I Still Lost with 332 Points

I scored 123 points in Scrabble with the word "equator." That's right, folks, I am a genius. Q on the triple letter score, the whole word on a double word score, and using every single letter I had on my rack equals 123 points. I'm also a nerd.

What Can I Say?

Sometimes, you get a song stuck in your head. You sing it walking down the street. You sing it when you're alone. You even find yourself singing it when other songs are playing on the radio. A sad situation, yes, but not as sad as when you get just a line or two of a song stuck in your head. Then it's "you told me good-bye, how was I to know you didn't mean good-bye, you meant please don't let me go? I was having a high time, living the good life" all day long. Even more unfortunate, if you can stand to hear this, is when you get a word stuck in your head. Over and over the word twirls around your mind dancing with different meanings that you're not sure but think it could possibly work with. Then it settles on your tongue and you find yourself mouthing the word 3600 times an hour.
The last time I was afflicted with single word lodging was when I was doing a two-hour drive home from New Jersey. Gubernatorial somehow popped into my brain and I couldn't figure out what it meant. The more I mouthed it the more I realized how poppy and exciting it was to say. Gubernatorial stuck. Luckily, that was only a two hour affair--something I can't say about today's word.
Today's word was Schlumberger. Schlumberger Limited, the oilfield service company. You see, one Friday about a month ago, I traded some Schlumberger. That night my grandfather mentioned the company. Only, he pronounced the French owned and operated company "Schlumber-jhay," a far-cry from my American-sounding pronunciation: Schlumberger. And so all today whenever I had a free moment to think or wonder or daydream, all my brain would produce was, "Schlumberger, Schlumber-jhay, Schlumber-jhay? Schlumber-jhay...Schlumberger!" Etc.
It's been a long day.

Cafe au lait avec glace?

This past week I went to London and Paris and had a number of fun language experiences. However, the best language experience was the one waiting for me when I got home. There, sitting on the kitchen counter were some signs my brother made to welcome all of us home (he was the only one around this week).
One sign read:

Cheerio, mite

and another read:

bon sowr (boon swah)
and
madam, madam roselle (or something like that)

I love them.

And for My Thethith

I love quoting The Offive. I also love quoting real life people who I know and love. Also, sometimes but not often, I'll quote myself. I repeat--NOT OFTEN. Anyway, I was thinking about how much I like remembering certain lines that friends have said because there are times when I'll pull them out of my memory. For example, Chaya once said, "y'know--I really just don't like girls." That wasn't a very good example. Three summers ago, Doni said, "I just heard that a bunch of guys in the grade above me got married. I guess they had nothing better to do." Lucky for him, he met Miryam shortly after that line was spoken and realized that there are other reasons people get married. And at the time, I had a good quote.
The weird part is when someone will tell me something that reminds me of something a friend once said a long time ago and then I'll be too embarrassed to point out that I remember odd details, but that's okay. My point is that if I tell you you said something just believe me. I may have terrible short term memory and even worse word retrieval, but I really do remember lines and exchanges. Here are a few of my recent favorites.

"What? You're drinking coffee every time I see you!"
"But never with caffeine."
"You are out of control."
"Out of control! I am completely out of control!"

"That old lady's you."
"No, she's me."
"She's you and you."
"I meant she's me and you. You and me."

"How are you?"
"Doing well."
"What time did you get in last night?"
"12:30. Well, no I mean 1:30, I left 2:30. 12:30. I got home 1:00."
"Let's start over. How are you?"
"Not as well as I thought I was."

"Oh no! Look--there's a stain on the carpet."
"See? This is what happens when you eat in the house."

"Excuse me while I interrupt your face."

Others, like "your Life is becoming a soggy mess," are best in context. That time someone asked my mother to make him cereal and then went to watch tv. When my mother told him that the cereal was ready and he couldn't eat in the den and had to come to the table, he threw a tantrum. He had a complete and total meltdown that he couldn't eat and watch tv at the same time. After trying to rationalize with him and realizing that wouldn't work, my mother said, "just stop crying. Your Life is becoming a soggy mess." It was so amazing that I smile at how hard all three of us (my mother, the crier, and I) laughed.
Another good example of context is when I was driving with a friend and I think that at some point I put a drink down in the cup holder and accidentally hit the seat warmer thing without realizing it. Anyway, neither of us had said anything for a very long time and then out of nowhere came the, "why's my back getting hot?" Okay, that doesn't sound funny even when I put it in context. I guess for some you just had to be there.
Which reminds me of something else that was said this Shabbos. Everyone at the table was laughing over something I didn't hear.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh nothing."
"No, tell me."
"What ever, you had to be there."
"But I was there."
That too is not so funny. Actually, that sounds rather depressing.
In other news, remember QOTD?

"You see--a little bit of light and suddenly you realize everybody's not a snake." Shabbat shalom.