Book 45 of 2013: The Secret Life of English - How English Became English by Henry Hitchings

I have a small collection of books about the English language and linguistics in general. I never used to read that many non-fiction books, not since early secondary school at least when I used to get through two Horrible Histories books a night, but since discovering that language and its development fascinates me I can happily read loads of these books.

The Secret Life of Words by Henry Hitchings is one of those books. I picked it up for a pittance in a charity shop way back when I was studying my first OU linguistics course. I dipped into it a couple of times to use in assignments but never actually sat down to read it properly though until this summer.

This book is structured into chapters, titled after a particular word, which then goes on to explain what influenced that word's entrance into the English language along with other words which came about through the same events. It's largely a book about historical events (such as British colonisation) which brought new words into the English language.

I did find this book really interesting. But I can't help but think that it would have worked better if I had dipped into it rather than reading it all in one go. It wasn't really the sort of book that you could properly read from beginning to end. It took me quite a while to get through and I suspect that this was why.

It would have been interesting to learn more about the twenty-first century's contributions to English as most of the book focused on the far past. I suppose that some of the words that were featured took a long time to become properly established in the language so some words which have entered the language recently haven't actually been in use for that long and so might fade away with time.

The very last bit of the book was about more recent words to enter the English language, but I didn't actually recognise many of them. I suppose either they're taking their time to become established, or at the time of writing they seemed like they were going to become new words, but didn't. I guess it's hard to predict which words will stick around and which will disappear into obscurity.

There were notes all the way through the book which you had to look up at the very end. I think notes are always a tricky thing to include in books. There never seems to be a great place to put them. If they're at the end of the book they annoy me because I have to keep flipping from the page I'm on to the end, if they're at the end of the chapter then ditto. What I'd like is for the substantial comments to be down at the bottom of the page that the note is listed on, then any bibliographic information comes at the end of a chapter or at the end of the book (perhaps under headings to show which chapter/page it was referenced on). Of course that probably wouldn't satisfy everyone and despite keeping me happy, I'm sure it would annoy countless other readers.

Knitting Resolutions

I'm not a big fan of New Year Resolutions, though I usually start the year with some things I'd like to do (take more photos, walk more, you get the idea). On Ravelry someone posted asking what Knitting Resolutions people were setting themselves, well, it got me thinking about things I might like to achieve in the coming year.

1. Reorganise stash
I'm usually pretty good about buying yarn just as and when I'm needing it. This year my husband treated me to three balls of variegated wool which I didn't necessarily need but which I thought were pretty. I did however need the numerous 500g balls of wool I bought for making his Temperature Scarf. Of course I didn't use all 500g worth of yarn in that project so now I have a fair bit of yarn just waiting for me to get through it.

I store my stash in an 80l tub in a cupboard and then in a 30l knitting bag (in whichever room I'm doing the most knitting at any one time). Due to the aforementioned four or five giant balls of yarn this space has become a bit tight, so now I've got an extra carrier bag which is stuffed with wool as well. This isn't the best way to store things so I'm hoping to either do a lot of knitting to run down some of these supplies, or sort through what I have and donate some of it to people who will use it (to make more room for the stuff I actually want).

2. Try to learn something new from each pattern I try
It doesn’t have to be a big lesson, maybe just which yarns I shouldn’t use in the future, but I’ve recently knit a proper sock for the first time and have got to grips with magic loop, picking up stitches and Kitchener stitch in a very short space of time. I’ve really enjoyed stretching myself and it’s opened the door for more patterns that I’ve previously avoided; I want everything I knit to make me feel this way!

3. Buy the Beekeeper's Quilt Pattern
This relates to the point above. I always loved the idea but put it off because of the need for DPNs, now I’ve got the hang of magic loop that shouldn’t be a problem so I’d really like to try it now because it looks like the sort of thing I could take to work to keep from snacking in my breaks.

Ironically, after posting this as one of my resolutions, as part of a Random Act of Kindness, someone treated me to the pattern. Now I can't wait to get it started. Normally I try to stick to one project at a time, but I'm coming to realise that having more than one thing on the go at a time isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it's nice to have something you can work on a little bit at a time, and then go to something simpler which you can do when you want some mindless knitting.

4. Keep adding to my knitting library & actually knit things from these books!
I really enjoy knitting Jean Greenhowe's patterns so I've developed a habit of sticking almost exclusively to her booklets. There’s nothing wrong with that but it’s fun to try new things so that’s what I want to do.

After Christmas I bought myself four new knitting pattern books, one of which is a toy knitting book but which requires patterns to be knit in the round (I wanted it for ages but figured I'd never be able to do it). I also collect vintage knitting books and I really have to stop neglecting those, it can be time consuming modifying the patterns into modern terminology but what’s the point in collecting them if I’m not going to use them?!

5. Play with more variegated yarn
This year I’ve discovered a love for variegated yarn and I want to do more with it in the new year. I mainly make toys and I think this will be a good way to break from following the pattern instructions for the colours and learning to just go wild. Sooner or later this’ll probably help me to learn an important lesson about colour (see point 2).

6. Ask for more knitting-related gifts
I’ve really gotten into knitting in a big way this year but only asked for knitting related gifts for Christmas as an afterthought. When people ask me what I want this year I want to ask for things that will be useful for my hobby, from storage supplies to needles. That'll help me to resist the urge to go crazy buying stuff for myself!

Do you have a particular hobby that you're setting New Year's Resolutions for?

Project 52: Get Knitted

This year has been, without a doubt, the year of the knitting needles. I first taught myself to knit in January almost six years ago now and since then I've found myself spending more and more time working on projects. It's probably overtaken reading as one of my main pasttimes (mainly because you can sit and knit a lot more easily than you can sit and read, and you don't look like you're being quite as antisocial).

But since last year I've gotten a lot more into knitting than I was previously. I've started spending more time on Ravelry (I'm Caitak over there) and that seems to have sparked my enthusiasm. Just as I hate to be without a book, I now hate to have nothing on my needles).

I like to think that I've improved as well.

This is my latest project, hot off the needles yesterday.

It seems like there's a sort of divide in the knitting world (well, there are quite a few divides, but this is on of them); those who knit socks, and those who don't. I've always been one of those who don't. Well, there was an attempt many many moons ago, but I only made one sock and never actually sewed it up.

This is part of a pair that I knitted from the top down, in the round, using the magic loop method, and along the way taught myself how to pick up stitches and use Kitchener stitch to graft the toe together. For non-knitters that's probably all a bunch of gobble-de-gook but basically it means I started at the cuff and worked down to the toe; I knitted it all in one piece without having to sew up a seam; I didn't use double pointed needles but instead a really long cable with a needle at each end and slid the stitches around as I worked on them; I added extra stitches by 'picking them up' from the side of my work; and I used a special way of finishing which involves knitting together stitches with a sewing needle.

It does sound kind of complicated and that's why I've put off learning to do socks for so long, but now that I've done it, well, they're actually quite easy. I'm quite looking forward to trying more in the future... well, once I've tried some of the other things that are in my queue to make.

Film Review: The Secret of NIMH

When The Lord of the Rings films came out I was quite pleased to find that I'd been a fan of Peter Jackson as a director since before it became fashionable to be a fan of his work, having loved The Frighteners since I was about eleven or twelve (even though it scared the bejeezus out of me).

Since then I've discovered that I actually had very particular tastes in my directors from an early age. One day while listing favourite animated films from when I was a child I realised that a substantial chunk of those animated films were directed by Don Bluth. This Christmas I asked Mr Click for any Don Bluth films he could find, and he came through magnificently.

On Christmas Day night we watched The Secret of NIMH, which is based on the book Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien. The film was made in 1982, Don Bluth's first film after leaving Disney. It was such a huge gamble that actually saw the lead filmmakers mortgaging their homes to provide funds for production. It made a modest $14 million (after costing the relatively small $7 million to make) but paved the way for Bluth's later films An American Tale, Land Before Time and All Dogs Go To Heaven.

The Secret of NIMH follows Mrs Brisby (renamed for the film to avoid any legal conflicts with Frisbee toys) as she tries to help save her poorly young son Timothy. He has contracted pneumonia and cannot be moved from their winter home in a brick situated in a farmer's field; however the farmer is preparing to plough the field and her son will almost certainly be killed if he remains. Acting on the advice of an owl, Mrs Brisby goes to visit the strange rats who live below a rose bush on the farm, learning something unexpected about her deceased husband and proving that she will do anything for her children.

It's a lot darker than the cover above would suggest. The original film poster is a lot more fitting for the story, in fact some die-hard fans apparently print this off and use it to replace the DVD cover. As much as I like the poster, I'm not quite going to go that far (I do like it though, the Great Owl reminds me of Gandalf).

I used to have this on DVD and I watched it a lot as a child so I'm very familiar with the story. I also read the book within the last couple of years so the story was still fresh in my mind. Having read the book more recently than having watched the film there were a couple of places where things happened differently to what I was expecting because I'd forgotten the changes between the book and the film.

The animation in this film is absolutely beautiful. The backgrounds are totally stunning and the way the characters are animated is perfect. Of course all the animals are anthropomorphised but the mice are mouse-ish and the rats are rattish. Being a big rat lover I really enjoy watching this film for these rats alone. I couldn't help but notice that perhaps our Carol-rat was related to those NIMH rats; except she didn't need a sign telling her how to open the cage, she figured it out all on her own!

I know that this is a film I'm going to want to watch over and over again. Despite the Disneyfied cover, it probably wouldn't suit a lot of young children, there's a scene where a rat is crushed to death as well as several mice falling to an uncomfortable end. Like Watership Down it's given a U rating when it probably would've been better suited to being a PG, but it's definitely a film that adults can enjoy without feeling like they're watching a children's film.

Now I'm really looking forward to rewatching An American Tail and All Dogs Go To Heaven (even though the latter of those will almost certainly make me want to cry!).

A Time For Receiving

And of course another fun part of Christmas is people giving you gifts. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy getting presents. I really do. I didn't realise just how much I'd received until I laid them all out on the bed to take this photo yesterday morning.

Pictured above are all the presents that were given to Mr Click and I (apart from the ones I gave him, I posted a photo of those yesterday). The only thing not shown up there is my Secret Santa gift from work (a Wonder Woman mug with matching socks, those were in the wash because I'd worn them the day before, and a little cat shaped phone screen cleaner).

The day started with opening stockings. Too big to fit inside was the big cuddly dog on the right. I've named him Cracker and he's just like another (slightly larger) cuddly dog Mr Click bought me a few years ago. Tara was very jealous of this dog being allowed on the bed when she wasn't!

My stocking is the pink and black thing underneath the goodies at the bottom of the photo, amazingly Mr Click had managed to squeeze that big book into it. It's a copy of Jean Greenhowe's Knitted Toys which was originally published the year I was born. I've wanted it for ages and I can't wait to get started on knitting some of the toys from it. It's a bit hard to make out from the photo but on the book is also a little blue net bag with some handmade stitch markers in it. Just what I need since I'm always using scrappy bits of wool!

I also got a massive stash of Wonka goodies. I've not had Nerds for years, I always used to get 50p sweet money each week and would buy myself two packs of Nerds back when you got three flavours in a box and they were 25p each. The Wonka bar is becoming a bit of tradition now, it'll be set aside somewhere safe until we watch Charlie/Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory again which is when I like to chow down on the bar.

I also got a whole bunch of films. I'd asked for Don Bluth films since I lost all mine in the move. I got The Secret of N.I.M.H., An American Tale, and All Dogs Go To Heaven (which I've not seen for years because I never had a copy of that). Mr Click always gets me Disney animated films and I get him the Disney Pixar ones to avoid duplicates, this year didn't disappoint, I got The Jungle Book and Peter Pan (which is convenient because that's what I'm studying at the moment).

There was also underwear (woo hoo!) and long socks (because most of mine have worn through and are slowly being binned). The socks are lovely and stretchy, stripy and come right up to my knees which makes them perfect. And I got a beautiful locket with butterflies on it. I'm going to print out some nice photos to put in it soon.

My main presents from Mr Click were The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition. I've been waiting for this to come out pretty much since we saw it in the cinema last January. This edition has a 3D holographic cover so if we ever get a 3D TV/Blu-ray player I'm prepared. I can't wait to devote nine hours of my life to watching all the special features!

I also got a box set of the X-Men films. I've not watched the originals for so long. I always used to watch them with my brother on the 30th of November while we waited for the Christmas music channel to go live. I've not even seen X-Men First Class yet so I'm going to have to have an X-Men marathon at some point soon.

And then the main gift from Mr Click was the complete series of Criminal Minds. It's a series that I've known of for years but never got around to watching. Of course I knew it as 'that series with the guy from Dharma and Greg and the guy from Dead Like Me', but it's right up my street. We've spent the best part of this year watching E.R. so it'll be good to go back to watching a good crime series. I don't think it'll be too long before I'm hunting out Criminal Minds fanfic (as well as trying to track down the old X-Men RPG I used to be active in when I was at uni).

I also had a nice tin of chocolate biscuits, from my work's Christmas night out (there's a tin of Roses from work as well, that's not pictured because it wasn't wrapped up and we've eaten almost all of them apart from the caramel, orange and strawberry ones). A family friend gave us some other fancy biscuits with a posh jar of honey. And the two pairs of trainers at the top came from my in-laws. I've needed new trainers for ages but I'm awkward to find trainers in the right size. Since we've got Tara we get through trainers like nobody's business so these are good sturdy ones which will hopefully last a good long while.

As you can see from all that I've been thoroughly spoiled. It's really hard to pick just one favourite; the trainers are fantastic so comfy and have really good grips on so will be perfect for the winter weather (plus the last pair I had from this brand lasted about four or five years). The locket is beautiful, Cracker is really cuddly, the films will bring me hours of entertainment, and the knitting book will keep me going in knitting projects for years to come. And you can never have too many socks.

Hope you've all had a really good Christmas holiday. What are some of your favourite things that you've received?

A Time For Giving

One of the things I enjoy about Christmas is looking around for presents for special people and trying to find things which I know they'll enjoy.

This year I think I did a particularly good job of present finding. Pictured below are the presents for Mr Click and Tara, not included in this photo are the gifts I gave to my work Secret Santa, my in-laws and a couple of other people (because I gave them away and so didn't have photos of them this morning).

The stocking was filled with the traditional treats; a Terry's Chocolate Orange, some chocolate coins and a chocolate Santa. There was also a little cuddly penguin (on the right hand side of the photo) who sings 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' (it was the least annoying of all the singing cuddlies I could find. The stocking included some socks and slipper socks and also some blu-rays (E.T. and Who Framed Roger Rabbit).

Too big to fit in the stocking were a set of books featuring Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell, his wife, by Laurie King. Mr Click spotted those in The Book People catalogue a few months back and they've been sitting in a box on top of my wardrobe ever since.

The main presents were another set of books which he'd also mentioned liking the look of, The Two Ronnies Complete Collection on DVD (I'd wanted to get him the Columbo box set but it briefly came down to £30 before shooting up to £50 where is stayed until the week before Christmas, by which point I'd already decided to go with The Two Ronnies instead).

The very top present was the Morphy Richards slow cooker. We'd mentioned getting one at the beginning of the year and I suggested we get it in the Autumn. Then I found that one and had to come up with the lame excuse of waiting until the January sales to put off Mr Click from buying another one! I also found a really good recipe book to go with it; so many of them had really fancy foods which would be fine for a dinner party but weren't really things you'd have for tea on a regular day. After a lot of searching I found the one pictured on top of the box, it's got all normal sorts of meals like chicken noodle soup and beef casseroles which are the kinds of things we both like to eat.

And then to the left of the photo were our presents for Tara. There was the traditional doggy stocking, we learned last year that if we gave Tara something from her stocking while we open ours it helps to keep her occupied and less interested in what we're up to. This stocking had a big green Christmas tree chew, which had an interesting effect on Tara's morning deposit today! I was a little bit worried until I remembered what might've caused it.

The big red thing is a Kong Wobbler. I was most excited about giving her this present. It's basically a giant size version of the black Kong toy she already has (one at home and one at my in-laws'), which is made out of thick plastic. The top unscrews and you can fill it with treats. There's a small hole in the side and when it's knocked over in a certain direction the treat falls out. It's weighted like a Weeble so when it's knocked over it springs back upright again.

Tara figured it out pretty much straight away and it brought us all a lot of entertainment value watching her play with it on Christmas Day. I'm hoping to get a video of her playing with it at some point soon.

What were some of your favourite gifts to give this year?

Happy Christmas!

Hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas Day and that Santa has been good to you all!