Another beautiful day in the Townships.

There is an enormous, hyperactive fly distracting me, so if I suddenly leap up and start running my hands through my hair, it�s because I�ve been dive-bombed. The problem with this gorgeous early fall weather is that the bugs are just as alive as ever, instead of falling respectably dead like they�re supposed to.

The Latin test on participles was not so bad. I screwed up one sentence for sure because I didn�t know what a particular adverb modified, but I�m sure I�ll still get part marks. We started talking about gerundives, a little something that we don�t have in English (thank the gourd, this is a tricky enough language as it is without throwing that little complication at it) but which basically takes a verb and turns it into a passive infinitive (although that�s not right either), so that: The cake is to-be-eaten, which would translate into proper English as: The cake is worthy of being eaten; The cake is good to eat; The cake must be eaten; It�s a good cake, so let�s eat it; et cetera. You see why it�s a good thing we don�t have gerundives in English? I also got the passage from Livy that everyone else started translating last Wednesday, and it�s hard. (Insert whine here.)

The bridge is down to one lane and I had to wait to get across to pick up Patsy, but we were still on time for belly dancing. My shoulder is aching, which is a drag, but a drag that I more or less expect. I was doing fine until I suddenly felt a twinge that could not be ignored, and left the arm hanging for the rest of the session. Even now, typing as I am, I feel it telling me to stop.

Oh, you know those Nigerian bank scams? Well, I got a different type of letter today. I have an account with myspace.c0m, as many people do, and there was a message in my inbox from a young man begging for financial aid. He claims to have been born in Canada, which technically makes him Canadian, but he is living in Africa with his parents, who are African, and he sees that his future is pretty bleak there. He would like to return to Canada which he no doubt views as the land of opportunity (sub-zero winters and all), but alas has no money. So he has probably targeted all the Canadians on myspace.c0m and sent them begging letters. I just deleted it, feeling a little guilty mind you, but also a little put out that someone would use the site as a forum for soliciting funds. I supposed he�s not the first and won�t be the last.

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