Company Ski; PS, Gallstones

I'm going to bed in Leavenworth tonight: All my coworkers and their spouses/girlfriends are here for a company ski trip. Will write more later. And by the way, I have gallstones that'll probably require surgery. Most on that later, too.

Cuban Dinner

English:

I had a good time tonight! My dad's cousin recently married and his new wife is Cuban. I didn't meet them during Christmas, because I had to visit my boyfriend's family. So when I was in California this weekend, we made plans to meet.

We went to a restaurant in the delta, because it is halfway between my parents' house and theirs. The wife's name is Ellie, and I think we got along well. At least I liked her. :) We talked for two hours, almost entirely in Spanish. Their children (who are younger than 12, but I don't know exactly how old) are learning English, and the child of my dad's cousin (from a previous marriage) is learning Spanish. It was a really cool dinner.

She told me that my accent sounds Spanish (as in, from Spain), not Mexican or from elsewhere. Although I don't use the "Spanish lisp" or the form "vosotros." Maybe I should cultivate an Andalusian accent, which is most similar to what I speak now...

We're going to share our email addresses and Skype usernames to talk more. :)

Spanish:

¡Lo pasé muy bien esta noche! El primo de mi padre se casó recientemente, y su nueva esposa es cubana. No les conocí durante Navidad, por que tuve que visitar a la familia de mi novio. Así que cuando estuve en California este fin de semana, hicimos planes para reunirnos.

Fuimos a un restaurante en la delta, porque está en la media entre la casa de mis padres y la suya. La esposa se llama Ellie, y creo que nos caímos bien. Al menos, ella me cayó bien a mi. :) Hablamos por dos horas, casi totalmente en español. Sus niños (que tienen menos de 12 años, pero no sé exactamente cuántos) están aprendiendo inglés, y el niño del primo de mi padre (de un matrimonio previo) está aprendiendo español. Fue una cena muy genial.

Ella me dijo que mi acento suena español (quiere decir, de España), no mexicano ni de otro lugar. Aunque no uso el ceceo ni la forma de "vosotros." Quizás debo fomentar un acento andaluz, que es lo más similar de lo que ya hablo yo...

Compartirémos nuestras direcciones electrónicos y nombres de usuario de Skype para hablar más. :)

El León, La Bruja y El Armario

English:

I've finally finished reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first book in the Narnia series (in Spanish). I read it once when I was a kid, but I didn't remember it well and I also wanted to practice my Spanish.

The author's writing style was more... direct? than I like. I'm not quite sure... It seemed not like a dramaticalization but rather a report of the story, told without being sufficiently "in the moment" with the characters.

In any case, I'm glad that I read the whole thing in Spanish.

Spanish:

¡Por fin terminé de leer El león, la bruja y el amario, el primer libro del series Narnia (en español)! Lo leí una vez cuando era niña, pero no bien recordaba bien la historia y también querría practicar mi español.

El estilo de escritura del autor fue más... directo? que lo que me gusta. No sé exactamente... No Me parece no como una dramatización sino más bien un reportaje de la historia, relatada sin estar suficientemente "en el momento" con los personajes.

En cualquier caso, me alegro que lo leí en su totalidad en español.

Sleep Cycle App

Sleep Graph

English:

Yesterday I read an article on Lifehacker about Sleep Cycle, an iPhone app that monitors your, well, sleep cycle. It works by being inside the bedsheets — its accelerometer measures your movements while your sleep and infers the sleep phase.

Well, that's what the official site suggest. But I put it on top of the bed, not inside, and underneath my pillow even though the site said that's not a good idea. I checked that there was open space above it, so it wouldn't overheat. I woke up twice during the night (as you can see in the graph above), and each time I checked again that everything was okay. (It was).

...And I like the pretty graphs. :)

Spanish:

Ayer leí un artículo de Lifehacker sobre Sleep Cycle, una aplicación para la iPhone que monitoriza pues, tu, pues, ciclo de sueño. Funciona por estar dentro las sábanas de la cama — su acelerómetro mide los movimientos cuando duermes y infiere la fase del sueño.

Bueno, eso es lo que sugiere el sitio oficial. Pero yo la puse encima de la cama, no dentro, y debajo de la almohada aunque la página web dice el sitio que no es una buena idea. Comprobé que había espacio abierto de arriba, para que no se recalentara. Me desperté dos veces durante la noche (como puedes ver en el gráfico de arriba), y cada vez comprobé de nuevo que todo estaba bien. (Sí fue.)

...Y los gráficos bonitos me encantan. :)

Meeting the Haml Developer

It's a small world — I just ran into the lead developer of Haml, Nathan, at downtown B&N. Friendly guy. Reminded me of Sai from the Conlang-L mailing list, actually.

Genmai Cha

Orange Strawberry Tea Infuser

English:

My coworkers drink coffee. A lot of coffeee No, you don't understand what I mean. At a minimum, they walk a few blocks to buy cups of coffee 3 times per day. Now, I like coffee. It's possible that I like it too much. :) But the level of my coworkers' coffee-drinking… oi!

I don't want to drink 3 coffees (or mochas, actually) for, hehe, 3 reasons: it's an expensive habit, it's a lot of calories, and it's a lot of caffeine. Because of this, I've bought genmai cha*, a type of Japanese green tea with roasted brown rice. It's a loose-leaf tea, so I also bought an infuser. How cute, no? And, why is the strawberry orange? That's a good question. :)

Spanish:

Mis compañeros de trabajo beben café. Mucho café. No, no entiendes lo que quiero decir. A un mínimo, ellos andan unas cuadras para comprar tazas de café 3 veces cada día. Bueno, me gusta el café. Es posible que me gusta demasiado. :) Pero el nivel de beber café de mis compañeros… ¡ay!

No quiero beber 3 cafés (o mocas, en realidad) por, jeje, 3 razones: es un hábito caro, son muchas calorías, y es mucha cafeína. Por eso, he comprado genmai cha*, un tipo de té verde japonés con arroz integral tostado. Es un té de anillas, así que también compré un infusor. Qué precioso, ¿no? Y, ¿por qué es anaranjada esta fresa? Ésa es una buena pregunta. :)

* I usually mispronounce "genmai cha" as [ʤɛn mɑi ʧɑi], like I've got some vowel harmony going on or something. :P (It should actually be pronounced something like [ɡɛn mɑi ʧɑ], if you were trying to follow the Japanese pronounciation (while still speaking in English).

¡Puro Español!

English:

To improve my Spanish, because of the advice of Spanish Only, I've changed the user interface language on my iPhone and web browser (to Spanish, of course). I also tried out Skype with video with my sister's help. We chatted for a bit — everything worked with the netbook webcam and microphone without problem! Now I'm looking forward to chatting with Spanish-speakers on Skype (even though I'm a little scared to use the video, because it makes me nervous).

If you want to chat with me, my Skype username is Arthaey (like it is everyone on the internet).

Spanish:

Para mejorar mi español, debido al consejo de Spanish Only, he cambiado el idioma de la interfaz de usuario de mi iPhone y mi navegador web (a español, claro). También probé Skype con video por el ayudo de mi hermana. Charlemos un rato — ¡todo funciona con el webcam y micrófono de mi netbook sin problemas! Ahora estoy deseando charlar con hispanohablantes por Skype (aunque tengo un poco de miedo de usar el video, porque me pone nerviosa).

Si quieras platicar conmigo, mi nombre de usuario de Skype es Arthaey (como me llamo por todas partes del internet).

Writing in Non-English First

English:

You guys* know that when I write these bilingual entries, I write in the non-English language first, right? I just wanted to tell you that. :)

Spanish:

Saben ustedes que cuando escribo estas entradas bilingües, escribo en la lenguaje no-inglés primero, ¿no? Sólo quise decirselo. :)

* Amusing coincidence that the plural-you in English that I use, "you guys," sounds pretty informal. But the Spanish translation, "ustedes," is technically a polite/formal pronoun. Of course it's understood in context, but it still amuses me.

Resolutions, Vaguely

English:

I don't like the idea of New Year's resolutions -- they're never fulfilled. But new habits, that are made up of specific, concrete goals, yes. I don't know if I want to elevate these to the level of "resolutions," but these things are important to me. And today is the time to take about such things...

• I want to be fluent in Spanish. I can communicate well enough, but not fluently. I want to be able to really speak.
• I want to lose 35 pounds. I had been tracking my weight a few months ago, but I stopped during the last two months. I'm sure that I've gained weight since then. :(
• I want to continue being creative. I enjoy when I do things like that; I don't do it enough.

Tomorrow I will think about concrete steps that are less will take 1 month or less. (If the steps are larger, they can seem impossible, or, on the other hand, like there's enough time that you can procrastinate.)

Spanish:

No me gusta la idea común de los buenos propósitos de Año Nuevo -- nunca se los cumplió. Pero nuevos costumbres, que están hechos por metas específicas y concretas, sí. No sé si quiero elevar estos al nivel de "buenos propósitos," pero son cosas que me importan. Y hoy es tiempo para hablar de tal cosas...

• Quiero dominar el español. Puedo comunicar suficientemente, pero no con fluidez. Deseo que podría hablar de verdad.
• Quiero perder 35 libras. Había estado apuntando mi peso hace algunos meses, pero paré durante los dos meses pasados. Estoy segura de que he ganada peso desde entonces. :(
• Quiero continuar con la creatividad. Me lo pase bien cuando hago cosas así; no lo hago bastante.

Mañana pensaré en los pasos concretos, que son de duración de sólo 1 mes al máximo. (Si los pasos son mas grandes, se parezcan imposibles, o, por otra parte, como haya tanto tiempo que puedes "procrastinar.")

New Years Day Travels

Traveling back home in New Years Day is looking to be One Of Those Days (TM). So I'm starting to document the fun...

12:00 AM: Happy New Year! I welcome in 2010 in Santa Cruz with Forrest's family while making crepes and drinking cheap champagne. We play Beatlea Rock Band after the stroke of midnight.

1:30 AM: Forrest and I pack up and leave the house. Destination: SFO, for a flight that departs at 6:45 AM.

1:45 AM: Donut run completed successfully. Forrest is now suitably caffeinated for our late night / early morning drive.

2:30 AM: We avoid two deer nommimg on the narrow shoulder of Highway 1. A little while later, we see a dead deer on the side of the road.

3:00 AM: We arrive at SFO. No one is here, surprise surprise. Forrest goes off to park the Jeep for my parents to pick up at a more sane hour while I do the check-in kiosk thing. Our seats have been reassigned so that we're not next to one another anymore, but the kiosk won't let me change them back.

3:30 AM: I settle into the line for security. "Settle" because it won't open until 4:30. Four other people are camped out with me; we wish each other happy new year.

3:45 AM: Forrest arrives from the long-term parking lot and camps with me.

4:30 AM: Right on time, TSA opens up and lets us through without incident. An airport employee buffs the carpet, because... we deserve shiny carpets?

4:45 AM: We found an airport restaurant that's open this early. Too bad they want like $20 for some pre-cooked egg-like dish that I won't even like. So I'm going hungry (for now) while Forrest eats a bacon egg cheese croissant thing. Lack if sleep is getting to me -- I'm beginning to resemble zombie-me. But no svn-commits on my brain, yet.

5:30 AM: I kill half an hour doing a self portrait (of how I feel)on my iPhone while Forrest tries to straighten out why he's assigned a non-existent seat.

5:45 AM: The restaurant I'm waiting for finally opens. They told me they didn't know when they'd open -- apparently they had no cash and couldn't make the decision to open accepting just credit cards without over-the-phone approval for some manager. Clam chowder was pretty decent, though.

6:20 AM: We board the plane in our original seats. Woohoo! Fingers crossed for an uneventful rest of the trip...

10:00 AM: By plane, train, and automobus, we have arrived home! Very tired. Going to sleep now. FSF for dinner, mmm...