…my true love sent to me….a tax return reminder to file by 31 Januar-eeeee (I know, I know, it doesn’t scan…)
I am now like all seven swans a-swimming – in a sea of paperwork.
Happy New Year to all my gentle readers!
Filed under: Seasons, Trials on December 31st, 2008 | 3 Comments »
kommt das Christuskind…
The presents are wrapped, the cards written, the round robin letter sent, the carols have been sung (only had to wing it in “We three Kings” for which we hadn’t been supplied with the words – so sang it more or less correctly from memory…), soirée has been hosted, advertising document - about…. hair loss(!) – has [...]
Filed under: Seasons on December 22nd, 2008 | 4 Comments »
This post has a twin. They should be read as a pair. (Not together, obviously….unless you are possessed of a pair of eyes that can see in two separate places and a brain that can take in two separate sets of information).
Things I love about Advent:
1. The star on the church tower
2. Mulled wine/Glühwein
3. Receiving [...]
Filed under: Seasons on December 19th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Things about Advent which don’t entirely enamour me…
1. Queuing for a couple of decades in the Post Office
2. Spending more money on posting the parcel than the present is worth
3. Being told that posting the parcels beyond the last date for Christmas means “they won’t get there in time”. “What? Not before 6 January?” I [...]
Filed under: Seasons on December 19th, 2008 | 4 Comments »
And the winner of the “Lost it in Translation Award” goes to……..
none other than myself! And what incredible boo-boo have I committed? Read on….gentle reader.
A German colleague asked me if I would quickly look over half a dozen phrases which she was wrestling with. The document arrived in my in-tray.
There were two columns. English on [...]
Filed under: Translation, Trials on December 15th, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Recently I wrote a post about things coming along in threes. Well this review falls into the general category of books about the Third Reich – and this is the third I read after The Book Thief and Stones from the River. I would have blogged about it earlier but somehow just couldn’t find the [...]
Filed under: Books on December 9th, 2008 | Comments Off
Yesterday I had to answer a lot of very irritating little queries from people and I was beginning to feel quite annoyed with all the interruptions to my highly important world-changing work.
Today my work falls into the mind-numbing category and I am longing to be interrupted. No e-mails or phone calls from anyone. I have [...]
Filed under: Translation, Trials on December 5th, 2008 | Comments Off
The Ancient Roman City hosts a German Christmas Market for two weeks at the end of November/beginning of December. If you visit in the evening, it is particularly atmospheric with the little white lights on the chalets sparkling and twinkling in the darkness; the smell of Glühwein, Lebkuchen and Wurst drift on the air and [...]
Filed under: Culture, Germany, Seasons on December 4th, 2008 | 2 Comments »
My gentle readers may or may not be aware that I am not one for going to gigs. But last week I broke with curmudgeonly tradition and went to one performed by Urusen. Who? I hear you ask. Well, don’t ask me…just google them and find their “myspace” site and listen to them on line. [...]
Filed under: Culture, Music on December 2nd, 2008 | 1 Comment »
This post is more for my own benefit than anything! I might write something which could be useful in the future.
The weekend before last I trundled up to the Big Smoke for a translators’ conference. It was a very useful weekend from a professional point of view if only for the following reason: translators’ software is [...]
Filed under: Professional development on December 2nd, 2008 | Comments Off