It’s worth a nickel

Today I got a letter from the Census Bureau. It’s really important… the envelope had messages about “official business,” and “penalties” for improper use.

It told me that I’d be getting my census form next week, and asked me to please fill it out and send it back.

Seriously? Why not just send me the form and ask me to fill it out? Why double your printing and mailing costs by reminding me to fill something out that I haven’t even received?

(Click the picture to read the whole mess of crazy, if you’re so inclined.)

My last post was the slow edition, and then my teacher picked langsam as the word of the day! How funny/ironic is that? Anyway, the last 3 days’ worth just for your reading enjoyment:

Langsam, meaning slow, slowly.

Bitte sprechen Sie langsam. Please speak slowly.

Langsam aber sicher. Slowly but surely.

Überqueren is to cross.

Sei vorsichtig, wenn du die Strasse überquerst. Be careful, when you cross the road.

Einladen is a separable verb meaning to invite.

Wir laden unseren Bruder zum Mittagessen ein. We invite our brother for lunch.

Wir haben ihn eingeladen. We have invited him.

Ich bin langsam means I am slow or sluggish. And since I have four days worth of words to share with you, I think that’s pretty accurate.

Trotzdem means in spite of, even though.

Die Lehrerin vergass das Wort des Tages, trotzdem sie viel Zeit hatte. The teacher forgot the word of the day, even though she had a lot of time.

Die Vorspeise is the appetizer.

Diese Vorspeise wird mich dick machen. This appetizer will make me fat.

Schälen means to peel.

Kann ich deine Orange schälen? May I peel your orange?

Bonus word: die Orange and die Apfelsine both mean the orange, and both are used in Germany.

Das Trinkgeld is the tip.

Er gibt dem Ober zehn Prozent Trinkgeld. He gives the waiter a ten percent tip.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a fascination with history, with historical figures of all kinds… but primarily, with US Presidents and their families. I’ve read countless books—autobiographies, biographies, trivia compilations.

I find it’s most fascinating to read about the remarkable women who lived alongside the presidents: their mothers, sisters and wives often have incredible stories to tell, and yet as a consequence of the age in which they live, their own talents and skills were put on a shelf; they were too often footnotes in history.

The story of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is one I’ve read about more than once. Her incomparable style is fascinating to me (I have the sunglasses, after all!) and I think she suffered terrible tragedies that were magnified by her public status.

So I picked up Farewell, Jackie: A Portrait of Her Final Days by Edward Klein, a New York Times bestselling author. And frankly, he didn’t impress me.

His watered-down portrayal of the last six months of Mrs. Onassis’s life was distilled into less than 200 pages, and is primarily a rework of his previous writings. (He actually has an additional ten pages of notes at the end of the book, explaining his sources, many of which are his own writing!)

Klein also has a nauseating habit of referring to himself in the third person throughout the book as “this author.”

In short: don’t bother. There are far better biographies of Mrs. Onassis.

All verbs today!

Schmecken means to taste.

Der Kuchen schmeckt mir gut. The cake tastes good.

Er hat sehr gut geschmeckt. It tasted very good.

This one is really important in my life: einschenken, meaning to pour out (drinks).

Die Kellnerin schenkt das Bier ein. The waitress pours the beer (into the glass).

And finally, Glück haben, meaning to be lucky.

Ich hatte gestern Glück, ich gewann eine Million Euro. I was lucky yesterday, I won a million euros.