good word of the day: frank

Meaning: 1. [Noun, proper: Franks] A member of the Germanic people who conquered Gaul about 500 AD. 2. [Noun, common] A small, smooth, bland-tasting sausage commonly served in an elongated bun. 3. [Adjective] Brutally honest, straightforward, without sugar coating in speech or writing. 4. [Verb] To stamp a postmark cancelling it, or to stamp an envelope in some way permitting it to be delivered free of charge. 5. Sarah’s father and one of the best of men.

Notes: Today we get a bargain: at least four distinct words for the price of one. However, as the Word History will show, if we explore their backgrounds, we find that they all come from the same source. Franking is another word for postage, especially free postage, as in the case of the franking privileges of the members of the US Congress. The adverb for the adjective sense is frankly and the noun,frankness.

In Play: I just can't ignore the opportunity to use this word in most of its meanings in one sentence: "Frankly, Frank, this frank I'm eating isn't worth the franc I paid for it." The franc, of course, is the basic monetary unit of France and Switzerland. Frankly, I think one sentence containing three of this word's senses is enough examples for today.

Word History: All of the meanings of today's Good Word, believe it or not, originate in the same Old Germanic word which probably meant "free". It was first recorded in Medieval Latin in reference to the Franks but also as an adjectivefrancus meaning "free". The land of the Gauls conquered by the Franks kept the latter's name, France today, and in all probability the Franks were called "the free ones" because they were the conquerors. For whatever reason, they were associated with freedom and, in particular, speaking freely, hence the sense of the English adjective. The postal application originally referred to stamping an envelop for delivery free of cost. A little Frenchman was known as a Franciscus in Late Latin and this word went on to be Francis and Frances in French. Francis was reduced back to Frank in English. Frank the hotdog? This frank is a clipping of Frankfurter, referring to a sausage originally made in Frankfurt, Germany. This city is located by an ancient ford used by the Franks and hence picked up the name Frankfurt am Main "the Franks' ford on the Main". (Frankly, we need to thank Rebecca Casper heartily for suggesting such a fascinating Good Word.)

where do i begin

For the last nine months, I have resisted the temptation of a little indulgent reading, simply because if I started a good read in a moment of weakness, homework or studying would not happen until I finished. As delightful as that would be, it would have the potential of setting me back and I worked too hard to stay on top of things. So, I have completely avoided any temptation and appearance of temptation for nine long months. Occasionally, I liked to live vicarious through others and read book reviews on blogs or at goodreads.com. A little stroll through a book store was always a treat. I liked to pretend I was seeking for something intelligent and irresistible. It doesn’t quite satisfy, but it is diverting and it tided me over.

Now finals are done and I am able to delve into something good. But where do I begin? So many good books, so little time

Funny thing is, now that I am done I am not quite sure what to do with myself. I can’t seem to shake this looming feeling that I should be doing something, and I can’t quite figure out what it is. After nine months of always having something I should be doing, its not easy for me to just relax and sit around doing nothing without feeling guilty. Good thing I start work on Monday. I’m excited to have something to do during the day and then I get to go home and do whatever I want. NO HOMEWORK!!! Yippee!! Now, where do I begin?

purging and love

One of my favorite things to do at the end of a semester is PURGE! I love to clean out and send to the recycle bin all the class notes I won’t ever look at again, assignments with scores I don’t ever want to see again, handouts I saved because I thought I would need them…but nope I don’t need them…you get the idea. It’s like losing 10 pounds overnight. And it feels so good to clean out and start fresh. When living with roommates the end of the semester also meant white glove and check out. Although it sounds awful, some brainless manual labor can be a refreshing after hours of studying and finals. And it feels good to clean out the grime that has been building up the whole semester. (Physically and metaphorically.)

When I was going through files on my computer I found this. At first I didn’t remember where it came from, and then I remembered I let my little sister (the only one I can still say that about since she is the only sibling I have who is still shorter than me.) type on my computer one afternoon a few weeks ago and this is what she came up with. Kids are profound.

Does anyone really Know the true meaning of love? Well it means to stay with a person and promise to protect each other and stay with them until they die, well I guess that a coppel can get in a fight, but they stay together. That is love.

 

good news moment

Since day one of the MPA program the pressure has been on to find an internship. (I’m not kidding, SINCE DAY ONE.) Although, I talked like I was searching for a internship throughout the fall semester, in actuality, I was too busy trying with…oh you know…graduate school. And this semester was no less busy. So every now and then I apply for a few random internships just to say I tried, and in the back of my mind hoping I wouldn’t find one because I wanted a break and I wanted to play all summer long. I know… That is very responsible and adult-like of me, but hey, is it my fault that the economy is down and the job market is bad. What’s a girl to do??!) 

Well, good news. I have an internship/job for the summer and I am super excited for it. It is one that I randomly applied for just because that was what I was suppose to be doing. And I never thought I would actually get it. The competition was too high. (MBAs and MPAs.) The internship is with BYU Human Resources in the Development department. They called me right in the middle of my busiest week to set up an interview, “Oh, and will you please prepare a presentation on something that you can share with us.” Me-“Sure, I’ve got plenty of time.”(Yes, that was sarcasm you heard.)  Well, I prepared a presentation and it was actually more fun than any of my other presentations and projects that I was suppose to be working on. I presented on Experiential Education. One of my passions. 

The interview went well and after learning more about what the position consisted of, I realized I really wanted it. I mean really, really, really wanted it. It was right up my alley. Training and development. For the next week I tried hard not to get my hopes up…while praying with every fiber of my being. And then it happened. I got the phone call with the best news ever. They offered me the position. Wow!!! Really??!! YESSSSSS!!!!

This is going to be a great summer. I get to work 40 hours a week in a great department, getting experience in what I like to do, and guess what…I’ll get paid to do it. Another perk for me is that I get to work for BYU. No, I don’t get to go to DC, NYC, LA, or any other cool place like my fellow MPAers. I’ll be here in pokey Provo. But I am interested university administration and this internship will be a great opportunity experience to some of the ins and outs of a university. And I will be able to continue working through the fall. Blessing! More to come on it later. It is past my bedtime and I need to get up in  a few hours.

Tchau

Good Word of the Day

• serendipity •

Part of Speech: Noun, mass

Meaning: 1. The act of making a fortunate discovery by capricious or quixotic accidence. 2. The discovery of one thing while looking for another.

Notes: Serendipitous is the adjective, and serendipitously, the adverb that accompanies today's noun. A person given to serendipitous discovery is a serendipitist, if you want to push the derivations that far. Serendipity is a word that is a bit ironic and often slightly misused. For a discovery to be serendipitous, you must not be looking for the object of the discovery in any way; in fact, you might even be looking for something else.

In Play: It is not serendipitous that the cookbook you ordered arrives the day of the big dinner to which you invited your boss. This is just good luck. However, if you spoil the sauce for your cutlets and your boss's wife turns out to be a gourmet chef at a French restaurant who would just love to help out, you are then dipping into the serendipity. "What serendipity! I was looking for my car keys and stumbled across a pair of glasses I lost last year."

Word History: Today's Good Word comes from a fairy tale called The Three Princes of Serendip by the 18th-century British author Horace Walpole. The three princes were always making fortuitous discoveries of things they were not looking for. Serendip was the former name of Sri Lanka. (If it wasn't serendipity it was certainly our great good fortune that Vicenzo suggested today's quirky little bit of lexical caprice.)

(This was actually The Good Word of the Day on 3/27)

heteroscedast-a-what??

Heteroscedasticity (No, that wasn’t a sneeze.) is an actual word that is used in statistics. Heteroscedasticity  comes from the Greek and Latin roots Hetero meaning different and skedasis meaning variance or dispersion. Heteroscedasticity (It really is a lot of fun to say.) occurs when the variance of the dependent variables varies across the data. Or in other words when a variable has a wide variety or variance.

An example I found that helped me understand it a little better is income versus expenditure on meals. As one's income increases, the variability of food consumption will increase. A poorer person will spend a rather constant amount by always eating fast food; a wealthier person may occasionally buy fast food and other times eat an expensive meal. Those with higher incomes display a greater variability of food consumption.

I would probably be a variable that has heteroscedasticity. I am not constant and I like a variety of things.

See you learn something new everyday.

DTR with…

General Conference couldn’t have come at a better time. There are so many things I have been thinking about, praying about, and so many questions I would like answered. I’ve been talking with God a lot lately. More than the regular morning, night, meal times, and other times in between. And in my conversations recently with Him I feel like I am the one doing all the talking. So I am sincerely looking forward to just listening. Listening for eight wonderful hours and hopefully receiving answers to my questions. It’s kind of like having a DTR with God. That’s a thought that came to me the other day. What would it be like to have a face to face DTR with God? (For those who aren’t familiar with the lingo DTR stands for Determine The Relationship.) I think it would be great to talk to Him face to face and find out exactly where I stand with Him. And to have Him specifically and directly tell me what more do I need to do and what I need to especially improve on. And how I do it. I’m not a bad person but I know there are always more I could do and things I could improve on. Conference is always a great time when I am reenergized and reminded of what is important. Don’t miss out. It’ll be good.

Happy Listening. And Happy Easter.

S.

PS. Isn’t Easter candy the best?! Peeps. Chocolate rabbits. Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs. Cadbury Mini Eggs. It’s all good. I don’t know what it is about it, but of all holiday sweets I love Easter the most.