duck-shaped pain

26 September 2003
Beer discussions.

In my Spanish conversation class this fall, we have learned to say, among other things, the question, "Would you like to live in a spaceship city someday?" (I do not have a translation handy, as my class journal, with all of its doodles in lieu of notes, which contains the Spanish equivalent of the aforementioned phrase, is being graded at the moment.) I have never asked this question of anyone in my 29 or so years of speaking English, yet here I am, learning the thing in Spanish, way before I learn more useful phrases, such as "So, do you think aluminum is the metal of the future?" or "Why did you leave the house looking like that?"

My biggest complaint with "Would you like to live in a spaceship city some day?" is that my professor insists that this be said using formal Spanish -- usted instead of t�. In my mind, this sentence has to be informal, as it seems like the sort of thing one would only say in intimate conversation, after a couple of beers or bong hits, while curled up on the couch with your shoes off. Not the stuff of formal or impersonal conversations with your betters, who would surely think worse of you were you to approach them with the spaceship question.

I think I may not have the right state of mind for advanced Spanish.


In other related news, I am writing a paper (right now, as I type) on Argentina and its many, many, many problems. Do I care? No. Or at least, just a little bit.

This is the theme of the semester so far. Insert any subject where "Argentina" is and you have the answer for multiple questions.


It is fall, yet it is hot. I am still wearing linen, as it was 90 degrees yesterday. I am ready for cold, ready for sweaters, ready for some sort of massive change.

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