Cookaholics Bulletin Board

No wonder the world thinks we are nuts....

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/ ... s-15727565

To which I offer the following:

It’s enough to make a grown man--or woman--cry. And it could induce “sniffle-like symptoms” among discerning teen-agers, albeit the latter a shrinking group.
With an “America, love it or leave it” sentiment strong in the land, we yearn for newcomers to learn the language. It’s a worthy goal. Trouble is, we natives are having a hard time keeping up with it ourselves, what with new words introduced at a record clip and old words cast aside like old tires in a wrecking yard.
And “talking heads” on newscasts—as well as “mike side” announcers at sporting events-- aren’t helping. They often butcher the language through the slaughter of both grammar and pronunciation.
English teachers are tossing their pencils-- particularly the retired ones who hoped and prayed that students whose papers they reddened with corrections would turn out better….
*****
Paces hasten as life is compressed. “Once over lightly” is now a daily practice that blankets our waking hours. Abbreviations are given “thumbs up,” with application to both the written and spoken word.
We welcome shortcuts. Postures for prayer became “Tebowing”--seemingly overnight--and now, the emergence of NBA star Jeremy Lin has sparked such national interest that a new vocabulary is emerging. Seemingly, it applies specifically to him and his growing legion of fans.
He’s in the process of copyrighting the word “Lin-sanity,” for goodness sakes, and in the rapidly-whirling literary world of Lin, “L’s” now precede dozens of words that formerly began with “in.”…
*****
We’re now “Lin-formed,” and visitors in his home need first to be “Lin-vited.” He clearly is “Lin-dustrious,” Lin’s boldness, brightness and character are traits we dream of in sports stars. Can he be as genuine as he seems? So far, so good.
Millions line up (dare we say “Lin-ear?”) to pull for him. Oh, that he might “Lin-spire” our youth, and never be “Lin-visible.”…
*****
With luck and continued commitment, this Harvard graduate could change the way we view sports stars. (Wasn’t it the Dallas Cowboys’ Hollywood Henderson who said Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw couldn’t spell “cat” if you spotted him the “c” and the “t?”) Lin is extremely articulate, using words like “anomaly.”
If anyone can have fun with all the new “Lin” words, he can.
Lin, the object of “Googling” by the gazillions, stands taller than his height and seems wiser than his years. Refreshing. Remarkable….
*****
Getting back to absolutes, maybe Lin could become the “LINchpin” to secure our moorings of truth, fairness, honor, integrity and a host of other words long viewed as glue to hold together square deals, the straight and narrow, talking the talk and walking the walk. His comments to date suggest that he’s solidly entrenched in Christian principles.
Squaring deals won’t come easily. We’ve rounded the corners, essentially making such “deals” circular.
Maybe that’s why so many running in circular motions think themselves to be big wheels….

the real miracle of Jeremy Lin is that he made it to the NBA from Harvard, which until very recently sucked at basketball even w/in the Ivies

Well said, Frank. Very well said.

And may I offer my number 1 pet peeve? President Obama should ALWAYS be referred to as "President Obama" or "The President" and addressed as "Mr. President." Every President is entitled to that honor. The newsboys seem to think they can call him whatever they want. It's bad manners and bad form. They should know better.

fitzie

I think Jeremy Lin is terrific. What a splended role model for for today's youth.

I agree, the office is to be honored...past and present.

Attribution to Dr. Don Newbury http://www.speakerdoc.com/index2.htm (Former President 1985 - 1997 of Howard Payne University http://www.hputx.edu/s/668/index.aspx ) for the above slightly edited commentary. I serve as a pre-publish reviewer of his regular commentaries. "The Idle American."

The story about the air conditioned car reminded me of the time Mary Frances Rooney's father let us use his brand new Ford Fairlane one Sunday afternoon. There were what appeared to us to be ash trays on the dash board, one on her side and one on mine. One of us had snuck some Pall Malls from her mother, and we smoked our hears out, putting our ashes in the "ash trays".

Come summer and Mr. Rooney is on a road trip. He flips on the "ash trays" and is practically blinded by the ashes Mary Frances and I left behind.

Needless to say, she never drove her father's car again. What did we know? It was the first car with AC either one of had ever seen or heard of. Most homes didn't even have AC.
fitzie

My Dad was a Harvard guy, so I'm pretty familiar with just how bad they are in most sports. (I wanted to attend Yale partly because they are a better sports-oriented school, but being a Harvard man, my Dad would have none of it.) So, I settled for Vassar (Yale's sister school) and totally gave up on sports.

Love Jeremy Lin...breaks as many stereotypes as one possibly can.

Amy

one more thing - Ivy students don't get athletic scholarships...fortunately, most of the Ivies are using their hooge endowments to help all students based on need

Amy, I really wanted to go to Vassar but my parents said if I went that far away they wouldn't help me pay for college. I ended up going to a small branch of the U of Minnesota that did not offer athletic scholarships but offered me a free ride on an academic scholarship. Their sports teams were so bad that I made the varsity women's basketball team as a walk-on freshman. I quit before the first game, however, after realizing I only had time to do 2 of these 3 things properly: study, party and play basketball. Plus I had bad knees. One morning after a long practice the previous night I awoke to find I could only bend one of them.

I often wonder how my life would have differed had I gone to Vassar (besides paying large student loans).

To veer back on topic: the Linsanity has become Linsipid.