"don't change your plans for me"

I was sitting in a forum about art. Normally people don't go to forums but ash got me started and I haven't been able to break the habit. Admittedly, some of them are worthless, but most of them are actually very good. I learn a lot of things I wouldn't learn if I stayed near the biology building all day, so I'm glad. The woman that spoke, Marilyn Chandler McEntyre of Westmont College, read from a poem of her own creation about Van Gogh's painting The Sower. She read, "...vesper song over the hum of the wheat field...". I had no idea what that meant, and granted, her poems about some of Vermeer's paintings weren't my particular favorites. But this poem seemed to make a lot of sense to me and I liked where it was going especially because even though I didn't know exactly what the word "vesper" meant, I got the gist. I liked that. Poetry and I get along only sometimes and this was one of those times. So I celebrate.

She was very articulate and it was a great juxtaposition to the "That's the same thing how science does," from a professor the day before which was equally as fascinating. What causes us to make those kinds of mistakes? Maybe we're just going too fast. Really, maybe we should just slow down (advice I can give but can't apply). Sometimes I wonder why I didn't study linguistics. Really, sometimes I wonder why I didn't study art history, sociology, psychology, English, or philosophy. Not that I'd excel at any of them, but I feel like I'm missing out on so much.

Anyway, here's the definition for your information if you're like me and need it.

ves·per

–noun
1. (initial capital letter) the evening star, esp. Venus; Hesper.
2. Also called vesper bell. a bell rung at evening.
3. vespers, (sometimes initial capital letter) Ecclesiastical.
a. a religious service in the late afternoon or the evening.
b. the sixth of the seven canonical hours, or the service for it, occurring in the late afternoon or the evening.
c. Roman Catholic Church. a part of the office to be said in the evening by those in major orders, frequently made a public ceremony in the afternoons or evenings of Sundays and holy days.
4. of, pertaining to, appearing in, or proper to the evening.

"i'm objective like that, you know?"

What is the love affair with the word caveat? As someone who delights in the use of interesting and unusual words, you would think I might like this kind of thing. But I'm actually confused.

Don't get me wrong, I like the word caveat. And when I heard it the first time I vowed to use it whenever I got the chance. But I find that the chance comes less often then everybody seems to think. Still, I must have heard it three times yesterday in rapid succession (if you can count going from a meeting, then to a class, then to another place rapid succession). I wouldn't even turn my head if it wasn't such a posh way to say "warning" or "caution". For example, "We assigned them this topic with the caveat that they may have to alter their understanding of their own religion and other religions alike." I have a feeling that we might be doing us all a favor when we keep it simple, saving ourselves from having to translate this word each time it is used: "ok, so 'caveat', right... ok, that's Latin for 'cavere' which literally means 'let him beware' which we interpret as 'warning' or 'caution', therefore, the students should beware of the fact that their paradigm might be altered... got it!" and by that time everyone has moved on. Perhaps they decided to log that word away for future analysis. I know that's what I do.

Watch. Tomorrow I'll use this word and I'll like the way it sounds and have to reevaluate my opinion. Hmmm... Well! Until then.

But upon further analysis, this post sounds pretty snooty. So, let it be known, if I could use words like "caveat" and "paradigm" correctly without having to look them up first, I might have room to talk.

ca·ve·at

–noun

1. a warning or caution; admonition.
2. Law. a legal notice to a court or public officer to suspend a certain proceeding until the notifier is given a hearing: a caveat filed against the probate of a will.

kettle corn and 5 am

I have a good friend leaving this good country for a short sabbatical in England. In answer to your question, she isn't going all the way to England to be a nanny on Berkeley Square only to get tied up in all sorts of nanny nonsense. No, no my friends she is not. But in light of her leaving, I went to visit her before she goes away. And as I walk in, I see another friend of hers and mine putting the finishing touches on a delicious looking sandwich-on-a-roll (they're always the perfect size). The look of the sandwich was fantastic and prompted me to say, "My, that looks like a delicious sandwich." And as our friend lifted the sandwich to his mouth with a confident nod, my England bound friend's mother replied, "Uh, well. I don't know about those antiquated rolls. They've been in the refrigerator for who knows how long." The sandwich hesitated there just before the bite; I could see the wheels turning inside our friend's mind. But in the end, bite he did.

I laughed. But I have no qualms. Sometime ask me about boiled pizza and the like.

an·ti·quat·ed
–adjective

1. continued from, resembling, or adhering to the past; old-fashioned: antiquated attitudes.

2. no longer used; obsolete or obsolescent: The spinning wheel is an antiquated machine.

3. aged; old: Feel free to eat the antiquated rolls.