Miki Shaw's blog

Shiny

Once again I've volunteered (or rather, been coerced) to do "site decoration" for Limmud conference this year. And  like every past year, I've got very little time and not that big a budget either. So I'm trying to think up some cheap but bold way to add a bit of visual interest to the main areas; the two conference bars.

Good Barnet citizen that I am, I went to the local "civic recycling centre" today to recycle my plastic milk cartons. (I've not managed to track down the local milkman yet, so I'm still buying milk from supermarkets). And while I was there I spotted a designated "CD recycling" bin. So, with permission, I duly emptied it into my car. (And proudly brought home 4 times as much junk as I'd taken down there in the first place. Result!)
CDs are so shiny and perfectly formed! Surely they are ideal decorating material, right?

IMG_1911

Exhibit A:
Here's a photo of the Kingly Court (and Carnaby Street) christmas decorations from 2004. They used a large number of plain CDs to make mirrorball-esque mobiles.

The bountiful web has yielded other decorative ideas for recycling CDs (for more, google "CD craft")

I like the "candle display" and "scratch board" suggestions. I'm not keen on the ones which require sawing / drilling / breaking - too much hassle. Although this mirrorball is fab.

Anyone else got nifty low-budget decorative ideas to share?

"Why is she hating on me for?"

I overheard the above on the tube a few weeks ago. I can quote it verbatim because it's been popping into my head ever since.
I guess this is youf speak. (The fact I'm even labelling it this way, shows how old I am... sigh)
When I first heard it (said by a teenage girl twice to her friend), I had to chew it over for a while to get my head round what was so weird about it - and yet mysteriously compelling at the same time.

Two points of syntactical interest:
1. "why is ... for" - this really feels wrong to me. I'd say "why does ..." or "what is ... for" but never "why is ... for". Must be an English syntax thing.
2. "hating on me" - (I realise this isn't a new phrase - but I've only heard it or seen it in fiction.) Actually I like this construction because it shows how active "hating" can be. I'd have just said "hate me". "Hating on" a person is less abstract and detached than just "hating". In my head I see it as dumping a steaming pile of dung-ish hate on said person's head. An arresting image.

So if I'd been the speaker, I'd have said "why does she hate me?" or "what does she hate me for?" but neither of these have the impact of the original.
Youf speak is more eloquent than I thought.