What am I good at, part deux

C’est comme ça
Ah, la la la la

–Rita Mitsouko/C’est Comme Ça

 

I was driving to work the other day, singing along to a French pop song and then an Italian pop song, and then a Turkish pop song and something occurred to me that was related to something I wrote recently about what I’m good at.

It occurred to me that I am quite good at learning new languages.
It’s probably my biggest talent and it did not even occur to me to mention it when I was writing about things I am good at.

What does it say about me that I can just forget one of the things I am best at?  I would like  to think that it means that I’m modest. Except that would be  false. I’m not particularly modest.

I am so good at languages that I can even sing along to a Turkish pop song when I don’t speak Turkish except to say “I love you.”**

It didn’t occur to me that I had an aptitude for languages until college, although I went through 4 years of Spanish in my last year of High School which should probably have been a  pretty big clue. I didn’t think it  was unusual, in spite of the fact that no one else was doing it. I just thought Spanish was easy for me because I already spoke French.

Maybe I am a little modest.

In college I added in Italian, and started to figure out that not everyone else was doing as well as I was. However, I also thought I was extra motivated because the instructor was very…Northern Italian. I like that in a man. No, that’s not why I got good grades.  Not entirely why.

 

 

My point?

Oh, I don’t have one. I just wanted to let you know that I remembered that I forgot something.

 

I’ll try to have some sort of point in my next post.

 

 

**Why I know how to say “I love you” in Turkish is  a kind of  long story involving my Columbian roommate having a massive crush on a guy from Izmir, a party thrown by a bunch of guys from Venezuela and a really gorgeous guy from Ankara who I fell for hard at said party. I think it’s the only time I’ve ever worn a jumpsuit and actually looked good. It’s completely irrelevant to this post. Both the jumpsuit and the story about the Turks and Venezuelans are. Irrelevant. Oh. Well. It’s here now. I guess it can stay.

The jumpsuit was shimmery copper-colored silk, and my beautiful Columbian friend made me borrow it from her because it would drive the men loco.  It kind of did.

What?

Right. Still irrelevant.

 

Stopping now!

 

His name was Ömer.

He seemed pretty relevant at the time.

 

Overheard at work

I am fairly certain that I actually overheard this correctly based on the roar of laughter that followed:
“I’m pretty sure coffee is good for your testicles.”

I don’t have any science to back that up, but it is probably true. I am hesitant to Google “coffee and testicles” from the wi-fi at work for obvious reasons.

(Although honestly it is tempting because of how hysterical it would be to sit through that meeting with HR and my manager.)

I guess I will have to resort to logic instead:

Coffee is clearly the elixer of life, and testicles are full of pre-life…so, logically…yes. Coffee is good for testicles.

Please consult your healthcare practitioner for additional clarification.

Shut up. That was too logic.

And then unexpectedly…BAM

And I was waiting over here for life to begin,
I was looking for the new thing,
And you were the sunshine heading my front-line,
I was alone, you were just around the corner from me.

–Pete Yorn/Life On A Chain
Have you ever just been walking around in your life, minding your own business and had something happened that completely exploded your …everything…all of a sudden?
Maybe someone walked into a classroom, stood behind you and metaphysical lightning struck you both. Maybe you were at the library and someone dragged you to an office to fill out paperwork to go and live in another country. Maybe you nagged your husband to stop whining about his sore throat and see a doctor, and  the CT showed something very bad indeed. Maybe you were driving to a class after work and someone ran a red light right into your car. Maybe you were making popcorn and set your arm on fire. Maybe you were at an appointment to discuss your infertility and the doctor asked you if you were interested adopting a baby about to be born.
Bam! Sometimes life runs right into you.
Life doesn’t like you to get to used to how things are.
Life enjoys surprises.
Sometimes the surprises are horrific. Sometimes they are more  wonderful than you would ever have believed.
It’s the stuff you aren’t expecting that overturns everything in your life. It’s the stuff that leads to the biggest changes, the most growth.  Even the bad things almost always eventually lead to something good eventually. Or maybe that’s just how it works if you think it’s how it works. Sometimes it’s hard to see the good while everything bad  is swirling all around you.
Bam! is what keeps life  interesting.