Let's watch some pointless gay softcore porn with dinner, shall we?

We usually eat in front of the boob tube, which is the custom of my family. Tonight my special lady was all about desperate housewives, as usual but not always, but I suggested we watch a film. It was early, we had plenty of time. Do we have anything we haven't seen yet? Yes, indeed, the film adaptation of one of my favorite stories, The House of Usher, but Edgar Allen Poe. Since I began teaching American literature Salinger and Poe have been my clear favorites. I've been sitting on this movie for a while, because it's older (1960), and I usually can't talk the wife into watching older movies with me.

I was a little surprised when I saw the motorcycle because the story takes place in the 18th century. I was further surprised by the terrible acting, because the movie has a 7.0 rating, meaning good. I kept thinking to myself, which one of them is Vincent Price?? Man, he's so young I don't even recognize him! Soon enough I had to yell to my daughter "Don't watch!" My wife remarked, "I don't remember this from the story." That's because it wasn't in the story. She was referring to Victor and Roderick making out. What?!

Oops, I accidentally popped in House of Usher (2008) instead of House of Usher (1960).

Rote Learning?

Many lessons begin with me introducing myself as Birdie (with a bird puppet on my hand):

"Hello, my name is Birdie. What's your name?"

They tell me their names as I go around the circle, and sometimes they say the whole thing, but usually they'll just say their names, and I'll correct them:

"Jack."
"Say, 'My name is Jack.'"
"My name is Jack"
"Good."

So today this girl comes up to me (not during class) with some other rug rat with her. She says to me,

"Čia mano brolis. Jo vardas my name is Jonas. Bye bye!"
("This is my brother. His name is my name is Jonas. Bye bye!")

First Movie

I believe the first movie I saw in the theater was The Bear with my mother. I don't remember anything about the movie except that it was about a bear. It wasn't even the first movie I guessed at after putting "the bear" into IMDb. (The review of the first one, by Donald Williams, is pretty funny) It's only noteworthy because on Christmas Eve I told my daughter that Mamutė took me to my first movie, The Bear. What was it about? A bear. What did he do? Bear stuff, in the woods.

The first movie my daughter saw was A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey as 80% of the characters. In addition to the story of my first movie, I had to explain basically the whole story to her beforehand, because I didn't think she'd get it quickly enough during all the Hollywood action. Too, I had to explain that it's just a movie, and she should close her eyes if she gets scared. And that ghosts are like monsters, they're not real (luckily she didn't ask me about the holy ghost). This was especially important because it's a 3D movie--she did bury her head under my arm several times.

We both liked it very much. She liked "at the end, when the man was nice." I was a little confused seeing the actors in multiple roles; I only knew that Jim Carrey had several of them, I didn't know all the actors did. But the acting was great, I laughed out loud several times. My greatest criticism is that there was too much action at the expense of story, I think. I have to read the story now to be sure.

First Word

The four and a half month old just gargled out her first word: "Negalima." I guess she takes after her mother!

What a whiner

Dukra: atspek kokia detale paemiau
Mama: nekelk to zemelapio - iskris viskas
Dukra: nu atspek
Mama: as nezinau
Dukra: oi, viskas iskrito
Mama: as juk sakiau, kad iskris
Dukra: as dabar pykstu ant visu
Mama: kodel ant visu
Dukra: nes jus man nieko nepaaiskinot
Dukra: tada as tik ant taves pykstu
Mama: kodel? as juk sakiau, kad iskris
Dukra: bet nesakei, kad padeti ant stalo atgal reikia
Mama: as maniau turi siek tiek proto ir pati sugalvosi
Dukra: as negalvoju
Mama: isvis negalvoji?
Dukra: niekada negalvoju kai tu esi, galvoju kai taves nera
Mama: ka cia nusisneki?
Dukra: as pykstu ir pykstu ant taves, ir esu pikta ir susiraukus esu
Mama: nu ir buk
Dukra: paziurek i mano veida, kokia susiraukus
Mama: nejuokink
Dukra: tai tu man paaiskink viska ir as nebusiu tada tokia susiraukus
Mama: ka paaiskinti
Dukra: paaiskink ka man reikejo daryti, kad nenukristu tas zemelapis
Mama: reikejo ant stalo padeti
Dukra: dabar ant taves jau maziau pykstu

Quarantine?

For some reason Lithuanians call school being canceled due to an outbreak "quarantine." They told me they don't have to go to school because their school has a quarantine. I asked them if all the sick kids are being isolated in the school, but they said no. They even thought that sounded bizarre. Well, I'm not the not who said the school was being quarantined!

Apparently the deal in Lithuania is that if 40% of students are sick then schools is canceled.

In similar news the absentee rate at my daughter's kindergarten has reached 85%. Once it got up to 80% I said to the wife, screw this, let's take her out before she gets sick instead of after!

The Prisoner

Yesterday in my TOEFL class were were practicing Speaking, and the question was "What is your favorite holiday?" One kid joked that New Year's Eve was his favorite holiday because he couldn't remember most of his last one. He asked me if I remember what I did for last New Year's Eve, and I said, "Of course I do, I'm married with children!" Everyone burst out laughing. Apparently, I accidentally blurted it out in a way that made my statement sound like a lamentation: they said I sounded like a prisoner.