New word?

You may remember that a homograph is a word that looks like another but has a different pronunciation and a different meaning, like wind (when the air moves things) and wind (what you used do to a watch).  A homophone is a word that sounds alike but has a different spelling, like to/too/two.  Where does homonym come in?  Most people use it as a synonym for homograph, and we'll leave it at that for this post.

I couldn't find the work homophene anywhere, but my speechreading teacher (formerly lipreading, but they encourage the person reading the lips to look at the face and gestures, too) says it is a set of words that look alike on the mouth.  Look in the mirror and check out fan and van.  Or mat and bat.  Thank goodness for context!

Yesterday I had my hearing tested and today the NY Times had an article about hearing loss (here).  They say the longer I go without an aid the harder it will be to adjust, so I am thinking about a CROS aid, which takes sound from the deaf side and sends it to the good ear.  A surgically implanted BAHA aid does the same, but I am not ready for more surgery.

In the mean time, I will look at you carefully as you speak!

Short but sweet

How to enjoy the L.A. Co. Fair when you want to spend only a little time and money.

Save the parking or bus fee and ride a bike right to the gate.

Get a free ticket from a vendor (this part involves some good luck).

Stop in the Millard Sheets Gallery to cool off and see a variety of art.

Head over to the exhibits under the grandstand - best jams, best cakes, and unusual decorations.

Never miss the competitive table settings and entertaining comments from the the judges.

This table celebrated the addition of color to movies and earned 100/100 points.

I did not spend money on rides.

I passed through the sales buildings on the way to the kids' art building.

I did not spend money on the lottery.

The only food I was tempted by were pickles, but that was before I saw them.

The Tupperware was tempting.  I resisted.

I loved seeing the collections in the kids' building. 

And that was it.  I was a little concerned about the bike ride home since it was hot and the route showed it be straight uphill, but the elevation gain was minimal and there was water and a fan ready for my arrival.

Phenomenon

Is there a word for the situation when you learn a new word or meet a new person and all of a sudden that new word or new person is everywhere?

On our shared electronic calendar (I promise to do a calendar post soon) I saw this.

I didn't think R.'s calendar synced with mine, but there it was, Petrov Day.  R. explained the holiday was created by the Less Wrong people who "refine the art of human rationality".  They honor Stanislav Petrov who realized the launch detection was sending a false alarm and therefore he did not launch a counter attack.

I had never heard of him before this discussion.  This morning I was reading the list of movies opening in L.A. this week, something I do for personal education since I almost never go see any.  The movie entitled The Man Who Saved the World caught my eye.  Yes, it is about Petrov.

What next?  He visits Claremont?  It turns out I know someone related to him?  Stay tuned.  And be happy to be alive!

Filling my time

On his way D. asked how I would fill my day.

The table was strewn with the day's papers along with at least one old one.

More magazines arrived in today's mail.

And there are always book-club books and books people recommend.

Sorry, clean clothing and dinner will have to wait.

Keep on truckin'

This shows my 160 day streak, although some of it was Danish, which I have now stopped
in order to focus on Spanish.  The good news is that when I want to form a Spanish
sentence I don't automatically create in Danish and then translate that into Spanish!

I have also been working on yoga.  It turns out I just dislike yoga class, not yoga.  I am happy to try different things without an audience.  Some of us cannot turn off our competitive streak.

Sometimes it is hard to figure out how I worked three days a week!

Post-rain

The plants look so happy!

Okay, not this one.  It has a few not-all-brown leaves, but I think I need to pull it.

These are looking like they need help, too.

The general philosophy has been to remove the dead and replace with some of the living.

I love succulents.

This tree showed up on its own and I am waiting for the city to move it or move the stop sign.

Book performance

I didn't feel like I could call this blog post a book reading because the author did not read.  He is a a mathemagician and he performed some of his magic at the book store.  I had seen the routine before but I still enjoyed it since the author is so enthusiastic.

I had never seen this performance before and I am guessing my teenager will learn it and I'll be hearing it on long car rides.

Today the author posted this on Facebook

I was so happy since I had been mourning the loss of the palindromic year, 5775.

Speechreading

The purpose of Speechreading/Lipreading is to increase awareness of the visual aspects of speech, primary mouth shapes and movements, as well as facial expression, gestures, body movements, and awareness of context. Analysis of appearance of various speech sounds, and silent practice sounds, words, phrases, and sentences will be included. This should lead to better understanding of others spoken words, especially for those with hearing loss. Tips for positive coping with hearing loss will also be shared.

All this within cycling distance and for free!  I enrolled in this class partially because I wanted to know what the coaches are saying to the players when you see them on t.v., but since I seldom get to see a situation like that I imagine I'll be using it more in loud restaurants and other places where can see the person I am trying to hear, but just can't hear them.

Lipreading is the less-used term because watching the rest of the body gives clues to what is being said.  Our teacher slowly lost her hearing between ages eight and nine and thought she could still hear since she remembered sound and was lipreading.  She now has cochlear implants (her daughter, who had the same hearing loss pattern, does not), but still relies on speechreading, although not as much.

I did very well on the pretest, but was surprised to get some wrong.  I seldom realize I have not heard or misheard something.  Being overconfident prevents me from asking someone to repeat or clarify something because I am so sure I knew what was said.  I can work on that.  I am also working on asking questions that can be answered yes or no instead of multiple choice.  Instead of asking someone, "Did you say where or when?" I should ask, "Did you say where?" because yes and no look more different on the mouth.

Come visit and we'll practice together!

Two in One

Two new places in one day!

The first new adventure was to Copenhagen Pastry, a small store with a bakery in Pasadena.

Not the same as a trip to Denmark, but it was worth the drive.

Live theater in the Little Armenia neighborhood (or maybe East Hollywood? 

the neighborhoods are not clearly defined) was the afternoon treat.

Citizen is based on a book of the same name by poet Claudia Rankine

The play's conversations on race in American made me pause and consider my own actions.

On a lighter note, we were an hour early for the play so to get out of the heat we looked for a place with parking and air conditioning.  Having forty-two different shakes available was a bonus.

Baseball

 Just for something different we decided to go to a Rancho Cucamonga Quakes game, a Dodgers' Class A team in the California League.  They were playing the Inland Empire 66ers.

It was a an easy drive (about twenty minutes) to the Epicenter, the parking was free (usually four dollars), and tickets were cheap.

Tickets were $9-20 ( I think the $100 tickets do not exist).

D. thought we should splurge and buy $11 tickets.  We had great seats!  And we ran into people we knew sitting in our section!

The game was a little sloppy and I kept looking to the scoreboard for the replay, which didn't happen.  They did show the silly events happening between innings (beach ball bounce, inflatable horse race, etc.). 

The mascots, Tremor and Aftershock, were moderately entertaining.

Do you like the way the font on their uniforms looks like a fault line?
 

The pitcher is done for the evening.
I wonder if the outfielders are sorry they can't join the conversation on the mound.

The home team wins and everyone sticks around for the fireworks.

It was an entertaining evening.  Even though I am in no rush to go back I have no regrets about going.

Little vent

I don't usually complain, but yesterday was too much.

A. is scheduled to start volunteering next week but proof of a negative tb test is required and so I thought I would go online and see when his most recent test was.  Because of HIPPA requirements I can longer see his immunization records.  Annoying, but I understand that it is federal law and I am not about to change that.  I figured he could set up his own account and learn to download his own information, make his own appointments, etc.  Good life skills.  But he is not allowed to have an account because he is too young.  So a whole year in limbo of no one being able to do anything online.

I called to ask about this and was told I could just going into the office.  Yes, I could, but it would certainly be easier if I could download and print it at home.  The person took an official complaint and was talking as she typed, asking if I were unhappy about the fact that I did not have access to his information.  I explained again that I understood HIPPA, but was unhappy that since I did not have access to his information that HE should have access to HIS information.  Oh, he is too young, I was told.  Just go into the office.  Aaagh.

But I did find a copy of his immunizations that I had downloaded for camp and it showed that his last negative test was to enter kindergarten many years ago.  I called to schedule an appointment and since it is a holiday weekend I was told that if it were administered on Friday he would have to go to urgent care on Monday.  I made an appointment for Tuesday, figuring that it was inconvenient but we could make it work.  When A. came home he pointed out that he if went on Tuesday he would be late for his after-school class.  FIne we would go in and get one today, which I had been told we could do without an appointment if we were willing to wait.  Plus urgent care isn't so close to our house but it is close to our friends' house and they just got a puppy.  It would all work out.

So we get there and wait and wait.  After one hour we were seen and the nurse said she had just been informed that she was not allowed to administer the test because the urgent care people didn't want to deal with it.  Any urgent care.  If we had only been seen earlier.  Aaagh.  I asked about several options.  No luck.

An hour lost and no volunteering this week.  I guess if that is worst thing I can handle it.

But isn't there always a silver lining?  Of course.  I hate that they have annoying tv shows on in the waiting room, but they were showing Jeopardy!  Wishing you some joy in your day, too.

Back to School

Was last week still summer vacation?  Seems so long ago!  But I am thrilled to say that so far, so good.

A. is making lunch each day.  The favorite, other than leftovers, is a fake turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo sandwich.  We had fun buying school supplies including matching folders and composition books (not spiral-bound notebooks).  A. has been doing homework diligently and each morning makes a plan to meet with a friend to walk/scoot/cycle to school.  Beginning drama is a favorite class for now, but there are no complaints about the others.

And there are the afterschool activities.  Goalkeeping and field practice, art and cello, Hebrew and volunteering.  Life is full!

R. is a senior in high school, which I love telling people who don't think of themselves as any older, so how could R. no longer be a little girl skipping to school?  It looks like R. will finish four years without a first period class, which starts at 6:50 a.m.  Thank goodness.  It does mean that the math class R. takes off campus is at 2:45-4, but it is only a couple times a week.

The good news for R. is that even though the Mock Trial coach retired after a good run, new coaches have stepped up.  Add a few clubs that meet during lunch to the tough load for the International Baccalaureate and you have some full days.  Not to mention sorting the daily load of mail that arrives from colleges around the country.

I'll keep you posted!