So, I've had a few people ask "What does that mean!?"  to some of the things I say and today I realized that I'm perpetuating that inquiry through my daughters.  She looked at Charli on multiple occassions today(really yesterday since its 2am and I can't sleep) and said, "OH BOY HOWDY CHARLI!"   Yikes... well lets see if we can't clear a few of these up.

"Bloody"- I've often heard, "you know you're using the 'F' word when you say that right!?"  Yeah, well, get over it.  To me the definition is not the F word- my Granny uses this word on occassion, my mother uses it a lot, and really, its what I grew up hearing, and so I don't consider it hearing the 'F' word and if it offends the occassional American, or anyone across the pond, I'm ok with that.  Cause really, its just added for emphasis, not for offense.

"FREAKIN' A"- My father used to ask me what this meant and told me I did not sound like a lady and even banned me from saying this in his house.  Welp, I can belch louder than your only SON and have never been terribly lady-like(though I have made same dang good attempts!) and really, it means just that, "freakin a"  nothing more, nothing less.  Which leads me to my next one!

"Welp" -This is kinda like "well" or "so"- not really sure where it came from, just something I've always said.

"Oh boy howdy"- Tori's most recent favorite.  Said, "ooooohhhhhhh boy howdeee"  normally prefaces "YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE IN BIG TROUBLE!!!"  Probably something I picked up in Oklahoma.  I'm assuming thats enough info.

"dammit" or "damnit"- Alright, I can hear my critics running for this one- Look all you Utahns who've never said a swear word- this word was like "THE" in my house growing up.  Dave was pretty shocked the first time my Dad yelled at him, "DAMMIT DAVE!"  after a very trechorous round of Boggle we played while I was pregnant.  It was my Dad's turn to announce his word findings and he says, "And the creme de la creme-(big pause, he's expecting a 2 pointer here)-  BIRTH"  And dave replies, "Got it"  and of course, the fist pounding "dammit" followed by my mother chastizing him, "DOUG!  You're going to wake up Tori!" while I'm dying laughing at the fact my husband never ceases to smoke everyone in Boggle and based on my Dad's reaction, this for some reason, still shocks him.

"Tea-Towel"-mmmmk- I don't know why more people don't get this!  ITS A DISH RAG OR DISH TOWEL PEOPLE!  The first time I said it, Dave said, "A what?"  Its English, and my mother(who I really think sometimes, believes she was a Brit in a former life) said it all growing up and so thats what I've known them as.  And think about it- "Can you hand me a teatowel"  sounds a lot nicer than rag or dish towel...

Serviette- a little Sarah trivia here- I'm Canadian!  Born in Edmonton, Alberta, home if the WEM!  I suppose I should take a little more pride in my home country but I'm more of a "live in the now" kinda gal and right now, thats the U S of A... its French for napkin for the record, and again, something that was said growing up.  If you're wondering why I'm Canadian and why its French- well then we really have a problem.  FYI- French is the official language of Canada, THEN English.  Everything you buy is written in both French and English.

And lastly!

"Crack-a-lack-a-ding-dongs"  Dave and I both say this- I attempt to keep it in our house, but occassionally it slips out and I get the inevitable "What the?" look- Dave says he coined this, I say I said it way before I even met him and he got it from me- wellllll- its used after a sort of "victory".  We've used it, "take that crack-a-lack-a-ding-dongs!" or "eat it crack-a-lack-a........." 

Alright, for now, thats me, and us, translated!  Anyone else have anything they say that has to be translated?  Leave it in the comments!!!!!  Any more questions on what we say?  Dave has a couple of his own that he'll use for certain family members, but for now, those are his stress relief words so we'll keep them UN-translated.  :)  

OH YEAH!  I almost forgot!  Today is my spectacular sister, Jessica's birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  She is a great friend, person, sister, and Aunt.  We used to dance to Amy Grant and Wilson Phillips when we were little till we couldn't stand up anymore.  In California, we used to go to the park and roll down this  huge hill.   Once, in Nebraska, we had fish.  One "disappeared" from the tank and the little beggar had jumped out by itself and flipped under the couch.  Jenny, our younger sister, found it MONTHS later and cried her eyes out.  We told her it went to fish heaven when it went down the toilet!  I also remember playing roller blade street hockey in Vegas and when we moved to Oklahoma, things were really hard, but we had occassional late night talks in our shared bathroom that I'll never forget.  Once afetr she had moved out, she came and took me for a drive to Stillwater just for fun and we drove past her ex-boyfriends house.   And now that we're grown up and live far away from each other, I wish I had made the effort and put aside differences to be better friends with her growing up.  But, we're making up for lost time and she spoils my kids and we talk pretty regularly.  I love you lots Jess.  Hopefully we'll see you guys soon!

more photos available, email marcjoseph@marcjoseph.com

www.marcjoseph.com

The French do know how to surrender.  Nobody gives it up better, easier, or more often than the French.

Way to throw a tantrum Frenchie!!!

France is really cool in my flip-book. (ha!)

I have some animation recommendations today.

First of all, Le building by 5 French animation students (Marco Nguyen, Pierre Perifel, Xavier Ramonede, Olivier Staphylas, and Remi Zaarour). It's an animation short with excellent integration between traditional, 3d and flash animation. Really cool designs as well.

Then L'eau de rose by Arthur de Pins (French illustrator and animator) which has English subtitles for the uninitiated. Awesome work, really! What he manages to make with those vector graphics makes me jealous just to think of it. Nice story, too. Heheh.

And surely, this short by Sylvain Chomet (famous for Les Triplettes de Belleville). I still think that the Triplettes should have have won the Oscar instead of "Finding Nemo"... but i guess it's just the Oscar's way of giving prizes.

Speaking of which, the Oscar this year nominated an animation about a rat that cooks, one about a surfing penguin and one of a girl's coming-of-age tale during Iran's Islamic Revolution. Always nice seeing something different (and more adult) up there, and I did enjoy Persepolis a lot (note: even though Marjane Satrapi is not French, French is the language spoken in the animation).

Ok, that's enough for now. 40>0 hands out an unobtrusive "hasta la vista baby" to everyone

TRANSLATION TO PORTUGUESE | TRADUÇÃO PARA O PORTUGUÊS

Tenho umas recomendações boas de animações francesas. *(Só consegui fazer a piadinha em inglês. Feliz ou infelizmente, o leitor que não sabe Inglês perderá essa)

Primeiro, Le building de cinco estudantes Franceses de animação (Marco Nguyen, Pierre Perifel, Xavier Ramonede, Olivier Staphylas, and Remi Zaarour). É uma curta com excelente integração de tipos diferentes de animação: tradicional, 3d e flash. Gostei muito dos designs também.

Depois, L'eau de rose do Arthur de Pins (ilustrador e animador francês). Essa tem legendas em Inglês para os não-iniciados. Eu acho essa sensacional, me dá muita inveja ver o que ele consegue fazer trabalhando com ilustração vetorial.

E também, essa curta do Sylvan Chomet (famoso pelo filme As Bicicletas de Belleville). Eu ainda acho que Belleville que devia ter ganho o Oscar ao invés de "procurando nemo"... mas eu suponho que seja esse o jeito do Oscar de premiar.

Falando nisso, o Oscar desse ano nomeou uma animação de um rato que cozinha, uma de um pingüim surfista e outra de uma história de amadurecimento de uma garota na época da Revolução Islâmica no Irã. Sempre é legal ver algo diferente assim (mais adulto) em animações, principalmente quando fica tão bom quanto ficou (nota: apesar da Marjane Satrapi não ser Francesa, Francês é a língua falada na animação).

Okay, chega por hoje! Abraços!

Check out this amazing short vid:

Henri