Bizzle, Boojie, and our various forms of communication

Sorry for the extended absence. Ironically, now that I am back to work, I have some extra time to update my two blogs more frequently. I figured I would start with this one, to update you all on some of the more recent additions to our own unique Clark language.

First of all- Bizzle. As many of you know, this is a rip off from Ebonics (if you grant that there is, in fact, such a language). We looked it up in the Urban Dictionary, and apparently it's a substitute for any word starting with the letter B, though generally it's the traditional "B" word, meaning a canine of the female gender. I thought it was funny to sound all ghetto just after Jack was born-but the problem was, only I saw the humor in sounding like I was from the "Hood," whereas Laura thought it was mostly annoying. That was until we realized just how funny it was when Jack was the one that was sounding like he was a hardcore gangsta. As is our custom, we speak for Jack just like we do Kutch (though we give Jack a nicer demeanor). It started to really take off on our awesome Disneyworld Vacation with Scott and Laura, and it has stuck ever since.

The next nonsense word we use to describe our awesome son is "boojie." There really isn't that much mystery surrounding this particular adjective, save that I started calling Jack this after about a month of his being in our family. I really ave no idea where it came from, to be perfectly honest. I just know that I thought it sounded like a good baby word, and so I stuck with it. It has since taken on a meaning of its own, probably closest to "huffy" or "naughty," with bizzle taking on the opposite meaning. So, for instance, Laura will arise in the morning, come out to where Jack and I are chilling, and ask "Is the Biz being a boojie or a bizzle today?" And I will respond with the appropriate adjective to describe our awesome son.

And that brings me to my last little thing. I am aware that Laura and I talk in a child-like voice more often than, say, children, especially around people we are comfortable with. Should this bother you, I apologize, though I will say that we have no immediate plans to change this form of communication. I have found that, generally speaking, it allows us to put a completely non-confrontational spin on just about anything we say, and that is effective for allowing us to avoid... well... confrontation lol. Plus, generally speaking, it's just fun. Laura and I have a very good relationship, and part of it is that we are able to look at difficult thins with a positive attitude, and the childish voice is a part of that outlook. So, although we are trying to be more aware of our using it in public, we probably won't be stopping it any time soon.

Thank all two of you who will read this post!

Kutching's Voice

As many of you know, we have a crazy little cat named Kutching (this is the Malay word for, you guessed it, "cat"). We love our crazy Kutch, and have developed a really funny means of personification of his "personality" into a high-pitched voice that "speaks" for Kutch whenever he does something we think worthy of being spoken for, i.e. running up and down the halls, sitting, standing, walking, eating, playing, climbing up on the shelves, etc...

Laura has wanted to get a cat since we got married, but we were unable to until we got our condo (our first apartment wouldn't allow pets). We went to the Humane Society and got two little kittens, Picabo and Kutching. In one of the sadder nights of our marriage, Picabo suffered from Feline Distemper, and died about a week after we had brought him home. Kutching, though devastated from the loss of his brother, never showed any signs of being sick, as has remained healthy to this day.

It was around this time that Laura's family stumbled about the "talking cats" YouTube video, which towards the end has a black cat "talking" with subtitles. I don't know if the subtitles are responsible for making my mind think the cat is saying what it's saying, but we does really sound like he is saying things like "Oh my dog" and "Why I eyes ya," etc. etc.

This high-pitched voice formed the basis of our "voice" for Kutch. It's similar to the way that Izma, the villianess of Emperor's New Groove fame, sounds when she is transformed into a cat-and as such, Kutch's personality, or the personality we have ascribed to him, has the feel of an emperor, once powerful and glorious, that is now stuck in a house cat's body. One also thinks of Salem, the wizard-turned-cat in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch series (I thought Melissa Joan Hart was hot when I was younger, so sue me).

All of this leads up to the Kutch we now know and love, who stands at the top of our cabinetry in the kitchen, and proudly declares "Yes my subjects! Make food for the Kutch's delight and pleasure!" or better yet, as he is laying on our lap and cuddling with us while we watch a movie, "Do not watch the magic box! Pet the Kutch! That is your duty!" I think Laura does the best job at approximating what I think is Kutch's personality, but we both get a kick out of it, that's for sure.

So, in closing, here is one more example of how Laura and I find joy in the most odd places, and yet they are a hilarious part of our lives. Kutch, Heaven bless him, is an awesome part of that life as well!

Oh Mah DAWG!

Another phrase that I am sure that you have heard from Laura and me is "Oh my dog!", usually pronounced something similar to "Oh mah DAWG!" in a pidgin slang. This little catch phrase comes from silly little YouTube video, wherein a black and white cat seemingly talks to the video camera filming it--it's hard to tell if you are hearing what the subtitles are saying you are hearing, or if the subtitles make your ears hear what they think they should hear, but it really does sound like the cat is talking (for reference, search "talking cats" on YouTube, and you should find it pretty easily).

This versatile little phrase has stayed in our repertoire for a little over a year now, and can mean any range of things, from disappointment to excitement, depending on the inflection of the voice used. I think this is actually quite common for most of our catch phrases, but it still does make for a fun time. The little things like this are what makes life enjoyable, and is a really silly but awesome part of the relationship that Laura and I have--stupid little phrases like this can ease tension in a heartbeat, can pass time in long lines, and cause us to laugh ourselves to sleep. I am lucky to have such a fun life!

Where the name of this site originated

If anyone happening to come across this blog is familiar with World of Warcraft, you might actually recognize this little phrase. "Oh noes!" is a common expression said by many in the Warcraft gaming community to express feigned horror at some commonplace mishap. For example, should your character die while trying to do a quest or perform some task, this would be an example of something you might find said "Oh noes! That kobold totally wtfpwnedroflstomped me!"

This catch phrase caught notice of the Blizzard design team, who had a quest created with the title name of this blog. In it, you run around saving baby Murlocs (toad-like creatures that are usually unfriendly) from cannibalistic relatives. In Laura's and my vernacular, we have adopt the phrase "Ohnoesthetadpoles!" as an expression similar to Homer's classic "D'oh!" to make it known that we are frustrated, but in a funny I-am-not-really-angry sort of way. It is one of the many ways in which we find pleasure in the silliness of life, and learn to not take ourselves or our situations very seriously!

Why this site?

Dear Friends-

This site is dedicated to chronicling the funny little antics that Laura and I enjoy every day. In an effort to keep our catch phrases and silly little sayings in order, and to catalog where exactly these phrases come from, I am starting this blog.

First off- the "Bitings?!" phrase. This started a few month ago as Laura and I were sitting in bed. We were in a silly mood (as is usually the case just before we go to bed), and Laura looked up at me with those cute puppy-dog eyes and said "I want to bite!" and I said "Who, me?" To which she replied "Yes! But not hard..." So I offered her my arm, and as she proceeded to bite, I said the following (to which Laura nodded in agreement after each question) "Bitings? But not hard? But bitings? Okay!" After which Laura inhaled a deep, contented sigh, and we laughed hyterically for a long time. Weird? Absolutely. But it sure was funny at the time, and illustrates the silly little interactions that I so love with my dear wife.

So here you are! A blog dedicated to telling all about the crazy things that my wife and I do. Enjoy the posts as they come!

-Steve