Splitting Headache

After 5 hours of plugging away on a fellowship application, my head is beginning to throb mightily. It's going pretty well, but there are still many hours of work remaining to be done on it before it is at the point where I'd be comfortable submitting it. Any of my awesome linguistically-oriented peers willing to be a critical set of eyes for me? I'd give you free license to shred it and tear me a new one! (and I know you've ALL been secretly wanting to do that for a L-O-N-G time :-P)

In other news, the Scion has apparently been lethargic/sleepy/unable to keep any food down since about 5p this evening. We don't really know what's going on, but he's not unhappy, doesn't appear to be running a fever, and is smiling gently to himself almost continually, so we're trying to avoid being too worried. (Knowing him, he's probably dreaming of staring at Mommy's nipple, while not actually nursing...that seems to be his new thing.) He's also due for a set of shots tomorrow in the a.m., so we can address it with the pediatrician at that point.

Finally, I just thought I'd share a new discovery with y'all. On my way home from the library I was listening to a CD my brother lent me entitled "Dark Passion Play," by the band Nightwish. Sound creepy? Well, they are. Apparently they're a Finnish heavy-metal band, but you might not know it if you only heard selected tracks from their album. Several songs appear to be opera, some sound like sacred music, and one even sounds like schmaltzy top-40 stuff. The tenth track, "The Islander," sounds like your standard Celtic folk tune as performed by any random ceilidh band.

The best, however, is the eleventh track, "Last of the Wilds." It's got BAGPIPES (!!) and a PENNY WHISTLE (!!) playing over thrashing, driving heavy-metal chords and wailing (whaling? I swear, on no fewer than three occasions I had these bizarre visions of Capt. Ahab involved in a high-speed chase sequence on the high seas, complete with lightning flashes illuminating Moby Dick's tail fin as this music rocked in the background...) guitar solos. Truly, an experience not to be missed!

Interestingly, the vocals and rhythm guitar work on tracks 3-4 remind me a TON of the classic-rock band Kansas. Dunno why. Check out their song "Amaranth" and let me know if you hear it, too.

One final note: mad props to HwoarangRR and Cindemu for their uproarious exchange regarding this video. (As HwoarangRR warns, it may be NSFW, depending on the standards of your workplace..)

All I have to say, Cindemu, is that your sample script caused me to, quite literally, noseshoot my Cheerios. No mean feat, that!


As a parting gift, a photo of the Scion, Mongrel, and Yours Truly from Christmas morning: