Catching Up and Talking About English

It has been a bit since I last wrote, and I have to admit, as I'm sure you might have noticed, that I have yet to post a "Fashion Friday" blog. "Fashion Friday" was meant to be a super addition to the line-up, which, in all honesty, needed a bit of work. By that I mean, there needed to be more of a unifying thread throughout the blog.

I would say that, at this point, I resolve to never again let another Friday go unfashionable. I would say that, but it's probably not true. In fact, as I write this, I can't help but feel that this very Friday may be quite unfashionable. In case you were wondering, I'd originally planned to debut the "Fashion Friday" blog with an in-depth look at the high heel shoe. Perhaps it could have been titled: "High Heel Shoe: Friend or Foe?" Okay, that's a bit too pedestrian, but I think you catch my meaning. You know, a really hard-hitting analysis of the high heel and its place in our lives.

I'll transition those thoughts with three yesses and a no. Yes, I am serious about the high heel shoe blog. Yes, I am hoping for a Pulitzer. No, I'm not serious about the Pulitzer.

My next topic is English, as in the major, as in the thing I spent an inordinate amount of time working on (time that might have been better spent learning to decorate cakes or ballet dance, but I digress). Anyways, I always found it interesting when people would ask what I was majoring in. Then, of course, I'd have to say,"English." People generally respond to that by asking, "Do you plan to teach?" To which I would say, "No." I probably felt annoyed by that when I was younger. You know, always being asked the same question, always getting the same follow-up question, always getting the same perplexed look. I think that I wouldn't take it so terribly now. I mean, now that I really do teach. I'd probably just feel guilty and awkward that my teaching is limited, and probably always will be limited, to the university classroom, to those students who have made it past at least one sizable gatekeeper and into the university. Now, is that where the gatekeeping ends? No, of course not. I'm well aware of that, but I know that I'm not teaching in the sense that those people asking the question meant "teaching."

So, that is one response to the "major" question. Another response is for the question asker to suddenly become very aware of his or her own speech, with particular interest to grammar. The question asker always lets you know of his or her discomfort. Then I have to admit that I don't really care. Do I care about grammar? Sure, in some sense I do. But, I care more about the comfort of the conversation than I do about checking someone's ability to speak "properly." Who cares about that so much in casual conversation, really?

Anyways, as gesture of my not caring, I (a terrbile typist) have decided not to edit the blog. BEWARE. Typos and mistakes lurk throughout!