Author: agrover

why people go to Turkey

In the spirit of immersion in the Turkish language, lately I have been going to www.turkishclass.com. It appears from their message boards that the main reason anyone bothers to learn Turkish is to speak to the handsome Turkish boyfriend they have acquired over the internet. People post various snippets of English or Turkish to be translated, and invariably these are snippets like “Another day of my life passed without you.” (siz bir gun, daha gecti omrumde). Turkish men are known for their romanticism, possessiveness, and the ability to fall in love instantly.

Needless to say, this is not why I am going to Turkey. 🙂 The reason why I’m going has more to do with breaking out from the rut I may perhaps be in, get some perspective, and learning the language has become a reason in itself to go — I want to TALK with someone in this cool language I’ve been learning! What would be great is if Portland had a Turkish community with some cafes where I could go hang out and listen to people talking. But no, alas.

things

Good:
Veronica Mars
NIN new cd tracks 1, 5, 6
Sopranos
Coldplay’s new single
My new monitor
Dairy Queen
Jen giving me leftovers
The Turkish language
VMware

Bad:
Flaky co-workers
Working on weekends
Rain getting in open sunroof (DOH!)
Drag-racing Suburbans
Yardwork
TeX
The inability to keep a fish alive

Sabbatical

Now, I’m just thinking a month in Turkey. Picked up the Lonely Planet book on Turkey and am starting to familiarize myself with the language. Languages are fun!

Richard Dawkins is my hero

Still, so many people resist believing in evolution. Where does the resistance come from?

It comes, I’m sorry to say, from religion. And from bad religion. You won’t find any opposition to the idea of evolution among sophisticated, educated theologians. It comes from an exceedingly retarded, primitive version of religion, which unfortunately is at present undergoing an epidemic in the United States. Not in Europe, not in Britain, but in the United States.