.wannabe linguist.: Oh, my lambchops.

Thank you, Neil Patrick Harris, for my new favorite catchphrase.

Two thoughts for today:
1. I want to get my PhD SO badly. I want to do research, I want to write, and I want to teach. First, I want to be a clinician for a while, but deep down I really want to go the PhD route.

b. If there were a Real Housewives of Flagstaff it might be the MOST boring television show on the planet. HOWEVER, it wouldn't be nearly as annoying as some of the other trashy "houswife" TV shows I watch, which I see as a plus.

.....yes, I'm a complex being and those are two of the most polar opposite statements I've ever made.

I'm okay with it.

I'll continue with the more ridiculous comment first.

I watch The Real Housewives of [insert the wealthiest city in our country you can think of here] and I ~~like~~ love all of them. Why, oh WHY do I watch this nonsense, you might ask?

"But, Laura, you seem like such a well-rounded individual... you're better than that."
"But, Laura, you're killing brain cells one trashy episode at a time. You know better."
"But, Laura..."

Yes, well, I don't understand it, but I can't help it.

If there were a Real Housewives of Flagstaff I can only think of a small handful of women who would make it at all entertaining. The rest of us would just talk about things like hiking, whose Chaco's are cuter, how to grow organic tomatoes, and what's on sale at Patagucc all day (pronounced /pattagooch/, as in Gucci, if you weren't sure.)

No one would watch.
.....except for me; I'll watch anything with "The Real Housewives" in the title.

(((((Patagucc)))))

Back to the more important statement mentioned above:

I know I will be more than able to complete my PhD someday, but my indecisive self still has no idea what I want to focus my studies on.

My dear/sweet/beautiful/intelligent friend, Crystle (love ya), attended a workshop with me today on how to successfully work with bilingual clients, as a monolingual therapist or otherwise.

The presenter was an obviously brilliant woman who has successfully hyphenated her last name to Fabiano-Smith .

(Tompkins-Smith? Smith? how will I ever choose??)

Anyhow, she spent a few hours discussing how to ethically and effectively assess/work with bilingual students (she has focused the majority of her research on English/Spanish speakers, but had wonderful insight into working with other populations, as well.)

This woman stood in front of us, (she looked about 30, maybe 35) and spoke as if she was born with all of this information in her brain. She discussed "hard l's" and "stridal stops" as if it were everyday conversation. She talked about the phonemic inventory of Haitian Creole as if she was literally born for this.

I found myself very jealous of her accomplishments.

and by jealous, of course I mean inspired.

So, big thanks to Crystle for getting me to the workshop today.

and big thanks to Dr. Fabiano-Smith for lighting a fire under my bum, one I am not yet aware of how to put out.

Love me some linguistics, love me some phonetics, and LOVE me some trashy houswives.

.......and all of you, of course :)