a lazy weekend, a new group, and two near-wins

the good news:
- my voice is back!
- my finger has healed well!
- and i have written more poetry, though that is still work in progress!

we had a very lazy weekend, i only left the house once, to go over to sepp's. didn't venture far from the bed on sunday at all, despite the nice weather. a much-needed, relaxing couple of days.

started teaching a new group on monday, only 8 people; there are no absolute beginners, and they are nice, and obviously eager to learn as much as they can. there's a lot of laughter too, so that's good.

we went to another trivia night on tuesday, the first after the summer break. (for those who don't know: we started going to pub quiz nights in the spring, to an aussie pub here in vienna, and on the last evening before the summer break, we were the best team of the day!) unfortunately babs and andi and tom could not make it, others had no time, and so it was only sepp, birgit and me. but so what!

there were some rather tricky questions, but we got 15 out of 20, and tied in first place with one other team! so we got another 4 questions, but lost. :(

here are the questions for those who want to give it a try (questions in italics are those we didn't answer correctly):

1. true or false – 84% of an apple is water.
2. which country is andrew lloyd webber from?
3. name at least three summer olympics sports beginning with the letter T!
4. what are the first names of the three brothers that formed the bee gees?
5. what is the dominant religion in brazil?
6. how many active players are on a cricket game?
7. what is a saluki?
8. where in australia did england test its first atomic bomb?
9. what is uma thurman's middle name?
10. what is the name of barbie's brother - ken, todd or skipper?
11. what vegetable is the main ingredient in a meal called borscht?
12. what character does johnny depp play in "charlie and the chocolate factory"?
13. which actor played the character from question 12 in the 1971 film version?
14. who was the director of "fargo"?
15. what was the title of the official olympic hymn sung by whitney houston?
16. where is the US baseball hall of fame?
17. pilsener beer takes its name from a town in what country?
18. actress winona ryder was once arrested for what?
19. in which italian town is "romeo and juliet" set?
20. what part or function of the body are carrots good for?


another terrific tennis match last night - james blake vs andre agassi. much anticipated match, and rightly so. i saw much of the last set this morning, and have seen a few other games since - incredible, incredible tennis. hats off to both guys. neither of them deserved to lose that match. stunning. in the last set they played as if they'd only just started. blake is so quick, and agassi, well, that fitness at his age ... wow. blake did serve for the match and agassi broke back, and i just knew, i just knew he'd lose it - and he did, in the tie-break, 8/6, so so close.

i like both players. i like their attitude. they are so focussed without ever ... you know what some people are like, they get worked up and scream and yell and swear and get into discussions with linesmen and the umpire etc.

tennis is obviously important to blake and agassi, but they both know, there are things that matter even more. james was facing life as a paraplegic last year, and had a strange virus that could have cost him his eyesight, and he lost his father, all within a few months, and i think he has matured a lot, and it has put things into perspective for him. and that shows. respect for each other, and fairness. i admire that greatly. shame for james, but if all goes well, he has many more years in him.


okay, right. i've told the tennis nerd to shut up and find something else to do! *G*


before i forget: congrats to my friend annette - she just had a book of poetry published (same publisher as mine)! if you are interested, check it out at foothills publishing.


song of the day: utopia, by goldfrapp.

I’m wired to the world
That’s how I know everything
I’m super brain
That’s how they made me