Linguistics

I've been looking around at several school programs in the UK lately. Just for fun for right now, but I think it would be a great experience to get a Masters Degree in England. I did my Undergraduate in Linguistics at BYU. Oxford had the best explanation of what Linguists study that I'd seen in awhile:

Linguistics is the study of language in all its aspects. Linguists are interested in the structure and history of languages; the meaning underlying instances of language use (semantics); how languages are related; how children learn language; what goes on when people are speaking; how people understand, mentally represent and generate language; what features are shared by all languages; why languages differ; how language is used in literature, the media and by various social groups; what happens to language abilities when the brain is damaged by stroke or injury; whether computers will ever be able to understand language; how we can model human language use. http://www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/prospective

I love linguistics! Yes I did study all that. One reason I did is that it is through language that we learn about all the other things around us and build bonds with other people. That was my undergrad experience and it made me happy to revisit it for a moment and remember the cool things I learned. Someday I hope to know many more languages than I do now. For now though, I enjoy knowing a bit more how Language works in general. Delightful stuff!

Easter

This Easter was like none before.

We had a ward musical fireside with about ten songs performed celebrating the Savior Jesus Christ. I sang "Abide with Me Tis Eventide" in a duet with a friend. It's been a long time since I performed anything singing. It's far more frightening to me than getting up in front of thousands interpreting. After some serious sweaty hands I felt like I'd done well and it was a great evening.



I volunteered at the White House Easter Egg Roll as an interpreter. There were 300 people dressed up in Character costumes. They had numerous activities including Yoga, Hula Hoops, Football, Storytime, and a Music Stage. Most of these I only briefly grazed with my eyes. I was assigned to the music stage, which meant I spend all my time in a secure area with all the visiting talent, the VIP tent stocked with food, and twenty minutes between each show to meet people. Michelle Obama walked past me and tapped me on the shoulder and said "Happy Easter." It took a moment to register who that familiar face was and by then she was gone. I also met Sarah Bareilles, Justin Beiber, The Jonas Brothers, and several Sesame Street Cast members including Maria and Gordon. I found them to be pleasant and personable. Maria was as excited to see how I signed certain things as I was to meet her. By far, Elmo was the highlight of the day. A friend of mine has a niece who loves Elmo dearly. Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo, kindly made this movie for me when had asked for merely a picture.



Yes, Elmo ate my Blackberry.

I enjoyed a fun Easter Egg Hunt and a big Easter dinner with friends (you are never too old for some things). After all this excitement, I must say that the best part and best celebration of Easter still occurred in a simple Sacrament Meeting at Church as I took the bread and water and remembered Christ's resurrection and Atonement. It was the most powerful experience of all and the most pure celebration of Easter. The cool thing is anyone can have that experience and they don't need a talented voice, a ticket to the White House, or hard boiled eggs to enjoy it.

Mad Hatter Tea party

My laptop has been bobbing in a sea of non-cooperation but all is well now. I'm now posting what I have been planning to for the last little while.



So remember the new Alice and Wonderland movie that came out in March? Well, my friends and I decided to add to the experience of watching it and not just by donning those nifty 3D glasses. We 'fell' into it. After receiving fancy and delightful invitations by mail, guests attended dressed as wonderland characters. We had the Hatter, the Hare, the Doormouse, several Alices, several cards, a flower, the caterpillar, the Cheshire cat, a few random characters, and a killer Queen of Hearts.

The table was made to be slightly chaotic. There were at least seven different colorful tablecloths, white roses spray painted red, mismatched chairs, and mismatched tea cups. A few extra cups were placed at random for a clean cup as needed. The fare included special herbal teas, hot chocolate, cucumber and egg salad sandwiches, petit fours, Beef wellington, scones, and berries, the scones of course being placed far from their complimentary jams and clotted cream. We even had a stuffed white rabbit and a fake pocket watch that we filled with jam and butter. (The best butter of course!)

It was mentioned by many that one of the best parts of the good clean silliness and jovial company was the rotation of seats that sporadically occurred. This was because we had the chance to talk and laugh with everyone at the table and not just those in the near vicinity. We did walk to the theater in costume and don the glasses too. After a lot of hard work by a lot of people it was a tremendous success of fun!