FIG! and a Ramble

Which, incidentally, isn't want I actually said. There was an "f" followed by a back vowel and then followed by /g/'s unvoiced counterpart. Did I get my linguistic symbols correct? Anyone? I only remember that I have to star words to denote that the word may have existed but that there is no actual proof that it ever did. Yes, I took one course in historical linguistics.

Back to why I exclaimed, "FIG!" or something like it. I now know who wins Project Runway. I know that my ten or so American readers are asking themselves, "So what? The finale was yesterday." Well, the finale is about a month later here in the Great White North. Andraé was just given the boot for his doormat and I finally heard the full extent of Santino's Tim impersonation.

Now the decision is do I watch the rest of this season with this load of dramatic irony on my shoulders or do I stop?

I take solace in the fact that my other reality show addiction, The Amazing Race is going to Moscow next episode. Whee! Ptichka was all like, "We'd rock! You could ask for directions from anybody! None of this 'Do you speak English?' crap." Well, if Moscow now is anything like it was when I was there, it wouldn't matter if I only spoke Mongolian. Asking for directions always went something like this (italics represent Russian spoken; regular type = English)

ME: Hello! Could you please tell me how to get to the Moscow Art Theatre?
RANDOM RUSSIAN: It's not here.
ME: Really? You don't say?

ME: Hello! Could you please tell me how to get to the Moscow Art Theatre?
RANDOM RUSSIAN II: It's not here.
ME: Are you sure?

RANDOM PASSERBY: Omigod! I went to school there too! Where do you want to go?
ME: I knew that a conspicuous school-logo-emblazoned backpack would come in handy at some point in time. The Moscow Art Theatre.
RANDOM PASSERBY: *gives very good directions*
ME: Thanks so much!
RANDOM PASSERBY: No problem! Enjoy the show!

Yes, I had to cross paths with a Canadian expat to get directions to a theatre in Moscow. Yes, I could be snarky at a first-year level of Russian. Yes, you're right, I'm not too keen on Moscow but I am hoping to watch the teams struggle with getting directions and I'm also hoping that Moscow is still all cyrillic all the time. It would be a pity if they had actually made things easier for non-Russian speakers.

This has been a ramble, hasn't it?

Oh, that thing on the right at the top is a page in Kirsten's winter deco. The background is from a big sheet of collaged tissue that was supposed to be used for my Christmas cards. I never got that far, though. The tree and snow are all done in acrylics.