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Crystal Palace
Christmas Lights
Christmas Movie
New Shoes
Crystal Palace (14 December 2014)
All the photos were taken in October 2014 at Sydenham
I have been making an effort to discover
all the interesting parks around London. It is easy enough to see a
green blob on the map, but finding out whether it is a plain piece of
uninteresting grassland or a manicured park takes a little more digging
around, and an image search is the quickest way to sort out which ones
will be worth the time to go and see. Last October I visited a park
whose name conjures up all sorts of images, Crystal Palace, although if
you don't have an interest in history, this would merely be the name of
a London football team. I remember going to see the life-size Victorian
model dinosaurs there very many years ago, but could remember nothing of
the rest of the park, which I think we probably did not roam around at
that time, consumed as we were by our fascination with the prehistoric
beasts.
Dinosaurs
It was a breezy sunny* morning and we
rode in pleasant anticipation on the train to Sydenham. We were not
really expecting the weather to be so mild and the lateness of the
season made the day out even more appreciated, as it could easily have
been cold and wet at that time of year. We walked round the lake and
took pictures of the dinosaurs from every angle, more than 45 years
after the first visit, this time with our digital cameras and their
unlimited capacity for photos and movies. We then wandered up the hill,
past the sports arenas, and onto the site where the Crystal Palace once
stood. This is an entirely open grassy area, with only the ornate front
parapet and central stone staircase left to show the enormous size of
the building. The only reminders* of past days were two lonely and
thoughtful sphinxes and a few headless statues, and the only crowds,
other than a few walkers, were the crows, using the top of the parapet
as a small cliff face to perch on.
* "sunny" Always insert the vowel in sun/snow and sunny/snowy
* "reminders" Insert diphthong, as it could look like "remains"
There is a far-reaching view from the hill, over a mixture of distant
suburbs and countryside, not quite as magnificent as it must have been* in the eighteen hundreds* when it was all farmland and woods. We walked
the length of the building and although it was pleasant to be out in the
open in the sunshine, my thoughts turned constantly to what it might
have been like when the Crystal Palace was here, the noise, crowds,
exhibits, gardens and fountains. I think those people would hardly
believe their eyes, if they could see the site now, looking as empty as
it was before the building ever arrived.
* Omission phrase "as it must (have) been"
* "hundreds" Stroke N for "hundred" is used only with a numeral, not an
outline
The original Crystal Palace was situated in Hyde Park in London as a
showcase for the manufactured goods, trade, craftsmanship and artefacts
of the British Empire. The official name of the exhibition was "The
Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations" and ran from 1
May to 11 October 1851. There was much opposition to it at first, as it
would dominate the park, but as the structure was designed to be a
temporary one, the promise of its later removal and restoration of the
park grounds mitigated the objections, and the project went ahead. The
number of plans submitted was 245, all of which were rejected on grounds
of cost and insufficient time to build them, and the Building Committee
came up with its own version, which was equally derided by its
opponents. At last*, Joseph Paxton submitted his plan late in the day,
based on the large glasshouses that he had designed as head gardener on
the Chatsworth Estate. His modular structure was made entirely of iron
and glass, which meant it was easy to produce in the vast quantities
needed, extremely quick to erect and could easily be dismantled for
reuse once the exhibition was over.
* "at last" "at least" Always insert the vowel
Plaque on Joseph Paxton's plinth
The main building in Hyde
Park was constructed in the five months between the last day of July
1850 and the end of the year. It covered 19 acres and enclosed 355,000
cubic feet*. It was 1,848 feet long, 408 feet wide and 66 feet high,
with a transept 108 feet in height. It used 4,500* tons of iron, over
293,000 panes of glass, 24 miles of guttering and 60,000* cubic feet of
timber. It was built in nine months by 2,000* men, at a cost of
£79,800*. All this provided just under a million square feet of
exhibition floor space. There were 100,000 exhibits, and
the number of exhibitors was nearly 14,000, just over half of which were
British.
* "feet" Insert the vowel the first time, then
omit for the subsequent ones. If "foot"
was used that would need a vowel. "Foot" is often used when it is an
adjective e.g. "a 50 foot bridge".
* "4,500" You do not need to write in the Ith stroke, but if you find
you have already written it, just leave a small space, then write the 5
and its N stroke. Similarly with "79,800"
* "sixty" The outline is quicker than writing the numerals
* "2,000" A single outline/phrase is much quicker than writing numeral
two and a separate Ith stroke
The number of visitors was just over six million,
and three quarters* of a million of these were season ticket holders. It
was opened with great ceremony by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who
visited it regularly during the exhibition run. One slight problem was
the arrival and multiplication of sparrows, which were doing no favours
to the high quality and expensive exhibits located below their perching
places and under their flight paths. No-one knew what to do, until this
perplexing problem was eventually solved by Queen Victoria requesting*
the Duke of Wellington's advice on the matter*:
his answer was to
introduce sparrowhawks.
* "quarters" Optional contraction
* "requesting" Optional contraction
* Omission phrase "on (the) matter"
Profits from the exhibition were not great but they did fund the
building of many of London's museums, including the Natural History
Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Science Museum. When the
Great Exhibition closed, ownership of the structure reverted as agreed
to the manufacturers Fox and Henderson. However, even while the
exhibition was still running, Paxton had been hatching plans to reuse it
as a Winter Garden. His proposal to keep it in Hyde Park was turned
down, and so he formed a company to purchase the building and also a new
site on which to rebuild it. The building was relocated and re-erected
at Sydenham, beginning in 1852, in a much larger form, as a "Winter Park
and Garden under Glass" with extensive ornamental grounds and fountains.
It hosted every sort of cultural and educational* event and exhibition,
and was visited by two million people every year for the first 30 years.
* "educational" The diphthong is normally written outside the shun hook, but here it
has nowhere else it can be written
Visitors still enjoy the water features
It remained in operation for 85 years,
despite a fire in 1866 which destroyed the north transept and wing,
which was never rebuilt. It declined in popularity in the later years
and on 30 November 1936 it was completely destroyed by fire. The fire
started in one of the staff toilets and rapidly spread to engulf the
whole building, fuelled by the wooden floorboards and walls. Half of
London's firemen turned out to fight the fire but their efforts were to
no avail, and indeed were hampered by the crowds flocking to witness the
conflagration. Overnight the Palace became a giant heap of molten iron
and glass. To many Victorians the Crystal Palace was a magnificent
example of engineering innovation and a symbol of their desire for peace
and prosperity, but these noble aspirations had already crumbled at the
beginning of the 20th century with the Great War of 1914. Standing on
the empty foundations, one not only tries to imagine the presence of the
building, exhibits and people, but also the fire, noise and smoke.
All was quiet on my visit, with hardly a sound to be heard other than
the wind in the trees and the cawing of crows, but all this will change
in the future when the current plans to rebuild the Crystal Palace are
put into action. The remains present a rather sad sight and in my mind
the original building is the only one that really belongs here. I am
looking forward to seeing it rise again from the ground and sparkling in
the sunlight, and the statue of Joseph Paxton moved from its present
obscure corner and given a place of honour where he can admire and
approve of a second faithful version of his wonderful glasshouse. (1317
words)
Further reading: The Crystal Palace by Patrick Beaver, informative,
entertaining and packed with photographs and Victorian illustrations
Something similar not far away
at Hays Galleria on the Thames
Spot the palindrome - hieroglyphs as ornament, devoid of meaning.
Maybe they should be on the nearby sports centre - footballs, sails,
helmets, bats, flags and tennis racquet
Top of page
Christmas Lights (23 December
2014)
Ice rink at Somerset House, London
Recently we have been making some trips to central London to see the
Christmas lights. When I was growing up in the fifties and sixties, most
high street lights were simple strings of large coloured bulbs strung in
zigzag* fashion between the buildings on each side of the road, and the
same draped over the municipal Christmas trees in squares and parks.
Lights in house windows were similar but on a smaller scale, and my
favourites were the pine-cone shaped ones, as they were big enough to
see from the street and gave good clear blobs of colour. There was no
twinkling, chasing or patterns to the lights, just a steady glow. Any
bulb going on and off or flickering meant that it was about to fail and
would soon become a dark space in the display, waiting to be replaced,
quickly, before the others overloaded and popped.
* "zigzag" Z sound at the beginning of a word always uses stroke Zee, even if no
vowel precedes it
In our hunt for displays of lights, we first visited Covent Garden where
the apple market had giant plum-red baubles, looking like huge apples
hovering over the shoppers milling about between the stalls. Oxford
Street had big white spheres strung between the buildings, not
particularly noticeable during the day, but we came again the next day
after dark and they were glowing like a sky full of stars that had come
down to roof level. Many of the bigger department stores had the
customary thick greenery covering their frontages filled with white
lights and most of the window display themes were based on variations of
ice and snow. We have yet to visit some of the other big shopping
streets but most of them seem to have chosen to have interesting
depictions and shapes mostly in white, rather than an attempt to fill it
all with colour.
Oxford Street, London
After admiring all the brightly illuminated shop windows,
we made our way to Hyde Park to visit the Winter Wonderland* funfair. We
did not know quite what to expect, and our first visit was in the
daylight, so it was interesting to see the variety of attractions and
stalls. However, we knew it would come alive much more* at night, so the
next afternoon we went back and arrived just as the light was fading.
The whole area was aglow with endless displays of neon lights, smaller
string lights and Christmas trees small and large smothered in white
lights. There was not a dark corner anywhere, despite the daylight
having entirely gone. The quantity of lights was matched by the noise of
the people, raucous music from the rides and entertainments, gentler
music from the children's roundabouts, and the booming, whirring and
whooshing of the giant rides that were sending people skywards on
rotating and swinging arms. I would have loved to see London from that
height but not while being flung upside down, the cold wind in my face
preventing me from seeing anything much and with no chance to either aim
the camera or click it in time to obtain the desired shot.
* "Winter Wonderland" Best vocalised, as the two outlines are similar
* Omission phrase "much m(ore)"
Most of the rides were designed to elicit screams of
excitement and surprise, defying gravity and leaving behind any notion
of calm and sedate comfort. In addition there were games of minor skill
such as darts, shooting balloons with bow and arrow, and ring throwing.
Others were just experiences such as house of mirrors with wobbly floors
and shaking walkways, and the ice kingdom with ice carvings. All the
themes and artwork were snow, ice, bears, reindeer and penguins, with a
few scary characters, sharks and pirates as well, although I suspect
that real pirates did not celebrate peace or goodwill at any time of the
year. They were vastly outnumbered by the figures of Santas with sacks
of presents, accompanied not only by sleighs and reindeer but also polar
bears, husky dogs pulling a sledge and even some tigers, and one rather
grand dragon on the big chargers carousel, taking his place with the
normal painted horses.
He who rides a tiger can never dismount
Many of the attractions were from Belgium, Holland* and Germany, which
accounts for the abundance of character figures, far more than would be
found in the normal British fairground. This gave everything a rather
different flavour and we never quite knew what was going to be around
the corner, and so our tour of the site was more interesting, as nothing
was predictable, unless you have seen it before, of course. Between all
these were little streets of wooden cabins and kiosks, all twinkling
with illuminations, selling food and drink, beer and hamburgers, candy
floss, fudges and piles of coloured sweets, ornaments, toys, hats,
winter wear and every imaginable kind of souvenir.
* "Holland" See
www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk/distinguishing-outlines-5-care-e-n.htm
"Highland Holland Holy Land"
At the far end was a large ice rink set up round a central
bandstand, with strings of white lights radiating from the bandstand
roof out in all directions. We spent an enjoyable hour watching
everyone, and I was grateful to those dressed in bright red coats or
hats for helping to make my photos more interesting! Many people were
cautiously snaking around the perimeter holding on to the handrail, but
as the session got underway, more of them joined the throng, endlessly
circling* the bandstand. We did see a group of four people take a
spectacular tumble despite all holding onto each other which only ended
up in a larger than usual pile-up. Maybe the answer is to hang on to a
friend who already has some experience of staying on their feet.
Temporary Christmas ice rinks have gone from being a rarity here to
being* quite common, and so we will probably be squeezing in more visits
to other venues after Christmas, before they all disappear in January.
* "circling" Keep the Kay stroke proper length, so it does not look like
"circulating". This latter word and its derivatives are best always
vocalised with the dot after the Kay.
* Based on the short form phrase "to be"
The only reference I saw to the celebration of the birth* of Christ was
a tower with Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus in his crib on the ground
floor, rotating slowly under the warm glow of a golden yellow light. On
the next floor above were the wise men with their gifts, and on the top
level three angels circling and hovering over the happy occasion. If
there was* any music accompanying it, I did not hear it, as it would
certainly have been drowned out by the rides and loud music coming from
all directions, all the normal noise and shrieks of excitement one
expects in a fairground. However, every star that tops a Christmas tree
is a reminder of the light that led the wise men on their journey and
came to a halt over the stable, and I also like to think of the white
twinkling lights as representing the thousands of stars that shone over
the shepherds as they sat guarding their sheep on the hillside that
night.
* "birth" Note that "burial" is written with
upward L to ensure it does not look like "birth"
* "if there was" Only "if" is
doubled or halved. The phrases "for there, for it" use full outline, to
differentiate
Trafalgar Square, London
I like to put our lights up as early as possible*, usually at the
beginning of December, and if I had no other Christmas decorations, I
would be perfectly happy with them alone. We often leave them up through
January as well, and sometimes longer, using them instead of the normal
wall lamps. The room gets very limited daylight, so halfway through the
afternoon, the extra glow from them makes up for any lack of light or
warmth outside. They invariably end up all hanging together in one big
bunch in a corner, before they finally get packed away at the back of
the wardrobe. (1217 words)
* Omission phrase "as early as poss(ible)"
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Christmas Movie (28 December 2014)
If you have been spending the last few days celebrating Christmas,
my guess is that the shorthand practice has taken a back seat. It would
probably be too much to become engrossed in the story line and take down
the dialogue at the same time*. You would have to be a true and dedicated
shorthand enthusiast to sit in your festively-decorated living room,
with drink and Christmas sweets by your side, watching your favourite
programmes with the shorthand pad balanced on your knees. But if you
have actually done this, then you truly* deserve the honour of that
title.
* "at the same time" Halving to
represent the T of "time"
* "truly" "utterly" Always insert
the first vowel
I also wonder if this is the answer to all those annoyingly long breaks
for adverts*, which are ideal practice material, especially as the same
ones are repeated for days if not weeks on end. I prefer to record any
long programmes, so that I can speed through the adverts and never see
them at all, and it is amazing* how an hour long programme can be shrunk
down to 45 minutes or less when the adverts are avoided. But if you
cannot do that, then at least*
that is a sizeable chunk of time that
could be spent on shorthand practice that would otherwise be a complete
waste of time*, stolen from you minute by minute as you wait for the
next segment of your programme.
* "adverts" This is a full outline, note the contraction D-Ver is used
for advertisement/advertise/d
* "amazing" "amusing" Always insert
the vowel
* "at least" "at last" Always insert the vowel
* Omission phrase "was(te of) time"
On Boxing Day, I watched "Santa Claus The Movie", which
I have not seen for some years. The characters are all firmly fixed* in
their respective categories, and there is no undercurrent of wondering
how each one will behave, and this makes for easy and comfortable
viewing. The person that got me thinking about shorthand and the push
for high speed was the elf called Patch, who was full of energy and
enthusiasm, and had more ideas for new toys and methods than he had
opportunity to put into practice. He was eventually allowed to build a
conveyor-belt automated machine for turning out the toys, but
unfortunately* he allowed it to go too fast, the machine began to fail
and the toys eventually fell apart, resulting in disappointment all
round. In the excitement of this chance to speed things up, he allowed
it to exceed its best working speed. I did feel sorry for Patch and I
think he was on the rebound after many years of waiting for this
opportunity, planning his inventions but with little chance of actually
creating them for real.
* "fixed, focused" Always insert
the first vowel, as they are similar in outline and meaning
* "unfortunately" Optional
contraction
At the end of the story, after some adventures, he returned happily to
his colleagues at the North Pole and I like to think that the story
continues with him in charge of the Ideas Department, which was his true
place in life, with everyone else building the toys in a more controlled
and reliable manner. His machine worked well but it did have a maximum
safe speed and could not go faster and remain intact without some
changes being made to strengthen it and tighten up its performance. In
other words, he sacrificed reliability to speed, which is the direst
danger that faces the shorthand writer*.
* Omission phrase "short(hand) writer"
Santa's star chart?
This reminded me of experiences in shorthand learning and writing, which
was comfortable up to a point, but over a certain speed it started to
come apart and I just could not write properly* or read back the scrawl.
I am sure every writer has suffered this, and it feels the same whether
one is struggling to reach 50 or 150 words a minute* or higher. I have
come to the conclusion* that there is one bottleneck in shorthand
writing* that vastly overshadows all the other difficulties and that is
lack of fluency in all the commonest words. The main cause is not lack
of a wide vocabulary or possession of lots of ingenious shortcuts, or
even the inability to construct new outlines on the fly. All these have
their place but they are, to me at least*, a long way behind when
compared with the principal reason.
* "properly" Always insert the first vowel, and
the diphone in "appropriately", as they are similar in outline and
meaning
* Omission phrases "words (a) minute" "come (to the con)clusion"
"short(hand) writing"
* "at least" "at last" Always insert the vowel
All those little words that occur with monotonous regularity are the
ones that can cause the most damage if they are not known perfectly.
They occur in every sentence, and if not completely familiar they will
be tripping the writer up every other* second. If they are not known to
perfection, one wonders how the other less common and longer words are
going to be written at all, while the simpler ones are "holding up the
traffic". As you are obviously a true shorthand enthusiast who desires
to gain speed whilst maintaining reliability, I hope this will be music
to your ears, because the answer is to busy oneself* with all the easy
exercises over and over again*, varying and mixing up the sentences and
methods of practice. This type of exercise may lack excitement and
novelty, but I am sure those two concepts can be enjoyed just a little
later, the excitement of the longed-for* speed increase, and the
novelty of admiring the view from further up the speed ladder.
* Omission phrases "every oth(er)" "over
(and) over again" The second "over" is reversed in order to join the phrase
* "oneself" The N is omitted
* "longed-for" Ing cannot be halved
It might be that you feel you know most of the commonest words, but I
would suggest that you go through the lists, and pick out any that need
just a little more work, so that any gaps in your fluency are filled in.
Plant them in really simple sentences, preferably also using as many as
possible* of the phrases recommended in your instruction book. This will
make the sentences really easy and pleasant to write, and the relaxed
atmosphere will take any stress out of the task of improving your
performance. If you write each sentence along the top of each page, they
can be copied down the page, in a satisfyingly smooth flowing style,
moving along with ease and neatness, with no unknown or tricky outlines
to stumble over. As long as you are writing lightly, and not drawing the
outlines, speed will pick up of its own accord and after a few lines the
spoken words and the writing will be flowing without hesitation or
awkwardness. The purpose is to consolidate knowledge rather than make a
wild dash for speed. You will then be fit to star in your own
celebratory film entitled "High Speed Writer The Movie." (1037 words)
* Omission phrase "as many as poss(ible)"
2 minutes at 50 wpm:
Ready, Begin . . .
Top of page
New Shoes (31 December 2014)
I have been browsing the online sales for winter boots. I can look at
every boot the factories produce, in every colour and view them from
every angle. I can have them posted, or collect from my nearest store.
They will tell me where my nearest outlet is and give me the map
directions as well. There is nothing that the website won't do to make
it easy to buy, preferably immediately. But I am still hesitating. Are
the fronts too narrow and is the heel too high? Will they be soft and
bendy, or heavy and inflexible? They have partly solved this problem
too, as the reviews will give me some hint of possible problems, and if
I do buy them, a reasonably priced Returns Ticket will allow me to
obtain a refund. It is a cold and frosty night outside, and I am sitting
by a warm radiator, in a comfortable room, with no time restraints upon
my choice. I can go from shop to shop without moving anything but the
computer mouse. This is true luxury indeed.
When I was younger, shoe buying was a more frustrating and tricky
affair. The first hurdle was the limited finances*, which meant that
shoes were never bought on a whim. They had to be got right first time
and they had to do for school as well as home wear, so they had to be
brown or black with a very low heel. Comfort was the priority and in the
shop I would bend the top back edge and the toe to see if there was any
flexibility in them. Later on we might have to resort to the method of
rubbing the leather edges with a white candle to soften them, without
staining socks, but this was of limited efficiency.
* "finance" The modern
pronunciation can also be with the diphthong "fye-"
I would look wistfully at the fashionable shoes, but the ones that
actually fit were often the old-fashioned sort that I called "granny
shoes". At a young age I felt my feet were just not the same as the rest
of the inhabitants of planet Earth and I was "on the outside, looking
in". I ended up having to compromise and settle for a plain shoe that
actually fit, rather than something special and fashionable but
unwearable. Shoe buying was more of an obstacle course than a pleasure
but occasionally all the requirements were fulfilled. I would be looking
for every opportunity to wear them, and I would stride down the street
with "happy feet" with no pinched corners, no hard leather squashing my
toes, and no insoles detaching themselves, sliding around and forming
into annoying little folds. My mind and eyes were entirely on the
pavement before me as I watched the two beautiful shoes taking me along
the street and getting me to my destination in what seemed liked double
quick time, with no thoughts of distance covered.
I did get to wear some dream shoes at a particular wedding, when I was
about six years old. I was kitted out in a beautiful frilly dress, a
lovely blue ribboned bonnet, smart white cotton gloves and a pair of
pumps covered in silver glitter, sparkling with a thousand specks of
light, with a hint of rainbow colours. They were thin and slight, so
there was nothing much about them that could be uncomfortable. After the
wedding all the guests returned to the house for the party and I
insisted on keeping my bonnet on. Nobody was able to persuade me to take
it off, and eventually they gave up. I loved every minute of walking
around in my costume with bows, ribbons and very sparkly feet. I don't
know how long I kept those pumps for, but just looking at them brought a
happy glow of satisfaction. They were mesmerising and I must have worn
them around the house for quite a while. I felt that if the whole world
could be as wonderful as the sparkly shoes life would be perfect.
Just like this bauble
At the opposite end of the scale were the hideous hockey boots. They
were giant heavy lumps, to be worn with long thick striped socks, and
laced up very tightly to keep the ankles from twisting when running
about in the muddy field. They were for protection rather than warmth,
as we had to wear our gym skirts with freezing bare legs. I thought at
the time that this dress rule was supposed to be an incentive to keep on
the move during the games session in order to* stay warm. We did run
about, but it did not keep us warm in the least, the more we moved, the
more cold air flowed over unprotected legs! It was very rarely that
permission would be granted to wear trousers and then only after the end
of October. The games teacher always wore trousers, as she was standing
about more, so we looked on enviously. When the years of compulsory
school sports ended, it was with great pleasure that I threw out the
boots and harsh socks. I don't think I am really cut out to be a Spartan
warrior training to toughen myself against discomfort and freezing
weather by baring any skin to the frosty air!
* Omission phrase "in ord(er to)"
Never again
When Sir Isaac Pitman was working in one of his first office premises,
writing his books and teaching materials, in winter he had to sit with
his feet inside a box as some protection from the cold draughts that
swirled around the floor. At the moment under my computer desk I have a
pillow in a soft fleece cover as a footrest. Even though the room is not
cold, sometimes I put a hot water bottle inside and it is the next best
thing to sitting with my feet resting on the radiator. When I lived in a
much colder and draughty house, the regular Christmas present from my
parents of new slippers was another big event. Padding around the house
with my feet swathed in soft new artificial sheepskin made the winter
seem to melt away, and once again* I would wear and admire them at every
opportunity. Whilst engaged in other activities, their fluffy loveliness
was always on my mind, along with the thought that this was another
glorious victory over the icy blasts of winter seeping through the
windows and doors.
* Omission phrase "wu(n)s again"
Bliss
I learned over the years how to make all my own clothes, and there was
no item that I could not* produce, given the materials and either a
paper pattern or some item to copy, but shoes were impossible. Even
house slippers could be knitted, although I never made any as the
designs on offer were unattractive. I might* look back on some things in
the past with affection but definitely not the everyday footwear* that
was available to us and within our budget. When people say "Best foot
forward" in encouragement, I feel that* this can only be done properly*
wearing the softest new white knee high socks, best shoes in the
smartest style, and preferably in shiny bright red leather with gleaming
silver buckles. However, I think this vision, formed in school days,
ought to be updated a little to match my present age, so maybe I should
revise the colours to black and change the fastenings to laces, elastic
or velcro. (1219 words)
* "I could not" can be phrased, but "I could" should be written with
separate outlines, so that it does not look like "I can"
* "I might" written separately, so it does not look like the
phrase "I may"
* "footwear" Insert the vowel so it does not look like "knitwear" or
"underwear"
* "properly" Always insert the
first vowel, and the diphone in "appropriately", as they are similar in
outline and meaning
* Omission phrase "I fee(l) that"
* "can only be" On its own, "only"
is written with full N and L strokes
Had to get the red boots
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