Reflection: Five Weird Grammar Phases I've Gone Through

1. Analyzing and grammatically breaking down my diary entries, I guess.

2. I once stopped using all contractions, for probably several months. "I am not talking strangely. I do not even know what you are talking about."

3. I once tried to only speak in the informal (i.e. "thee," "thou"). As you ( I mean thee...I mean thou?) can imagine, this one didn't last long.

4. I once tried never to end things in a preposition. But actually, I then learned that this is a completely grammatical thing to do in most circumstances. I won't go into it, because I don't really care about grammar anymore (can you tell?), but I'll post a link explaining it if you're really curious.

5. No five, but again, I just prefer odd numbers, particularly the number five.

Weird phase part 4

Date: January 1, 1999

Age: 10

Location: San Francisco

Dear Diary,

Today it was New Years! I can not believe it is 1999. Right before midnight my friends and I gathered ice and bubbles and after midnight we went to Twin Peeks in a limo. When we got there we threw ice down the hill and blew bubbles. This is our new tradition. I hope every time we do this we will have as much fun as we did this year.

From,

Gina

Topic sentence: Today it was new year!

Assertion: I cannot believe it is 1999.

Details: Right before midnight my friends and I gathered ice and bubbles and after midnight we went to Twin Peeks in a limo. When we got there we threw ice down the hill and blew bubbles. This is our new tradition.

Conclusion: I hope every time we do this we will have as much fun as we did this year.

Nouns: Diary, Today, 1999, midnight (used 2 times), friends, ice (used 2 times), bubbles (used 2 times), Twin Peeks, limo, hill, tradition, time, fun, year

Verbs: was, can, believe, gathered, went, got, threw, blew, hope, will, have, did

Weird phase part 3

Date: December 25, 1998 Christmas

Age: 10

Location: San Francisco

Dear Diary,

Today, it was Christmas! I had a great time. There was a party which I hosted. I was with my family. As you know, we exchanged gifts. I am glad I had a great Christmas.

From,

Gina

Topic sentence: Today it was Christmas!

Assertion: I had a great time.

Details: There was a party which I hosted. I was with my family. As you know, we exchanged gifts.

Conclusion: I'm glad I had a great Christmas.

Nouns: Diary, today, Christmas (used 2 times), time, party, family, gifts, Gina, glad

Verbs: was (used 3 times), had, hosted, know, exchanged, am, had

Weird phase part 2

Date: December 21, 1998

Age: 10

Location: San Francisco

Dear Diary,

Today, I went to my friend's house. We did many fun things. We saw "Prince of Egypt." We played many fun games. We even kind of cleaned the swing-set. I would like to go over to her house again.

From,

Gina

Topic sentence: Today, I went to my friend's house.

Assertion: We did many fun things.

Details: We saw "Prince of Egypt." We played many fun games. We even kind of cleaned the swing-set.

Conclusion: I would like to go over to her house again.

Nouns: Diary, today, friend, house (used 2 times), things, Prince, Egypt, games, swing-set, Gina

Verbs: went, did, saw, played, cleaned, would, like, go

A Weird Phase Where I Love Grammar?

Date: December 20, 1998

Age: 10

Location: San Francisco

Dear Diary,

Today, it snowed a little. It melted when it touched the ground, but it was beautiful. The snow looked and felt fluffy, but it wasn't that big. It was about that big.-->o It was a great experience. I hope it snows again.

Also today, we went over to my friend's house. It was fun. She showed us around her house because it was our first time there. She taught us how to make three kinds of origami figures. She even showed us secret places near the house. I would like to go over to her house again.

From,

Gina

1st paragraph:

Topic Sentence: Today, it snowed a little.

Assertion: It melted when it touched the ground, but it was beautiful.

Details: The snow looked and felt fluffy, but it wasn't that big. It was about that big.-->o It was a great experience.

Conclusion: I hope it snows again.

Nouns: Diary, today, ground, snow, experience

Verbs: snowed, melted, touched, looked, felt, snows

2nd paragraph:

Topic Sentence: Also today, we went to my friend's house.

Assertion: It was fun.

Details: She showed us around her house because it was our first time there. She taught us how to make three kinds of origami figures. She even showed us secret places around the house.

Conclusion: I would like to go over to her house again.

Nouns: today, friend, house (used 4 times), time, origami, figures, secret, places, fun, Gina

Verbs: went, was, showed (used 2 times), taught, make, would, like, go

Reflection: Five Things I Fruitlessly Tried to Fix

Note: Occasionally, rather than posting old entries, I'll just write reflections about whatever. This is one of those times.

Since my personality is largely a combination of overconfidence and cheapness, I have a strong tendency to try to fix all the many broken things around me rather than doing something sensible like asking for help or simply replacing it. Here is a list of things I tried, in vain, to fix:

1. Y2K apparently--Yes, as we learned in the last entry, when I was 10 years old and barely scrapping by with a C in our once a week computer class, I thought I could solve the potential technological crisis that some predicted to come with the dawn of the new millennium. I actually remember this day very well. What stopping Y2K entailed, in this child's mind, was rummaging through a dumpster next to where the nun's lived at our school and finding an old, thrown out desktop computer and pretending to my friends that I knew what I was doing as I proceeding to make an already non-functioning computer even more broken.

2. My own computer--My insistence that I knew how to fix a computer actually lasted through college. Let me tell you that my computer really just needed to be busted up with a baseball bat. There was no saving it. It froze every 10 minutes, literally. And when it wasn't freezing, it was blue screening or doing this weird thing where the mouse dragged and a loud repetitive sound like a truck backing up emanated from it or this other weird thing where the screen would suddenly flip upside down or sideways or who know's what. So how long did I put up with this insistent that I could fix it? A month? Three months? Try three years.

3. Falling out of love--Brace yourself. This is a serious one. Most people, when they fall out of love, simply break up with their partner. But when Ms. Fix-it fell out of love, I was so confident that this was a tangible thing that I could fix, that I didn't let it go very easily. I led myself down the dubious path of spending hours scouring Christian websites that teach you how to learn how to choose to fall in love with someone. These may or may not have been websites geared towards reorienting gay people? I don't know. Whatever it was. It really didn't work.

4. Plumbing--This year, sharing a bathroom with one sink with 20 girls had the predictable effect of having a perpetually clogged drain. Thus, one day I got it in my mind that even though I have no experience whatsoever with pipes or plumbing, I needed to disassemble the pipes, clean them out, and reassemble them. I got my friend Stephanie on board with this, and rather taken with the idea that we were the Mario Brothers, we set to work. Disassembling was easy. Reassembling was...less easy.

5. My pants (repeatedly)--This summer I had a great pair of thin waterproof pants. They were so awesome. But then, after about a month they ripped. And I was like, no problem I'll just so them up. Then they ripped again--like embarrassingly so during the work day on the trail I was working on. No problem. Sewed them up again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Finally, my supervisors actually had to talk to me about it (mortifying).

Y2K

Date: November 19, 1998 Thurs.
Age: 10
Location: San Francisco

Dear Diary,

Today, I had a saint's project and I got 10 points extra credit. In day care I was trying to fix something that will happen in 2000. The electricity might run out. It is very scary. At home I did the rest of my homework and went to bed.

From,

Gina