subject loves (are bi-textual)
CUTEST THING EVAR. Seriously. Soooo cute. Watch it.
Ahem. In normal, non-being desperate for a baby polar bear of my very own sort of news, I am inanely proud of my ability to hear the difference between the Finnish 'u' and 'y' (the latter is indescribably different; if I had to try, I would say that 'y' is made further back in the throat and sounds almost more liquid, perhaps? I love language geeking). This is good. I still can't hear, at all, the difference between 'a', 'aa', 'ä' and 'ää'. This is a wee problem. (Well, not in any real sense, since I don't forsee myself travelling to Finland in the near - or even relatively distant - future, and also I can't actually speak Finnish, apart from a few phrases and quoting song lyrics which I do not understand. Anyway. It's annoying.) Possibly it's something that will never happen; I read something somewhere about the ability to differentiate between different sounds being fantastic when you're a very small child, but as you get to around 7 or 8 you focus in on the specific sounds used by your mother tongue, and are actually unable to differentiate between sounds which aren't part of your set. Ah well.
I find this so interesting, you know? Sometimes I think about this and wonder why, since I'm so fascinated by language and grammar and linguistics and speech, did I choose to study maths and physics? Hmm? Why? Originally, I fell in love with Physics. And now, you know, I still like Physics, but it's like a good friend. We had a bit of a thing, once, and at the time we thought it was forever, but really we don't think the same way, we don't have the same views on life, and although he's a good friend, he's not the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.
Maths is like the friend who I always liked, in a quiet sort of way, we got on well, and sometimes we misunderstood each other, and I thought that once we went to university we'd keep in touch, but we wouldn't be anything special to each other. But I was wrong, because maths is always there, and we've grown so close, and I love maths, I really do, he makes so much sense, and he makes me smile, and we spend a lot of time together. It's a long-lasting friendship, and it could be more, perhaps, but at the moment we're both happy with what we have.
Language is the friend who was always very close, we grew up together in fact. I love her very much and she's a good friend, and I thought for a while that we'd be good togther, I was thinking about it, and then Physics came along and swept me off my feet. I sort of thought it wouldn't work out between us, anyway. But then we turned out to have so much in common, it was suprising how much*, and we talk to each other almost every day, and I'll always love her very much. And now I'm realising more and more just how much I love her, and I think I want to spend more time with her, but I'm not sure how or in what way or if this is really a good idea.
(Music, for completeness, is the passionate ex: we went out for a while, but she wanted to tie me down, she wanted commitment, and I wasn't ready for that. We had a rocky relationship, and eventually we realised it wasn't working out and we said our goodbyes. And then we spent some time apart, and now we're over it, and we still see each other sometimes, and sometimes we fall madly in love for a weekend, and forget each other by Tuesday, but we're both ok with that now. Whatever happens, we always meet up for coffee at choir.)
Also I had to make the bi-textual joke sometime. I had to. Because I love the word. (Strange, really, as I don't like the word '(bi)sexual'.) And also it's been amusing me all year that everyone talks about being 'straight Physicists' (i.e. not NatSci, not studying anything but Physics) and oh yes, I really am that juvenile. Hee.
*Read: I did far better in the A-level French literature paper than I expected, and what's more, I enjoyed it.
Ahem. In normal, non-being desperate for a baby polar bear of my very own sort of news, I am inanely proud of my ability to hear the difference between the Finnish 'u' and 'y' (the latter is indescribably different; if I had to try, I would say that 'y' is made further back in the throat and sounds almost more liquid, perhaps? I love language geeking). This is good. I still can't hear, at all, the difference between 'a', 'aa', 'ä' and 'ää'. This is a wee problem. (Well, not in any real sense, since I don't forsee myself travelling to Finland in the near - or even relatively distant - future, and also I can't actually speak Finnish, apart from a few phrases and quoting song lyrics which I do not understand. Anyway. It's annoying.) Possibly it's something that will never happen; I read something somewhere about the ability to differentiate between different sounds being fantastic when you're a very small child, but as you get to around 7 or 8 you focus in on the specific sounds used by your mother tongue, and are actually unable to differentiate between sounds which aren't part of your set. Ah well.
I find this so interesting, you know? Sometimes I think about this and wonder why, since I'm so fascinated by language and grammar and linguistics and speech, did I choose to study maths and physics? Hmm? Why? Originally, I fell in love with Physics. And now, you know, I still like Physics, but it's like a good friend. We had a bit of a thing, once, and at the time we thought it was forever, but really we don't think the same way, we don't have the same views on life, and although he's a good friend, he's not the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.
Maths is like the friend who I always liked, in a quiet sort of way, we got on well, and sometimes we misunderstood each other, and I thought that once we went to university we'd keep in touch, but we wouldn't be anything special to each other. But I was wrong, because maths is always there, and we've grown so close, and I love maths, I really do, he makes so much sense, and he makes me smile, and we spend a lot of time together. It's a long-lasting friendship, and it could be more, perhaps, but at the moment we're both happy with what we have.
Language is the friend who was always very close, we grew up together in fact. I love her very much and she's a good friend, and I thought for a while that we'd be good togther, I was thinking about it, and then Physics came along and swept me off my feet. I sort of thought it wouldn't work out between us, anyway. But then we turned out to have so much in common, it was suprising how much*, and we talk to each other almost every day, and I'll always love her very much. And now I'm realising more and more just how much I love her, and I think I want to spend more time with her, but I'm not sure how or in what way or if this is really a good idea.
(Music, for completeness, is the passionate ex: we went out for a while, but she wanted to tie me down, she wanted commitment, and I wasn't ready for that. We had a rocky relationship, and eventually we realised it wasn't working out and we said our goodbyes. And then we spent some time apart, and now we're over it, and we still see each other sometimes, and sometimes we fall madly in love for a weekend, and forget each other by Tuesday, but we're both ok with that now. Whatever happens, we always meet up for coffee at choir.)
Also I had to make the bi-textual joke sometime. I had to. Because I love the word. (Strange, really, as I don't like the word '(bi)sexual'.) And also it's been amusing me all year that everyone talks about being 'straight Physicists' (i.e. not NatSci, not studying anything but Physics) and oh yes, I really am that juvenile. Hee.
*Read: I did far better in the A-level French literature paper than I expected, and what's more, I enjoyed it.