(no subject)

on my way to work this morning, i started running through the Pimsleur Basic Russian CD course. no particular reason other than i thought it'd be fun to learn a little bit of a few languages, maybe see what i like and take a class later. i started with French, which was fun, but which i have a horrible time pronouncing. Italian was easier to pronounce but harder for me to get the hang of, possibly because it's just similar enough to Spanish (which i took in high school) to screw me up.

Russian... well, it sounds really hard, mostly because the words are totally unfamiliar, but i'm finding i have no trouble at all with the pronunciation. that part comes easily. it's remembering the words thirty seconds after i learn them that's the problem. (i've found, though, that with these courses if i run through each lesson two or three times, it sticks a lot better than if i do it only once.)

anyway, i'm liking the Pimsleur courses in general, but i wish they came with a book so i could see what the words i'm saying look like. as good as my ear is, it's sometimes helpful to have some visual clues. and if i'm feeling really brave, once i've gone through the whole thing maybe i'll ask one of my several Russian co-workers if i can practice on them.

(no subject)

speaking of secret agents, one of the Russians in my office is named Dmitri Makarov. is that a great name or what? he sounds exactly like a secret agent. every time i hear his name, i mentally append "International Man of Mystery".

(no subject)

and B just said:

"'Vallejo Priest Resigns After Sexual Misconduct Charges'...see, I knew I went into the wrong line of work. You never hear of web designers having sexual misconduct with women. Priests get all the tail."

(no subject)

i'm just all referential and shit today, but i just loved this quote from a column in today's SFGate:

It's like being an angry guy who decides to take off his pants and light his pubic hair on fire, and a bunch of people stand around and say, "Performance art. I like his anger here." No wonder people are driven to guns; they can't make their point any other way.
--Jonathan Carrol