January 17
Three Dog Night




Listening to: Hell Freezes Over – The Eagles

Reading: Once Upon A Star Nora Roberts et al

Weather: 11, sunny, wind-chill -19

Trivia: How did the football huddle get started?

When players of American football want to talk about the next play, they form a "huddle" in which they all face inward in a tight group. But the huddle has not always been part of the game. Prior to the 1890s, football players just stood around discussing the play, far enough away from the other team that they could not be overheard. The huddle was invented by Paul Hubbard, quarterback for Gallaudet University's Bisons. Gallaudet was a university for deaf people, and the players used sign language to discuss strategy. The tight huddle was a way to hide the sign language from anyone on the opposing team who might be able to understand it.

Cool word: slapstick [n. SLAP-stik]

Slapstick is a boisterous, crude form of comedy marked by practical jokes, chases, and simple physical humor. It requires little or no dialog, being based mostly on simple sight gags. The genre was popular in the days of silent film. Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and the Keystone Kops were masters of the form. Slapstick comedy gets its name from a prop that originally was used in the 16th century Italian "commedia dell'arte." It was a long, flexible wooden stick with a hinged part that made a sharp cracking noise when it was used to strike someone. The wooden device was called a slapstick in English as early as 1896. The first known use of the word to refer to the entire genre of physical comedy was in 1926. Since then, the physical prop has gone out of use, but the style of comedy still bears its name.



Tonight is definitely going to be another three dog night. I hadn’t thought about that term in a very long time, but I was listening to an oldies station on my way home tonight and they were playing songs by Three Dog Night in honor of the cold weather. (Not that I see any reason to honor this awful cold we’re living in!) I don’t know why I remember some of the useless trivia that I do, but I do recall that in Australia (or possibly New Zealand) that a very cold night is called a "three dog night" as that’s how many dogs you need to have around you to keep warm.

Of course I only have one small cat, and I think he sleeps with me so he can stay warm. He tends to curl into my body and gets really pissed off if I move at all. I think I block the drafts.

Speaking of the cat, he’s still only semi-healthy. We had three good days, but he’s off again today. Time to call the vet again. Besides, I need more of the prescription food. I feel bad for the poor guy. He’s obviously hungry and I can’t give him the amount of food he’s sued to getting or the "people" food he loves.

I’m again experiencing guilt feelings. What kind of a mother am I?



I spent the day thinking it was Monday. But I suppose I should be pleased with that as it means that I have one less school day than I’d been thinking. It was one of those days when I was lost trying to figure out where I was supposed to be.

I spent forty-five minutes testing my little girl who is so dyslexic. I wish I had a magic wand I could wave over her to make the dyslexia go away. She has so much knowledge stored in that little head of hers. Given a form of poetry to identify she knew it was a limerick. Very few fifth graders can identify that.

There were so many other questions that she was able to answer that other kids can’t, it’s a shame that the reading gets in her way. She was fun, she sort of decided to approach this like the "Millionaire" show and would say "final answer" when she was sure of something.

I like it when I can enjoy testing a child.



Today was a long day, as I had to go back to teach the computer class tonight. Not everyone showed up, but I was still on the run the entire time. They have so many questions that need to be answered, and I tend to zip along too quickly.

One of the problems is that they’ve put different programs on the computer that is at the teacher’s desk, and it doesn’t show the same desk top, so I can’t demonstrate everything for them.

They are an interesting and lively group. The two women who speak limited English are from Croatia. I have to try to slow down so they can understand what I am doing. They are most interested in the internet, but I’m not really supposed to get to that at all. I guess I’ll have to do it the last week of class.

Only two to go.



I’m really tired, I slept poorly last night. My contact lenses have also glued themselves to my eyeballs. I need a new right lens. It’s been cloudy all day. That’s another big expense. Sigh.

previous next Home

Horoscope

ARIES

Although you would like to put off making changes in your work role, or wonder what kind of reception you will get from superiors or clients to your more radical proposals, it is less of a strain than you would imagine once you set things in motion. You can go along with necessary changes either willingly or unwillingly, but they will happen anyway and it is best to get behind them.