Definition of "Huckleberry Finn"

This is dedicated to those who have heard me use the expression Huckleberry Finn and for the enlightening of those who have not yet heard me say this...you were lucky if you didn't hear me say it, but unfortunately less knowledgeable because of it, hence the blog.

Huckleberry Finn, with differing emphasis, can be used in so many ways its ridiculous I'm the only one that uses it so far...such a versatile phrase! Ah, oh well. Maybe this blog will help.

Huckleberry Finn:

1. "Huckleberry Finn!" - translates to - "I don't know what to do about this, but oh well." (happy-go-lucky sound to the end of it) (usually preceded by "oh")

2. "Hu-ckle-be-rry Finn!" (each part said slowly and with emphasis) - translates to - "Whoa, this can't be good!" or "Whatever are we going to do?" or simply "Whoa!"

3. "Huckleberry Finn!" - when said strongly enough, translates to - "Oh my gosh, this is bad. We're all gonna die!!!!" or with less emphasis, it conveys mere shock. It is often followed by: "I can''t believe you!"

4. "Huckleberry Finn" - "What's up doc?" (no exclamation point)

5. "Huckleberry Finn" - spoken quickly, is - pretty much like #1, even though it has no exclamation point.

6. "Huckle...berry Finn" - the non-italicized part spoken quickly, is - probably me rushing to finish the phrase because I got a weird look.

7. "Hu-ckle-be-rry Finn" - with a cowboy, country accent, is - "Life is good," and sometimes, "I wish I lived on a farm and painted fences with Tom Sawyer."

There are many more ways than this to use it, however, since it is not widely spread and I can't remember all the different ways I've used it, there are only 7 for now (if you remember another one, let me know). This should suffice, though, because it covers a lot of emotions that cannot easily be translated into words. Also, this is so much shorter than the ridiculously long "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" which Miss Poppins claims can be used whenever you don't know what to say. I've tried and it doesn't work so well. Halfway through the word, the emotion is either gone or the person you were talking with is. Huckleberry Finn! I know!

Scared of turning into a pumpkin?

Then you probably have apocolocynposis.

That's right folks. Apocolocynposis. It was at the bottom of my little brother's class agenda. It was one of the random facts at the bottom of one of the pages. I didn't realize 'random' was taken that seriously. Well, with great doubt I looked it up online and sure enough found a reference to this rather interesting word and its even more interesting definition. The word was not found in the 2 dictionary references I looked it up on but rather it was found on the site of Michigan's channel 13. Hmmm...if you don't believe me, see for yourself: http://www.wzzm13.com/triviadefault.asp?cmd=view&articleid=367

Now that we all know how to describe, quite accurately mind you, the innate fear of this particular fall fruit...I can carry on with other, less important news.

I am now back home in the desert land as most of you know (and if not, the renamed blog should have given it away) and the first thing I thought when I got off the plane was whether or not I'd survive the remainder of the summer back home. After my brother and dad called me a 'wimp' for feeling exasperated with the 100-some degree heat, I slowly regained my strength and tolerance for the um...slight change in temperature. Thankfully, it did not take me too long to adjust and I did survive (apparently), despite my first thoughts upon my arrival. Yes, thankfully the desert stock that I am made of runs strong in me (let's hope it stays strong!). Remember this Theresa when you get off the plane. Never fear, I'll be waiting with lots of Gatorade. ;)

Well, being back has had its ups and downs. It has been great seeing family and friends here...I was back just in time to see a dear friend of mine before she left to study out of town. Vania, you will be missed! I've also had time enough to get things ready for school and...well, the chaos of my room has yet to undergo some severe sorting and clearing up but alas, if I organize my days well enough, I will have the time for this. Since it's been used as dumping grounds while I was away, it should take about a month's worth of work...hehe. Just kidding, but it will be a lot!

Downs...well obviously the weather (yet I remember what I missed about the sky back in Seattle...the sunrises/sunsets...here, they are amazingly picturesque), also the family that I left and my friends, no foosball table here, and no kayak-able lakes or, well, no weather conducive to kayaking. How ever am I going to fulfill my mission of becoming a bum on a kayak? Well, there's always the upcoming winter (?) here to train in the art of kayaking.

My Italian class seems like it is going to be lots of fun. And thankfully, it seems quite similar to Spanish, so it shouldn't be too difficult, right? This is an online course in the truest sense: we will be sending audio clips to our instructor so she can grade our pronunciation and our final will require a web cam, which we'll need before the final if we want to drop by on our instructor's virtual office hours. This should be quite interesting.

It was the first day of classes and I had not yet heard from my instructor...no email, no phone call, no nothing. I was beginning to fear it was cancelled. I checked at school and it didn't seem like it was. Finally, halfway through Monday, I get an email from her. Hurray! Then I read it. It started something like this:

"Ciao Studenti!! Benvenuti al corso d'italiano 101 online!..."

Thankfully, of course, this all sounded familiar (Spanish or not). But I was beginning to hesitate that everything would be in Italian. My brother just laughed and said that the email probably read something like "welcome to the 3rd month of classes, I hope you are all ready for our midterm tomorrow". Hehe. Thankfully the rest of the email was not in Italian and it was the correct course and the beginning of the course.

Finance is, well, Finance. What can one say? Thankfully, my teacher is enthusiastic about the class and about getting this stuff through to us. I'm not sure how he'll do this, but at least he wants to try. Nice fellow. Naaa...it won't be half so bad and he's nice and clear about the course's difficulty. I just hope the students take him seriously.

Okay, I can't promise to blog often even though I seem less busy than before. You know I'm a miserable blogger. But I will do my best to keep you updated on...well, whatever I find interesting enough in the desert land to keep you updated.

P.S. Due to the warm (100 degree) welcome I continue to receive (quite reluctantly) and received just today as well, I melted several times. Thankfully each time was not beyond repair (no need to point out that there are not any pics with me in this blog...so please wait a while Theresa and I will upload more when it is safe, er, I mean, when I get the pics downloaded).

A refreshing alternative to the typical song about love

Love, comes along
It’s not some fleeting feeling
For love to be strong,
It’s washed in pain and healing

Love is a choice,
It’s an action,
It has feeling
Love is the one thing,
In this life
That still has meaning.
Love tracks you down,
It could hurt you,
It could nail you to a cross.
Love asks you:
“How much,
Have you suffered,
And are you bleeding?”

Pain, pain will come
We’re all guaranteed it.
But those who choose to love,
Then through their pain,
They heal with it.

Love ain’t some game,
That when it suits you,
You can take it as you please.
Love never claimed,
That it won’t hurt,
Or bring you to your knees.
Love’s a choice
And an action.
It has feeling.
Love is the one thing.
In this life,
That gives it meaning

Love is a Choice - Words & Music by Deiren Masterson

The final adventures in the land of rain and coffee...at least for this summer!

Gee thanks for the curve ball Tres...you messed up my game! ;) I like your cop-out line...everyone seemed to be telling me the same thing...thus the game of ping pong. :P

So the game of ping-pong ended, I put myself in both sides of the court, obviously, numerous times...enough to know all the pros and cons on each side, quite well. Yay for pro/con lists eh...uh huh...they never really seem to work. Yet being the Post-It Notes Pro that I am, it couldn't be helped as some of you closet Post-It Notes Pros well know.

The verdict was/is....I am going home to finish my last semester of college and earn that much coveted Bachelor's degree. Graduation will be a for-sure this way (as some of you know the dilemmas I faced trying to get classes to work out here in Seattle) ...so ASU here I come!

I will be very happy to see everyone in Phoenix again though I will miss my family and friends here in Seattle. :(

Okay...so quick recap with pics of the things I've done lately...

About 2 weeks ago I went to the highly discussed company picnic. It was talked about more often by my cousins than by my coworkers interestingly enough. :P

Well, the picnic was a giant one with tons of inflatable slides of all shapes and sizes (from pirates to race cars to roller coasters) as well as pony rides and live music and rock climbing. Ironically enough, they also had an 'arcade' section with foosball, ping pong, and DDR. And yes, I played several games of foosball with my cousin Karen, her friend Jenny, and other employees who we didn't know until then but were united by the same passion for foosball.

What was quite fun was that at one point, as Karen, Jenny, and I were walking about trying to see what to do next, we noticed a group of serious-looking grown adults staring at what seemed to be daises on too much Miracle-Grow...tall, I mean more than two people tall, daisies.

Since the daisies were facing them, we figured if we went around to look at the front of these daisies, we'd know what was going on and these adults wouldn't look so ridiculous anymore. Well we do, and all we see are letters and arrows on these daisies. Yeah...interesting.

Turns out these were one of many puzzles scattered throughout the picnic. Lol...

Oh...another thing I found quite amuzing yet useful was a the Kid Wash that was readily available at the picnic. Yeah no kidding...kids just go through this wash process that was amazingly close to real car washes, big spinning brushes and all, and they seemed to come out quite clean. Well, that is, until they'd step onto the dirt and get dirty again. :P I think we could use one of those at home. :D Right lovies? ;)

Ooo...okay, have you ever tried soccer control car racing? I actually scored a goal...after running about aimlessly for the first half of the game. (No, that's not us in the picture)

And last but not least, there was so much food and so many kinds (though I've been told that there were more kinds in the past!) that we spent probably about half of our total time there eating. :D Yes, I was quite happy. I had pot-stickers, corn dogs, popcorn, tortellini, gyros, and popsicles and brownies for dessert. So basically our day went like this:

11am - picnic opens, we all head to the food and eat brunch

12pm - wander about, play foosball, etc.

1pm - found another concession stand, eat more food

2pm - explore, play foosball, fail at DDR, etc.

3pm - remembered some food we didn't already try and head back to the food stands

4pm - explored some more...etc. You get the picture.

Alrighty, also I recently did an amazing hike in the Olympic Mountains. Yay for mountains and yay for weather that is conducive to being outdoorsy! Ever since I got here, I immediately connected with the inner outdoorswoman in me. :D

So last Saturday, a few of us took a hike up Mt. Townsend. Lovely drive, lovely ferry ride, not so lovely steepness in the hike. For those of you who know my uncle's driveway...it was pretty much that for about 5 miles. It took us a total of 3 hours to get to the top. Everyone who had arrived before (and after) us, passed us by...it was quite pitiful. We were so out of shape though few of us cared to admit it. One thing that's true: the hike was quite rewarding...it was beautiful going up (despite the shortness of breath) and it was beautiful at the summit where there mountains all around as far as the eye can see. Also, we could see the ocean far off and a little bit of Canada so it seems. Quite amazing.

Thankfully the hike down took us half the time...you can imagine we basically slid the whole way down. ;) And afterwards, once we got back to Seattle, we had the most delicious shakes and hamburgers at Red Robin. Glory on a bun, so we called it. Lovely food...and lovely way to end a good hard day's hike.

The following morning...

well, I forgot how often I have to go up and down the stairs at home. I think I looked like a weirdo most of the day yesterday and even a little today. Even when I'd get up after sitting around a while, I had to do it slowly. Sadness, the outdoorswoman in me is not so in shape for such outdoorsiness.

Ah, but today I took a stroll around the hilly neighborhood to keep it up. So yay for that! I actually went around a few times mind you.

Alrighty, I must get some shut eye now because Tio is going to beat me downstairs for breakfast for the umpteenth time and I will not be able to defend my pride if I cannot make it before him (or at least on time). ;) Hey, I'd been on time all these months, except for the last couple of weeks, I'd been getting just a few minutes late downstairs...and Tio would tell me we should just move the time a little...so we did and so I kept arriving just a little later than that. I've already told him, that if he just moves the time till later, I will just accomodate and arrive a little later than that. I was doing fine earlier...so I will do it again. So help me. ;)

Buenas noches if you're reading this late, buenos dias if it's morning! I will hopefully see you all soon!!!

Love,

Rosy