Learn Something New Every Day

I'm a firm believer in this philosophy. Not only that you do learn something new every day, but that you should actively try to learn new things. Maybe it's just me and my ridiculous obsession with seemingly mundane details. Or maybe it has something to do with my job, where I actually get paid to figure out how fast buffalo run (up to 34 mph) or whether the correct pronunciation of that delicious confection is 'karəməl or 'kärməl. Either way, learning new things is the bee's knees.

It is for this reason that I've decided to learn a new language. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement. I've decided to try to learn a new language.

I recently discovered that the libraries around here have a partnership with an online language-learning company. If you have an account with one of the participating libraries, you can sign up for free* and get access to language courses ranging from Arabic to Vietnamese (and tons of stuff in between).

At first, I was thinking Spanish because of its practicality. But then my eyes fell upon Pirate, and I knew what I had to do. Belay yer carousin' and haul wind smartly! Then again, it was lacking in the usefulness category, so I went back to Spanish. After completing the first two lessons, I decided to switch over to Italian. Why not, right?

Buonasera signora! Come stai?
Sto bene, grazie. 
Marco!
Polo.

I'm not exactly ready to go to Mexico or Italy or...the high seas, but maybe if I stick with it, I'll actually get somewhere. Now I just need to pick a language. I'm taking suggestions, folks!

*Do you really need to know any more? Check it.

The First Day of Summer

And probably also the last. Today, September 7th, 2011, marks the first and only day of the year where it will be warm enough to wear shorts after dark. Oh, Bay Area summer. Why must you be so fickle?

I keep trying to explain local seasons to my coworkers, none of whom are Bay Areans (have I mentioned lately how unfortunate that moniker is?), but they seem to have some sort of mental block, so I've made this handy dandy graph. Please enjoy.

 

Apologies for the rough* sketch. In a perfect world, the peaks and valleys would be more distinct. The biggest weather-related question I get is some variation of "How can it be raining right now?! It was like 95° yesterday!" It just is, okay? It. Just. Is.

Happy last day of summer, everyone!

*My editor brain is super pissed that only one of the labels on the y-axis has a period. Consistency fail. Laziness win.