If it's not Raven, it's crap...

Goethe puked here. There's a part of me that refuses to believe that only a week has gone by. Monday night I'll be back in Hamburg and I go right back to work on Tuesday. Needless to say, I don't really wanna. Luckily, it'll only be for like another three weeks and then it's Christmas time -- where I'll go to Gießen and officially meet the rest of Frosty's fam (but that's another post for a later date). Did I fulfill my vacation goals? I like to think so. I haven't checked my work email at all, I slept in and, in spite of Frosty's hectic school schedule, I even fit in some quality cuddle time (while, hopefully, being as unobtrusive as possible -- ninja cuddling?). Still, I didn't take any day-trips to the surrounding areas or visit any museums or galleries or the theater. However, since I'm not really interested in that stuff, it's not a huge loss.   Yesterday, I watched this crazy French movie called La Grande Bouffe ( Das große

I'm on vacation, currently taking a break from walking around the city and eating lunch in the "Coyote Café" in Tübingen (an American/Mexican restaurant/bar with free WLAN). And, since I don't have to perform any amazing feats of brain strength, I am indeed drinking a large beer with my lunch. Hooray for Germany, hooray for vacation!  Frosty is smack in the middle of his first semester at the university here, so even though his birthday was yesterday...he's been studying his ass off since I've arrived. As such, I've had to entertain myself most days, which has afforded me some much-needed "Me Time" My first impressions of Tübingen? Cute town, very hilly, a noticeable (at least to me and in comparison to Hamburg) lack of panhandlers and an almost equally noticeable abundance of unaccompanied school-aged children wandering around the streets seemingly unaware of oncoming cars. I just looked out the window of the café and there are four little girl

Welcome to the last year of your 20s, dummy...

Friday won't get here soon enough. I've hit that point right before you know that you're getting close to the time where you have a break from work-related responsibilities and for all intents and purposes your brain just all like, "Fuck it...let's just just put this shit in neutral and coast til the end of the week." Unfortunately, your boss probably isn't all too crazy about the idea and I tend to go with the party that signs my paychecks (which I suppose in this case I mean it more figuratively, since I quite literally don't get a signed paycheck). Since I haven't updated in a few days, I'll give you a rundown of what I've been up to: 1.) Book Club Kickoff: If you're like me (and I have a sneaking suspicion that many of you are *wink*) then you woke up one day only to realize that you're in your late 20s and you have no discernable "adult" hobbies (e.g. monocle/top hat collecting, acquiring a mortgage, playing some fan

Creator of Politaoke and parallel universe me (aka Supa D ).  Do you have a light brown complexion? Are you under 5'5"?  Is your hair curly or relaxed? Do you wear glasses (either occasionally or all the time)? Do how possess a wit, charm and a million dollar smile that melts the stoney cold hearts of all around you? Are you amply endowed in the chestal and/or buttocksal regions? If you answered yes to all of these questions...then it's quite possible that you and I have been (at some point in our lives) mistaken for one another. I don't know if you've ever been mistaken for someone else, but I have. A lot. Apparently, many people have cousins or friends with remarkably similar appearances as myself. Additionally, I have quite a few cousins and friends that you may have possibly somehow encountered and who have told you that they have a cousin or a friend that looks a lot like you. And so it happens. Back at home these cases of mistaken identity were not exactly fe

As you should all know by now, my roommate is all sorts of awesome. The video above is from a few weeks ago on a Sunday evening. I walked into the living room and found Schmiddy sitting on our new couch, listening to rap music and ironing a pair of jeans while wearing a ridiculous hat that he won after opening up a Milch-Schnitte (I don't know what it's called in English...cause I don't think we have anything like it). Anyway, all of these elements together pretty much sums up why I'm so fond of my roomie.

It's the future. At least, you know, to the people reading this in the States. It's 11:18 pm on November 5th (to be exact). From the time I got home after work yesterday, until the time the first projections started coming in was about a six hour wait. And you know what? I couldn't take it. On Monday, I was just feeling nervous; however, by Tuesday at 6pm (future time) I was basically having like a full on panic attack. Not dread, but having had a good two weeks from the time I sent in my absentee ballot to reflect on the ramifications of this year's election, the overwhelming significance really manifested itself in a physical way. One of the only things that kept me from passing out from the stress was keeping a close eye on my Facebook live feed. My network isn't absurdly huge, but it's a good cross section of friends and family from all over the country (and the world). It was amazing to see how pumped up everyone was and reassuring to see the updated statu

In general, I don't hang out with a lot of Americans here in Hamburg. I've been meaning to go to this expat/native english speaker meet up for like the past year, but every time the date approaches I forget or something more interesting comes up or I just plain don't feel like going. Still, I've managed to randomly run into more Americans than usual in the past few months -- at parties or gatherings whatnot. At the beginning, the almost immediate follow-up question after introductions had been made was, "Have you applied for your absentee ballot as yet?" Then, later this question turned into, "Has your absentee ballot arrived as yet?" For the past two or three weeks, introductions have almost been skipped over entirely. It's more like, you shake hands and the first thing out of your mouth or theirs is, "Did you vote?" A simple "Yes" seems to suffice. There hasn't been any, "Who did you vote for?" follow-up. Maybe

Ben Affleck hosted Saturday Night Live yesterday. I haven't seen the whole thing, but this skit definitely made me chuckle. Maybe it's because I know a German who was recently in NYC (although I'm fairly certain he did not wear a coat like this). Probably it mostly because there are some little pokes at Germans to which I can relate (i.e. emphasis on functionality and usage of "and so" to end a sentence). I don't know if the Oliver Bierhoff reference was on purpose or just coincidence. In this context it doesn't make sense, at least not to me... Still, I found it plenty amusing. And, oh goodness, I still <3 you, Ben...

Something that I don't think I've discussed here (aside from maybe a few mentions in passing) is the fact that up until about 10 years ago, I used to go to church. Not occasionally or on the traditionally church-y holidays...I'm talking about all the time. Sunday school, Sunday morning service, Sunday evening service, Wednesday evening service, Friday night youth group, daily morning (i.e. before sunrise) prayer meetings and the occasional Bible study. My knowledge of 80s and 90s contemporary Christian rock/pop music is pretty extensive. I'm not kidding about any of this at all. I did volunteer work for my church and even participated in a church-sponsored group that went around OKC doing puppet shows and skits for the children of women living in shelters for victims of domestic violence. Sometimes people are kind of surprised when they find this out about me. To me, it's somewhat of a vital part that has made me the person that I am today and (for the most part) I