it happened in toronto, on the east/west train. a man surrounded by garbage bags (they coulda been filled with laundry) was sitting across from me, though i guess it was the public transit equivalent of kitty corner, as he was sitting facing the side and i was sitting facing front. anyways, he was one-handedly going to town on this rubik’s cube with such mastery that it was mesmerizing. the stickers were wearing out, and it’s not just the edges that look peeled off (my way of conquering the bastard), no, it was clear (he finished the thing at least four times while we were on the train, and it was his spectacle that prompted me to stay on for the entire line and back) that that was mere wear and tear. i would like to send him this (see above) because it is as beauty-full as his expression (or showing off, because, let’s face it, that often looks very good) but i’m afraid that he would callous up his left hand so bad that he would have to quit. his “outside the box” flaunting of a skill that few know how to channel properly reminds me of twisting language for one’s own means-it’s not how much you know of a language, but how you use it that’s important-for instance, if you can observe and understand the speech patterns, idioms, and cultural references of a language, that marks you as someone who truly
gets that language, and no amount of studying grammar, vocabulary, or dialogues can prompt the same effect.
it happened in toronto, on the east/west train. a man surrounded by garbage bags (they coulda been filled with laundry) was sitting across from me, though i guess it was the public transit equivalent of kitty corner, as he was sitting facing the side and i was sitting facing front. anyways, he was one-handedly going to town on this rubik’s cube with such mastery that it was mesmerizing. the stickers were wearing out, and it’s not just the edges that look peeled off (my way of conquering the bastard), no, it was clear (he finished the thing at least four times while we were on the train, and it was his spectacle that prompted me to stay on for the entire line and back) that that was mere wear and tear. i would like to send him this (see above) because it is as beauty-full as his expression (or showing off, because, let’s face it, that often looks very good) but i’m afraid that he would callous up his left hand so bad that he would have to quit. his “outside the box” flaunting of a skill that few know how to channel properly reminds me of twisting language for one’s own means-it’s not how much you know of a language, but how you use it that’s important-for instance, if you can observe and understand the speech patterns, idioms, and cultural references of a language, that marks you as someone who truly gets that language, and no amount of studying grammar, vocabulary, or dialogues can prompt the same effect.
