Thursday, October 14, 2010

Monday, October 11, 2010

Adventures With Chinese Food

I've just recently started eating Chinese Food, and it's awesome for the most part. Most of the menus have everything translated into English more or less, which I love. For example, I ate at a restaurant that offered "fried groove liver" and "mafia salad." I assume "groove" means goose, but I have no idea what they meant by "mafia salad." Maybe they whack the lettuce...or the salad comes with a little horse's head on the side...

hmmm...

Saturday, September 4, 2010

"Both Sides Now" ~Joni Mitchell

Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, i've looked at cloud that way.
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.
So many things i would have done but clouds got in my way.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions i recall.
I really don't know clouds at all.

Moons and junes and ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real; i've looked at love that way.
But now it's just another show. you leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away.

I've looked at love from both sides now,
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions i recall.
I really don't know love at all.

Tears and fears and feeling proud to say "i love you" right out loud,
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, i've looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, they say
I've changed.
Something's lost but something's gained in living every day.

I've looked at life from both sides now,
From win and lose, and still somehow
It's life's illusions i recall.
I really don't know life at all.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Ceiling of the Night

People who look through open windows from the outside never see as much as the people who look through closed windows. There is nothing more profound, more mysterious, more rich, more obscure, more telling than a dark window. What can be seen in sunlight is always less interesting than waht happens behind the curtain of dark. In this black but luminous hole, life suffers, life dreams, life lives.

Last night, beyond one window, I saw a girl fearless as she danced around the room. From her face, her clothes, her gestures, from almost nothing really, a story was constructed. The moon, a dragon's eyes, as it stared through clouds cold as murder, wrapping me in shadows of breath, syntax, pause, the language of slow blooming flowers left trembling between a lion's mouth and the electric screams of the wind.

I heard once that people will forget what you did, forget what you said...but they will never forget the way you made them feel...like names printed on the ceiling of the night.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Six-Word Memoir

Here's one for everyone: come up with a 6 word memoir for yourself. Post it here if you want to. This is a prompt for the Literature Based Research class Iteach. Here's mine: "For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn."

Sunday, August 8, 2010

"The Witness"

drinking wine on a beautiful Sunday evening...just watched "The Witness" with Harrison Ford. AWESOME movie!! I so love the Amish.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Why I Want to Learn Spanish

Recently, I’ve become obsessed with learning Spanish. This is partly due to the fact that my last three trips have been to Spanish speaking countries and partly due to my job. At least once per day, I encounter some lost non-English speaker looking for something and wondering if I abla espanol? With each encounter, all I can do is shake my head and then inwardly scold myself for not having studied a language I took all through high school and a good part of college.

Most Americans can boast to speaking at the very least, ‘high school Spanish’ but unfortunately, my Spanish is limited to a very unuseful assortment of commercial catchphrases and film and television quotes that I picked up over the years. My childhood Spanish instructors were the Terminator (Hasta La Vista, Baby) and a talking Chiquaqua (Yo qui ero Taco Bell). In college, my Spanish instructors were more of the same, except in a college kind of way. I may not speak high school Spanish but my movie Spanish is damn, near passable.

But it doesn’t get me very far, which becomes especially apparent when I travel to a county where English is not so sufficient. I always think I go places full prepared, equipped with a Spanish dictionary (which I inconveniently seem to misplace the first day of the trip but that’s beside the point), and I try to memorize a few important phrases like, “Donde esta Emilio Estevez?” and “No mas Cocaine, por favor.” You know, useful things like that.

It’s for this reason and more that I think I want to let go of my “I-hate-everybody-that-speaks-Spanish-because-I-can't" and enroll myself into Espanol 101. And not in a classroom, but somewhere exotic and cool...

I’m thinking Guatemala…