Wait, what language are we speaking?

We have been hosting a delegation of archivists from China at work lately, and today, I was part of a presentation we did for them. Now, I don't speak Chinese. I did my undergraduate in Spanish (and it's debatable how fluent I am). And as I was preparing my portion of the presentation, I automatically started translating it into Spanish, as if somehow that would help in communicating with our Chinese delegates. Consciously, I was completely aware of the fact that Spanish is not Chinese. But I still kept trying to translate to Spanish.

This is not the first time I have had this happen. And I'm not the only one who does this. My co-worker, who was also part of the presentation, mentioned having that experience, and I have other friends who have had the same experience. And it isn't just Spanish. One friend spoke Russian. I just think it is so fascinating that my brain says, "Ah! We're not speaking English! Great, then we are speaking the other language I know. Okay, switch gears, speak the other language." I'm sure that there has been research done on it and there are fascinating studies one could read, but I just love observing it in life. And fortunately, I didn't try to give my presentation in Spanish. I think that might have really confused the interpreter.

The power of persuasion

On Monday this week, my nephew developed an ear infection. Well, I'd been holding him when he fell asleep, and then I couldn't get him to let go of me after he fell asleep, so I laid with him on my bed, and somehow managed to slither out from under him and pry his gripping arm from my neck. Then, when he woke up, his ear hurt so much he just wanted to be held, so I spent about 2 hours holding him.

I considered washing my sheets, but figured that having held him and otherwise shared his airspace, that would be a bit pointless. If I was going to get sick, it wouldn't be from the small patch of germy sheet he created.

And inevitably, I did get sick. (I say inevitable, which I hope doesn't imply that one always gets sick after being around a sick person. I worked with 40 kindergartners for two and half years, and was rarely sick and have spent lots of time with sick kids without becoming sick). Sore throat, painful ears. Achy body. Plus side: milkshake for dinner, because I couldn't swallow anything else comfortably. Down side far outweighed the plus side. In case you wondered.

Finally, I went to a doctor, because I was afraid it was strep. The doctor came in, asked about the symptoms, if there was any sinus trouble ("no, not really, just a tiny bit today, but nothing noticeable, in comparison to the ear and throat pain"), coughing, have I been around anyone sick, and proceeded to declare his suspicion that I had a sinus infection. This was Friday night.

Up until then, sinuses hadn't really been on my radar. Like I said, I was worried it was strep. But I left the doctor's office, and it was like my body said, "Sinus infection? That's what we're supposed to be doing here? Okay, body, shift gears. Sinus infection mode!" Fortunately, nothing really with the stuffy nose, but the coughing on Saturday (which started when I went to bed on Friday night. Seriously. It was like a one hour turnaround) was so bad, my voice gave out most of the day. All that darn postnasal drip (which is a phrase that just doesn't seem right in a blog), and all that coughing gave me a killer headache. Sore throat? Gone. Ears? Fine.

All of which leaves me wondering, why is it that my body will respond to what some random doctor says in a matter of hours, but it NEVER listens to me? Honestly.

I wonder what would have happened if the doctor had said, "You are perfectly healthy, and next week you are going to run a marathon."

Wonderful World

I've been raving about the fall foliage, and meaning to get pictures of it. Unfortunately, I think I waited a week too long (okay, wait isn't necessarily the most accurate description, but it did get delayed). Today, I finally did it. It was a little tricky, because it was cloudy and because I was driving on back roads, so there really wasn't anywhere to park and snap. But, I tried. I had mixed results, but I tried, and it is one of my goals to improve my photos, so all in all, I feel like it was a success. Here are some of the ones I really like:

I really want to get them printed, because one thing I have learned: printed copies really tell you how good a picture is. The screen just doesn't do them justice, which is odd, because they are digital pictures. Anyway, I think the flower one is my favorite, but I also liked the reflections in the water pictures. And I definitely like the stump. (That one was fun--I got to climb on a bunch of tree stumps, gigantic tree stumps, and it was super). I do wish I'd managed to get out a week sooner. This week proved windy and wet, so it didn't do much for keeping the colorful leaves on the trees. But, better than nothing. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

To Do

I was laying in bed the other night, thinking of things I want to do in my life. Now, I feel I should mention here that there are two categories that my goals fall into. There is the experience category, or things I want to try. And there is the accomplishment category, things I want to do. I actually have a list of things I want to accomplish, and I must say it was very exciting when I got to cross off "Earn a Master's Degree" in April. Seriously, it felt good. But, I digress.

The Do category is a lot more important to me than the experience category, because the Do list is more character shaping. The experience list is a lot more flexible and a lot less critical. It is also a lot more spontaneous and whimsical (keeps it fun). But there are some constants on there (constant mostly because I actually remember them, rather than constant because they haven't been scratched off). By no means comprehensive or final, here are a few:

1. I want to learn to swim.
I can swim. Ish. Let's just say, if you're drowning, I hope that I'm not the only person that knows it, because while I could possible save my life, I wouldn't be able to save yours. Sorry. It's not personal. My biggest worry here is that I won't be able to master the coordination necessary to pull this off, coordination not being one of my natural talents, but I am going to try. Because I love the water, and I want to be able to swim, and not just in an ish sort of way.

2. I want to go snowshoeing.
Due to that whole coordination problem, skiing has never seemed like a great idea to me. But snowshoeing--that is something I could probably manage. I really want to try it.

3. I want to go ice skating.
I don't recall ever having done this, and I want to do it just once. And you should all hope you are so lucky to be witness to the comedy that will ensue when I do try it because, yeah, no coordination. (This also means that I will have to have the right person(s) to try this with. I'm particular about who is invited to share my experiences. Call me a snob).

4. I want to publish a book.
Okay, this is on the accomplishment list, but it is also an experience. I want to have the experience of seeing my nieces and nephews open a book that I wrote. The problem is that I can't illustrate, and I write picture book stories, so this is a work in progress. And, I should note, I want to be publisher published. Not that I have anything against Amazon publishing. But I want the best. (Yep. Snob).

5. I want to own a leather jacket.
I have no idea why. I just want one. A kind of fitted one, that is a little bit rebel. I am going to rock that jacket when I get it.

6. I want to see Niagara Falls.
I am actually kind of chafing because I'm fairly close to Niagara Falls at present, but I can't go see it. Which, it's kind of the off season at present, so I guess I'll have to live with it for now.

7. I want to travel.
I don't really have any particular place I want to travel (well, okay, Niagara Falls). I just want to have more whimsical, unforeseen travel opportunities. I've gotten to China, Vanuatu, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Washington DC, Madison, WI, and lots of other places that way. And another advantage of the random travel chance: you can't feel let down if a place doesn't live up to all you hoped it would be.

8. I want to be a better photographer.
This one, I am working on. I guess it's an accomplishment goal, too, sort of. Anyway, so far I've learned that I need a lot of pictures to get a few good ones, there is a time and a place for being persnickety about photos (sometimes, you are just trying to capture a moment). And, I need another camera.

9. I know this one...what was it?! Oh, yeah! I want to own another stick shift.
My first car was a stick shift. I loved driving that thing. Admittedly, it was old, and the heating/AC wasn't great, and there was no radio. But I loved driving a stick. And someday, I want to own another one.

I feel like 9 is a good number to stop at. (Thank goodness, because I can't think of anymore at present). I don't want to bore you. But, you know what they say about goals. You have to write them down, and you have to be accountable. So, two birds, one stone. Man, I am amazing!

How does that sound?

I have a friend in Bangladesh, and she was taking a little jaunt up to Khatmandu. I know next to nothing about Khatmandu (next to nothing being I know that it is a place and it is called Khatmandu. Nothing would be minus that information), but it has a nice ring to it.

While the sound of a place isn't the only way I decide where I'm going to travel (okay, I don't really have a defined set of criteria, but this probably wouldn't make the list. It would be one of those added bonus things), there are some places I would love to say I'd been to just because it is so fun to say. For example, Cheboygan. It just rolls off the tongue. Schenactady? Fun to say (and I have a friend who grew up there, so that counts for something). Cochabomba. Quetzaltenango, Guayaquil. Toowoomba--I totally want to say I've been to Toowoomba. There are a lot of fun country names too. Azerbaijan. Burundi. Liechtenstein (fun--and the capital is fun to say too. Vaduz). And all the former USSR republics? I have no idea how to even pronounce them, but they always make me wish I did.

Finding cool places is the strongest argument for the continuation of printed maps. Trying to find cool place names in Google maps just isn't the same experience at all. Maybe it's the archivist in me talking, that part of me that will never become paperless, but I think it is true all the same. I will probably never travel to most places in the world, but it's fun to dream. And to say all those cool place names!