Monthly Archives: January 2006
La Presidenta
Well, looks like Chile has elected its first female president. The world’s first-ever woman head of state was Sühbaataryn Yanjmaa, who acted as president of Mongolia in 1953. In Canada, we had a female prime minister (Kim Campbell) for just … Continue reading
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Winter Zigzags
¡Hace frío aquí! But more annoying than the cold is the extreme variability of temperatures (unfortunately very typique of Montréal). We’ve had a good winter so far, by my reckoning — lots of snow and neither too cold nor so … Continue reading
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¿Futuro largo?
A few years ago I remember hearing about the 639-year-long John Cage organ performance in Halberstadt, Germany (which started in 2001). For those of you who don’t know, Cage was the modern composer most famous for his 4’33″ of silence … Continue reading
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Palabritas del día — silla
Here come more fun vivienda words and expressions… I’m racing on to the final page of that (remarkably useful) chapter. la silla — chair. Cuando me han liberado de mis responsabilidades, sentí que no era yo para silla ni para … Continue reading
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Snazziness (for me, not for you)
Sorry for this potentially boring techie note… But I just upgraded the blog to WordPress 2.0. I put all the custom stuff back in place (I think), so you should see no real differences from before — I’m the lucky … Continue reading
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Constrained Fictions #1
For fun, and from time to time, I thought I’d give myself a little writerly exercise. I think constraints are one of the best creative tools we have — more interesting art comes out of limitations and struggle than does … Continue reading
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(Demasiadas) Palabritas del día — mesilla
Still racing my way through las palabras de la vivienda (about 75% done). Aquí estan algunas: la mesilla — bedside table. I remember it as what you’d get if you crossbred una mesa (table) and una silla (chair). A table … Continue reading
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Let’s Get Ready To RUMBLE…
Am I referring to the final round of Canadian leadership debates that take place tonight and tomorrow in Montréal (two weeks before our next federal election)? Or to the minor earthquake people felt in the Montréal area this morning? Are … Continue reading
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Cue the “Chariots of Fire” theme…
Today I took a long walk. My poor camera — the little one that has taken the lovely pictures you’ve all admired — is now “in the shop”. The guy at the service centre said: “it looks pretty well-traveled.” Indeed … Continue reading
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Palabritas del día – cubertería
la cubertería — cutlery. Esta cucharilla mía forma parte de nuestra cubertería. — This teaspoon of mine is part of our cutlery. Not sure this sentence makes a whole lot of sense, but it does rhyme…somewhat. el despacho — study, … Continue reading
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