Rrrrrrrrrr is for

The mission: to name ten or more things I love beginning with the letter designated to me by the mostest lovely Nimuë. That letter? For me, it’s R.

1. Revolution. Change is sometimes is just needed that bad. And I have a particular affinity for any left-wing revolution in Latin and South America. Yes, I happen to actually think that Che Guevara was a hero. So was Castro, once upon a time (the Cuban revolution went a wee bit wrong, all factors considered but that’s another story).

2. Randy. I just think this is a pretty funny word. It makes me giggle. And it’s not like I’m someone who has to talk about sex in a whisper or giggles at the first mention of it. “Randy” just makes me think of someone wiggling their butt and saying “Grrrrrrrr!” in a goofy sort of way.

3. Radical. Okay, so this one is in the same vein as Revolution. Por supuesto, of the lefty rather than right-wing variety. If forced to name my political party I will grudgingly admit to “progressive” Democrat, but really I’m just a radical at heart. This word has the beauty of also pertaining to the root of a plant, although perhaps that is spelled radicle. Roots are, of course, are way interesting and very neglected (that thing they do, grow underground, makes ’em kinda hard to study). I did my master’s thesis on roots. Which led to a lot of people giving me books with “root” in the title.

4. Rotund. For me this word evokes the Happy Buddha. Which makes me smile. It’s like karma.

5. Reminiscence. I like to relive old, happy memories. Apparently I also like re-living old, bad memories since I seem to spend a lot of time doing that in the middle of the night. When I’d rather be resting. [je-je]

6. Rodeo. Makes me think of my childhood, when we went to rodeos with my dad. And did you know, we had holidays from school called Rodeo Days for when the rodeo was in town?! Gotta love Arizona. Don’t think I could really go to one now though…too much animal abuse for my tastes.

7. Rendezvous. Cos it’s French. And I can’t speak French and so I say it in a fakey French voice/accent. And, god help me, I think that’s funny. If you can’t laugh at yourself…

8. Rapscallion. This is another word, like rotund, that is very evocative. Almost otomatopoeic. Not quite, really. But it is fun to say and could it mean anything other than what it does? No.

9. Ranch. I was born on one and lived my first years on it and then spent the years of elementary school on another one. I miss them sometimes. Once when I was in junior high I found myself crying cos I missed “home” which meant the ranch.

10. Rant. I rant a lot. Yesterday I was driving home from the post office (cos the post office is a really fun place to spend an hour of your time, let me tell you, what with everybody and their hermana sending Xmas, Hannukah presents!) and NPR had a story about the so-called EPA’s new rule that allows factories, etc to emit more chemicals into the environment without having to make any detailed reports and they are allowed to release more of them. I ranted for quite some time. My rants usually include yelling at people who can’t hear me and a lot of swearing. It makes me feel slightly better although it doesn’t accomplish much more. But I usually follow up by writing letters to congress types, etc. Not that this does a lot of good, but if I don’t do it. Then I’m almost guilty due to my silence.

11. Rápido corren los carros del ferrocarril. I’ve included this even though not all the words start with r because, well, the rr’s are the most important feature of each of the words, save los and del. My brother Bear and I used to say this all the time when we were wee kids – I think it’s meant to help children to roll their r’s. These days Bear (whose Spanish is really very good, mine pales and droops in comparison) says it to his son, Osito, while changing Osito’s diapers. Apparently, rolling one’s r’s is something best learned as a child. It drives the sqvirrel nuts that he cannot roll his r’s!