WORD history The word ketchup exemplifies the types of modifications that can take place in borrowing—both of words and substances. The source of our word ketchup may be the Malay word kechap, possibly taken into Malay from the Cantonese dialect of Chinese. Kechap, like ketchup, was a sauce, but one without tomatoes; rather, it contained fish brine, herbs, and spices. Sailors seem to have brought the sauce to Europe, where it was made with locally available ingredients such as the juice of mushrooms or walnuts. At some unknown point, when the juice of tomatoes was first used, ketchup as we know it was born, But it is important to realize that in the 18th and 19th centuries ketchup was a generic term for sauces whose only common ingredient was vinegar. The word is first recorded in English in 1690 in the form catchup, in 1711 in the form ketchup, and in 1730 in the form catsup. All three spelling variants of this foreign borrowing remain current._________________________________________________

As I grew up we were at times poor and when we ran out of bologna( yes, baloney) we would just have ketchup sandwiches. Which I still like, though I would just as soon have the baloney too.

So lettuce ketchup.

      As some of you know, I went to Lyon in September for the Spencer Tunick installation there. Upon retuning home I had managed to get a really nasty cellulitis in my right leg and an osteromylitis in my left foot.

     I went into the hospital on the 28th of September, got out on the 7th of October and didn't go back to work till Dec 5th. As my disability insurance was badly handled it did not come in till the week after Christmas. By then we were behind in many bills, not the least the cable bill and so we were off line. We are very slowly begining to catch up.

    I've been to several movies, read a lot, and otherwise tried to keep occupied.

 The Lyon photos were exhibited as part of the Biennale, and just last week Spencer's works at Newcastle-Gateshead went on exhibit at the Baltic. His planned installation for Caracas, Venezuela was postponed till March 19th.

 My job has been much the same though I have had three clients die in the last few months, all of whom I was fairly close to. Betsy had one of her's die that she knew well too, but he was 97.

The cats are well, as are the kids. Betsy's dad had knee surgery last week and she is going to be gone next week to help at home for a week.

Having been off line for a few months I've lost touch with some of my e-friends, but I have been slowly retuning to activity in the MSN Group.

So I have been tired and up and down emotionally. The weather has been great for January, and so far this year we have had only a bit over 31 inches of snow, much less than usual. Lets hope it stays this way.

So on with my blog. No baloney! ( Or not too much anyway)