Nil by Mouth

Whenever i walk by this

Whenever i walk by this poster of Elijah Wood in Lord of the Rings, for at least a second i think it’s Winona Ryder. Am i alone?

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Also, as a revision to my old lady evening last night, i did end up going out and having a nice evening of fresh veggies and wine. Nils helped me practice my pronunciation of Rue Roi de Sicile which is the cross street for my apartment. The “r”s on rue and roi just kill me. And it would simplify my life quite a bit if i could make myself understood when explaining where i live to somebody. I did make some progress on being able to do that purring r sound thanks to Janine. I can’t tell you how many times i’ve longed to purr at someone, and came up short. The thing with purring, is you absolutely must do it right, or you look like a real big dope.

When working on the “rue”s and “roi”s, it reminded me of when i was in speech therapy in elementary school for my “s”s and “l”s. It still strikes me as sort of weird that the miracle of communication can really be boiled down to something very physical, like where your tongue touches your teeth, the shape of your mouth, and how much air you’re blowing during a particular sound.

• Dec 20