Speaking Of English, Speaking In British

by Kevin Burton    Not smashing, not daft, something mid-table I’d say, to use a football analogy.    I thought I was ready, so I had a go, with middling results.    Every day Merriam-Webster sends me an e-mail to help me watch my language.  A few weeks ago they announced “The Great British Vocabulary …

Did Gilbert O’Sullivan Launch Disco Era?

by Kevin Burton    There have been many theories to explain the rise and fall of disco music. Here’s a new one for its rise:    Disco music exploded in the mid-70s as a direct result of “Alone Again Naturally” by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan.    OK, so I can’t prove I’m right, but you …

Patience Lets God Be God And Work In Us

by Kevin Burton    We sometimes have guest bloggers on Page 7. Maybe this should have been one of those times. Why?    We’re talking patience, not necessarily my strong suit. You could ask my wife about that.    The apostle Paul listed some elements in Galatians 5:22-23. They are evidence of a life being …

My Bilingual Doubletalk In Mexico

by Kevin Burton    My career as an English as a Second Language teacher came to an abrupt early end one night under the streetlights outside a small taco shop in Puebla.    To tell you how and why that happened, I first turn to BBC writer Nicole Chang, who recently wrote about what speaking …

Studying Social Interactions Of The Blind

by Kevin Burton    A North Carolina State University research study offers tips for blind people on how to make social interactions less awkward.    I found the story by NC State’s Matt Shipman on http://www.medicalxpress.com.    “A recent study highlights the range of uncomfortable situations people living with blindness or visual impairment encounter due …

K&J Points: Our Mercurial, Floating Currency

by Kevin Burton    I was born in the heyday of S&H Green Stamps. By God’s grace I have lasted into the era of bitcoin.    I learned barter by baseball cards before I ever heard the word barter. I used to get fistfuls of Pesos for teaching Mexican nationals how to speak idiomatic American …

The Bell Tolls For Olivia And For Me

by Kevin Burton    There is a picture of Olivia Newton-John that haunts me.    The picture is of her at the end of “Grease,” her character Sandy riding in the car with Danny, John Travolta’s character.  She turns around and waves at the camera as they ride off into the high school and movie …

What Blindness Is, What Blindness Isn’t

by Kevin Burton    You feel sorry for me?  I feel sorry for you.    We all see what we want to see, full vision, partial vision or no vision. I can’t take in data with my eyes, not very well anyway. I’m doing OK though. And you?    You have no concept of what …

Yay, Comma, Football Is Back, Period

by Kevin Burton     Remember the interjection song from Schoolhouse Rock?    The song says interjections are “generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point, or by a comma when the feeling’s not as strong.”    Well I was feeling pretty sheepish about this, but I said the sentence “Yay! Football is back” …

Baseball And Radio, A Perfect Pairing

by Kevin Burton    The greatest marriage of all time marks its 101st anniversary today. May death never part the two.    The two I speak of, baseball and radio. Baseball on the radio has been a comfort to millions of Americans all their lives.  Baseball was the national pastime, radio a sort of national …