... at least when I started writing this. We'll see how many subscribers (a.k.a. none) I had, since they'll be the only ones prompted to check and see if this thing is still being updated. Because it hasn't.
Chinese is the best. I love it. Great people, love the language, busy as I've ever been, but that really won't ever change, will it?
I've been um, nostalgaic (?) lately, with stuff. Stuff I haven't done in a long time: I'm listening to super old music (like, recently super old, e.g. from Junior High) and reading old books and stuff. It's funny to look back and read your blog (maybe not so much funny as embarassing, not unlike old photo albums).
I spent tons of time with languages I haven't touched since. At one point, I could introduce myself and chat casually in Swahili. Gone. Almost in Romanian. Gone. Hungarian. Never could. German. Was going well. I am now embarrased. Russian? Here's the best news: A good friend of mine is learning Russian, and wants to practice and use it and stuff. That's AWESOME! I never really used Russian with anyone when I was seriously studying it. Shame. But anyway, I've been working on my Pimsleur again, and am 6-8 lessons into the second 'course' or whatever. It's fun.
So, for old times' sake, let's share some exciting linguistic facts:
Lithuanian is, ostensibly, the closet [living] language to Indo-European. Lithuanian. Not Persian, not Albanian or Armenian or Greek or any of that. Weird.
While we're in the Baltics, Latvian is Tonal.
The Zulu word (I feel like I've shared this already) for 'tomorrow' is mañana (not necessarily spelled that way). Strange, no? Well, not as much as you may think. The Spanish settled in [what is now South Africa] in (some year I don't know, but it seemed before the Dutch did. At any rate, they were there a long time ago), and at the time, Zulu speaking people were farmers or whatever, and didn't run businesses and weren't trying to take over the world, i.e. they had no word for 'tomorrow,' because the concept was unnecessary. The Spanish came and introduced the concept because they were so stuff-driven, and needed that structure. Whatever.
Nothing else exciting for the moment, and there's no guarantee I'll ever be back here.
Showing posts with label ramble. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ramble. Show all posts
12.10.2007
4.04.2007
So, How 'bout this weather we're having...
Wow... The sky just got dark and started rumbling, and for some reason I am so looking forward to this thunderstorm. It hasn't started yet, but I hope it pulls through.
The weather in Guilin was very similar to Hawaii (from what I remember and from what my TC says), and also to what I imagine any more southeast Asian country would be like: lush, warm, a little humid, wet, but lush is the keyword. I'm so sick of 'vegetation,' like pine trees and pollen and grass, although the dogwoods are awesome, and look like some of the blossoms we saw in Asia. Very cool, but as much as I despise, abhor, resent and loathe hot summer weather, the Guilin, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong (the 'lush' was lost after Guilin) climates were not that bad. Guilin was somewhat muggy, yes, but I loved it. The Li river ran through it, and I don't know if that made it better or worse, but I could've gotten used to it. Guangzhou was more citified and a little too muggy (with nothing to show for it) for my taste (albeit a cool city), and Hong Kong is on the coast, which makes it totally awesome. Guilin reminded me a little (and it's NOT just because I enjoy it way too much) Goa, India, in the Bourne Supremacy, where people were laid back, and it had a cool lively yet rural feel, with the markets and huts and booths, etc. Excellent. I don't know how all of this came about because of some thunder. Sorry.
Looking through the Xi'an pictures, and I hope H'n'B has some incredible ones with her zoom lense, because mine are blurry or grainy or far away or generic, and I'm trying to find some 'artistic' ones to post. They'll be up by Thursday, hopefully. That's all.
The weather in Guilin was very similar to Hawaii (from what I remember and from what my TC says), and also to what I imagine any more southeast Asian country would be like: lush, warm, a little humid, wet, but lush is the keyword. I'm so sick of 'vegetation,' like pine trees and pollen and grass, although the dogwoods are awesome, and look like some of the blossoms we saw in Asia. Very cool, but as much as I despise, abhor, resent and loathe hot summer weather, the Guilin, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong (the 'lush' was lost after Guilin) climates were not that bad. Guilin was somewhat muggy, yes, but I loved it. The Li river ran through it, and I don't know if that made it better or worse, but I could've gotten used to it. Guangzhou was more citified and a little too muggy (with nothing to show for it) for my taste (albeit a cool city), and Hong Kong is on the coast, which makes it totally awesome. Guilin reminded me a little (and it's NOT just because I enjoy it way too much) Goa, India, in the Bourne Supremacy, where people were laid back, and it had a cool lively yet rural feel, with the markets and huts and booths, etc. Excellent. I don't know how all of this came about because of some thunder. Sorry.
Looking through the Xi'an pictures, and I hope H'n'B has some incredible ones with her zoom lense, because mine are blurry or grainy or far away or generic, and I'm trying to find some 'artistic' ones to post. They'll be up by Thursday, hopefully. That's all.
3.07.2007
Beautiful Day
I had some time between errands on Saturday that I put to good use; I had to pick my brother up at the local library, and there were almost two hours of down time until that happened. What did I do? Well, of course, I parked my car behind a chiropractor’s office and my camera and I strolled around another old town here in the area (more industrial than mine). (My town is unique in that it is one of the only old town/village things anywhere near here that has been in existence for almost 100 years, (therefore still existing) and has never had a railroad.) Anyway, check out my Canton Street photoset. I got some I’m pretty happy with, and there are some that I rushed through that I could have done a better job with. I don’t understand how H’n”B (and others, I’m sure) make it taking pictures of stuff, because I’m not tall tall, but even I feel like I should carry a step ladder with me to get good shots on occasion. Anyway, the weather was beautiful and I was able to get some photos that I’m very pleased with. As the sun started to go down, I got some silhouette photos I really liked, and it was a great day. It’s amazing how atmosphere can be created. I usually don’t think of this street as being highly sensory, or stimulating, but I got there and there were people coming and going (not enough to make too much noise that would ruin the ambience), there were incredible smells from these quaint French and Italian restaurants, and one of them was playing Norah Jones in the background. It was bright and sunny, and the scenery was beautiful; everything was awesome. I planned my walk so I would double back very little, and it was very enjoyable. So what this amounts to is little more than shameless plugging… Not really, it was just so incredible.
2.27.2007
Hello, Tokyo
So I’ve come to the realization (as have two of my travel partners here and there) that this time two weeks from now, I will be on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. As already mentioned in one of the links, when I got my visa, welcome letter, passport, etc., it hit me: I’m actually going to be walking around and rubbing shoulders IN CHINA! Not the little part of NYC, but the REAL CHINA. Not the little part of San Francisco, but the REAL JAPAN. Wow.
Chores as of late? I finally got the spare camera battery and a 2GB SD card for DIRT cheep. I also need to get the wall charger for my camera so I don’t have to schlep the cradle and cable that go with it for to synchronize it on the… how you say… computer I won’t have with me?
I spent some extra cash on some non-cotton stuff that’ll dry quicker and be easier to handle while there: some t-shirts and socks and stuff, but I’m still a little nervous about how heavy and bulky my jeans, etc. are going to be, despite that you can wear jeans more than once, drying them once seems to take days… so I’m not sure about that. I already have the world’s coolest khaki jacket with all sorts of zippers and pockets and stuff. That makes me happy.
Concerns: are H’n’B and I going to want to spend a half hour on every reddish leaf that has fallen to the concrete and a pool of water, thus making ourselves the object of hatred by every other member of our travel group? Certainly not. I guess I don’t have many concerns… or ones that can be discussed at any constructive critical length, but that phrase just solved another one…
What books will I be bringing? Hmmm. That last phrase was a quote from J.D. Salinger’s “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction.” His books are always a joy to me, and I don’t think I’ll be reading anything like what I’m currently working on, since it’s somewhat depressing and also bulky. Seems appropriate, and somewhat cliché, I know, to bring this book along, but I always carry Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” with me when I am. I read it in California, and Savannah, and other places, and it’s enjoyable. We’ll see. Any suggestions? I was thinking “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” or something very character driven.
I’ve also decided I’m learning Persian at the expense of Turkish and some of my German. Someone asked me yesterday if I had considered giving up the other three I was learning to focus on just one. “No.”
Looking back, I wish this post was somewhat more organized and thoughtful. At least as succinct as H’n’B (I’ve never been succinct) or as literary as LF’s, but I’m in a hurry and haven’t had so much as a smell of coffee yet. I’ll get back to this and write some literary monologue about my thoughts and concerns on some deep level of consciousness, with a literary style matching that of James Joyce (in his early days, of course, before ‘Portrait’ or ‘Ulysses’).
Tootles.
Chores as of late? I finally got the spare camera battery and a 2GB SD card for DIRT cheep. I also need to get the wall charger for my camera so I don’t have to schlep the cradle and cable that go with it for to synchronize it on the… how you say… computer I won’t have with me?
I spent some extra cash on some non-cotton stuff that’ll dry quicker and be easier to handle while there: some t-shirts and socks and stuff, but I’m still a little nervous about how heavy and bulky my jeans, etc. are going to be, despite that you can wear jeans more than once, drying them once seems to take days… so I’m not sure about that. I already have the world’s coolest khaki jacket with all sorts of zippers and pockets and stuff. That makes me happy.
Concerns: are H’n’B and I going to want to spend a half hour on every reddish leaf that has fallen to the concrete and a pool of water, thus making ourselves the object of hatred by every other member of our travel group? Certainly not. I guess I don’t have many concerns… or ones that can be discussed at any constructive critical length, but that phrase just solved another one…
What books will I be bringing? Hmmm. That last phrase was a quote from J.D. Salinger’s “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction.” His books are always a joy to me, and I don’t think I’ll be reading anything like what I’m currently working on, since it’s somewhat depressing and also bulky. Seems appropriate, and somewhat cliché, I know, to bring this book along, but I always carry Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” with me when I am. I read it in California, and Savannah, and other places, and it’s enjoyable. We’ll see. Any suggestions? I was thinking “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” or something very character driven.
I’ve also decided I’m learning Persian at the expense of Turkish and some of my German. Someone asked me yesterday if I had considered giving up the other three I was learning to focus on just one. “No.”
Looking back, I wish this post was somewhat more organized and thoughtful. At least as succinct as H’n’B (I’ve never been succinct) or as literary as LF’s, but I’m in a hurry and haven’t had so much as a smell of coffee yet. I’ll get back to this and write some literary monologue about my thoughts and concerns on some deep level of consciousness, with a literary style matching that of James Joyce (in his early days, of course, before ‘Portrait’ or ‘Ulysses’).
Tootles.
So I’ve come to the realization (as have two of my travel partners here and there) that this time two weeks from now, I will be on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. As already mentioned in one of the links, when I got my visa, welcome letter, passport, etc., it hit me: I’m actually going to be walking around and rubbing shoulders IN CHINA! Not the little part of NYC, but the REAL CHINA. Not the little part of San Francisco, but the REAL JAPAN. Wow.
Chores as of late? I finally got the spare camera battery and a 2GB SD card for DIRT cheep. I also need to get the wall charger for my camera so I don’t have to schlep the cradle and cable that go with it for to synchronize it on the… how you say… computer I won’t have with me?
I spent some extra cash on some non-cotton stuff that’ll dry quicker and be easier to handle while there: some t-shirts and socks and stuff, but I’m still a little nervous about how heavy and bulky my jeans, etc. are going to be, despite that you can wear jeans more than once, drying them once seems to take days… so I’m not sure about that. I already have the world’s coolest khaki jacket with all sorts of zippers and pockets and stuff. That makes me happy.
Concerns: are H’n’B and I going to want to spend a half hour on every reddish leaf that has fallen to the concrete and a pool of water, thus making ourselves the object of hatred by every other member of our travel group? Certainly not. I guess I don’t have many concerns… or ones that can be discussed at any constructive critical length, but that phrase just solved another one…
What books will I be bringing? Hmmm. That last phrase was a quote from J.D. Salinger’s “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction.” His books are always a joy to me, and I don’t think I’ll be reading anything like what I’m currently working on, since it’s somewhat depressing and also bulky. Seems appropriate, and somewhat cliché, I know, to bring this book along, but I always carry Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” with me when I am. I read it in California, and Savannah, and other places, and it’s enjoyable. We’ll see. Any suggestions? I was thinking “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” or something very character driven.
I’ve also decided I’m learning Persian at the expense of Turkish and some of my German. Someone asked me yesterday if I had considered giving up the other three I was learning to focus on just one. “No.”
Looking back, I wish this post was somewhat more organized and thoughtful. At least as succinct as H’n’B (I’ve never been succinct) or as literary as LF’s, but I’m in a hurry and haven’t had so much as a smell of coffee yet. I’ll get back to this and write some literary monologue about my thoughts and concerns on some deep level of consciousness, with a literary style matching that of James Joyce (in his early days, of course, before ‘Portrait’ or ‘Ulysses’).
Tootles.
Chores as of late? I finally got the spare camera battery and a 2GB SD card for DIRT cheep. I also need to get the wall charger for my camera so I don’t have to schlep the cradle and cable that go with it for to synchronize it on the… how you say… computer I won’t have with me?
I spent some extra cash on some non-cotton stuff that’ll dry quicker and be easier to handle while there: some t-shirts and socks and stuff, but I’m still a little nervous about how heavy and bulky my jeans, etc. are going to be, despite that you can wear jeans more than once, drying them once seems to take days… so I’m not sure about that. I already have the world’s coolest khaki jacket with all sorts of zippers and pockets and stuff. That makes me happy.
Concerns: are H’n’B and I going to want to spend a half hour on every reddish leaf that has fallen to the concrete and a pool of water, thus making ourselves the object of hatred by every other member of our travel group? Certainly not. I guess I don’t have many concerns… or ones that can be discussed at any constructive critical length, but that phrase just solved another one…
What books will I be bringing? Hmmm. That last phrase was a quote from J.D. Salinger’s “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction.” His books are always a joy to me, and I don’t think I’ll be reading anything like what I’m currently working on, since it’s somewhat depressing and also bulky. Seems appropriate, and somewhat cliché, I know, to bring this book along, but I always carry Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” with me when I am. I read it in California, and Savannah, and other places, and it’s enjoyable. We’ll see. Any suggestions? I was thinking “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” or something very character driven.
I’ve also decided I’m learning Persian at the expense of Turkish and some of my German. Someone asked me yesterday if I had considered giving up the other three I was learning to focus on just one. “No.”
Looking back, I wish this post was somewhat more organized and thoughtful. At least as succinct as H’n’B (I’ve never been succinct) or as literary as LF’s, but I’m in a hurry and haven’t had so much as a smell of coffee yet. I’ll get back to this and write some literary monologue about my thoughts and concerns on some deep level of consciousness, with a literary style matching that of James Joyce (in his early days, of course, before ‘Portrait’ or ‘Ulysses’).
Tootles.
2.16.2007
Addiction in kind
For those of you that haven’t been in close company with me lately, I have a new addiction as well. (This seemed an appropriate answer to H’n’B’s post about her football addiction) Mine is more substance related, though… substance sounds so shady and illegal when paired with the words ‘addiction,’ ‘abuse,’ ‘dependence,’ … you get the idea…
COFFEE!!! I’ve had coffee experiences lately, and there are too many to relate, but they involve baristas and stuff… need to know basis.
It all started a few hours before the Superbowl. Picture it: a nice cool afternoon before going to (what can arguably be called) an old friend’s house for the party. I’ve made plans to meet some friends at Starbucks before heading over there. I get there early and peruse the shopping center where I find a Persian restaurant. I went in to get a menu and their hours of operation, and to my pleasant surprise, they had a Persian newspaper!!! Having gotten the desired information from the (not unattractive hostess) I strolled out with my newspaper and to go menu. Seeing fit to order my coffee before they arrived, I decided to get a size that would last me long enough that I wouldn’t be finished when Affie and her friend got there late. I strolled in to order my coffee and asked what they had. My past experience with Starbucks coffee has been not so pleasant, and I never did have a taste for it, but I thought for some reason I’d give it another try (my subconscious was so right). I can’t remember how it happened, but instead of ordering a plain medium coffee or doppio, (I think it involved the mind-numbing headache I had) I decided to pull out the big guns and order the ‘bold’ brew they had. Was I ever pleased…
Incredible. It’s an Indonesian thing, and dark, heavy, and almost thick. It’s got a bite to it, and is really delightful. Funny thing is, I would have never been able to drink something like this before. I suddenly love it.
You see, black coffee has been one of those things I’ve wanted to like for a long time. (We all have things we want to like, be it social reasons, chic factor, but there are things we do not like that we try to, and for me it was coffee.) I could drink black coffee, but only with some trepidation and slow going, or a handful of sweets by my side. That’s over. I was also never able to taste the ‘aromas,’ or ‘flavors,’ or ‘hints,’ of flavor that people describe in anything, be it coffee, wine, sand… but I’m noticing them now. So, as corny as it sounds to describe the coffee above as earthy, bold, spicy, (even nutty), and almost entirely non-acidic, it’s what I get from it. Delightful.
This has started a kick for me. Like a kid in a candy store (or a linguist in an international airport), I’ve been jumping around to get my hands on all the Starbucks brews and coffees. I welcomed home my first pound of coffee last week, ground for a drip brew. It was a pound of the Komodo, mentioned above. But since then, my other favorites have been Gold Coast (awesome, but not nearly as earthy and pungent as Komodo, since it’s got more Latin and Italian blended in with it; still super bold, but a little sweeter) and especially the Sulawesi (very similar to Komodo, but more elegant, less in-your-face, and smoother; not as big, but with even less acidity; it’s amazing). The Ethiopian Sidamo tastes like a blender full o’ flowers and perfume (yuck), and I’m not impressed with the Café Verona because it’s too acidic for my taste, despite that it’s supposed to be their most popular… Estima, Guatemala Antiqua, Yukon are some others I’ve tried. I’m still waiting to try Sumatra and Kenya, as well as the Espresso and French Roasts. Obsessive? Maybe. Expensive? Sort of. Delicious? Absolutely. I realized when I dig through my pockets for change enough to buy a $1.60 coffee, it can be considered a dependency. I have been getting these afternoon headaches, though, between 2:30 and 4, and the caffeine does the trick. I don’t drink sodas or anything, and the coffee is much better, so that’s been making me happy. That is all.
(~What’s that haunting aroma?~ a la Will Ferrel in ‘Kicking and Screaming.’)
تحيات حارة
COFFEE!!! I’ve had coffee experiences lately, and there are too many to relate, but they involve baristas and stuff… need to know basis.
It all started a few hours before the Superbowl. Picture it: a nice cool afternoon before going to (what can arguably be called) an old friend’s house for the party. I’ve made plans to meet some friends at Starbucks before heading over there. I get there early and peruse the shopping center where I find a Persian restaurant. I went in to get a menu and their hours of operation, and to my pleasant surprise, they had a Persian newspaper!!! Having gotten the desired information from the (not unattractive hostess) I strolled out with my newspaper and to go menu. Seeing fit to order my coffee before they arrived, I decided to get a size that would last me long enough that I wouldn’t be finished when Affie and her friend got there late. I strolled in to order my coffee and asked what they had. My past experience with Starbucks coffee has been not so pleasant, and I never did have a taste for it, but I thought for some reason I’d give it another try (my subconscious was so right). I can’t remember how it happened, but instead of ordering a plain medium coffee or doppio, (I think it involved the mind-numbing headache I had) I decided to pull out the big guns and order the ‘bold’ brew they had. Was I ever pleased…
Incredible. It’s an Indonesian thing, and dark, heavy, and almost thick. It’s got a bite to it, and is really delightful. Funny thing is, I would have never been able to drink something like this before. I suddenly love it.
You see, black coffee has been one of those things I’ve wanted to like for a long time. (We all have things we want to like, be it social reasons, chic factor, but there are things we do not like that we try to, and for me it was coffee.) I could drink black coffee, but only with some trepidation and slow going, or a handful of sweets by my side. That’s over. I was also never able to taste the ‘aromas,’ or ‘flavors,’ or ‘hints,’ of flavor that people describe in anything, be it coffee, wine, sand… but I’m noticing them now. So, as corny as it sounds to describe the coffee above as earthy, bold, spicy, (even nutty), and almost entirely non-acidic, it’s what I get from it. Delightful.
This has started a kick for me. Like a kid in a candy store (or a linguist in an international airport), I’ve been jumping around to get my hands on all the Starbucks brews and coffees. I welcomed home my first pound of coffee last week, ground for a drip brew. It was a pound of the Komodo, mentioned above. But since then, my other favorites have been Gold Coast (awesome, but not nearly as earthy and pungent as Komodo, since it’s got more Latin and Italian blended in with it; still super bold, but a little sweeter) and especially the Sulawesi (very similar to Komodo, but more elegant, less in-your-face, and smoother; not as big, but with even less acidity; it’s amazing). The Ethiopian Sidamo tastes like a blender full o’ flowers and perfume (yuck), and I’m not impressed with the Café Verona because it’s too acidic for my taste, despite that it’s supposed to be their most popular… Estima, Guatemala Antiqua, Yukon are some others I’ve tried. I’m still waiting to try Sumatra and Kenya, as well as the Espresso and French Roasts. Obsessive? Maybe. Expensive? Sort of. Delicious? Absolutely. I realized when I dig through my pockets for change enough to buy a $1.60 coffee, it can be considered a dependency. I have been getting these afternoon headaches, though, between 2:30 and 4, and the caffeine does the trick. I don’t drink sodas or anything, and the coffee is much better, so that’s been making me happy. That is all.
(~What’s that haunting aroma?~ a la Will Ferrel in ‘Kicking and Screaming.’)
تحيات حارة
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