I sit here in hell... I've decided hell is nothing more then a really big bus tour... Hello, my name is Van, I'll be your tour guide on this trip. Up front is Hal, he will be your partially insane bus driver. In the back of the bus is Levi at the bar, please be sure to leave the boy a tip. I must remind you of a few rules of this trip; please keep your hands and feet inside the bus at all times, do not feed the animals, and remember in case of an emergency don't worry your already in hell how much worse can it get?

There are two kittens outside of my bedroom door right now making a big rukus, like kittens do. They are wrestling and tumbling up and down the hallway. When I got home tonight from my dad's house they were sleeping and my presence woke them up. Kittens are funny when they first wake up. They stumble around bleary eyed and confused for a while, like they could use a strong cup of coffee. John got these kittens knowing that I am taking mine with me to Texas and he would miss coming home in the middle of the night to the comradarie of feline noctournal energy. I don't know what he's going to do with his kittens since he's being evicted from the house as soon as I sign off the lease. Hopefully not make baskets out of them. My dad warned me tonight to be careful when I move to Texas. To be smart and alert. He said I am young and pretty and naive and that things are different there, people are different. He knows me and is worried about me. And he used to live in Ft. Worth for a couple years. His warnings were vague. He said there is more crime per capita in Texas than in any other state. There's more of everything over there, he said. It's not as safe as I've become accustomed to in Hawaii. He said people go missing. He said not to always rely on just my instincts, but to be objective and discerning. He told me to watch out for cowboys. It was all a bit ominous. I am not scared, and maybe he's being an overprotective father, but I think I know what he means. I think somewhere in there is some good advice. I do have a tendency to be trusting, to go with the wind, to be somewhat of a loose canon. In Texas, I have no friends and no family. Not yet, at least. And except for Kevin, there's nobody to look after me. I've never felt like I needed someone to look after me before, but suddenly it seems strange that I'm moving somewhere so foreign, almost on a whim. Though I came to Hawaii all alone and didn't know a soul. I came here for much less of a reason than love. For no reason at all really. But I was smarter then, wiser, more street smart than I am now. Hawaii is protective and sheltering; it has softened me up. You can talk to strangers. You can't get lost. Life is gentle and folks look out for each other. There's very little violent crime, there's very little to worry about. Hawaii allows you a safe place where you can let your guard down.

do watch out for the cowboys.

the apparent fear and loathing the rest of the world has for the place i call home makes in so much more enjoyable to live in. don't worry about austin, though: it's like seattle now...there ain't a real man fer miles around. (*snork* spit scratch.)

gibby haynes is a real man.

Damn straight.

good ol' gibby. i think i've told you people that i once lived in an apartment underneath jeff coffey. he was a crazy motherfucker.

But for the fear of a definite lashing, I would ask who Gibby Haynes is. As it is, I will just pretend that I know _exactly_ who you're talking about and agree, Gibby was the man! =)

SMITE

Must wait till I get home to check that link out, I can tell

No, silly, it's a band. It might trigger a "tasteless" filter, but that won't get you into too much trouble, will it?

Hopefully not..... Butthole surfers might upset someone, but this is the new military

I was told when I started here, and I quote, follow closely: "You are not restricted from any site. It is not illegal to surf porn sites, but you are not allowed to surf any site you would not show your children. Nascar.com is considered the same as porn sites. Our primary concern is bandwith" OK... But, if I am not allowed to surf any site I would not show my 7 year old daughter, then I am limited to nick jr, olsen twins, and disney.com, which I do not allow myself to surf. Hell, I do not even let her surf sesame street because they are too busy trying to teach kids to speak spanish when she can't even speak english correctly yet.

Not to mention i HATE elmo, almost as bad as that friggin barney

My sister (28 years old) LOVES Elmo. Makes Christmas/Birthdays easy. They've got all kinds of Elmo shit out there. Alarm clocks, socks, book bags, plates/cups/utensils, talking dools. I bought a silver necklace with an Elmo charm off of ebay for $10, that and a few other assorted Elmo items should do for her birthday. "speak spanish when she can't even speak english correctly yet." Nothing wrong with that, she'll eventually sort out English & Spanish. Teach 'em a second language as young as possible.

Uh, no. We speak english. Native tounge first. Do we go to Mexico and teach english before spanish? or france and teach english before french? I think not. Americans really need to take more pride in themselves.

stir stir stir

kids can learn to speak a few languages at once and speak them all very well they learn much faster than adults we waste some of our most brilliant time looking at vacancies like the olsen twins

true, true, and true

trace are you one of those people who would say something dumbass like... "don't come to america if you can't speak english" when the waiter at the mexican resturant has to repeat himself or doesnt understand you right away?

No, I am one of those people who would say something dumbass like "Learn the language of the land you live in".....

c'mon guys, not only is this AMERCA but this is also sorabji. trace has every right to be a dumbass. i'm going to teach my kids as many languages as possible as early as possible.

The language of the land you live in is subject to change. Ask any Native American. Besides, It was Spanish in your region before it was English. Soon, it WILL be spanish for you again, senor spunk. Do your kids a favor and have them in language classes now, don't wait til high school. They'll do better in school and life if they have a second language. Speaking of languages, did you know that in Cymru, if you don't speak Welsh, you have less of a chance for the best jobs? It's true.

dont forget to teach them to use the potty, say please and thank you, abc's and 123's, getting dressed, tying their shoes, brush their teeth, drink from a cup, not to drool, chew with their mouth closed, dont talk with food in their mouth, shut up when someone's talking.....etc etc etc Personally, I think we need to be concetrating more on Math and Science, and less time on being "A member of the global society". Because, quite frankly, our educational system sucks. While I recognize and agree that knowing more then one language and respecting other cultures is a huge necessity in the adult world, we need to deal with responsibility and manners and basic education as a child, and stop cramming PC Shit down their throat. oh, and I am not a dumb ass, thank you

speaking of languages, maruchan instant lunch is better when you don't add as much hot water as it says to. CAUTION: HOT! handle with care especially when serving children. this is because children have a delicate flavor that can be easily harmed by a clumsy integration with instant lunch.

my middle name is welsh your children will learn by what you are. respecting language and culture is NOT pc shit. that is a dumbass thing to say. in kindergarten i used to draw with both hands. my teacher took the pencil out of my left hand and told me i had to use my right hand. i always believed what adults told me. adults are often complete dumbasses. i type too slow to say what i really want to say.

My name is Welsh, too. If I have a son, I'm naming him Arawn Death-lord. I spoke Italian before I spoke English. I have a lot of trouble speaking English, but that's because I think in blocks, not lines. I also speak half-Italian, half-English with my roommate, and sometimes I speak that way at work by accident. In Italian, accident is "incidente." "Accidente" is a curse word. Accidenti al diavolo!

Do you realize how often english and american culture is bashed? and that bashing is praised? Even here is america it is praised. that is a dumb ass thing.

Il diavolo è un incidente

Ragno, Erano i vostri genitori italiani del nativo?

english, you mean british? my friends from europe love america. they don't feel the same about most americans. there is so much to bash. jesus. they get 'springer' too. the only time i got close to knowing what it was like to speak other languages involved immersion. i was completely lost in language class, it made no sense to me. our favorite part in the italian/english phrase book we read in rome last summer was, 'can you help me? i have a puncture'

teaching your children spanish is a foot up in the world. it's not bashing american culture. there is a serial docu on NPR right now that chronicles a trip from st. petersberg to moscow (those are in russia, spunky.) in particular, the journalist was talking about an russian orthodox school run by a west-hating priest. even though he hates western influence, he teaches his children english. because it is best for the children, who will need to operate in the world. teaching your children spanish will help them operate in your world.

Anglo-Saxon

my middle name is welsh, too. i think i read somewhere that it's good for your brain to be bilingual when you're young. sort of in the same way it's good for you to be able to play a musical instrument. the wife of a friend of mine came moved to texas from mexico city when she was just before she started 3rd grade. she didn't speak any english. i asked her if it it was hard to lean english. she said it was really easy at that age and she was speaking as well as the other kids in no time. her husband is trying to learn spanish, and he really loves trying to speak it, but he's hopelessy bad. his father-in-law politely requested he "not speak my language while in my house." for aesthetic reasons. spider speaks better english than i do.

Now, if you took springer to be an example of typical americans, then the world would be a far, far better place with out America. Sometimes, I wonder if it wouldn't be anyway

L' italiano è molto più romantici allora francesi

Tu sai l'italiano, allora, Trace? Mio papà è della regione di Friuli, a vicino a Venezia. Abitava lì per i primi 16 anni della sua vita. Mia mamma è americana, ma il suo padre è siciliano.

Ah, la mia grammatica è solo un pocchino piú buono della tua. Mi dispiace.

grazie Ho scommesso che gli argomenti buoni....

Ragna, Avete un temperamento caldo? O è che appena un mito?

mi dispiace that reminds me of our super hero 'caccia e pepe' [not that i remember how to spell it]

trace teaching your child spanish is just as important as teching them math and science. I feel like an idiot not knowing spanish and living in this town. jsut think trace....a lot of the hispanics in and around this town you might say "should learn the language of the land" probably know more english than you spanish...so in that regards, they know more languages than you, so dont knock em for that. not teaching your child spanish at an early age would be a real ignorant thing to do...as the current census shows, hispanics are taking a greater role and influence in american life. In fact, Spanish, Mandrin and English are the top 3 spoken languages in the world if i am not mistaken. Teach them mandrin too trace...it might insure your ass is in a lazy boy in posh home when your 80 rather than a decrepid folding chaise lounge in a retirement home when i was immersed in france i learned french rapidly. I think thats a keen way to learn. when nico and i romanticize having a child, we speak of teching him or her french very early on. of course english too. We also talkign about having a cute palefaced girl named Eva Jude. Im thinking things are happening to bodies.

Ragno dolce, perchè state dicendoli siete spiacenti? Nice points Patrick

Perchè mi sento spiacevole oggi. Sono arrabbiata e nervosa e annoiata...ARGH!

Sono spiacente voi tatto che modo. Tutti abbiamo giorni come quello.

Avete avuti vostra riunione con la vostra sporgenza ancora?

No! E' ancora nel ufficio suo, e non posso parlare con lui. So che lui lavora diligentamente, ma [still]....lui [could have] detto qualcosa, sai? Come stai, tu?

Ragno della regina, gradisco quello Desidero andare a casa ed ho milione cose da fare. Ma sto trovando questa conversazione con voi divertente. Altrimenti, giusto. Grazie per chiedere.

Regina dei ragni, Lasciarlo provare ancora quello... Le mie parole non stanno avendo il significato. Desidero andare a casa, ma ho milione cose da fare. Ma gradisco comunicare con voi, voi sto rendendo il giorno migliore. Grazie per chiedere.

Jesus Trace, teach your kids Italian. Looks like you know it fairly well. What the fuck's the big deal? Their pride in their themselves as Americans certainly won't go downhill for doing so, and anyways, it's not about pride. It's about shaking some of this arrogance that we're the only country (that matters) in this world, and that the rest of what goes on in the world is only an afterthought to us.

ed il vostro superiore potrebbe essere poco un più considerate

I learned italian from one of my former bosses. He was a head chef, and I was studying under him. We got along just fine, til he died of aids.....

And, as I am sure Spider can attest, it is a little rusty

Traccia, il tuo italiano e' cosi' buono. Dove l'hai imparato? E perche'? Per il tuo lavoro?

Oops, that's what I get for waiting so long to hit post.

Ho imparato che perché ho pensato esso era un linguaggio romantico. Non è venuto in pratico per il mio lavoro ancora.

Ragno della regina, li ho annoiati?

No...I'm having a "should I stay or should I go?" moment, e devo pensare un po'. Non so come dire la prima parte in italiano.

Oh, I see. OK. :-)

The first Sewell to hit the American shores was Welsh, although the name is Anglo-Saxon in origin. Another tidbit: Did you know taht the Welsh are not genetically Celtic, only linguistically? The Welsh are closer to the Basques than they are to the Gaels and the (culturally extinct) European Celts. Therefore, the Welsh and related groups such as the Cornish and Manxmen descend from the Neolithic, pre-Celtic inhabitants of the British Isles. Another one: Currently there is a movement in Cornwall to revive the Cornish language, which is closely related to Welsh.

semi il lama li ringrazia per la lezione di storia Semillama, thank you for the history lesson

Semillama, grazie per la lezione di storia

Ich bin ein Brunnen von trivia.