Crepúsculo (or I read 'Twilight' in Spanish)

DONE. I AM DONE READING "TWILIGHT" IN SPANISH.

I wasn't really trying to read it fast. It was my "bedside" read; it remained by my bed, only read a chapter at a time, when I wasn't tired, that is. I also read the English version, chapter by chapter, so that I could notice the differences.

Translating is so very subjective. If you think there is one Spanish, you are mistaken. Just like there is no one English, words in Spanish are really subjective; it's based on where the person translating it grew up. I experience this, time to time at work when translating. Some other Spanish speaker will come up with something different (making me doubt my work. I don't enjoy translating much.) This book had errors all over the place; some subjective, some plain wrong! It wasn't an easy read because sometime the translated prose was too flowery, too painful even.

Let me give you some examples:

In Chapter 1, Bella describes her jacket as a "biohazard suit" in English. Since there's no "biohazard" in Spanish, we get "one of those suits used in case of biological danger." That's a mouthful.

Remember the famous "Be safe" note she received from Edward? In Spanish, it was written as "Se Prudente." BE. PRUDENT. HORRIBLE, horrible translation of a famous phrase. Blech.

There are different ways to say you care about someone. Being Puerto Rican, we say "Te amo" for "I love you" and "Te quiero" for "I like you" or "I want you." Every single time the characters told each other they loved each other, the translation was the "I like you/I want you" translation that drove me batty! Do other Spanish speakers use "Te quiero" as "I love you?" Who, tell me, please? Really, because I grew up with "Te amo."

Sometimes, they totally changed the meaning of sentences in the translations.

Edward, when explaining his beautiful glass home to Bella states "It's the one place we never have to hide." In Spanish, the translator wrote "It's the only place we have to hide." That is so wrong. They can be themselves in their home, they're not cowering and hiding in it.

Edward, explaining to Bella what he saw in James' mind says "His plan was already set before the words were out of Laurent's mouth." In Spanish, they messed up the translation by saying "Laurent had already traced the plan in his head before saying what he said." NOT RIGHT. Laurent was not planning anything, James was.

While in English Jasper "went to checkout" of the hotel, in Spanish, Jasper "went to learn the terrain." I guess they didn't know how to translate "check-out."

Some of the translations made me laugh.

Home run? Jonron. Our "J's" sound like "h's." Say it aloud. Home-run; Jon-Ron

In English we say, "rolled our eyes," while in this translation, that's said as "put their eyes to white." Get it? Your eyes roll so much all you see are the whites?

In English, while taking Bella to the Prom, she starts crying and explains it is "Because I'm mad!!" I laughed hard as I read "Porque estoy loca!!" They translated the British term for mad (crazy) rather than the mad that means angry! Ha ha ha ha ha! she's crying because she's crazy, not angry, in the Spanish version.

In English, Edward was described as "odd man out." In Spanish, as that phrase really doesn't exist in Spanish, Edward is described as "un bicho raro." NOW, let me explain something. To some Hispanics, "Bicho" is BAD WORD. To others it means a gnat or a bug. To Puerto Ricans?? NOT so much a bug as the male genitalia!! So reading that Edward was a "rare penis" made me howl!!

Then, there were the omissions and additions, right at the end.

The paragraph describing Alice's preparing Bella for the prom was whittled down to one sentence in Spanish; Oh and Esme helped in the Spanish sentence. Did they get tired and opt to remove it?

In the same chapter dealing with the prom, there is an entire paragraph about Renee treating Bella like a mom again, demanding daily calls and e-mails, that is not in the English book at all. Where did this come from? Why the added paragraph; did they have an earlier draft of "Twilight" to translate?

Man, I am glad that I am done with this book. I will not be reading the rest of the series in Spanish. I don't think I could take any more.

Lazy Saturday

Ahhh. A weekend where we're not driving 10 hours coming back from vacation, not flying back from a different country, not shopping or cooking or baking. I need the rest.

Well, there's the garage door that won't open because the huge tension spring snapped last night, scaring the poo out of Jake and me, as it shook the second story floor of the house. Because we cannot open the double -door at all (we tried), David and I spent the better part of an hour emptying out the third-car section of the garage with its separate door, so we could maneuver the Jeep out of that door. Lots and lots and lots of maneuvering later, and the Jeep is free. We'll have to wait until Monday to get the spring repaired.

Beside that, and the laundry, oh and cooking meals, it's a lazy Saturday. ;)

Ruby Falls

The four days before flying to Panama, we went to visit my in-laws in the Georgia/Tennesee area (they're right on the border.) to meet our new niece and to celebrate some birthdays.

We took the kids to Ruby Falls; Jake's second visit since he was about 6 or 7, and Isabel's first.

Here are some of the better pictures of our over-hour-long tour.

Hermetically Sealed for Your Enjoyment

While in Panama, I ate at a place called Niko's Cafe, a popular cafeteria. I ordered a gyro and went to get my drink. After searching for a lid, I asked my co-worker where they were. He told me to just hand it to the cashier and she would take care of it." ??

She placed it in the cup holder of a machine. The machine lifted the cup and down came a ring, which had plastic that was coming off a roll. Zip, zap, done.

She handed back to me a sealed cup. Whaaaaat? I was impressed. I'm easily impressed.

In the car, my co-worker put the drink bag right on the back seat, on its side. I would surreptitiously peek into the back seat because I just knew they would leak.

Nope. The drinks arrived safely and with zero spillage. Cool.

Big Damn Wedding

I don't know who they are, but they are AWESOME with their Big Damn Wedding!

The best part? They got married by Princess Leia in front of a TARDIS!

:)

PS: for those of you who don't understand the title, it's from "Firefly."

Mal: Well, look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?
Zoë: Big damn heroes, sir.
Mal: Ain't we just?

Mmmmm So Good

MSG. Monosodium Glutamate. Mmmmm. So Good.


Seriously though, MSG is a debated ingredient. There's really no definitive evidence that MSG gives you headaches, nausea, etc., but many believe it causes all that and leads to obesity. Like I said, debated ingredient.


My son came back from GA. having spent time with his dad and also my current in-laws, and brought back with him a book that he chose from a pile that my in-laws were giving away.







Oh yeah.




This baby is 50 years old.

I perused the book, most of which is really simple, and slightly repetitive. Then, I saw this.


1/2 tsp monosodium glutamate.


Never have I seen a recipe book with this ingredient. It cracked us up to no end! I could just see the anti-MSG group freaking out. (MSG doesn't bother me, as far as I know. I'm not a headache-getting kind of person, unless I'm off my C8H10N4O2.)


Two weeks ago, mid-week, we took a trip to my in-laws, to meet our new niece and celebrate some birthdays. I cooked a fabulous Mexican feast too, I might add. While searching for spices, I found this.








Dated 1962.

Seriously.

I ran for my camera. My M-I-L didn' even realize it was there...or 48 years old either. The thing is older than me.

It was a FUH-NEE find.

Whedonverse Clue: The Victim and Whodunnit

Well, with all the goings on and traveling, I failed to wrap up the Whedonverse Clue game posts!

If you're needing a refresher, we had the Suspects, the Locations and the Weapons, with each card hand-crafted by the participant, with a hand-carved stamp image on each card.

The victim? He was our very talented demon, Sweet.

Whodunnit?

Drum Roll Please!!

It was a great game and I am the proud owner of these one-of-kind cards! Thanks once again to all the carvers who allowed me to post their works!!

Unicycle Juggling

This was probably by far the oddest/funniest thing of this Panama visit. As we were driving from an appointment, we were stopped at a red light. Suddenly, a man walks from the sidewalk with a unicycle and pins. I look at my co-worker and say "I wonder where he's going?"

There. He was going right there, at the traffic light to do his act.

I *had* to give him a buck. My co-worker rolled his eyes as he saw me reaching for my dollar. Come on though, look at him.

It's one dollar. My co-worker probably thought I was encouraging this sort of behavior. I probably was, but you have to admit, it was pretty interesting to see.

Epbot Stamp Carve

I've been following Jen's (of Cake Wrecks fame) new blog, Epbot. (If you follow CW, you might understand the title.)

Earlier she asked people to share their geeky crafts, so I sent her an e-mail showing her my rubber stamp carves a-la-Whedon. (Click the Joss Mania label and you can see some of them there.) She was very kind to reply to my e-mail and say my carvings were cool. :)

Last night, while watching "Being Human" series 1 (because they're not "seasons," they're "series" in England) I carved a little something.

My lines could be better, but I think it's cute. I am hoping to gift it to her (I promise Jen, I am not a crazy stalkery person. O.k., not stalkery.)

(UGH! I don't know why you can't click on the pictures to make them bigger! I didn't do anything different when I uploaded them. Grrr, Arrgh.)

Pictures in Panama

Hola Amigos! I was in Panama last week from Monday through Saturday for work. Nothing too exciting on the work front to report (because as you all know by now, I don't talk about work much, right? Right!) but I did get some random pictures along the way.




I just liked the look of this church from the car.




My hotel room view at night. I was lonely, missing my family. :(

Rumors of his passing might have been premature.

My Aching Feet!

Back from a trip to Panama City, Panama. Aye, my aching feet!

My wonderful family picked me up at the airport and whisked me away to the Mellow Mushroom for dinner.

I'll be back soon to post pictures. I have unpacking and laundry to do. Blah.

Buffy Soda?

Thanks Trekkie Gal for the awesome alert!

Must. Have.

Buffy Soda!

Flashers in Florida

While driving in a thunderstorm on Saturday here in Florida, we noticed SEVERAL cars with their emergency hazards (flashers) on and it made me laugh (and also call them names as I drove.)

From the Florida Highway Patrol Website: "Driving with hazard lights on is technically illegal in Florida. According to the statute, only vehicles that are disabled or lawfully stopped can have hazard lights in use."

If you're in Florida, STOP IT!! Just learn to drive in the rain, for Pete's sake. I don't know the rules in other states, but in Florida, it's a no-no.

Also, we'll make fun of you and call you an old fart, or something similar.

I love your new purse! Is it an "Aeromonas?" I love his purses!

Ladies. Ladies, please. LISTEN UP.

I was in a very busy public restroom today off a major Interstate. Only one stall was working. Isabel and I got out and let the next person in. The young 30-something mom goes in, locks the door, and then...HORROR OF HORRORS!! She puts her purse ON.THE.FLOOR!!

Why not, you say? I dunno. Aeromonas, salmonella, e-coli...should I stop?

Ladies, WHY are you putting your purse on the FLOOR OF THE PUBLIC TOILET? What are you thinking? This, ladies, is the same purse you will later plop on the restaurant table, the counter of your kitchen, on your dining room table!!! Gahhhh!

"But, if I hang it on the hook, someone might steal it?" Wah wah wah. Keep it on your arm!! "But I hover!" Then BALANCE.

For the love of all things clean, don't put it on the floor!

*shudder*

Song About You

Have you ever been described in terms of a song?

I was driving down the road and "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls came on. It made me smile.

Once-upon-a-time, a sweet man played this song off his CD. I began to explain that it was from the movie "City of Angels" and described its context in that move. The sweet man looked at me curiously and then surprised me by telling me that he didn't even know about the movie. That "Iris" made him think of me and how he felt for me.

And I'd give up forever to touch you

Cause I know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment

And all I can breathe is your life

Cause sooner or later it's over

I just don't want to miss you tonight

Alas, the timing and circumstances were wrong, but I still think of him and smile each and every time the song plays.

Another time, a group of "the gals" were going out to Pleasure Island, or Karaoke, or something like that. We were a large group; 8-10 of us. Some were closer than others. As we're all driving in someone's SUV, one of the girls, not even a close friend, more like a party pal, hears Crazy Town's "Butterfly" and says "This song always makes me think of you, Kaaren!" I said "Really, why?" and she replies "Because you're so cool. You're exotic and unique." (I was fierce back in the day, shaddup you! I was a divorced, single mom, struggling to create an identity other than "so-and-so's wife" and this made my day.)

Come my lady
Come come my lady
you're my butterfly
Sugar.baby
come my lady you're my
pretty baby I'll make your legs shake
you make me go crazy

Butterflies in her eyes and looks to kill
Time is passing I'm asking could this be real
Cause I can't sleep I can't hold still
The only thing I really know is she got sex appeal

My lifestyle's wild I was living like a wild child
Trapped on a short leash paroled the police files
So yo. what' s happening now?
I see the sun breaking down into dark clouds
and a vision of you standing out in a crowd.

These songs always make me smile.

Is there a song out there, not that describes how you feel about you, but that someone has said makes them think of you?