Brian Alone

So I went out today to buy some laundry. Yes laundry SOAP. When I started having a conversation with one of the people in my head (yes I talk to the people in my head, and no, none of them think I'm crazy) about whether it was laundry soap or laundry detergent. After much debate, we decided to go with laundry soap.

Do you ever notice all the different words people use for the same thing? Like, when I first moved to Idaho, people would talk about taking their snow machine up to Jackson. At first I thought, why? Jackson has plenty of snow already. You don't need to bring your snow machine up there to make more snow. It's a ski town anyway, they should have their own snow machines. It turns out, a snow machine is what we from Minnesota called, snow mobiles. Speaking of snow mobiles in Minnesota, did you know that if you go fast enough, you can actually drive your snow mobile over water?

One time in college I took a class that was supposed to be about the different American dialects. Well, I guess it was about that, but the promotional poster for the class led me to believe it was going to be somewhat more fun than it turned out to be. The poster said something like, "Is it a sub or a hoagie? Is it a pop or a soda? Why do people use the words they use? Find out by taking this class." It caught my eye one day and I thought, hmmmm, why do I call it pop instead of soda? And why don't people just call it a sandwich? Despite my vast college experience I did not see the warning signs that pointed to this not being a class that I should take. It was listed as an upper level linguistics class. Upper level meaning I would have to think about stuff and then write 10 page papers talking about what I was thinking. Then linguistics meaning I will have no idea what I'm supposed to be thinking and writing about. Some how I managed a B out of the class. I think the professor felt sorry for me because I would come into her office everyday with a look of utter confusion. Then I grouped up with one of the grad students taking the class who "didn't mind" doing the entire final project himself. I just had to show up on the last day and nod my head thoughtfully throughout our presentation. Ahh, I so do miss the college life.