Just the FAQs

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about ForExample.

Why do you have a weblog? Do you think it makes you cool or something?
The original goal of our weblog was to provide our friends and family who don't live near us with glimpses of what we were up to. Erik's odd work schedule made it difficult for him to visit with his loved ones frequently and Gillian does not know how to use a telephone. Now that we've been doing this for a couple of years, we've found that our new local friends like to read it, too. We hope that this blog will be an opportunity for our readers to react and interact by using the Comments feature.

What's a blog?
Blog is slang for weblog.

What's a weblog?
One blogger calls a weblog "a frequently updated, chronogically ordered collection of hypertext fragments, or a journal with the newest stuff on top." We just hope our weblog is easy to keep updated and not too lame.

What are tchotchkes?
Tchotchke is a Yiddish word meaning a trinket or a knickknack. More importantly, it's a staple in the vocabulary of Gillian's mother, Janet. From her we have learned that tchotchke is in the eye of the beholder. A tchotchke can be tacky, unstylish, or a little piece of crap, as one translation puts it, or it can be unique, wonderfully peculiar, or a little piece of treasure.

What other funny words does Janet use?
Yinny - Having the urge to eat something sweet, most likely Snickers

Conkey - Holiday decorations. Please note, conkey can be tchotchkes, but tchotchkes aren't usually conkey.

Rhizome - This isn't really a funny word, but Janet is the only person we know who can use it in a sentence.

Comments

[Pasta]

Perhaps, along with a love of Ganesh, the word tchotchke is also Janet-related.

[Pasta]

And maybe rhizome too. In fact I did an entire oral presentation on the ability of purple loosestrife to spread itself by attaching to the rhizomes of other plants!!

[Gillian]

Now that is precisely the kind of rhizome usage that only Janets can pull off.

[jen]

now i find it rather weird that you have commented on purple loosestrife, because that is what my best friend did on her senior thesis in college...