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DuoLingo & Me
I’ve done a whole 12 day streak with my Spanish DuoLingo. Dad & Indy were both interested in it the other day so I showed it to them. Dad started doing French, and Indy got quite excited when it turned out Irish was an option, so he and I started doing it together.
A lot of what I’ve learned from doing the Irish is that I’m remembering a great deal more of the Spanish than I imagined (I had four years of high school Spanish but gave up in college when the first year class was just…way over my head.). I mean, I knew I was recognizing/remembering some of it, but my ineptness with the Irish emphasizes how MUCH I’m remembering/recognizing. :)
Also, even what little we’ve done of the Irish emphasizes just how much Irish English follows Irish language rules of speech. There was a translation of something that once we got it right and I said it aloud in English I was like “*Oh*! That’s very Irish!”
Indy gave me a peculiar look. :)
I’m still not convinced this is hugely useful for actually talking to people, although for comprehension and a little stumbling through a not-too-complicated conversation it seems like a reasonably decent tool. And possibly if I continue with it for a few months I might feel brave enough to go try to take a Spanish class again.
(I’m mizkit73 there, since someone will inevitably ask. :))
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“Good marnin’, Alaska!”
I went swimming this morning, and was in a lane with a slowpoke, but he wasn’t getting in my way, so that was okay. The lane next to me only had one person in it, but another slowpoke got into my lane with the slowpoke and me. I got into the other lane, very grumpily, but then it turned out the guy in that lane could swim. And that in fact I had to sort of put some energy into it in order to not be lapped. And after a while when we were both at the wall for a moment, he said, “Good marnin’, Alaska!” to me. It was the swim coach. :) So I had a much better swim than expected. Yay!
I did not know there was an Alps-sized mountain range beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Apparently it makes no sense, as it’s in the middle of the continent, with no plate tectonics or observable hot spots beneath the land mass to explain its presence. They’re doing a 2.5 month study of it this year during the Antarctic summer, and I am completely fascinated. Someday I’ll get to go to Antarctica. If I’m lucky someday I’ll get to spend four or six months there. I would *love* to do that.
Yesterday was a day of Doing Nothing*, so today has to be productive.
– visualization class handout/outline
– dialog class handout/outline
– read through all of the critique submissions
– print out the one that came in late
– do a critique writeup on 2-3 of them
– start reading WD for revision purposes*Actually, I did study Spanish with Dad. Our class is kind of…scattered…but it’s providing an impetus for us to get together and study, so that’s really good, and we’re having a lot of fun. I sense that in the future I’m going to be obliged to actually learn the future and past tenses of verbs, which I never really did do very well while studying in high school. But if I’m tutoring Dad, well, I need to know what’s right so I don’t mess him up!
miles to Isengard: 430.7
ytd miles swum: 27.1 -
if I were rich…
If I were rich, I would be buying plane tickets to Vancouver, BC right now for next weekend, where I would go watch Jim Byrnes play Friday and Saturday night at The Yale. If I know anybody there, have pity on a poor writer and go see Jim play for me. 9pm, but you’ll want to get there quite a bit earlier if you want to be able to sit. If you want to make an evening of it on my behalf, there’s a terrific little tapas place about a block and a half up from the Yale, past the (Best Western?) and on the opposite side of the street down a little alley/road. :) (Alternately, y’know, I suppose, if I know anybody rich, you could buy me a ticket…*laughs*)
I started at the back end of TPC yesterday, and did more meaningful revisions on the last five or so chapters. Then I fell asleep, but, y’know, these are the prices you pay for greatness. Or something. :) I guess I’m going to go through the middle part of the book, with emphasis on the latter part of that, this morning, and then actually start typing things in this afternoon. I would really really *really* like to get this done by tomorrow evening. (My editor would like that too.)
I got the revision letter for WALKING DEAD (the new title of the fourth Walker Papers book) and so next week, I get to do revisions! After two weeks of…doing revisions! Yay! *headdesk* (Actually, it’s a good thing, because I want all these revisions and whatnot out of the way before November, when I fully intend to write TRUTHSEEKER as a NaNoWriMo project. Who’s with me?)
Last night was the writers’ group meeting. I nearly didn’t go because it’s always easier to talk myself out of these things than to go, but Ted convinced me to go, and I was, as usual, really glad I did. It was very pleasant, and I read a bit from THE QUEEN’S BASTARD (only the stuff after the hash mark), which seemed to be received well. So yeah. I’m glad I went, and I should go again on the 28th, even if I’m zombified from having just returned from South Carolina.
Today marks four weeks of No Sweets. I’ve lost 5.6 pounds in the past four weeks. (Ted, I said in rueful exasperation, has lost twelve. And he’s not on nearly as strict a no-sweets diet as I am.) I’ve gone down two notches on the belt that came with the jeans I bought in August. So although it occasionally makes me cranky as *hell*, this is apparently worth it. The really aggravating thing is that I’m–well, not exactly much more aware, because I often knew I was eating junk when I wasn’t hungry–but I’ve become aware of “Oh, look, right now if there were sweets in the house I’d be eating them even though I’m not in the *least* hungry, because I don’t want to be doing what I’m doing”, any number of times, particularly in the last few days. (Revisions, anyone?) Yeah. That’s me. Not too bleeding bright.
Seems like there was something else I was going to add to this bits and bobs entry, but I can’t remember what it was, so I’m going to go make bread, do my pilates, shower, and get to work. I need to go to the bank this afternoon, and there’s Spanish class tonight. What an eventful life I’m having. :)