Monday, September 29, 2008

Origins of language derived from the Showtime Series "Weeds"




OK-- I am once again going to bring up something that can be perceived as controversial. No, this time it's not about politics-- My new obsession since being unemployed is catching up on the last season of "Weeds". I know that the overall premise of the show is ridiculous; an upper middle class housewife takes on the life of pot dealer in order to raise her two sons after the sudden death of her husband.

I love the cast, Mary-Louise Parker and Elizabeth Perkins are two of my all time favorite actresses. Kevin Nealon is also in this series and he is hilarious as well- The shows writers are AMAZING as the episodes are so clever and truly funny. Anyway, the reason I am tying this to language is that in recent episodes Nancy and her kids flee Agrestic to escape the burning town and are temporarily homeless. Nancy makes the decision to go see "bubbe"...her dead husband's grandmother. Now, Nancy's husband Judah's family is Jewish and Bubbe always said that Judah marring out of his religion would kill her. Incidentally, Judah's brother Andy, takes over the Botwin family as a paternal figure. Andy takes them into see Bubbe, and to their dismay, they find her in the living room on a respirator. Bubbes's son Lenny, (Nancy's father-in law--Andy's father) is taking care of Bubbe and is a compulsive gambler and ner-do well. Bubbe finally utters a word to the family as they are arguing non-stop in Yiddish--" Kill Me"". ...Botwin boys make the decision to honor Bubbe's request, but only if Nancy pulls the plug....the irony again is that Bubbe always said that Judah's marring Nancy aka "not Francie" (the woman they believe he SHOULD of married) would kill her....and she does.....
The whole Yiddish thing prompted me to research Yiddish words and I found a whole list of hilarity....I don't believe that there is any other language as descriptive as Yiddish--I found this list: (link below)

There are forty words on the Yiddish handbook- words you should know- but, the most obvious ones are, chutzpah, spiel and schlep, but if you read the list you will find more descriptive words and their actual meanings. I've added a link to the page below. Let me know if you find these words as funny as I do, and if you had the benefit of growing up with a Jewish grandmother, perhaps the words may find a soft spot in your heart as well. http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-yiddish-handbook-40-words-you-should-know/
http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/weeds/photos/191882/2

Friday, September 26, 2008

Tracy Porter Link Added


I added a link to Tracy Porter's blog to my site. I adore Tracy, her ideas, her innovation, her joie de vivre-- is all very inspiring! If you are unfamiliar with her work, please visit her site, I have posted the link below.

She shares a lot on her blog of how she comes up with design ideas and executes them. She is mom of 4 boys and runs a successful business with her husband and family. As she would say--Be Inspired!

I have added a picture of my son, Will to this post because,1) I just learned how to use this feature (honestly) and 2) I think that it shows the joy and innocence of simple everyday life!