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

Note: You might be saying to yourself, "This song. I don't think it means what you think it means." To which I would first respond, "Or does it?" and then "Are you trying to tell me that you don't care for the Isley Brothers? Then maybe you should move to ' community China '" Everyone should have their own Frosty . I mean not exactly like "my" Frosty , but something like their own equivalent, whatever that is. Today is his birthday, his 23rd to be exact. I was there for 21 and 22. This year we won't be (physically) together for 23, but that, as the Germans say, is schnick schnack. I must say, I've got a pretty awesome boyfriend. Who'da thunk it? Not only is he thoughful, intelligent and funny as fuck, but also politically engaged and generally just on top of shit. Long distance relationships are not easy *sweeping understatement* but we've talked/skyped/etc almost everyday (not including visits) for the past 2 year...

Click to enlarge I was looking for walking directions to the nearest post office, because even though I can almost see the damn thing from my apartment, I don't want to get myself all lost through these back streets (which I would inevitably do). However, when I used the Google function to find the "Deutsche Post" nearest to my apartment and then calculate the route, it came up with the result "Deutsche Post, I don't like you". Seems kind of passive aggressive, right? Well, a Google search of the phrase "Deutsche Post, I don't like you" came up with a Flickr pic of the post office branch that I was looking for. Turns out that the person who took the photo has just as much of a begrudging acceptance/hate relationship with the Deutsche Post as I do.

This is probably the best acoustic cover of a hip-hop track since Dynamite Hack did "Boyz N The Hood" (like what...Wikipedia says 9 years ago). I'd maybe even argue that it's even better than the N.W.A. cover. Die Orsons , a German hip-hop group, took an entirely unlistenable song ( "Turn My Swag On" by the apparently tone deaf and semi-literate Soulja Boy), lifts it out of its original swagger-tastic context and drops it into the context of an actual child soldier. To hilarious effect. No, not really. It's actually pretty sad. But really good.

This is my first week being officially unemployed. I was still on the payroll until the end of October...and now I'm not. I've been sending out applications and have even had a handful of interviews, nothing that I've really been too excited about (with one exception). I've been keeping myself busy by taking on a couple of side projects: a quick, but well-paid stint doing voiceover work for a video game and translating a forthcoming book about an infamous graffiti phantom in Hamburg. I should get a copy of it for my grandma for Christmas, so that she's not disappointed in me. That said, I have to either put these other projects aside now that I'm officially unemployed, lest it interfere with my unemployment money, or start persuing them regularly. But I don't want to freelance. Blah blah blah...not my point. Anyway, this is the first time in five weeks where I don't have at least some sort of daily deadline or meeting or whatnot on my plate. And ever sin...

Zilv's been in baking-mode all morning. These Wu-Tang cookies she made ain't nothin' to fuck with.

In my mind, I've already skipped over Halloween (even before yesterday) and past Thanksgiving (which has lost all meaning since I moved to Germany). And while Christmas and New Year's are holidays that I'm looking forward to, it's more about seeing Frosty , C.Dub and the Mettigel Gangstaz (literally: Ground Pork Porcupine Gangstaz). Crazy as it sounds, I'm already planning my 30th birthday. It should probably be noted that next year I'm only turning 29. That aside, I have some pretty ambitious plans that require a significant amount of pre-planning. I am also considering a three-birthdays-in-a-row type of scheme. Twenty-nine would be the "pre-party", 30 would be the "party" and 31 would be the "after-party". However, that might just be too ambitious. Still, I could use some feedback on my plans thus far. Without revealing too much, I have my dream venue in mind. I've gotten in touch with the people there and it's definite...