it's over. move to somnia.

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Two Days!

I'm leaving! In two days! To become a grad student! Me! Acting like an adult, sort of! It's scary! It's unbelievable! It's simple and complex! What do I focus on? Where's my passport? Why? Who? What? Aauuugghhh!
peachy as always, Mike at 12:23 AM

 
$3,750!

I sold my car! Sure, it was for less than I originally hoped, but it turned out to be more than I feared. And at least it's over. A guy emailed me yesterday saying he was interested. I arranged to meet him today to look it over. We gave it a quick once-over, he announced his price, we haggled it a bit, he said he had cash on hand if he could take it away immediately...I went for it. I'm largely relieved. I was really worried it wouldn't get sold and I'd be scrambling to get rid of it, but now it's taken care of; the flip side is a kind of sadness: it was originally my grandmother's and I was getting attached to it. Hard to see it go. Hits home the reality of how soon I'm leaving. Which makes me worry a little bit more about the fact that my passport is in limbo in the mail somewhere between Washington and here. Eek!
peachy as always, Mike at 11:46 PM

 
[stupid archives]
peachy as always, Mike at 1:31 PM

 
The Life of Brian

This morning I called a friend from high school who is doing a law internship in Mumbai. He was in a cab (on the way to a date!), making the otherwise-scratchy connection profoundly inaudible; still it was pretty clear that in the past two months he'd picked up a noticeably Indian accent. I giggled inwardly at the thought of seeing this whiter-than-white boy earnestly retroflexing his alveolars* and asked him about it. He responded that the people there have a hard time understanding American accent and he had to learn to accommodate them. Something about the English Empire and language colonialism comes to mind, but I haven't the heart to explore it.

*Trust me, I'm a linguist.
peachy as always, Mike at 12:38 PM

 
No, Really

Jerry Springer is deciding to enter the race for a Senate seat in Ohio.

[bleep], [bleep], [bleep].
peachy as always, Mike at 12:53 PM

 
Blogger doesn't seem to like showing a lowercase i with a grave accent (`), choosing instead to render it as ì.
peachy as always, Mike at 11:56 AM

 
Perché parlano cosi?

I picked up one of those multimedia teach-yourself-Italian kits at the library last week and have been dutifully going through a lesson every day, learning about pleasantries, transportation, food, telling time, and the like. It's set up in a rather clever way--first, listen to some natural dialogues, then go back and listen again while following along with a written translation (to see how much was understood the first time), learn some basic grammar, complete a few exercises, practice engaging in dialogue, and listen to the prerecorded dialogues again.

What I like about it is that everything isn't overenunciated for the listener--one has to listen to (and get used to) the language as it is actually spoken. The downside of this is that...well, a lot of the voices are really annoying. The men sound overly sad when discussing when the train will arrive or what is included with a double room at the hotel. The women have a weird nasal-metallic tint to their speech that makes it sound like they couldn't possibly be more bored when asking what you'd like to drink or introducing their relatives. (The exception is the slightly older woman who sounds as if speaking is terribly painful.) Only Giovanni, the narrator, can be trusted to speak pleasantly.

I've grown kind of nervous, wondering whether Italy is truly populated with people who sound like nails on a chalkboard, or whether the Just Listen 'n Learn people are choosing these hideous voices purposefully, in order to astound me with how well I'll be able to communicate when I get there.
peachy as always, Mike at 11:51 AM

 
On the One Hand I Say Bwahahaha, but on the Other, Yee-ouch!
peachy as always, Mike at 3:45 PM

 
Blah

Pack and sort. Pack and sort. Pack and sort. Try a Pilates class. Go to a bar with friends. (Play darts. Play pinball.) Go biking. Lie in bed. Learn Italian. Arrange get-togethers. Throw out randomly-acquired crap. Pack and sort. Pack and sort. Move things out of the hallway to accommodate landlord's sudden interest in showing the place off to potential tenants. Go out for ice cream. Rent videos. Pack and sort. See a movie. Advertise car. Water plants. Make soup in saucepan. Skip lunch. Send important documents cross-country at the last minute. Consider buying new luggage. Look at bank balance. Reapply for loans. Attempt eight things at once. Finish nothing. Admit to self that nothing has actually been packed, just sorted. Stop. Sit down. Read for a while. Consider going to supermarket. Consider doing laundry. Check email. Consider writing to friends. Stare at the clock. Talk on phone. Go to library. Go to church. Pack and sort. Brush teeth. Consider flossing. Use mouthwash. Fall asleep. Wake up thirsty. Pack and sort.
peachy as always, Mike at 4:56 PM