Thoughts on pain & death

That's quite a downer of a title, isn't it?

But these are things that are circling in my head right now: I'm at a great cafe in my neighborhood getting ready to do some writing work. The barista I remember from a few visits ago - her friend had died and she was looking to go back home to Florida for the funeral that weekend. I gave her a hug before I left and wished her well. Then today I asked how it went - as with most funerals it sounds like a cathartic experience, one she said was really spiritual and moving. That there's a connection between that group of friends that wasn't there before - it makes me think of Billie and what happened when he died in such an untimely way in 2004. There's something about losing a friend (or hearing about the loss of a friend) that makes me think about mortality in a more tangible way.

I survived my first MRI today as well - the narrow tube was like a spaceship and I kept my eyes firmly shut on the advice of a friend who'd had one before. Deep breathing served me well and now I have a crazy CD of pictures of my spine... Perhaps now the doctor types can tell me why I want to cut off my right hip because the pain gets so bad. Here's hoping.

Next post will be more entertaining, I promise.

Book humor

I just got a link to this great site that condenses a book down to a concise and often funny title. Perfect for my literary funnybone. Shakespeare's Crossdressing Helps Everyone Find Love, Flaubert's A Hipster Stalks a Woman Old Enough to Be His Mom, and The Danes Outsource the Exterminator (aka Beowulf).

Be amused. I certainly am.

Musicals! And other adventures

Went on Tuesday to see Avenue Q, one of my favorite musicals ever. English school I teach at had group tickets, so a bunch of staff went along to laugh at the antics. How can I not love a musical that starts with "What can you do with a BA in English?" and goes on from there? The jokes about the Japanese immigrant "I'm coming to this country for opportunity" are even funnier now that I've been working to prevent folks from saying that very thing.

Along with that fun, I went out for drinks with some of my current and former students on Wednesday. We had the typical cultural San Francisco experience of having issues deciding on where to go, but finally found a spot that was close and looked good. Only problem is that they brought other friends along too from current classes or what have you, so we had a group of almost 16 trying to find room in bars during happy hour downtown. Went to a couple different ones, then got a big outdoor table (though it was a little chilly). One of them shared these hilarious maps with me: The world according to San Francisco, and Europe according to the US. I like this art a whole bunch, and laughed at things like all of Russia being "Commies". I like the rest of this artist's work as well, check it out!

Worth a giggle or two; I find my stereotype jokes increasing almost daily!

English Episodes #10 - the fun continues

The classroom antics never stop!

My class did charades to practice present continuous. After doing a big round, they made up some sentences that the other team had to act out and guess the exact sentence. These included:
"I'm running in Golden Gate Park."
"We are looking for a girlfriend."
"They're talking about movies."
"I'm waiting for Obama."
"We are losing our head."
"You are fighting with a pig."
"I'm thinking about my job."
"I'm speaking in France."
"We're running the Marathon in New York."
"She's riding crazy sheep."
"They're watching a adult video." (I had to explain more what this meant afterwards...)
"I'm riding a horse."
"He's surfing on the ocean."
"You're making a sandwich in the kitchen."
"She's fighting her friends."
"He's watching the movie 'Titanic'."

Earlier one of the clues was "eating turkey." The mimer pointed to the student who is from Turkey and everyone instantly guessed. Incredible.
"Baking bread" the mimer grabs my arm and goes as if to bite it. Ummm, what? Turns out he confused biting with baking. Whoops.

My drawing is very, ummm, modern at times. This causes endless amusement. I draw a whale, they say "a flower?" I draw a parrot, they say "a penguin?"

Student: "What's the word - they are married and go on vacation?"
Me: "Honeymoon."

"In 10 years we are going to use fly car. In 50 years we are going to teleport and digital glasses. In 100 years we are going to live in Outer Space in the moon. Housekeepers and pets are robots machines."

"In 100 years we're going to communicate with external world people (alien) by new language. In 100 years we're going to read your thoughts."

"It's a very important man."
"God?"

"My facebook [name] is Handsome Guy. Brad Pitt."
[. . .]
"You're 23? Not 15?"

"Hair? I don't understand. I don't have."

Message vs massage. I explain there's quite a difference between the two...

"Long time you sit... Very big ass."

They write down the name of someone famous and then become that person for a party. It includes 2 Obamas, 2 Brad Pitts, Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé, Einstein, David Beckham, JFK, John Lennon... I stop the exercise by saying the police have shown up, so the party is shut down.