Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Articuento
In the spirit of being lazy and not writing anything new, here's something I've been wanting to share for awhile. It's a short story I wrote for a class last semester, specifically an "atricuento", a story that's part news and part fiction. It's in Spanish, but I'm not sure it will translate well. It's kind of a Spanish story... but if you read Spanish, or care to translate via babelfish, enjoy!
(and if you really want me to translate it to english, let me know, and I will)
***
Un viaje al futuro
Los trenes AVE de RENFE son los más rápidos en todo de España. Un nuevo modelo de AVE tren puede tener un velocidad de 280 kilómetros por hora y ahora une Madrid con Zaragoza. En una futura muy cerca, los trenes AVE van a unir Madrid con Barcelona con velocidades de 300 kilómetros por hora – bastante rápido para que el viaje puede ser menos de dos horas.
Con este nuevo trayecto, Madrid y Barcelona van a ser más cerca de alguna vez antes. La gente de Barcelona irá a Madrid y trata de hablar en Catalán. Los Madrileños no van a creer que están en Barcelona y querrán visitar sus cafés favoritos de Zaragoza. Los turísticas perdidos van a vagar en Madrid buscando “La Sagrada Familia".
Claro, los cambios y el progreso son buenos, pero Madrid y Barcelona ahora son tan diferentes y tan lejos que es mejor que queden como esto. Si no, es posible que los equipos el Real Madrid y el Barcelona tengan que unirse. ¡Que horrible!
written 10/2006
***
(and if you really want me to translate it to english, let me know, and I will)
***
Un viaje al futuro
Los trenes AVE de RENFE son los más rápidos en todo de España. Un nuevo modelo de AVE tren puede tener un velocidad de 280 kilómetros por hora y ahora une Madrid con Zaragoza. En una futura muy cerca, los trenes AVE van a unir Madrid con Barcelona con velocidades de 300 kilómetros por hora – bastante rápido para que el viaje puede ser menos de dos horas.
Con este nuevo trayecto, Madrid y Barcelona van a ser más cerca de alguna vez antes. La gente de Barcelona irá a Madrid y trata de hablar en Catalán. Los Madrileños no van a creer que están en Barcelona y querrán visitar sus cafés favoritos de Zaragoza. Los turísticas perdidos van a vagar en Madrid buscando “La Sagrada Familia".
Claro, los cambios y el progreso son buenos, pero Madrid y Barcelona ahora son tan diferentes y tan lejos que es mejor que queden como esto. Si no, es posible que los equipos el Real Madrid y el Barcelona tengan que unirse. ¡Que horrible!
written 10/2006
***
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Once a nerd...
When browsing through my documents folder the other day I came across some of my college essays. I read through a few of them, expecting to cringe at my past writing. Surprisingly, one of them I still rather liked. I even chuckled a little. So, I present to you: a college essay.
Prompt: Explain a belief you accepted at some time in your life but have rejected on the basis of a rational process. (it goes on, but this is the gist of it)
***
An important part of growing up is losing one’s baby teeth in preparation for growing permanent adult teeth. We all know the drill - you lose your baby tooth, put it under your pillow, the tooth fairy comes, and you are one step closer to being grown up. However, there comes a time in every child’s life that the tooth fairy’s existence doesn’t seem so feasible anymore.
When I was about nine years old I was feeling especially old and grown up, and the whole tooth fairy idea didn’t seem so likely anymore. We had started to learn about the scientific method and researching topics in school, so I was beginning to reevaluate some of the ideas that I had taken for granted. It was time for me to figure out some things for myself.
One day at school, I lost one of my baby teeth, but instead of proudly displaying my necklace with the fake tooth enclosing my real tooth, I hid it in my backpack. At home that evening I didn’t tell my family that I had lost a tooth, and they didn’t notice my newly toothless state. Everything was going according to plan. I placed my tooth under my pillow before I went to sleep and waited for morning to arrive. If the tooth fairy were real, she would know that I had lost a tooth and there would be cold hard cash waiting for me in the morning. However, if there was no tooth fairy, all I would find under my pillow was the tooth I placed there.
The next morning I anxiously checked under my pillow. There it was – my tooth. My heart sank a little as one of my fantasies was ruined, but it was overwhelmed by my pride in disproving the story all by myself. I continued the same routine for several days without my parents ever noticing. Finally I announced that there was no tooth fairy and explained my little test. My parents looked a little chagrined at not noticing my missing tooth, and I ended up getting more money for that tooth than I ever had before. With my last few baby teeth, the “tooth fairy” was always very prompt and generous, even though I had discovered her true identity.
originally written spring 2004
***
I know, I know, I'm a huge nerd. But for the record, I got in.
Prompt: Explain a belief you accepted at some time in your life but have rejected on the basis of a rational process. (it goes on, but this is the gist of it)
***
An important part of growing up is losing one’s baby teeth in preparation for growing permanent adult teeth. We all know the drill - you lose your baby tooth, put it under your pillow, the tooth fairy comes, and you are one step closer to being grown up. However, there comes a time in every child’s life that the tooth fairy’s existence doesn’t seem so feasible anymore.
When I was about nine years old I was feeling especially old and grown up, and the whole tooth fairy idea didn’t seem so likely anymore. We had started to learn about the scientific method and researching topics in school, so I was beginning to reevaluate some of the ideas that I had taken for granted. It was time for me to figure out some things for myself.
One day at school, I lost one of my baby teeth, but instead of proudly displaying my necklace with the fake tooth enclosing my real tooth, I hid it in my backpack. At home that evening I didn’t tell my family that I had lost a tooth, and they didn’t notice my newly toothless state. Everything was going according to plan. I placed my tooth under my pillow before I went to sleep and waited for morning to arrive. If the tooth fairy were real, she would know that I had lost a tooth and there would be cold hard cash waiting for me in the morning. However, if there was no tooth fairy, all I would find under my pillow was the tooth I placed there.
The next morning I anxiously checked under my pillow. There it was – my tooth. My heart sank a little as one of my fantasies was ruined, but it was overwhelmed by my pride in disproving the story all by myself. I continued the same routine for several days without my parents ever noticing. Finally I announced that there was no tooth fairy and explained my little test. My parents looked a little chagrined at not noticing my missing tooth, and I ended up getting more money for that tooth than I ever had before. With my last few baby teeth, the “tooth fairy” was always very prompt and generous, even though I had discovered her true identity.
originally written spring 2004
***
I know, I know, I'm a huge nerd. But for the record, I got in.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Music Sweet Music
Lately I've been thinking that it would be fun to have a little band that sits on my shoulder, like a parrot, that would play whatever music was going on in my head at the moment.
It would be great to establish indie cred - some really obscure song would be playing as I walked down the drag and all the hipsters would follow my extreme indie awesomeness.
Except that the music that usually is going on in my head is the song of the Spanish Republic that we listened to in my Spanish class or the catchy but annoying song I heard two weeks ago in HEB and can't get out of my head.
Of course in class it would probably be annoying too: the mini band would start snoring when I was bored or play a crescendo when I figured out a problem on an exam.
As much as I really like the idea of having a mini band on my shoulder (I would name them the Maren-ers (haha?)), its probably for the best that they stay exactly where they are - in my head.
... cue theme music!
originally written 2/20/07
It would be great to establish indie cred - some really obscure song would be playing as I walked down the drag and all the hipsters would follow my extreme indie awesomeness.
Except that the music that usually is going on in my head is the song of the Spanish Republic that we listened to in my Spanish class or the catchy but annoying song I heard two weeks ago in HEB and can't get out of my head.
Of course in class it would probably be annoying too: the mini band would start snoring when I was bored or play a crescendo when I figured out a problem on an exam.
As much as I really like the idea of having a mini band on my shoulder (I would name them the Maren-ers (haha?)), its probably for the best that they stay exactly where they are - in my head.
... cue theme music!
originally written 2/20/07
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Ch-ch-ch-changes!
As you may (or may not) have noticed, I've created yet another blog. The idea is that my "serious" blog is where I'll talk about whatever issues happen to catch my attention and this "fluff" blog will continue as is: travel diary (w/pics!), short musings, and whatever other little tidbits I want to share. Basically more like a tumblelog. And to keep if fluffy I'll try to include as many pictures of cute things as possible!
Today's fluffy:
Clint and I drinking green beer (Stella even!) on St. Patty's day
and ... PUPPIES!
Today's fluffy:
Clint and I drinking green beer (Stella even!) on St. Patty's day
and ... PUPPIES!
Spider vs. Spider
Living in Texas, in an older building, I have some unexpected house guests from time to time. My first week here a roach tumbled out of my bathrobe and there have been a few ants on my windowsill. Most recently, 2 spiders were in a standoff on my wall.
I had seen one of them, a jumping spider, the day before in my kitchen. I usually kill and flush my unexpected visitors, but spiders eat pesky flies, so I let him live. The second time he appeared he was on the dining room wall, and he wasn't alone. About an inch apart were the jumping spider and a more conventional looking brown spider.
The brown spider was bigger, and I wasn't taking the chance that it was a brown recluse, so again, I left them alone. I kept looking over every few minutes, but there were no new developments. Neither spider moved.
I came back home after being gone a few hours and the 2 brown spots had become one, but I couldn't tell who was winning. Later, the spot had moved to the ceiling, presumably migrating back to the victor's lair for a celebratory meal.
It was never completely clear who won, or that this was a hostile standoff at all, as the spiders never moved even a millimeter while I was watching.
The next morning they were gone from sight, and I haven't seen either since. But my money's on the jumping spider.
I had seen one of them, a jumping spider, the day before in my kitchen. I usually kill and flush my unexpected visitors, but spiders eat pesky flies, so I let him live. The second time he appeared he was on the dining room wall, and he wasn't alone. About an inch apart were the jumping spider and a more conventional looking brown spider.
The brown spider was bigger, and I wasn't taking the chance that it was a brown recluse, so again, I left them alone. I kept looking over every few minutes, but there were no new developments. Neither spider moved.
I came back home after being gone a few hours and the 2 brown spots had become one, but I couldn't tell who was winning. Later, the spot had moved to the ceiling, presumably migrating back to the victor's lair for a celebratory meal.
It was never completely clear who won, or that this was a hostile standoff at all, as the spiders never moved even a millimeter while I was watching.
The next morning they were gone from sight, and I haven't seen either since. But my money's on the jumping spider.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Knut is so cute!
Ok so maybe you've heard about this, but I am pretty much obsessed so I'm sharing with the world... There is a baby polar bear in Berlin (named Knut) who was rejected by his mother and is being raised by humans. Animal rights activists have called for the baby bear's death (!!!) because he was rejected by his mother and is now living in a unnatural environment (like zoos are so natural to begin with). Long story short, the Berlin Zoo folks plan to continue raising the cute little sucker and hope to find him another zoo to live at when he grows up. I know I'll be petitioning for the Houston Zoo!
Here's a link of some video footage of Knut along with a handy song (in German). Love it!
(photo from the bbc)
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