Wherever I go in this world, my

Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki comes with me. (I just bought a bottle today, realizing how incomplete and boring my life was without it.)

This is the only story I can think of right now

Last night, while wandering the streets, I found a free newspaper with a picture of an old man playing accordian on the front. It delighted me to such an extent that I took it with me to a salsa club, intending to put it on the wall when I got home.
But when I put the newspaper down so that I could dance better, the waitress took it and threw it away.

No one warns you about the heartbreak that is Washington, D.C.!!

I just need something else

...to put up instead of my gross knees. They are much better now!
But I have no exciting news or random thoughts.
So I will put this up:
Because it makes me smile.

Schlechte Idee

This is why one should not go jogging on the uneven pavement of Davis when it's dark outside (this is before swelling!):



But one did anyway, and now one regrets it.

Life at Work

They were playing Ben Folds (SCORE!) at the Coffee House while I was working today, and I discovered that I am still not immune to the sappy corniness (yet also greatness) that is "The Luckiest." You know, that one song at the end of the Rockin' the Suburbs album where Folds sings about how much he loves his wife.
I was getting tears in my eyes while spreading mozzarella on the raw pizzas. When will it end?

Also, if you come to visit me at work and I'm totally zoned out staring at the floor or some distant place in space and time, this is probably what I'm thinking about:

If I had a dog that looked like this:

















I would name him/her Tiny Dancer. And maybe just call it "Dancer" for short (Dancey?).

And if I had a dog like this:














I would name him Willy Brandt, after my favorite German chancellor. They share a striking resemblance, trust me.

I don't plan to have either of these dogs, but I felt like sharing my innermost thoughts with you anyway.

Have a nice FRIDAY!
I have a linguistics midterm to look forward to.

Off to see the Oral Surgeon!!

I'm flying home tomorrow! For no particular reason. Except that I need to have a pre-surgery check-up so that they can make a "splint." I don't really know how you make a splint for a tooth implant, but I'm trying hard not too think about it excessively.

It's fun to have an excuse to go home though! If not to see the 'rents and bff Cammy, then at least to see our doggy Jinny and become somewhat less animal-starved!

PS-All of my roomies at this moment are either drunk or not at home. I wonder if anyone will be able to give me a ride to the airport in the morning? I have my fingers crossed....

This I Believe

My parents are big fans of the NPR series "This I Believe," which is a project where people (some famous and some not) talk for about three or four minutes about what their beliefs are, relating to life or just their philosophies about certain things. It's deep, man.
But no, really, it's pretty interesting sometimes. And the point I'm coming to is that Wayne Coyne of Flaming Lips gloriousness read one recently, and I liked it. My Dad sent me the link.
This is it, if you're interested.

P.S. Hannah, do you and your roomies actually go out in public while wearing said headbands? This I gotta see.

Has anyone seen this movie?

Other than my roomie Alicia, when she was eight, and now me? Because it is one of the most ridiculous movies I've ever seen.

It's Been a While

But not a while as in that one song, by Puddle of Mud or P.O.D. or some other less-than-stellar band....

I want to post two totally unimportant and self-absorbed thoughts (But perhaps all blogger posts can be categorized in this way?).

Thought #1:
I really wish I could pull off a headband. Like the one Luke Wilson's wearing in Royal Tenenbaums, or just some kind of bandana tied in the same way. There's this guy at my work who wears a headband like that often, and it inspires me. Too bad I'm not a guy, because the effect is definitely not quite as, shall we say, formidable, when seen on women.


Thought #2:
I wish I had a boyfriend (or husband!) who looked like Jeremy Sisto. I was watching this movie last week for my German film class called The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (a rare example of a good German film--I recommend it!) and the male love interest kind of reminded me of Jeremy Sisto, and renewed my mild obsession with him. Yes, he looks a little creepy and mildly ape-like, but that's why we love him, right?

And that is all for now.

A late thank you

Not sure who reads this exactly, but I just want to say THANKS! for all the birthday wishes on Facebook/my blog/in person! It was honestly one of the best birthdays I've had in a while. All I did was go out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (which was delicious as usual--I did my annual vegetarian-breaking tradition of eating salmon), but I felt like I have such great friends and family! And I do!!

I wondered why no songs came up!

You know you've been working on your linguistics paper too long when you absent-mindedly type "nouns" into the music search on iTunes.

I got to ride a moped today! I didn't crash it, and I managed to take it all the way up to 16 mph! WHOA!
Yeah, the top speed is 26 mph, but I'm just going to ignore that for now. . . .

The confused and concerned looks from people passing by in their cars was also quite amusing.
This experience has re-instilled my love and longing for a Vespa!

Most hectic spring break EV-er

The spring break we get at UC Davis is literally four days. If you have a final on the last day. I don't know why they do this to us. I, however, have a final on one of the earlier dates, so my spring break is a WHOLE WEEK! Woo hoo!!

On the first day of break I'm getting a titanium post implanted into my jaw, then two days to recover and pack for Washington D. C., and then a trip to Rosarito, Mexico for two nights with the roomies, and then a day in between for the surgery follow-up, and then I fly out of LAX to D.C. for three months to work as an intern for CAL (Center for Applied Linguistics).

I don't know if anyone cares about all of these thrilling details, but I felt like sharing anyway And I guess it helps me organize everything in my head when I type it out.

And then TAHOE this weekend, and my parents coming to visit the weekend after that!!

There, now you know all of my plans. :)

Overheard in Cowtown

Overheard at the Coffee House by a very enthusiastic young gentleman sitting at the table next to us:

"It'll do your taxes AND flag down space ships!!!"

I will live the rest of my life wondering what this amazing contraption could be.

When is a "friend" a friend?

I've decided it's time to feel important and use titles for my posts. Thoughts sound much more meaningful and scholarly with titles.

So regarding the title of this post, don't worry, I'm not feeling bitter about a failed friendship or anything. I just wanted to post about a funny thing came to my attention today. I've always thought it was a little silly how Americans call everyone their "friend," whether it's someone they've known since they were in diapers or someone they just added on Facebook but have never spoken to.

I never really thought about how weird this aspect of our culture was until today, when I was working at the grill. I was telling one of the girls about my friend Alicia who sings with the a capella choir The Spokes, and the girl said, "Oh yeah, one of my friends is in that group too." But when I asked her who it was, she couldn't remember her friend's name! Come on now! We clearly use the term "friend" much to generally if we're using to describe people who's names we don't even know!

Anyway, I think we should find some kind of medial word like "acquaintance," except not that one because it sounds too much like a word you'd use during an interrogation by the police.

Oh, and one more totally unrelated musing. Today I read an article for my German Women and Films class by Susan Sontag about how modern sadomasochism is largely influenced by fascist principles and the military uniforms of the Nazis (black, leather, etc.) Eye opening, to say the least.

I saw the film Children of Men last night, and I have to say, GO SEE IT. It's one of the few movies I can think of where I had to cover my eyes for about half of it due to the violence, but I still really liked it. (I generally write off movies that have a death count of more than two people.)

The film takes place in the year 2027 at a time when the human race is dying out because women have become inexplicably infertile. It's a really interesting premise, and all the actors do a really good job. I didn't really like Clive Owen before I saw him in this, but now I've changed my mind. And Michael Caine steals every scene he's in; he was definitely my favorite character.

Children of Men is super thought-provoking, and I want other people to see it so that we can analyze it together!

Thanks to the traditional American love of suing, products have been exhibiting weirder and wackier warning labels. This one was awarded as the most wacky of the year.

PS: I just bought Abbey Road. V. nice. Only the second Beatle's CD I own! And I call myself a Beatles fan.

PPS: Sadly, apparently working out while listening to an iPod does not have the intended effect of making you eternally indefatiguable. Especially if you just sat around and ate all Christmas break. But it DOES inspire you to use big words that you've probably never used before.

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone's had a scrumtrellescent day (to borrow an adjective from the great Will Ferrell). At my house we made Nutella crepes for breakfast, opened presents, went to the grandparents for lasagne, opened more presents, then came home and relaxed. I FINALLY had the time to finish 100 Years of Solitude, a book I've been working on since Thanksgiving. I pretty much wanted to kill myself while I was reading it, but now that it's finished, in retrospect it wasn't actually that bad!

My family also watched a documentary today called Shakespeare Behind Bars. Has anyone heard of it? The film is about this program in a Kentucky prison where they inmates put on a production of a Shakespeare play. The documentary was amazing; most of the inmates in the production are in prison for murder, so the interpretations of Shakespeare are obviously given a new meaning when the prisoners perform and study it. The documentary also humanized prisoners in a way that I've never seen before.
This was one of the most powerful documentaries I've ever seen, so I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to watch something a little more edifying or enriching than the usual faire!

And the finals are Done! Sorry my posts have been so boring lately; it's mostly because I have been either stressed out or busy. But hooray for Christmas break! I'm gonna be in Davis for a few more days, but after that, I'll be home for the holidays!

The first theory is similar to the “no access” theory in that it assumes that the UG is “dead” by the time the adult begins to learn L2. The result of this is that the UG can no longer be utilized to gain an internal grammar at the adult L2 level. Knowledge of the grammar can still be derived from the L1, which contains aspects of the UG. However, because the UG has already been set, its parameters cannot be changed, and therefore if the core grammar of L1 and L2 differ, the new L2 grammar will not be initially learnable.


This is what I will be writing about ALL DAY today. I can't wait. AARGH! I hate putting off papers until the last day!!