Skipping and poking head for a selfish question in English:

The word "commemoration" - to which ceremony exactly does it refer to? During the funeral? A certain time after the death of the person? Can it mean either one?

My brother needs it for something he's translating. He asked me if I could ask English speakers, since he checked in all the dictionaries he knows. Naturally, I thought of you guys. Thanks, in advance!

I don't think it refers to any particular ceremony. I would only use it to describe something that happened after the funeral, even many years after (for instance, you could commemorate John F. Kennedy's death now).

For a ceremony at the time of the funeral or near to it, I would use "memorial service."

I guess a funeral or memorial service connotes a personal ceremony, for the whole person, while a commemorative ceremony would be for the deceased person's public achievements or public persona.

Just my take, not an expert.

Freddo and simmit:

I love the idea of "OMGWTF" license plates.

Shortly before leaving Virginia I saw plates that read "PIZDETS." Which is the word for "cunt" in Russian.

Just read the Legal Urban Legends article. I had heard that the large punitive award from the jury was because, when the victim's injuries were described as "severe burns on the inside of both upper thighs and on the groin region," the McDonald's attorney said something to the effect of "What's the big deal? It's not like anyone's going to ever see them."

I was hoping to get that story confirmed or debunked, but the article just said "McDonald's had a callous attitude."

Hivemind: Chase Visa is evil and, more to the point, a big pain in my ass. (Latest payment gone missing, Chase refuses to remove late fee and finance charge despite the fact that we have always paid our bill in full for 10 years - in other words, we're not their ideal customer.) And due to corporate eviltude, they now own both our household's non-bank-debit-card credit cards. I want to escape their tyranny. Can anyone recommend a non-evil, non-likely-to-be-bought-by-Chase credit card company? We only need credit cards for cash flow management and purchase of things online with purchase protection, otherwise we'd just go with the bank debit cards. Is switching credit cards a credit report Bad Thing?

Unfortunately, in Albanian "car" means cunt. So when you speak to your Albanian colleagues in English about your motor vehicle, you call it the macchina.

Is switching credit cards a credit report Bad Thing?

Nope. We switch all the time, doing the dance of 0% introductory offers. Unfortunately, I can't recommend any credit card companies; near as I can tell they all suck.

I've heard that it's good to have a long-standing credit card, credit-report-wise, but I don't have any real information.

Shortly before leaving Virginia I saw plates that read "PIZDETS." Which is the word for "cunt" in Russian.

I bet they get turned in eventually. Where did I see a series of letters written to DMVs about offensive plates? smokinggun or someplace. It was funny.

License plate in a predominantly Jewish suburb of Chicago:

ES DREK

(sp?)

which means "Eat shit" in Yiddish.

So does "drek" = shit or is it "dreck" (since you had a "(sp?)" in there?

My parents' license plates said "LEFTYS." as they were both left-handed and both Lefties politically. My dad was incredibly proud of that one.

Now off to have cold blueberry tart for breakfast. This vacation thing is AWESOME. So far: We saw a good play at the Williamstown Theatre. Drove through gorgeous scenery. Wandered around Great Barrington. Visited our old college (Bennington) and only got gut-wrenchingly nostalgic when we went into the old dressing room at the theatre which looks EXACTLY the same. Helped make an appetizer of figs stuffed with cheese and wrapped in prosciutto and roasted for dinner last night--killer. Sat on her screened porch with the lights off and watched a gigantic and dramatic thunderstorm. Also talked and talked and talked. We have been friends since 1976 which blows both our minds.

Robin, sounds like an excellent vacation so far!

flea, I have the American Express Blue card, which is pretty low key, decent interest (though I don't pay much attention, 'cause we also pay it off every month) and I pay online so's to avoid the lost payment issue. I also get Delta miles. There's no annual fee and they haven't pissed me off.

Tom and I also have Citi cards, which can be paid online, but have incurred annoyances with the following: 1) forever sending me checks to pay off other balances 2) they appear to have started charging a 95-cent fee for international transactions. But, minor, and you can get points to go to gift cards for Bed Bath & Beyond or Home Depot or any number of things.