Shrinking

In Fiorella's never-ending quest to sample every language she manages to encounter, your girl can now greet you in Filipino and Vietnamese, thanks to her recent visit to the dentist.  The dental assistant speaks the former and the dentist's wife, who is also a dentist, speaks the latter.

Yes, Virginia, the world truly is growing smaller.

Personal Snippets

The dentist told Fio she has small teeth, which is lucky because then they fit inside what his assistant told her is a very small mouth.  (Strange--Fio's always been told she has a big mouth. Guess appearances can be deceiving.)
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Fio got distracted yesterday and ended up driving the wrong way into a one-way street, then into another one to set everything to rights.  Thank you to all the drivers who honked warnings and even stopped dead in their tracks as she came at them.  What distracted her?  She was thinking up new threads for her current oeuvre.  Now you know why you should never ride with Fio.
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Fudge mallows and Spanish peanuts--they're a cure-all--good for the brain and for the body. Fio's energy revived, and she slept well too.
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Most writers' romances reflect a more sanguine view of life than Fiorella's do.  That's why hers are called dark.  She's realistic.

Running Late

Dental date
Running late
In a hurry
Gotta scurry
Wash up, eat,
Brush my teeth,
Hit the road
Crisis mode
Driving fast
There at last
In the door
Sit and wait
Ten minutes more.

Yes or No?

Fiorella's conversation with the agent was postponed till today; however, she did have a great time at her dentist's yesterday. Getting the old filling drilled out and a temporary crown put in place wasn't much fun, but she really enjoyed practicing her Mandarin--all six phrases of it. And she learned two new words so listen close. "Yes" is "sih," but the vowel is sorta a cross between a short "i" and a long "u." And the word is cut off at the end.

"No" is "booh-sih," which means "not yes."

Makes you think, doesn't it? Linguistically, the Chinese can always be persuaded.

Sinking Her Teeth into It

Fiorella came out of her dentist's office yesterday as high as the proverbial kite. Not only were her teeth x-rayed, bright and shiny, but she had used her meager Mandarin on the office manager, Dr. Ma's brother, and HE UNDERSTOOD HER. He also taught her how to ask where the bathroom was.

In addition, Dr. Ma taught her how to say "dog" and "my name is--."

Fio can hardly wait for the appointment when she gets her broken tooth fixed--and, more important, can practice her Chinese.

Nee Hao Mah?

Fiorella is so excited. She's going off to see her dentist bright and early this morning. This is the dentist who's taught her some Mandarin phrases, and she's planning to use them all, and, she hopes, learn more.

Oh, and get her teeth cleaned too, shyeh-shyeh.