Monday March 8 2010 | File under: travel, quote |
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Q:What do you call someone who can speak 3 languages?A:Trilingual
Q:What do you call someone who can speak 2 languages? A:Bilingual Q:What do you call someone who can speak only one language? A:American Yesterday, I was complimented on my Spanish. Granted it was only after I complimented him on his English. Still, it felt good. Practicing my Spanish was one of the main reasons I chose to come to Mexico this travel season. While I was in Japan last year, I remember really admiring my American friends' ability to communicate with the locals in Japanese. As Americans*, we don't have the multi-lingual head start that many Europeans or others have. This ability to communicate with more than just my countrymen led me to the decision to really focus on keeping up my Spanish. Since being here, I've had two really rewarding conversations, ones where I know that I've conveyed myself well, proving to myself that, in a pinch, I can get my point across. In one instance, I saw a guy with jugglers on this shirt. I asked him about it and we ended up talking circus talk for the remainder of the bus ride. In the other case, I conducted "small talk" with a barber who cut my hair.* * In a few short days (maybe tomorrow even), I will cross the border into Belize and be back in an English speaking country. This last week, while I've proved to myself I retained more Spanish than I thought, but I didn't get as much practice in as I wanted. Luckily, Guatemala and returning to Mexico are on the agenda. |
Sunday March 7 2010 | File under: travel |
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Since a picture is worth 1000 words, here's my wordiest blog post yet. Enjoy. (We did.) |
Thursday March 4 2010 | File under: travel, Mexico |
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Tuesday March 2 2010 | File under: travel, Mexico |
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A couple of weeks ago, I again took the stage at Vaudevillingham. For 2010, I made a resolution that I would try my hand at performing more than I have in the past. Yeah, I know that in the past I've said that I'm not a performer, and I still stand by that, but I want to be comfortable on stage and to enjoy it. The only way to go about that is to do it. Do it, do it, do it.*. I know the video isn't great quality. I was holding out to get some clearer pictures so you could see the awesome costume Deanna and I made. You've probably all see the trick before, though. Anyway, just like with my last Vaudevillingham performance, the whole gag was in the costume/props. I was introduced as a one trick pony, was dressed like a pony, and did one trick. Get it? |
Sunday February 28 2010 | File under: video |
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This week I am trying something new. It has been forever since I've had a guest artist for the Friday Comic series, partially because I've been having such a great time doing them. This week, as I sat down to put together the comic, a previous guest artist was around and wanted to get in on the action. My solution: we both take the same idea and each have a crack at it, working independently. Gabriella (guest artist on previous comics such as 32, 23, and 15, among others) gets credit for the idea. Her interpretation* is on the left and mine is on the right. All in all, they didn't turn out too different, although I tend to like hers a bit more. Anyway, it was a fun exercise that we might just have to try again. (Friday Comics is going on hiatus for a month or so as I hit the road again. Maybe I will be inclined to draw up a comic or two while basking on beaches and chasing Mayan ghosts, but I doubt it. I trust, however, that FCs will start back up again in early April, soon to be closing in on the benchmark 100th comic. Yeehaw!) |
Thursday February 25 2010 | File under: comic |
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I've been wanting to check out cross-border public transportation for a long time. Over the years, I've planned out the route at least a few times, never really satisfied that it was do-able*. On our recent trip up to the Olympics, Ma and I decided to give it a try. Here's what we did.
Overall, the trip took maybe 3.5 to 4 hours, which isn't bad at all considering the walk, checking in at customs, and figuring it all out as we went. We hit all our transfers perfectly, which helped shine a positive light on the experience. It isn't exactly easy and I wouldn't go recommending it to public transit newbies, but it was nice to prove that it can be done. Hopefully in the near future, that 3 mile walk will be cut down a good chunk and this trip will be as painless* as Bellingham to Seattle. |
Monday February 22 2010 | File under: transportation |
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I post this in the same thread as my "Minor Media Coverage" series (previously covered here and here). (To those who might construe posting about media coverage, no matter how minor, a bit vain or whatever, I will point out that this blog is as much a scrapbook for myself in 40 years as it is a way to keep in touch with you, my loyal readers*.)
Roaming around down by the Olympic Cauldron the other day, this fellow from the AP snapped a shot of me and got all my info, etc. I got a thought that wouldn't it be cool if the photo showed up in some random newspaper in Alabama or wherever and happened to be noticed by a long lost friend that I've lost touch with? On a whim, I googled myself today and ran across this. Who knows; maybe it isn't a big deal to get a picture of yourself posted on the AP website. But I thought it was kind of neat. So there. * (Oh, and for posterity, here is a screenshot for when that site goes down, which I imagine won't be too far in the future, and here is the actual image.) |
Saturday February 20 2010 | File under: misc |
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Friday February 19 2010 | File under: comic |
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Yesterday, Ma and I trekked north to Vancouver to check out the Olympics and all the surrounding hubbub. In a word, it was awesome. While the city wasn't totally overtaken with the excitement as I thought it might be, there were pockets of Olympic fever. Initially, the city wide general excitement was what I was all stoked for. What I walked away with as a highlight and with most pleasant memories of was the actual event: curling.
All I know about curling has come from last week's Simpsons episode and the spectacular* Canadian movie Men With BroomsIMDB. Luckily, an avid curler was sitting next to us in the stands, so we learned all about the hammer, house, ends, sheets, peeling, strategy, rules, and so much more. By the end of the 3 hour match, we felt like pros. There isn't much to report results-wise. This was one of 9 qualifying matches, so a win or a loss doesn't mean too much by itself. The U.S.A., however, ended up losing a super close match to Switzerland. They went into extra innings and had to bring out the measuring device 3 times (while none of the concurrent 3 games had either of those things happen). That excitement just added to the overall appreciation of the experience. So while the tickets were pricey* and getting up there proved interesting*, it was exactly what I hoped it would be: a once in a lifetime experience. Besides, now I can say I've been there and have the pictures to prove it. |
Thursday February 18 2010 | File under: misc |
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