\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Could Kim Holland have been right? Kim, a reporter for Albuquerque TV channel 13, KRQE, was on the air when she pronounced the name of a state policeman, Pacheco as “Pu-cheek-oh.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In my last column, I had a lot of fun citing instances in which our surnames get murdered. At a party, I met sisters Alice and Donna Menzor, who commiserated and said they too had heard many variations on Hispanic last names.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s column drew considerable response, all of it on my side, i.e., everyone claiming Kim Holland needs a crash course in patronymics.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 That was until I received a call from Jose Abeyta, of Wagon Mound, a former state representative whose position after he retired was taken over, respectively, by Benjie Regensberg, Hector Balderas, and now Thomas Garcia.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Abeyta said he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d known a man named Pacheco, a Portuguese, who corrected him when Abeyta simply assumed the man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s name was Pacheco, and pronounced it accordingly. And accordingly, Abeyta told me he learned that Pu-cheek-oh is correct if one is an Iberian.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Could Kim Holland have been right? Have I ever really blown it when it comes to names? I remember years ago, citing a simple rule to a new acquaintance that the Spanish “j” sounds like an “h,” and therefore, the city San Jose should be rendered “San Hosay.” Same with San Huan.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 As I left this newly enlightened young lady, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d just moved to Gallup, N.M., where I was living, I asked her name. “Hosephine,” she answered.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 2006 has been an interesting year. Having just completed the Optic\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s yearly wrap-up, I am amazed at how much happened in this little berg, involving mainly our schools and city government. Going through 250 front pages of the Optic, trying to glean the highlights convinces me that the real hazard in trying to compose a comprehensive retrospective of the community is in the inevitable omissions.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Someone will ask, “Why didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you include such and such a story? Are you biased?”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like sending out Christmas cards or invitations; the anger some people express in telling us we forgot to include them far outweighs the pleasure of those who got the invitation and chose to enjoy it.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 2007 means that half the planet will attempt a lifestyle change, hit it very hard for a couple of weeks and then chuck it. I refer, of course, to my (and others\u00e2\u20ac\u2122) need to weigh much less. The weekly weight count under my photo has fluctuated, but not as much as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like, or in the right direction.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 When I first began recording my weight, at a whopping 234 pounds, I promised, as we all do, come New Year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Day, that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d do my best to lose weight. Exactly a year ago, my weight was 218, just what it is today. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s progress?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The lowest recorded weight I was able to find was 206, in December 2004.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Obviously, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not thrilled.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Reading about many suits, usually involving someone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly committed a crime, I get weary about the plethora of the-devil-made- me-do-it excuses we use. Whatever happened to accountability?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the harm in admitting, “Yes, I may have had a rotten childhood, but today I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m responsible for my actions”? or “Yes, I grew up in a benighted suburb of Dogpatch, but that just means I have to work and study harder to succeed”?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Where I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going with this is simply to vow never to blame age, my job, my genetics, scheduling conflicts, the weather, my personal chef or injuries for my failure to trim down from a Mack Truck to perhaps an SUV. Many of us know how to talk the talk. We acquire the latest exercise equipment the infomercials peddle, and we pedal just a bit, then use a sports sprain as an excuse not to mount that piece of equipment again.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 A high school girlfriend, whom I thought had always been just a few pounds north of ideal, recently was diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes. She lost 20 pounds, is back to her svelte high school figure, and looks terrific and says she feels fine. But the similarity ends there. Twenty pounds of weight loss in my case would certainly help, but proportionately, I have much farther to go.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Those of you who may be making the same New Year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Resolution, try hard. And please keep me honest. Never hesitate to ask my current weight, remind me that weight loss leading to good health is a procedure I alone can bring about, and keep bugging me about trying to maintain a healthful lifestyle.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 That means eschewing \u00e2\u20ac\u201d not chewing \u00e2\u20ac\u201d German chocolate cake.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 As long as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re crunching numbers …
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s column is the 205th installment of Work of Art, begun May 1, 2003.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult to attempt covering a new topic each week.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The job gets easier because of many of you who provide ideas. Please continue to do so in 2007.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The word count for these columns is close to 200,000, but the number of unique words is only 16,524, or about one for each resident of this small town. Does that mean I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a man of few words but that I use them over and over and over (like this)?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bit of trivia: “Happy” is the first word most of you will utter in 2007. What is the last word you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll speak in 2006?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Could Kim Holland have been right? Kim, a reporter for Albuquerque TV channel 13, KRQE, was on the air when she pronounced the name of a state policeman, Pacheco as “Pu-cheek-oh.” \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In my last column, I had a lot of fun citing instances in which our surnames get murdered. At a party, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}