Nonplussed

On Friday, I posed the following question to my Facebook friends: 

Quick poll. Without looking at a dictionary, consider the following sentence: "He was nonplussed by all the activity going on around him." Which of these two sentences most closely matches your understanding of that statement? A) "He was unfazed by all the activity going on around him" OR B) "He was perplexed by all the activity going on around him."

The responses where overwhelmingly in the "A" camp. And, of course, folks wanted to know why I asked. My response ended up being rather long for Facebook, so here it is . . . 


Time for the dissertation, which I'm sure everyone has been anxiously awaiting . . . so, I love the word nonplussed. I'm not sure where I first ran into it (no doubt a book) and I don't use it very often, but it's a great word. Not only is it fun to say (Heather, I think it would fit well in the "Bulbous Bouffant" song!), but its definition (spoiler alert: B) is wonderful too. I used the word "perplexed" in the sample sentence, but (to my understanding, at least), it has a more nuanced meaning. Not just perplexed, but a little unsettled or taken aback as well. Something has happened that you weren't expecting and you don't quite know how to react. I have never heard it used in any other way, but then again, I'm not sure I've ever actually heard it in use (aside from saying it myself) - I've just read it in books.

However, the other day (as my mother surmised in her response to my Facebook question), an unnamed person used it a sentence where I would not have expected it. I was nonplussed by that usage of nonplussed! The sentence was "He was nonplussed when I told him," so it could have meant the gentleman was perplexed, but I knew what he had been told, and I wouldn't have expected the response to be bewilderment. My speaking partner noticed my confused look and after I explained my understanding of the statement, insisted that nonplussed actually meant "unfazed." A quick Google search declared my definition to be the primary one, but that the alternative was also in "North American informal" usage.

I was unsatisfied with this answer (although it nicely ended the debate with my sparring partner) and did some more digging once I returned home, landing on this page. Basically, I'm right (aren't I always! ;-P) but in modern times, folks are trending towards the opposite meaning. I can somewhat understand this - as this article points out, most adjectives that mean confused (perplexed, addled, bewildered) are non-negated, while there are several examples of negated words that mean the opposite (impassive, nonchalant, unfazed). So, if you come across the word with no other context markers, you'll use your previous knowledge to infer its meaning, hence the confusion.

The first linked article ends with a question - do you insist on using the "proper" definition of words (prescriptivist) or are you ok with changing it up (descriptivist)? I must admit to being more of the former than the latter - but at I also realize that all language undergoes change and we use words today that mean nothing like they did even 100 years ago (this is why footnotes are key when reading, say, Shakespeare). But, like I said, I LOVE the word nonplussed and its traditional definition. In reading the comments on that article, one respondent noted that he polled his friends and the majority agreed with the new definition. I decided to do the same, with the same result!

Disappointing for me - but the question remains - do I accept and embrace the new definition or rage, rage, against the dying of the light? (I performed that poem in Forensics in high school and now use it anytime I can!) I know I'll never use it in the new sense - that just sounds wrong to my ear - but I may temper my use of it in the future, knowing it can lead to confusion. Which is sad. Because while there are plenty of synonyms for the new meaning, the ones for the traditional meaning don't have the exact same shade that nonplussed does. In some ways, I feel like our language is growing smaller when we give up on more difficult meanings or words.

What do you think? Do agree with me that we should hold fast to tradition? I guess I'm a conservative in more ways than one! Or do you think we should be more accepting of change? I'd love to hear your thoughts - even though they may nonplus me!

Dinner Party

Back in March. Michael and I signed up for "Suppers for 8" through our church. The idea is that 8 people trade off hosting duties (in pairs) for a dinner once a month. May ended up being our month and today was our day to have the two other couples over (wait, 2+2x2 = 6, not 8! Yes, the other two folks have never showed, although we have reached out to them repeatedly. Anyway . . . ). The hosts are in charge of the main dish and while the otherss are supposed to bring sides, desserts, etc. Now, I know you probably think I am here to rave about what I made for the main dish and while it is true that the pulled pork sandwiches and Boston baked beans were delicious (along with a crudite platter with hummus), I actually want to brag about my table setting! Whaaat? I wouldn't say I am known for my table decorating skills - in fact, I've never really put together a fancy table before. To be honest, this table isn't that fancy either, but it was all from my own self - which is pretty amazing considering the decorating gene definitely passed me by!

I made the burlap runner several weeks ago. I guess I can't really take credit for that idea, since burlap in all its guises is quite popular in the home decor blogosphere right now, so I know I saw the idea online. Really, it was quite easy to make - I just sewed together two pieces to give me the right length and then stitched with a decorative colored thread all the way around to prevent the edges from unraveling more than I wanted them to. The place settings were my own brilliance, however. They were precipitated by the gorgeous boUquet of flowers Michael gave me last weekend. Mid-week, the stem on on of the Gerbera daisies broke about halfway up. I took the flower out anD put it in its own small vase. While I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning, I saw that Gerbera and suddenly inspiration struck! Showy flower centerpieces are lovely, but they are a) expensive, b) take up a lot of room and c) inhibit eye contact across a table and therefore stilt a conversation. But a little flower at each place? Perfect! And then make them into place settings? Even better! I was able to pick the 6 vases up at Michael's for $1.20 each and the flowers were $5. So for just over $10, I was able to brighten up the whole table - plus, I can use the vases again.

Dinner was a blast as was Apples-to-Apples afterwards. It's been so nice to have these dinners and to start making friends here in NOVA. We have decided that, even though the group has officially ended (since all of us have hosted once), we want to continue meeting. The next get together might even be at a bowling alley . . . !

Dress Shirt Pillow

I am just so excited about this pillow I just finished, I had to share it! Michael wore through the elbows on one of his favorite dress shirts and rather than throw it away, I made a pillow cover. I'm sure I've seen this online before (not sure I would be that creative without inspiration) but I didn't look up any specific instructions - I just started cutting away, using a pillow cover we already have as a guide. It was super-easy, since the buttons provided the natural opening/closing location so I didn't have to make an envelope closure or sew in a zipper. The most time-consuming was ironing in the interfacing (I wanted to stiffen up the fabric since it was a rather thin dress shirt). Then zip, zip, zip, zip, four lines super quick, turned the pillow right side out and zip, zip, zip, zip again and it was done. Awesome! Michael better keep a close eye on his remaining dress shirts - they might just start disappearing! ;-)

In its designated habitat - note the parrot artwork above

Please ignore the wrinkled pillowcases - I didn't feel like ironing them for this shot. In fact, I never feel like ironing them. Who does that?!

Money shot with better light. Isn't it purdy?

High Speed Rail for All?

Recently, a dear friend of mine posted an image on Facebook that shows a map of the US crisscrossed with high speed rail lines. She commented on how such a system would be awesome, if only "big oil" were not it the way. I would LOVE a nationwide network of high-speed trains. Train travel in Europe is one of the highlights of of visiting there. However, to blame "big oil" for America's lack of viable rail transportation is simply not fair or accurate. Why not blame "big ag", that sued to prevent the building of the California Bullet Train? Or how about, "big air", that is faster for cross-country trips than even these high speed trains would be? What about "big rail" itself, that wastes its government subsidies to make needless cosmetic upgrades instead of fixing infrastructure that could actually make trains faster?!  Or, most damning of all, "big collective American consumer" who clearly prefers the ease, convenience, and/or economics of air or road to rail. If the American public were truly clamoring for rail options, Amtrak wouldn't be losing $1B/year (not a very good investment of tax revenue, if you ask me!).

We recently traveled to NYC from Washington, DC. We had various travel options:
Air: $115 roundtrip per person, ~4 hours (house to hotel).
Personal car: $150 roundtrip per person (including tolls and IRS standard mileage rate of 55.5 cents, $50/pp if you count just gas and tolls), ~5 hours (house to hotel).
Bus: $54 roundtrip per person, ~6 hours (house to hotel).
Train: $200 roundtrip per person (if we wanted to not leave at 4am - absolute cheapest with terrible times is $100), ~4 hours (house to hotel).

In no aspect of travel does rail win that trip. Certainly not cost - it's the most expensive. Not time, it's no faster than taking a plane. You might point out that there are fewer security hassles, but the same ease of travel is true for the bus - and are the 4 hours saved round trip worth $150? It's worth pointing out that the East Coast public clearly does want options besides air or personal vehicle - and has found it in busing. Hence the explosion of alternative busing options besides Greyhound. There are at least 5 additional bus companies servicing the DC-NYC route, at a variety of price points (and, correspondingly, amenities). Not surprisingly, we chose the bus option and had a lovely, stress and hassle free trip.

One last point - it may seem to be common sense that "big oil" would be opposed to increased rail usage because it would decrease their profits. It is true that decreasing automobile usage (which is already happening, independent of rail expansion) has contributed to decreased margins for the refining industry. However, consider a few items:
1. High speed rail service would affect only those commuters traveling between city centers - a demographic that is largely served by airlines now. Would actual miles driven decrease by that much? Consider that folks are still going to need to get from the city centers to their actual destination, which, in most of America, is accessible only by road. To truly reduce miles driven, better to focus on commuter transportation between cities and their suburbs.
2. High speed rail would not change the amount of commercial goods shipped via trucks - 70% of America's goods are shipped via truck versus 15% by rail (remaining 15% by air, water, and pipe).
3. Trains require energy to run, which comes either from diesel - provided by "big oil" - or electricity - provided by "big coal" or, yep, you guessed it, "big oil". Oil companies in the US are heavily invested in natural gas, clearly betting on increased domestic and international demand. (Which brings up the issue of fracking, but I'm not even going to open that can of worms right now.)
4. There is a lot more to "big oil" than just automobile use - it's called the petro-chemical industry, not the petrol industry. Even if we could flip a switch tomorrow that made all cars run on solar power, we would still need (admittedly, much reduced) "big oil" to provide all creature comforts we've come to enjoy (one word: plastics).

So, ultimately, high speed rail service isn't the "big oil" killer that some make it out to be, which also means that to assume that "big oil" is behind its non-starter status is naive at best and disingenuous at worst.

OK, one more point. Freakonomics recently polled several rail industry watchers, both liberal and conservative, on whether Amtrak could ever be profitable. Not surprisingly, viewpoints differed wildly, but they all offered analyses of why Amtrak is such a disappointment in its current state. No one, conservative or liberal, points to "big oil". So yes, "big oil" may be making it possible for us to live without a high speed rail system - but it is not the cause or instigator for railroad's demise.

P.S. Is high speed rail all that great? The Cato Institute doesn't think so. I know it's a conservative think tank that "big oil" detractors aren't going to give much credence to, but it does bring up some interesting points . . .

Valentine Craft Win

So my last (and only) craft post was about the total mess I made of a Halloween wreath. It was epic. I even made it on to Pinstrosity and they rated it a 4 out 5 on their failure scale. Ouch! (You better believe I was loving it! ;-P). So, you might think I would have wised up and stuck with cooking or needlework, my more successful endeavours, but I was bound and determined to make a wreath! Fortunately, this one turned out much better than the first!

My initial inspiration was the wreath found here, but I hadn't pinned that image and couldn't remember the details or initially find the post when I went to make the wreath. Fortunately, my good friend Crystal who was visiting all the way from CO found the following pin and we went after it!

http://www.clumsycrafter.com/2012/03/deco-mesh-wreath-tutorial/

We shortly stopped going after it when I realized I didn't have all the appropriate supplies (namely, pipe cleaners) and after the fiasco last fall, I've learned my lesson - no half-baked substitutes! We actually tried fabric strips as well as floral wire - that actually might have worked but I could tell it was taking too much time. So the next day, after dropping Crystal off at the Metro, I picked up some pipe cleaners and made it happen. Bask in the awesomeness.

Isn't it pretty?

Captured in its natural environs - it's huge!

I am so happy with how this wreath turned out. Even though it is much bigger than I expected (that deco mesh really poofs out!) it still looks so lovely on the door. I love leaving the house and coming back and seeing it - it just makes me smile! :-)

Crystal Visits

We were so fortunate this weekend to have my good friend Crystal visit. We are friends from college and she was one of my bridesmaids. She is recently engaged herself so I was super-excited to visit so I could ooh-and-ahh over her ring and talk all matters wedding! Crystal is in the area until Monday, but she has another close friend in Baltimore, so we had only until Saturday afternoon together, but we made the most of it!

Thursday evening I picked her up and she joined our bowling team for the night. Michael had pre-bowled as he had a previous engagement (and his pre-bowl was awesome! 199, 205, 158 for a 572 series!). With Crystal's help we were able to take one game - something we couldn't have done with only 3 bowlers.

Friday morning was spent catching up and wedding shopping. We were looking for various items for the wedding day including shoes. She's found an awesome wedding dress that doesn't require any alterations (!!!) but it does require flats. Neither the options online or in the stores were particularly inspiring, but we did find a plain white pair at Payless that we thought she could paint. Like these, only less detailed and less costly! Unfortunately, we weren't able to do the painting while she was here, but I know they're going to look awesome!

Friday afternoon we headed over to Manassas to visit the Manassas National Battlefield Park site of (surprise!) the First and Second Battle of Manassas during the Civil War, also known as the Battles of Bull Run. Side note, I was in a one-act play in high school called The Battle of Bull Run Always Makes Me Cry. I was Amy. In the play Amy mentions seeing a Civil War documentary where a gentlemen who knows he's going to die writes a letter to his wife and how watching that documentary makes her cry. I don't know if there was a specific documentary the playwright had in mind, but let me tell you - the documentary they showed at the visitors' center had just such a scene and I certainly cried!

All crying aside, the documentary, vistors' center and park were all pretty awesome. There was both a short walking trail and a longer driving trail to visit all the important sites. We didn't do the walking trail because it was a) cold! and b) getting close to dark. We did do the driving trail. Crystal was a far better picture taker, but I did take a picture of the stone house!

Hmm, my photo looks almost exactly like the one in the link, only not as good. See, this is why I firmly believe in using postcards as the trip photographs! ;-P

Second side note - on the way to Manassas, we passed a sign saying "Entering Prince William County". I have passed that signs many times, but maybe because a close girlfriend was with me, it was the first time that it clicked that Michael grew up in Prince William County - so I did get me some Prince William after all - Beca will be so jealous! ;-P

Saturday was spent in DC, visiting the U.S. Capitol, Library of Congress and National Air and Space Museum - in that order, which meant we were pretty worn out by the time we saw the space stuff! Still, we had fun visiting all three spaces while trying to stay inside as much as possible. Like I said, it was COLD - even Crystal thought so.

Money shot of the US Capitol on the gray snowy day

The Apotheosis of Washington - in the dome

What we looked like most of the tour

General George Washington Resigning His Commission

Charles Marion Russell - Stark Museum of Art had several of his works

John Swigert, Jr.

Our first attempt cut off his head

Our tour guide had no idea what this putti represented - I, of course immediately noted the gear and declared he must be an engineer. The LOC website says he's a mechanic - I say pfft.

Had to get a picture with the baby engineer

The honest-to-goodness actual 1903 Wright Flyer

Snowbirds

Michael and I were able to experience the snowbird life this past weekend. I had to be in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday for my job. Rather than fly down just for the day, we decided to take advantage of the fact that Michael's father lives in Fort Lauderdale (well, Sunrise, if you want to be specific) and made a weekend trip of it. Our flight out of Regan on Friday evening was delayed for 2 hours because of snow and ice - which made landing in warm southern Florida that much better!

We had a blast with Padre and Dale - highlighted, as to be expected, by several amazing dinners. They sure know how to eat! We were able to pick up some Cuban (which we missed during our most recent NYC trip), Argentinian (chimichurri = yummy) and Korean BBQ (which I just discovered on the aforementioned NYC trip). We did drive down by the port and beach to see the cruise ships and inspect the beach repairs to the Hurricane Sandy damage. Mostly, though, it was just nice to sit out in the (not-too) warm weather and enjoy not having to bundle up just to get the mail.

I am not a picture taker, we all know that, but I did get a few shots of Michael having a little fun when we stopped for some hot-from-the-oven donuts . . .

Making the difficult decision

Padre's grown a beard!

Isn't he adorable?!