Spoiled West County Rat...

I'm horrible. I'm a monster, you know that?

The other day I had a pedicure. A pedicure! I paid them money and they washed my feet and painted my nails for me and afterwards they felt oh-so-fresh. Then I walked five feet to my new mini suv and drove 10 blocks home.

April Showers and May Flowers

You can learn a lot from adages and idioms. In many ways they are a snapshot of a language and a culture at some indefinate point in the past, and hold a memory of something nearly forgotten. Take "April Showers bring May Flowers". Fascinating. So the rains come in April, and we don't have flowers until May? This saying has obviously tenaciously perservered in the English language since the last ice age.

A Saint Louis Spring, understand, does not have the luxury of spacing out it's bloom into neat little rhymes. The Winter fades away by March, throwing a strange snowfall now and then (last Saturday, for example). One would assume this would lead to an earlier Spring, and indeed it does. The last snows fall on blooming Magnolia trees and little red leaf buds swelling slowly.

Then the Equinox hits, and overnight it begins to rain. Constantly. The sky is always cloudy and the air is wonderful. 60 degrees, high humidity. It doesn't get any more beautiful than that. The whole earth smells clean and ready. Couldn't it stay like that for a while?

March 22nd. Spring is well underway. The Magnolias and little Red Leaflets are ancient history. The new colour is Yellow, springing out where there was nothing but dead wood the day before. The grass is already much greener, and soon...

March 23rd. New colours emerge every night. Today there are those beautiful, delicate white petals on all the bradford pears and on those thin, foreign looking trees. There seems to be a pink variety as well, as they look similar and always bloom together, but I'll never know if it's simply a deviation or a different species entirely.

March 24th. Purple and a slight hint of green on the underbrush emerge to join the quickly expanding palette. I catch sight of the first Daffodil, a bloom in my neighbors yard completely unfolded. The cool air is gone, save in early morning, where it takes it's refuge even in the hottest summer months, if you awake with the sun. No, it is lovely when I drive to work, and a calm seventy degrees throughout the day, but by the time I drive home my car reads 85 degrees, and even sitting in the sun, it's too early for that...

Still, I roll down the windows and the air feels so soft... Spring has come too early and for it's impatience must leave too early, but I must forgive it. I must... :)

Awww.... :(

BERLIN (Reuters) - Berlin Zoo rallied to the defense of Knut, a three-month-old polar bear cub, Tuesday, rejecting demands that the animal be allowed to die after being abandoned by its mother.

The fate of "cuddly Knut" has gripped the German capital since his birth in December. Rejected by his mother Tosca, the cub was adopted by a zookeeper who moved into the animal's enclosure to care for him round the clock.

Some animal rights campaigners think this will humanize the bear too much and want the zoo to stop saving young animals.

"Hand-rearing a polar bear is not appropriate and is a serious violation of animal rights," Bild newspaper quoted animal rights campaigner Frank Albrecht as saying.

"In fact, the cub should have been killed," he added.

Berlin Zoo said the animal would not be put down or left to fend for itself: "That's complete nonsense," a spokesman said.

Knut has become an unofficial Berlin city mascot and has even had his picture taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz as part of a new climate change campaign.

Knut's mother Tosca -- formerly a performing animal in an East German zoo -- rejected Knut and his twin brother shortly after their birth. The twin died but Knut was "adopted" by zookeeper Thomas Doerflein.

The polar bear is bottle-fed, washed and cuddled by his adoptive father, who moved in to the zoo to sleep in a bed by the bears crate. Newspapers report that Doerflein also plays him Elvis songs on the guitar and gave him Christmas presents.

Jeg er imponert! :D

Yeah, she won't correct me, so I'm sure my grammar is terrible. Oh well.

Elindomiel says:
!
Elindomiel says:
Hei!
Ellen Margrethe says:
YO!!
Elindomiel says:

Elindomiel says:
Hvordan har du det?
Ellen Margrethe says:
bare bra deg?
Elindomiel says:
Også bra.
Ellen Margrethe says:
hehe..gleder meg til påske!! blir digg
Elindomiel says:
Men jeg har sovnet bare litt i går kveld
Elindomiel says:
Ja, jeg bruker påske
Ellen Margrethe says:
hehe.. vi skal til London. har jeg sagt det forresten?
Elindomiel says:
Ja, med bestefar og bestemor?
Ellen Margrethe says:
jepp
Ellen Margrethe says:
hva skal du?
Elindomiel says:
Jeg skal reise til Italia
Ellen Margrethe says:
ååå.. heldiggris!!
Elindomiel says:
Og Amerikaner gå skjelden utenfor
Ellen Margrethe says:
har hørt noe om det, ja
Elindomiel says:
Heldiggris!
Elindomiel says:
Jeg liker "Jepp" og "Heldiggris"
Ellen Margrethe says:
vet du hva det betyr?
Elindomiel says:
Lucky Pig?
Ellen Margrethe says:
ja!! du er kjempeflink!!
Ellen Margrethe says:
men det høres vel kanskje litt rart ut med lucky pig!! hehe..
Elindomiel says:
Ordboken hjelper...
Ellen Margrethe says:
har du ordbok på dataen?
Elindomiel says:
Ja, jeg må bare 'høydepunkt'... jeg vet ikke hvordan sier du...
Elindomiel says:

Ellen Margrethe says:
hva mener du med høydepunkt?
Elindomiel says:
Ordbok sier: "Highlight" - "Høydepunkt"
Ellen Margrethe says:
å ja!!
Elindomiel says:

Ellen Margrethe says:
bruker dere noen ord som "heldiggris" og "jepp"?
Elindomiel says:
Som... Alle Amerikaner?
Ellen Margrethe says:
ja
Elindomiel says:
Vi bruker... "Yep!"
Ellen Margrethe says:
ja, det visste jeg
Elindomiel says:
Men mer ofte "Lucky Dog" eller jevn "Lucky Bitch". Norsk er bedre enn engelsk.
Ellen Margrethe says:
føler vi har mange mindre beskrivende ord enn på engelsk
Elindomiel says:
Tenker du at jeg snakker sømmelig norsk?
Ellen Margrethe says:
sømmelig? hehe..det er et ord jeg skjelden hører
Ellen Margrethe says:
du prater bra! er imponert!
Elindomiel says:
Ordboken er skrekkelig
Ellen Margrethe says:
hadde vært gøy å høre deg prate!!
Elindomiel says:

Ellen Margrethe says:
vet du hvordan du uttaler ting egentlig?
Elindomiel says:
... Jeg vet ikke
Elindomiel says:
Jeg er redd å se
Ellen Margrethe says:

Ellen Margrethe says:
men jeg må gå.. søstera mi skal bruke dataen til lekser
Elindomiel says:
Okay
Elindomiel says:
Snakkes!
Ellen Margrethe says:
men det var veldig koselig å prate med deg!!
Ellen Margrethe says:
snakkes!!
Elindomiel says:
Ja!

Prep For Italy....

Here's an overview, in pictures, of how I'll be spending next week.


First off, I'll be spending several hours in airplanes. It's three flights to get there, three to get back. Between layovers and time differences, I'll lose 24 hours in getting to Rome. Ah well, I posted this picture up mostly to acknowledge reality and to hope we fly Lufthansa...



Italian People! Yay! I've learned as much Italian as I could in two busy school months for them, so they better appreciate it! :D Hey, if the Germans did...



The first real attraction is Ostia Antica, the ancient port city of Rome. This is kind of cool, but very much a morning after destination. We'll all be hazy from Jet Lag...


From Ostia we'll drive to Naples, which has a very lovely view as shown. We won't be staying long here, though.

In Naples we hit some museums. I suspect we're hitting them on the first day so that the people who came for Italian guys or to hang out with friends can sleep walk through them! :P As for myself, the statues on Google Images looked similar to those in Greece.... So last fall... :P

Okay, Italy is so my personal version of heaven. They live off of Olive Oil! I love it!
Later, we'll still on the first day, we make our way to Sorrento. Again, it's very beautiful. It's famous for it's seacliffs, I gather, and we're going to use it as our jumping off point for Pompeii, Herculaneum, etc...

Vesuvio looks calm from so far, no? We fall asleep, knowing that we shall climb it tomorrow...

Vesuvius up close. Yeah... Apparently it's a tough hike. But then, most of these kids have never camped or been abroad before. They're rookies.... let me tell you. One of the parents asked if we would have to barter. Barter!

And this is what Vesuvius did. We'll see Pompeii after we make the summit. It's a city amazingly well preserved by the quickly falling lava. Much has been learned about Ancient Roman life by studying this city; it was so well preserved that when plaster casts were made, you could see meals of fish, bread, and eggs laid out on the tables... And dogs writhing in pain... and mothers clinging to children...

This is Pompeii's 'sister city', Herculaneum, also covered by the volcanic ashes but more recently unveiled. We'll be going there the next day in the early morning.

Part of Pompeii. This may not look like much, but it's somewhat of a personal pilgrimage for me, something I've waited a long time to see. It is the home of Lucius Caecilius Iucundus, well known and loved as the main character of the first book of the Cambridge Latin Course. Pages after introducing us to the Latin language with the line, "Caecilius est pater", the good fellow tragically meets his end in, what else? The eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Very sad story, with Cerberus (Cerberus est canis), watching over him in death.

Okay, a break from ruins. Take a look at all this tasty, Italian food!

Rome. What else needs to be said?

The Coliseum... yeah, this is going to be neat. Apparently it's near our hotel and we can take strolls there in the evening with a cone of Gelato... (see next slide).



Gelato. I recognize Vanila, Cioccolate, and Strachiatella. :D Oh man, oh man... It's going to be so good... I messed up ordering Gelato in Germany, my words fell through when it came to Ice Cream. I'm not making that mistake again; Agnese taught me specialized vocabulary... :D

Ending the trip on a spiritual-somber-artistic note, the Vatican, St. Peters Basilica, the Works. :D What an amazing trip!


I'm sooo excited! (And I did not have time to post this, but I had to...)

Born to Run

Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs round these velvet rims
And strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap
We’ll run till we drop, baby we’ll never go back
Will you walk with me out on the wire
`cause baby I’m just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta find out how it feels
I want to know if love is wild, girl I want to know if love is real

The highway’s jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive
Everybody’s out on the run tonight but there’s no place left to hide
Together wendy we’ll live with the sadness
I’ll love you with all the madness in my soul
Someday girl I don’t know when we’re gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go and we’ll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us baby we were born to run

- Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen

To Live Inside the World

I'm so frightened and so happy all at once... I feel that I want to move on a strongly as I can through whatever life gives me, but I'm frightened too. If the definition of bravery is to be strong in the face of fear, then perhaps I am very brave.

But I just want to live inside the world...

Random Chart

I made up this chart of some basic phrases and some random words that I know and don't know in my four main languages, plus Japanese to show how much more I should know than I do. :P Please note that when I was thinking of random words I confess that some of the words came from words I randomly happened to know in Italian and Norwegian, so those two languages are slightly overrepresented. German, on the other hand, is underrepresented because I know my actual command of the language surpasses both my Norwegian and my Italian, though it's still kind of sad next to my Spanish which dies next to my English. Oh, well! :P

	Spanish	Italian	German	Norwegian	Japanese
And	Y	E	Und	Og	To
And You?	Y Usted?	E Lei?	Und Ihnen?	Og du?
Apple	Manzana	Mele	Apfel	Eple	Ringo
Because	Porque	Perche	Denn, Weil, Darum	Fordi
Bird	Pajaro
Blue	Azul	Azzuro, Blu	Blaue	Blå	Aoi
Branch	Rama	Ramo
But	Pero	Ma	Aber	Men	Demo
Cat	Gato	Gatto	Katze	Katt	Neko
Caterpillar	Gusano	Bruco
Cherries	Cerezas	Le Ciliege	Die Kirche
Cold	Frio	Freddo	Kalt	Kald
Colour	Color	Colore	Farbe	Farge
Cow	Vaca	Mucca	Kau
Cucumber		Cetriolo
Dog	Perro	Cane	Hund	Hund
Eagle	Aguila	Aquila		Ørn
Firecracker	Cohete
Flap	Alear			Flaske
Frog	Rana	Rana		Frosk
Gold	Oro	Oro		Gull
Good Day	Buenos Dias	Buongiorno	Guten Tag	God Dag	Konichiwa
Good Evening	Buenas Tardes		Guten Abend		Konbanwa
Good Night	Buenos Noches	Buonanotte	Guten Nacht	God Natt
Green	Verde	Verde	Grün	Grønne	Aoi
He	El	Lui	Er	Han
Hello	Hola	Ciao	Hallo	Hei
Hot	Acalorado	Caldo	Heiß	Het
How Are You?	Como esta?	Come sta?	Wie Geht's?	Hvordan har du det?	Genki desu ka?
I	Yo	Io	Ich	Jeg	Watashi wa
I like you	Me gustas		Du gefällst mir
I love you (a)	Te Quiero		Ich Habe Dich Gern	Jeg er glad I deg
I love you (b)	Te Amo		Ich Liebe Dich	Jeg elsker deg
I'm alright	Bien	Bene	Mir geht ist gut.	Godt	Genki desu
It			Es	Det, Den
Kiss	Beso			Kyss
Kite	Cometa	Acquilone		Papirdrage	Tako
Kiwi					Kiuwi
Lark	Alondra
New	Nuevo	Nuovo	Neue	Ny
Night!				Natta!
Old	Viejo		Alt	Gammel
Orange	Anaranjado	Aranciato		Oransje
Painting	Pintura
Purple	Morado			Purpur, Lilla	Murasaki
Red	Rojo	Rosso	Rote	Rød	Akai
She	La	Lei	Sie	Hun
Squirrel	Ardilla		Eichörnchen	Ekorn
Stupid	Estupido		Dumm	Dum
Thank You	Gracias	Grazie	Danke	Takk	Arigato
They	Ellos		Sie	De
Tree	Arbol	Arbole		Tre
We	Nosotros	Noi	Wir	Vi	Watakushi wa
When	Cuando	Quando	Wann	Når
Where	Donde	Dove	Wo	Hvor
Who	Quien		Wer	Hvem
Why	Por que	Per che	Warum	Hvorfor
Yellow	Amarillo	Giallo	Gelb	Gul
You	Tu	Tu	Du	Du	Anata wa
You all	Vosotros	Voi	Ihr	Dere
You formal	Usted	Lei	Sie	(De)
Young	Joven			Ung

Todo é så blöd...

He usado demasiadas lenguas hoy.

Io sono spossata.

Ich will so gern schlafen...

Men jeg kan ikke. :(

SHUKUDAI! Shikei! (Men hvordan... hmm...) Rekishi! Chissokushi! Enshi! Desuedyuke-shon! (Che?! O.o) Uejini! Dekishi! Toushi! Juusatsu! Senshi! (Ojala que no es honorable...)

Aha... perfectamente io har : Karoushi!!!

A Spring Fed River

There are rivers born in mountains, high above the earth. There are rivers that spill from lakes filled with spring rain. There are rivers that flow from glaciers, snow, and rainwater, cleaving the earth before them in search of the sea.

My own river rises from the deep wells of nature, from the bedrock of Missouri. A spring fed river is cold and clear, a child of the earth. It remembers its source; its heart in the subterranean halls of stone, cradled by limestone and dolomite. Such a river has a particular smell, a particular feel; there is a memory about it, a memory it carries all the way to the ocean at the end of its path.

On the banks of my river, I set my feet in the water.

I’ve grown up on the banks of this river, making mud pies, swinging on ropes, and canoeing the length of it with coolers of bud light, hi-C, and ham sandwiches. I love the gentle sloping of the south side, the gravel and the straggly brush, filled with sun and songbirds. I love the darkness of the northern bank, where all the trees bend over, reaching for the sun, shielding the river beneath them. There are tangled tree roots twisting and blending into the dark water, there are snakes long and slender, gleaming like ebony, there are reeds and moss and tiny black butterflies flitting from shade to shade. Even the mosquitoes are sacred. I know their buzzing, their paths on the surface of the water, the strange satisfaction of their itching bite, the sickly sweet citronella candles we light as dusk falls over the water.

Today we eat our fill of country fare, loading our plates with hot dogs and baked beans, chili and hobo stew. Around the campfire, the stories are beginning. Granddaddy can remember the Great Depression and long ago County Fairs; Uncle Jim can trace our lineage all the way from Charbonneau of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Womacks are an old breed, with roots deep in the rich Missouri soil. You can still see traces of Indian Blood in their skin, and harsh Scottish features in their craggy faces.

The river sits behind us as the sun sinks slowly in the sky, dancing in the filtered brown of the shallows. Not far upstream a hawk flies over the water, casting a shadow that ripples and vanishes. The steady sound of the current blends with our voices; rural drawls and harsher backwoods dialect together. The tones are striking in their simple honesty, far removed from the hollow, artificial speech of West County. As the evening slowly passes I am swept away in their words, and I shed my own pale accent like a shadow.

The talk turns away from history, spreading into the realities of our lives. Cindy tells us about a guy she’s met dancing at Plumbers’, where David plays in the Timberline band and students of the Farmington School District often go to dances. Janet mentions a squirrel her husband found in a tree at the lumber mill, which she kept for years as a pet. With great passion, Uncle John tells Joe about a huge hunk of meat they came across a few weeks ago at the restaurant. The aunts, comparatively, sit together quietly: Jane looking timid and tired, Julie in her overalls, Janet smelling of cigarettes. Terry describes a recent hunt with his characteristic, bullet-like narrative. “Shot that buck right ‘tween the eyes…” He tells us, “dropped him like a stone.” Sara tells me her old black horse finally died, and that the barn cats have spawned another generation of feral kittens. Somehow the stories of my life – a Valentines Card from Norway, the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora, the Gutenberg Museum, Christmas with Curacao natives – don’t quite flow into the conversation. I do a lot of smiling and listening, fascinated by how tightly and comfortably this world is knit together.

Jim, the patriarch, was a maintenance man at the state mental hospital. David fixes the busses for the local school district. The town’s football star in his glory days, James is a social worker and a counselor at the prison. Carol’s the bank manager – she’s worked her way up from teller in a long life at the bank. Terry was a meter reader for forty years, Weedy was a mailman, and Granddaddy was the ‘city boy’ who left Farmington with Maytag. My dad has tried to explain that he’s a consultant for the automotive aftermarket industry half a dozen times, but they still don’t quite understand just what it is that he does all day.

The crickets begin to sing as things wind down, as I find a lawn chair and stare out over the river. Idly, I flip through the songs on my iPod, searching for something that fits the mood. It’s difficult to match.

“Hey,” says Little Jason, wanting to annoy me. “What are you listening to?”

“It’s called ‘Anima Libera’”, I say, hoping he’ll be confused and run along. “It’s in another language”.

“… You mean… Spanish?”

“Sort of”, I reply, nodding. “It’s Italian.”

“… You mean… like Pizza?”

“Sort of.” I say, looking away with a slow smile. I watch the river under the fast moving clouds and the darkness of the night. I watch the river flowing to the sea.

Best MSN Chat Ever

Elindomiel says:
By the way, nice lumberjack outfit
Father Chains says:
Liisa, I'll get you! *shouts and waves fist eastwards*
Father Chains says:
Say what where now?
Father Chains says:
There are PICTURES of it?
Elindomiel says:
All over the newspapers here
Father Chains says:
...
Father Chains says:
Are they making a statue?
Elindomiel says:
Yes
Elindomiel says:
Your dream is coming true
Father Chains says:
I just hope the poor townsfolk don't salivate all over it. I swear, they're worse than pigeons
Elindomiel says:

Father Chains says:
In more or less all seriousness, how'd you get hold of my Eh? costume?
Elindomiel says:

Elindomiel says:
Oh, that's right... "Canadian Lumberjack"
Father Chains says:
I don't know of any other kind that's funnier
Father Chains says:
Well
Father Chains says:
Maybe the Monty Python kind
Father Chains says:
Spill it!
Elindomiel says:

Elindomiel says:
This is more fun
Father Chains says:
Oh, how I despise your teasing!
Father Chains says:
There are two possible sources
Father Chains says:
One is my friends' cell phones
Father Chains says:
The other is my friend's camera
Father Chains says:
Argh!
Father Chains says:
None of them could possibly have your phone number!
Father Chains says:
So it's got to be the camera girl
Father Chains says:
But how the hell did she get your.... Or is it my brother? No, he didn't have any...
Father Chains says:
Aw, you snake!
Father Chains says:
You don't have a picture, you just read my talking about it somewhere!
Elindomiel says:
orl?
Elindomiel says:
I do too have a picture
Father Chains says:
How, when even *I* don't?
Elindomiel says:
Well, if you ask me very nicely, I might give you one
Father Chains says:
*sigh*
Father Chains says:
Please, O dearie sweetness, may I have a picture of mine humble corpus?
Elindomiel says:
Nein
Father Chains says:
How does asking get nicer than that?
Elindomiel says:
Alright, alright
Elindomiel says:
Fine
Elindomiel sends:


Elindomiel says:
I laughed for half an hour over it
Elindomiel says:
See? I have one
Father Chains says:
God damn, I was supposed to get that one!
Father Chains says:
A cell phone picture!
Father Chains says:
But how?
Father Chains says:
That's Kristine in the background, who else got pictures?
Father Chains says:
Certainly not Tony
Father Chains says:
It's Ingrid!
Father Chains says:
I know it!
Elindomiel says:
Yes, it's Ingrid
Father Chains says:
May I ask you how in the name of something very scary you two know eachother?
Elindomiel says:
No
Father Chains says:
Fine, then I won't ask
Elindomiel says:
No, seriously, I don't know her
Father Chains says:
What?
Father Chains says:
So how have you manoeuvered your way around to find this little gem?
Elindomiel says:
Fine, somebody showed me
Father Chains says:
...
Elindomiel says:
But it wasn't Ingrid
Father Chains says:
I'm getting nowhere
Elindomiel says:
I just think that's a funny name
Elindomiel says:
Actually, you're pretty good at logic
Father Chains says:
Everybody keeps saying that, but the world isn't a logical place
Father Chains says:

Elindomiel says:
You really can't guess?
Father Chains says:
Fine, I'll guess
Father Chains says:
Stine?
Elindomiel says:

Father Chains says:
Either that's a no, or you're sad because I blew your secret
Father Chains says:
I'm guessing a no
Father Chains says:
Anniken?
Father Chains says:
...Pål?
Elindomiel says:
Man... I was going to give you funny clues next... "She talks about Steven all the time"
Father Chains says:
God's GRIEF IN A NEST OF RATTLERS! Kristine!
Elindomiel says:
Stephen*
Elindomiel says:
Damnit
Father Chains says:
There are 300 million of you, and she somehow hooks up with YOU!?
Elindomiel says:
What can I say?
Father Chains says:
You're a stalker? Please say that, because anything else is scarier to think of
Elindomiel says:
Okay, I'm a stalker
Father Chains says:
Gods curse my logical mind, I don't believe it!
Elindomiel says:
You make me laugh
Father Chains says:
As in pathetic, cute or amusing in a cat-and-mouse kind of way?
Elindomiel says:
amusing in a cat and mouse sort of way
Father Chains says:
You tease

Level Up

Sweet Seventeen - Still Never Been Kissed - At Least I Have Real Movies Now...

March the 7th

Trieschmann tried to warn us that one cannot do with words what Picasso did with Art. Bit too late, in my case...

Fragmented, Sleep Deprived Thoughts on March the 7th:

An overworked mind is quite the arrogant, presumptuous enzyme...

It's my bloody anniversary. It falls apart in my mind.
Bloody - Blood - Sangre - Sangre del Salvador - Las Lagrimas de la Virgin - Notre Dame - By our Lady - Bloody
Anniversary - Anni - Versa - A Year and a Turn - A turn of a year.

A Turn of the Year, by Our Lady. She spins the wheel and it lands, 3-7-07

God - Magic - Magic. Today the occult wins out.

It's my bloody anniversary. The year turns again. I only told one person, would you believe it?

I went outside today and saw the setting sun. It dug its way between two houses, in a thicket of pine. I'd never seen it there before, and I never will again. I can see it from my driveway, but only once a year. Next year I will have forgotten about it. The year after that I'll be in Mizzou. I'll never give that sun through those pines a second thought.

I give them their moment, because they may never have another; Time, like love, like water... is something that must flow.

Random Pointless Post

1. I got 5 hours of sleep last night. Tonight? 5 hours.

2. I got Liisa's present in the mail. :D Cute keyboard magnets.

3. I'm getting a new car. O.O Details later.

4. My Google Search Bar is displaying "Sexenio". That looks so much more fun than it is.

French Rant...

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002504.html

Phrasebase Quotes

These Quotes say everything there is to say about Phrasebase... :P It's so funny that with so much going on you can always find help if you need it... with anything! Everyone is so good about taking and giving. The motto seems to be a quote I found there:

Knowledge enriches those who receive without impoverishing those who give. Anyway::

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hello and Good Day!

I would like to learn Slovak (also Spanish).
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

My name is Khalid from LIbya.
I wonder how we say "this is me" not "this is i" thoigh it is unaccepable.
I love languages. I speak Arabic and English and I am interested to learn Italian and French.
I like to meet people from all over the world.
meeting people and social communication are good and helpful means to improve ones, language. Do you agree?

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Ya'll be trippin', yo! If da think da man will let dis thing go down, you're in need of a hona-hona in yo crib!

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You-Japanese, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish; I - Hebrew, Russian, English
I will be happy to teach you Hebrew, Russian or English (I'm a professional English teacher, the author of an English grammar manual), if you can help me with Japanese, Swedish, Finnish or Norwegian (beginner's level).
you can contact me at: redskates@yahoo.com
Irene
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Ewet Hati, saolasan, bende sana bir yeni çay hazırladım, oradadır, git bak gine gel oralara!
hemde ewet benim kardeşlerim var bir tanede bacım var!
Benden sonraki kişi evlenmek zorundadır!

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En aquest joc practicarem el participi d'un verb i el seu gerundi.
Per exemple:

parlar - to speak
participi: parlat
gerundi: parlant
Una vegada que hàgiu escrit el participi i el gerundi heu de proposar un altre verb
Ok, començo doncs.
El meu verb és: jugar - to play

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명지[明智] <명사> 밝은 지혜.
ok, next word : 다람쥐 - Daramajwee - a squirrel ^^
so the next syllable is 쥐
ps. i'm enjoying this game.. and thanks for all the explanation edwoodseo

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Indonesisch lernen

Hast du Lust Indonesicsch zu lernen?
Ich kann dir Indonesisch beibringen. Wir können skype benutzen, so dass du die Ausprache lernen kannst. Falls du Interesse hast, melde dich bei mir.

Viele Grüße

Siregar

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Work Disaster!

So, I know I had today scheduled off. I know because originally I needed two days off in February, and one in March. So, I worked all the Saturdays in January. Then, I had a February off for San Antonio, and one off for State Tournament.

As it turns out, I didn't need the day off for State Tournament, but I did need a Saturday in March for Nationals. And, as it turns out, I already had that day off by default.

So I absolutely know I had today off, because the whole time I was negotiating to get my second March Saturday off, for Rome, I kept having to explain why I couldn't simply swap my default March day.

But somewhere in all of this either I had to get my dates confused, or Roz had to get my requested dates confused, or something... because this morning they called. O.O And said I was on the schedule.

And they were all like... Oh, it's no big deal... And I know they believe me that this was a mistake, and it probably isn't going to hurt me or anything, but...

1.) I really want to know how this happened!

and

2.) I feel like I've burned away my 'get out of jail free' card over this. It's all fine and good to be able to mess up once without repercussion, but once you do you feel so vulnerable!

Multilingual Fun

Alright, so on Phrasebase.com, they have these little "Cafés" they've opened up for language families. I skipped the Slavic Café for obvious reasons, but I peeked around in the Romance and Germanic ones.

It makes it very obvious how close the Romance languages are, especially in contrast to the Germanic. Although Spanish is my distant second language next to my English, and Italian is like my fifth, I was able to follow the conversation in the Romance Café quite easily. I suppose my Latin also helped, but I was still pleasantly surprised.

In the Germanic Café, on the other hand, I quickly learned to content myself just to guess the language. Even with my native language included, and even with two years of German and a pathetic but functional sort of Norwegian at my command, I was often lost.

Anyhow, it's interesting.

http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/read.php?TID=18310
http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/read.php?TID=18645

Awkward

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/29852906/

I'm going to have to agree with Billie here, and second her nomination of this piece as "Best Illustration in the World".

Just for the record: Contrary to what my blog would have you believe, some of my thoughts do fall in the spectrum between deep reflection and sheer randomness. However these thoughts are mostly about eating, sleeping, work, racquetball, and schoolwork and I don't usually post them. :P Just thought I'd clear that up.

Honestly, though. Great picture. LOVE the facial expressions/body language. It's not easy to do that with alligators and wildebeests. Spectacular.

I love Chocolate. :D

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