Visit me at Closed the Cover to read my book reviews, author interviews, or to check for new giveaways or other promotions.

The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read. – Mark Twain

Baby

Baby Watch 2013 is in progress!  My little sister is giving birth to my niece right now.  I wish I could be there.  :,(   Instead, I’m at work states and states away and waiting for a text picture from my mother.

Hurry up Brielle Elise…hurry!  I want to see that sweet little face.

Word Nerd

I know that I can’t be the only person in the world that does this but sometimes I feel like I am.

Confession: Sometimes I browse/read the dictionary…for fun.

I know, go ahead, snicker.  It happens.  A lot of people snicker and giggle when I make that confession but it’s true and I can’t help it.  I blame my 7th grade English teacher.  You see, he used to have these vocabulary cartoon flash cards that we could review if we finished an assignment early.  I always have been a faster reader which means I usually quite a bit of time to kill while waiting for everyone else.  I reviewed a lot of those flash cards.  They taught me quite a few words like “chattel” and ‘fortuitous.”

It became fun for me and I developed an obsession with words.  Actually, I always have had a penchant for words.  I remember when I was five years old I had climbed a tree in my backyard with my brother.  I was very high in the tree and too afraid to scale back down.  I remember yelling at my brother to go and get Dad because, “I’m in a serious predicament!”  Instead of going to get my Dad for help my brother began arguing with me over whether or not I really knew the meaning of the word “predicament.”  He was certain that since he was older than me (by a full 23 months) that if he didn’t know the meaning of the word there was no way I could know the meaning of the word.  Eventually he went and got my Dad but he still didn’t believe I knew what the word meant.  I did know.  I learned it from the Cabbage Patch Kids cassette tape that I had.  On the cassette tape two girls (Sybil Sadie and Rachel Marie) were kidnapped by the evil Cabbage Jack.  After they were kidnapped Colonel Casey (he’s the official historian of the Cabbage Patch Kids) said, on the tape, “Yes, those girls were in some kind of a predicament!”  Thanks Colonel Casey!

So, learning new words has just sort of become something I enjoy.

I downloaded the Dictionary app on my smart phone because it gives me a “word of the day” every day.  I try to use it a few times a day to commit it to memory.  Today’s word, just in case you’re curious, is:

Wuther – (verb) To blow fiercely.  Example: “…and the wind would wuther past the upright barrels of their guns.”

I also use the Kindle app on my iPad to highlight, define, and save new words.  I also get very excited when I’m reading something and I see words I don’t know.  It’s like a kid on Christmas morning!  I was actually just reading my textbook for my social research class and I saw the word “ruminate.”  It means to think deeply about or contemplate.  I learned that word a few years ago.

It’s an exceptionally nerdy characteristic.  I am well-aware of this perception but I can’t help it.

Fun? Cry? Oh My…

Back in 1983 Cyndi Lauper had a song that said girls just want to have fun.  She was right!  She still is.  That’s all we want.  That’s all we really want.  Some fun.

Leslie Gore, in 1963, told us that if you were trying to have fun and it was your party it was ok to cry.  She would have!  She even said, “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to!”  Yeah!!!  That’s right.  Dammit…if I want to cry I’m going to cry!  If I’m trying to have fun at my party but my party turns out crappy and I’m not having fun then I’m going to cry and sob just because I can!  Besides, you would cry too if it happened to you.

Then, of course, comes 2006 and Fergie has to come out and chastise an entire generation of girls who have been crying over their crummy parties and tell everyone that big girls don’t cry.  I guess there’s an age limit on when we can be disappointed over bad parties.  Kinda disappoints me really.  I sort of liked knowing I could cry if I wanted to.

Sometimes I find myself wondering how a conversation between the three of them would go.

Cyndi Lauper

Leslie Gore

Fergie

Cyndi - I come home in the morning light, my mother says “When you gonna live your life right?”

Fergie – This has nothing to do with you.  It’s personal, myself and I.

Leslie - Leave me alone for a while! ’Till Johnny’s dancin’ with me I’ve got no reason to smile.

Fergie - But I’ve got to get a move on with my life.  It’s time to be a big girl now and big girls don’t cry

Leslie - It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to! Cry if I want to, cry if I want to! You would cry too if it happened to you.

Cyndi - Some boys take a beautiful girl, and hide her away from the rest of the world. I wanna be the one to walk in the sun.

Leslie - Judy and Johnny just walked through the door.  Like a queen with her king.

Cyndi - Oh, girls, just wanna have…that’s all they really want…..Some fun….

Leslie - Why was he holding her hand? When he’s supposed to be mine!

Fergie - Fairytales don’t always have a happy ending, do they?  And I foresee the dark ahead…

Leslie - It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to! Cry if I want to, cry if I want to!

Fergie - It’s time to be a big girl now and big girls don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

Leslie - It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to! Cry if I want to, cry if I want to!

Fergie - We’ve got some straightenin’ out to do.

Cyndi - We’re not the fortunate ones.

Fergie - I’ve got to get a move on with my life.  It’s time to be a big girl now.

Cyndi - You know you’re still number one, but girls, they wanna have fun.

Leslie - Playin’ my records, keep dancin’ all night.

Fergie - The path that I’m walking,  I must go alone.

Leslie - Leave me alone for a while.

Cyndi - I wanna be the one to walk in the sun! Oh, girls, they wanna have fun. Oh, girls…

Leslie - ’Till Johnny’s dancin’ with me I’ve got no reason to smile.

Fergie - I’ll be your best friend.

Cyndi - That’s all they really want.

Leslie - I’ll cry if I want to! Cry if I want to, cry if I want to! You would cry too if it happened to you.

Fergie - I’m gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket but I’ve got to get a move on with my life.  It’s time to be a big girl now and big girls don’t cry!

Cyndi - You know you’re still number one, but girls, they wanna have fun!