Inventing the Future

"Myst"-esque telescope - brapke

My chickadees! I want to hear from you!

Please leave me a comment on what you would like to see in this blog. More culture? More spiritual? More personal? Tell me what you like and don't like. If you'd prefer to remain anon, you can post a question to my tumblr, Swan Song. (Or just click here for a direct link to the ask box.)

I want to know what you think. Even if it's about format.

Can't wait to hear from you!
Love bunches ~ ♥ Lady Weaver

여보세요 is もしもし

Image from news blog

Thought I'd share a little bit of my personal journal with y'all. 

"Found a podcast today about useful Korean phrases. Apparently 여보세요 (yeoboseyo) is the equivalent of もしもし(moshimoshi). Learned another thing .... actually, I already knew this: Korean phonetics make NO sense to me. "Yeoboseyo" sounds nothing like that to me. It sounds more like "Doo-goo-say-yo." Japanese romanji - as long as you know the vowels - is fairly simple to read. Even so, Japanese isn't nearly as fun as Korean. When you speak Korean you have to talk like you have marbles in your mouth. It's rather fun."

Quick note for everyone: もしもし and 여보세요 are both words for "hello." The interesting thing is that these are only used for two reasons. The first is for a greeting over the telephone. The second is used when a person is spacing out. For example:

1. *ring ring* Moshi Moshi?/Yeoboseyo?
2. *waves hand in front of friend's face* Moshi Moshi? Yeoboseyo? Anyone there? 

Both languages fascinate me. And for very different reasons. I was thinking last night about what I liked about them and came up with a few things:

Things I like about Japanese:

• Romanji are easy to sound out.
• Katakana/hiragana is fairly simple. し is always "shi." く is always "ku."
• It's not harsh on the ears. I think of the sound as like a grown woman. Very sophisticated. 

Things I like about Korean:

• It's much more attractive to the eye. The vowels and consonants are fairly easy to distinguish and the alphabet is one unit [instead of three like Japanese - kanji, hiragana, katakana. There's no kanji (adopted Chinese characters).] The only downside is the fact that it changes when you have so many of whatever. Like the "'y' to 'i' and add 'es'" rules in English. If Japanese reminds me of a sophisticated woman, Korean reminds me of a super cute child. 
• The y's, b's, o's, l's and m's make for a fun time. Marbles, people, marbles.
• It's not tonal, but it has a few phonetics that sound similar to Chinese (like the "xiè" in 謝謝)

Learning it is interesting. Since I don't know anyone who speaks either fluently, I'm listening to podcasts (which, by the way, are the most amazing things to ever happen for language. I'm currently looking for one in all Spanish so I can work on my listening skills.) I'm trying to develop an ear for sounds. I can already identify several sounds that I'm going to struggle with - just like the Japanese struggle with "r." Do any of y'all do this? Try to identify sounds that you can't quite get right and say them?


What languages are y'all learning? What resources do you use to gain a better understanding of it? If you listen to podcasts, what ones are your favorites? What ones do you suggest?

*おまけ* My name in hangul is 제시카 (Jesika); and in hiragana, it is じえしか (Jeshika).

"We are Rich"

It's so easy to be busy with "moving forward" that you often forget... until something sparks a memory. All of a sudden you're whisked off to that part of your heart where your most sacred memories are treasured. You dust them off and marvel at the great gifts you've been given. An onlooker may scoff at their value, but to you - no - to you they are gems that the earth's wealth could never truly measure.

I suppose this could be something I posted on Thanksgiving, but I'm thankful for her every time I think of her. The "her" is one of my closest friends - Megan Valentine. (Hint: she's the blonde dreamer in the pink feather boa.) I just wanted to change things up a bit and post something a little more personal.

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart...
Phil 1:4-7a

What can I say about her? Certainly an amazing young lady. I don't know what it is but Christmas time gives me this yearning to be with her. Maybe it's because (outside of when we attended elementary school together) it was the only time of year when I was able to see her. Funnily enough my favorite cd is intertwined with so many memories of her. Every time I listen to Enya's And Winter Cameit reminds me of my senior year. Driving to her house for a hug I needed so desperately... Crying beside her then doing anything to get my mind off life and the loss of simpler times... We were both going through a difficult time that year. Her house to be forclosed, my betrayal  by those I though my confidantes - through out the whole ordeal she was there to keep me strong.

Too often I took her friendship for granted. (Such a silly, foolish girl I was and am.) I miss her terribly right now.

I don't normally get lost in the labyrinth of memory... but there's just something about those nights that make me forget where I'm at now and just disappear into a bygone epoch. It's my Narnia. Past the cloaks lays a cedar hallway and a dimly lit, cozy "library." The books are mostly familiar souls and contain the reader's story within their own. Each person in the room has a special connection - no matter how far each strays from their childhood, the family will always be there... A family without a bloodline. The raggle-taggle group trades jests (new and old alike). For the briefest of times, the room transforms into a fortress... it's peace. It's solitude. Cookies, hot cocoa, Christmas: they enjoy the presence of the others even when the room grows silent.
None realize. It's the last time they'll ever be like that. The oldest are graduating. Childhood and it's trappings are to be retired in Clotho's tapestry.

She's a sounding board, my iron sharpener.  A hopeless romantic that constantly reminds me of life's dreamier side (she pulls my head into the clouds when I get too down). An intellectual when she desires... one of the few that I never had to worry confounding with my aberrant vocabulary. A faithful friend. One word would describe her aptly: loyal.

"You know something, Diana? We are rich. We have sixteen years to our credit, and we both have wonderful imaginations. We should be as happy as queens."

~ Anne, Anne of Green Gables

*cross posted to Filia Pacem