Ask Yerac

Also is your name Carey but yerac is backwards

Most local bus systems run pretty similarly; I am pretty good at reading bus routes anywhere. Yes and yes.

yerac i want to ask a question but i can't think of one right now. what would you do if you were me? improvise a question or wait til a good one comes to mind later, oh wait too late i'm posting now whoooaaa

I would take a nap after lunch.

i'm definitely going to do that today. also, how do you approach situations where you're forced to say a word that you're not sure how to pronounce? personally, i double-down on my idiotic instincts. for example, the other day i was at a fancy restaurant with friends, and gnocchi was one of the few vegetarian options. i've cooked gnocchi a few times before, but wasn't sure how to pronounce it. the time came, and i said "i'll have the no-chee, please". the entire table and the server all smiled with various degrees of embarrassment, and the server said "...yes, the naw-kee" and everyone laughed as my complete ignorance reared its ugly head once again. so i said "actually it's pronounced no-chee" just to turn the tables on everyone, but before they could react another server completely dropped a tray of food just behind us and glasses shattered everywhere.

anyway, would you ask someone else how it was pronounced first, order something else entirely to avoid the situation, or just fucking go for it?

If I am not sure how to pronounce something in a setting like that, I elongate all of the vowels and repeat some consonant sounds so it's obvious I have no clue what I am saying. (although most people mispronounce food/wine names so that is weird that you got looks). Also sometimes people who try to correct a pronunciation are also wrong. Just go for it. If it's something I am interested in though, a word in another language, I usually do ask.

The other day I was trying to figure out this special at a restaurant so I asked because I didn't recognize one of the words. I thought he said it was "white bison" so I was like, oh that sounds weird, I should order that. It wasn't until a day later when I was mulling over the "white bison" that I realized he was saying it was white meat/pork (I can't remember if I misheard viande or cochon). And it did totally taste like pork.

Xp whenever I order bruschetta at a restaurant the server will, 99 times out of 100, smugly “correct” me - but they’re the ones mispronouncing it, bc I worked for an actual Italian family for 8 yrs. it pisses me off.

Server correcting a patron's pronunciation seems like a generally bad move to me.

Yeah, that's a bad server. I almost brought it up on the gnocchi thing but I couldn't tell if the server was just repeating the order or actually correcting.

If they were repeating that’s fair enough, if they were correcting... naw-kee is wrong

Quite aside from anything else

NYO-kee

xpost Italian pronunciations throw me. Were they trying to tell you that it was a sh sound and not a hard c/k sound. I always forget how to pronounce verdicchio because of this.

Ppl think it’s brushetta it’s brusketa

I remember once I was buying a beer at this music festival in a multi-storey car park and I said to the guy “could I have a Yakima” and the guy said “it’s actually pronounced Yakima”

At first I thought he was just making a joke but then after a second he said “oh wait that’s what you said - people usually get it wrong”

Now pronounce “Puyallup”

The yakima guy was a tool. They should've just put up a pronunciation sign if it bothered them that much.

When I started a prior job, I was sitting at temp desk in another department for a week or 2 while waiting for mine to be ready. The temp desk had a nameplate that said Alice-something. Of course people in that dept. started calling me Alice and I just kept responding and never corrected anyone. Like, I would see someone in the bathroom a year later and they would say "oh hi Alice, how have you been." 2 years later our office was doing March Madness brackets for charity and I went to sign up and of course it was one of the women who thought my name was Alice taking the names. She started jotting down Alice and said "oh, I feel bad I don't know your last name." And I'm the big jerk that has to be like "actually, my name isn't Alice." She never spoke to me again.

Gnocchi is pronounced "noogie." I will not listen to any counterarguments.

Using all my will power to keep myself from flashing my Italian card on this thread.

Uh oh. I mean, I get kind of ansty when someone tries to tell me I should drink my wine at room temp.

yerac, what's your favourite music atm

I couldn’t unlock the door to enter my home tonight because I had gnocchi

When I am in France I try to listen to yé-yé to help improve my speaking. Otherwise the only other thing that has been exciting recently is how great the music to Killing Eve is. I kept saying "is this a Ride...is this a Slowdive song?" and then it would end up being some band called Cigarettes After Sex.

I've been eating a lot of gnocchi this week too.

Cigatrettes after Sex are pretty good. The music in KE WAS great, you're right.

The Cigarettes After Sex (I had never heard of them before) song they used is called "K"? It also reminds me a lot of this Stratford 4 song called "Telephone".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0U8bNi-kqs

I saw a post from 15 years ago saying I loved potlucks. I fucking hate potlucks.

― Yerac, Monday, August 6, 2018 3:04 PM (four seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yerac, what do you hate about potlucks? What's the worst thing that ever happened at a potluck?

Maybe I should clarify a little and say I especially hate office potlucks and regular potlucks are just annoying. I've seen the state of office bathrooms; I don't want to eat any food a coworker has made.

Do you have any particular recommendations from your recent trip to San Sebastian? Primarily eating / drinking I guess but anything else that comes to mind too?

I went there years ago and Cuchara de San Telmo is a find memory but any other top tips v welcome.

Dearest Mrs. Yerac,

What is the furthest you've paddled in one go?

Were you a vegan when we all were hanging at Pies n Thighs? (v. inconsiderate of me if so)

<3s
Albert

PS: I auditioned for guitarist in the Stratford 4, lol.

The hell. (Keep in mind I interviewed the Stratford 4 three years back and have gotten to know Sheetal a bit more through my girlfriend.)

yerac are you here now/might you fancy a pint next thursday

San Sebastian, I really liked Cuchara but I went at quiet times. I got the pulpo twice, foie gras, beef cheeks, thon, it was all good. And the bartender explained the difference between asking for txakoli-NA or txakoli to me. I also liked Borda Berri and Bar Sport. Only there two days so I couldn't get too b-side/deep cuts. I usuallu spend most of my days wandering around and trying to pet strange dogs.

Paddling: I think I have paddled on the water maybe 20 km in one go. And that was a terrible day because I drank a protein shake that morning because it was a 7am paddle and I had big stomach problems from the start. And I wanted to die on that canoe. I thought about jumping in the water, but the water was so clear....

I was vegan for maybe one year in my life. I try to be pescatarian while at home but I eat everything while traveling. I EAT EVERYTHING.

And on my concept 2 rowing machine I have done 10k but only because I was watching a teen movie that I didn't want to turn off.

Mookie, I am here. I got in on Sunday and went right to work on Monday. Exhaustion. But yeah I have a hard time going out right after work because I am doing some dog sitting for my friend and also I get out a lot earlier than most people. fb message me.

Thanks!

Yerac, Is this the only disco tune to use "spouse"? probably!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXt7P3ZTLpA

Prolly, because I don't think I can think of one off the top of my head. I would be surprised that no one wants to rhyme it with blouse.

Yerac, what are some notable vehicles you've driven, other than buses?

I've only ever had two cars. A red toyota carolla (like every good asian american) and a bright yellow pickup truck that looked like the pussy wagon. Oh and I guess my old vespa and motorcycles for when I passed my test. I have driven buses from the late 1970s that had manual steering. You had to dry crank those things to turn when not going fast.

Does manual steering even really exist anymore? I remember what it felt like to turn the wheels of my parents' old Datsun when it was parked and it was.. tactile

I also had a smurf bike growing up.

I don't know? It was a 1978 flxible I remember. It sucked so bad when it was hot out and you had to turn from a stop. I sometimes had to stand on the brake to get enough leverage to push-pull the wheel.

Sports cars still use manual transmission

And of course most motorcycles

Yerac's talking about manual steering (i.e. not "power steering")

Oh read that as manual transmission not steering

This meeting is taking a toll on me

😴

hey yerac, how are you today

Blech. I had a very boring spinach, broccoli salad I brought for lunch today but I make it a point to bring boring salads to work so I will be forced to eat a lot of greens because I am too lazy to go look for lunch.

+ all the listless rage everyone feels nowadays.

Y,

Would you like a subbed version of TH:Closing Door (2005 film, post-BGND)?

Al

*2015