Crown Heights, tell us what you do?

when in Nicaragua, all you need to know is "Una Flor de Caña con hielo, por favor" (Flor de Caña is the national rum and it's darn yummy!). After a couple of drinks your Spanish will flow effortlessly..and if it doesn't, you won't care!

¡Buena suerte!

Oh, and no one in Central American says buen dia, buenos tardes...only buenos! I have only been to Honduras and Costa Rica but it was true in both places, and friends that have been to Nicaragua and Panama said they noticed the same phenomenon. When I asked someone in CR about it, the adorable explanation was, "eh, we know what time of day it is." Pura vida, baby.

Make sure you say "Hay vuevos?" when asking for eggs from a waiter instead of "tiene huevos" because it's not really any of your business if he has testicles :-)

and if all else fails and you are in trouble and have to get your New York on, don't forget "no me jodas" (don't fuck with me!)

I find that when I have to get my French up to snuff, I read that right-wing rag Le Figaro. I *hate* that paper, but it's much easier to read than Le Monde. I get my fluency back real fast that way, but then it's easier for me to learn language if I read it first. I learned to read English before I spoke it. My parents had no idea how much English I understood when spoken to so when I was a toddler, if there was something really important they had to convey to me, they wrote a note, often using my plastic magnetic letters. Heh.

Chinese was the only language I ever learned without reading it. It was my first language too (don't ask). I haven't spoken it in over 35 years so I don't know how I would go about a refresher course. But the weird thing was about 12 years ago, I took a course in Chinese opera. One of my professors spoke English, the other only spoke Chinese, which was translated by a Taiwanese student. One day, she was sick, and I found that *I* could translate what was being said. So I still understand Chinese a little bit. If I could get people to hold up cue cards "Now, we're talking about opera", "Now, we're talking about food", I'd be good as gold. I can't walk into a conversation blind, but if I know the subject on which they are speaking, I can follow along.

I make my living as a proofreader at law firms, accounting firms and printing and graphics companies (where I sometimes have to proofread Chinese). I spent the past few months working crazy hours at an accounting firm which is why I hadn't been on much. I also edit and proofread books on a freelance basis.

I'm also an actor, doing mostly off-Broadway now.

I'm a 22 year old graphic designer/grad student at SVA. Trying to find a mindless job that pays well (aren't we all) or freelance to pay the rent. So far I've interviewed at American Apparel, but who knows how that will end up. Other than that I like to check out the local scene, and go to shows (everything from hip hop to southern rock/folk.) My favorite drink is gin and tonic, fyi.

I am a thesis School of Visual Arts student (funny i'm posting after Miss Hondo) in film.

I do freelance videography and editing work to pay the rent and cloth myself. Some of my more local stuff can be found at:

http://www.jove.com
http://o-patch.com/solaria/solaria_fin.html

so i think this is my first post here? but this seems like a good time to jump in.

i live on grand, so i'm just across the border.

i'm a grad student/dancer/restaurant person. isn't that how it always goes? i know at least one person on the boards in person, if not more that i hadn't put it together when i met them.

been lurking in the last year that i've lived here, but HIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

Wow, Bentley, your stuff is good! Was the electrokinetics video on jove yours? I've discovered that my cat is particularly fascinated by dielectrophoresis. (Oooh!! Look at particles go across the screen!)

Thanks for the kind words!

Thats a negative on the electrokinetics video, Lilbang. I've been working with columbia med and NYU med in a few bilayer research experiments. Every one of those has involved a delightful few shots where a grad student watches lights dance across the screen and I pretend to understand.

I'm a producer at Sirius Satellite Radio. My wife and I and our rescue dog and cat have been here in Crown Heights for about 3 1/2 years. We bought a house here because it was affordable when we signed the contract 7 years ago. Yes, it took about 4 years for the contractor to finish our home - it was a city program called Homeworks. Anyway, we love our neighbors and the 3.75 mile walk to Prospect Park and back is great for me and the dog. I love photography. I have published a book of my Mermaid Parade photos. And you can see more of my photos on my website: http://www.rosweed.com