Bringing Lunda to the World (albeit Chovu-Chovu)

      Halloa, fantabulous blogsters!  For those of you who don't know me personally, I once was a youthful health volunteer in Zambia for the Peace Corps.  Stationed up in the Lumwana East area of Northwest Province, where the language Lunda was king (actually, sharing the throne with Kikaonde).  I was obliged to learn it at an intermediate level, suitable for professional interaction.  With mixed success, mind, but as I was learning I was asked if I would speak it back in Americaland.  While at the time I thought it was a silly notion (one can't even find the vocab for Lunda online, so far as I can tell) I've since wondered why not?  I have the language books, and I've got a mild dusting of the know-how left over.
      Presenting:  Lunda Word of the Day, via my Twitter account.  Every day (maybe twice, if I'm feeling adventurous) I'll add another word or phrase for public consumption.  I suppose there won't be much rhyme or reason to my word choices, just whatever strikes me for the day.  If nothing else, it's a pleasantly selfish jaunt down memory lane.  If something more, it's a verbal injection of a particularly obscure dialect into the online consciousness!

Amba-amba, y'all!

A Bit About the Twit (And Other Such Twings)

          So I've been delving into the wonderful world of Twitter the past month or so.  Yes, the Twitscape, primordial pond of new words, up-to-date ideas, and mistaken identities; a sort of hundred-forty word newsprint personal of the moment.  Without looking up Twitter protocol any place in particular, I've been able to pick up a few of the mores.

Firstly, there're such things as pounds and at (plural), or # and @, respectively.  And that if you want to pound a word phrasing (non-jocularly, of course) one has to mash said phrase the gether.  So 'short stories' becomes #shortstory, the Mod Squad becomes #fashion, etc.  And all-the-gods-that-are forbid you quote something without an appropriate @originofthought.  Of course, that's the first rule of scholarship... cite yon source.

Also underpinning the Twitter universe is one's notoriety.  I've found that unless a body has more followers than followees, that body is schmobody, or maybe twobody... not quite grasped the lex as of yet.  Currently I'm batting at a low .216 so far.  Also!  Have you noticed that there are lots of spammers about on the Twitscape?  Like, supposed gals who follow to be followed (as twit-cordiality dictates) then pipe on about relationship advice and torrid sex talk, in between pushing scam link-ups.  Maybe that's just the me, but it smacked odd at first glance.  Second glance and I understood, of course.  Large nets cast over the e-seas of loneliness, I suppose.

Obligingly taken from http://kaitlinring.wordpress.com/tag/culture/

More like than not, she'd kyped it from elsewhere... Is that libel?

Of course, for all you lonely folk out yaar there's good news on the news horizon!  Nightcaps are good for older women, apparently.  Yes, slosh a tall one down an attractive over-forty (possibly younger-fifty) and enjoy a bit of chat, gnosh, and romance.  Takes the edge off of that distant, less-than-hermetic online world, one might say.

But that's the Rudian day of the now; although the GOP debate (or debacle) certainly raised my eyebrows here and there.  The Obama 2012 train seems set to roll onwards, potentially under the slogan "Really?  This is their candidate??"