Speaking of Karens

So today I drove from the Bay Area down to the OC, and it took, all told with stops, 8 hours. Most of the time I was chatting with Palmer (who was very upset to have lost his digipet yesterday), but there were times when he quieted down and my mind wandered to random thoughts. Like about the name Karen.

There are two Danish ladies in my department at UC Berkeley named Karen. Well actually, one is named Karen, and the other one named Karin. I used to know how to pronounce their names properly, but it seems during my time in Iceland, I have lost the ability, and now everyone is always correcting me whenever I say either of their names. So I was trying to get it straight in my head today. Karin, the professor who was chair last year and is on my dissertation committee, has an accent on the first syllable. She also has an American husband named Kenny who miraculously recovered from a debilitating brain tumor and a grown son who is now teaching in Denmark. Karen is a lecturer who is the head of our language program and who cracks all of us up at Saga Club. She has had a long term (15 years or so) Norwegian boyfriend whom she sees only on the mutual vacations they plan once or twice a year, and of course on Skype.

Oh jeez, or is it Karin who has the Norwegian boyfriend and Karen who is married to the American?

Anyhow, they are both very nice, happy, successful ladies and I am sorry I keep mispronouncing their names. I guess I need to spend some time in Denmark in the future.

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