FLATTERY, BITTER CURRY AND A LONELY MAN

It’s 9:23pm and I’m left home alone again while Becca is up on the mountain. Mom and Grant said they wanted to chat tonight after they get home from rehearsal but things must be running behind because they haven’t called yet. So here I am, writing to you lovely people.

I’m in the process of contracting new translators for Spanish. I am overwhelmed and need a good team of competent people who don’t charge too much so I can keep my prices low. I put out an advertisement on the web and got back dozens of replies. Becca sent eight of them a short sample text that I compiled and all eight got back to us very quickly with their translations. Of the eight only three seemed promising. The idea is to keep looking until we have about ten that are really good.

I’m a sucker for praise and even flattery. I suppose I’ve always needed lots of attention (I can feel my mother’s head nodding) so I guess that I accept flattery a little more than I should. A week or so ago I was not enjoying my Hispanic Lit. class. I felt that my professor was often unprepared and that it didn’t make much difference whether or not I came to class. Many people feel the same way since only about a third of the enrolled students come to class anymore. I ditched his class on a Wednesday to try and catch up on some translation work but passed him in the hallway later that day. He looked at me smiling and said, “Hi Ryan. We did have class today.” I mumbled some type of lame acknowledgment; my embarrassment hindered my ability to think of something clever to say. He then said, “Come by my office and see me sometime.”

I decided to just bite the bullet and go see him the next day. He has an open door policy for his lunch hour so I packed a lunch and went to his office. I was the only one who showed up that day. We chatted a bit and then he said, “Ryan you’re the sharpest student in my class. Why didn’t you get a better grade on the test?” That was it. Getting such high praise from a man like that was all I needed. Since then I have found the energy to come to every class, do all of the reading beforehand and feel confident that I will end up acing the final.

I made a very mediocre chicken curry last night. I would like to warn all of you about using very many curry leaves in anything you make; it leaves quite a bitter taste. On the other hand, I have made two different types of curry power mixes that should be ready to use in about a month or so; you have to let them sit for at least a month before using them in food.

Many congratulations to my cousin Matthew who has just returned home from missionary service in Russia. We wish him the best now that he’s back in the USA and hope that his transition back to “civilian” life is an easy one.