So it's been a long time...Ever since mom discovered this new logic puzzle site, it's impossible to tear her away from the computer. But I've taken matters into my own paws, and this month, newly motivated by the National Blog Posting Month campaign (see fussy.org), I resolve to turn over a new leaf. Even better: to go to the bathroom and then with my hind legs kick up a whole pile of new leaves...right into mom's face as she leans over to pick it up. Gosh those humans have a slow learning curve.

Anyway, I've been storing up lots of thoughts these past weeks, which is good because I'll need some backlog to sustain 30 consecutive days of posting. (Most of these thoughts take the form of "mmm! chicken wing! dropped within a 50-sq.-ft. vicinity! Find! Seek! Devour!" but I checked the NaBloPoMo rules and there's nothing against repetition.)

Anyhow, I thought I'd start off with something a German Shepherd friend of mine told me at the dog park. Now as a Corgi-Chihuahua mix, my native languages are of course Welsh and Spanish (plus I picked up English so I could understand my mom), but I have to confess that after this conversation with the Shepherd, I am pretty convinced of the superiority of the Germanic family. I think we can all agree that the value of any language, and by extension the culture in which it developed, can be measured by the similarity of the verbs "to be" and "to eat." English: pretty close, one syllable each, an "e". Spanish: not so great, both -er verbs (ser, comer). Welsh: bwyta (eat) and bod (to be). Both start with "b".

Now get this: to say "he eats, therefore he is" in German?

Sie isst, deshalb sie ist.

Yes, in the land of schnitzel and braten, they are one and the same (at least in the 3rd person singular). Now if that's not a culture that has its priorities straight, I don't know what is.