Bra bra bra-bra-bra-bra

The word of the day is bramarbasieren. I came across it a few nights ago (still reading Der Stechlin, although the end is in sight) and remembered it yesterday evening when Nuphy called to give me his colonoscopy horror story. The story of its origins are somewhat convoluted, but suffice it to say that it is not, as I briefly hoped, derived from Yiddish. Also, try not to think of the fact that it fits the chorus of "Bad Romance" perfectly or you will be stuck with that in your head all day.

Last night we also met our roofers. It didn't look like they'd started tearing up the roof surface yet, so I decided to go Edward Scissorshands on the verbena. The other greens can be rinsed easily, but verbena leaves are sticky and I'm worried that once the black dust begins descending they're'll be no washing it off again. One mug of tisane went in me, the rest is chilling for next week when it will be in the 80s again and we'll all want something refreshing--particularly if we can't open the windows yet.