Good news indeed.

On Greek yogurt and other such fads

As a general rule I tend to scorn fads. I like to imagine myself above the fad, or pre-fad; I liked it before it became a fad!! I definitely don't claim to start the fad--ha! Me! Start a fad! But I imagine that I liked it before it was cool. Like having a scooter.. Or eating Greek yogurt. I've been wildly in love with Greek yogurt for years. It's only recently that I've actually been able to afford it much less easily find it. It used to be that if I wanted Greek yogurt, it could only be found in plain form, was very expensive (compared to other yogurts, and I'm a known cheapo), and generally required me driving to 2 stores. Now it's everywhere. On commercials, in magazine adds, in my fridge at work. All the "cool" people are eating it.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I like to imagine that it's my thing, something that sets me apart. If everyone else is doing it, I become like everyone else (the horror!). But on the other hand, when things like this become popular, it often means they get cheaper (hurrah for competing brands!). They're more accessible. They come in a greater variety. So really it's quite beneficial.

And it's not like I don't want to share the greatness. I would encourage everyone I know to get a scooter. Well, almost everyone. And of course Greek yogurt is delicious, so please, go buy some. Eat it. Enjoy. I just have to get ride of this prideful-possibly-slightly-superior-feeling whenever I think about how I was first or at least early on in the fad. It's just silly.

grow the economy

Last night I watched part of the Republican Presidential Debates (which was, by the way, significantly more entertaining than any political debate I've seen in a while). And aside from some of the crazier ideas tossed about, I found one thing quite vexing.

Grow the economy.

Come again?

I swear I heard well over a dozen instances of candidates promising to grow the economy (at least it felt like at least that many). Does that grate on the ears of anybody else?

I realize this is not a new phrase, at least in my lifetime. Apparently, grow the economy became popular after one of Bill Clinton's presidential election speeches in 1992. Politicians and businessmen heard the phrase and ran with it. It figures they'd choose one of the most awkward sounding phrases as a catchphrase for politicians and economists for the next 20 years.

What bothers me is not that it's grammatically incorrect--grow can be an intransitive verb (does not need an object) as in these examples: the tree grows, children grow, his head is growing. And it can be a transitive verb (can take an object), so we can say grow potatoes, grow corn or grow a beard. Then why not grow the economy?

Well, first of all, and obviously most importantly, because I think it sounds dreadful and unnatural. But that's just me.

Secondly, the most common uses of grow in Modern English (in transitive or intransitive forms) refer to raising or increasing a living thing (a seed into a plant or a child or a body part or a tree becoming taller). The OED has one instance, supposedly obsolete, from 1481 of grow being used in the sense of increasing or expanding a non-living thing: When David had reigned 7 years in Hebron he grew and amended much this city (in my Modern English).

So yes, I suppose since grow can be both transitive and intransitive and can refer to living and non-living entities, one could argue that grow the economy is technically correct. But is it pretty? Hardly. Am I fighting a losing battle? Quite probably. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.

G-town

I belong on a campus. High school, community college, university. It doesn't matter. When I set foot into the academic world, my heart does a little pitter patter reserved only for the scent of autumn, the sight of awkward freshmen schlepping their bags behind them while peering furtively at their course schedule, the secluded corner benches where one can read or people watch, depending on how interesting your textbooks are.

I thought that this year would be the first since...well, since the age of 3 (I started kindergarten at 4), that I wouldn't be starting school with the rest of academia. What would life be like not on a school schedule? How would I count my days, if not by semesters, midterms and school holidays? To be quite honest, I was dreading it.

And then I got an email that made everything ok. The lovely ladies at the EFL program at Georgetown actually did have a desperate need for a teacher in the fall, and I happened to be desperate for a class. Voila! Problem solved.

So now I'm working more than I really wanted (my slightly dull full time job + 1 class), but happily get to dally with fellow lecturers, professors, and, of course students.

School starts in a little less than 3 weeks. I'm a little excited.