LKL’s Blog

I’ve been working full-time online since New Year’s Day 2000. I made do with dial-up internet until just a couple of years ago, when I was able to get cable. Now that I’m moving to Costa Rica, I’ll be back to dial-up, which is going to be really difficult. I’m trying to download all of the patches and software updates I can find while I still have high-speed access - fun, fun, fun.

Do you have a favorite site for downloading music? I’ve tried iTunes and I just can’t stand having it installed on my computer. Someone recommended LimeWire to me, but I don’t really get it. I’ve had some luck just Googling the name/artist of songs I want, but I still have a list of several dozen that I can’t find. Any suggestions?

So we were supposed to leave for Phoenix today (Monday) at the crack of dawn. I got an email yesterday morning telling me that I could check in online, so I went to American Airlines. We had chosen seats when we made the reservations two months ago, but these had disappeared, and when I tried to choose new ones, it said that feature was unavailable. When I tried to check in anyway, it said I couldn’t without choosing seats. Perhaps I should have taken that as a sign, but I didn’t - we just planned to check in at the airport.

(more…)

Book lovers rejoice! I was lucky enough to be given a copy of the book Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader recently, and I could not be more thrilled. This collection of essays on topics related to books, reading, and writing is delightful, and two of them - “Inse(r)t a Carrot Caret” and “The Literary Glutton” - made me laugh until I wept. This is a great book for book addicts, fanatical readers, compulsive proofreaders, and language lovers - don’t miss it.

I finally finished a huge, far too time-consuming project: a sort of calendar of the history of French-speaking countries, with holidays and celebrations, famous people’s birthdays and deaths, and other events and milestones in the world of francophonie. I’d had the project in mind for a long time, and I knew it would take a lot of work, but the reality was far worse than I’d imagined. Still, it’s done and I think it’s a fairly cool feature - I hope you do too: Today in Francophone History

From one of my faithful blog readers: I would like you to share with us how you started learning Spanish (I have read your Spanish vs French page), how much time it took you to master the language, why you chose Spanish and not Italian, etc.

I’d been studying French in high school for two years and loved it, so I decided it would be fun to learn another language. The only languages offered at my school were French and Spanish, so that made that decision easy. As for how long it took me to master it, quite frankly I haven’t. I studied Spanish for two years in high school and maybe 2 in college, and I did some Spanish translation/interpretation classes at MIIS. My level is about intermediate - I know a lot of grammar, and can often correct my husband* but when I speak my tongue gets very tied and usually wants French to come out instead. I can understand a lot more than I can say.

*He speaks Spanish fluently thanks to having worked and lived with Mexicans for more than 10 years, but he never really studied it, so does not ever know why he says anything a particular way.

Just watched Happy Feet - adorable. I was glad that I happened to watch March of the Penguins a few weeks earlier, as I understood the mating/feeding rituals. I was also surprised but pleased by the strong ecological and humanitarian messages of the movie. Best line: Robert Williams’ Spanish-accented “Let me tell something to you!”