monday

a few quick notes before i launch into monday.

english translator for the course: the man who translates from french <--> english is an english guy with the most un-animated voice in the world. voice modulation seems to be contrary to his lifestyle. and he has a very stiff voice anyway - even his . . . s & uhm . . . uhms are oddly inactive. & also he sort of slurps. slurps. ick.

lyrics: J & M & I were talking about the frosty the snowman lyrics. even though frosty (as illustrated) has a carrot nose, the song says his nose is a "button nose" -- "frosty the snowman was a jolly, happy soul. with a corncob pipe & a button nose & two eyes made out of coal." very strange.

more lyrics: when i was in berlin walking along the east side gallery, i heard a cell phone with the tune of "young folks" by peter, bjorn & john. it's been rattling around in my head ever since -- the tune is addictive. seriously addictive. so in order to purge it from my brain, i'm writing the first verse out here (to inform J & M, since i did such a crap job of singing the song to them & to do the exorcism):

if i told you things i did before
told you how i used to be
would you go along with someone like me
if you knew my story word for word
handled all of my history
would you go along with someone like me.

would you?

accents: so i have a really annoying habit (yes, not just one, but i'm talking about one today) -- i have this weird subconscious thing where i take on a variation of the accent of the person i'm speaking with (only if they have a strong accent). the first time i noticed this was when i was in grad school. there was a woman in the program from a caribbean island with a very nice, lilting accent. of course i adopted my own flattened, alberta version of it. & of further course, she thought i was making fun / teasing her because of her accent. and now it's happening again. at the course. i have to try really hard not to mimic. i'm SUCH a freakin' follower.

so 06.08.07:

today, we had two new professors, profs. gowlland-debbas & kranz. they're going to lecture on the security council and sovereignty, respectively. i like both of them -- organized, concise & they have objectives for the course. yippy skippy! prof. daudet, the secretary general of the hague academy, gave prof. kranz the world's longest introduction. seriously. and as part of it, prof. daudet said something like "he was a professor in krakow" which i heard as "he was a professor in a crackhouse." i think i need to start taking double shot lattes in the morning. when kranz got up to lecture, he took his jacket off (and he was wearing a button down shirt, short sleeves -- LOVE it) and said he was going to take his jacket off since he's been told that "the temperature rises during his lectures." does that make any sense? what? weird.

post-school, i went up to schveningen beach just to wander around and take advantage of the fact that it was sunny today (was being the operative word since i got drenched on my way home - i am the rain curse for this city. if i bring my umbrella it doesn't rain. if leave my umbrella at home, it will rain. with vengeance.). the beach was fine. it's a very sandy beach. the north sea is about as inviting as it sounds. after walking around the beach, i ducked into the pathe cinema and got in just in time to see "i now pronounce you chuck & larry." it was really a conduit for popcorn, but the movie did make me laugh. only me. this is becoming a disconcerting trend.

got back home & drenched in the rain. am now sitting on the couch, drinking tea with C, who is watching friends on dvd.

oh, this feels so nice.