Finally feeling human again

The past few days I have been pretty much a walking Tempurpedic commercial. (Have I mentioned lately that I love my mattress? I must go hug my mattress.) Today, I finally feel like I'm pretty much back in this time zone. I did need an afternoon caffeine top-up, but that was probably as much due to the meeting I went to as anything else. I am also feeling mostly caught up on work things, which helps.

The best comment on my vacation was from my colleague, Chris, who walked into my office and said, "You don't look nearly dirty enough!" I assured her I had taken about 6 showers by the time she saw me.

Now, if I can keep my eyes open long enough tonight, I might get through balancing my checkbook and paying bills and the like.

R.I.P. Eyak

The Washington Post had a brief obituary today of Marie Smith Jones. The significance is that she was the last native speaker of the Alaksan Eyak language.

One day historians will look back at the crimes of colonialism and, I believe, will find the death of languages to be high up on the list. At the same time, final speakers carry some complicity since they made the decision not to pass the languages on to their children and grand-children.

My parents were quite deliberate about not speaking Yiddish to us, for example. My mother has some regrets regarding this, but she also remembers the humiliation of not knowing English when she started school. I like to think it is possible to raise truly bilingual children, but those were less enlightened times.