Hey, Norway, I already said I was just kidding

http://audrey.yaresse.com/meander.html

Okay, this is somewhat unsettling: it seems the Norwegians, not being so sanguine about my last post (see below or click this link), may have tethered something of an electronic contact mine in the path of my internet surfing.

I was minding my own business, reading some on-line fiction, when I was struck by the author's odd use of the term, meander. I googled the word for images and found a site with an interesting photo of a river's convoluted path.

When I went directly to the site's current home page, I was confronted with a picture of Norwegians supposedly in spontaneous community service! What's more, I was bullied with a video taunting me with the fact that Norwegian has three more letters than the English alphabet. This was their proof that their culture is superior to our own. (WARNING: the lyrics in this video include two "F-bombs.")

Now I'm really worried. I will make this plea: if I should die unexpectedly, please be certain that my demise was due to natural causes—and not some nefarious revenge plot by the Norwegians!

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Sneaking in tongues

Image courtesy Google Earth.

Not for any useful purpose, but I've begun to study other languages by means of the "foreign" subtitles added to many of the movies and programs posted on YouTube. I've decided to start with Norwegian, as it seems slightly less complex than some other languages I've encountered. Plus, as a bonus, there are similarities to Swedish, Finnish and Danish. It's sort of like a Buy Three Get the Fourth One Free Sale. Of course, there're those odd letters, like the forward-slashed o (ø) and the haloed a (å), but I'm thinking they just threw those in to make it look hard. I'm not so easily fooled.

After the Scandinavian lingoes, I'll work my way through Northern Europe. I studied German in high school and I've a leg up on Polish, as I already know several prayers (thanks to my Mom) and a number of cuss words, thanks to misbehaving in front of my Dad).

And so, as they say in Oslo, Jeg bare tuller.

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I'm still standing

Er, well, sitting, actually. In my new big-brand-name leather recliner. My former beloved recliner was, alas, a cheapie from a discount furniture emporium and soon gave up the ghost.

I'm just checking in here to mention that I am more likely to make entries at Uncle Genie's Other Blog as my life, in general, has become more static since I gave up the travel trailer, snow-birding, and driving altogether. Not quite as much of the day-to-day worthy of mention now that I am an apartment dweller.

But the brain keeps ticking over, and that stuff's more likely to show up on one of my other blogs.

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