learning spanish with dingo-lingo

Today is my birthday.

On days like this, it is customary to write one of those Kantian essays on moral imperatives that describe how the birthday boy can now see the far shore through a glass darkly. And that is exactly what I started to do when confronted with the keyboard this morning.

Then, I came to my senses. I am no more interested in writing about that aspect of my life than you are in hearing it. So, off with the maudlin and back to a far more interesting topic.

I have been using Duolingo, a Spanish app on my telephone, for almost a decade. It is part of my morning routine in my quest to learn the language of my neighbors. I have learned far more Spanish from Omar than I have from Duolingo, but I still press on.

Some of the sentences on the app can be a bit odd. "The cats ate dinner with the bears." The purpose of those nonsense sentences are apparent. They emphasize grammar and vocabulary through absurd content.

One of my favorite tools in Duolingo is the comment section under each sentence. The comments were designed to help reduce confusion by allowing users to ask other community members for assistance. But, like all comment sections on the internet, it houses more trolls than the bridges of Madison County.

There are always a lot of I-don't-get-it literalists. "Cats do not eat with bears. That is not correct." "Where am I supposed to use that sentence?" "This is a lie."

But even straight-forward sentences generate heat. Today Duolingo offered up two rather uninteresting examples: "Cows are not dangerous" and "Basketball is not a dangerous sport." It was a good exercise in using the adjective with and without a supporting noun.

At least, I thought the sentences were uninteresting. The comments section under both sentences included running battles about just how dangerous cows can be and drawing eye-rolling distinctions between "dangerous" meaning "life-threatening" or merely "injury-inducing."

My problem is that I find the comments so entertaining that I forget to complete my lesson in the time I have allotted.

The comments did get me thinking about comedy, though. A recent poll showed that 43% of Americans between 18 and 30 received most of their political news from late night comedy shows. That is an increase from 21% in 2004.

My skeptical nature doubted the first survey when it was reported in the news sixteen years ago -- prominently on the comedy shows, of course. I have now changed my mind.

Last year, I was having dinner with American friends. For some reason, the conversation turned to Sarah Palin. The husband, who is well over 30, said: "Can you believe how dumb she is, she actually said she could see Russia from her front porch." He believed that was true.

I pulled out my smartphone and played a Tina Fey Youtube video where she described how people think Palin actually said those words. She didn't. Tina Fey did. In an SNL skit. Even after watching the video, he still said he believed Palin had said it.

This week I was talking with an acquaintance who said she had decided to vote for Hillary Clinton because Donald Trump had jumped up behind her and yelled "Boo" in the third presidential debate. That, of course, was actually Alec Baldwin startling Kate McKinnon on another SNL skit.

What made both of those skits funny, of course, is that they were based on similar events. Sarah Palin did say that she had international experience because Russia was so close to Alaska it was possible to see one from the other. And the third presidential debate did have a very creepy feel about it with the "debaters" wandering the stage as if they were auditioning for Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

And what do we conclude from all that? Not much. Remember, I told you I was not going to wax prosaically about my life journey.

What I will say is that I am enthralled with comedy. It is an art form where facts are not necessary to speak truth. It is a world where cats eat with bears, Sarah Palin speaks in the charming voice of Tina Fey, and basketball-playing cows are not dangerous unless they twist an ankle on a lay-up.

It is a world where I intend to have a happy birthday -- at least, for the day.