Okay,I know that I'm really desperate for american filmage when I watch Vier Hochzeiten und ein Todesfall.
And just for DP - the part where Mr. Bean is the priest and he says "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spigot" - in German it was translated as "in der Name des Vaters, des Sohns und die Heiligen Schweizer." Wow.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
The long hot summer
I remember this movie as something I wasn't allowed to watch when I was about six. I think mom sent me out of the room or told me to go practice piano. But that is not the time of which I speak, oh no. The time of which I speak is taking place right here, right now in Vermont, where it is 88 in my room and 90 outside and unless I'm sitting in front of the fan, I feel like I'm back in Louisiana, only without the nice people and the Gulf of Mexico and the po-boys you can get at the truck stop for five bucks.
Tomorrow we make the drive home. Three people, sixteen hours, one Honda accord and hopefully only a few stops along the way. My parents were really into the great American road trip when I was a teenager. I'm certain that both DP and Drew can attest to my enthusiasm for the Hindrichs vacations - it usually involved me sitting in the back seat with the brother, trying to not get motion sickness, mom and dad arguing about where we were going to stay, me wishing I was back in Slidell happily sitting in my room reading Poe, and Armand playing with legos. Ah the good old days.
Armand starts his senior year tomorrow. He's pretty jazzed and I don't blame him. I remember my senior year being pretty cool, especially as most of the drama has faded to grey. Senior year is one of those precipice years, where you're certain that something marvelous is about to happen. And then, suddenly, it does.
You move out of your parents' house.
Armand is still in his secretive phase. There's a new girl in whom he's taken an interest and he says to me, "Don't tell mom anything, will you? She and pop make such a big deal out of everything and I don't want to screw it up." I find this very sweet. My little brother is finally using his big sister for her true purpose: keeper of all things our parents aren't supposed to know. I feel so sisterly now.
Probably gonna be out of touch for the next week. We've already had the internet and telephone disconnected at the IN house and I'll be up to my eyeballs in packing and whatnot. So until we get settled in the Boston house, have a good week from your friendly neighborhood Shiksa!
Tomorrow we make the drive home. Three people, sixteen hours, one Honda accord and hopefully only a few stops along the way. My parents were really into the great American road trip when I was a teenager. I'm certain that both DP and Drew can attest to my enthusiasm for the Hindrichs vacations - it usually involved me sitting in the back seat with the brother, trying to not get motion sickness, mom and dad arguing about where we were going to stay, me wishing I was back in Slidell happily sitting in my room reading Poe, and Armand playing with legos. Ah the good old days.
Armand starts his senior year tomorrow. He's pretty jazzed and I don't blame him. I remember my senior year being pretty cool, especially as most of the drama has faded to grey. Senior year is one of those precipice years, where you're certain that something marvelous is about to happen. And then, suddenly, it does.
You move out of your parents' house.
Armand is still in his secretive phase. There's a new girl in whom he's taken an interest and he says to me, "Don't tell mom anything, will you? She and pop make such a big deal out of everything and I don't want to screw it up." I find this very sweet. My little brother is finally using his big sister for her true purpose: keeper of all things our parents aren't supposed to know. I feel so sisterly now.
Probably gonna be out of touch for the next week. We've already had the internet and telephone disconnected at the IN house and I'll be up to my eyeballs in packing and whatnot. So until we get settled in the Boston house, have a good week from your friendly neighborhood Shiksa!
Monday, August 08, 2005
Someone stole my umlaut
If anyone knows how to use umlauts in AIM, I'd be pleased as punch for them to enlighten me. I was talking to a particularly nice man (who happens to be married to my particularly nice friend) on AIM today, in German, and suddenly realized that none of my verbs were properly conjugated because of the noticeable lack of umlauts. I need an umlaut in my life. Anyone?
Four more days of German camp and I can break free of the linguistic ties that bind me and read the new Harry Potter book for crying out loud! As usual, I am being stealth and listening to the Indigo Girls on my walkman, giving the illusion that I am not actually breaking the language pledge. I like to think of these little forays in the same way an Atkins dieter thinks of the hershey kisses in the top drawer of their desk. It's such a negligible amount of English, it doesn't actually negate the German I learned today. Though earlier this morning, I likened my brain to a lint roller. At one point in time this summer it was ready to grab whatever was around to be learned but now it's been used so many times, Conjunctive II didn't even stick a little.
Sidebar - Earth Wind and Fire are playing in Indianapolis the night before we move to Boston. Can I just say that it pains my soul I can't go see them because I have to drive twelve hours the next day? I think the only thing more exciting than an Earth Wind and Fire concert would be if ABBA got back together and went on tour. And I don't want to hear anything from anyone about how I'm getting my doctorate in classical music and aren't I supposed to listen to opera in my spare time - even opera singers have to get their groove on. When I teach music appreciation (which I'm sure I will have to do as a new professor) you can bet your Madonna CD's that I'm gonna play English drinking songs right alongside Purcell. Which brings me to my trivia question for today. What's your favorite Beatles song? (mine is Eleanor Rigby)
And just for kicks, I followed DP's example and made a quiz. Have fun!
Take my Quiz on QuizYourFriends.com!
Four more days of German camp and I can break free of the linguistic ties that bind me and read the new Harry Potter book for crying out loud! As usual, I am being stealth and listening to the Indigo Girls on my walkman, giving the illusion that I am not actually breaking the language pledge. I like to think of these little forays in the same way an Atkins dieter thinks of the hershey kisses in the top drawer of their desk. It's such a negligible amount of English, it doesn't actually negate the German I learned today. Though earlier this morning, I likened my brain to a lint roller. At one point in time this summer it was ready to grab whatever was around to be learned but now it's been used so many times, Conjunctive II didn't even stick a little.
Sidebar - Earth Wind and Fire are playing in Indianapolis the night before we move to Boston. Can I just say that it pains my soul I can't go see them because I have to drive twelve hours the next day? I think the only thing more exciting than an Earth Wind and Fire concert would be if ABBA got back together and went on tour. And I don't want to hear anything from anyone about how I'm getting my doctorate in classical music and aren't I supposed to listen to opera in my spare time - even opera singers have to get their groove on. When I teach music appreciation (which I'm sure I will have to do as a new professor) you can bet your Madonna CD's that I'm gonna play English drinking songs right alongside Purcell. Which brings me to my trivia question for today. What's your favorite Beatles song? (mine is Eleanor Rigby)
And just for kicks, I followed DP's example and made a quiz. Have fun!
Take my Quiz on QuizYourFriends.com!
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Beast of Burden
I'm listening to the Rolling Stones - more English contraband - and I have to say, this is really the perfect summer music. It makes me want to make a strawberry margarita and sit on the back porch with my sunglasses on and throw the ball for Sam. Oh how I miss my little house.
In exactly ten days, we will pack the truck and hit the road for Boston. I'm excited, of course, but terrified at the same time. Have to find a new grocery store, have to figure out the best way to get to work (as I have to start work two days after we get there) and get acquainted with the
T and such. Boston is a great city - I think I've finally figured out where I belong as a musician in the US who doesn't like New York. The fiancee and I were having this conversation last night - I think a large amount of my wanderlust is fueled by the fact that the last two places I've lived were Bloomington and Hattiesburg, neither of which conjure up images of culture or an exciting atmosphere. Every year, I know a bunch of opera singers who get this bug to live in a big city. They sell their furniture, go in together on a studio in Manhattan and spend 12 hours of their day waiting tables in hopes that, by being there, they will somehow get absorbed into the opera scene.
I am too much of a creature comforts person to do this. That and I don't really like New York. It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Or near there. It's too crowded, the buildings are too tall and I always feel a little claustrophobic there. The three or four times I've been to Boston, I always feel like I belong there. New Orleans will always be home, but Boston could definitely compete. I like the notion of only using my car when I need to go to the grocery store or get out of town. Public transportation is really my idea of a dream - I can sit on the T and read my book on the way to work, I don't have to drive, I still have to leave 45 minutes early, but I don't have to find a parking space let alone pay for it, I don't have to deal with the psychos that drive in Boston (yes friends, only drove in Boston once and thought I would surely perish) and when it's snowing, I only have to get from the curb to the platform and I don't have to de-ice my windshield or dig my car out at 6:45am. *sigh*
Hope everyone has had a fantastic weekend!
In exactly ten days, we will pack the truck and hit the road for Boston. I'm excited, of course, but terrified at the same time. Have to find a new grocery store, have to figure out the best way to get to work (as I have to start work two days after we get there) and get acquainted with the
T and such. Boston is a great city - I think I've finally figured out where I belong as a musician in the US who doesn't like New York. The fiancee and I were having this conversation last night - I think a large amount of my wanderlust is fueled by the fact that the last two places I've lived were Bloomington and Hattiesburg, neither of which conjure up images of culture or an exciting atmosphere. Every year, I know a bunch of opera singers who get this bug to live in a big city. They sell their furniture, go in together on a studio in Manhattan and spend 12 hours of their day waiting tables in hopes that, by being there, they will somehow get absorbed into the opera scene.
I am too much of a creature comforts person to do this. That and I don't really like New York. It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Or near there. It's too crowded, the buildings are too tall and I always feel a little claustrophobic there. The three or four times I've been to Boston, I always feel like I belong there. New Orleans will always be home, but Boston could definitely compete. I like the notion of only using my car when I need to go to the grocery store or get out of town. Public transportation is really my idea of a dream - I can sit on the T and read my book on the way to work, I don't have to drive, I still have to leave 45 minutes early, but I don't have to find a parking space let alone pay for it, I don't have to deal with the psychos that drive in Boston (yes friends, only drove in Boston once and thought I would surely perish) and when it's snowing, I only have to get from the curb to the platform and I don't have to de-ice my windshield or dig my car out at 6:45am. *sigh*
Hope everyone has had a fantastic weekend!
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