Cuteness

Quick and Dirty Tips

Here, grammar girl explains when to use lie vs. lay.

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/lay-versus-lie.aspx

Grammar Girl

I can be a little bit of a grammar nerd sometimes. I don't, by any means, write with perfect grammar but I'll certainly make the effort if I'm writing a letter to a professor, employer or in school papers. Nothing bothers me more than when I get letters from so-called professionals with master's degrees saying, please send me the knew memo. Come on you idiot, spell check isn't going catch everything. If you don't know, look it up. Here are two I've been pondering:

1) Indulging vs. Endulging.
Endulging is just a British spelling of the word.


2)Ensure VS. Insure
Ensure
Ensure means "to make sure or certain" and must be followed by a direct object. Ensure indicates the action of guaranteeing, as opposed to the spoken guarantee indicated by assure.
His loyalty will ensure your safety.
Insure
Insure refers to the provision of insurance: coverage against a specified loss.
My new car is not yet insured.

This is a pretty good site to look up these kinds of questions:
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

Paul's Birthday

Sorry guys.... I meant to post these pictures at the time but forgot. My father in law's birthday was in March and we all got together for a nice lunch at an Italian restaurant. Here are a couple of pictures.

My mother in law, Marg, looking lovely. Andrew and baby to the right

Also, upon Marg's recommendation, I got a pair of Earth shoes (the least orthopedic looking ones I could find), which are supposed to be good for helping your posture and alignment. It's a little tiring walking in them because the heal is lower than the rest of the shoe, so it's kind of like walking up hill all the time. But hey, my legs could use the workout sometimes! Thanks Marg.

They do have a few pairs that safely steer away from that geriatric chic aesthetic that has become all too familiar to me

If you're interested in the shoes that "burn more calories with every step", go to http://www.earth.us/catalog.asp?Gender=women&cat=14, although I would say that planet shoes has sales that can provide better prices.

I was partial to this exotic sandal .... OK, I know, they're hippie shoes that have soles like Birkenstocks, but I still like 'em!

The Visitor..New 2008 movie Trailer!

Another one on my to see list. This one is also only playing at cinema arts theaters in Bethesda and in Fairfax near my parents.

Young@Heart Trailer (HD)

I want to see this. It looks like the same type of sweet documentary as "Mad Hot Ballroom."

Follow-up

Amazingly, my Prizm survived the attack of the tree and appears to have come out relatively unscathed.

On an even better note, Sam got his head stuck in an ice cream container last night. I had to capture the moment on camera since Daniel was out.

He seemed awfully pleased with himself once I helped him out, his entire head covered in sticky ice cream remnants.

Chevy Prizm vs. Tree

I think the tree won.

Slide Show

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Mango Groove-Special Star

Turn up the volume for some '80's goodness. Hehe, Mango groove was hot when I was 7! But seriously, I'm posting this one so you can hear the pennywhistle at the beginning.

Kwela-Kwela mama

Kwela music is a type of South African Jazz that originated in the townships and is often characterized by the pennywhistle, a cheap flute long used in traditional African music. A Zulu word, kwela means get-up and became a slang term to describe the police vans that would raid the shebeens (illegal bars). The people would shout "Kwela-Kwela," warning the people to get up and run. The word is also used as an invitation to "get-up " and dance.

This group, Mafikizolo, combines the old Kwela sounds with more modern influences. More and more, you can see the influence of American hip-hop in township music today. This song leans toward the traditional side, with the video depicting a story of the old racial divisions.

Oh, and I really the dig the band members' outfits.

New School township Jive

Kwela_Mafikizolo

Old School township Jive

My dad used to play this all the time when I was little. I remember running around our house in Orange Grove singing along.

Almost 3 1/2 years ago....

Daniel and I flew to the motherland for an incredibly eventful week in sunny Capetown. Although most of the big game parks are on the other side of the country, my mom found this small cheetah park that works to educate the public on cheetah conservation. And, yes, you can pet the cheetahs after they are fed. Most of them are cheetahs that can't live in the wild for some reason or have been rescued.

Cheetah Video




(PS- this picture of me is gross)

Because breakin' up is hard to do...

From the Huffington post ...

How Superdelegates Can Break Up With Hillary Clinton

Politico is reporting that, according to insiders, most of the more than 80 uncommitted superdelegates in the House and Senate have already made up their minds for Obama. Why don't they just come out with it and end our long, national nightmare? As Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill said, "They would like someone else to act for them before they talk about it in the cold light of day."
And you can't blame them. Would you want Bill Clinton screaming outside your house in the middle of the night, pissing on your front lawn, and then letting the air out of your tires?