It might mess up your accent, but if it works .... (watching telenovelas is a fun way to improve your comprehension)

one actor in our current show about to open looks like Judd Nelson's character from Breakfast Club, but a lil older. Another looks like Adam Baldwin's character from Chuck, but younger. And the lights are burning gel and it smells nasty, making me queesey.

Also, KT, sorry to hear about your sucktastic morning. I hope it got better as the day progressed. Surely one of the darlings did something to affirm it's a beautiful day.

It might mess up your accent

This is the place, Coffee Break Spanish.

I think the instructor's Spanish accent is pretty pure but he is teaching Castillian, for instance I thought wife was esposa and mujer meant woman but he says mujer means wife.

Esposa definitely means wife, but I think mujer can also be used.

(he he ... I once heard about some Swedes who learned English from a woman from Yorkshire ... ended up with the wildest accent)

I'm living with two spanish-speakers so that helps.

I've been watching a historical telenovela (pirates! sword fights! tiaras!) and I've found that I understand more of it now than when it started. Also - serious eye candy.

I once heard about some Swedes who learned English from a woman from Yorkshire ... ended up with the wildest accent

Similarly, the strangest I've ever heard was a Frenchwoman who learned all of her English in Glasgow.

But mostly, I'm here for the Tom Yum Gai -- thanks for the reminder, o_a, as I dragged out all my cookbooks and now I'm incredibly hungry and have no lemongrass in the house and the car is out with the hub. Pout. Thanks a LOT.

N-E-WAY. The "Yum" in Tom Yum is completely different from the salad "Yum" which is more often spelled "Yam".

The Tom Yum "Yum" only appears in those recipes, in the books I have that spell things consistently, and from what I can tell, it's a very fixed phrase -- there are packaged Tom Yum sauces or concentrates or soup mixes, and people (by which I mean, basically, English-language food sites written by Thais) talk about how they don't give you as genuine a Tom Yum flavor as doing it from scratch, etc. etc. etc.

So whatever the "Yum" originally meant, the phrase "Tom Yum" is kind of its own thing, in the way Hot-and-sour refers to something distinct in addition to just the words "hot" or "sour" on their own. If that makes sense. I'll get further info when I see one of my helpful and foodie Thai students tomorrow. Although the last time I got her started on Thai food, I ended up at her recommended restaurant three times in the next week, and on a budget shortly thereafter. Oh, the sacrifice.

(The "kha" in Tom Kha Gai, btw, is much simpler -- it's the word for Galangal, which is a relative of Ginger.)

Similarly, the strangest I've ever heard was a Frenchwoman who learned all of her English in Glasgow.

Ow. Ow! OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!

I believe I said "strange". Not "pretty".

French/Glaswegian hurt, and I didn't even have to hear it firsthand.