new member

[Guest guest]

Hi Rita,

Welcome to the list! I'm not diabetic either, but I also need to lose weight.

I have diabetes on both sides of my family. I also am totally blind due to

Leber's Contenital Amaurosis. I hope you enjoy the list. I think it's

woderful!

Regards,

Mindy

[Guest guest]

Thank you Mindy for the welcome. Do you find breakfast your most

difficult meal? While neither of us is diabetic, I suspect if we do not

watch it, we may well become so.

Any quick breakfast ideas out there?

Rita

[Guest guest]

Hello ,

Welcome to the list. I too am interested in languages, particularly " artificial "

ones such as Esperanto (which is actually harder to learn than its diehard

adherents would have you believe).

I'm curious, do you have a particular method for learning so many different

lanagues at the same time? Whatever you're doing, I'd like to give it a try

myself.

New Member

Hello everybody

My name is Dave, I'm from London and recently formally DX'ed Aspie.

Not that I hadn't known it for years, of course. I've been lurking

for a bit, but I've now decided it would only be polite to announce

my presence.

I must say I'm pleased to find some discussion of anti-fascism and

anarchism on this list. I'm a bit of a leftie myself.

What else about me? Recently emerged from an eight year obsession

with chess, and am currently obsessed with languages. I'm trying to

learn about six at one time, which most of my NT colleagues seem to

think is stupid but kind of makes sense to me.

I actually think aspie obsessions are great. At least we get to go

into stuff in real depth, unlike those superficial NT wusses.

As for the thread on friends ... well, I can take 'em or leave 'em.

I do have one or two, believe it or not. But I suspect that at least

one is undiagnosed AS.

But it's not as if I need buddies particularly. I'm quite happy with

an exchange of emails twice a year. I guess that even counts as

closeness ;-)

That's about it, really. I'll pitch in on any topics that interest

me, and not those that don't.

AS greetings to all

Dave

[Guest guest]

Hi and Jane

Well, the way I figure it ... and everyone else thinks I'm mad ...

the main European languages are all strongly related.

So I take my topics in two groups:

(1) French/Spanish/Portuguese/Italian

(2) German/Dutch

To my aspie mind, to study any language in either group is to study

all of them, because of the similarities of vocabulary and grammar.

Just to take one example, the future tense in all of group (1) is

built by using the infinitive of the verb + the endings from the

present tense of avoir/haber/haver/avere. Remember that in

Spanish, 'b' is pronounced as 'v', and you can see this is plainly

the same verb. Once you get this idea once, you get it all four

times.

The same goes for vocab. Horno (oven) in Spanish is Forno in

Italian. Komen in Dutch is Kommen in German, and 'to come' in

English. And so on and so forth, for thousands of words. I just do

what aspies are good at, and systemise. I make up little flash cards

making comparisons and revise them over at coffee break.

Actually, I spend several hours a day on languages where possible. I

use my commute to work or whatever to play language tapes. Get up

early to sneak an hour's reading in. Whatever it takes.

It's working, too. Not overnight. But slowly. I can now read

newspapers in all six languages and, depending on the language and

whether or not the newspaper is upmarket or downmarket, understand

anything from 95% to getting the gist.

What I am most pleased about in having languages as an obsession is

that this is actually useful, especially compared to chess.

I think artificial languages are an interesting concept. I gather

there are many of them, not just esperanto and volapuk, but dozens,

with specialist journals devoted to them. I bet aspies are behind

several of them!

Dave

> Hello ,

>

> Welcome to the list. I too am interested in languages,

particularly " artificial " ones such as Esperanto (which is actually

harder to learn than its diehard adherents would have you believe).

>

> I'm curious, do you have a particular method for learning so many

different lanagues at the same time? Whatever you're doing, I'd like

to give it a try myself.

>

>

> New Member

>

>

> Hello everybody

> My name is Dave, I'm from London and recently formally DX'ed

Aspie.

> Not that I hadn't known it for years, of course. I've been

lurking

> for a bit, but I've now decided it would only be polite to

announce

> my presence.

> I must say I'm pleased to find some discussion of anti-fascism

and

> anarchism on this list. I'm a bit of a leftie myself.

> What else about me? Recently emerged from an eight year

obsession

> with chess, and am currently obsessed with languages. I'm trying

to

> learn about six at one time, which most of my NT colleagues seem

to

> think is stupid but kind of makes sense to me.

> I actually think aspie obsessions are great. At least we get to

go

> into stuff in real depth, unlike those superficial NT wusses.

> As for the thread on friends ... well, I can take 'em or

leave 'em.

> I do have one or two, believe it or not. But I suspect that at

least

> one is undiagnosed AS.

> But it's not as if I need buddies particularly. I'm quite happy

with

> an exchange of emails twice a year. I guess that even counts as

> closeness ;-)

> That's about it, really. I'll pitch in on any topics that

interest

> me, and not those that don't.

> AS greetings to all

> Dave

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I wouldn't be surprised if Zamenhof and Schleyer (the originators of Esperanto

and Volapuk, respectively) were at least a little bit Aspie. Especially

Zamenhof. Esperanto was more than just a language to him, it was a crusade, a

lifelong obsession--*the* sole means of achieving world peace. He even composed

the lyrics for an anthem (La Espero) and created a flag. He and his followers

spoke of " Esperantujo " (the collective body of Esperanto speakers) as if they

were a nation in diaspora. As do many Esperanto speakers today.

You're correct that there are several such languages. There's Ido, a reformed

version of Esperanto (from " Esperantido " -- " derived from Esperanto " ) as well as

Interlingua (designed primarily to be a scientific language) and a relatively

new one called Romanova, a pan-Romance constructed language. The most

interesting, which I believe predates Esperanto, is Solresol, which is based on

music. Each syllable of a word is a musical note (do, re, mi, fa...) and can be

spoken or sung.

I'd better stop. I'm going into stim mode just typing this. Hard to rock and

type at the same time...=)

Re: New Member

I think artificial languages are an interesting concept. I gather

there are many of them, not just esperanto and volapuk, but dozens,

with specialist journals devoted to them. I bet aspies are behind

several of them!

Dave

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I can understand studying that many languages at once, but can you

speak them? My problem is that whatever language I studied most

recently is sort of my default foreign language and it is really hard

to switch to another one I know when speaking.

I'm not fluent in any foreign language, but can get the gist of

conversations in German, French, Spanish (my weakest knowlege),

Mandarin Chinese and Russian. I can say basic things, like where I

live, etc fluently, but really don't have a good grasp on Russian

grammar at all, it's horrible.

I'm really happy to have my little smatterings of language abilities,

they have helped me many times.

Right now I'm trying to work on Russian, and hoping that Ukrainian

won't be toooo far off.

If I ever add another language, I am thinking about Polish, since it

is so similar to Russian.

Camille

[Guest guest]

osler_david danced around singing:

>Well, the way I figure it ... and everyone else thinks I'm mad ...

>the main European languages are all strongly related.

>So I take my topics in two groups:

>(1) French/Spanish/Portuguese/Italian

>(2) German/Dutch

They *are* strongly related: the first group you mention is part of the

Italic family of language descendants, the second is part of the Germanic

family. They in turn are both descended (along with many other language

families) from the central ancient language Indo-European. That is also

why so many words across languages are almost identical except for one or

two letters.

You can learn a lot about historical linguistics (etymology) through the

many links here:

http://directory.google.com/Top/Science/Social_Sciences/Language_and_Linguistics\

/Historical_Linguistics/

You might find these two sites interesting in particular:

http://www.ancientscripts.com/hl_families.html

http://www.celebratefriendship.org/language.htm

(I used to know a lot more about this, but it's been since 1998 that I

studied it, so I am quite rusty!)

DeGraf ~*~ http://www.sonic.net/mustang/moggy

[Guest guest]

--- osler_david wrote:

> Hello everybody

> My name is Dave, I'm from London and recently

> formally DX'ed Aspie.

> Not that I hadn't known it for years, of course.

> I've been lurking

> for a bit, but I've now decided it would only be

> polite to announce

> my presence.

> I must say I'm pleased to find some discussion of

> anti-fascism and

> anarchism on this list. I'm a bit of a leftie

> myself.

> What else about me? Recently emerged from an eight

> year obsession

> with chess, and am currently obsessed with

> languages. I'm trying to

> learn about six at one time, which most of my NT

> colleagues seem to

> think is stupid but kind of makes sense to me.

> I actually think aspie obsessions are great. At

> least we get to go

> into stuff in real depth, unlike those superficial

> NT wusses.

> As for the thread on friends ... well, I can take

> 'em or leave 'em.

> I do have one or two, believe it or not. But I

> suspect that at least

> one is undiagnosed AS.

> But it's not as if I need buddies particularly. I'm

> quite happy with

> an exchange of emails twice a year. I guess that

> even counts as

> closeness ;-)

> That's about it, really. I'll pitch in on any topics

> that interest

> me, and not those that don't.

> AS greetings to all

> Dave

>

Hi Dave,

Welcome!

My 14 year old son and I are both AS, and my

sons' first real obsession was between the ages of

3-6, when his interest was sharks and only sharks.

Shark movies, shark books, shark toys, drawing sharks,

etc. That was my first time of experiencing remarks

from others about his 'oddness' (although at the time

his interest didn't seem odd to me at all).

Anyway, welcome to the list... I'm currently

re-discovering an older obsession, drawing.

Nanne

=====

" Let's go get drunk on light again---it has the power to console. " --

Seurat

[Guest guest]

Camille

Yes, I do have the same experience. I guess you never learn to speak

fluently unless you get to live somewhere a language is used. And

I've never had the chance, or rather, I once had the chance and

didn't take it.

I've also dabbled in Slavic languages, and found Russian difficult.

But I went on a business trip to Poland earlier this year and got up

to basic taxi/hotel/restaurant level Polish. It seems to me there is

a lot of cognacy. Learning Polish - in the roman alphabet - seems a

sensible way into Russian.

> Hi,

>

> I can understand studying that many languages at once, but can you

> speak them? My problem is that whatever language I studied most

> recently is sort of my default foreign language and it is really

hard

> to switch to another one I know when speaking.

>

> I'm not fluent in any foreign language, but can get the gist of

> conversations in German, French, Spanish (my weakest knowlege),

> Mandarin Chinese and Russian. I can say basic things, like where

I

> live, etc fluently, but really don't have a good grasp on Russian

> grammar at all, it's horrible.

>

> I'm really happy to have my little smatterings of language

abilities,

> they have helped me many times.

>

> Right now I'm trying to work on Russian, and hoping that Ukrainian

> won't be toooo far off.

>

> If I ever add another language, I am thinking about Polish, since

it

> is so similar to Russian.

>

> Camille

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I've been a silent observer of this mailing list since my employment

situation changed around 6 months ago. Anyway I live in Fife, Scotland, but

have relatives in the London area. Must confess to having some very

antiestablishment views myself, but from a distinctly detached aspie

perspective. So while I firmly oppose the latest batch of wars waged by the

cabals hiding behind Bush and Blair and see through the rhetoric about

defeating despotic regimes (whom our governments used to arm) or

humanitarian crusades (how can they establish democracy in Iraq when any

democracy here is a mere publicity stunt?), differ from much of the left on

unlimited growth. It' smply impossible in a finite world with dire

consequence in an age of overconsumption and an unparalleled human

population.

I was officially diagnosed around 2 1/2 years ago. Life is an uphill

struggle for us aspies in an increasingly presentation-oriented world where

compulsive lying is the order of the day. Just hope our campaigning may

bring about some changes to redress the balance.

Welcome to the group and let's hope your input may inspire more discussion.

Neil

New Member

> Hello everybody

> My name is Dave, I'm from London and recently formally DX'ed Aspie.

> Not that I hadn't known it for years, of course. I've been lurking

> for a bit, but I've now decided it would only be polite to announce

> my presence.

> I must say I'm pleased to find some discussion of anti-fascism and

> anarchism on this list. I'm a bit of a leftie myself.

> What else about me? Recently emerged from an eight year obsession

> with chess, and am currently obsessed with languages. I'm trying to

> learn about six at one time, which most of my NT colleagues seem to

> think is stupid but kind of makes sense to me.

> I actually think aspie obsessions are great. At least we get to go

> into stuff in real depth, unlike those superficial NT wusses.

> As for the thread on friends ... well, I can take 'em or leave 'em.

> I do have one or two, believe it or not. But I suspect that at least

> one is undiagnosed AS.

> But it's not as if I need buddies particularly. I'm quite happy with

> an exchange of emails twice a year. I guess that even counts as

> closeness ;-)

> That's about it, really. I'll pitch in on any topics that interest

> me, and not those that don't.

> AS greetings to all

> Dave

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hey Cool,

Where were you in Poland? I want to go to Krakow. Some day.

> I've also dabbled in Slavic languages, and found Russian difficult.

> But I went on a business trip to Poland earlier this year and got

up

> to basic taxi/hotel/restaurant level Polish. It seems to me there

is

> a lot of cognacy.

Learning Polish - in the roman alphabet - seems a

> sensible way into Russian.

>

>

Pravilnah (if I picked the right word, it means " true " )

Russki yazeek ochen troodnah.

Kameela

[Guest guest]

I live in FLushing it is near Flint. But I would be willing to find a

central location to all of us and drive out once a month. What city do

you live in?

[Guest guest]

>

> Welcome ,

>

> Sorry you have so much pain, I can sure understand that. I am here

if

> you need someone to talk to, hugs Tawny

>

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate that. I need some good friends

[Guest guest]

>

> I live in FLushing it is near Flint. But I would be willing to find a

> central location to all of us and drive out once a month. What city

do

> you live in?

>

Im in new carlisle Indiana near 30 oaks or niles michigan or south

bend i think thats pretty far from flint ill check....Total Est.

Time: 3 hours, 21 minutes

Total Est. Distance: 216.29 miles lol well it could be worse

Rose

[Guest guest]

maybe we could all set a date and get together yearly. And everyone from the

group who can make it comes. What do you think?-

brokenwingers wrote:

>

> I live in FLushing it is near Flint. But I would be willing to find a

> central location to all of us and drive out once a month. What city

do

> you live in?

>

Im in new carlisle Indiana near 30 oaks or niles michigan or south

bend i think thats pretty far from flint ill check....Total Est.

Time: 3 hours, 21 minutes

Total Est. Distance: 216.29 miles lol well it could be worse

Rose

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

I just joined this group and thought I'd tell you a bit about myself. I am 47,

married 21yrs, and have four wonderful boys, 28,18,16, and 14. I love animals

and have quite a few...mostly dogs now...I have 12.

I suffer from chronic back pain due to generative disc disease and depression

among other this and thats...but it's my back that is my biggest worry. I had

lower back surgery in '95 and I was ok for a few years, then the pain came back

and everything was status quo until recently. I woke up one day, about 6 wks

ago, in horrible pain and my right foot was swollen and hot and so painful

(both) I couldn't walk.

To keep a long story short, I had another MRI and the doc found significant

damage to my back, he ordered more x-ray (flex) and wants to refer me to a

surgeon.

The surgery I had in '95 was horrible, the pain was intolerable and it was

aweful, I do not want another surgery and that's where I am right now. I'm

having the x-rays next week, then back to the back doc, then...I don't know.

What I do know is that I am in incredible pain, I'm getting worse, and I am

unable to do much of anything anymore. I finally had to hire some help to keep

up w/my life and I'm very frightened...and alone.

My family is very supportive, especially my husband, but they just don't

understand the pain I live with or how much it hurts to make dinner, or how much

it kills me that I can no longer do the things I used to do and WANT to do.

I look forward to meeting you all.

Be well

Zandra

Zandra

All I am and all I have, is a Blessing for which I am thankful, All my pain

and all my loss~~~the hardest way to remember I am Blessed.

Please check out my Yahoo! 360

[Guest guest]

Hi Zandra,

glad you found you found this group, I know you'll really like it here.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I am too and I already feel very comfortable here. Thanks!

Zandra

sqbear2 wrote:

Hi Zandra,

glad you found you found this group, I know you'll really like it here.

Zandra

All I am and all I have, is a Blessing for which I am thankful, All my pain

and all my loss~~~the hardest way to remember I am Blessed.

Please check out my Yahoo! 360