I was sitting in a meeting yesterday when my mind shot off on a tangent…not that this is a new or remarkable occurrence. It’s taken ten minutes to type these two sentences because of the swirl of tangents that have passed through in that time.
So, I am sitting in a meeting, something is said, and I am suddenly transported back, two years ago to my friend’s Gary’s enclosed front porch. This is one of the most comfortable, homey places on the face of the earth. A real take-a-load-off-and-sit-a- spell kind of place. Granted, I have never been to Gary’s home without being offered a cup of coffee, so the place has that going for it too! Never underestimate the ability of coffee to raise the level of any moment. Gary, when sitting there, is just as likely to scoop up his guitar and pick a bit, as he is to work on a cup of coffee and solve the world’s problems. (For the record, they have all been solved there; there is still the issue of getting everyone else to agree, which is only a minor issue.) “Brian,” he began, “I am in the strangest place right now. People are asking me questions and they expect answers. They expect me to write out and expand on these ideas. Honestly, Brian, I have now idea how this has happened.” Gary, I should point out, has me beat by just a couple of years in the area of age and by eons in regards to wisdom. Not to mention the far more impressive string of letters that follow his name.
I found myself sitting at the end of a table yesterday being introduced as “one of the experts.” I literally looked around and then thought, “OH CRAP! She’s talking about me. How in the world did this happen?” I mean honestly, I had just shown up because someone told me there was going to be coffee. The other “expert” had brought a folder…and it had papers in it…and she kept quoting research. I was still trying to figure out where the coffee was. How can anyone be considered an expert when they can’t find a cup of coffee? I mean clearly I am no expert, but I know coffee MUST come first.
I keep finding myself in situations were people want me to write stuff and expect clear concise and intelligent answers. Clearly these people are NOT reading the stuff I put on this blog! More to my liking and comfort level, are the multiple email exchanges I have. One such exchange is with a colleague with a great knack for asking truly fascinating questions about English as a second language and bilingualism. This colleague though has the good sense to add, “now Brian, when you write this up, make it interesting; funny would be good too.” Clearly this colleague knows me far better than the coffee-withholding-name-calling colleague at the meeting yesterday.
In line with these developments, I am going to start another series called Bilingual essays. I have posted the old Tale about the Japanese writing system (Radicals and Porn) as the first item in the series to give those of you without any knowledge of Japanese some base information to help your understanding. It should also be noted that these essays will likely be based on emails and are being written for a future project, so any comments or thoughts you may have would be greatly appreciated.
Additionally, I was asked recently for a list of bilingual references. So I have added an annotated bibliography of books I have in my library. (OK, technically its a box in the back of the closet, buried under a lot of dust; at least that is where I think they are.)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy these essays. The first one is Veronica Mars loves Vanilla Ice Cream . Oh, and if someone unexpectedly calls you an expert, my recommendation is to make sure you have coffee, then smile and pretend like you know what you are doing.