it on purpose. Keep in mind that sometimes I also roll out the Chicago accent on some words unexpectedly.
Next blog post I'll talk about some of the things that are Minnesotan.
Or I guess I should say you won't hear that accent from people who grew up in the Twin Cities. (FYI, we always refer to them as The Cities.) People who grew up out state might have that accent to some degree, but they tend to lose some of it the longer they live in The Cities. Notice there are only two parts of Minnesota--Out State and the Cities. :-)
One of the blogs I stumbled across was by some woman who'd moved from California to Virginia to Minnesota and her post irritated the crap out of me. First of all, no one I've ever talked to pronounces bag like beg. Ever, chick. Not ever. Second, I've never heard anyone call a snack, lunch. FFS. Lunch is the noon meal, dinner is the evening meal.
Of course, some of the terminology changes in farm country. They call lunch Dinner and Dinner, Supper. But in all my years in MN, not once, not even when I attended college in Morris, MN, have I heard anyone--city or out state--refer to a snack as lunch.
This same blogger bitched about use of the word pop. This is another FFS. Half the country says soda, the other half says pop and some say tonic or Coke. If you want to actually see some statistics on it, there's an entire website devoted to it.
Anyway, my irritation with said blogger is what's inspired this post. I'm so sick of seeing people perpetuating the stereotype that we all sound like the movie Fargo. BTW, according to what I learned in my college linguistics class, the "standard" dialect used by newscasters, movies, radio, etc as the US accent? That's the Northern Dialect. Where does Minnesota fall? Into the Northern Dialect.
But yes, there are some moments where we do sound "Minnesotan." Sometimes that long O just rolls out unexpectedly. Sometimes I do it on purpose. Keep in mind that sometimes I also roll out the Chicago accent on some words unexpectedly.
Next blog post I'll talk about some of the things that are Minnesotan.
February 17, 2013
Last Day of Sale and Meteorites
First, today is the final day of the Valentine's Day Sale! Enemy Embrace is on sale as well as books by six other authors. You can check them all out here.
On Friday, Earth had quite an adventure. There was a meteor that came in and exploded over Russia and an asteroid that zoomed past closer than some of our satellites. As I talked about this, I realized I perpetually get the terminology wrong, calling an asteroid a meteor and so on. So, I wondered, what is the difference. And I found this video:
On Friday, Earth had quite an adventure. There was a meteor that came in and exploded over Russia and an asteroid that zoomed past closer than some of our satellites. As I talked about this, I realized I perpetually get the terminology wrong, calling an asteroid a meteor and so on. So, I wondered, what is the difference. And I found this video:
February 13, 2013
Valentine's Day Sale!
[image error]
I've teamed up with some great authors for an ebook sale!
My title is Enemy Embrace and you'll save $1.00 if you buy it during this event.
Nicole Ruiz is a vampire hunter out for revenge, but she's got a little problem. The vampire she wants to kill is older and stronger than any she's faced before. Make that two problems. A demon named Daktan is also looking to kill this vampire and he's not about to step aside. Too bad for both of them that they can't keep their attraction under control.
Enemy Embrace is a Blood Feud World novella, which puts its word count just shy of 25,000 words. It was originally published as part of the Anthology, CRAVE THE NIGHT.
The sale dates are February 13th through the 17th. [image error]
The other authors who are participating in addition to yours truly are: Cat Johnson, Cherise Sinclair, Gemma Halliday, Lisa Renee Jones, and Selena Blake. Valentine's Day Sale Page.
Not all ebook sites will have the sale prices, so you'll want to click through to the special sale site and see which books are available at which vendors. Enemy Embrace will be on sale at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.
I'd like to offer the lower price at other retailers, however, it's pretty much impossible to get the prices changed at all ebook retailers in time for a sale. If you don't have a Nook or a Kindle, please consider Smashwords. They offer multiple formats and it's easy for me to lower the price there. Last Thanksgiving had a minor fiasco with one site locking me out and not responding to my emails for help. This time, I'm not attempting the sale price through that site. I wanted you to know why not all etailers are included.
I hope you'll check out the books on sale and that you'll find one (or more) that you'd like to read.
My title is Enemy Embrace and you'll save $1.00 if you buy it during this event.
Nicole Ruiz is a vampire hunter out for revenge, but she's got a little problem. The vampire she wants to kill is older and stronger than any she's faced before. Make that two problems. A demon named Daktan is also looking to kill this vampire and he's not about to step aside. Too bad for both of them that they can't keep their attraction under control.
Enemy Embrace is a Blood Feud World novella, which puts its word count just shy of 25,000 words. It was originally published as part of the Anthology, CRAVE THE NIGHT.
The sale dates are February 13th through the 17th. [image error]
The other authors who are participating in addition to yours truly are: Cat Johnson, Cherise Sinclair, Gemma Halliday, Lisa Renee Jones, and Selena Blake. Valentine's Day Sale Page.
Not all ebook sites will have the sale prices, so you'll want to click through to the special sale site and see which books are available at which vendors. Enemy Embrace will be on sale at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.
I'd like to offer the lower price at other retailers, however, it's pretty much impossible to get the prices changed at all ebook retailers in time for a sale. If you don't have a Nook or a Kindle, please consider Smashwords. They offer multiple formats and it's easy for me to lower the price there. Last Thanksgiving had a minor fiasco with one site locking me out and not responding to my emails for help. This time, I'm not attempting the sale price through that site. I wanted you to know why not all etailers are included.
I hope you'll check out the books on sale and that you'll find one (or more) that you'd like to read.
February 12, 2013
Things Change
First, before I start blogging, there will be a special post tomorrow with information about a multi-author book sale that begins Feb 13th. Make sure to come back and find out the scoop.
Now on to the day's topic. The past fourteen months have brought about a lot of changes for me. Moving 1100 miles was the biggie, but there have been lots of adjustments and changes in my life because of this. Some have been big, others not so big. Today I'm talking about one of the small ones.
When I worked in Minneapolis, I usually listened to my iPod while I was at my job. Partly it was to drown out the coworker from hell--he was very loud and very annoying--but part of it was to keep myself entertained. I especially enjoyed listening to audio books and could get so involved in them that I'd lose track of time.
Down here, though, I haven't been able to do that much. My job is still the same job--more or less--but the projects I'm getting now are more complex and require more of my attention.
I'm also surrounded by a lot more activity and get interrupted more often. I had a cube to myself in Minneapolis, here I share a pod with three other people. There's a constant stream of people in and out of the cube, plus activity going on around the cube.
There's some audiobooks I'd really like to listen to, but just haven't had enough time. The car was out from the start. I needed my complete attention on the road down here. I'm sorry, but driving in Atlanta is like trying to commute through the middle of a NASCAR race.
I thought I might be able to start listening to some audio once I joined the van pool since I can't read in a moving vehicle, but that hasn't worked out either. I feel rude plugging in especially when there are conversations going on. I've got a real backlog of audio books to listen to right now, so I guess I'm going to have to figure something out.
Now on to the day's topic. The past fourteen months have brought about a lot of changes for me. Moving 1100 miles was the biggie, but there have been lots of adjustments and changes in my life because of this. Some have been big, others not so big. Today I'm talking about one of the small ones.
When I worked in Minneapolis, I usually listened to my iPod while I was at my job. Partly it was to drown out the coworker from hell--he was very loud and very annoying--but part of it was to keep myself entertained. I especially enjoyed listening to audio books and could get so involved in them that I'd lose track of time.
Down here, though, I haven't been able to do that much. My job is still the same job--more or less--but the projects I'm getting now are more complex and require more of my attention.
I'm also surrounded by a lot more activity and get interrupted more often. I had a cube to myself in Minneapolis, here I share a pod with three other people. There's a constant stream of people in and out of the cube, plus activity going on around the cube.
There's some audiobooks I'd really like to listen to, but just haven't had enough time. The car was out from the start. I needed my complete attention on the road down here. I'm sorry, but driving in Atlanta is like trying to commute through the middle of a NASCAR race.
I thought I might be able to start listening to some audio once I joined the van pool since I can't read in a moving vehicle, but that hasn't worked out either. I feel rude plugging in especially when there are conversations going on. I've got a real backlog of audio books to listen to right now, so I guess I'm going to have to figure something out.
February 10, 2013
Kitty's First Snow
Someone posted a video of their cat's first time out in the snow. I think this shows that I'm easily amused.[image error]
February 7, 2013
One Year With the James Bond Car
I've been driving my Ford Edge now for a little over a year and it has a few quirks. Keep in mind that my previous vehicle was a 1998 and I took quite a technological leap forward with the Edge. I call it my James Bond car because the only gizmo it's missing is the hidden rocket blasters. I like this car in a lot of ways, but oh, those quirks...
The first thing I noticed--and it's hard to miss--are the phantom vehicles coming from my left or my right. The beeping is hugely annoying, especially when I'm inside the one-car garage. No, Edge, there's really NOT another car coming on either side of me. It scares the life out of me every time it sounds, but I don't want to turn it off because some day it might save me from an accident.
And then there's the auto setting on the climate control. I have the temperature set for 72 degrees, so when it's 60 degrees outside, there's no reason why the air conditioner should kick in and yet it does. Frequently. The system also likes a high, loud fan. Me? Not so much.
The car is also makes decisions for me on my wiper blades. If I use the intermittent setting and it decides it's not raining hard enough, the wipers won't go. Honestly, I don't care what the car thinks about it, if I have them on, I want them running. The only way around it is to put them on the steady setting.
The corollary is that sometimes when the car stops running the wiper blades on its own, I don't notice because I would have turned them off. Then, suddenly, on a sunny afternoon, the wiper blades will run and I'm totally going WTH?
But the last couple of weeks, the car has started a new quirk. It's turning on the radio every time I start the car. If I'd left the radio on, that would be one thing, but I haven't. In fact, I turn it off well before I turn off the car. I had to Google this one. It turns out there's an auto on feature for the entertainment system.
I didn't know that because it wasn't coming on automatically before the last couple of weeks. That was easy to turn off in the settings, so I hope that silences the sound because as much as I like Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes," I really don't want to hear it before sunrise.
All these complaints make it sounds as if I don't like the car, but I do. It's probably my second favorite vehicle, but it tries to do too much for me and it tries to anticipate too much. The James Bond car totally needs to chill a little.
The first thing I noticed--and it's hard to miss--are the phantom vehicles coming from my left or my right. The beeping is hugely annoying, especially when I'm inside the one-car garage. No, Edge, there's really NOT another car coming on either side of me. It scares the life out of me every time it sounds, but I don't want to turn it off because some day it might save me from an accident.
And then there's the auto setting on the climate control. I have the temperature set for 72 degrees, so when it's 60 degrees outside, there's no reason why the air conditioner should kick in and yet it does. Frequently. The system also likes a high, loud fan. Me? Not so much.
The car is also makes decisions for me on my wiper blades. If I use the intermittent setting and it decides it's not raining hard enough, the wipers won't go. Honestly, I don't care what the car thinks about it, if I have them on, I want them running. The only way around it is to put them on the steady setting.
The corollary is that sometimes when the car stops running the wiper blades on its own, I don't notice because I would have turned them off. Then, suddenly, on a sunny afternoon, the wiper blades will run and I'm totally going WTH?
But the last couple of weeks, the car has started a new quirk. It's turning on the radio every time I start the car. If I'd left the radio on, that would be one thing, but I haven't. In fact, I turn it off well before I turn off the car. I had to Google this one. It turns out there's an auto on feature for the entertainment system.
I didn't know that because it wasn't coming on automatically before the last couple of weeks. That was easy to turn off in the settings, so I hope that silences the sound because as much as I like Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes," I really don't want to hear it before sunrise.
All these complaints make it sounds as if I don't like the car, but I do. It's probably my second favorite vehicle, but it tries to do too much for me and it tries to anticipate too much. The James Bond car totally needs to chill a little.
February 5, 2013
Shifts
Last week I talked about the hero and heroine who have stayed stubbornly silent, frustrating me endlessly. After talking it over with a friend, I've shifted the books in the trilogy around and I'm starting with a different h/h. This is the second time this particular series has had the books shifted, so I'm hoping this time it sticks.
Since I managed to pick up some stupid bug that's left me under the weather, I decided to do some pre-book stuff for my new h/h. I didn't need to look for pictures of them--I already had those--but I did need to know where they lived and what kind of cars they drove.
I started on the houses first. It's really fun to look at real estate, especially in the millions of dollars price range. Neither my hero or heroine own a house like that themselves, but the leaders of their respective groups do.
It actually didn't take too long to find a house that fit my heroine's leader. The hero wasn't quite as easy, but the house I found fit almost exactly what I'd seen when he and his father took a long walk and had a serious conversation. It was a total WHOA! moment when I saw that yard and the view that matched my vision.
The only drawback on the mansion was while there were a ton of pictures of the grounds and exterior, there were comparatively few indoor pictures and none of the bedrooms. I'll wing it when the time comes if it's necessary. It might not be.
I moved on to the cars next, and I confess, I didn't spend a great deal of time on them. The hardest part was figuring out what type of car they'd drive. Pickups and SUVs didn't feel right for my hero, but when I checked out Ferrari and Lamborghini, those weren't right either. I hit pay dirt on Aston Martin. The Vanquish. He liked the bronze color. I would have figured him for bright red, but that was a big no.
The heroine is classy and elegant and her car was relatively easy to pick out. Mercedes. CL65-AMG. I had to look that up because I don't remember numbers, but it's expensive and sporty.
Now to let the things I learned gently percolate until I shake the virus I've picked up.
Since I managed to pick up some stupid bug that's left me under the weather, I decided to do some pre-book stuff for my new h/h. I didn't need to look for pictures of them--I already had those--but I did need to know where they lived and what kind of cars they drove.
I started on the houses first. It's really fun to look at real estate, especially in the millions of dollars price range. Neither my hero or heroine own a house like that themselves, but the leaders of their respective groups do.
It actually didn't take too long to find a house that fit my heroine's leader. The hero wasn't quite as easy, but the house I found fit almost exactly what I'd seen when he and his father took a long walk and had a serious conversation. It was a total WHOA! moment when I saw that yard and the view that matched my vision.
The only drawback on the mansion was while there were a ton of pictures of the grounds and exterior, there were comparatively few indoor pictures and none of the bedrooms. I'll wing it when the time comes if it's necessary. It might not be.
I moved on to the cars next, and I confess, I didn't spend a great deal of time on them. The hardest part was figuring out what type of car they'd drive. Pickups and SUVs didn't feel right for my hero, but when I checked out Ferrari and Lamborghini, those weren't right either. I hit pay dirt on Aston Martin. The Vanquish. He liked the bronze color. I would have figured him for bright red, but that was a big no.
The heroine is classy and elegant and her car was relatively easy to pick out. Mercedes. CL65-AMG. I had to look that up because I don't remember numbers, but it's expensive and sporty.
Now to let the things I learned gently percolate until I shake the virus I've picked up.
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