Lake of Ja Mountain

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AI Way with Words

Martha: Welcome to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I'm Martha Barnette.

Grant: And I'm Grant Barrett. Today we're going to talk about a fascinating aspect of sociolinguistics: how language is used by gangs in the United States.

Martha: So, let's dive in and explore some of these linguistic constructions and their significance.

John: Today's quiz is all about language usage in two iconic American gangs - the Crips and the Bloods. So Grant will be from the East Side, and Martha from the West Side. Are you ready to get started?

Grant: Yeah, let's get it.

Martha: Absolutely, let's do this.

John: Alright, let's start with the Crips. The name "Crip" is derived from a common pronunciation of the word "cripple," but the gang has also developed their own unique vocabulary. Can you tell me which of these words is a real Crip term?

A. Crip-tonite B. Crip-walkie-talkie or C. Crip-hopper

Grant: Hmm, I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that 'crip-tonite' might refer to something that's really hard to resist for members of the Crips gang. Maybe it's a certain type of drug or a weapon that they commonly use?

Martha: But I think 'crip-hopper' might actually be a dance move that members of the Crips gang perform. You know, like a variation of the popular hip hop dance style?

John: Well, I'm sorry to say that you're both wrong! The correct answer is B, Crip-walkie-talkie. It refers to a communication device used by Crips during criminal activities.

Now, let's move on to the Bloods. The name "Blood" is derived from their signature color, but the gang has also developed their own distinctive language. Can you give me a Bloods-style sentence using the word "boolin'"?

Grant: “I'm gonna go boolin' with my Bloods tonight.”

Martha: “I love boolin' on the weekends with my crew.”

John: (chuckles) You two are really getting the hang of this. The correct answer is "I'm gonna go coolin' with my Bloods tonight." "Boolin'" is actually a Bloods term meaning "chilling" or "relaxing.”

Alright, let's do one more. This one is a bit trickier. Can you give me a sentence that incorporates both Crip and Bloods lingo, using the words "crip" and "bluds"?

Grant: "I'm feeling crip and need to handle some bluds with my crew."

Martha: "My favorite color is crip blue, but I love handling bluds with my Bloods."

John: (laughing) Oh boy, you two are really getting creative with these sentences! The correct answer is actually "I'm representing my crip while handling my bluds with my crew." It means "I'm showing my loyalty to the Crips while taking care of important business with my gang."

Well, that's all the time we have for today's quiz. Thanks for playing along, Grant and Martha, and thanks to our listeners for tuning in!

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Stumped

    Life had been good for a while. One year faded into another, and the past year had been much the same. It was a year of hard labor, a fruitful harvest, and a winter in our cabin, warmed by the wood from the trees on our land. However, come this spring, little remained of the crop. The once sprawling stacks of seasoned logs were so depleted that their only evidence was the sporadically strewn sticks and bark that littered the ground. This is what had recently been burning on the odd cold morning.

    But this couldn't continue. We knew that if we wished to survive, to create a settlement, and to bring forth another generation, we'd have to immediately start work and begin stocking up again. The last few years hadn't been quite as productive as those before, so we'd made investments in new tools. We had axes and saws, ropes, chains, horses, and anything else that you might imagine would be useful for felling, hauling, and chopping lumber. Despite all of this, we would see the smallest crop yet. The land simply wasn't ready. Besides a couple trees, some saplings, brush, and grass, the land was bare.

    By the time winter rolled around again, there was little left to do. In the past, when things had been good, I would spend my days hauling fresh trees from the forest and he would process them. But as the supply dwindled, we spent our days together smoking pipes, drinking shine, and cutting down what was left.

    "So," kicking around a stone on the ground, and then turning back towards my home, I asked, "what's on the chopping block today?" It seemed like a reasonable question, as there didn't appear to be anything suitable in sight. We had just about cleared the lot.

    He stepped off the porch, ax in hand, and sat down on a makeshift bench. Leaning back and bringing his pipe to his mouth, he rested his foot on the upright log. The thump of his boot on the block marked the first beat of an all too familiar rhythm. Singing along, I let out a small grunt and hoisted her above my head. The sun, just peaking over the distant mountains glimmered on the tip of her recently sharpened blade. The crescendo broke, something snapped within me, and I pulled her down with all my might.

    Now, I'm a humble man. I work hard and I take care of my tools. That ax head parted his flesh like Moses and the red sea. And by red, I mean red. It was so red. I've never seen blood pour from a womb like that before, and I've birthed--I mean, I've killed--I've killed cattle, I've killed hundreds of chicken, once killed a man, and I've even slaughtered a lamb. And his bone, that shattered like God himself cracking the sky just overhead. I felt his leg deforming and snapping in my very core. Still, she continued on and bit down at least an inch into the wood. I left her there, not wanting to disturb the scene.

    As his heart beat slowed and his life began to leave him (you could see it in the spurting river flowing from his stump) I broke my gaze from his freshly severed foot and looked towards my father. He was looking down and shaking his head in that knowing way. I knew I'd messed up, and this certainly wasn't the first time I'd let him down.

    With a soft chuckle he replied, "I guess that answers that."

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I found two of your earrings today.

They weren’t a pair, 

but they sat together for years

in my box of change,

waiting to be discovered

and promptly thrown away. 

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"I can't draw."

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Doomsday Bloomsday

Esbe's Wanderlust from Bloomsday superimposed on historical footage of US nuclear tests.

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Ƨ?¿Γ?7

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I've wrapped a giant dodecahedron with christmas lights

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We have built a 7 ft tall PVC dodecahedron. It has a 9.5 ft maximum diameter 30 edges meeting at 20 fittings and a total of 100 ft of PVC.

This is going to take a lot of lights.

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River Snake

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Stenciled Stellated Dodecahedron Printer ink on paper