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I’ve been a jumble of nerves, a mess of emotions, for the past few days. As a testament to the power of the mind and how it shields us from the things we don’t want to think about, it didn’t dawn on me until just this moment why I’ve felt, as cliché as this may sound, “sick to my heart”. Today is a date best forgotten… but I just can’t seem to let go, to forgive others, to forgive myself.

It’s taken me months to write in here again, even something as obscure as that. Everything has seemed too personal and too “mine” to want to share it or to even rehash it for myself by putting it into written words, but I haven’t felt this overwhelmed and flooded with thoughts that need some sort of an outlet in, perhaps, years.

I guess that makes this my re-introduction into the blogging world. Be gentle, Internet!

It has always driven me crazy how they pronounce the name of the Lamborghini Murciélago on Top Gear (mur-che-LA’-go). Everyone always tells me, “The pronunciation is different in Italian than in Spanish.” GUESS WHAT. It’s NOT. Bat is “pipistrello” in Italian – it’s not even “murciélago”. The correct pronunciation is the Spanish pronunciation… because it’s named after a 19th century Spanish bull. From the Wiki article:

In a continuation of Lamborghini’s tradition of giving its cars names from the world of bullfighting, the Murciélago was named for a fighting bull that survived 28 sword strokes in an 1879 fight against Rafael “El Lagartijo” Molina Sanchez, at the Coso de los califas bullring in Córdoba, Spain. Murciélago fought with such passion and spirit that the matador chose to spare its life, a rare honor. The bull, which came from Joaquin del Val di Navarra’s farm, was later presented as a gift to Don Antonio Miura, a noted local breeder; thus began the famed Miura line of fighting bulls, which provided the name for one of Lamborghini’s first great cars.

Murciélago is the Spanish name for the bat. The word is pronounced [murθiˈelaɣo], with a voiceless dental fricative [θ] (as in English thing), in the Castilian Spanish spoken in most of Spain. However, the Italian automaker often uses the Southern Spain and Latin American Spanish pronunciation, [mursiˈelaɣo], with an [s] sound.

Dear Jeremy Clarkson, Please stop hurting my feelings and say it right. You should be ashamed of yourself that a girl who doesn’t know a fraction of what you do about cars knows how to pronounce the name of this Lambo correctly and you, sir, do not. Don’t break my heart anymore, Jeremy. Sincerely, Me. P.S. OK, I admit it: I totally love Hamster more. But if you said “Murciélago” right, it might be a tougher call. P.P.S. I’m not even scolding James May for this crime, because he’s eternally forgiven for any wrongdoings for having filmed “On the Moon” and “At the Edge of Space”.

I always complain to George about how I hate driving.

It’s not just a random hate: for most of my adult life, I have lived in cities where public transportation was the norm and/or urban sprawl (or lack thereof?) allowed you to simply walk/bike everywhere. I’m used to that; I like it that way. The transition to the U.S. hasn’t been a simple one for many reasons, that being one of the more important ones.

Additionally, most of my adult life I never even OWNED a car… and the short time that I did own one (before now), ended in it being totaled. By a horse. I wasn’t driving. I swear.

It hasn’t helped to live in a city where the vast majority of the diurnal drivers are retirees (who shouldn’t be driving) and soccer moms talking on their cell phones (who SHOULDN’T BE DRIVING, PULL OVER AND TALK, PLEASE, I AM FINE WITH YOU TAKING YOUR LIFE INTO YOUR OWN HANDS BUT NOT MINE). After witnessing how these drivers treat pedestrians and bikers, how they are incapable of driving in rain (folks, we’re in the subtropics, it rains a LOT, learn to drive in the rain or gtfo), the lack of their ability to YIELD WHEN I HAVE PREFERENCE causing me to, more often that I’d like, slam on my horn, and watching a distracted lady use the suicide lane inappropriately and get RAMMED by a FedEx truck, I was more than ready to hang my keys and say adieu to driving.

But you can’t really do that, in suburbia, can you?

Today I rediscovered the joy of driving.

For this, I’d like to thank today’s bright, sunshine-y day, Ke$ha’s Tik Tok, Boots & Boys, and Blah Blah Blah (yes, I listen to Ke$ha, I can if I want ), and driving fast. Really fast.

I think I need a radar detector.

Huge chunks of the past year have been… well, frankly… a little boring!

I don’t mean the parts that have to do with George: I was lucky enough to marry my best friend, someone who makes me laugh so hard my sides hurt on a daily basis and who finds me equally (although he claims much more) hilarious. Life is happy. The “boring” parts have been the parts where I have had to be unemployed because before you’re a resident, you’re not legally allowed to work here, and I only got my residency in October. What is that, you say? You can file for a work permit while your visa is being processed? Yes, you can! I got mine three days, yes, THREE DAYS, before my visa was authorized. Useful!

With such an uneventful year, I expected it to remain that way… and remain that way it did until I was hired as part of a team of translators working on the files for a legal case in Mexico… hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages. Hundreds of pages to try and work through while being sick. And Thanksgiving. And my aunt Maria Luisa and Coquito coming to visit. And my mom’s upcoming (tomorrow!!!) visit, as well as the arrival of our friends Lauren and Mojdeh for the SED conference. Did I mention devotionals? And Ruhi circles? And regular chores? And work?

My mom always said, “Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.” I spent the better part of this year begging and praying to be busy and occupied and to have consistent work and visits from friends… and there you go.

So, I guess, thank You?

P.S. Who doesn’t like freebies? I am currently obsessed with Annie Little’s “Fly Me Away”. You know the girl who sings the song on the new Kindle commercial? Well, it seems Amazon is giving the mp3 away. You’ll love it. Click here.

Today was the launch of Atlantis’ STS-129 mission. I had been cleaning all morning, so I was all gross and frumpy and decided to take a quick shower before the launch. I ran out to catch the launch at the last minute, in raggedy jeans, a tshirt, hair all a mess, looking much the way I looked when I was late for school pretty much every day of high school.

It was a “flawless launch, a perfect ascent”.

While outside, I overheard the boys from across the street.

“Dude, we have a new neighbor.”

“Where?”

“That girl across the street.”

“She’s not new.”

“Then why doesn’t she go to our school?”

“I dunno. Homeschooled? Private school?”

And instead of smiling at being mistaken for a high schooler… I snorted in my head. “Girl? YOU MEAN ‘LADY’?”.

And only three months ago, I was whining about being called “ma’am” in the mall. haha

Once upon a time, I was a bookworm. Do y’all (and by “y’all” I mean those of you in my generation or nearabouts) remember when elementary schools had the Pizza Hut Book It promotion/project? You’d read a book, fill out a book report, turn it in to your teacher, and get a star for it. In my class, no one ever beat me. And by never beat me, I mean I was literally something like a hundred books ahead of the rest of the class. Reading was my favorite thing to do in the world. Probably even more than playing Barbies.

I remember turning in about five book reports one Monday morning in second grade and having Ms. Bar-witch (OK, her real name was Ms. Barwick) lift an eyebrow at me.

“You really read all these books?”

“Yep!”

“We’ll see about that.”

And she proceeded to quiz me. She finally realized there was no bluff to call when I went into the complexities of the relationships among the characters and which ones I identified with and why I liked each particular author and remembered that once you get me talking, good luck shutting me up, waved a hand at me and dismissed me. She never doubted that I’d done the reading again.

The past couple of years, my bookworming has mostly died. I would occasionally pick up a book, devour it in a day or two, and then move on to something else.

Until the advent of Twilight… which will be another post in and of itself, because I’m pretty confused as to why I like that series if I’m hating it the entire time I’m reading it. But I digress. I have read the second and third books in the series each in one six hour sitting. I had forgotten how much I loved just curling up on the couch and immersing myself in someone else’s world and getting carried away in their imagery and becoming acquainted with people I will never meet.

It may just be one of my favorite things in the world.

Thank heavens for used book stores, though, or this addiction/passion would be too painfully expensive to sustain. We went to the Melbourne Flea Market’s used book store today as well as the one in downtown Melbourne. (The guy that works there may just be my favorite bookstore/librarian ever.) My loot:

• The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
• Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
• Player Piano, by Kurt Vonnegut
• Mother Night, by Kurt Vonnegut
• Bluebeard, by Kurt Vonnegut
• Jailbird, by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut
• Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
• God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, by Kurt Vonnegut
• Solar Lottery, by Philip K. Dick
• Valis, by Philip K. Dick
• A Maze of Death, by Philip K. Dick
• Dr. Bloodmoney, by Philip K. Dick
• Radio Free Albemuth, by Philip K. Dick

See a pattern there? Heh. Our bookcases are mostly filled with other Vonnegut and Dick books, as well as a healthy collection of books by Ray Bradbury. I’m in love. However, I tried to tell myself that for every one or two fiction books I read, I’ll try to fit in a non-fiction one. Suggestions are welcome!

This post had no real point other than to share my book excitement. Aaand trying to post more frequently.

A lot has happened over the past couple of months…

First, George’s car completely died. OK, George would argue with that. It still runs, but the second you turn it on, you (and anyone within a mile radius) are completely enshrouded in a cloud of white smoke. We still have it in the garage, hoping to fix it up a bit so someone will still want to buy it for more than just scrap. But we had to get a new car. Or, two, rather.

Meet Al and Betty. George says he’s not naming his car Al, but seeing as how it’s been a month and a half and he hasn’t named it yet, I am naming them both myself. Al is a Golf GTI and Betty is a kinda pimped out Jetta. We got a pretty sweet loan with the KSCFCU, and they should be paid off in no time. We’re not the biggest fans of loans (neither of us has a credit card) but we needed wheels.

The sad part is… I can’t technically drive mine. My Mexi license is expired (renewing it in a couple weeks) and I am not allowed to get a US license until my paperwork is done. FAB. But at least now, the very SECOND my papers are through, I will be able to get a job and drive to it. But, yay! Cars!

By the way, we found both cars on eBay Motors. George’s ended up costing 2K-3K less than that turbo is actually worth just because it has a couple of interior imperfections. Mine cost the BlueBook value; however, the BB value doesn’t include all the things it has, like leather interior, sunroof, sound system with amplifier, heated seats (yes, we live in Florida, yes, I still freeze here), etc. Not too bad!

With George at work all day and me unemployed until USCIS determines I am persona grata, I spend a lot of time home alone. Being home alone contributes to prancing around nekkid after taking a shower, looking for what clothes to wear and such. This is a safe activity, as our curtains and blinds are always drawn before I take a shower…

Lately, George and I have been sleeping in one of the guest rooms. It’s darker in there and the guest beds are more to our liking than the bed in the master bedroom… so I forgot to keep the blinds closed in our master bedroom.

Today I was walking out of the closet, hair wrapped up in a towel-turban, to search for clothes in our bedroom. I was backlit — the bright, fluorescent closet light on behind me. And right as I walk out, what are the odds? Our neighbor pulls into his driveway. Said driveway has a straight view into our bedroom window.

Fabulous. I ducked out of sight, all embarrassed and ran to whine to George about it on gchat. He laughed and said, “Maybe he didn’t see you!” Yeah, I was bathed in bright lights and the window was right in front of me… but he didn’t see. hahaha

I have, however, learned my lesson: next time, wave vigorously. If the neighbor replies with a wave, he definitely saw me. If not, then I’m in the clear! (What, did you think the lesson would be to not walk around nekkid? As if!)

The Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer of NASA sent out an email containing the most rational and even-handed information on this subject that I’ve seen yet. I thought I would share a few points on it here because I am sick of people freaking out over it and locking themselves in their homes.

As the outbreak progresses, the following facts and features have become evident:

1. The outbreak continues to cause relatively mild illness for the most part in the United States, and appears to be very much like a seasonal flu outbreak with regard to severity and spread.

2.  The U.S. government has mobilized numerous resources not previously available to respond to flu outbreaks. This should limit the overall impact, compared to past experience.

3.  The Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services recommend avoiding non-essential travel to Mexico. There are no other travel related recommendations at this time. There are no recommendations to restrict or avoid public transportation, including airline travel. OK, so maybe don’t plan any vacations for there for the next month or so.

4.  The World Health Organization has characterized the outbreak based on spread, not severity. Currently, the WHO Pandemic Alert level remains at 5; however, this may change if person-to-person spread is confirmed outside of North America. Again, this does not relate to the severity of the illness caused by the epidemic.

5. NASA specific, deleted.

6.  There have been multiple deaths in Mexico related to H1N1 infection, and there have been many more hospitalizations there as well. The number of infected individuals in Mexico is unknown. As the number of hospitalizations increases worldwide, the expected number of deaths can be expected to increase, as would be seen in any outbreak of influenza.

7. Personal protective measures remain the best prevention for this illness. Strict attention to hand washing, avoiding contact with those who are ill (staying 3 to 6 feet away should be adequate), remaining home if ill, keeping your hands away from your nose and mouth, covering coughs and sneezes and disposing of contaminated tissues are all useful measures. 3 to 6 feet away is adequate, folks! Remain home IF ILL, not “remain home and become a shut in”!

If you’d like more information…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu
The World Health Organization:
http://www.who.int/en