Everything & Anything

Usually, on my birthday, I switch off my phone. Yes. No calls, no texts, no BBMs, Whatsapps or whatever instant messaging service that's in use. No emails. NOTHING. I am cut off from the world for the better part of a day. I do not go online either. Usually. For the past twelve odd years, that I have done. And on at least seven of my last birthdays, I have been "away" - mostly by design. It is not that I do not celebrate my birthdays - I do - but not in the conventional way. I don't do cakes - I remember my then two-year old daughter looking around the dining area and living room and asking "Mummy, where is your birthday?" and me telling her that it was "birthday cake" and that Mummy didn't do birthday cakes. She gave me a measured stare, the only way a two-year old can, and told me in a very stern voice "Mummy, when it's MY birthday, you MUST do cake, okay?" and marched back upstairs with what I swear was a shake of her head,...

When I was about eight years old, I found out that the past tense of "hang" was not only "hung" but "hanged" as well. I don't remember the details, but it was in the course of a conversation with my late father. He said something about someone being hanged. And I asked if he did not mean to say that the person was "hung". He said, no, he did not mean to say "hung" because it would not, in this case be correct. Not correct? Why? I asked, a bit confused. I was certain I had not heard or read the word "hanged" before. My father just said that when used in reference to the act of hanging a human being, the correct tense was "hanged". I wondered if that applied to animals too. He laughed and said I needed to find that out for myself. I accepted it but my curiosity was not fully satisfied then, nor is it now and, even after trolling through different internet explanations, I still do not know if it would be "han...