I have an announcement from Melissa, but she doesn't feel like typing.
She wanted to let you know that she's finished her very first quilt! Well, it's not her first quilt, but it's the first quilt that's finished, if you know what I mean. It is a baby quilt for my sister Gail McAdams' upcoming arrival.
Some pictures...
And on a completely different thread (ha, ha), we thought you would be interested to know that the day before yesterday is the commemoration of the independence of Estonia. We had lunch yesterday with a friend of a friend who grew up in the twilight of the Soviet Union.
That's an illustration of one of my favorite (or favourite?) things about living in the U.K.: there's an amazing connection with the rest of the world. They, in turn, are amazed by the isolation of the U.S.; they don't blame us for our isolation, they understand that it's part of our geography. But it's something that I'm not proud of. I'm convinced that 'Americans,* by and large, have absolutely no clue about what the rest of the world is really like. And yet, we consider ourselves the Rome of the new global empire. For the record, I really disagreed with the political philosophy of this Estonian who grew up in the U.S.S.R. But without that manner of conversation, how can I hope to have an educated perspective?
I'll stop before I begin a proper rant, but maybe that's provided some food for thought.
This is moving week for us; we'll have some pictures next week of our new, 2-bedroom flat! We're very excited. Stay tuned...
* Read the following comments for an explanation of this term.
6 comments:
It looks great; Awesome job, Melissa. Is that the one that you were working on over at The House?
We haven't gotten around to swigging that Meade yet, so it's still waiting on the counter over there.
Hey Carl, I think you might have taken the prize for the MFC (most frequent commentor). Thanks!
Melissa didn't start work on this one until she was here. The one she started back there is still being quilted... slowly... but... surely...
I would recommend not swigging the meade! It's up around 11 or 12%, and it'll hit you real fast. Just a friendly warning ;)
-chris
Good job, Melissa. It's always satisfying to finish a project like that.
Chris, one comment on your post - i think it's interesting that even in the midst of that paragraph, you still called the United States "America," which is further evidence of our ignorance! People in the other countries in our two continents (North and South America) are amazed that we call ourselves "America," when there are a hundred other countries in the Americas!
-Brad
Brad,
I know you've called us on that before.
I understand your argument, it's just that there's a simple grammatical problem: what do you say instead?
People from Great Britain are British, people from Ireland are Irish, so people from the U.S. are... United-State-ians?? I'm all for using language carefully and sensitively, but c'mon.
On the other hand, if I say "American," everyone reading knows what I mean: if I meant the continent of South America, I would say "South America;" if I meant an individual country such as Chile or Canada, I would be more specific (since Chileans and Canadians aren't similarly deprived of a genitive form of their nationality.) Since I wouldn't need to say "American" to refer to anyone else in the Americas, I must mean people from the U.S.
I understand why someone might be offended; in which case I implore them to forgive me on the grounds of language-practicality, and/or offer a reasonable alternative.
How about if the correct term was "United-States-of-American"... and in practical usage it was abbreviated to "'American"? (Notice the leading apostrophe!) Sounds the same, but that little abbreviation mark tips the hat to our geographical neighbors.
Maybe I'll change it in the post...
-chris
I had a longer response, but then the website decided to dump it.
I realize I don't have a great term to use it its place. But i think it represents our mentality on the subject a little bit. All i know is that when i went to Honduras, it was expressed to me that the people there did not appreciate it that the U.S. seems to try to carry the name that was given to all of the countries on these two continents. And so i made a personal decision to not talk like that, so that it would be easier for me to minister to those people.
-Brad
Melissa you look so proud of your quilt and you should be, it's beautiful! After Gail and Ethan opened it Seth pointed out all the hammers, saws and the little fish they then put it in the bassinet for ...what's his name this week?..... I quess you'll be flying home so that you can see what's his name wrapped up in the quilt?:) Don't forget Val and Matt get married in May:)Have a great moving day. Wish I could be there to help.
mom
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