Get your [blank] on

It seems like a lot of people are using the phrase "Get your [insert word] on," and I'd like to know what the origin of that phrase is.

There seems to be much use of the phrase "Get your game on," but is that the original phrase? If not, what is? How did this whole thing start? I'm guessing it started in a more obscure subculture and has spread uncontrollably to the mainstream, to the point where even advertising is saying "Get your chocolate on" or whatever.

So if anyone out there knows the answer, please let me know so I can post it here.

Great ESL book

I'm going to a meeting on Friday where we're going to find out what the city-wide ESL books are going to be. Whoever the winning publisher is, they're going to be very happy because thousands of their books will be used throughout Chicago.

So far, I've been using the third level of English in Action, which is perfect for the weekly class I've been teaching. It has different kinds of activities, a practical workbook, and helpful information that's not overwhelming.

I'm just mentioning it here because starting in January, we'll no longer use English in Action, and I want people to know that it's a great book that has made teaching a lot easier and more enjoyable. Even though I've used the same book for over a year, it seems like I'm teaching a different class each term.

So thank you English in Action, and Heinle, its publisher!

We would be fired

I watched a few episodes of House during a Saturday TV marathon, and now I think I'm going to watch more often. I think I only watched bits of the show before, where I was impressed with Hugh Laurie's American accent.

I know it's fiction, but I can't believe what Doctor House gets away with: he's often a jerk and breaks the rules, and he's not really suspended and certainly not fired. And if he's dragged to court, the hospital will pay his legal fees (his boss said they budgeted like 50k per year to defend him). He's only a doctor, not management, yet they're often willing to take care of him no matter what.

I think the real departure from reality was when a rich administrator wanted to give the hospital over 100 million dollars, but he wanted the House out of there as a condition, and he expected the Board to vote for his dismissal. But they eventually decided to keep the House instead of the 110 million dollars!

Seriously--what business or organization would give up over 100 million dollars for ONE person, especially a jerk who often gets in trouble, and is a legal risk?

Maybe that's why the show is popular--in real life, we'd be fired, and seeing him get rewarded for his intelligence and talent is escapism for us. Though of course, there are plenty of jerky people in workplaces everywhere who get special treatment because they know how to play the game or know how to bring in the bucks. But Doctor House gets rewarded for just being himself.

Original Japanese Speed Racer opening with English subtitles

The show was called "Mach Go Go Go" in Japan, but was called Speed Racer in the US. I didn't check the translation, so let's hope it's correct :D

Below is the introduction and close of the American Speed Racer show that I used to watch (the Japanese close is the same, except with no titles and they sing "Mach Go" instead of "Speed Racer").

I just eavesdropped on a Japanese conversation

I hear different languages every day, but I don't hear Japanese that much, even though I live near the Japanese Consulate and work near a Japanese company. Tonight I walked to the store, and heard a couple of women talking. I didn't zone in on what they were saying because sometimes I initially think people are speaking Japanese when they're really speaking Korean (I can tell the difference between the two languages btw, but I need to get accustomed to them when I hear them in a sea of English).

The two women were talking about areas of Chicago, and I was psyched! There weren't many people around, so I could try to figure out what they were saying. The problem was that I looked like a creep because I slowed my usual fast pace to hover within close proximity to their voices. At times I couldn't hear them, so I slowed down even more to the point where someone might think we were part of the same group. I wonder if they noticed that I was eavesdropping. Eventually they drifted away, and I couldn't hear everything they were saying due to wind and traffic. But at least I heard something.

What I could figure out was that the younger woman was either born in the US or had spent quite a bit of time here, because she would occasionally throw in teeny English phrases, but very briefly, as if it was natural for her to switch between the two languages. Plus, even though her accent was good, it wasn't as "native" as the older woman. Bottom line: that younger woman is lucky to be fluent in both (which I'm assuming she is).

Now I have to get in the habit of eavesdropping on my ESL students because they often speak Spanish and my Spanish at this point is quite lame, and I have plenty of chances to at least get my ear used to it and even practice once in a while.

It's hard to translate Japanese when I have other work too

I used to do mostly language stuff, so I'd divide my work by doing translating on certain days, interspersed with other work on the non-translating days. But lately I've been busy with radio (which is one of the reasons why it's hard to take language classes), and it's really hard to translate after reporting to work before dawn. Even though today is Labor Day, I had to be at work at 4, then had non-work obligations after that, took a nap, then started tackling Japanese. But the mind power that's required to translate Japanese is far more than what's needed for French or Spanish or Portuguese, so I'm still not done, and I have to go to bed soon. And my mind is definitely active from so much Japanese processing, but it feels maxed-out, and I think I'll have to swim or go for a walk before sleeping, otherwise I'll have kanji and complex syntax dreams.

Thus concludes my Labor Day Japanese Translating Report.

We all want a golden ticket

I've seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory many times (the original 1971 version, not the remake, which I've never seen), and even saw a special DVD with commentary and interviews with the stars, which I highly recommend. Well tonight I saw the movie for the umpteenth time, and realized that it's very popular because both kids and adults want a golden ticket--something really great that's given to them that leads to a better life. I think that's why we identify with Charlie: all of us may not be living in poverty, but we often want something to come along that that will improve our lives in a surprising way, especially for being a nice person, because it seems that sometimes it's the jerks who get ahead and achieve success.

Guess the accent

Mad Minerva told me about a game where you guess the accent from videos of people reciting a couple of lines from Rudyard Kipling's poem "If". You have to guess which county they're from, and of course the more points you get, the better accent-guesser you are. Good luck!

How can a non-English speaker say that native speakers don't speak correct English?

Someone told me that their European relative who came to visit the US said that many people didn't speak "correct" English. Sorry to say this, but that's a stupid comment from someone who has never lived in the US, and doesn't speak English as a first language. What's unbelievable is that the person who made that comment doesn't even speak English well, so how would they know that people don't speak English "correctly" here?

I think it's because they assume that if Americans don't speak like a textbook, then they're not speaking English "correctly". If they'd bother to spend a decent amount of time here, they'd notice the varieties of English and not hold people to their high, unrealistic standard. Most people don't speak like textbooks, no matter what language they speak.

I'd like to see that person interact with a wide variety of Americans, and see how the Americans would react. I doubt the Americans would walk away thinking, "That person speaks correct English."

John McEnroe freaking out with French subtitles

I found this when for some reason I wanted to know more about John McEnroe: a collection of his hissy fits with French subtitles and French explanations. I didn't know they cared about him so much :D

FOUR YEARS

I just realized that I've been posting stuff here for FOUR years. That's quite a long time for a baby blog such as mine. I'm just wondering why I haven't made the "blogs of note" list at Blogger if I've been around so long. And where's the book deal and interviews? Oh well, I'll continue toiling in obscurity....which is fine with me, because it seems like some quality people have visited this site!

So thanks for reading and there's more language fun to come! And nerdiness too!

It's over!

Here's some tragedy: I've just seen the LAST Inspector Lynley! I guess the Brits weren't into him anymore, so they didn't produce any more shows.

Yes, I'm bummed, even though I think I missed some along the way. But the bottom line is we won't see any more Inspector Lynley episodes! (Unless we want to watch reruns--but there will be nothing new!)

Got a blog book

I was in a bookstore looking at the front table with new releases, and saw a book that seemed to be an enjoyable read. As I was checking it out, I kept thinking that the writing style reminded me of well-written blogs, because it was breezy and friendly. So I got the book, and found out that it came from a blog by an anonymous waiter. So I was right: the writer was originally a blogger, and he'd attracted so many readers, the PIC (Publishing Industrial Complex) noticed. And he's probably making a very good living from something that started as a venting vehicle.

The uptight man

Someone just told me about a guy (I have to keep it vague lest they find out) who will over-analyze someone's speech. So for instance, if someone says, "Everyone took their books," the guy will get all wound up and point out that "everyone" doesn't match with "their."

Lighten up, dude. I can understand if someone writes comments about such grammar use, but to get uptight in a casual conversation? That's almost psychotic!

Interviews posted

One of the reasons I've sometimes lapsed in posting here (other than having an odd work schedule) is because I've been working on the anthology I'm putting together (which will be released later this month), and now there's been a new development: interviews with some of the authors! I've posted the audio at my site--check it out, and enjoy :D

Got rejected but got a book

This is different: I applied for a scholarship to a seminar (to attend the seminar for free instead of paying the big bucks), but I got rejected. I was sort of bummed, but I figured LIF (Life Isn't Fair) and moved on, even though I thought it was ironic that they wanted bloggers, and since I've had this blog for a while, they'd see I was legit. But I guess I'm not business-y enough for them.

Then yesterday, I received a book that was about the topic they were going to discuss, and basically they said thanks for applying, here's a book, feel free to review it on Amazon. So I started reading it and it's not bad, but I think I'm going to review it elsewhere online because it's easier to do that.

That was the first time that happened: getting rejected from something but getting a freebie for at least trying. So now I'm thinking that maybe life isn't so unfair after all :D

Didn't recognize Ethiopian

I screwed up today: I saw someone drinking a Coke with a non-English script on it (I think it's an Olympics-related series), and I couldn't figure out what it was. I thought it was Burmese, but the Coke's owner said it was Ethiopian. Which I should've recognized, because I did a post a while ago about how pretty Ethiopian was. I'm going to attribute that mind slippage to lack of sleep and a full plate of non-language things to do :D

Travel shows

Even though I love traveling (though I haven't been able to do it very much in recent years), I'm not a fan of travel shows. I'm interested in what they're talking about and want to discover new places, even if it's just via the TV, but what I find annoying is when the host does everything, to let us know, "Watch me--I'm having a great time!"

Yesterday I was watching something about Southeast Alaska, and I thought we were going to get different information and insight into the isolated life there. But we ended up getting images of the host introducing himself to the people, and in other scenes, he was struggling to drill holes and attempt difficult tasks. I'd much rather see information and images of the people in Alaska doing things, not the host bumbling through, giving us running commentary of his struggle.

Other shows will show the host swimming or taking crazy rides, exclaiming "I'm so scared!" or eating food, saying "This is delicious!" Well duh, it's supposed to be--I don't have to watch you eating it to understand that concept.

The "host having a good time in front of your eyes" structure must work, otherwise they wouldn't use such a gimmick in so many shows, on various stations. But it still doesn't make me want to watch.

Transliterating thoughts

When I was in high school, I used to write notes to myself (about heartbreak, hopes, wishes, etc) in Hebrew (I studied it when I was a kid), except I would transliterate English words using Hebrew characters. It was convenient because no one could read my inner teenage turmoil.

Well today I wanted to remind myself to write about certain stuff in a short fiction piece I'm throwing together, but I didn't want anyone to understand (in case they took a peek), so I used Romanji (English letters) to write sloppy Japanese. Even if a Japanese speaker read it, they'd probably think, "Her Japanese grammar is awful". But it came in quite handy :D

Jane Austen bio online

I just watched Miss Austen Regrets which was really good, and I was searching for more info for her online, I found A Memoir of the Life of Jane Austen, which you can read for free! So get it now before some jerk shuts it down. It's the first one, and was written by her nephew. It also gave her the fame that she wanted, though it was too late, because she'd already died quite young.

Making fun of BBC Brits

Someone sent me this spoof of the BBC--I obviously don't understand some of the phrases, which are probably made up for comedy's sake. And it also reminds me of British TV circa the 1960's. But it's still entertaining :D

Swag and signage

I've noticed that there are some words that people use in such a way to show that they're trying to be cool and/or important by using them.

Two words that people seem to try to elevate their status with are "swag" and "signage."

In some places, I've either seen people post the word "swag" online or use it in conversation, as in "Get your swag here" or "Be sure to check out the [insert group] swag". They give a kind of emphasis to that word because it seems like they want to appear as "clever". Because the words "t-shirts" or "hats" are just too ordinary for them.

About signage: I have seen people who want to be more important than they are say, "We need to put the signage there" or "What about the signage?" As if it's too much for them to just say "signs"! Are signs so significant that they can't use such a common word, but have to complicate it by saying what they perceive as a fancy version of "signs"? Is "signage" really that special?

There are other words I've noticed, but I have to start writing down my observations on a pad or something because I can't remember them right now. But they're out there!

A dumb question

I watched the movie Pride & Prejudice, and after the lovey-dovey ending (which was not in the UK version), I said to my husband, "That's a woman's dream--I wonder what guys thought of this movie," and he said, "This isn't the type of movie guys see."

Obviously. It's definitely a romantic, relationship-oriented chick flick, so I don't know why I assumed guys would've seen it.

I got an out-of-office reply in DANISH!

I emailed Lilly, and got an out-of-office reply in DANISH!

Some of you out there might not think it's a big deal, but it is to me because I don't live in a country that speaks Danish (or "where Danish is spoken"), so I often see such replies in English. But to see it Danish? It makes the whole message special!

Here's a part of it (I took out the names and dates, hopefully correctly), titled "Ferie":

Jeg holder ferie i ugerne...

Såfremt din mail angår Sprogligt...er du velkommen til at kontakte...i uge...Centret holder ferielukket i uge...

BEMÆRK VENLIGST: din e-mail vil ikke blive automatisk videresendt.

Med venlig hilsen

To Danes it might be mundane, but not to me!

You'll never see this in an American email

I saw this beginning of a sentence in a Brit's email, which I have never seen in an American one, and which I probably never will see: "Whilst I think of it..."

Americans NEVER use "whilst". That sounds like a very old word, and I seriously wonder when the last time that word was used in the good ol' US of A. Maybe it's never been used. It's just so different from what we say (we say "while").

Whilst sounds so fancy and formal, but it's used in everyday British English, I think, which makes it very interesting to see in an email.

I'm addicted to this song

White and Nerdy: I discovered it a while ago, but YouTube won't let you embed it (which is probably why it's gotten over 30 million views there), so I didn't post it here before. Plus, I figured since everyone's seen it, I shouldn't bother posting it anyway, but I think it's so good, I just couldn't resist. And maybe there are some nerds out there who haven't seen it yet.

Multilingual IM chat!

Someone sent me info about an IM program that is multilingual (!) which is very cool, especially if you want to communicate with people all over the world: Meglobe.

It's brand new, and I tried it, and it's easy to use. I also like the design--tastefully simple. All you do is type in your own language, and it will translate whatever you say into the other person's language. So for instance, if I choose English (which is easiest for me to communicate in) and the person I'm chatting with chooses Spanish, then what I type will be translated into Spanish, and visa-versa. It shows both languages at the same time, so you can try to learn some new words as well. You can choose from like 15 languages, and they might add more.

I tried using Japanese, and the translations of what I was saying were sort of odd, but you can add to the translations, which are kept in a database.

So it's nerdy fun that is educational and handy, and it's free--I even asked someone from the company if they're planning to keep it free, and they said yes.

This is KAZU?

This is how hard Japanese names are (as if Japanese isn't difficult enough): the character 一 means "one" and can be pronounced different ways. People usually think it's "ichi" or "hitotsu" because that's the most common reading, and if it's combined with other kanji, the pronunciation alters, though it's based on the basic reading of the character, so it's not such a big deal.

But I had to look up this name: 一哉 which is probably very common in Japanese, but I had no idea how it was supposed to be transliterated. After much searching, I found out it is Kazuya. 一哉 is KAZUYA? I know the second character can be pronounced "ya", but 一 is KAZU? What? How the heck are we supposed to learn this language?

Do you see how crazy Japanese can make people, and what headaches it can cause?

This is why my brain goes on over-drive when I try to translate it or make sense of it. This is why French and Portuguese and Spanish seem relatively easy :D

A quiz I don't understand

People often post little quizzes at their blogs, with questions that start with "What kind of .... are you?" And Lilly posted a surprise: a quiz in Danish (which makes sense, because she's from Denmark, though she writes in English). So I can't take it, thus it gives me a good excuse to avoid those things because some of them can be annoying.

Update: Lilly said it's Norwegian, not Danish. Which proves I truly didn't understand it :D

Rush's quote

I've been working crazy radio hours in addition to translating and reading stuff for the anthology, but I managed to find some downtime at work today to read an article about a radio person here in the USA who has absolutely profited from syndication and consolidation: Rush Limbaugh.

People seem to either love him or hate him. On the air, he sounds arrogant and often twists information to fit his world view (as any idealogue does), but he's a talented radio pro, and he's raked in hundreds of millions of dollars because of it.

You should definitely read the article because it demonstrates what radio has become, and how the average shmoe has been squeezed out of it. Syndication and consolidation have put his show in hundreds of stations throughout the country (and Canada, I think), and if he weren't so entertaining, it wouldn't have happened. But the relaxed American laws (thanks to successful corporate radio lobbying) in the mid-90's helped extend his exposure, and people in every market reacted positively.

There are various parts of the article that are revealing and interesting, including the description of his early failures and his extreme current wealth. But this is perhaps the most interesting quote:

“I thank God for my addiction,” he told me. “It made me understand my shortcomings.”

Being Limbaugh, he said he believes that most of these shortcomings stemmed from his inability to love himself sufficiently. “I felt everyone who criticized me was right and I was wrong,” he confided. But, he says, he left his insecurities behind in Arizona. “It’s not possible to offend me now,” he said. “I won’t give people the power to do it anymore. My problem was born of immaturity and my childhood desire for acceptance. I learned in drug rehab that this was stunting and unrealistic. I was seeking acceptance from the wrong people.”

I never thought we'd read such words from him because his persona is so egotistical (though a lot of on-air talent is off the air as well as on), so it made the article even more worthwhile.

He's made it big time

Here's everyone's dream (at least those who write as a hobby): you set up a blog, it gets passed around, and you end up getting millions of hits and a book deal good enough to let you quit your day job. And you didn't do any marketing to get to that point, didn't query anyone, just posted stuff that people liked, and the PIC (Publishing Industrial Complex) noticed.

That's what happened with the guy who created Stuff White People Like. He has really made it, and he did it with a unique idea that has entertained a lot of people.

Go to Milwaukee

I went to Milwaukee on Friday to see Rush at Summerfest, and I highly recommend taking a trip there.

Even though I live a couple hours away (a direct shot south, actually), I had no idea how nice that city is. We walked around the historic Third Ward, which is full of rehabbed warehouses and factories. There are art galleries and good restaurants and interesting views there, since it's on the river and near the lake. It is also really clean. When we went to Summerfest, we walked along the lake and saw the art museum from a distance and downtown, which isn't packed with a lot of skyscrapers.

I really think Milwaukee is overlooked and a lot of people don't know how nice it is because it used to be gritty, and I actually expected it to be run down and provincial. But I was impressed with the general design, even the public signs, which were very tastefully done.

Since Milwaukee is in the midwest, it doesn't seem snobby and the people seem friendly, but there's also a sophistication there that is accessible for anyone to enjoy. I am definitely going back for a day trip and hope other people do the same thing because we should celebrate beautiful, manageable cities in the US.

I know Milwaukee has problem areas, but it doesn't depress the whole city. I am definitely guilty for assuming it was going to be just another failed midwest town (like Waukegan in Illinois). But it's definitely worth the trip.

Translation problem

Here's my translation crisis: I have to finish French and Japanese translations, but I also have to be at work in the middle of the night for the next week. Which means decreased sleep time and language time. Which means my language abilities might decline.

And today, after waking up in the middle of the night and working all day, I am doing something crazy and driving to Milwaukee for a concert. Which means decreased sleep time.

So it doesn't mean that my non-English language abilities are becoming non-existent, but they're challenged. If language were a commodity, I'd take up a collection :D

What's the difference between a nerd and geek?

Sometimes at work I stop and think, "This is so nerdy" and share that observation with some coworkers who also do nerdy work, and agree that radio can be quite nerdy because we have to deal with audio and obscure information (especially in talk radio). When I used the word "nerd" with a couple of engineers (one who has pens in his pocket sans pocket protector), they got all annoyed and said, "We're geeks, not nerds." Which made me wonder what the difference is between a geek and a nerd.

They said a geek is someone who is intense about a subject, but other definitions I've read say the same thing. And the other day, a couple of nerdy types told me that a geek is a practical nerd, but a nerd is intellectual: ie, a nerd might know the layout of a starship, but a geek would know how to build one.

I like that definition, but I prefer the sound of the word "nerd" better, so that's what I use. What's funny is when I'm discussing Japanese or ideas or language or audio with someone who's also into such stuff, and I'll stop and say, "This is so nerdy," and then they'll give me an example of something else they're doing that's nerdy as well.

I found a test which I took, and I'm mostly nerdy, with some dorkiness and geekiness mixed in. I think at this point, my work life is definitely nerdy, and my non-work life is mostly that as well. Which means I'm quite different than what I used to be.

A British email

I got an email from a guy who created My Language Notebook, which is a free program "to keep and organise your notes when you are learning a language." I haven't been able to use it yet because I have a Mac, but it looks like a nifty app.

When I saw the word "organise" in the description, I knew the creator was British because he used "s" instead of "z" (we Americans write "organize"). So I asked him, and he said he is from England, so I was right about that, and I thought that was the end of my questions.

But then he said he'd been to the U.S. where he "had a top time", and signed his email "Have a top one". So I just had to ask where such a use of "top" came from, because I'd never heard it before. This is his explanation:

Top is more of a Manchester word originally, but it was adopted by a lot of people in about 1990 at the height of the 'Madchester' movement. Most of my mates have been saying it ever since.

"My mates"--another British term. Which means his email exemplifies British English, which is interesting to me :D

Japanese with Mexican

I just did something quite nerdy: after my Japanese class, I went to a Mexican restaurant with a couple of very smart fellow students, and one of them said we should speak Japanese. So for most of our time there, we did that, until I realized that one of them wasn't paying attention to my badly spoken reflections. So we switched to English towards the end. But it was really nifty to be Japanese-speaking Americans in a Mexican restaurant. At least we got some practice, since I don't get many chances to speak.

Writing that seems hard

I've been watching Inspector Lewis, and it's such good quality (in addition to other Mystery shows), I can't help but wonder: how the heck do they write this stuff? They probably structure the episodes like plays (in acts), but beyond that, how do they create at that level?

Unfortunately, many people don't care about such refined quality, so these types of shows aren't plentiful and we have to sift through the junk to find gems. But I still wouldn't mind learning how to write like that, or at least spend the time trying to develop such a skill. Or have the patience to work on it.

Could the stereotypes be true?

Here's a revealing blog post by a successful Asian guy: The abused has become the Abuser. Here's an excerpt (the English is in its natural state, ie, I didn't want to correct it):

Enough of being the Know-It-All, Straight A student and basically carried the full weight of the team by doing all the work.

I have become the typical white Americans who abused their poor asian classmates that eager to show off their better than average number crunching ability to solve difficult problems.

It’s actually pretty easy and I’m amazed why I didn’t pick this role sooner. It’d have saved me so much time.

So this morning, I came to a group meeting, not ready, half asleep, and have no idea whatsoever for whatever we had to do.

Of course, then my one Asian classmate who obviously has studied diligently in the past week, has come and prepared all the answers and I happily accepted his explanation.

That's just a part of the story. I wonder if anyone else read this and thought about the stereotypes in it.

The type of show I wouldn't mind doing

This was on a while ago, but I only saw one episode, and I'm catching the rest of it now: Do You Speak American. It's a documentary about American English, where Robert MacNeil (who I'd describe as a "gentleman journalist" because he's been able to live a civilized media life) travels around the country and talks to people about American dialects and accents. It's the kind of show I wouldn't mind being involved with, but I'm quite far away from those types of media gigs (though I enjoy mine).

I should've seen this

Last week, when part one of The Murder Room was on, I didn't pay attention because I was doing other stuff. But tonight I got a chance to look at part two more carefully, and now I wish I'd seen the whole thing. Because I didn't know what was going on, I couldn't keep watching it, and I wish I had.

I think it's because I've never seen the PD James series, but have seen most of the other shows from Mystery, but since the quality of the programs is often consistently good, then I should've given it a chance.

Too many books

I went to the Printers Row Book Fair today, which unfortunately was initially rained out, and by the time it cleared up, many of the exhibitors had taken off. But as I walked around, I saw a ton of books, but far fewer people were buying them. Which is usually the case, and that's my point.

I talked to a guy from an indie press who was cleaning off the rain from his table, and there seemed to be a number of interesting titles there, but there were too many to all sell decently, and he told me that they just throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. One place was even giving away books. But the bottom line is that there were too many there and there are too many everywhere, and the buyers are scarce.

One guy who really took the time to talk to me and answer my numerous questions was David Gecic from Puddin'head Press. He was friendly and told me what it's like to have an independent press (he publishes mostly poetry). He's been at it for like 20 years, and he's managed to break even and do even better, while connecting with cool people around the city. At least he's accomplishing something.

Coming this summer

I've been working on compiling some bloggers' and emerging writers' stuff to create an anthology...so stay tuned (and I've changed my homepage as well). This is probably one of the most enjoyable projects I've worked on, and I can't wait to see how it will develop.

This Japanese guy pimped his roomba

(A bit of Japanese entertainment I saw at Mad Minerva)

An overused phrase

It seems that commercial copy (advertising, marketing, etc) seems to often include the phrase "We work hard to ensure..." I think at this point, it's overused. People should think of other ways to communicate with potential clients and customers. When I see that phrase, it doesn't convince me that they're really working hard, it just shows that they're using a canned phrase because their writing hasn't loosened up and they don't know how to communicate with humans in a non-targeting way (the comma splice in this sentence was intentional, btw).

Japanese government internet TV

The concept is cool: the Japanese government posted a bunch of videos at a government "TV" site though they're not the most interesting on the planet. But still, it's a good idea. Some of the videos are in Chinese, Korean, and English.

Impact is a verb

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "Impact has been used as a verb since 1601, when it meant 'to fix or pack in,' and its modern, figurative use dates from 1935." But for some reason, I thought it wasn't a verb, because people used to say (or so it seems) "it had an impact on..." instead of "it impacted..."

I guess it's because I'm one of those people who's been affected by "its frequent appearance in the jargon-riddled remarks of politicians, military officials, and financial analysts." I had a loathsome job where a boss kept using that word, and I thought they were trying to sound "modern" and "slick" because they were about appearance, but apparently they used the word correctly.

Check out the usage notes for contact: it was originally a noun, and "was initially frowned upon" when used as a verb. Which means that "impact" is legit, while "contact" is newly legit.

I think I'm gonna be sick

I was just reading Mary Beard's blog and saw that she mentioned mine, which is unbelievable, not only because not many people link to me, but because she's part of one of the most prestigious schools and publications on the planet, and she thinks my little blog is "excellent". Actually, we met a couple days ago when she was doing a lecture in Chicago, and she's really nice and interesting, and open-minded, especially because I don't have a "title" or a byline or whatever "matters" to successful people.

I've been lucky to meet some well-known people, and I currently work with someone who was quite popular on Chicago radio for years. In fact, when I mention his name (not to be a name-dropper but just because I work with him and see him every day), people smile and some are "impressed" though that's not what I'm going for.

One time I met someone whose stuff I'd read for a while, and it was the kind of content that made me laugh out loud and lifted my spirits, especially when I was doing tedious work. They're too well known for me to mention them here by name, but their success has gone to their head for sure. I sensed they could care less about me, so I didn't say much and was very polite, but that didn't matter--I was a nobody and didn't have hot looks to make up for it, so they were quite snobby and distant, and I don't read their stuff anymore. And there are other people I've met who are either successful and don't want to interact with non-successful people, or there are non-successful people who only want to meet people who "matter" to boost their image or whatever.

Anyway, Mary Beard is not like that at all, even though she's achieved a lot more than most people, and she also has a comfortable career that doesn't "require" her to be friendly or curious about anything outside her elite world.

Precious and cold

I thought I hadn't seen The Last Emperor, so I just sat through the whole thing, then realized that I saw it a while ago. I know it won a bunch of awards and everyone loved it, but I found it precious and cold, as in *too* precious and cold. Yeah, I know that we "should" like it, but it seemed like the movie was a series of story boards, like every scene was carefully planned like a painting. Maybe that's what they wanted: to create a movie that's like Chinese panels. Or maybe they kept it safe because the Chinese government back in the 80's gave them permission to film it in the Forbidden City, so they couldn't cross any lines by suggesting anything negative or even emotional.

Who's buying fiction

The PIC (Publishing Industrial Complex) has become so consolidated (like radio), that they need to churn out blockbusters to make the profits they want. So obviously, the people who are buying those blockbusters are the general public, but it seems like the folks who buy the other kinds of fiction are writers or wannabe writers. I didn't really think too much about this until I saw all the books that are being featured at Karin Gillespie's blog. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But I sort of "wish" the PIC wasn't so big. That way, they wouldn't be so impatient to only accept authors that are going to hit it out of the park the first time they're at bat.

The office in Japanese

I work with some folks who watch "The Office" (the American version), but I don't usually watch it because it doesn't seem that funny. This clip is funny, though, not only because they're speaking Japanese with odd accents while maintaining their Americanisms, but because it pokes fun at British humor as well (what Ricky Gervais says at the end). It's also funny to see how Westerners portray Japan (though I bet a well-informed person wrote the sketch, because it has some good Japanese details).

It still sounds negative

There's a billboard in my area that advertises an airline, and it says that people will leave "disgruntled" but arrive "gruntled."

They're playing with words, but it still sounds negative: "gruntled" still has the sound of dissatisfaction about it, so I don't think that ad campaign is going to work.

Structure

The past few days have been quite translating- and radio-oriented, so I haven't been writing outside of work, but I did have time to see an interview with John Grisham. I've read a couple of his books, which were okay, but the bottom line is that he makes a ton of money from his writing, so he's obviously doing something right!

I didn't watch the whole interview, just the part where he talks about writing ("chapter 5"), and he said what a lot of people say: make an outline. But for some reason, even though I've heard that advice many times before (usually from blockbuster authors who create thrillers, mysteries, etc.), his emphasis was pretty convincing.

I think I haven't followed that advice because I'm not writing a thriller or anything like that, though I'm definitely not writing "literary" fiction, but I will probably create an outline because it makes sense.

When Grisham was working on his first book with an editor, he had to get rid of hundreds of pages and change the rest (which made me wonder how he got a publisher in the first place, and how it's "unfair" that he didn't write stellar stuff and still got into the Publishing Industrial Complex), which convinced him that an outline would reduce the amount of throw-away material.

So I've been reading about how three-act stories break down, and I feel more sane. I've written complete drafts, but I always have to go back and fix a lot of it or get rid of it altogether. I'm still tempted to write whatever and meander down a path, but I think structure will help keep me on track and finish something that might see the light of day one century.

Like and go

Someone sent me a link to an article about the ugliest two words which the editors of the Webster's New World College Dictionary say are really annoying: "like" and "go." When I was younger, I used those words a lot when I was quoting myself or someone else in a conversation (example: I go, "How can you do that?" and she's like, "Because I want to.").

They also have a list of other annoying words, including the "Most cheapened cherished word: Awesome; a C+ on an algebra test is mediocre, not awesome. Dude."

I remember when "awesome" became popular in the 80's, especially with the whole Valley Girl thing (there are still valley girls because the San Fernando Valley around L.A. still exists). I agree it's been cheapened: the Grand Canyon used to be awesome, and other stuff was "cool" or whatever, but now everything is "awesome." And I'm guilty of using that word too, though I sort of joke around with it, or I use it in a light way.

I gave in

At first, I could care less about Barbara Walters or her memoir, but after reading an article about it in the New Yorker, I became interested, so I've started reading it. I borrowed it from someone, which means I have to read it asap so that they can finish it. So far, it's quite good and chock-full of juicy info, though I feel a bit cheap "looking in".

UPDATE: I can't take it anymore--her writing has a lot of subject-verb constructions, and seems like TV. And her voice is so arrogant and smug--too annoying to continue on. So I've stopped reading it. I don't care about her, and now I don't care about her writing about her.

Mysterious d

I was reading an interesting article in a British newspaper, and the woman featured in it mentioned a "Liverpudlian accent", which made me do a double-take: I figured "Liverpudlian" represented the adjective of "Liverpool", but it seemed odd because they threw a "d" in there. Why? Can't they say "Liverpulian"? It sounds weird, but Liverpudlian reminds me of "Lilliputian" for some reason.

(Side note: when I was reading the article, the woman seemed American, due to her drive, straightforward manner, and the fact that her wedding planning business was successful, and I was right--sort of: she spent many years in the U.S. when she was growing up, so no wonder I sensed the American "vibe". I'd love to hear her accent :D)

I think I know what my problem is

I was working on my story [novel] today (which will probably not see the light of day, though I want it to eventually) and I realized that I really need to find my voice.

"Finding your voice" is an overused and vague phrase, and I used to not think it was as important as plot or other stuff, but now I've realized it is. I think I had that attitude because it sounded so fake: "find your voice." And it seemed impossible, and part of some requirement for writing like 100 years ago, when fiction didn't have to be so hyper-commercial to succeed.

But I've noticed in different creative mediums that people hit their stride when they find their voice, whether they're singers, painters, writers, musicians, radio talent, or anything that requires a person to dig deep within themselves to share their craft with the world. I've been able to spot and develop a voice in non-fiction writing, but for some reason, I didn't want to accept that I needed to hone it in fiction until I started feeling fake about what I was writing.

So today I worked on the story, and anytime I felt like I was being fake, I got to the "truth" by getting to my "voice". But the problem is, I still haven't settled on a voice, so I have to keep working at it.

Insurance

Even though I'm a native English speaker, I always assumed that people pronounce the word "insurance" like "in-SUR-ance". But my husband and some other people say "IN-surance" (ie, the stress is on the first syllable instead of the second).

I looked it up at Merriam-Webster and expected them to have just "my" pronunciation, but they have both! Check it out--they have audio samples of each.

So the question is: is there a "correct" way to pronounce it, and if not, then why are there two ways?

The right decision

Because I'm totally wiped out from some crazy work hours, I decided to watch Gulliver's Travels which was made in the mid-90's, though it was a mini-series back then. Tonight they showed the entire series in one night, which has made me even more fatigued.

Some of the American actors faked British accents, and while they weren't perfect (as is usually the case, though I don't know personally because I'm not British, but can recognize a bad British accent when I hear it), I was glad to see that Ted Danson (who did a great job) did not try to speak with one. I was surprised, since actors always seem to attempt it, but I accepted he was British because that was his character. Which just goes to show that you don't need to speak with a certain type of accent (especially if you're going to butcher it) when you're playing a character from another culture. Well, it'd be good to have an accent, but only if it's convincing. Otherwise, a bad accent is distracting.

She thinks it's English

This Bulgarian woman thinks she's singing English, and it's obvious she's not. It's almost unbelievable--literally :D (I saw this at Arrogant Polyglot).

Artropolis

I got a VIP pass to Artropolis to do some posts at an art blog, so that's what I've been writing. I'm quite tired because Artropolis has like five shows going at the same time, and each show has hundreds of booths. I've decided to focus on just a few shows, but I've still looked at thousands of pieces of art. But getting a VIP pass ain't bad, and I wouldn't mind doing it again for another show.

Confession time!

I said I'd sign up for German classes, but due to some bizarre developments (ie, I actually have more radio work than before, in spite of increasing consolidation and syndication), I don't think I'll have the time to take the class and study for it.

I'm still taking Japanese once a week (went there tonight), and I'll keep going as long as the class exists, but sometimes we have to do homework, and I barely have enough time for that. Plus, I'm still translating French and Japanese, and I'm sort of behind. In addition to teaching ESL. So German will have to wait unless my schedule becomes more consistent.

Strange Closets

I know a nice guy here in Chicago who's interesting and smart, and he's created a design blog called Strange Closets. He's not a designer, but

In my dreams, I'm a world-renown taste-maker, sought after for public appearances and too busy with my successful blog to take on any new clients.

He's very enthusiastic about his new blog, so I wanted to mention it here.

Kipling online

I found an Australian site called Words that contains various writers' works, including Rudyard Kipling. It looks like all, or at least most of his writing is there, including fiction and non-fiction. His American Notes seems quite interesting to me, especially because it was written in the late 19th century.

You'd never see this on American TV

I'm not saying that British TV is more intelligent than American TV (I have no opinion on the subject since I haven't seen all of British TV), but I would never see, and have never seen, an extended grammar lesson on an American TV show. Sometimes I think that since Brits speak the "mother tongue" (since we started out as their colony), they tend to be more "aware" of language, so it's not surprising when such discussions show up in their mass media.

An interesting problem to have

I've never read any Harry Potter books, but I do know that JK Rowling has become very rich from writing them. I can see why she wants to sue a guy who wants to publish a book based on her creation, but if you're going to write such insanely popular books, you've gotta expect people to want to make something off them as well.

A lot of writers would love to make a fraction of the money she has, and many creative people are toiling in obscurity, and probably will continue that way until they die. So while her copyright is being threatened because she wants to protect her unique, hard work, this is an inevitable problem to have. Imagine being in such a position that all you care about is your copyright, and the money doesn't matter. She is worried about principles, and a lot of us out here are worried about getting our work noticed or even out of our drawers.

Life is pretty good when what you've strived for has been not only achieved but surpassed in a big way, and what you end up caring about are concepts of what creativity is, and what you are about. She's living in the abstract at this point because she can pay her bills many times over.

She's not annoying

PBS has been showing a lot of Jane Austen lately, and I tried to watch the various series, but I kept thinking they seemed so annoying. Actually, I tried reading the novels, but I didn't have the patience for the writing. Okay, I was an English major and I've read lots of stuff, but for some reason, Jane Austen's stories were too clever and wordy or something. I do recognize her talent and creative and historical importance, but for some reason, I never got into her work.

Well tonight I started watching Sense and Sensibility, and at first I found it annoying, so I started doing other stuff when it was on, but actually, it's quite good, so I've dropped the other stuff and am enjoying watching it :D

So maybe Jane Austen isn't so annoying after all.

Good accents

I've been watching King Kong, which I've never seen before, and it's directed by a New Zealander (Peter Jackson, who did one of my favorites, "The Lord of the Rings"), thus it shouldn't be surprising that he got an international cast. But I can't tell that some of the actors aren't American, and I didn't know who wasn't until I looked up their bios. So I'm impressed.

Taking German again

I haven't taken German in a while--maybe more than a few years. So whatever German I was able to speak and read has diminished to the point where I don't think I could even take a trip there and experience it in German (ie, I'd have to mix it with English). So since my work schedule is sort of consistent, I think I'm going to sign up for a German class. I can't live life much longer with just bare-bones language involvement, so I checked out the Goethe-Institut site, and saw that registration is less than a couple of weeks away. Which means I better brush up on my German to avoid being placed in too basic of a class :D

Taiwan pics

I've never been to Taiwan, but I'd like to visit sometime. Luckily, Mad Minerva has some pictures of Taiwan from her recent trip (her family is from there) to give me some idea of what that place is like.

I can see why it won an Oscar

I just saw the The Counterfeiters, which won an Academy Award for best foreign film this year. It was quite depressing, but it was really good and thought-provoking, so if you don't mind deep movies that contain despair and hardship and plenty of moral gray areas, you'll definitely like this one.

The movie was made in Austria, so it's in German (here's the German site) and I'm sure if my German wasn't so awful, I would've been able to figure out some of what they were saying. Which means I really need to resume studying German.

Last year's Oscar winner was also German: The Lives of Others, which I also saw. And I think I was thinking the same thing about learning German again. Obviously there's some good culture coming out of that area.

Japanese break

I never thought I'd say this, but I need a Japanese break (instead of the usual French one) because I've been out of the translating and language scene for a bit, due to recent radio bounty. So even though I've been awake since before 2 AM and haven't yet slept, I'm going to go to Japanese class because I need serious Japanese practice and input.

So I guess sometimes Japanese is my friend, after all :D

The joke's on us

I was trying to find information about the origin of April Fool's Day (which is today), but there doesn't seem to be a clear answer. A few sites, even About, say that "The origins of April Fools' Day are obscure."

WHY?

There's certainly no shortage of historical information about April Fool's hoaxes, so why can't we have some reliable info about why today is April Fool's Day?

(Yeah, I know, I can go to the library, but I have to go get food and sleep soon, and I was hoping I could find the info online.)

Busy having fun

I was going to post something here yesterday, but I had to teach and then I hung out with John Banas. I went there around 6 pm, so I figured I'd be back in time to do other stuff, including translating and posting stuff here. But I didn't leave until after 1 am, and since he lives two counties away from me, I didn't get home until after 2 in the morning.

But at least we got to talk about writing. He likes to write thrillers, I like to write non-thrillers. Right now I think I have a good enough idea to not want to discuss the details, even with him. Because, as "they" (whoever "they" is) say, if you talk about it, sometimes you won't write about it.

Is it still popular?

Whenever I see advice about learning kanji, I think about the book Remembering the Kanji. When I was living in Japan, it seemed like everyone who wanted to learn how to read Japanese had that book. I bought it, too, but I didn't finish reading it. I wonder how many people nowadays have that book, or if it's as popular as it used to be. It seems like a book that people buy, but don't finish.

Shocking news

Well, even though radio opportunities are shrinking due to consolidation and syndication, I miraculously got a production gig with a locally produced show. Even though I'm in the third largest market in one of the wealthiest and largest nations on earth, locally produced shows are very rare. Seriously--do an online search for media companies, and you'll see that very few companies own the media, which means very few opportunities to work in it.

Which means that I've achieved the impossible.

(btw--because the gig isn't full time, I'll still be able to do language stuff, so it seems like a shockingly good situation all around)

Had to resort to Spanish

I've been reading stuff about Pancho Villa, and wanted to know more about Don Luis Terrazas, who was a very rich landowner in Mexico during Villa's time. The English info I found online seemed to talk about his wealthy and powerful life, but not his origins, and I really wanted to know why he was so rich. So I gave in, and did a search in Spanish and found something that will help get me started: Breve Historia de la Ganadería en Chihuahua.

I didn't want to read stuff in Spanish because I'm lazy and don't know all the words, which means I'll have to look them up, but it couldn't be avoided because English just wasn't enough. (I could get an English book, but I'm already reading other books and don't want to add a huge history to my list.)

Sort of related: what's great about the New York Times is that they post old articles that you can read for free: I found one about Luis Terrazas II's release from Pancho Villa's torturous imprisonment and escape to the US. I was going to post the article as a pdf here, but it's copyrighted, and I don't want to get in trouble with them :D

What's the point

I was planning on working on the novel tonight after Japanese class, but I started feeling quite sick, and am not even well enough to do a decent blog post right now. But I thought, "Who cares if you can't write--that novel is never going to get published! Why waste your time?"

When I write, I know I'm doing the right thing. But when I'm not writing, I wonder what's the point. The point is to create something, but it might never see the light of day.

[whining is over]

The river really is green

Every year in honor of Saint Patrick's Day, the city dyes the Chicago River green--seriously. Here's a cute report about it by a TV pro who is now doing radio (lucky guy who's also really nice).

He's British!

I've never watched an entire episode of House, but I have caught parts of it, and I thought the main character was American. But he's British! In fact, I already knew who he was (Hugh Laurie), but I didn't make the connection: he was on the British show Jeeves and Wooster, which is actually too annoying to watch too often.

Here's a video of Hugh Laurie auditioning for House--you can sort of detect a slight British accent in the beginning, but when he's in character, he sounds like an American, and believe me, I'm American, so I should know what an American accent should sound like. Also, here and in the show, he behaves like an American. So it's not just the accent, but his manner. Bottom line: he's convincing!

Another product that needs a good translator

It's pretty obvious that there's a translation problem. (source)

I think I saw a VNR

I'm almost done with Fighting for Air, and it is really good. If you work in the media, if you want to work in the media, or if you care about the media, I highly recommend this book.

One of the things I've learned about is VNR's, which are video news releases. Basically, they are created by PR agencies, businesses, governments, and anyone else who wants their story to be covered by TV news organizations. They're sent to media companies and are either broadcast in their entirety as a "news" story, or they are edited down, or interspersed with a local reporter's voice and even image, as if they're "interviewing" someone from the story. The book has a lot more to say about VNR's, and so do plenty of websites.

I think I saw a VNR tonight: I was watching the news and saw a health story with dramatic music that seemed to have a slick production quality, and even though the local health reporter's voice was in the story, it still seemed too smooth, especially because they were saying that a particular pharmaceutical drug was helpful for the ailment.

I emailed the news station to ask them if that story was a VNR, or if it was researched and produced by the local reporter. I'll see if they respond :D

gusset from machi

The more Japanese I read and translate, the less katakana I seem to know. I think it's also because more katakana words have entered the language because of globalization.

I was recently confounded by the word マチ (machi). It didn't originate from English, because it was describing the bottom of a bag. So I did a search, and found out that it means gusset, which is "a usually diamond-shaped or triangular insert in a seam...to provide expansion or reinforcement."

I also found some websites of companies that sell bags with gussets. What's lame is that I'd never heard of a "gusset" before. It sounded like an old word, and I was right about that, since it comes from Middle English (16th century). I'd also never heard anyone use the word "gusset", and I'm sure if I were to ask people if they knew what it was, I'd get different responses.

Now that I know the meaning, I still don't know what language "machi" comes from.

Update: commenter Paul said that "machi" isn't a foreign word (マチ), but is the reading (まち) for 襠! My bad :(

Good play

I just saw A Steady Rain, which is going to be in Chicago until late April. It's not the most uplifting story in the world, but it's good, and very Chicago. If you're around the area, I highly recommend it.

The two actors (there are only two) are excellent, and I was lucky to meet them after the show. They are so intense on stage, I thought they'd be almost devoid of personality off the stage (since some actors are good at disappearing into their characters to "escape" the blandness and insecurity of their own) or at least be too wiped out and drained to speak to anyone. But they were actually cool and friendly, and they told me to tell my friends about it.

If I was involved with a radio show, I'd try to get them on the air, but since I have no such outlet, I might as well mention the play here.

It's at the Royal George theater, which is easy to get to and is a really nice space. I want to go there again.

Fritalian (or Fretalian?)

Noodle is complicated

Often in Japanese, we see the word for "noodle" in hiragana: めん (men). But sometimes it appears in its kanji form: 麺

For such a simple word and concept, that kanji is certainly complicated. Though the reading is easy to remember, since the right-hand side has a character that is pronounced "men". So at least we can relax about that.

Over 100k

I am posting this for the record (because I work at least marginally in the "media" and want to publish one century): I've gotten well over 100,000 unique visitors here. I will probably reach the 110,000 mark soon. And the visitors have come from all over the world.

Thanks for visiting!

Plenty of weirdly translated signs

Read this doc on Scribd: Japanese and Chinese signs

The Multilingual Teen sent me this slideshow of funny English in Asia, which seems to contain images that mostly come from the Engrish site. I hope they don't make me take this down :(

This is soap?

I had to translate the katakana word シャボン (shabon) from Japanese into English, but I couldn't figure out what it meant. Usually I can figure katakana words out because they usually come from English, but this was baffling, so I went to my beloved Popjisyo (though the online katakana dictionary has it too). It means "soap" and is derived from the Portuguese word "sabão."

Ok, I have some questions: why did they decide to use the Portuguese word for soap instead of the English word, which is ソープ (soupu) in katakana? And why don't they just use the Japanese word for soap 石鹸 (sekken)? And by the way, how does シャボン (shabon) sound like sabão? They sound quite different from each other.

Maybe they wanted to be fancy: by choosing the Portuguese word, they were being a little more "exotic" and "special" since English is often used. As for the katakana representation of "sabao", maybe they were trying to capture the "oa" sound at the end of Portuguese words that sound like "n" to some of us lame Portuguese speakers.

I knew it!

After I saw "La Vie En Rose," I said that "I would be very surprised if that film and/or actress did not win an Academy Award."

Well, the movie won some awards, and Marion Cotillard won best actress! Even though the media is saying that it's a "surprise", it isn't to me--she was incredible in that movie!

Time to read

Now that my schedule is normal again, I actually have time to read books. During the past few months I read a lot of stuff online because I was spending a lot of time working online, but I couldn't get a big enough chunk of time to seek out books and read them.

So now I'm reading two books about the media: Bernard Goldberg's Arrogance and Fighting for Air by Eric Klinenberg.

I read Goldberg's first book Bias in one night--it was that good and well-written. I'd love to meet that guy one day and hear what he has to say.

I actually got to meet Klinenberg briefly, and all I kept thinking was, "dang, this guy is blessed." He's an associate professor at NYU, but I didn't know that--all I heard him say was how the school was paying for part of his housing, which is why he's able to live in Manhattan with a wife and kid (difficult to do, especially because it's an extremely expensive city).

Then I asked him a seemingly stupid question: was he lecturer, adjunct, or what, and when he told me "professor" I was shocked because I rarely meet actual professors (especially young ones) or people who even have a chance at becoming one, even though they've managed to get a PhD. Sure, there are professors at universities, but in many cases when professors have retired, they've replaced them with adjuncts because they're cheaper.

Klinenberg has also published books that both the media and public like, ie, he doesn't just write scholarly, narrow books. Another way he's blessed. And he's been published in various magazines.

So far, his book is good, and I am probably going to finish it pretty quickly because I have the time and the interest to get through it. But I doubt I'll get the chance to meet him again, so I guess I'll just have to email him my thoughts :D

I feel high

I translated some Japanese today, did errands, walked around downtown with a friend, and ate Chicago deep-dish pizza, but I still have to create a quiz for tomorrow's ESL class. So I decided to relax to some good music, and though I usually go to Inceptdate to do that, they were offering jazz, which to me isn't relaxing. So I've been listening to Groovera, which is so chill, it's almost hard to get the energy to focus on the quiz.

Lithuanian flag

A friend of mine is moving to Korea, so I invited some people over for a small party, where I included some Korean snacks (ie, pineapple cookies, shrimp chips, green tea biscuit-type of small cookies, pear and mandarin juices). There were mostly Americans at the party, but a couple of the people who came were from Lithuania, and they gave me Lithuanian chocolates with a small Lithuanian flag. I never knew what their flag looked like, which is why I'm posting it here. What's great about the U.S. is you can mix different countries' stuff under one roof, and it can still make sense.

Mother lode

When I saw the phrase mother lode, I realized that I hadn't seen it before. For some reason, I thought "lode" would be "load", that it was one word rather than two, and that the meaning implied "huge". Instead, it means "the principal vein or lode of a region" and "a principal source or supply."

Actually, "lode" is an odd word. It's cute, but it's also has a clumsiness about it. Like "lobe".

Wherever you go, there you are

I was thinking about how the phrase "Wherever you go, there you are" is true. But it was hard to find the source of that quote. Actually, if I were to do the research in a library, I would probably find the answer, but I don't have such time. But I found an article that cites The Imitation of Christ as the source, written by Thomas a Kempis.

It would require further research to see if this really is the source of the quote. It's just so common now, it's hard to tell where it came from.

Writing again

I used to do "whoa is me" posts here about how difficult fiction writing was, and then I wrote a couple of novels (unpublished of course, which made me feel even worse). After I finished the second one last February, which I still feel is a great feat, I stopped writing fiction because I was focusing on whatever radio stuff I could string together.

Well I'm finishing up a very intense radio-producing (assistant) gig for the number one show at the number one station in Chicago, and I'm ready to write again. I guess my mind for the past several months has been wrapped around translating, teaching, and surviving in the dwindling radio biz (which is borderline dead-end because of syndication and consolidation), and now my mind is asking me, "Where have you been? You've got a good story to write!" So I've been re-reading a book I read a while ago about plot, and I do, indeed, have a good idea, which is a revision of what I finished last year.

So the bottom line is I'm back, and once I can resume normal waking hours (right now I wake up around 2 AM), I'm going to write even more.

Good documentary

I usually don't watch VH1, but I ended up watching Air Guitar Nation because a couple of months ago I had to edit an interview with an air guitar champ, and I wanted to find out what that scene was like. I highly recommend this documentary--it's interesting and entertaining and is stylish in terms of the graphics and how they shot and edited it. By the end, I cared about how well these people were going to do. It doesn't mock them but just follows what they're doing and shows the drama of their pursuits.

Is this English?

This is what would happen if Star Trek was in Scotland. Presumably, they speak English there, and I speak English too, but I can't understand much of what they're saying. I guess what they're speaking would be called Scottish.

MMORPG

I was reading some stuff at a message board, and someone posted the acronym MMORPG. I found out that it means massive[ly] multiplayer online role playing game.

Wikipedia says it's "massively," but a popular MMORPG site and other sites say it's "massive". I don't know what was used first: "massive" or "massively", and I don't know what's "correct." But it's the closest we've come to a holodeck.

What a weirdly negative comment

I came upon this quote:

Emilio Azcarraga, the billionaire head of Mexico's Televisa: "Mexico is a country of a modest, very f----d class, which will never stop being f----d. Television has the obligation to bring diversion to these people and remove them from their sad reality and difficult future."

I wanted to see the Spanish source of that quote, and found both the exact quote and the larger context. According to what I read (and assuming my lame Spanish is good enough to understand), he said it at a press conference in 1993.

Here's the Spanish version (from an academic speech that referred to what he said):

México es un país de una clase modesta jodida, que no va a salir de jodida. Para la televisión es una dura obligación llevar la diversión a esa gente y sacarla de su triste realidad y de su futuro difícil...

And here's the larger context (with help from an essay that refers to the quote):

Estamos en el negocio del entretenimiento, de la información, y podemos educar, pero fundamentalmente entretener… México es un país de una clase modesta jodida, que no va a salir de jodida. Para la televisión es una dura obligación llevar la diversión a esa gente y sacarla de su triste realidad y de su futuro difícil...los ricos pueden hacer muchas cosas que los diviertan, pero la clase modesta, que es una clase fabulosa y digna, no tiene ninguna otra manera de acceder a una distracción más que a la televisión

There's a lot to say about such thoughts, but basically, it seems more than cynical: it seems hopeless and mercenary in a way, because he knows that he's creating television shows to get people out of their misery while wanting to make a ton of money from them. But then later, he acts like he respects those people by saying they're "fabulosa y digna". It's like he's backtracking because he just put them down by saying they're trapped in misery, but he probably didn't want them to be angry with him, so he ended up complimenting them.

Fake and messed up, for sure.

Repetition works

A while ago when I was teaching ESL, a coworker said that he likes to do round-robin reading, which is having each student read a part of a text, and then when all of it has been read, the students go around and read it again. He said that he noticed the students' reading became better, but I never did that activity in class because I thought the students wouldn't enjoy it. But I was wrong.

Recently in Japanese class, we've been doing round-robin reading. At first I wondered what the purpose was, and if the teacher knew what she was doing. But last night the penny dropped: we were on our third reading of a short essay, and I really felt a lot more comfortable with the text. And that's important, because seeing a bunch of kanji and vocabulary that I don't understand can be intimidating, and during the first read, I focus more on getting through the individual words rather than trying to understand the entire text. But by the end, I feel like I have a better grasp of what is going on.

So I'm going to use that activity in my ESL class, for sure.