I have no time to learn how to draw the perfect cartoon caterpillar. Instead, I shall offer you this image with a caption, suspended on a white background. This is also my shortest post on record. Allison
Friendily yours,
Let’s not kill all the translators… « Thoughts On Translation. Friendly is as friendly does. The drafting of letters, particularly diplomatic ones, is a serious matter. "Amicalement", left in the French, would have been a better choice, especially given the "Cher Barack" salutation, and the fact that unless you are a complete oddball, "Amicably" does... Continue Reading →
You will thank me for sharing
I need to "flesh out" my characters in this NaNoWriMo novel I am trying to write. All embarrassing details are revealed on my Mnah-mnah Day 8 page above. One more thing: None of my characters have actually looked at each other - longingly or otherwise - yet. Oh, dear! Allison
NaNoWriMorphology
Welcome to the NaNoWriMo neologisms of the day that I have come up with so far, as part of my daily log on writing a novel during the month of November. Don't get me wrong. I am utterly serious about writing this novel, even though I started two days late, and have missed one day... Continue Reading →
Cement, and the floppy sentence
I woke up this morning and heard Mitt Romney's entire concession speech before coffee. This is remarkable, because I very rarely watch TV, let alone first thing in my morning. He looked neat, remarkably fresh. He stood up straight, and for all the world could have been the captain of a sports team at a... Continue Reading →
Vegetarian delights
Until I started learning Portuguese, I considered myself a good speller. Now, I sometimes have the odd doubt. So, I need to check these things, and normally do so online. I typed the word for vegetarian, spelled incorrectly as "vegeteriano", into a popular online bilingual resource. Beware spelling errors! Because even Goggle will tell you that... Continue Reading →
A&A confusion
In my world A&A is shorthand for all those jolly acronyms and abbreviations one has to straddle with elegance when translating. Time was I had the English and French A&As for all United Nations organizations, and their long versions down pat. Ditto arbitrary bits of German legislation. Green-eggs-and-ham style, I could say them standing on... Continue Reading →
Mnah-mnah
Assumption As a point of departure, let's just assume I am nuts on two counts: I have decided to participate seriously this year in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which promises, "thirty days and nights of literary abandon". The goal is to write a novel within the month of November of 50,000 words or longer.... Continue Reading →
Salad days
The salad accompanying the grilled piri-piri chicken and fries fairly stood up on the plate. Fresh crisp lettuce; tomatoes which smelled like tomatoes in the vegetable patch after the rain. The sweetness of the sliced onion compelled me to pop a piece in my mouth almost before the plate had settled on the table. Normally,... Continue Reading →
That elusive pair of jeans 