Are You All Right?

In my opinion, a lot of usages are just that: my opinion.  I do think that some others are more than just my opinion; one usage would flow smoothly, while another would be so jarring that it would interrupt the flow of meaning significantly, which isn't good.  Not that finishing a book quickly is a good thing.  I know some people read books so fast that they only get the main story, and none of the more subtle nuances in how the story is told.

For instance, I'm just reading a story in which the main protagonist has come to the realization that she is not heterosexual, that she isn't going to have any success with a romance with a man.  She reports this discovery to her mother, who eventually comes to terms with this new knowledge about her daughter. 

Meanwhile, the other main protagonist, also a woman--- I'm beginning to move from reading high school angst, to women discovering themselves in their thirties--- also ponders over her own feelings of not being straight, and decides to tell her mother that she isn't going to try romantic relationships with guys either.  Her mother too, eventually accepts what her daughter tells her.  (The two women had not yet met; I have to make that clear.)

So far, a fast and furious reader would gather that (1) there are two girls, both discovering that they're gay, and (2) each tells her mother, and everything is all right.  But there is a hidden subtext: one of the mothers is not only on board with her daughter's revelation, she is fully supportive.  The other mother has suspected her daughter's preference for a long time, and has been trying to set her up with handsome guys, hoping that one would take. The two situations are different enough to cast a long shadow on how the plot unfolds. 

So, on to today's post.  This is about "all right" versus "alright."  You can't use alright in every place where all right would work.  Not that you can't; it's just that it doesn't work equally well.  In the sentence "Are you all right?" my vote is for all right.  In the case of "Alright, let's get this party started," I'm with alright. 

Marian Anderson

When I was growing up, we often visited an uncle, who was a great admirer of the African-American singer Marian Anderson. He would sit me down, and make me listen to recordings of this woman.  I was impressed by her voice, but I was too little to remember the songs.

From humble beginnings, Ms. Anderson eventually became a celebrity.  She sang with Leonard Bernstein, and on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  On one occasion she said:

"It is easy to look back, self-indulgently, feeling pleasantly sorry for oneself and saying I didn't have this and I didn't have that. But it is only the grown woman regretting the hardships of a little girl, who never thought they were hardships at all."

May we all have the humility and the insight into ourselves, to be able to say this, when we grow old, and look back on our lives!

 

Another Pair of Almost-Homonyms

This was an unexpected discovery.   I stared at this passage I was reading, and it looked just a shade away from making sense.  It took a while for me to see that it was the wrong word, on the page, but the right word in intention. 

The words were 'clinched' and 'clenched.'

Clenched means tightly gripped.  I held the knife clenched in my hand.  It's also used to describe how a jaw is held tightly, almost grinding the teeth together.

Clinched means that some plan, or deal, or abutment even, has been confirmed or established, or finalized.

It's possible that the two words have a common origin---I didn't check that out---but on the face of it, they're quite distinct words.

New Prices

Well, I changed all the prices.  Not all; the free ones are still free, the rest are mostly at 99c.

Have fun!

Kay Ashley Mary-Kate Hemlock Brown

Nancy Wilson of Heart

Nancy Wilson is a guitarist.   See her play on the video of Dreamboat Annie on YouTube.

Ann Wilson is an amazing singer; I really admire her performances at Lincoln Center, especially Stairway to Heaven, by Led Zeppelin, and All Things Must Pass, by George Harrison.  Nancy seems to have been content to allow Ann to take the lead on their musical collaborations; perhaps Nancy had the less powerful voice. 

It seems to me that both of these women had an amazing 'Glass half full' approach to life.  In addition, in my view, Nancy was one of the most beautiful women in Rock.  I have seen Nancy describe some guitar techniques on YouTube, and she was so, so cute!

Well, I don't own any of their albums, so all this fan-girling hasn't much substance behind it.  I hadn't been turned on to their music thus far, because it was driven--- it seemed to me--- mostly by Anne's voice.  It is known that they were attracted to Folk music (at least, music in the same style as that of Paul Simon and Peter Paul and Mary), which is a big favorite of my own.  I wish there are records of them singing that stuff!  Maybe there is ...

Well, have a good week, everyone!

Kay

"Mature Content"

On the Deviant Art website, artists are allowed to tag some of their submissions as Mature Content, which means that those artworks (or photographs or whatever) are not displayed, unless whoever is going through the images is established as an adult.  It just so happens that I never got around to doing this (that is, getting Adult certification), so all I see is the Mature Content warning. 

Now I have a theory that the vast majority of people who have Mature C. images are guys.  Guys, admittedly, do post some amazing images, but they're not the Mature C. images.  Mature C. images are essentially high-class porn, or plain old porn, and I'm not crazy about it.  So if I want to skip over the images posted by immature guys, I just ignore the posts tagged with M.C..  It's ironic that the tag is "Mature Content," when the image is likely to be posted by a guy whose still at the porn-watching stage. 

Before you say anything, I have to confess that plenty of mature artists post images that are definitely rated R, which is what Mature Content literally means.  On DA, though, I really can't guess what the tag means, because plenty of images that are not tagged at all show full frontal nudity.  I suspect that M.C. tagged art may have depictions of sex, which I'm not crazy about. 

I can't say anything more without sounding stupid, so I'll stop right here. 

Kay Ashley Hemlock