Been quite busy at work, hence the lack of blogging. The week in review:
Friday night I went miniature golfing in Arlington with a co-worker. We took two buses to get there, and after putting and some time at the batting cages, walked back to civilization. It was perfect weather for such a trek. Along the way we stopped to eat some scalding egg drop soup at an not-quite-sketchy Chinese place.
Saturday morning I worked; mid-day I went on a shopping spree with PD at “The Shops at Georgetown” courtesy of the post-convention $100 gift certificate that everyone at my office received. Successfully bought things for everyone but me, which I considered a minor accomplishment.
Then it was time to party hop. First stop was a Deaniac’s birthday parties. Hung out with lots of old DfNHers. There were plenty of interesting conversations including one where I almost leaked sensitive information to The New Republic. Oops.
After perpetrating a misdemeanor, we come to our second party of the evening: a co-worker’s boyfriend’s birthday party (August is a popular bday month) at anIrish pub. There wasn’t a whole lot of excitement going on there, but we stayed and chatted for a reasonable amount of time. Listened to this guy w/ his guitar cover lots of good songs, including a childhood favorite of mine: “Friend of the Devil.” (The song includes the apropos line of “If I get home before daylight I might get some sleep tonight.”)
Sunday was work and the completion of Peasant’s Quest, which I recommend to all. (Not to brag…well, okay, to brag, but I got all 150 points the first time around. Wait, is that something I should be proud of?)
Alas, tonight I was working so late that by the time I met up with WW crew, they had already completed the episode. But new people were there tonight so that was exciting. Perhaps next time I’ll plan my Wednesday workday a bit better.
LOTD: Go front vowels!
Bookroll
- Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish: A Novel
- David Rakoff
- 3 wds: Rhythmic Raw Rakoff
- The Signal and the Noise
- Nate Silver
- 3 wds: accessible, insightful, broad
- The Casual Vacancy
- J.K. Rowling
- 3 wds: captivating, political, believable
- The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War against al-Qaeda
- Neil Shah
- 3 wds: Captivating, informative, redacted
- The Blank Slate
- Steven Pinker
- 3 wds: Rant, lengthy, correct
- The Trial
- Franz Kafka
- 3 wds: Disheartening, linear, skippable
More Books ยป
How decieving that article is at first glance. You have a very, very *unsexy* name, Aaron, while, I, on the other hand have a spectacularly sexy name. (The initial “ah” from the first two A’s in your name are back vowels, formed in the very back reaches of one’s throat, and the “uhn” from the second vowel sound in your name is also a back vowel as the utterance is produced in the same place.) We can’t all be blessed with names as sexy as Priya :-P
I was having this discussion with my college roommate too. The first vowel in my name would appear to be the same in the ‘a’ in Matt–cited as a front vowel in the article. But I guess the ‘M’ in Matt makes the ‘a’ front…if I think about how my mouth forms the ‘A’ in Aaron I can make it be a front vowel or a back vowel. I guess that makes it more sexy than Paul, which you’re not going to make a front vowel. Yes, the article is deceptive since it doesn’t mention how consonants can affect vowel formation (eg, the difference between “Matt” and “Gatt(ica)”).
At least, that’s my take; IANAL (I am not a linguist.)