Ani's 2017 Log

[Systematiker]

Is that what they call the "grammar translation method"? I was kind of wondering what exactly that would mean, but if I had to name what I am doing that sounds about right

Pretty much, yeah - though these days it usually refers to L2->L1 only, like the way people learn Latin and Greek, because very few people make it to the composition classes that are supposed to come next. I didn't, for example, but I have some texts and am working on that bit.

[Ani]

So I totally creeped myself out

I was reading L'instant presént

La coïncidence me parut étrange, mais je n'eus pas le temps de m'y appesantir. Ma vision se troubla soudain. Je ressentis des picotements à l'extrémité he mes doigts et un haut-le-cœur me souleva l'estomac. Je tremblais de tous mes membres. . .

and suddenly there was an earthquake! A real life one, but a tiny one. Took me ages for my heart to stop beating !


Well, I studied a little today but spent more of my study time setting up habitica. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I'm available if anyone wants to battle monsters together

[Ani]

My husband goes on a camping trip every year to a little cabin by a lake with some of his guy friends. It is super late (or early, I guess) and I should be sleeping but I can never sleep when he's gone. We ended up cleaning all the guns before he left (because once you start you might as well keep going!) which inspired me to look up terminology in French. I found a great site called Essai armes and the terminology video has text underneath with the spelling in French and also the English equivalent where there was one. The division of parts doesn't line up exactly. Super helpful refresher as there are some parts I can never remember what they are called, and I probably shouldn't go out in public using words like "springy-majiger". The flip side there was that they put the English/American terminology on the video for French people because of how many guns are made in America (so he said). That is fine, but tons of munitions come out of Finland, my gun is Czech, no one has ever suggested I learn Finnish or Czech (oh wait! Except here on this forum..). I am not usually one who laments the linga franca status of English but this particular case really made me sad. There are great things and great people all over the world.

This is day 3 on Habitica. I am not sure if it is actually making me more productive yet. I'm still trying to figure out how to break up tasks and reward myself reasonably. I don't want to make it too easy, or so hard that I work all day without any reward. I tried to look at examples but people are tracking habits like brushing their teeth (seriously? Please tell me the vast majority of adults don't need an internet app to remind them to brush their teeth), and some challenges are set up so that 5 squats = hard, but then an artist painting a painting may be an example of an easy task. No matter how artsy you are, I think completing a whole painting is more challenging and time consuming than 5 squats. There doesn't seem to be a set of fixed guidelines, even approximate.

Reading some of the posts by English learners lately has made me more aware of how poorly I write my log. Sorry about that, English learners I feel badly. I should try harder. I have words going every which way.

[aaleks]

Reading some of the posts by English learners lately has made me more aware of how poorly I write my log. Sorry about that, English learners I feel badly. I should try harder. I have words going every which way.

I like to read your log, among other reasons, because I can find here such phrases like this: I have words going every which way

[Cavesa]

We ended up cleaning all the guns before he left (because once you start you might as well keep going!) which inspired me to look up terminology in French.

May I have a curious question? Do you have guns for your defense against people, against bears, for sports, or are you a collector? What is common in Alaska?

I found a great site called Essai armes and the terminology video has text underneath with the spelling in French and also the English equivalent where there was one. The division of parts doesn't line up exactly. Super helpful refresher as there are some parts I can never remember what they are called, and I probably shouldn't go out in public using words like "springy-majiger". The flip side there was that they put the English/American terminology on the video for French people because of how many guns are made in America (so he said). That is fine, but tons of munitions come out of Finland, my gun is Czech, no one has ever suggested I learn Finnish or Czech

Yes, we have some good producers of arms, but not that many are among the general population. Yes, there are people who have them for defence, there are collectionists, hunters, sports shooters, and they can have guns under the conditions stated by the law. Recently, we had a heated situation here concerning guns and the legislation, but little has changed for now. I am not saying this to provoke a debate on laws, now. But it is probably one of the reasons, why the terminology is not spread (except for the word "pistol", which is of Czech origin). Not only the Czech language or culture in general doesn't interest almost anyone abroad. But even the population using the terminology within the borders of the country is rather small, compared to the US or the Switzerland and so on. If even French is being pushed aside in this area, I am not sure whether Czech terminology still exists I'll ask a friend of mine, who is a cop, what terminology is normally in use, you made me curious, perhaps the czech users have switched to English too.

This is day 3 on Habitica. I am not sure if it is actually making me more productive yet. I'm still trying to figure out how to break up tasks and reward myself reasonably. I don't want to make it too easy, or so hard that I work all day without any reward.

Since it is one of the few ways that seem to be working like motivation, and turn the reward mechanisms in my brain on, I prefer to err on the side of too easy. Smaller bits, smaller subtasks, and I get at least something done. Too big tasks just paralyze me, as the tasks like "read the whole textbook" don't seem too different from "get the degree" or "succeed at your life" to me right now.

I tried to look at examples but people are tracking habits like brushing their teeth (seriously? Please tell me the vast majority of adults don't need an internet app to remind them to brush their teeth),

If that particular adult needs to be reminded to brush their teeth or take a shower regularly, I am glad they got Habitica instead of being a walking plague

and some challenges are set up so that 5 squats = hard, but then an artist painting a painting may be an example of an easy task. No matter how artsy you are, I think completing a whole painting is more challenging and time consuming than 5 squats. There doesn't seem to be a set of fixed guidelines, even approximate.

That's the point. It's your adventure, you choose your quests. There is no PvP element, as far as I know, so who cares about comparing the task difficulty. And don't forget there are lots of people who love painting, and such a "finish it" task is just meant to help them stick with the one piece they are doing now till the end before starting a new one. The same person may however hate squats and see them as a harder task.

Reading some of the posts by English learners lately has made me more aware of how poorly I write my log. Sorry about that, English learners I feel badly. I should try harder. I have words going every which way.

Don't worry, your log is a great read!

[Ani]

Reading some of the posts by English learners lately has made me more aware of how poorly I write my log. Sorry about that, English learners I feel badly. I should try harder. I have words going every which way.

I like to read your log, among other reasons, because I can find here such phrases like this: I have words going every which way

Thanks Although I try to keep it toned down from what I'd say in real life, I do usually write too informally. Between that, and all the mistakes and mis-edits, I don't know how anyone sorts it out Feel free to ask if something I have said generates questions.

May I have a curious question? Do you have guns for your defense against people, against bears, for sports, or are you a collector? What is common in Alaska?

For me, I target shoot at the range down the road. I usually go with a girlfriend or two, or there is a ladies meeting once a month. DH hunts for meat. My handgun is a 9mm which is pretty useless against bears, and I wouldn't want to carry anyway because of all the kids jumping on me. I keep my gun locked up. For Alaska in general... There are a lot of people here who keep guns for personal protection. There is no drug unit here, and no gang unit. In some of the areas suffering the most from drug crimes, the police response might be 45+minutes out. The justice system is awful and people who are caught committing robberies are released the same day often, less than 3 months for armed robbery, so the same people keep committing the same crimes. It is legal in Alaska to carry firearms anywhere except federal property, but you mostly don't see guns in ordinary places, like the coffee shop. Occasionally, perhaps. Not anywhere near the frequency that you see them in Texas or Florida. Many people DO carry guns on hikes, and Alaskans are super outdoor-loving people so our trails on the outskirts of town are heavily populated and you will see people with guns then. The guns are backup for bear spray (super super strong pepper spray). Bear spray is the best defense against bears, so that is what I carry (and basically everyone else too). I keep it in my car and by the doors while the kids are playing outside because we do live in bear country. There has actually be a really high number of attacks this year, some right in my town

Yes, we have some good producers of arms, but not that many are among the general population. Yes, there are people who have them for defence, there are collectionists, hunters, sports shooters, and they can have guns under the conditions stated by the law. Recently, we had a heated situation here concerning guns and the legislation, but little has changed for now. I am not saying this to provoke a debate on laws, now. But it is probably one of the reasons, why the terminology is not spread (except for the word "pistol", which is of Czech origin). Not only the Czech language or culture in general doesn't interest almost anyone abroad. But even the population using the terminology within the borders of the country is rather small, compared to the US or the Switzerland and so on. If even French is being pushed aside in this area, I am not sure whether Czech terminology still exists I'll ask a friend of mine, who is a cop, what terminology is normally in use, you made me curious, perhaps the czech users have switched to English too.

I'd be super excited to learn the Czech terminology for parts of a hand gun if you have a chance to ask

If that particular adult needs to be reminded to brush their teeth or take a shower regularly, I am glad they got Habitica instead of being a walking plague
That's the point. It's your adventure, you choose your quests. There is no PvP element, as far as I know, so who cares about comparing the task difficulty. And don't forget there are lots of people who love painting, and such a "finish it" task is just meant to help them stick with the one piece they are doing now till the end before starting a new one. The same person may however hate squats and see them as a harder task.

Oh I love that it is totally customized and that you can rate things on their relative difficulty to YOU. If people are using it to cope with executive function issue, that is completely awesome. I was just surprised that brushing your teeth ranked so high on list of common tasks. Actually I set up Habitica for my son to see if it will help with time management for his school work, and I did put brushing teeth as his only daily tasks Executive function is not a known strength for 9 year old boys
Maybe you've figured it out more easily than I did, but since there are "in game" awards, I have a hard time judging what those awards should represent in terms of work output, or basic consistency/success. Should a hard day's work be in the neighborhood of 10 gold or 100 or 200? I just have no idea really. It is just a matter of whether I should lump my to-do list into larger blocks, or break it down smaller. Is one "task" a page of a grammar, 5 pages, or a chapter? yk? Eventually I guess I'll get a feel for it. Hopefully

Don't worry, your log is a great read!

Thanks!

[Ani]

All this time without DH is getting to me. I nearly bought a float tank last night to set up in the house. I desperately need some sensory deprivaation

In other news, I found a new Russian text book 40 leçons pour parler russe by Michel Chicouène. It is *exactly* what I need at this moment. It has grammar translation exercises which are very short, at least at the beginning. I did the first two lessons already and am very exited to get through the rest. I'm going to add my text to LWT today and get started on my Russian database.

Since all my conversation for the last week has been with persons under the age of 10, I am taking a brief break from studying to show you mid-summer in Alaska.

This is the mix of "weeds" I have for a front yard. I quite love them. The invasive dandelions are fortunately finished for the year, leaving daisies, thistle and foxtail grass.

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The Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) trees have finished dropping their fluff. For about a week it looks like it is snowing and the fluff piles up everwhere. Here is some this year on the side of a parking lot. Since it rained a few times during "fluff week", this is a fairly small amount

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The catkins (seed clusters) eventually fall with whatever fluff is still attached. They are about 10" long and make ugly mouldy looking blobs all over things. This one is laying on a bed of chickweed (Stellaria media)

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These are really pretty but terrible plants called Cow Parsnip (Heracleum). The flower stalks are between 4 and 6 feet tall. They are poisonous to the touch like poison ivy, except the rash is worse and lasts over a month. Once you get "burned" by one of these plants, you will be sensitive to getting the rash more easily in the future. It is pretty horrible. Ideally, DH would have burned these plants out in the spring before they grew so large but it is too late now. The kids are used to avoiding them anyway as they are very common here.

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You can see Cottonwood fluff and a couple of dropped catkins sitting on this Devil's Club plant. This is one of my favorite plants in Alaska. Only someone who doesn't know it well could have given it its Latin name Oplopanax horridus It is used spiritually and as medicine by the Natives. In the spring when the thumb size leaves first emerge, they are edible right off the plant. It is a favorite snack of spring time hikers. They have quite an interesting peppery flavor. After, the leaves grow to over a foot in length. Some are probably up to 2' long. They have a spiky underside and spikes down all the stems, except where the stems lay across the ground. In those cases, the spikes rot off. Those are the stems which are cut for medicinal uses. Berries are just starting to emerge here, and by the end of summer they will be hard and bright red. (poisonous).

2017-07-11 17.32.23.jpg

[Ani]

Yarrow is another plant used medicinally, as a tea to aid fevers. I don't know if it really works, but I find it very comforting when I am sick so I dry it every year for my own use I can't figure out how to convince this one to rotate. Don't get a crink in your neck

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And finally, Fireweed. This time of year, it is just about to bloom. Next week it should be gorgeous. The leaves also are great medicinally as they are a mild muscle relaxer and are pretty phenomenal at relieving pain.

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All the pictures except the road-side cottonwood fluff are taken out of my yard today.

[aaleks]

The Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) trees have finished dropping their fluff. For about a week it looks like it is snowing and the fluff piles up everwhere. Here is some this year on the side of a parking lot. Since it rained a few times during "fluff week", this is a fairly small amount

We have this kind of summer "snow" too Where I live (Yekaterinburg/Ekaterinburg, there's two English version of the name of the city) it's still "snowing" a little.

[Systematiker]

The Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) trees have finished dropping their fluff. For about a week it looks like it is snowing and the fluff piles up everwhere. Here is some this year on the side of a parking lot. Since it rained a few times during "fluff week", this is a fairly small amount

We have this kind of summer "snow" too Where I live (Yekaterinburg/Ekaterinburg, there's two English version of the name of the city) it's still "snowing" a little.

Hey, I've been there a couple of times! That's neat! And once when it snowed in summer as well, I forget if it was June or July. A strange experience, at the time I had barely been out of Florida.