Anya's Language

Anya is developing a language, called "Erconinas." These spellings are mine, phonetic only:

Kop = Statue of Liberty
Moskegranz = mouse
Elbrunans = elephant

My recall may be imperfect, but I'm sure Anya can correct me.

Update: Anya's language has changed. It is now a singing language. Every word is sung rather than spoken. Last night she told me the word for "angel." It took her about 1 minute to sing it. I imagine that if you wrote it out, the word would be about 100 syllables long.

Bowie and The King

Trivia: David Bowie wrote "Golden Years" to be performed by Elvis. I can hear it.

"Gooolden years,
Oh-ooo-woooh, wopwopwop..."

Cookie Boys, Scarves and Carpenters

The girls have been cute this week.

A couple of days ago, Quinn approached me while I was sitting at the dinner table and loudly declared, "You are my cookie boy!"

Then Saturday night, while I was watching Game 1 of the World Series with both India and Anya on my lap, Anya turns to India and says (pertinent to nothing, as far as I could tell): "You're Chris Carpenter!" Whereupon India replies, "YOU'RE Chris Carpenter!" This went on for about 5 minutes, each of them telling the other, in increasingly insistent tones, that they were Chris Carpenter. I didn't even know they knew who Chris Carpenter was. He wasn't pitching, he wasn't on the TV. They just picked it up, I guess. It was pretty funny.

Then yesterday India decided to create a coat out of scarves. She brought out every scarf in the house and tied them around herself. She looked like some kind of odd muppet. It looked warm, too.

My Brand

I have decided that for the duration of the Cardinals' trip through the playoffs, I am going to drink only Budweiser while watching the games.

Budweiser has good mojo for the Cardinals.

They're just one win away from the World Series. Come on, guys!

Song Title of the Day, Oct. 11, 2006

"Without MSG I Am Nothing," by Mclusky.

Musky

A few days ago Mari-Rose and the girls were down by Sugar Creek, and at the edge of the water they found a tiny baby muskrat which had apparently been abandoned. It was only about two inches long and couldn't have weighed more than an ounce. It was still alive, so they brought it home, wrapped it in a washrag and kept it alive for a day by feeding it milk from the pet store.

Of course, we couldn't keep a muskrat forever, so Mari-Rose found out that the University of Illinois Veterinary School will take in lost little animals like "Musky." She took Musky over there, and he lived for a while, but ultimately didn't make it.

Rest in peace, Musky.

Elmore Leonard

From today's Writer's Almanac, a quick good line from Elmore Leonard:

"I leave out the parts that people skip."

Redeem This!

From the Writer's Almanac of Oct. 7, I learned this:

Oct. 7 is the birthday of R.L. Stine, the creator of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series of horror novels for young people, he's one of the best-selling children's book authors of all time. He has written more than 200 books, and he's sold more than 100 million copies.

By the early 1990s, Stine's books were selling about a million copies per month. To keep up with demand, he had to write 20 pages a day, finishing a book every two weeks.

In response to critics who have said that his books aren't good for children, R.L. Stine said, "I believe that kids as well as adults are entitled to books of no socially redeeming value."

A book every two weeks. That is just stunning.

I Suppose We Should Be Happy

Has it really been a week since I posted anything? Sheesh. A few items:

Science teachers in Michigan will be able to teach evolution. I guess this is what we call a victory these days - science teachers actually get to teach their subject matter?

But here is a genuine reason to be happy today: WOXY came back on the air today. It is good, good music. For example: Already this afternoon they have played new stuff by Michael Franti, Lily Allen, Guillemots and the Decemberists, as well as some live music by Wilco. Ahh! (They are back on the air thanks to an arrangement with LaLa.com, which I don't really understand. But apparently LaLa is a good source of music, too.)

Mystifying

While doing research at work yesterday, I came across the following quote from an article in Joint Force Quarterly, a military journal, dated October 2004:

Indeed, it is notable that the current Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, has registered his reluctance to commit military assets to aid civilian authorities without a clear exit strategy.

Now, I can understand the logic of this. You don't want the military to be indefinitely committed to doing cleanup work after disasters. But the thing I can't figure - and I mean this honestly - is, did the same standard apply in Iraq? After three-and-a-half years, I still can't figure out what Rumsfeld's exit strategy in Iraq was, or is, or will be.

Depressing But Not Surprising

Thirty-five percent of U.S. adults think that humans and dinosaurs cohabited the planet at some point in the past.

I am continually amazed by the gulf between how knowledgeable some people are and how ignorant others are.