Introductions and Welcomes Showing 701-750 of 2,568

[J.]

Newengland wrote: "Hello, Jessica! Always good to see another English teacher on deck. I taught juniors and seniors, too, once upon a time. Presently, however, my job is to teach 14-year-olds (that fickle race kno..."

Oooh 8th graders. The closest I got to that was when I taught 9th graders. Fun! LOL.

[Ruth]

8th grade is not an age. It's a disease.

[Ken, Moderator]

Why, Ruth. How politically uncorrect. I am shocked, appalled, and amused to no end.

Keep up the irreverent work!

[[deleted user]]

In my own experience (as a teacher, not as a student), 6th grade and 9th grade are the two years of schooling that would most benefit from separation and isolation from the general public. I went to observe a 6th grade class that was full of my former students and they were barely recognizable-- talk about Jekyll and Hyde! Where were the sweet 5th graders that had been mine just the last year? Who were these lip gloss obsessed, straightened haired girls? When did the boys get taller than me? And WHEN did they develop this ATTITUDE? YEECH!

[J.]

I know what you mean. I find it amazing. I don't know what I was doing to myself teaching 9th grade all of those years. Don't get me wrong; the 11th and 12th graders have their issues as well. But the 9th graders are what we like to call "squirrely". That's a technical term. LOL.

[David]

The worst ages are 3 and 15.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

NE!!!! Politically incorrect!!!!;-) (post 821).
In NZ, 14 year olds are in 4th form, or Year 10. Fourth form girls are notorious, although I have to say I was not typical. My daughter, however, needed to have her bedroom window nailed shut whilst in her 4th form year!!
I teach Y5/6 (10/11 yrs) and seeing them again after a year or two is just scary!

[Ken, Moderator]

Oops. IN, not un. I knew that. I think my brain is fried as bananas with all the work I'm doing on vacation.

4th form, 8th grade, it's all the same. Hormones. Talk about uncorrect being in!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Working on vacation?!! Get thee hence!

[Ken, Moderator]

I just Mapquested "Hence." Looks great! (Just had 10" of snow today, and now the Northern Wind doth blow... hey nonny freeze-your-nonnies.)

[David]

Vade retro, Satanas!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Show off!!!
Two references for 'get thee hence'...the Bible...
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. ...

.....and Shakespeare.......
Go get thee hence, Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me. Thou wouldst appear most ugly. Anthony and Cleopatra, 2. 5 ...

Mapquested NE? Is that google maps or summat?

[Ken, Moderator]

Mapquest dot all-is-com. I avoid Google (a.k.a. "Big Brother Tracks Your Every Search"). Make it a New Year's Resolution: use www.scroogle.org instead.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Told you....I NEVER make New Year resolutions.......
Will give it a try anyway......thanks:-)

[Mikki]

Ok! Im new here and I speak Strine... Anyone else here know this form of English! Turns out I've been living afar for too long and now I occaisionally write things in other versions of English! What amazed me is many years ago I visited India and found even though English originated in England the Indians spoke the real true English that the English left behind! Still Im still trying to work out why the POMS call zuchinni courgette?? Any takers??
Anyhow Im looking to get to know you all!

[Mikki]

Ruth wrote: "Hmm. Looks like a cross between a grasshopper and a Jerusalem cricket. You're right about ugly.

As for wind, good thing you don't live at the foot of Cajon Pass directly in the path of the Sant..."

[Mikki]

Hi Ruth sorry but I've seen grasshoppers and even Jimney Cricket but haven'tyet played Cricket in Jerusalem?? Enlighten me whats the difference too me one Grasshopper is the same as the next!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Hi Mikki....I think you must have been looking at an old conversation about the NZ weta. I also speak Strine (or could if I wanted to...I lived in Sydney for 7 years...what part of Australia are you from?). As to the vegetable thing...zucchini is the Italian name for it, brought to Oz by its many Italian immigrants. Courgette is the French word for the same vegetable, and the English adopted that term for it (being geographically closer I suppose). In NZ we use both names interchangeably.

[Mikki]

Debbie wrote: "Hi Mikki....I think you must have been looking at an old conversation about the NZ weta. I also speak Strine (or could if I wanted to...I lived in Sydney for 7 years...what part of Australia are yo..."

Thanks yes I am aware of the origins of courgette and zuchinni , just the POMS feel its important to compete withthe french so I find it amusing...
I no longer live in Australia but was brought up in Sydneys Eastern Suburbs, yet doubt I would bring up children there now as I can't afford it!

[Mikki]

I just logged onto the SMH and they had a blog about the Best of for Aussies, anyhow they reckon the letter Iis the favourite for Aussies in 2008.
Anyhow I always dot my i's How about you guys? Do you agree , Aussies ?

[Mikki]

Newengland wrote: "New? Want to introduce yourself? Old? Stepping into the kitchen for a cold (or hot) drink and a little light (or heavy) side conversation? You've come to the right sink..."New England? Well I use the term Yank for all Americans (sorry if I offended you)hope you picked a great yank to marry , Congrats! Must be my Australian twang, hope you Americans forgive me!!

[Ken, Moderator]

Hey, Mikki. Welcome to Goodreads. You can call me most anything. Yank I'm fine with. I only draw a distinction between Yank (an American from the Disunited States) and Yank (a fan of the lowest, vilest baseball team in the D.S.). But I see you mean the former.

You may be our first from the Land of Oz, though Debs is right across the water from you and "did time" in the penal colony. I've never heard of "courgette" -- not once. Zucchini all the way, here!

[LeeAnn]

What an awesome thread for a reading forum!! I would like to join this group!

My name is LeeAnn. I am also from New England!

[Ruth]

Hi LeeAnn. Welcome aboard.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Hi LeeAnn...welcome to the asylum! :-)

[Ken, Moderator]

Yay, LeeAnn. Yay, New England (the location, not the author of this post). Yay, Anna Karenina (good book, not matter WHAT Tyler Too says... and say, the way he's going, Tyler's going to have to re-introduce himself).

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Yeah! Where are you Tyler?

[Tyler]

I'm at home, but with serious problems, of which this Internet connection is one.
NE, no matter what you say, Anna Karenina is a monstrosity of a narrative. If you re-read it now, I'll bet money you won't score it as high as you did.

NE = Tolstoy
Tyler = Dostoevsky

You say tomato, I say tomahto.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Is it the weather conditions pounding your connectedness Tyler?

[Ken, Moderator]

Dostoevsky is the seer of the mind (psycho) and Tolstoy the seer of the flesh. The body of evidence favors Tolstoy. Clearly it was the translation you read.

=)

[David]

Ia Fyodor
In bad odor?

[Tyler]

Hi Debbie -- No, the weather's fine here. It's just the poor service.

NE -- How could Tolstoy see any flesh at all when he was so busy hiding it under such sententious corsets? No translation can cover up the fact that Fyodor rules, while Leo wrote only to please public opinion.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Are you two re-enacting the Battle of Borodino? Can you not agree that both are fine authors and that a supremacy is not necessary.....?

[Ken, Moderator]

Not see (tee hee) -er of the flesh, SEER. As in, a sensuous (as opposed to sensual) writer. He frequently alludes to the senses of smell, taste, touch, sound, and, of course, sight. His characters' solipsism demands as much. And how could a guy who ALIENATED so many readers with his ECCENTRIC opinions be accused of "writing to please the public"? (Rhetorical question there.)

Let's take this outside. I'm starting a new thread where I can post a few examples to show you what I mean.

[Ken, Moderator]

Oh come on, Deb. Cage matches are fun. Think of the possibilities:

Jane Austen vs. Henry James

Ernie Hemingway vs. Willie Faulkner

Curious George vs. The Hungry Caterpillar

[David]

C.S. Lewis vs. Tolkien (an easy one to call)

Isaac Asimov vs. Arthur C. Clarke

Ezra Pound vs. Bob Dylan (in the Captain's Tower, natch)

[Mikki]

Hi! Im new here joined a few days ago!
Ok! I live somewhere pretty contriversal at the moment but am originally from Australia! So if you want to learn strine or teach me about politically correct language according to some list Published in the US please do!! I know that Im forever learning and since returning to my child hood love last year, Im enjoying a new wealth of knowledge attained from the many books around in English!

[Mikki]

Debbie wrote: "Anyone seen Prabha lately? Has she become bored with us??
PS I never formally introduced myself either. I am Debbie and I live in New Zealand and I teach Year 6 kids (10 and 11 year olds). I have..."

Hi Debbie, tell you what I think you are right about being scared of marriage once burned its hard to trust again! Still Im wondering if I lived in NZ would I find more peace than in Australia! I hear you have a new PM so does that mean less action!

[Kathryn Parmeter]

Hi, just joined...I'm an MFA in creative nonfiction and constantly find myself tumbling over syntax, case and tense issues...it's actually horrifying. So maybe a little confersation will help--most books on the topic are deadly dry, mathematical, abstract in approach, and guaranteed to get me fast asleep in 5 minutes or less. I am the opposite of "nerd" but I appreciate deeply a lovely illustration or analogy, so I'm hoping the nerds among us will embrace their inner anality and show it proudly here.

[Ken, Moderator]

Nerds? There are no nerds here. In fact, it's a Nerd-Free Zone.

(I'm a MFA in creative fiction... but that's repetitive.)

[Kathryn Parmeter]

I think the word you're looking for is redundant, actually, Newengland...but I think of the word "nerd" in an extremely positive way, with envy, in fact, and if sticklers for grammar and language aren't nerds, then what is a word vs. science/math/technology nerd called, and where do they go to party? Sheesh

[Ken, Moderator]

Sticklers? There are no sticklers here. In fact, it's... oh... wait a minute... there I go again.

Whatever, welcome to the site, Kathryn. Call us what you will. Glad you're here.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Kathryn said...."so I'm hoping the nerds among us will embrace their inner anality and show it proudly here."

Welcome Kathryn...have fun but please ....no inside-out anality here!!

[Anthony]

I too wear my nerdship with pride. JK Galbraith said something like, "on the twenty-third draft, you add in the spontaneity". His point was that you have to do the nerdy bits first. Only then can you be spontaneous.

[Ken, Moderator]

But... but... who can truly define the good ship Nerd?

[David]

"Inside-out anality"?

An allusion to "Citizen Kane"?

[Kathryn Parmeter]

Yes...okay, thanks, and I agree Debbie, that imagery was a bit graphic...funny, though, now that I think about it. And the riffs are hysterical. Okay, I'll watch it. Just to keep things from getting gruesome. I can't promise to please any prudes, however...I do have a salty streak.

[Ken, Moderator]

We like spice, so you'll fit right in...

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Spicy is good....humour that is!

[[deleted user]]

Aren't nerds those little crunchy Willy Wonka creations that are made of sugar and even though they come in different colors and flavors, they all end up tasting the same? And if you are not careful, you may break a tooth or pop a filling while eating them :(