My sister called me the other day on my cell phone.
We live near a very steep hill and cell phone reception is spotty. So, I told her I'd call her right back using my home phone because my cell phone is "fragile".
I called her back immediately and she was still laughing. "Fragile", isn't that a french usage? Hmmm, I thought, I guess she's right. I should have used a term like "unreliable". I'm not sure "fragile" would have been right in French, either. Maybe a better term would have been "faible", meaning weak.
Weak, now there's a term that defines my language skills. "Fragile" in English, "Faible" in French.
People that are truly bi-lingual don't have these problems. The word just comes out in the correct language, right verb tense, using the proper adverbs and adjectives. They don't even have to think about it.
Now, I feel like I'm losing "it" in English. I have a Kindle and I have to use the dictionary all the time to look up words in English. Here's one that neither Terry no I knew the spelling of this morning. It was in an article in the LA Times. We both thought that they'd made a spelling mistake, but we were wrong and the paper (big surprise) was correct.
archetypal |ˌärk(i)ˈtīpəl|
adjective
very typical of a certain kind of person or thing : the archetypal country doctor.
• recurrent as a symbol or motif in literature, art, or mythology : an archetypal journey representing the quest for identity.
• of, relating to, or denoting an original that has been imitated : the archetypal believer, Abraham.
• relating to or denoting Jungian archetypes.
At least we knew the meaning of the word and could use it in a sentence.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Order is Restored
I love technical things and I embrace/buy/use as many of them as I can justify.
I waited and waited for the iPHONE 5 to come out, nursing my 3+ year-old original iPHONE 3. It was on the way out for months but held on. Of course, I had to get the iPHONE 4S. I got it, I love it, I rely on it.
So, today as I was racing out the door for an appointment, I looked down at my new phone and the screen was dark except for a weird half circle in the center of the screen.
No biggie. I threw the phone in my purse, figuring that by the time the appointment was over the phone would have recovered from whatever trauma it had sustained.
Later in the afternoon, I took the phone out and the same screen was on. But, the phone was very hot. Maybe it was working overtime to try to restore harmony.
Trying not to panic, I worried that I would be phone-less, maybe for days! After a bad experience with two Amazon Kindle Fire devices, I could see the same hellish round of phone customer service tag that I'd just unsuccessfully gone through.
I found the Apple Support page on the computer but my iTUNES password was not working. So, I had to stop everything and re-set it (and try to remember it). I got through and the next screen told me that I could book a time for a phone call with an Apple tech. OK, time choices arrived. I could have an immediate phone call, which is not fast enough but I accepted it. A guy called. He cracked a couple of dumb jokes, I tapped my foot (he couldn't see it). But, in about four steps, he got the phone going again.
Order is restored.
I waited and waited for the iPHONE 5 to come out, nursing my 3+ year-old original iPHONE 3. It was on the way out for months but held on. Of course, I had to get the iPHONE 4S. I got it, I love it, I rely on it.
So, today as I was racing out the door for an appointment, I looked down at my new phone and the screen was dark except for a weird half circle in the center of the screen.
No biggie. I threw the phone in my purse, figuring that by the time the appointment was over the phone would have recovered from whatever trauma it had sustained.
Later in the afternoon, I took the phone out and the same screen was on. But, the phone was very hot. Maybe it was working overtime to try to restore harmony.
Trying not to panic, I worried that I would be phone-less, maybe for days! After a bad experience with two Amazon Kindle Fire devices, I could see the same hellish round of phone customer service tag that I'd just unsuccessfully gone through.
I found the Apple Support page on the computer but my iTUNES password was not working. So, I had to stop everything and re-set it (and try to remember it). I got through and the next screen told me that I could book a time for a phone call with an Apple tech. OK, time choices arrived. I could have an immediate phone call, which is not fast enough but I accepted it. A guy called. He cracked a couple of dumb jokes, I tapped my foot (he couldn't see it). But, in about four steps, he got the phone going again.
Order is restored.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Modern Art Hidden in Ancient Places
France's archaeological past can be seen everywhere you look. It's almost impossible to miss the crypts, Roman ruins, thousand year-old stone walls.
These treasures are stored outside St. Chapelle in Paris. No idea why they have X's on them.
Modern art is around too, but not all of it is attractive. The best part is that the modern is juxtaposed with the ancient, making our brains work a little harder to understand and appreciate it all.
My friend, Christine, found this chapel in a beautiful hidden church on rue de Sevres. The church was renovated in 2007. Everything but this chapel is ancient.
We found this modern chapel in Rouen, it is the church dedicated to Joan of Arc. It was build in 1979. It is light, angular, modern.
The iron branch holds the traditional church candles. It is beautiful.
These treasures are stored outside St. Chapelle in Paris. No idea why they have X's on them.
Modern art is around too, but not all of it is attractive. The best part is that the modern is juxtaposed with the ancient, making our brains work a little harder to understand and appreciate it all.
My friend, Christine, found this chapel in a beautiful hidden church on rue de Sevres. The church was renovated in 2007. Everything but this chapel is ancient.
We found this modern chapel in Rouen, it is the church dedicated to Joan of Arc. It was build in 1979. It is light, angular, modern.
The iron branch holds the traditional church candles. It is beautiful.
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