Verbs from nouns 2

The joke we used in class 2 weeks ago, "Yo mama's so skinny she hula hoops with a bracelet", surprised some students. Many of you were surprised that "hula hoop" is a verb. Yes, it is, and it's also a noun. Many common tools or objects can be used as verbs. The verb is usually the action you do with that tool. For example:

A hammer -> "He used a hammer to hammer in a nail."
A keyboard -> "You use a keyboard to key in data."
A nail -> "The chair is nailed to the floor. You can't move it."
A pencil -> "She pencilled a new appointment into her schedule."

Some objects' names can be used as verbs whose meanings aren't totally obvious.

A card -> "The bartender carded me, so I had to show my ID."
A shelf -> "After deciding that it was too expensive, we shelved the plan."
A book -> "The tickets are booked for the 29th. We depart at 3:30 pm."
A screw -> "I missed my job interview! I'm screwed!" (this one is quite vulgar)

Bass!

I got a used electric bass. I play it almost every day.

Did you know there are 2 ways to play bass? One is with your hands, and the other is with a pick. I already use a pick to play guitar, so I'm trying to play bass with my fingers. It's hard, but also very fun.

I watched some great bassists on youtube.com and listened to some bass players on CD - Geddy Lee is especially inspiring!

An Old Hobby

When I was younger, I used to paint metal miniatures. I used these in a role-playing game you play on top of a ping-pong table, in a big battle. It looked like this. I spent hours painting those little things - and maybe 1/10 that amount of time actually playing. Still, the most fun part was imagining what I would use them for while I painted them.