A small office, an open window

young secretary  sits at a desk,  facing a screen

blue light reflected off her glasses 

Police station

A single officer stands next to wall 

looks out at the street,  smoking a cigarette

Stop sign,  quiet interesection

Calm dog walker with two mixed breeds on a long leash 

reckless energy 

High school theater

last rehersal before opening night 

a fire burns stage right,  but its not real 

The only real flames will be later

small parking lot lighters passed around

a half circle of weary kids

.

Of Dead Composers, Dead drops, and That Restaurant That Isn't as Good as It Used to Be

You know that club that used to be cool, that restaurant that isn't as good as it used to be, that show you tune into after it's hopelessly past its prime? Yeah, sure, I liked the Beatles, too, before they became popular. Keep those in mind. But before we get to the dead drop, we need to visit a parlour concert given by my wife,…

How it works

Duolingo is a website designed to make language learning into a game. It has 40 languages available if you're learning from English, but you can also learn languages from other languages. (If you only know Spanish, for example, but you want to learn English, that is an option.) They also have a smartphone app for iOS and Android.

The premise of Duolingo is that there are "lessons" for you to complete; in the beginning, you will be introduced to basic words such as "…