Hoy comí enchiladas suizas de pollo con arroz y frijoles. También me sirvieron ensalada con aguacate y crema. Tomé agua de horchata. Fui con mi hijo al restaurante El Gallo Tapatío que se localiza en 5039 W. 111th Street, Alsip, Illinois. Sirven comida sabrosísima. Como allí muy a menudo y casi siempre me toca la misma mesera. Ya me conoce muy bien y sabe que me gusta la horchata sin hielo. Te digo todo esto como si te importara. Mi hijo se sorprendió cuando saqué la cámara y saqué fotos de la comida. “¿Por qué sacas fotos de la comida?” me preguntó. “Pues, porque sí. Necesito fotos de comida para mi página web. Ya te he dicho.” Pero mi hijo no entiende. Claro que parece un poco extrañó que saqué fotos de la comida. Hay los que rezan antes de comer, pero ¡yo saco fotos de la comida! Mira las enchiladas. ¿No se te antojan?
Do you have any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?
As I once learned from a great philosopher, I should begin telling a story at the beginning and then stop when I reach the end. And so, I will. I will try, that is.
I have always loved Lewis Carroll. I have read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass a couple times as an adult since there are so many allusions to his work in our culture. As a boy, I was only familiar with the works as cartoons, so they were interesting reads when I grew up. Now, I have a strong urge to reread them when I have time.
So, I went to see Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. I have seen most of his films. Not that I’m crazy about Tim Burton, but I love Johnny Depp movies. So, I went to see Johnny Depp’s Alice in Wonderland. If Johnny Depp is in a movie, I will go out of my way to see it. Oh, yes, I’m also a huge fan of Helena Bonham Carter. When Sweeney Todd came out, I was ecstatic that the movie starred both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.
No one wanted to see it with me. Not one person I knew was interested in seeing Sweeney Todd. In fact, few people had ever even heard of Sweeney Todd in any of its previous manifestations. I’ve learned from personal experience a long time ago that if I want to see a movie, I should just see it even if it means going to the show alone.
There are so many movies that I regret missing simply because I was afraid to go to the show alone. So, for the last twenty years or so, I have been going to see movies I really want to see alone. I went to see Sweeney Todd alone. I went to see a noon show on Tuesday. If you think I felt uncomfortable, you’re sadly mistaken. Yes, I went by myself, but there were about sixteen other people in the theater. I felt right at home with them! You see, they were all alone, too! We were spread all about the theater by ourselves, all alone. United by our individuality. We all had something in common. None of us could find someone to see Sweeney Todd with us. We were together, yet alone. Life is funny that way!
Oh, yes, I was writing about Alice in Wonderland. Of course, Johnny Depp and Helena were brillig–I mean brilliant! I went to see it with my oldest son. Occasionally, he will go to the show with me. Don’t ask my son how the movie was because he fell asleep. He was in his own wonderland. We went to see the movie in 3-D, as the movie was intended to be seen by Lewis Carroll. I kept lifting my 3-D glasses to see how 3-D worked. Or, to make sure it really was 3-D and not some sort of scam to charge us extra hard-earned money to see a faux 3-D movie. Well, I’m fairly sure it was 3-D because whenever I raised my 3-D glasses the picture on the screen looked blurry.
Johnny Depp played the Mad Hatter, and if you ask me, I will vouch for him that he truly was mad. But isn’t Johnny Depp a little mad in all his movies? In fact, for the last battle scene, I could swear that he resembled Jack Sparrow ever so slightly when he fought. Oops, I better not ruin the movie for you!
Okay, I think I’ve written enough. I’ve reached the end.
One thing I love about teaching Spanish at UIC is the food! Students will use any excuse to bring food to the classroom. Spanish students learned to bring food in high school, and they keep right on bringing it in college. I love it! If I could, I would design a Spanish course dedicated solely to comida de la cocina hispana.
My Spanish 104 class had to do oral presentations last week and some students found a way to prepare a dish that would highlight their proyectos. Of course, I never complain! I usually teach in the morning and most students are very hungry when they come to class. Okay, I’m hungry, too. So, the food is always a very welcome visual aid for the student presenting. I’m looking forward to the next set of proyectos!
I love sticking it to the man. I mean, who doesn’t? It’s an American pastime. We all stick it the man whenever possible.
So who is the man? Well, if you want me to tell who the man is, I will be honest and say I don’t know who the man is. You asked the wrong person. But I have my theories. I can’t describe the man to you because he has never formally introduced himself to me. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that the man is behind all those rules and regulations that we must obey every day. And to top it all off, the man may be either male or female. Yes, the man is a cross dresser. If you look around, you will observe that the man is all around us. In fact, sometimes I feel as if the man has gotten inside of me. To counter the man, I have formulated my own rules and regulations for sticking it to the man. How do I stick it to The Man? Let me count the ways!
First, always call the man, the man. In lowercase letters. You must diss him in every way possible and that begins by not dignifying the man by using uppercase letters to write the man! Don’t even put the man in quotes! My only lament is that our only options for writing are only uppercase and lowercase fonts. I’ve been working on new font to write the man. I call it the undercase font. Or, perhaps I should call it the negativecase font. But I’m afraid such a font would be invisible to my readers, and no one would know to whom I was sticking it. Another interesting possibility would be the man, with the strike-through font. Nah, that just not good enough for sticking it to the man! I think I’ll just stick to sticking it to the man.
The second thing, never tell the man that you are sticking it the man. Sometimes, the man doesn’t even know that he’s the man! If he denies that he’s the man, well, then that certainly means he’s the man. You just can’t take any chances. Just assume anyone who wants to order you around is the man.
So I stick it to the man whenever possible. When I cross the street, I don’t walk completely within the crosswalk lines, obviously put there by the man. I always get at least three footsteps outside the crosswalk zone, even if it’s only measurable in millimeters. You know how they taught you in driver’s ed that all forward motion must cease. Well, I never come to a complete stop at stop signs. I only appear to stop, but my car keeps creeping forward. I get free smells at all restaurants–not just Jimmy John’s. I bite the hand that feeds me, especially if it belongs to the man. I would like to tell you more ways that I stick it to the man, but I don’t want the man to know all my strategies and ploys. That’s my way of sticking it to the man!
When translating “you” into Spanish, be careful! “You” is the second person singular subject pronoun. Quick! What is the plural of you? I hope you didn’t say “y’all” or “you guys”! In English, the plural of “you” is “you!” I occasionally have this argument with students who don’t seem to believe me because I’m a Spanish speaker. But it’s true. The second person plural subject pronoun in English is “you.”
Often my students will insist that the plural of “you” is “y’all” or “you guys.” Or, get ready for this, the even more emphatic “all y’all” or “youse guys.”* So how do I convince my students that the plural of you is you? I quote President John F. Kennedy: “And so my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.” “See!” I tell my students. “He addressed himself to ‘my fellow Americans’ and then he spoke to them calling them ‘you’!” They usually stop disagreeing at this point, but I’m convinced that I haven’t fully convinced them. I think they resent being corrected by a native Spanish speaker.
But back to the Spanish lesson about translating “you” into Spanish. Since you is both singular and plural–And for you students of Spanish, oh, yes! It’s also formal and familiar! –you can translate “you” into Spanish as: tú, vos, usted, vosotros, vosotras, ustedes. Remember that tú, vos, vosotros, and vosotras are always familiar. Do not use them to talk to someone you just met or don’t know very well. Use usted and ustedes for more formal situations ¡Ojo! In Latin América, ustedes is used as the familiar second person plural subject pronoun instead of vosotros and vosotras.
So there you have it. I’m addressing myself to all of my readers. And by that I mean all three of you!
DDR
* I won’t even mention that the plural of “you” is “yin” in the state of Virginia!
Chicago USA 