"The Saturday after Thanksgiving"

When we make plans with people, does our interpretation of language with regard to time alter based on what part of the country we reside?

Just yesterday, I, who am originally from Nebraska, was making tentative plans with someone, who has always lived in Ohio. She's back in school, has already reached the burnt-out stage, and said, "The Saturday after Thanksgiving (when finals are over), we're going out and getting plastered!"

I laughed, and said, "Sure, sure. That sounds like fun," before thinking about what she just said and realizing I'll have family in town Thanksgiving weekend (Wednesday through Sunday), so I had to ask, "Wait, which Saturday is this? You said the Saturday after Thanksgiving, right? If it's THAT Saturday, I'll have family in town, so it might need to be the following weekend, if that's okay..."

She chuckled and said, "Oh, that's right - you're a Nebraskan. I'm not talking about the Saturday over Thanksgiving weekend, but that next Saturday." She then teased me about being technical and precise.

I then asked my mother, "Okay, this is a random question, but if you were making plans with someone, and he or she said, 'We should do something the Saturday after Thanksgiving, what day would you think he or she was talking about exactly?"

She paused, before saying, "Uh, two days after Thanksgiving."

I then laughed, told her the story which prompted me to ask her the question in the first place and said, "Ah, well, I'm glad to know it's not just me then."

She chuckled, and then said, "No - maybe Ohioans are special or something."

I've always been very technical and precise, sometimes in order to be a smart aleck and other times because I just like giving people the clearest image possible, so it minimizes the risk of a misunderstanding. Whether I'm technical and precise or not, however, I have a hard time understanding how, when told I should do something with another the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I should know to take that as two Saturdays after Thanksgiving. Last I heard, Thanksgiving is celebrated on a Thursday and correct me if I'm wrong, but Saturday comes after Thursday during the course of a week. So, when someone says, "We should do something on the Saturday after Thanksgiving," for some strange reason, I think they're talking about that Saturday over Thanksgiving weekend, which would be two days after the holiday.

The next time she goes vague on me with plans or I'm not sure whether or not she's being vague, the conversation may go a little something like this:

Her: "We should do something the Friday after Christmas."

Me: "So long as Armageddon doesn't strike us, there will be many Fridays after Christmas. Were you talking about that very next Friday? One in early-January, mid-February, late-June perhaps?"

Her: "Smarta*s!"

Me: "I know - so seriously, which Friday? That very next one?"

Her: "No, silly - the one after that! Duh!"

Me: "Ah, now I get it." ::confused look on my face::

Another look at "The Nightly Show" with Larry Wilmore

After its first week, I gave The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore a B+ grade. While I didn't think the show appeared to be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I also liked the Daily Show meets Politically Incorrect vibe I got from it, and thought, with the proper adjustments, the show would indeed provide a great fill-in for The Colbert Report . In the show's succeeding weeks, however, I've been less impressed by it and think that if it doesn't make certain adjustments, it could be in jeopardy of losing many long-time viewers of the show's time slot. One major issue I think the show's had to this point is a lack of direction. It's been unable to decide whether it wants to be a comedy show with serious conversation sprinkled in or a serious show with comedy sprinkled in. It's almost as if the show's writers want to give The Nightly Show a Real Time with Bill Maher feel. The problem with that idea or format is the fact Real Time is an hour lon...

My first book review of "Penetrating the Heart of Life: Ambiguous In Thought, Ambivalent In Feeling"

Well, I received my first book review on this poetry-compilation book I completed and published late last year, but have finally gotten around to marketing now. The reviewer gave it 5 out of 5 stars and said: "I enjoyed the poetic journey the writer has taken me on. From darkest days and hopeful optimism to the conclusion of hope realized. The visual images that the poem titled "Room Temperature" elicits, made me think of the song, "Horse With No Name" sung by the band America. In a similar manner, another poem – "Deafening Sigh-lence" reminded me a great deal of Simon & Garfunkel’s song, "The Sound of Silence". There are so many poems in this book that I related to, that I felt a connection to the author and felt that we were traveling on this journey together." http://www.lulu.com/shop/craig-rozniecki/penetrating-the-heart-of-life-ambiguous-in-thought-ambivalent-in-feeling/paperback/product-18677501.html

A closer look at the Scramble With Friends power-ups

I am unashamed to admit that I'm a nerd. My idea of a good time is playing a word game like Boggle or Scrabble. Thankfully, I (and many others) can play such games via Facebook and/or my (our) cell phone(s). While it seems that cheating has become more commonplace in these games (Words With Friends in particular) than San Diego has had nice weather, I've yet to give in to that craze. One element present with the game Scramble With Friends (Boggle) not present in Words With Friends (Scrabble) are legal boosts called "power-ups," which cost a number of tokens from the 15 available. I've now tried all five power-ups, including the latest one which costs money. So, in case anyone's curious about playing the game or giving these power-ups a gander, here's a rundown of them all: Freeze - I think this is probably my favorite of all the power-ups. With the freeze, time stands still for a matter of seconds, which allows you more time to find words and improve...

The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

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