The Linguist Can't Help It!

Fiorella, who is obsessed by languages, thought she detected a faint German accent in the speech of the hospital employee who was guiding her to Husband's new room so she tried "Sprechen sie Deutsch?" under her breath, just in care she was wrong.

"Ya!" the woman replied, but before she could rattle off a conversation Fio couldn't handle, Fiorella explained that she had had just ein semester auf Deutsch in college, but that her mother, who's own mother spoke German, had taught her a few words and phrases. 

What Fio didn't tell die gute frau was that the whole time she was trying out her meager German, the rooskii yazik in her kept trying to steal the show. Hmmm...maybe all it will take for Fiorella to revive her languages is to be forced to use them

What's on Your Mind, Fiorella?

Fiorella has been on a de-clutter binge for the last couple of years, sort of like when Monica scream-sings "Throw away, throw away!" in "The Medium." Right now, she's going through old, moldering pages from years ago--poems, drawings, short stories, newspaper clips, partially-written novels and theses, copies of tests she gave her students, and more. Any takers?
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Sheldon and Amy's wedding was the highlight of Fio's television week. It was not only cute, sweet, and funny, but it took took her mind off Trump for a thirty whole minutes.
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Fio is convinced that if you know how to say "hello" and "thank you" in ten different languages, the world is your oyster.
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Sonia Dog's main goal in life is to love and be loved, which is one of the reasons that Fio loves her so much.
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Mother would not approve of anything this outrageous, but Fiorella has moved the furniture around in the den so that it's all at a slant to the walls of the room. The rearrangement was necessitated by Husband's recliner being the only thing at a slant and driving Fiorella nuts.

What's Up with You, Fiorella?

Fiorella is working on three books at once now. The first one is that book she's been trying to finish up for more than a year, the heroine of which used to be named Phillipa but is now named Sabrina. The second one is a romance she got half-way through ten years ago and had to abandon because her agent and editor didn't like the eleven-year age difference between the hero and heroine. The third one is brand-spankin' new--a collusion with friend Patricia--and it's really exciting because it's a murder mystery starring a mature (= middle-aged) woman who teaches computer science on the college level.

Of course, in the meantime, Fiorella is handling family finances, laying down rocks and pruning cedars, keeping up friendships and relationships, learning languages, and trying to make the world a better place.  Yeah, with Fio, it's always full speed ahead. She was born that way.

Early Morning Ruminations

Fiorella's life has not been easy, and she is the better for it. She had assumed that after college she would stay home with her children and indulge herself in her art, music, writing, and languages, but family circumstances required her to seek outside employment, an experience that broadened her world and knocked some square corners off her. Those same family circumstances forced her to deal with difficult situations, which made her more sensitive and, at the same time, more confident. But still, she wishes she could have spent more time indulging.

Speaking of languages, La Doble Vida de Estela Carrillo is winding up to its conclusion. Yes, winding up, not winding down--everyone is in hot water but the villain. And speaking of writing, Fio is one-third through revision number 3 and taking notes on her next book. The music is dead in the water, but maybe she'll even get around to painting again some day.

If Fiorella sounds a little subdued, it's because of the nuclear threat hanging over the world. Trump is a total idiot--and a dangerous one.

Five Factoids

Yep, your Fio is a delicate flower. As she confessed to you yesterday, she does not fare well in hot weather. Neither, she wants you to know, does Sonia dog. Poor baby follows Fio out the door, then, five minutes later, barks to be let inside again. Mastiffs aren't designed for Texas summers.
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Three words that Fiorella wants newscasters to memorize the pronunciation of: realtor, nuclear, and athletic. They are NOT re-la-ter, nu-cyu-ler, and a-tha-letic.
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Every life hangs by a thread. Anything can happen any minute, no matter your age, your health, or how careful you are. Fate is fate.
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The way one says "Good morning" in the Nigerian dialect that Tosin at the Verizon store speaks is "e-k-a-a-r-o," which is pronounced like a rainbow. starting at a lower pitch, rising in the middle, and settling at the end. Fio would have loved to have studied a pitch language at some time in her life, but maybe there's still time after she learns Spanish, reviews her Russian, and picks up Telugu again. And then there's her Latin that she'd like to renew, and her German, Fio's study of which was cut short after ein semester. Oops, she didn't mention the French, which she passed a reading a exam on long ago, but which she never did learn how to speak.
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Surely the circus act in DC cannot continue much longer.

Overnight

7-19: Fiorella has given up on the house--it will be what it will be. But she hasn't given up on herself. Instead, she's doubled down on her own life and what is important to her--writing, languages, art, family.

7-20: Fiorella woke up bursting with joy. Maybe it was that she slept soundly, without disturbing dreams, and apparently in such good posture that she could mmediately leap to her feet without her back hurting. Maybe it was that she ate the right things yesterday (chocolate chip cookes,  hamburger, chocolate ice cream?) or that her book is moving, really moving, again. Maybe it's that the irritating webs cleared from her brain ("Gene Kelley and Fred Astaire" were her first thoughts of the morning.) Maybe it's that she had a long, rambling phone conversation with Daughter yesterday, or that she attended church with friend Sharon, then had a two-hour visit with her. Maybe it was because her telenovela is resolving or because of the Russian flavor of the stupid Colbert show. Or maybe it's an intimation of something wonderful about to happen. On the personal scene, will all Fio's personal problems be resolved? On the national scene, will Trump be trumped?

Whatever, Fiorella cannot stop grinnng. She feels cleansed, powerful, and ready for action. God's in his heaven, and all's right with the world.

Spanish Progress--Or Not

Miercoles--"Wednesday" en el espanol--Fio loves the sound of it.

And, Fiorella, how is the rest of your Spanish going, you ask? Well, lentamente (slowly), to tell the truth, although Fio has a good grip on about ten present-tense verbos now. Her vocabulary of nouns has grown too, partially because she's a faithful fan of telenovelas. (Sp speakers--does carnal, as used by John and Oscar in La Piloto, mean "sexy?")

La problema is that she has a limited number of people to practice on. Her twice-a-month maid and one-a-month yardman are happy to help, but they (and a couple of cooperative fast-food people) aren't enough. The etiquetas stuck on the muebles and listas taped on the paredes aren't enough. Fio needs to find a class.

Always Busy

When Fio was a child, she had dreams of seeing the world, just like all the TV and movies heroines, but once she got around to it--the family visited England when her kids were teenagers--she realized that she wasn't really interested in seeing the sights. Tower Bridge didn't interest her, castles bored her, the crown jewels looked crass. What she really wanted to do was drive down residential streets, check out Safeway, and connect with the everyone she saw, human to human. And if Fio ever visited a country that didn't speak English, you can bet she'd be doing her best to learn the new language while she was there.

Yep, your Fiorella is an odd duck. She's not content to look. She has to do.

Co-mingling

Bon jour, mia bella! Como esta usted sevodna? Neenu teluguloo maaTlaaDagalaru. Koennen Sie diese Sprache sprechen? Zdai chen!

Ave atque vale,
Fio, who's messing with you

Taking on All Comers

Fiorella doesn't understand.  After she and her brother left the family nest, her mother had a hard time finding ways to occupy herself and actually went through a period of depression. Fio herself has wrestled with depression from time to time, but never from lack of things to do. There are always pictures to paint, languages to learn at, stories to write, a house to whip into shape, and now, five and one-third acres to tame. Fio's often feels overwhelmed, but she's never at loose ends.

Fio, the Guinea Pig

Fiorella once had a German neighbor who said she'd learned English by watching American television so Fio has been watching Spanish-language TV each night to try to learn Spanish. Currently, she's only watching for about fifteen minutes at a time, mainly to pick up the rhythm of the language, the obvious constructions, and the phonemes, but as she progresses, she hopes to pick up word meanings in context. (Hint: the advertisements are gold mines.)

Just another of the 101 projects Fio has going on in her life.

Opportunity

Fiorella has long lamented her lack of opportunity to practice her fast-fading language skills, but today she struck oil. Bangaladesh called.

It rolled right off her tongue, the Russian she'd learned lo these many years ago.  Nothing complicated--"Speak in Russian, please;  I don't understand you; I don't speak English.  Do you speak Russian?"  But before she could start reciting Pushkin, her caller hung up.

Fio hopes she wasn't marked off the list.  She still has bits and pieces of about ten other languages to go.  Immo vero in senatum venit!

Forty-eight Hour Day Needed

Fiorella is being pulled in too many directions.  She wants to finish off her novella and edit her short stories.  She wants to work on the house and the yard.  She wants to refresh her languages.  She wants to paint again. And she wants to play the piano and write more songs.

Fio needs a clone--half a dozen of them, in fact.

Heaven, Heaven

Sunday, an appropriate day to talk about Fiorella's idea of the hereafter.

As she often said, in heaven she will sing.  And she will also draw and paint and design.  And she will move from conversation group to conversation group, deep-down learning Russian and German and French and Spanish and Teleugu and Hindi and Mandarin and every other language available.  And, of course, she will write--essays, poems, short stories, novels, plays, songs.

But she will not clean house.

Life Goal

Fiorella's life goal is to help make this world a better, kinder, more beautiful place through her own talents and skills. It's too late for her to do anything with music and her languages, but she can still influence people with her writing and art.  Tally-ho!

NYC in a Nutshell

HELLO!  Fiorella is back from durance vile, aka New York City. It was a hard trip and a hard time, but now she's home, sleeping in her own bed, and unloading her suitcase--not at the same time.

In many ways, New York is not a nice place to live.  Besides, we all know it will be under water as soon as all the icebergs melt.  However, there's one big reason Fio would have wanted to grow up in the Big Apple--because she heard more non-English being spoken there than English. Her ears perked with pleasure and curiosity to every foreign sound. The only people who in New York who spoke English were behind the hotel registration desk.

Yes, Fiorella is a language nut.  LANGUAGE NUTS RULE!

Guten Morgen. Preevyet!

The languages are leaking out of Fiorella night and day--bits and pieces of tongues she has studied through the years, but mainly das Deutsch und/ee rooskee yazeek.  And the wonderful thing is that, when she uses simple phrases, other words and phrases pop into her head.

Verstehen sie?  Pahnimahyitzee lee vwee? 

A bientot!

Rollin' Along

Fiorella's life is always on the move because she always has a project in the works--or two or three--or half a million.  Now that WHAT THE HEART WANTS is finished, finished, finished, she'll turn her attention to the house and yard, which have yet to be conquered.  And throw herself into WHERE THE HEART LEADS, which needs to be finished, finished, finished by the end of September in order to be published, published, published in January.

Along the way, there's the art Fio wants to get back to.  And the music.  And the little books she plans to have made to display her constant poetry.  And the languages. The list goes on and on and on.  Fio needs a clone.

Vielleicht . . . .

When Husband asked Fio to let the dog out, Fiorella popped back with "Einen Augenblick!"

Now, truth to tell, Fiorella had one semester (ein Semester) of German (Deutsch) years ago in college, and she can actually remember some of it when prodded, like "Ich will schnell meine Badehose holen" (I will quickly get my swim trunks.)  But einen Augenblick (just a second) hadn't been part of her vocabulary since forever.

Fio is hopeful.  Maybe that means that, as she gets older, all those languages she tried so hard to absorb in her youth will start leaking out--ja?

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.