Lost in Translation

There is this great site (great if you have time to waste and want a good laugh) where you can type in a bit of text and it will send it through a bunch of different language translators, translating it from English to another language then back to English and then into a different language, then back, and so forth. What comes out is somewhat like what you got playing telephone with your friends in grade school...and often hilarious!

Now what's this got to do with California or Texas, you wonder? Well, I typed in "I was born in California, but live in Texas now"...and this is what I got back:

"It had now been in which he tolerated Californian, but alive in Roofing tiles."

If you wonder how it went from my sentence to that, here is the full progression:


Original English Text:
I was born in California, but live in Texas now.

Translated to French:
J'étais né en Californie, mais habite dans le Texas maintenant.

Translated back to English:
I had been born in California, but lives in Texas now.

Translated to German:
Ich war in Kalifornien geboren gewesen, aber wohne in Texas jetzt.

Translated back to English:
I had been in California born, but live in Texas now.

Translated to Italian:
Ero stato nella California sopportata, ma vivo nel Texas ora.

Translated back to English:
I had been in which put up with California, but alive in Texas now.

Translated to Portuguese:
Eu tinha estado em qual tolerou Califórnia, mas vivo em Texas agora.

Translated back to English:
I had been in which he tolerated California, but alive in Texas now.

Translated to Spanish:
Había estado en cuál él toleró California, pero vivo en Tejas ahora.

Translated back to English:
It had now been in which he tolerated Californian, but alive in Roofing tiles.

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Want to play around with language. Visit Lost in Translation...and if you get something you'ld like to share come back and leave a comment!

Gardening Tip

In a few weeks we will be moving into a house...our first house ever. So, I guess this means that I'm setting down some roots in Texas (well, we already knew that we were here to stay a while...though we kept saying we were going back to California for the longest time). I'm very excited about having my own space, no one living under me (so I children can stomp around to their heart's content), a separate room for my littlest (who's been sharing ours), and a long awaited REAL garden. I've gotten pretty good at container gardening, but it's frustrating that the plants that grow "wild" in the lawn downstairs from the seeds my potted morning glory drops do better than the ones I tend and care for upstairs. But I do have a few tips up my sleeve, and I thought I'd pass along one of the best ones to you all.

My favorite Texas container gardening tip is...get plastic plants! No, really, this is a real gardening tip...resulting in actual live plants!

Let me explain. For several seasons I tried to grow plants from seeds in containers on our sunny apartment porch. No luck. They would sprout, and then the first hot day would hit them and they would wilt and die. I finally gave up...stuck some plastic plants in a pot full of soil I had tried several times to grow seeds in, and let it sit there on my porch. Rains came. Sunny days came. And then one day I look down and see something sticking out of the plastic plants. It's a REAL plant...a petunia which grew from formerly planted seeds, protected from the sun by the plastic plants. I checked and there were several other plants growing under there (different kinds...I forget now which ones, because I had tried planting several). I left the plastic plants in until they were about the size of the store-bought varieties and then took the plastic plants out and they did great. Then I planted some seeds in another pot and moved the plastic plants over them...and once again, they grew and thrived.

And the great things about this method is that you don't have empty pots sitting on your patio while you wait for your seeds to grow!

On May 9, 2009 you can join Stamp Out Hunger in providing food for needy families by leaving non-perishable food donations in a bag next to your mailbox for your letter carrier. What could be easier than that?

On a related note, did you know that canned food expires? YEP, that's right. So do many boxed products. I like to go through my cabinets once or twice a year, toss the stuff that's past the expiration date, and donate items that I might not get a chance to use before they expire.

What state SHOULD I live in...

Well, this quiz says Texas....

Which Large U.S. State Should You Live In? Your Result: You Should Live in Texas   Capital Austin Largest city Houston Largest metro area Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington[1] Area Ranked 2nd in the US - Total 268,820[2] sq mi (696,241 km²) - Width 773[3] miles (1,244 km) - Length 790 miles (1,270 km) - % water 2.5 - Latitude 25° 50′ N to 36° 30′ N - Longitude 93° 31′ W to 106° 39′ W Population Ranked 2nd in the US - Total 24,326,974 (2008 est.)[4] - Density 79.6[5]/sq mi (30.75/km²) Ranked 26th in the US
You Should Live in Georgia
You Should Live in New Jersey
You Should Live in Florida
You Should Live in California
You Should Live in Illinois
You Should Live in Michigan
You Should Live in Ohio
You Should Live in Pennsylvania
You Should Live in New York
Which Large U.S. State Should You Live In? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Was slightly surprised it picked Texas for me, even though I'm here and all. Though, I'm not going to take a quiz to seriously that picks NEW JERSEY for my second choice. Really? You think this mountain/ocean/open spaces loving girl would like New Jersey? OK...so I've never actually been there but I think the only nature they have is a swamp.

But of course these are taken with a grain of salt. There are several "What state should you live in..." quizzes around and others picked Alaska (love to visit, don't think I'd want to be there year-round) and Georgia for me. Ah, well...I was bored.

Californians are so Californian

A recent study that found that Californians are...well, Californian.

Dennis Tootelian recently announced the results of a survey that has people outside the state no doubt saying: "See, I told you." Among his findings: 63 percent of Californians have actually hugged a tree; 24 percent have surfed; and 21 percent admit to enjoying mud baths.

"It turns out that Californians actually do a lot of the things that make up the stereotype," says Mr. Tootelian.

...read more about it here.

Oh, and thanks to The Common Room, the blog which point me towards this fun if not all that surprising story.