In Conclusion

Today is the last day of November which means that tomorrow I get candy from my Adventskalendar. It also means that today is the last day of NaBloPoMo. I missed three days worth of updates in a row, so obviously I didn't actually accomplish the daily posting thing, and I only have a good excuse for one, possibly two, of those days. While I thought it would be good to make myself post daily, I don't feel like I got as much out of it as I hoped. I just didn't have that much to say this month - I haven't read many interesting books lately, and I didn't know what to talk about. Instead of updating with some good, well thought-out posts, I was often just throwing something short up there to say I did it. And honestly, I don't think doing a quote of the day/week or music video or picture of the day/week or whatever would be a bad idea, but they would need to be in addition to my normal posts instead of serving as my post for that day. I'm just not sure if I have that kind of time or motivation.

Also, I don't think my blog is quite anonymous enough for me to talk about certain things in my life because I'm afraid the people I'm poking fun at might read it (I don't think they do, but they could easily find it if they wanted to and then - awkward).

I need to aim for a balance between the amount of posting I was doing before November and this month. I'm not going to be updating daily anymore, but I will try to put more thought into the updates I make.

What's Worse - Settling or Always Looking for Something Better?

While we were in Barcelona, we found a theater with a bunch of screenings of films in English. I couldn't talk the person I was with into seeing Rachel Getting Married, and I had no real interest in Body of Lies, so we saw Vicky Christina Barcelona.

The only other Woody Allen movie I've seen is Matchpoint, and for the most part, the movie was entertaining enough. The narrator was obnoxious, because everything he said was obvious anyway, and at one point, I turned to the guy I was with and said, "this was definitely written by a man." I'm just not sure I buy the idea of one guy being that charming and amazing. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of Penelope Cruz outside that setting, and not just her as the crazy ex-wife.

One thing that I noticed that's kind of weird about myself was my reaction to the end of the movie (spoiler alert): I was really disappointed that Vicky stayed with her husband. It felt like she was simply settling and compromising. I'm not saying she should have run off with the artist, but it seemed like she was setting herself up for an unfulfilled and less than happy life.

A few weeks ago, Pivo and I actually got into a drunken discussion about this type of thing. It seems like the book The Game (apparently there's a TV show as well now) has become quite popular within the unit. A sergeant told me about it months ago, and gave me his copy as a must read to understand men. I still haven't read it. One of the other platoon leaders has also read it, and he lent it to Pivo recently. Pivo was talking about a part of the book where the main person, Mystery (?), got Scott Baio's girlfriend's number. I don't even know who Scott Baio is, but apparently it was supposed to be a big deal. I just made the comment that if you're dating someone, you shouldn't give or get someone else's number in front of that person. It's just rude - if the relationship really isn't working, end it; don't make sure you have a back-up before ending it and just stick around because you don't know if you can do better. Also, at some point, people make a commitment to each other which means they stop looking around for someone better to come along (while wasted, Pivo agreed with me on that point - I haven't asked while sober).

So based on that, I should have been happy with the ending of Vicky Christina Barcelona. I guess the difference is that Vicky seemed to be resigning herself to a life that was less than happy. While the guy may have been the catalyst, it was more about her realizing her discontent but accepting it. In the other case, it seems like people just can't be satisfied with their situation and think they should constantly be looking for something else. And of course, the whole lack of etiquette irritated me.

Gaudi's Cathedral

Today didn't turned out as planned - I'd asked another LT in battalion if she wanted to to go shopping in Regensburg but by the time she got done with her prior commitment, it was too late to bother with the drive. Instead I ended up at her apartment, and watched movies. Basically, I figured I'd be home early today to write an extensive post, when in actuality I should have written it this afternoon. Somehow, I'm never in the mood to write in the afternoon. So anyway, once again, here are some pictures as a cop out.

Stained Windows in Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia Exterior

Holiday Update

At one point, I totally had a topic in mind to write about today. I've now forgotten the one, and the other just might take more time than I feel like devoting to a post right now.

I spent my Thanksgiving sleeping in, lounging around the house, and then finally went to a German restaurant for Schweinebraten and Knodel. It's kind of a German version of pork roast with potato balls. One of my friends went skiing, and a few weeks ago, someone had mentioned their Thanksgiving dinner to me, but I ended up deciding against it - if I'm going to eat turkey, I want my mom's, dammit. With her gravy and mashed potatoes. I'm not much of a turkey person, anyway.

Who knows - maybe next year, I'll boycott the holiday for the right reasons.

Really, though, Thanksgiving has never been a big deal to me. Ironically enough, I think my favorite Thanksgiving dinners took place in Germany. My mom would invite her parents and brother, once or twice I invited a kid from school (it's not like their families were celebrating Thanksgiving), and we'd eat once I got home from school. Plus, the food was just better. In addition to the usual turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, cranberries that only my mother ate, and stuffing, we also had Knodel. I love potatoes so any meal that involves two varieties of them is a plus. After moving back to America, the Knodel fell off the menu.

Additionally, once we got back to the States, my mom tried having the family over once (way too much work that no one appreciated), we went to my grandmother's once (the turkey was pink), and then we gave up: Thanksgiving became just my parents and me, basically just like any other meal except with turkey (and my mom has on occasion made those randomly during the year). Since my K-7 education was all in German schools, Thanksgiving has never been about pilgrims "peacefully" coexisting with Native Americans, it's always just been some meal with lots of food and turkey. And really, we could do that any time of the year. In fact, wouldn't it make sense to have the holiday earlier instead of having all the family holidays overlap within in a month? It seems like every other country I know has their Thanksgiving, Erntedankfest (Harvest Gratefulness Feast), whatever in October so being the non-country person that I am, I'm assuming that's when the harvest generally comes in?

I started writing my Christmas cards today, and I gotta say, I think I was still hyped up on the election results when I bought them - I usually go for the most generic wording along the lines of "Happy Holidays," because I don't want anything that even suggests religion; this year I have cards that talk about hope being born. Maybe I should have sent those out in the beginning of the month.

I Only Hear What I Want To

Lisa Loeb - Stay

YouTube is evil. Way too addictive. The video is very '90s, but there's a cat, and I love this song. And the fact that it looks like it was done with only one video shot is kind of interesting, keeps things simple I guess.

Everywhere is Better Than Here

As I mentioned before, I spent last weekend in Barcelona. It was actually a lot of fun, and I really liked the city. The temperature was pleasant, it was easier to understand everything than in France because just about everything also had English translations, and I still remember one or two words from my high school Spanish (even though they officially speak Catalan).

There was plenty to do in the city without being too overwhelming. While I'm sure I missed out on a few sites (that's what I get for traveling with someone!), I don't feel like I failed to see anything really important. Paris, on the other hand, I think I more or less saw everything, but it felt like I was just going from one tourist attraction to another the whole time. In Barcelona, I actually also sat down and had a cup of coffee. And, of course, I also went out drinking which I didn't do in Paris. Despite the whole feminist thing, I've been indoctrinated enough by society to feel uncomfortable with the idea of going out drinking alone at night in a strange city. It also didn't seem quite as flooded with obnoxious tourists - despite the fact that I heard a lot more people speaking with American or English accents in Barcelona than in Paris. I guess it's a bit of a party town.

La Rambla

Somehow, we kept ending up on La Rambla. It's the most famous street in Barcelona, and there are a ton of street performers there as well as stands. It was actually kind of interesting because they were sectioned off by what they were selling: first, we walked by a bunch of people selling birds, rabbits, hamsters and chipmunks, then came a block or more of flowers, and after that the souvenir/newspaper stands.

I really wish I lived in a city sometimes. A friend of mine lives in Bamberg, and while it isn't a big city, even they have flower stands like this which are much cheaper than flower shops. Every time I finally end up in a city where they have them, I can't actually take advantage of them because I won't be going home anytime soon. Plus, they have a much larger variety than any of the flower shops I've seen in my town.

I Still Try to Find My Place

Breaking Benjamin - The Diary of Jane

I've been wasting the last few afternoons looking up music videos on youTube. For the most part, I don't usually feel the need to see the video when I hear a song I like, so I've seen maybe one or two videos in the last few years, but I recently heard a song on the radio, and I figured it would be cheaper to listen to it on youTube than buying it iTunes. After that, I kind of got sucked in.

Anyway, since I'm incredibly tired right now, I'm just posting the music video to one of my favorite songs. Actually, the acoustic version is one of my favorite songs, but while available on youTube, there isn't a video to go with it. I've done this version for karaoke before. Both versions of the song are great, though. The original version just has so much anger and hate, while the acoustic version sounds like it's full of pain and despair (does this mean I'm screwed up?)

"In the Country of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is King"

Blindness by Jose Saramago

Last week, I had an hour to kill between the gym and a doctor's appointment, so I swung by the PX to pick up some make up remover, and figured I could get a magazine or book for the waiting room. I was pleasanty surprised to stumble upon Jose Saramago's Blindness as soon as I hit the fiction shelf. It's been on my Amazon wishlist ever since I heard about the movie for the first time, which also involved raves for the book.

I really liked the book. A lot. The premise is that a virus of sorts sweeps a country as one after another everyone becomes afflicted with a white blindness. The first to suffer from this condition are quarantined in a defunct mental asylum. As the situation on the inside (and outside) deteriorates, the blind must grapple with ideas of human nature, decency and morality. Living in filth due a lack of supplies and an inability to see anything, some of the people begin to turn on each other while others form close bonds. Saramago focuses specifically on one wing, which houses the doctor's wife, a woman who pretended to be blind to accompany her husband to the asylum. Her ability to see gives those around her a slight advantage, or at least allows them to hold on to their humanity more tightly. Saramoga's exploration of the people inside the asylum was very gripping, and high lighted all the best and worst aspects of human nature. It isn't long before a criminal element takes control of the asylum and uses their power to lord over the inmates.

The asylum was definitely the best part of the novel. Once they leave the asylum, the novel is still interesting but it seems much more familiar, even if the comparisons don't quite hold. By the time they leave the asylum, the group has been reduced to seven, and the idea of a small group scrounging for food, wandering from abandoned building to abandoned building very much reminded me of scenes from Stephen King's Cell or the movie 28 Days Later, for example. It's very different, of course, because there is no zombie enemy to hide from in Blindness, but something about the way that life had been completely destroyed and that these people were going to have to figure out how to rebuild their lives in a completely new world was reminiscent. Also, of course, there were many more people still alive, since in Cell and 28 Days Later, there are but few survivors. Despite that, there is the idea that the rest of the blind people, while not the enemy, aren't exactly friends, either. I would argue that this novel has some of that "us against the world" mentality that usually occurs in other post-apocalyptic fiction.

Temperature Lag

It was in the mid 50's for the entire weekend, and it was very nice - I wore short sleeved shirts with a jacket all weekend. Image my surprise when I looked out the plane upon landing in Germany only to see a layer of snow on the ground. Can winter be over yet? I'm not a snow/cold/ice person. I don't even have a garage. Or an ice scraper, yet.

Hola

I've been in Barcelona this weekend, and it's been pretty fun. I kind of cheated with the updating, and pre-wrote my posts before I left, but I was glad to see that it actually worked. I'd never tried it before.

Anyway, expect more and different pictures in the next few days (because I'm sure everyone's getting tired of Paris).

Quote

"Oh fuck off, Mark. It's not my job to make you a better man and I don't give a shit if I've made you a better man. It's not a fucking woman's job to be consumed and invaded and spat out so some fucking man can evolve." - Jenny Schecter, The L Word Season 2

I Knew I Should Have Taken That History of Language Class

St. Genevieve in the Jardin du Luxembourg

St. Etienne du Mont

St. Etienne Du Mont

Shrine of St. Genevieve

According to the guide book I had, St. Genevieve is the patron saint of Paris. The church, St. Etienne du Mont, is dedicated to her and contains her remains. Now, one of the reasons I took quite as many pictures of things related to St. Genevieve as I did is my lack of knowledge of linguistics.

My name is actually derived from or has the same root as Guinevere. Seeing the name Genevieve, I thought maybe that was a variation of Guinevere, and actually got kind of excited about the whole patron saint/ name day thing. It's not. Guinevere and Genevieve are two completely separate names. The "r" apparently makes a difference. It's actually kind of funny that I got so excited about possibly finding a saint with my name. Despite my lack of religion now, certain parts of my childhood still occasionally take over. Whenever I walk into a Catholic church, even just as a tourist, I still put my hand in the holy water and cross myself. In Notre Dame and St. Etienne Du Mont alike, I put money in the collection box so I could light a candle.

When I was a kid in German school, we read lots of stories of the saints, and most of the kids in class knew exactly who their namesake was and what the story behind him/her was. It was impossible to find a St. Jennifer in a German-speaking country. I think they finally just either gave up or told me to go with Joan. It wasn't until much later when the internet was more prevalent that I was able to find sites with the meaning of my name and the root of it.

My grandmother actually always made a huge deal out of her name day, and expected to be called every Dec 4 and congratulated because of St. Barbara. And the funny thing is that Barbara was her middle name. I guess she had a better story than St. Bettina.

I'm Sorry, I'm Busy . . . Washing My Hair, Yeah. That's It.

"The first guy that pays any attention to me in years and he turns out to be the mad stalking elf." - Dawn, Waitress

I can definitely relate to this quote. My dating life in high school was rather lacking, and it didn't pick up too much in college, either. Except in college, suddenly there were also a few, very occasional, creepy guys making passes at me, which was new. Given that, is it any surprise when I get really excited when a cute and normal guy acts interested?

Anyway, due to the large difference in the number of women and men in Iraq, the Soldiers have this phenonmenon they like to refer to as "Queen of the Year." Basically, women that would normally be considered average suddenly become a lot more attractive to the men around them and have lots and lots of options.

As an officer, this doesn't really affect me too much. A large percentage of the military is enlisted, and most of them know that fraternization is bad, and officers are therefore off limits. However, even within the officer world, there's many more men than women. Despite the numbers being in my favor, there was still only one other lieutenant that expressed an interest in me, and he, too, was "a mad, stalking elf." Well, not really, but definitely marched to his own beat. On drums that he probably made himself from animals that he killed with the bullets that he cased himself (casing bullets - now there's a fun conversation).

As far as I was concerned, I had no interest in the guy, but I occasionally got bored and didn't have that many people to socialize with so whenever he asked if I wanted to meet for coffee, I'd say yes. I never turn down a chance to go to Green Bean and get a White Chocolate Mocha Frappe. The first time I actually talked to the guy, we had an okay conversation; somehow after that, I just ended up sitting there bored out of my mind while he just went on from one topic to another. Usually I would have little to say, I didn't understand his segues at all, and whenever I did have something to add to the conversation, by the time he paused five minutes later, he would have moved on to the next topic and my comment would be completely random and out there. When he was the one who was random and out there.

A few people teased me and kept saying I had dates. I kept arguing that it wasn't a date, we were just meeting. Pivo was incredibly amused by the whole situation and just laughed at me, but warned me to watch out because in that guy's mind I was probably his girlfriend already.

Our last day on our FOB, a lot of us threw out all our pillows and extra blankets/sheets into the dumpster to travel as lightly as possible - we later caught another unit going through the trash, taking stuff to use for themselves, including our old pillows. It's one thing to dig something plastic out of a container that can be bleached and scrubbed but a pillow? We were joking around about it and one of my squad leaders, who is generally a very quiet and appropriate guy, great NCO, said, "well, we all know who took LT K's pillow." This NCO and Pivo had actually had an opportunity to run into the "stalker" the previous week, and after spending some time with the guy, had the reaction of "oh my god, is this guy for real?"

As I said, he was nice. But incredibly odd. And just completely oblivious and unaware. In a way, it was still pretty amusing - at least, he wasn't creepy like some of the freaks that hit on me in college. Just weird (and he wasn't actually a stalker, he just came on a little strong).

I'm Not Quite That Bad

Via xkcd.

Reading? What's That?

It's really sad, but I've only read about three books since getting back from Iraq, and started various others with little success . . . Part of the problem is that I have a ton of unread books in my apartment but none of which are really peaking my interest right now, I'm trying to avoid Amazon for a while (I feel broke, though of course I'm not), and the internet is pretty damn distracting. I'm still waiting for the whole "I finally have an internet connection in my house" thrall to wear off already.

After walking past The Secret Life of Bees for ages with no interest, reading movie reviews actually inspired me to pick up the book. It was a little cliche at times (1960s era South, young white girl learns about race, crush on black boy being parts of the story though not the major plot), but then again, what isn't? With so many books on the market, there is no such thing as originality. It was a little sentimental on occasion, but I enjoyed the book (actually stayed up way too late reading it), and am looking forward to the movie. While I thought Dakota Fanning was an incredibly creepy child, she seems to have grown into a normal teenager, and I like Queen Latifah.

I also read Isabel Allende's Zorro. It's not one of her best, but it was an entertaining read. I think maybe now I've just read so many of her novels that I tend to recognize certain stock characters (in this one it was the larger than life aunt that echoed the larger than life grandmother of Portraits in Sepia).

Finally, I also read Vinegar Hill. I wouldn't exactly classify it as entertaining since it's a bit dark for that, but it was worth the time. The story takes place in the early 1970s in a rural town in Wisconsin, and talks about one woman's marriage and her life with her in-laws. The main plot concerned the main character's dissatisfaction with her life, and the constrictions society was placing on her, until she had to figure out a way to make herself happy rather than worrying about traditions and rules. It was once on Oprah's Book Club, so it's not as if those themes were a surprise. It was also interesting to see how in certain ways her mother-in-law's life may have helped her relate to her daughter-in-law but instead just made her embittered.

"I Love Going to the Movies"

I went to the movies for the first time since May last night! There's a theater in Regensburg that has one English language screening per week, and this week, it was Quantum of Solace. I actually got to see it the same weekend it came out in the States. The three of us may have had to drive an hour each way to see a damn movie, but once in a while, it wouldn't actually be that bad since I like Regensburg, and could easily turn it into a longer trip. The only con with that is that it looks like English night is usually Monday, and once work starts back up for real, that eliminates the option of spending the afternoon in Regensburg. However, there are some movies that would be worth the drive, and the half a tank of gas.

I did, however, learn a few interesting things that evening - they have assigned seating in German theaters, so it actually does make sense to buy them online, especially if there's a larger group. We got our tickets two hours before the movie started (we went shopping at the "mall" next door first), and since there were three of us, we had a choice of basically two places to sit. Once we were in the theater, Pivo started complaining that they put us in the corner and I, of course, couldn't prevent myself from lamely referring to a certain Dirty Dancing quote.

Also, there were about fifteen minutes of random advertisements, followed by the curtain closing again and the lights coming on, and then finally previews (in German, even though it was an English language showing - I have to say, though, that as messed up as Tom Cruise may be, he tends to pick movies that at least look like they could be entertaining). I think the movie itself started about half an hour after the listed time (and the ads were pretty crappy). Still, the theater itself was much nicer than the ones on post, and I got to see the movie now rather than in a month or two. The seats didn't have cupholders, though. I found that incredibly odd.

Oops - So Much for That

"And was there a lesson in all this, huh? What did we learn about beer?" - "Foamy!" - Xander and Buffy in "Beer Bad", Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"Beer Bad" is one of those episodes of Buffy that tends to get a bad rap, but it's one that always makes me laugh, possibly because of the stupidity. Also, rewatching it, I was surprised to see that Kal Penn (of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle) was an extra/drinking buddy in this episode.

Basically, that describes my weekend. Except replace beer with vodka, tequila shots and butterscotch flavored schnapps and turn weekend into Friday. And throw in some Wii Mario Kart. Apparently my coordination gets better when I'm drinking because I actually scored higher drunk than usually.

We went out Thursday night, but made it an early night because the techno just wasn't doing it for us - where the hell are the clubs that play hip hop? Or was it the whole Thursday night thing? As a result, I was more than willing to drive over to a friend's house Friday night in response to a drunk text message about tequila and pickles (I brought a lime to prevent that disaster from reoccuring) - even though I hadn't updated for the day yet, and was trying to do the whole NaBloPoMo thing. I just didn't think I should just slap another picture on the web and leave. I'd like to actually do a thoughtful post here. I'd like to think I still have the occasional thought despite being out of school and in the Army for over two years.

I barely had time to recover Saturday morning before I was on my way back to Regensburg to visit a friend I've had since 7th grade. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that his mother had driven there as well because she was excited about seeing me (that actually makes her the first person to do some driving to see me instead of me driving to their place all the time - not even my grandfather was willing to go out of his way to meet me). I ended up staying there rather late, and by the time I got home I had about half an hour left in the day, and once again didn't feel like taking the lazy way out. So yes, I have failed at updating daily, but I figure a few real posts are probably better than me slapping a picture up all the time. Unless that were of course my theme. And I actually do have a few picture I still want to post, but most of them I want to do a little bit more with, and either go for themes (I have some awesome pictures of gardens) or something like that.

Historical drama on film

I finally saw The Other Boleyn Girl a few days ago. Now I'd heard it was rather mediocre, but every once in a while I like those kinds of movies and I figured the dresses would be pretty. Basically, I was going for mindless entertainment. Now, I didn't really have a problem with the acting (wish they would have had more of Kristen Scott Thomas, the mother), but I just didn't like the way they set up the story. I realize the novel it's based on isn't exactly super-accurate, but I really disliked the way the movie dealt with time. The Mary-Henry relationship has quite a while to develop, and then he starts gaining interest in Anne. And suddenly, the next six years fly by within a time span of less than five minutes.

From all I've read, part of the reason Henry was initially attracted to Anne was her intelligence and her wit. They don't engage in too many, if any, intellectual conversations, and it's hard to see how Anne would have kept his interest so long. Also, I think if she's really as ambitious as the film portrays her, she also would have been more subtle at points.

The showtime series The Tudors isn't perfect, either, by a long shot, but it does a much better job of dealing the politics and other issues that were also going on at the time, and giving context. Even though events are on an accelerated cycle in that show as well, they do a much better job of implying the passage of time.

But the dresses were nice.

Stupid Peter

I just finished watching the second season of Heroes - I know I'm a little late in the game, but I'd heard it wasn't nearly as good as the first season, and as a result, wasn't in a huge hurry. Since I wasn't expecting much, it was definitely better than I expected. The main reason I was even halfway interested in the second season was due to the addition of Kristen Bell to the cast. So my main thing now is, could we please get someone whose superpower is intelligence and have him hang out with Peter for a while? Because, seriously, that guy lets himself get played way too easily. And every season when he's trying to go and save the world, it's his actions that would have actually led to the end of the world.

Another check in the stupidity column for Peter is the fact that one of his main concerns and reasons for wanting to stop the virus is because he stranded the woman he loved in the future - okay, well here's the problem with that - you left her in that version of the future - if you now change it, wouldn't you just either leave her in an alternate universe or destroy the future she's in, thus destroying her existence? The only way to save her was to go back to the future, bring her back to the present, and then prevent the future from occuring. She couldn't come back without you, and since you can only travel to the future and not parallel universes, you can't find her anymore, either.

From what I hear the third season is even more obnoxious. The problem is that they've chosen to make Peter the main guy for the most part, or the superhero, and he is rather boring. And easy to manipulate. I'm not saying a superhero can't be human, but how about displaying some damn common sense? There are a few characters that are much more interesting, and they barely get air time, or get really crappy, almost pointless story lines. For example, I liked Mica's cousin Monica (who got so much air time I barely remembered her name), but she didn't have much of a story.

Happy Veterans Day

Two years ago, I went to DC for Veterans Day weekend:

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Vietnam Memorial

The Gettysburg Address in the Lincoln Memorial

Parisian Cat

This cat was hanging out in a garden area above the Les Halles subway stop/ shopping center. I wonder if he just happened to be in the area or if he was specifically put there along with a few other black cats as a Parisian image (after all, they keep crows at the Tower in England):

Art and Fashion

Portrait de Maidemoiselle Chanel

Monet is probably my favorite artist ever, but I always like to include the caveat that I don't much about art along with that statement. There are just a lot of artists I don't know anything about. Overall though, I tend to have a certain fondness for the Impressionist movement (I'm not a big fan of anything more recent). This portrait of Coco Chanel was in the basement of the Musee de L'Orangerie, and I really liked it. It was even cooler to discover that it was painted by a woman artist (go feminism!), Marie Laurencin, whom I'd never heard of before.

I also stopped by the Chanel store on Avenue Montaigne, and my god, that place makes the other couture stores look cheap. I saw a beautiful pair of boots at Christian Dior for 798 Euro and another pair at Prada for 750 (so pretty!) but the one pair I just happened to look at in Chanel were 10,000 - unless I read the label wrong (and I didn't even like them as much as the Prada ones). I don't think so, though. I wish I were rich (not that I could wear the clothes, because I don't think couture comes in anything above a 4, but I do like the accessories).

Funny News Story

So this? Kind of makes me want to go to that aquarium. Just hope I don't get water sprayed on me or rocks thrown at me. It's only two hours away - although with my superb directional skills, it would probably take at least 2.5 (I really hate driving in this country). I really should look at getting a new GPS for my car with European maps.

Via Feministe.

Nightlife

I went out last night. We had to go further away than we used to because the influx of new units in the area has caused many of the closer towns to become flooded with Soldiers. As a result, that leaves fewer bars for us officers to go to without running into our Soldiers, and also has created a few more issues with the communities not actually enjoying all the rambunctious Americans in their bars (nothing like combat arms guys to win the hearts and minds and help America's reputation).

It was fun although the second club we ended up with played more music of the techno variety than I would have liked. Throughout the night, we were rather amused by the random '80s songs that were remixed. However, one song in particular topped them all: at one point, they started playing a beat as background to someone speaking. After a few seconds, I realized, "that sounds like President Elect Obama. No, it can't be. It really sounds like him though." And then they got to the line, "yes, we can." I haven't been to any clubs in the States in a while, but the president elect being remixed to a techno beat just seems like something that would only happen in Europe.

And yes, I have seen the will.i.am video of "yes, we can" but he didn't exactly turn any speeches into a trance song.

Steeple Seeking Church

This is Tour St. Jaques, a Gothic tower that is all that remains of an old church. The travel book described it as closed for renovations so I'm not sure if that means you can usually go up it or what, not that I would. I have a strong dislike of old, narrow spiral staircases.

I'm going to be out and about this weekend, so expect even shorter updates if that's possible.

The Pantheon

I saw the Pantheon on my second day in France. Overall, I think I enjoyed that Saturday the most since it had a nice balance of everything. While Sunday had the Rodin Museum and the Water Lilies, it also had the Louvre which was way to overrun with tourists and slightly overwhelming. On Saturday, I managed to see quite a few sites, such as the Cluny, the Pantheon, Notre Dame and a few couture stores (Armani sun glasses!), all within walking distance of each other, and after a quick metro ride, I was at the Arc de Triomphe, and Avenue Champs Elysees (while I didn't buy much of anything, I got to see all the stores). I saw a lot while also having time to shop and enjoy myself. Sunday, I was definitely doing the annoying tourist thing of running from place to place just to be able to say I saw it and make sure I didn't miss anything. Anyway, this section of town was nice because right next to the Pantheon, there was also a beautiful church, but I'll show that later in the month.

German Cooking

I've been back in Germany for a little over three weeks now, and I finally had my first "German" meal today. Don't get me wrong, I've had German snacks, and foods that are available in Germany but not the States, such as Greek and Italian (trust me, they're completely different over here), but actual meal, tonight was the first.

I made Jaegerschnitzel and knodel. I'd invited Pivo over because I don't really like cooking just for myself, and I'm still working on the whole cooking thing, so he's kind of the guinea pig (last night I made cookies, and I didn't really like the way they turned out from the one bite I had, so I gave him half of them today to take home - he wouldn't take them all). He was a little surprised that I was using a premade dough for the knodel since I said I was making them, but that's how my mom always did it. Why make something from scratch when there are easier ways? And it's not like they were instant or out of the box. According to that argument, I didn't really make the Jaegerschnitzel, either - I just fried the pork and and then added water and a Maggi sauce powder. Either way, I heated, mixed and dirtied pots and pans - sounds like cooking to me. It's definitely a step up from my "take out of bag, place on cookie sheet/pizza pan and heat."

It actually turned out well, and I timed everything perfectly (for some reason, I'm really good at cooking pork; last time I made us chicken and noodles, and I got kind of irritated with the noodles, and boiled things over). And I got rid of some cookies. I figure this way I also don't have to worry about dieting too much because just the fact that I'm cooking with somewhat fresh ingredients has to be healthier than Iraq and my usual, pre-deployment diet. Of course, I am still going to keep a supply of Tombstone pizza and potato skins in the freezer. But I also have yoghurt and strawberries in my fridge. And I finally figured out where they keep the Brita filters in the PX - only had to ask two employees. I'll actually have cold water in my fridge again, and I generally prefer water anyway.

Stereotypical Paris Pictures

Look, other countries have giant phallic symbols, too! It's not just us.

Post-Election Day Thoughts

I seem to be doing really great with this posting once a day thing already. I really want to write something with more substance than I have (yesterday's quote wasn't originally supposed to be my only post of the day but I worked late, and then had company), but I can't think of any topics I feel like getting into at the moment.

I was very excited about the presidential election but less happy with some of the other outcomes. I'm so disappointed that Proposition 8 passed but relieved that all the abortion limitations were rejected. California also had a proposition on its ballot to give farm animals more space (they'd have to be able to at least stand and turn around in their living areas, in simplest terms) which passed. It's cool but how is it that we just showed more concern and care for some animals than for other human beings by denying them the simple right to be married and have the same privileges as other couples? We care more about farm stock than people?

I have more thoughts on the topic, and am kind of annoyed with all the little comments I'm already seeing about how "there won't be change" (would it be judgmental if I removed everyone from my Facebook friend list that had an anti-Obama statement?), but I don't want to get too close to that line for the Army. Not that it isn't obvious to anyone that knows me* or has ever read a single post on this blog who or what I believe in and support.

*At least after a five minute conversation - the two other platoon leaders in the company have both told me that their very first impression of me was conservative Christian type because I was quiet and reserved, and that fit more in line with the idea of a conservative (because liberals are never introverted, and obviously all the stereotypes of a conservative including the good ole boy, are of shy, quiet wallflowers - people, come on). They were pleasantly surprised (not so much because of the political views but because I was more than happy to go drinking).

Quote

"I also need to be a litte bit more careful about what I say on this blog. Apparently the LAPD and Captain Hammer are among our viewers." - Dr. Horrible, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Moulin Rouge

I love to watch movies, and I really liked Moulin Rouge (I really wish I were back in the States in the next month or two for all the new movies coming out, including Baz Luhrman's Australia). As a result, I decided to at least walk by the Moulin Rouge, so I could say I saw it even if I didn't go at night or see a show.

As I was walking there, I was really amused by the street it's located on:

As you can see, the entire street is clustered with sex shops, none of which looked very open at 9:30 in the morning.

My Iraq Reading List

My Deployment Reading List
The Final List (Aug '07 - Aug '08)

107. A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom
106. The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
105. Tracks by Louise Erdrich
104. Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
103. Naked by David Sedaris
102. Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende
101. The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich
100. The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust by Edith H. Beer and Susan Dworkin
99. When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America by Paula Giddings
98. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
97. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
96. I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
95. Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski
94. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
93. The Space Between Us by Thrity N. Umrigar
92. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
91. Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin
90. He's a Stud, She's a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know by Jessica Valenti
89. A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans
88. Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan
87. The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
86. Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett
85. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
84. Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende
83. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
82. Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big or Why Pie Is Not the Answer by Jen Lancaster
81. A Country Year: Living the Questions by Sue Hubbell
80. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
79. Digging to America by Anne Tyler
78. I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
77. The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
76. The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America
75. Imago by Octavia Butler
74. Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler
73. Dawn by Octavia Butler
72. Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body by Courtney E. Martin
71. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
70. A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe
69. The Blog of War: Front-Line Dispatches from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan by Matthew Currier Burden
68. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
67. Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why It Often Sucks in the City, or Who Are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? by Jen Lancaster
66. Sister Noon by Karen Joy Fowler
65. It's a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments by Amanda Marcotte
64. I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris
63. For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts' Advice to Women by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English
62. The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen: Passing, Quicksand and the Stories by Nella Larsen
61. Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon
60. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
59. From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture by Lynda Haas, Elizabeth Bell, Laura Sells
58. The Street by Ann Petry
57. Patternmaster by Octavia Butler
56. Clay's Ark by Octavia Butler
55. Mind of My Mind by Octavia Butler
54. Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
53. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
52. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
51. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
50. The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez
49. The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction by Rachel Maines
48. World Without End by Ken Follett
47. Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books by Maureen Corrigan
46. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
45. Psychoanalysis and Black Novels: Desire and the Protocols of Race by Claudia Tate
44. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
43. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
42. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar
41. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
40. Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday by Angela Y. Davis
39. Starting Out in the Evening by Brian Morton
38. Reconstructing Womanhood: The Emergence of the Afro-American Woman Novelist by Hazel V. Carby
37. Evelina by Frances Burney
36. Women of De Koh: Lives in an Iranian Village by Erika Friedl
35. A Feather on the Breath of God by Sigrid Nunez
34. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
33. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
32. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
31. Excabilur by Bernard Cornwell
30. Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell
29. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
28. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
27. After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
26. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
25. Kindred by Octavia Butler
24. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks
23. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
22. Women, Race and Class by Angela Y. Davis
21. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
20. I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert
19. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
18. Hard Core: Power, Pleasure, and the "Frenzy of the Visible" by Linda Williams
17. Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate by Leila Ahmed
16. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
15. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture and the Body by Susan Bordo
14. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
13. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
12. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
11. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
10. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
9. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
8. Consuming the Romantic Utopia: Love and the Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism by Eva Illouz
7. The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability by Laura Kipnis
6. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
5. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
4. The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Volume I by Michel Foucault
3. Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
2. Bound and Gagged: Pornography and the Politics of Fantasy in America by Laura Kipnis
1. Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Hands

I took this picture in the Rodin museum in Paris. It's not exactly one of those stereotypically Parisian images or sites, but some of my favorite parts of my weekend actually included the Rodin museum, the Cluny (or the museum formerly known as the Cluny), and the Musee de l'Orangerie (Impressionist paintings, including Monet's Waterlilies). I really like sculpture, what can I say. About half the pictures I took at the Louvre were of various sculptures.

One of the reasons that this particular piece, Hands, appealed to me as much as it did has to do with my great-grandmother. When I was young, we only lived in the United States until I was five years old, and until our final and permanent return when I was 13, we only visited once when I was about 8. As a result, I didn't actually get to know my great-grandmother very well - I don't remember anything from before I was 5, I met her again when I was 8, and she died when I was in 5th or 6th grade.

Despite that, from the stories my dad tells of her and his childhood, she always sounded like a warm and caring person, a true grandparent. I was the first person in the family to be named after her (my middle name is Pauline), and depending on how one interprets the story of my younger cousin Paul, possibly the only (his mother really wanted a son she could nickname PJ, so whether Paul is due to our great-grandmother or because it was a P-name isn't exactly clear to me). After she died, my grandmother asked if there was anything my parents wanted as a keepsake to remember her by. Of course, at this point we were in Germany and really had no clue what was in my great-grandmother's room at the home, so my dad requested a picture/wall hanging that we had given her for Christmas a few years before. It's hung in my room ever since, and displays two hands linked in prayer. As a result, seeing a sculpture of two hands kind of reminded me of her.

I was actually thinking about getting a picture of this to hang on my bedroom wall, but for some reason, the prices on AllPosters.com are showing up in Euro. It would also be slightly more fitting for me than praying hands given my lack of religious beliefs.

Speaking of grandparents, my grandfather kicked me out of his apartment on Friday. Yeah. I don't know.

I'm Back

So yes, I'm back. Finally, after an almost three month lull. It's not that I got busy, I just didn't have much to say - also, I kind of decided to end the deployment with a Buffy-thon, so rather than reading, I watched seven seasons of Buffy and five of Angel. I'm really looking forward to Whedon's new show, Dollhouse.

I'm also back in Germany. We arrived back home about two and a half weeks ago, and I finally got my internet up and running Thursday. Let's just say, that was a pain in the ass. I've spent the last few days catching up on two weeks worth of blog entries on Google Reader (and finally downloaded Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog), and now that my still left to read list is down to the more manageable 100 rather than 1000+, I figured I had time to start focusing on my blog again.

After fifteen months in theater, my unit had no deaths or injuries - unless you count the basketball court and other sports-related issues. Through just basketball, one guy got stitches by his eye and messed up his thumb, another bent his finger in an odd way, and Pivo broke his wrist/hand, which he then followed up with a rolled/sprained ankle while playing kickball (after all those accidents, he was greeted by a sign with the words "handicaptain accessible" on his office door - the guy who burned himself with radiator fluid actually had a sticker put on his chair that said flame retardant). That's just the basketball injuries I can remember off the top of my head, not to mention scratches, bruises, soreness and limping ("he stepped on me").

Now that I'm back in Germany, my posting topics will probably be a lot more random, and not quite as book-focused. I've also decided to attempt to participate in National Blog Posting Month, which means I will be posting once a day for the month. Be forewarned, if I can't think of anything to say, I will consider a picture from my Paris trip a post. Actually, I might do that anyway - have a picture of the day drawing from my pool of London and Paris pictures (my two big pre- and postdeployment trips). That way, when people ask me to send pictures, I can just tell them to look online.