Back in der Borough...!

I think I may be recovered from jet lag and slep dep. I'm not sure. I'm not sure because I've spent the past few days in a delirious funk because of this freaking humidity which would be charming if I were chopping a machete through jungle trails in Costa Rica but...I'm trying to get back and get some work done and sitting in front of the computer is just HELL!

I'm trying to imagine that strawberry and watermelon flavored sno-cone I got at the Arts Fest for a dollar, just freezing in my hand.

OK, there, got that venting out. There are stlll some people I haven't seen/called yet and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone sooner than later--honestly, though, I've just been adjusting back here and actually almost got a book review sent out to some critical buddies (you'll know who you are when you get the text in your in box...) -BUT THEN-

NO-HO-HO...no you di-hint! I got my Mac OS "Tiger' disc today and upon initial first unsucessful installation on the iMac and hours on the phone w/tech support, I've spent most of this day (a) backing up EVERYTHING which has taken until now, around 10: 30 pm--I have tons of photos and even more music, don't want to lose it but I have this feeling I screwed something up along the way; then I (b) I partitioned the hard drive, put it together again, and (c) am now working on just getting basic things set up like my email.

Way to NOT get done what I wanted to...but as it turns out there was some super major problem with my hard drive. Now, see I thought I'd taken care of that during my 'erase and install', an episode which conveniently reared its head when papers were due at the end of last semester. But again, nunh-uh! Apparently it was a matter of time before things really Melted Down. I refer to the analogy-slash-I.R.E. sequence (Initiate, Reply, Evaluate) question my techie delivered to me to conceptualize the damage: "if you have scratched record and you break it, is it still scratched?" (Me: 'um, yeah?').

I guess my 'erase and install' hadn't purged the metaphorical scratches. On a side note, I find the above exchange illustratory of how the I.R.E. sequence, while arguably a marker that discourse is indeed continuing, was perceived in this case by the techie's interlocutor (me) as simply, well, annoying. Perlocution and illocution and all that.

SO, yes, Macs do fail from time to time. There, I said it! But when they meltdown, at least fixing does not involve sending your damn computer away for days. And let me tell you that you should get OS Tiger if you haven't because thankfully I had no probs putting it on my iBook and have been enjoying it as a way to NOT throw my backup discs out the darn window in frustration. The German-English online dictionary 'LEO' has its own widget! This is throwing my AILA presentation ideas off kilter! But this may unite me with Mac geeks forever!

So, yes, summer days, humid, ugh. I woke up at 6 am to the sound of my cell phone, or, as I thought at that time of morning "what in 'thee' hell freak alarm clock is THAT in my living room?".

A mere moment later, and this was likely only because the sun was shining and the air was fresh and not yet nast, as I like to say, I snapped out of slumber thinking, wait, a call at this hour, SURELY not anyone in THIS time zone who KNOWS me...

...it must be from ABROAD!

And then I thought, I wonder if it' s the person I've been trying to get a hold of for a few days? Long story short, and I know this is RIVETING for you, faithful reader, it was a dear friend of mine in Austria listed as a 'missed call'--so I thought, ok, she's up, I'm almost up, hm, coffee would be nice. So I reached her on her "Handy" and chatted for a bit and shared that yes, I'd be arriving in Wien on August 4th and, what's that? My arrival time? Oh, you guys will be home and...oh, I'd love to. And then another friend of mine is all, we're road trippin to Tyrolia while you're here, join us and we'll plan stuff around what you want to see. And then in Bratislava it's all, what, you're not doing the language program, what could be more important? Traitor! (pragmatic competence translation, Slovak to English, free of charge for loyal blog readers: = 'we will miss you'). And another friend is like yeah you can stay at our house, not a prob and then this OTHER friend's like I'll just make the three hour drive to meet you in Prague for a day. How do I garner such most fantastic friends?

By the way, yes, this year's newbie entry to the A-List of Places I Visit Over There (Austria, Slovakia, maybe Hungary if we're hungry, hehe) is the Czech Republic. But you know, would it be so wrong to shorted that long name to "Cesko" (rhymes with Tesco, which reminds me of the UK, which reminds me of London which reminds me of how supremely upset I've been about these goddamn bombings and Bush's pansy-ass reaction of the same old wank..ok more on that another time, before I think about how much god I cannot stand him).

But no, I'm not excited or anything.

The visit will be short but honestly I'm also looking forward to then getting back again and NOT having coursework (thank you, cheeses!) and focus (I'm trying this word on for size, it's a rough fit at times) on papers and teaching and trying to have a (social) life. So, until then, barring any computer 'issues' or bouts of sleeplessness from the Most Interesting Humidity, I'm trying to keep on truckin' before heading to Madison for the AILA conference next week. Awwww yeah!

If I haven't seen you in S.C. yet I hope to see you very soon! I feel a bit deviant by not going to anything in the Summer Institute. But then again, something's gotta give. If I don't see you in person, I'm in my apt., sweating (charmed, I'm sure) albeit to my rigged up fan positionings for maximum cross breeze potential. Now, what hottie single engineer guy wouldn't love that? Call me!

Lastly, and I leave you with this because I am such a complainer, I very much dislike A/C--I went into a store today that was like minus 87 degrees freezing. Now there's a way to screw up your organism...ok it's cooler but good lord, moderation, people; but if anyone has invented a sort of "air conditioning blaster" for short spurts only just to cool things down, I'll buy stock when you go public.

That's 'organism', get your mind out of the gutter.

And oh my gosh if you haven't gotten totally delighted by the new Oompa Loompa dances and original songs, catch the fever. stat. I'm still floored that 'Ginaopolis' never read the BOOK and that one actor played all the Oopma Loompas. Day-yum!

Tootles!