There’s pretty much always time to explain yourself if someone doesn’t understand. You could say it the first way that comes to mind, then pause and say it the second way. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you just have to communicate. Sometimes you have to use your hands and feet, and that’s OK too.
It depends on where you’re staying and how much time you have. LA is big and you’ll probably spend a good amount of time in a car. If you can, get a nice rental car that’s not too big. Parking is often a challenge and some streets are narrow. If renting at LAX, the wait times can be long.
Go to the beach if you can. I like Redondo Beach better than Santa Monica or Venice. Pretty and less crowded. There are wide, paved walkways and places to sit and watch the ocean.
The Getty Villa is pretty and accessible, from what I remember. The museum too.
Hollywood isn’t that interesting unless you’re going to an event. If you want to see it, I’d recommend driving down Hollywood Blvd. between La Brea and Vine. Or check out Cahuenga Blvd. The Hollywood Bowl is great and has accessible options, but you should book well in advance and be prepared for a long drive or shuttle ride.
If you want glitz and glamor, go to Beverly Hills and drive down Rodeo.
Drive down Mulholland for a great view of the city, or go to the Griffith Observatory. Griffith Park is also nice and has picnic areas if you don’t want to walk.
Downtown LA isn’t really a tourist area to me, but there are good restaurants. Some of the hotels have rooftop lounges with great views. Or go to Little Tokyo and get sushi, ramen, or mochi.
It usually sounds like me. I can hear it in someone else’s voice if I’m thinking about something they said or might say. I can use other voices too, or make one up, but that takes more effort.
There’s also one that feels like a ghost of my real voice. That’s the fastest one to think in. It’s very neutral and colorless (for anyone else who thinks of voices in terms of colors).
Haha I get it! I’m more curious than cautious when it comes to things like this, for better or for worse. So far, I’ve only had good experiences. Just offered because I don’t think we live all that far apart.
I’d go in with you if you wanted. I order stuff from Europe all the time and it’s fine. PM if you want.
I’ve been able to hear that too, for as long as I can remember. I don’t think that’s necessarily anything unusual when you’re the type of person who can hear earthworms cough. It sounds different at different times, like if I’m stressed or dehydrated.
There’s really a lot you can hear if it’s quiet and you pay attention. Eyes opening and closing, eyeballs moving, joints moving (neck and spine sounds different than knees and elbows), muscles contracting (different ones sound different).
There are different ones for different kinds of writing (general, academic, journalism, and more). Chicago Manual of Style is one of the general ones. It’s good, and considered authoritative, but you have to buy a copy or an online subscription.
A free one that I like is Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab from a university). It’s easy to understand and has good info.
I’ve heard that a lot, and I always thought it had to do with lazy talking (not moving your mouth much). I do think that’s part of it, and some people do that more than others.
But the thing about having a potato in your mouth is it pushes your tongue down and back, into your throat. Which is something you need to say the American “r” and a lot of other sounds, like “w” and the dark L like in “pull.” It’s hard to teach, and very hard to unlearn. It’s part of the characteristic American sound.
German is basically the opposite. You can see the difference here, with a German speaker talking in an MRI. There’s a lot of space between the back of the tongue and the back wall of the throat. And here’s a picture of someone saying an American “r”. The base of the tongue is all bunched up in the throat.
Yep. That works well unless you’re cooking at altitude, then an overnight soak is the best and easiest way. Unless you own a pressure cooker.
Some beans you can get away with not soaking at all, just cook them low and slow for a couple hours. I’ve done that with great northern beans.
Yeah. The voice stays young if you take care of it and are healthy. You can be 60 and sound like 30.
It’s not exactly the same for me, but it’s pretty close. Sometimes it’s a little more faded. Just depends on what it is. Sound, on the other hand, I can picture that loud and clear.
Different ways, depending on how I feel.
You can think of “le” as a way of showing that it’s a syllabic L. Meaning that you say a dark L, and there isn’t really a vowel before it. The L takes up the whole syllable. It can sound like there’s a schwa in there (usually just a blip of one), but that’s just part of how you say the dark L. It comes from having the back part of your tongue press down and back.
This happens at the end of a word when the L is in an unstressed syllable. The spelling can vary a little. For example:
There isn’t really a reason why the spelling is different. That’s just how it happened to develop.
The pronunciation can vary a little too. If you hold the L longer, or emphasize the syllable more, it can sound more like a proper vowel is in there. But your tongue stays a tiny bit lower than it does for the schwa sounds.
Live music does it for me. It’s best when I’m close enough to make eye contact with the musicians, and when the audience is into it too. It’s a total rush. If I had to pick between music and sex, it’d be music, hands down.
I can relate to the comment about swimming too. I imagine hiking, kayaking, or anything else physical that you really like could give you a similar feeling.
Good posture also helps you breathe better, which can help you feel more energized and concentrate better. Your diaphragm doesn’t work right when you sit hunched over, so your breath gets more shallow.
If you ever need to talk a lot for work or some other reason, good posture is essential so your voice sounds good and doesn’t get tired too easily.
And it helps strengthen your core, which is good for balance and other things.
Three months isn’t a lot of time, so I would talk to a lawyer sooner rather than later. Google employment lawyers in your area, or “attorney referral service [your state].” You should be able to get a free consultation.
Some lawyers may be able to tell you right away if they’ll take your case, but it may take a little time. And you may want to get more than one opinion. If you have any documents, round those up and hang onto them.
Maybe it depends on what you watch. I use Youtube for music (only things that I search for) and sometimes live streams of an owl nest or something like that.
If I stick to that, the recommendations are sort of OK. Usually stuff I watched before. Little to no clickbait or random topics.
I clicked on one reaction video to a song I listened to just to see what would happen. The recommendations turned into like 90% reaction videos, plus a bunch of topics I’ve never shown any interest in. U.S. politics, the death penalty in Japan, gaming, Brexit, some Christian hymns, and brand new videos on random topics.
Oh hey, I love your owl posts. I always read the comments too because I know there will be more pictures and info. I’ve been meaning to comment there, but work got super busy and I forgot to stop by.
That can be annoying, but I can usually chase it out with one of the other songs that lives in my head. Sometimes I’ll put on a song in my head just because. It’s not always the same as the real thing, but it’s pretty good, especially the vocals.