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.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
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
Friday, November 28, 2008
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 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.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
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.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
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?)
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