ein Gedicht für dich

just because... Mesut in a Nutella ad,
if I'm not mistaken 

Waiting for the laundry to finish - and there it is, the beep before the last round. So I should be able to get to bed soon. (Lucky me, my VTO request was granted very early. Incessant coughing since last night and I dunno, weakened defenses maybe, have handed a very painful throat to me, which won't do at all in my line of work. Plus, the coughing. It's been a long time since I last got afflicted with one, and when I do, it usually only goes away months after I've contracted it. Bummer.)

Anyway, as I was saying before the very long digression, me has time. And an excess of some more daydreaming and word geekery. So I'm posting what was today's German assignment which was supposed to be about time. My classmate didn't say anything of the sort though, but with a wee bit stretching of the imagination, one can find it as still incorporating time. I've intended for it to be longer but the limit was only up to 12 lines. But yeah, I might one day strive to complete this. Inspired by recent events, its grammar is not topnotch, nor is the content. One can easily find shadows of the message in past posts. But anyway, this is me, the shamelessness sometimes outweighing good judgment. lol. This is my blog anyway. So if I want hell to break loose on here, then it shall.

And so, without further ado...

Heute nach einer sehr langen Weile
   hast du mich wieder beachtet.
Dein Lächeln hat Fröhlichkeit
   an meinem Miene beigebracht.
Deine Aufmerksamkeit erlaubte mich zu denken,
   dass es eine Hoffnung gibt
Für mich, für dich, für uns.
Bis ich finde jemanden neuen
   fortsetze ich zu traumen
Was war, was ist und was werde. 

*still having a hard time grasping German, but still I strive...

tales of the vending machine

coffee-scented stamp from Brazil /
photo from https://www.facebook.com/Nescafe

There was a girl who, when she discovered the 14-peso Cafe Mocha by the office's Nescafe Vending Machine, took to it like Bethany Hamilton to surfing or men to big boobs, sugar level at two (maximum is five). She loved to pair it with some discounted Triple Choco Boom from Country Style, available at the office building's ground floor two hours before closing. That was chocolate heaven, and the almost bitter, not-so-sweet Cafe Mocha complemented it well. There would be times when she needed some heat (the office AC was too cold) or some wake-me-up (she hadn't had enough sleep). Times like these, she was headed to the chill lounge at the other side of the office floor to have her brief fill of that delicious, hot, brown liquid. Then she'll be set for the rest of the shift.

There was a time when said girl had no coins with her, unable to foresee that she may need said delicious, hot, brown liquid before her lunch break. The machine was picky with the P20 bills (should be the old edition and then a bit worn), and well, she simply had none on her that time. So she borrowed coins from the teammate sitting beside her. Then when she finally got her money, decided to pay her. Said teammate refused; said she'll just get it when time came that she needed the money. So pocket the money the girl did.

Some days after, she was psyched up to drink a cup of said delicious, hot, brown liquid when teammate piped up, I need my money now. Of course, she had no choice but to fork over those coins - the only coins she had on her to be able to drink drink that brew at her upcoming break. So move the coffee drinking time she did to her lunch break.

Lunch break came and she was finally able to drink said sought-after brew after a trip back to her locker two floors up. While still savoring the rest of her free unpaid time, Kras Nummer drei came in and went straight to said vendo machine, by which she was seated. Said Kras inserted his P20 bill, machine promptly ate it up and coughed it out immediately. He looked to her and asked whether she had change. As it turns out, after buying various stuff for her lunch she did have. It was P1 shy of what he had though, but he said it was okay. So exchange money they did. And he got his brew, thanked her and went on his way back to the floor.

A few moments later, Kras Nummer eins came sauntering in. There were a few people by the vendo, still awaiting their own brew. Girl was looking straight ahead at the glass window to the scene in front of her, though they were only buildings. Kras Nummer eins, in his striped polo and semi-slacks, hadn't recognized her yet as her back was to him, but when he looked at the window as well, made eye contact with her and waved at her reflection; she waved back. No words exchanged. People finally vacated the vendo machine and he inserted his P20 bill, which machine promptly spat back out. It's not recorded who spoke first, but they exchanged comments about the vendo machine's caprice. She mentioned that the new edition bills weren't usually accepted; he said it usually has to be crumpled a bit first, with a bit of boasting in his part. So crumple his bill he did, to no avail. She remembered she still had another bill in her pocket, not the one Kras Nummer drei exchanged with her, and gave it to Kras Nummer eins. He apologized for the crumpled bill, took hers, and successfully had his brew. Flirting she was not, but enjoy the exchange she did, loudly replying to his thanks as he exited the lounge, while others she did not know were still inside the room.

And thus it was that the first vendo machine incident gave rise to this encounter with Kras Nummern eins und drei und sie war sehr glückich. Kras Nummer zwei she hadn't encountered at said vendo before. But she'll be fine with just having more encounters with Nummer eins at said vendo.


Note: originally started/thought about writing this am der 18. Oktober 2012.

the in between days

It's been raining on and off for the past week. At times, it's just mild. And then later on, it'll shift into full strength with accompanying strong winds. Pants, shoes - everything becomes wet when you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hope this doesn't last until Friday, so as not to disrupt futsal practice. After last week's low strength and low moments, I don't wanna miss playing this week again.

...

After having no German last week, I'm glad we're back to regular programming this week. And the pressure is on again. We're gonna be doing some dialogues this afternoon. And a bit of newscasting next week. And here I am, reading anything but the news. I hope my partner and I can pull off the spontaneity our professor is looking for in our dialogs. I can understand the grammar, and can usually apply it while writing, but when you have to speak impromptu, you're just forced to let the ideas come out that the grammar gets left behind. My other problem is that when I'm answering questions during recitations, like when my prof is asking follow up questions, I am hardly able to string together a complete sentence, saying a noun, a preposition, some verb that may pass. But otherwise when I'm not answering in class, I believe I can say it completely and with sense. This is the part that is kinda frustrating. I should have been able to speak a bit by now. The thing is, I don't remember that many expressions or that many usage patterns nowadays. And with German verbs, they may have the same roots, but you just change the prefix a bit and the whole thing means something entirely different. This is what I still have to get my head around on, besides prepositions. I believe English language learners are also having difficulties regarding the correct prepositions to use. That is what I am experiencing as well in learning German.

...

I discovered this video of Razorback's Kevin Roy doing an acoustic version of Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares 2 U. It seems that the video comes from a performance series he does called Guilty Acoustic Pleasures, so-called probably because of the genres of the songs he's covering; Razorback's music is nowhere near those. Kevin Roy's got an amazing vocal range. And with the emotions he's projecting, I've come to realize the power of the song. Sinead's voice is soft, and probably a tad short of whiny. Absolutely in love with this performance (though the guitarist kinda spoils it with some of his comments).

And with the title alone... I wonder why I never remembered this song during those times.

...

Prior to discovering the previous video, my brother and I were laughing along to Basti Artadi's cover of Hot and Cold. He's with Razorback's Tirso Ripoll and the performance is part of their podcast called Tropical Banter, of which I haven't watched a full single episode. Anyhow, we were laughing really hard particularly to his cover of this song because he's managed to infuse his typical singing style. Like he was just singing Atomica and he was lengthening the vowels at the end of the last line of the verse or chorus.

They also have a cover of Call Me Maybe, with Basti rewriting the lyrics to suit his sensibilities - and what good it's done!

...

It's 5:25 AM and it's raining hard again... two panes of my window are already busted, that I had to put some plastic to prevent the onslaught of rain and wind on my bed and on my cabinet. In a few hours, it'll be a new schoolday and workday already - like I haven't just come from some 15 hours or so of the same, but yeah, that's my life right now... so I'll leave this be.

summat better and brighter,
TomatoAndCheese signing off from another kung-fu session ;D