My accent

In the past, I have been an accent sponge. Watching Drop Dead Gorgeous had me talking in a Minnesota accent for days, much to my sister's chagrin, since we were stuck in a car together for several hours. There were threats of "Don't make me leave you by the side of the road," and pleas, "Leave me by the side of the road." My Fair Lady is another problem source for me.

I think this "talent" has worn off. I never had a Southern accent, despite living in Virginia. And in all my travels, the best I managed was a Canadian accent. This was a pisser. Instead of picking up a sexy accent in Italy, I suddenly was speaking like a Canuck. To this day, Cheese Fiend gives me crap about this.

However, in the 9+ months I have lived in Chicago, I have not really picked up the accent. Until this weekend when I developed the Mayfest accent. In the presence of beer and brats and Cubby talk, I picked up the Chicago accent, flattening all my vowels and being mildly surly. However, I don't sound like a native, since the word choice still reflects the Southern. And I still have the lingering Canadian accent, which lengthens the vowels. Oh dear. Haven't exactly been chatty today, so we'll see if the Mayfest accent survives outside the asphalt beer garden.

In the meantime, I have busted out my phone voice. Alternately sweet and deep, always clear and pleasantly professional.