Sunday, October 4, 2009

Five Different Thoughts

1.  I did not sleep well last night.  I'd have strange dreams, then wake up for awhile.   In one of my dreams I was talking to someone about a dream I'd actually had earlier that night.  I have no idea who this person was and the whole concept of discussing a dream within a dream makes my head spin.

2.  I've never read a Sherlock Holmes story before, and I decided I'd change that.  So I found an anthology, and began reading, starting, believe it or not, with the introduction.   I'm midway thru the first novel, "A Study in Scarlet", and I have to admit, I'm baffled.   Jefferson Hope appeared out of nowhere, as the murderer.

3.  I seem to get a kick out of very poorly translated jokes - especially the one about slapping Steven Spielberg.   There are more than their fair share of those out there.  I think the reason is because humor is very difficult to translate from language to language.  I remember once when I was in Germany, finding myself quite by accident at a Christian Democrat rally in Augsburg.  I thought it was a beer tent at some sort of small fest, and went in and sat down & ordered some festchicken & a beer.  The speaker was telling a joke, in which the characters were Helmut Schmidt, and Helmut Kohl - one was a member of the Social Democrats & the other a member of the Christian Democrats (think Democrats & Republicans, except more extreme).   I could actually follow the joke right up to the punch line & the whole tent exploded.  But I didn't understand - because the punch line was probably a pun or some cultural reference I had no clue about.   I also came very close to winning a lottery drawing that night, and apparently it was a big deal, the people at the table were very excited when they saw my numbers, something I never would have bought except at their urging in the first place.   I suspect if I had won, that information may have made its way to the SGM & the battalion commander.   I'm not sure how that could have been good.

4. Yesterday as I walked the dog, it was very sunny and the mountains to the west of us towered over a low bank of clouds.  Today as I walked the dog, it was overcast, and the mountains were perfectly visible.  I'm trying to decide which I prefer.

5. I'm planning my mowing the grass end game.  If I do this right, I can probably get away with mowing it only one more time.   I have to think strategically.

3 comments:

Patti Anne said...

Elementary, my dear Watson. Obviously, Sherlock Holmes caused you to not sleep well. You were reading it just before going to sleep, and it got stuck in your brain. The grass mowing is a no-brainer. Just wait another month and it will die. The mountains are another story - they are beautiful in all aspects - I love the changes.
I forget the fifth thought. Back in a minute.

Patti Anne said...

Oh, about jokes. Well, what is an SMG? Why were you going to get in trouble if you won? Interesting!

A Valdese Blogger said...

Patti Anne: SMG is a Sergeant Major - the head NCO of the unit. A person who, much more than the commander, could make your life miserable. And it may have become an issue, because it was considered inappropriate for American Military personnel to participate in German political events; even by accident. As long as I drank my beer and ate my chicken and went home, no one cared, but as soon as got my picture in the Ausburger Zeitung (or whatever the paper was) because I won several thousand Deutsch Marks, I may have been asked about it.

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