just for cat because she complained

On Saturday, my very special someone took me out on a historic tour of Independence, Texas. As you may know, Independence was the original location of the oldest university in the state, chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1845. A school which is now Baylor University and, more importantly, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

There are two main clusters of historic sites in Independence. The first cluster we toured is centered around Baylor Female College on Academy Hill. There stands the ruins of the kitchen/dining hall of Baylor Female College and 4 columns and an archway which were the entrance to the main building. There are also some "early Texas homes" which are log cabin type houses. Sam Houston's birthplace is there, along with the site of his old house (of which only the spring house is standing).

We got into the car to go to the second cluster, and it felt like there was something in the seat, so I got up and looked, but nothing was actually there. So I figured I either had something in my back pocket or I was going crazy. I thought nothing of it.

The second cluster includes Independence Baptist Church, Texas Baptist History Museum (or something like that, we didn't go into it, I don't know if it was open), Mrs. Sam Houston's house, old town square, more historic homes, and Baylor College on Windmill Hill, where the boys went to school. There is a nice park on Windmill Hill. A walking path, picnic tables, historic things, Judge Baylor's original grave site (as we know, his remains are now on the UMHB campus), crabapples, a write up of the history of Baylor University (pro-Ecclesia, pro-Texana).

As we were getting into the car to return to Brenham, I felt the same thing as before, but 5 times more strongly. I reached back to feel under me, and put my hand into a 6 inch gaping hole in the butt of my jeans. I guess it had ripped a little the first time and ripped completely then. I was wearing a poncho which covers my butt a little, so it wouldn't have been noticeable. But with a 6 inch gash, my whole butt was showing. Rodgers said I'd be ok because a girl in one of his classes always wears jeans that are ripped at the butt. I don't really think that's my style, though.

maybe my mind is melting

I'm having problems with the sound of lots of words now. I heard someone say "guided" about half an hour ago. And now, I've been thinking:

What's up with flowed, showed, glowed... It sounds weird to me. Alternatively, it could be flew, shew, and glew. But that really wouldn't work. Flew is the past tense of fly; shoe is what you wear on your feet; and glue is what you make out of old horses.

I start work on Monday. Then I won't have so much time to think about words. But, I also won't be writing in my blog much.

I just thought "Hypothetically I won't be writing in my blog much anymore." Because I might write sometime. I can no longer think of the word "hypothetical" without thinking of the "hypothetical dog." I know at least one of you should remember that...

clichés

First of all, I am not a fan of clichés. I find them annoying and predictable. If someone uses a cliché in an unexpected or unorthodox way it does amuse me. But using them in unusual ways takes away the essence of the cliché, therefore making it not so much cliché and more of an actual clever remark.

I came across a list yesterday of the clichés that I hate the most. It includes things like:

• Breakfast of champions
• Houston, we have a problem
• We've got company (in the sense that the bad guys have shown up, not the sense that you're having friends over for dinner)
• What can I do you for? (it may have seemed original when everyone was saying "what can I do for you?" and someone switched it around in a surprising way, but not anymore)
  

There is also one phrase on the list which is not a cliché, but annoys me just as much. That is "on account of" instead of saying "because of." To me, "on account of" sounds stupid.

Anyway, that's not really the point of what I'm writing about today.

There is one cliché which wasn't on the list, though it annoys me, but I have found that it has some redeeming value. That is "the early bird gets the worm." I have said many times before how much I dislike mornings. Some days it is outright hatred of mornings, but most of the time, just moderate dislike. People who do like mornings will pull this one on me, trying to prove their point that, whether or not I like the morning, I should go ahead and make the most of it. But, when people tell me that now, I have taken to asking them "But what if you're the worm?" Now, I realize I'm not the first person to say this, and actually it could be considered a cliché, too. But, the response from people who've never heard that before makes it all worthwhile. The response ranges from the slight chuckle and "oh, clever" to [my personal favorite] the confused look of horror when someone realizes that he's thought of himself as the "early bird" all his life only to discover now that he might actually be the worm. Something about giving people that sense of doom makes me feel...empowered. I understand now why evil geniuses do what they do.

words

For several years now, I've been into classifying words.

The first class I came up with was fake words. There are certain words that don't sound like they should actually be real words. They are in common usage and in the dictionary. I know they are words, but they sound like they shouldn't be. So I call them fake words. Examples of fake words: platoon, doily, dandruff. The more you say them, the more fake they sound.

There are also words which I just don't like the sound of. These are words that are real enough, but the sound of them makes me cringe. I erase them from memory because to remember these words would empower them. But, for the sake of example, a certain friend of mine can't stand the sound of the word refurbish.

A few weeks ago, I established a new class. I haven't come up with a good description of these words. And actually, at the moment there is only one word in this class. I was listening to Christian radio - Adventures in Odyssey. This guy was talking about how God "guided" him. "Guided" sounds wrong to me. Guide rhymes with slide. The past tense of slide isn't "slided." It's "slid." So, I believe that in a perfect world the past tense of guide would be "guid."