Blog du Wren

Comunicacion

Q:What do you call someone who can speak 3 languages?A:Trilingual
Q:What do you call someone who can speak 2 languages? A:Bilingual
Q:What do you call someone who can speak only one language? A:American

Yesterday, I was complimented on my Spanish. Granted it was only after I complimented him on his English. Still, it felt good. Practicing my Spanish was one of the main reasons I chose to come to Mexico this travel season.

While I was in Japan last year, I remember really admiring my American friends' ability to communicate with the locals in Japanese. As Americans*, we don't have the multi-lingual head start that many Europeans or others have. This ability to communicate with more than just my countrymen led me to the decision to really focus on keeping up my Spanish.

Since being here, I've had two really rewarding conversations, ones where I know that I've conveyed myself well, proving to myself that, in a pinch, I can get my point across. In one instance, I saw a guy with jugglers on this shirt. I asked him about it and we ended up talking circus talk for the remainder of the bus ride. In the other case, I conducted "small talk" with a barber who cut my hair.* *

In a few short days (maybe tomorrow even), I will cross the border into Belize and be back in an English speaking country. This last week, while I've proved to myself I retained more Spanish than I thought, but I didn't get as much practice in as I wanted. Luckily, Guatemala and returning to Mexico are on the agenda.

Sunday March 7 2010

File under: travel

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9016 Words About Chichen Itza

Since a picture is worth 1000 words, here's my wordiest blog post yet. Enjoy. (We did.)

Thursday March 4 2010

File under: travel, Mexico

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Oh Mexico


	Oh, Mexico It sounds so simple I just got to go The sun's so hot I forgot to go home Guess I'll have to go now

Tuesday March 2 2010

File under: travel, Mexico

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One Trick Pony

A couple of weeks ago, I again took the stage at Vaudevillingham. For 2010, I made a resolution that I would try my hand at performing more than I have in the past. Yeah, I know that in the past I've said that I'm not a performer, and I still stand by that, but I want to be comfortable on stage and to enjoy it. The only way to go about that is to do it. Do it, do it, do it.*.

I know the video isn't great quality. I was holding out to get some clearer pictures so you could see the awesome costume Deanna and I made. You've probably all see the trick before, though. Anyway, just like with my last Vaudevillingham performance, the whole gag was in the costume/props. I was introduced as a one trick pony, was dressed like a pony, and did one trick. Get it?

Sunday February 28 2010

File under: video

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FC 98 - It Is Not Nice To Stare

This week I am trying something new. It has been forever since I've had a guest artist for the Friday Comic series, partially because I've been having such a great time doing them. This week, as I sat down to put together the comic, a previous guest artist was around and wanted to get in on the action. My solution: we both take the same idea and each have a crack at it, working independently.

Gabriella (guest artist on previous comics such as 32, 23, and 15, among others) gets credit for the idea. Her interpretation* is on the left and mine is on the right. All in all, they didn't turn out too different, although I tend to like hers a bit more. Anyway, it was a fun exercise that we might just have to try again.

(Friday Comics is going on hiatus for a month or so as I hit the road again. Maybe I will be inclined to draw up a comic or two while basking on beaches and chasing Mayan ghosts, but I doubt it. I trust, however, that FCs will start back up again in early April, soon to be closing in on the benchmark 100th comic. Yeehaw!)

Thursday February 25 2010

File under: comic

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Bellingham to Vancouver BC Via Public Transit

I've been wanting to check out cross-border public transportation for a long time. Over the years, I've planned out the route at least a few times, never really satisfied that it was do-able*. On our recent trip up to the Olympics, Ma and I decided to give it a try. Here's what we did.

Route	From	To	Cost	Notes
WTA 70X	Downtown Bellingham Station	Blaine High School (11th St. and H Ave.)	$1.00	This express bus only runs a few times in the morning and evening. If you need a midday connection, you could use WTA 55 and transfer to WTA 331
Walk 3 miles	Blaine High School	King George Hwy and 8th Ave.	Free(!)	When crossing the border, be sure to check in. Also, much of this route doesn't offer sidewalks, so walking can be a little dicey.
Translink 375	King George Hwy and 8th Ave.	White Rock Center	$5.00 CDN (save your transfer)	Supposedly the 321 also makes this route. We just showed up at the bus stop and asked the driver what the best option was.
Translink 351	White Rock Center	Bridgeport Station		There is also an alternative to this portion. If you stay on the 375, you can transfer instead to the 501/502 and make your way in differently. Again, we just deferred to what the driver suggested.
Canada Line	Bridgeport Station	Downtown Vancouver		I like trains.

Overall, the trip took maybe 3.5 to 4 hours, which isn't bad at all considering the walk, checking in at customs, and figuring it all out as we went. We hit all our transfers perfectly, which helped shine a positive light on the experience. It isn't exactly easy and I wouldn't go recommending it to public transit newbies, but it was nice to prove that it can be done. Hopefully in the near future, that 3 mile walk will be cut down a good chunk and this trip will be as painless* as Bellingham to Seattle.

Monday February 22 2010

File under: transportation

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Minor Media Mention - AP Edition

I post this in the same thread as my "Minor Media Coverage" series (previously covered here and here). (To those who might construe posting about media coverage, no matter how minor, a bit vain or whatever, I will point out that this blog is as much a scrapbook for myself in 40 years as it is a way to keep in touch with you, my loyal readers*.)

Roaming around down by the Olympic Cauldron the other day, this fellow from the AP snapped a shot of me and got all my info, etc. I got a thought that wouldn't it be cool if the photo showed up in some random newspaper in Alabama or wherever and happened to be noticed by a long lost friend that I've lost touch with? On a whim, I googled myself today and ran across this. Who knows; maybe it isn't a big deal to get a picture of yourself posted on the AP website. But I thought it was kind of neat. So there. *

(Oh, and for posterity, here is a screenshot for when that site goes down, which I imagine won't be too far in the future, and here is the actual image.)

Saturday February 20 2010

File under: misc

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FC 97 - What Is Art

Sorry for the tardiness on this one (if anyone noticed). All that Olypmic hubbub from when I went to the Olympics kept me from comicking it up. Then I had to make the Olympics post and it wouldn't be fair to the Olympics to not let the Olympics post have a little time in the spotlight.*

A few notes about this comic (besides its lateness). I drew part of it while on the bus. It turns out that doesn't do great things for a borderline motion sick person. The rest was drawn using only the finicky touchpad on my EEE (while in a library, so I even tried to keep the clicking to a minimum for quietness's sake). My appreciation for optical mouse is renewed.

Anyway, while I wasn't convinced that the comic was going to turn out (either artistically or conceptually), the policeman's mustache made it all okay. How many times have mustaches saved the day? Answer: a lot.

Friday February 19 2010

File under: comic

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My Trip to the Olympic Games

This was the only picture I got of the GREAT Vancouver Olympics logo and it was on the not super scoreboard. Still, kind of a neat picture

Yesterday, Ma and I trekked north to Vancouver to check out the Olympics and all the surrounding hubbub. In a word, it was awesome. While the city wasn't totally overtaken with the excitement as I thought it might be, there were pockets of Olympic . Initially, the city wide general excitement was what I was all stoked for. What I walked away with as a highlight and with most pleasant memories of was the actual event: .

All I know about curling has come from last week's Simpsons episode and the spectacular* Canadian movie Men With Brooms^IMDB. Luckily, an avid curler was

sitting next to us in the stands, so we learned all about the hammer, house, ends, sheets, peeling, strategy, rules, and so much more. By the end of the 3 hour match, we felt like pros.

There isn't much to report results-wise. This was one of 9 qualifying matches, so a win or a loss doesn't mean too much by itself. The U.S.A., however, ended up losing a super close match to Switzerland.

They went into extra innings and had to bring out the measuring device 3 times (while none of the concurrent 3 games had either of those things happen). That excitement just added to the overall appreciation of the experience.

So while the were pricey* and getting up there proved interesting*, it was exactly what I hoped it would be: a once in a lifetime experience. Besides, now I can say and have the to prove it.

Thursday February 18 2010

File under: misc

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Progressively Sketchier

Granted this isn't nearly as cool as that progressive shaving video but I just wasn't feeling as inspired. Plus I was planning on leaving that right hand column style for a while. Well, I'm 5 days in and I'm digging it more and more everyday. That might, however, explain why I didn't have a date for Valentine's Day*. But for you beard/mustache nay-sayers out there, you'll be pleased to know that it will have to be gone by Wednesday when I will be heading up to the Olympic Games in Canada. Something tells me I might have any easier border crossing clean[-ish]shaven.

Monday February 15 2010

File under: beard

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