Monthly Archives: May 2012

Natural States

See it as you will,
It’s in no way wrong or right,
Just due to who I am, how I’m made,
I’m firmly anchored in the light,
It’s no fight to stay here,
Just an act of nature,
As is your dance with darkness,
Doh-see-dohing twixt night and day,
Keeping black dogs at bay,
Not a choice, but a natural state,
To which I can sometimes relate,
Though not really understand,
Still,
I can stretch forth my hand…….

See! See?

Insight. It’s a simple word,
Whose meaning is quite often blurred,
When you can’t see past your nose.
So wrapped up in feeling hurt;
Your victim mode on high alert,
To see you’re “one of those”,
One of those who come what may,
Just can’t see the role they play,
Blame others when you step on your own toes,
So try and try as others might,
There’s just no way to force insight,
You’re so wrong you can’t see right,
Drowning in your  “woe is me”,
You’ll need more than therapy,
To ever help you see!  See?

WOTD: invigilate

It’s a verb innit, and it’s what I’m doing right now.

Its root word is the noun “vigil” which is defined as 1. “a watch kept during normal sleeping hours” or 2. “the act or period of observing; surveillance.”

Therefore, to invigilate someone or something is to keep an watchful eye on it. The word is used particularly to describe the act of observing people taking exams.

Several interesting words rhyme with invigilate, thusly:

Is is necessary,
To invigilate.
Though it does not,
Really stimulate.
So be wary,
And do concentrate.

Observations: Swedish Customs

I’ve been living in Sweden for almost seven years so I’m pretty well assimilated by now. Naturally, there are a few things that still bother me, but I’ve gotten used to them. I’ve written previously about Systembolaget (the “System Company”…uh..yeah) Sweden’s outdated monolithic alcohol monopoly, but it’s certainly not unique to Sweden. With the notable exception of Denmark, all Nordic countries, including Iceland, have their own alcohol monopolies. Parts of Canada have similar systems in place as well. For all its flaws, it’s really not that bad. It has a huge variety of fermented grain and grape-based beverages. When my mom and grandmother and cousin came to visit me last year from the States, oh how they marveled at Systembolaget. They thought it was fantastic!

Anyway, this is more of an observation than a complaint, but one Swedish custom that I find kind of weird is the practice of saying congratulations to someone when it’s their birthday. Where I come from (America) the word congratulations is used when someone achieves something truly great or commendable, such as having a baby, or graduating from college, or getting promoted at work. Having a birthday is not really commendable unless you consider having lived another year to be a worthwhile achievement. When someone says congratulations to me when it’s my birthday I always say thank you, but I feel like saying, “For what? I haven’t done anything important. I just survived.”

Nothing special about that.