Let's see. Back to Saturday. The GRE Literature test went fine, I suppose, but if I ever have the following thought process again it will be too soon:
"Hmm. Richard Wright and James Baldwin are both black authors, so are the rest, but the others came way too late or early. Anyway, the FBI must have had files on both of them. But Wright spent most of his life living in Europe, and I think he was too old to have much of an impact on the civil rights movement. Plus, Baldwin was gay, so the FBI probably had a much bigger file on him. Also, Wright's already been one answer that I know was correct earlier on the test. And the odds of seeing him twice on the test are pretty slim. Gotta' be Baldwin."
I'm pretty sure I got that question right. Most of the test is that way. It doesn't test an ability to identify, but an ability to eliminate. It makes a person think, but it was pretty rough stuff.
After all that, I had lunch at one of Sofia's Pizza Huts and got home on the first bus. Read P.G. Wodehouse on the way home. That guy knew how to write comedy. He wrote the same thing two or three hundred times over, but it's funny every time you read it. If you ever want to enjoy reading about early twentieth century upper class British life, give Wodehouse a read.
"A Few Good Men" was on TV Saturday night, fit for my vegging pleasure. I really love that movie more every time I see it. Except for the part were Cruise gets Nicholson to say "YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I DID!" I don't get the emotional hit it's supposed to give anymore, but it's a funny movie and a fun movie to watch. And so much the dialogue is mumbled or spoken quickly that something new seeps through with every shot. It may be a glorified TV movie with great acting, but what a TV movie! and what acting! Even Demi Moore is acceptable, and almost good. Absolutely amazing.
So after all that excitement, I spent Sunday doing nothing but watching a "Blue Planet" marathon on the Discovery Channel and playing with the cat. I really just wanted to relax, and I got it done, which left me in great shape for the start of the week.
Today, there wasn't any heat in school, which led the director to panic a bit and declare a half day. However, since the sun-facing side of the building is all windows without blinds, the building was probably getting up near 80 degrees by 11 and some rooms were, as usual, uncomfortable by noon. Still, the shorter day was appreciated and left me time to shop before Bulgarian lessons.
Where I had one of the great "DUH!" moments of my life. I was reading a story and for the first time saw "mesechina" instead of "luna" as the Bulgarian for "moon." I figured out that it was "moon" based on the context, and that led me to see that it was derived from "mecets" or "month" in Bulgarian. "Moon," "month," they sound alike! thought I. So that's where "moon" comes from. Or that's where "month" comes from. Chicken and egg, really. Etymonline kinda sorta confirms it. Learn something new every day.
Posted by Rob at December 13, 2004 07:01 PMOne of your students seem to like you.
Posting all this stuff about anal sex and stuff.
Funny things to be had in Bulgaria.
I must go there some day.