a NOLA state of mind!: October 2010

I am a huge fan of dictionary.com and enjoy receiving Word of the Day and other grammar and word tidbits published. When I worked ... well, when I left the house and had co-workers - not dogs and cats ... a few of my co-workers and I "played" Word of the Day. We would use the word in correspondence among the three of us and during our weekly meeting, if possible. Bosses out there would benefit from use of this site (not sure whether to use "there", "their" or "they're") ... please tell me you did not just high-five me because I used a "good" word!

Anyway, one of the "extras" was information on punctuation and the mark that got my attention ... the INTERROBANG. It was created to fill a gap in our punctuation system where writers often used typographically cumbersome and unattractive combinations of the question mark and exclamation mark to punctuate rhetorical statements ... where neither the question nor an exclamation alone exactly served the writer. (HOW ABOUT THAT?!) The creator, M. Speckter, called his mark INTERROBANG from the Latin for query and the proofreader's term for exclamation. The INTERROBANG can convey in print an attitude, curiosity, and wonder.

Because interrobang just does not roll off my tongue easily ... I think I will go with QUESCLAMATION ... that just sounds fun. Okay, not everyone gets as excited over words, grammar and usage as I do ... note to self - I have to get a life.

When a question mark (?) alone just is not adequate and, quite honestly, a response is definitely not desired ... use the quesclamation (‽). After reading an email already sent out you reply to the sender, "You used spell check, right‽" Interested?

Go To: Insert Special Character
Font: Arial
Subset: General Punctuation
Choose: ‽
Press: OK

I have used the quesclamation again in this post ... wonder if you will spot it.

Living with ALS ...

I wonder, some times, if I am taking my diagnosis of ALS too lightly. From About ALS: Symptoms - ... "As the weakening and paralysis continue to spread to the muscles of the trunk of the body the disease, eventually affects speech, swallowing, chewing and breathing ..." The weakness remains in my legs and hands, but when I am not feeling well I catch myself taking in deep breaths and expelling it very slowly being sure to use my diaphragm muscles or reading out loud, enunciating all my words, listening carefully to make sure I am not slurring.

While I can not walk, I can knalk (walking on my knees), so I have good muscle strength from ooching up on toilets, bath chairs, transfer boards and motorized scooter. I also have good upper body strength from transferring and pulling myself up in the bath tub and onto my scooter. I will say that I have more tone in my arms now than I ever did prior to my ALS diagnosis. It could be my form of ALS - considering the contradictions with the neuropathy - stays where it is. Maybe I just feel that for my family, for now, I hope that I am an ALS patient that has slow progression ... or better yet where progression stops - for reasons yet to be defined.

Yes, my glass is still half full. Oh, the rose colored glasses came off along time ago. I much prefer the reference of a glass half full ... sounds much more positive and somewhat refined to me!

Grrr ... More Power Naps

Back on September 11 the Hidalgo clan here in San Antonio - all 4 of us - were invited to Alice for a special induction ceremony. Mrs. Holmgreen, my brother-in-law's mother, was inducted into the 3rd Coast Squadron Commemorative Museum Hall of Fame. She was an army nurse in WWII and served in England and France. The ceremony was held in a hangar at the Alice Airport and was a 1:30 p.m. event ... really cool old planes and memorabilia throughout the hangar. It was truly a very nice ceremony. I was hot, but so were the inductees some of them 90 years old. All of a sudden I felt Marcia smoothing out my hair ... she was actually popping me on the top of my head because I dozed off and I guess people were looking. Right at the end of the ceremony I could feel my eyelids slamming closed, but I thought I put toothpicks in them. I swear it was just a few minute doze, though.

After the ceremony we all headed to Mrs. Holmgreen's for a feast of German pot roast (prepared by my brother-in-law, Jim and my Cajun daddy) and all the yummy fixings. Dinner was scheduled for 6:00ish so we were all hanging out munching on snacks and sipping on Fast Eddie's Sweet Tea Vodka (distilled, or whatever they do to make vodka in Austin). Yummy! I moved from my wheelchair to a recliner so I could elevate my feet. Well, I apparently slept through all the hanging out munching ... etc. Adreann or Darren would take turns waking me up every now and then, laughing of course, and give me a snack. I would talk for a few minutes and ... well you know the end to that story. Grrrr, those darn power naps!

More of My Favs

I just bet you are wondering what other "favorites" I have. Fresh Produce ... well in south Texas we can shop H-E-B, oh okay WalMart and Super Target. Being an H-E-B shopper I reference them when talking about grocery shopping in general. Oh yes and Central Market (and I love Central Market), but I am going to speak to "normal" shopping. I just did not feel like tomatoes tasted like tomatoes or that yellow squash had any taste at all. I will not even go into selection, or lack thereof, at the store closest to us for shopping. Mom and I were actually looking into the different Farmer's Markets scheduled in the area. Then we walk into Straight from the Crate in Universal City.

I can actually do all my produce grocery shopping at Straight from the Crate. I bought beef steak tomatoes that, when sliced, one slice covered the entire slice of bread. Yes, those bacon, tomato and avocado sandwiches were the best! While mine was cut up because I can not lift a sandwich ... I had visions of it running down my arm ... the sign of a truly great tomato sandwich!

The owner, Lee Stofa, actually took the time to demonstrate how to cut up a mango ... and the mangos were so sweet and good. Lee emphasizes that if I know what I want ahead of time to call in my order and it would be ready ... Lee just does not know how I shop ... can you say impulse shopper‽

Potatoes - baking, new, russet, sweet; onions - red, white, yellow; tomatoes - vine ripe, cherry; okra, celery, squash, zucchini, green beans (already snapped or not), corn, carrots, hulled peas, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, lemons, limes, oranges, bananas -- this is just a small list of what Straight from the Crate offers and why I say it is a complete produce shopping trip for me. Lee carries as much Texas produce as he can, but obviously bananas are not grown in Texas! Love, love, love this produce market! You can find Straight from the Crate on Facebook or at 904-A Pat Booker Road, Universal City.

Chocolate ...

Have I ever mentioned how much I love chocolate? Oh, and raspberries? No, hmm ... missed that, but picture this or imagine the taste of this: