The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
In the New Yorker...
Brown Eyes:
Thanks Lee!
I've been having a Brokie nostalgia trip lately. Just tonight I un-earthed a bunch of my Brokie memorabilia from boxes. It's been fun. I don't own a copy of that New Yorker. Seems like one of the best pieces of Brokie history/ material probably.
:)
serious crayons:
The July 11/18 edition is wonderful. So far I've read a hilarious David Sedaris essay that had me cackling so loudly while sitting on the patio I thought the neighbors might wonder what's up, an interesting profile of a kind of oddball tech visionary named Jaron Lanier, and another interesting profile of Sheryl Sandberg, a top executive at Facebook, that examines the reason for the scarcity of women in the tech industry.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on July 09, 2011, 02:57:24 pm ---The July 11/18 edition is wonderful. So far I've read a hilarious David Sedaris essay that had me cackling so loudly while sitting on the patio I thought the neighbors might wonder what's up.
--- End quote ---
I read that while I was eating lunch today. Chrissi would love the section on learning German. ;D
The article reminded me very much of a James Thurber piece called "There's No Place Like Home," about learning to speak French from a phrase book. I know the Thurber piece from its inclusion in the collection called My World--And Welcome To It (anybody else remember that short-lived TV series?), but like as not the article first appeared--where else?--in The New Yorker.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on July 09, 2011, 03:42:19 pm ---I read that while I was eating lunch today. Chrissi would love the section on learning German. ;D
--- End quote ---
Yes! I thought of Chrissi when I read ... hold on, I'm going to go get the magazine so I can quote it correctly ... OK, here it is:
"The first time I went [to Germany], in 1999, I couldn't bring myself to say so much as a Guten Morgen. The sounds felt false coming out of my mouth, so instead I spent my time speaking English apologetically. Not that apologies were needed. In Paris, yes, but in Berlin people's attitude is 'Thank you for allowing me to practice my perfect English.' And I do mean perfect. 'Are you from Minnesota?' I kept asking."
Also, I know exactly what he means about feeling like foreign languages sound false coming out of one's own mouth. In order to pronounce things correctly, you have to get out of your own way and get over feeling fake about putting on someone else's accent.
Jeff Wrangler:
I finished the Sheryl Sandberg article over lunch today (then passed the magazine on to my coworker). As I was working my way through the article, I thought the part on the issue of mentoring was interesting, but by the time I finished the article I felt vaguely annoyed with myself for wasting my time on the "issues" facing this enormously fortunate and privileged woman and the others like her mentioned in the article.
I preferred the article about the bicyclists in Rwanda.
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