Dixie Peach

The Lazy Peach's Way Out

2009-07-29T22:07:00.003+02:00

Facebook is killing me. I waste more time messing with virtual farms and houses and mafia crews and taking inane quizzes. Maybe it makes up for my ability to get a houseplant to live for more than six months and YoVille houses never need cleaning but at any rate the virtual upkeep of these distractions wears on my desire to write. And you know what that leads to, don't you? Bulleted lists.

So - the search for a new flat goes on. The first one I looked at was wonderful. It still needed to have the main renovations done and still I could see that it was the perfect flat for us. Big rooms, perfect location - the works. I nearly wept when the lady from the rental company said they'd put in whatever floors we wanted and they'd retile the kitchen. Wept because there's no way we can live there. This building was originally built without an elevator and so when one was put in later they had to put it up one set of eight steep steps. The portable ramps we own won't work without being very hazardous and there's no way to get to the elevator otherwise. I still can't get that flat out of my head but I've had to stop mentioning around B. He feels so guilty that he's the reason we can't move there that when I talk about how much I loved that flat it hurts his feelings. Right now I'm working on getting the right combination of location, an elevator that goes all the way to the ground floor, price, and the right amount of space. We don't really need to move (so far) so we'll just take our time and keep looking.
I got my new glasses and I have to say that I like them. I see well out of them, they're comfortable and I think they look at least halfway decent on me. B likes them as well but he's very easy to please. I'll try to do the picture thing soon.
B and I planned on going out this weekend for our 10th wedding anniversary but that's not going to work out. He's got a problem with his left heel that will keep him from being able to wear a shoe or put any weight on his foot. A big disc of dead skin grew on his heel and normally it would get dry and peel off on its own but this time it created a sort of pressure sore underneath it. I got some cream from B's dermatologist that was supposed to help with the disc of skin coming off but it didn't work as well as we'd hoped and underneath the dead skin the pressure of it...I don't know...killed off the blood supply. Don't ask me - I don't know shit about this sort of pressure sore. It's like a pressure sore that's not open to the surface but fluid would build up underneath and created a blister and then it popped and leaked out and then the dead skin loosened but I didn't dare remove it because the sking underneath still looked raw. All I know is that while the dermatologist was on vacation in China I kept down any infection as best I could by cleaning the wound and slapping on a pantload of antibiotic cream. I did pretty well because by the time the dermatologist saw the wound today he congratulated me on keeping B's foot from getting too funky. The doctor then clipped off all the dead and funky skin and for the next two weeks I have to keep it cleaned and dressed and B has to stay in bed - no shoes, no sitting in a wheelchair with the weight of his leg pressing on his heel. B's afraid that he's disappointing me by not being able to take me out to celebrate our anniversay but I told it to him straight. Being married means we take care of each other and that's always going to be our priority, not going out to dinner.
I want to find whoever developed Januvia and kiss them. With tongue.

Friday Shuffle - Foiled Again Edition

2009-07-17T23:17:00.003+02:00

I was all revved up to show you pictures of the flat I won't be moving to but that fell through for today. The lady from the rental company was short handed at the office and couldn't leave so we're rescheduled for early Monday morning. I realize it seems ridiculous to be all hepped up about seeing a flat I won't live in but there is a bit of logic to my madness. First I'll get to see what the flats in that style of building are like in case one becomes free in a building where B can access the elevator. Second I need to talk to the rental company lady about getting me on any waiting lists for suitable buildings. And third, I'm a masochist. I want to see how nice this flat is and then whine about it for a few hours. Certainly not longer than a day. Honest.

Let's shuffle.

No Reply - The Beatles
For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her - Simon & Garfunkel
Sing - Travis
The Loving - XTC
Hold On - Sarah McLachlan
Man On The Moon - REM
Lyla - Oasis
The Pharoahs - Neko Case
I Want To Know - The Mavericks
Swoon - Maria Doyle Kennedy

Try, Try Again

2009-07-14T23:21:00.002+02:00

I found out today that the flat we'd be seeing on Friday doesn't have elevator access that goes to the ground floor. There are six steps up to the elevator so that puts us out. And the elevator doesn't seem to be large enough for B's wheelchair so even if there weren't steps it wouldn't be suitable anyway.

I knew I shouldn't have done this. Find a flat that seemed so perfect. Right floor plan, right number of square meters, right price and location. Next thing you know I'm picking out paint colors in my mind, planning on where I'm going to put furniture and imagining myself walking all of thirty seconds before I'm at the Christmas market. I start seeing myself in that perfect flat and then bam! One thing doesn't fit with us and I've spent my time daydreaming for nothing.

I'm still going to meet with the lady from the rental company on Friday. I'm fairly sure that there are other flats in that area in that style that, if not available right now, will be one day. Maybe we can get on a waiting list or something. We're not going to give up yet looking for our dream apartment but I think I'll say myself some frustration and disappointment by giving up the daydreaming.

Friday Shuffle - Time to Pack Edition

2009-07-10T23:34:00.003+02:00

Last Saturday after I got home from my trip to Hannover B asked me if I'd like to move. He wasn't sure how the conversation got started but sometime while I was gone he got to talking with my MIL and Gerd about us moving.

And just as soon as B mentioned the idea to me I became very enthusiastic.

You longtime readers will remember all the trouble I had with my former neighbors at our old building. If you don't know the story dig back into my archives starting in April 2005 and read through to the time when we moved in November 2005. Anyway, over time I've been a little dissatisfied with my flat. I hate my kitchen. I make no bones about that. I had a perfect kitchen at my old flat and now my kitchen is so small that I couldn't cuss a cat without getting a hair in my mouth. I'm not thrilled that I don't have a real view from my living room window and balcony. And then there are some problems with my neighbors. The people who live above me play the piano every day, sometimes for four or five hours at a time. The new guy who moved in at the end of my hall and his buddies leave their bikes in front of the mailboxes and they slam the door - usually between 2:00 and 3:00 AM. And someone keeps smoking in the elevator. That's the one that really irks me. I mean that one is beyond rule breaking and has entered the realm of illegal.

Back when we were looking for a new flat in 2005 we had considered moving a little closer to the old market square than we are now. The apartments there are the ones that were first built after the war and were always the ones that were the hardest to get. I had been afraid to live in them though because I was afraid that they'd be expensive to heat and I didn't know how well I'd do with living in the busiest part of the city. We settled on a flat that's about two blocks up from where we'd considered living and while it's not a bad flat, it simply doesn't have any personality.

I now like the idea of getting just that much closer to the center of town. Now that I know what it's like living down here I think it's something I could do with more intensity. Not just be a block away from all the action but be in the middle of it. So for the last week B and I have been looking online at available flats in that area. The street we'd most like to live on doesn't have any available flats but there's one around the corner that's available and we've reserved it for two weeks so that no one can rent it out from under us until we make a final decision. It's in a Stalinbau building - it's a style that was used in East Germany right after the war that's based upon a building style in Moscow. That means the walls are much thicker than the normal Plattenbau - buildings made of concrete plates and what is the most common style in the east. The flat we're interested in is on the 5th floor, is directly across the street from the mall, and has gated parking in the courtyard. The flat is about the same amount of square meters as we have now but it has one room less and no balcony so that means the rooms are larger. And would I be closer to the Christmas market? Ohhh baby. It hardly can be closer. The Christmas market wraps around three sides of the building (it's a huge building that covers the whole block) - the side where it's not located is the side where my front door would be.

The flat was recently vacated and is now being renovated and I have an appointment to view it next Friday. It's by no means a done deal. The elevator has to be easily accessable for B, all the doors have to be wide enough for his electric wheelchair to pass and we simply have to like it. Unlike the last time we moved we're not desperate and pressed for time. If for some reason we don't want to move to this flat, we'll find another but in any case, it looks like that sometime soon I'll be getting a new address.

I'll do anything to get out of washing the windows, won't I?

On to the shuffle.

We Own The Night - The Donnas
Suffragette City - David Bowie
And She Was - Talking Heads
Where Is My Mind? - Pixies
I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
Island In The Sun - Weezer
Mr. E's Beautiful Blues - Eels
Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad - Tammy Wynette
Five O'Clock World - The Vogues
Norwegian Wood - The Beatles

Plan for One Thing, Another Happens

2009-07-07T22:30:00.003+02:00

It was my intention to show y'all some pictures of Hannover from my Saturday spent there with Christina, Claire, and Claire's husband and son - popularly known as the German and the Dude. Unfortunately I realized today that the camera was set to take photos by lamplight and I was in the bright sunshine so the photos look as though they were taken with a blue filter over the lens. Maybe I can clean them up but I don't have the time or desire at the moment. Instead, let me entertain you with this beauty:

Wouldn't I like to know how this happened. The silver Audi is in a street parking space so perhaps the truck was backing out of the loading zone and smacked into it. Or the Audi became impatient with the truck, tried to drive around it and got smacked. I just happened to look out the window while I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water and when I saw it I had to grab the camera so I could later show it to B. He's so easily entertained.

So I have no photos of Hannover but let me assure you that we had a wonderful time. Other folks were expected to join us but kids and life in general got in the way and they ended up having to beg off so us five made do. It was a great day - warm but with a good breeze and enough sunshine to give me a mild sunburn. We met up at the train station and walked over to the new city hall which, despite it's name, is not particularly new but all the same quite pretty. Being as we're a trio of smart alecks, Christina, Claire and I would say "Don't do it! Don't do it! Back out before it's too late!" when we'd pass couples who were getting married and having their photos taken before the small lake in front of city hall. Lunch was at the Block Haus and I enjoyed it thoroughly, especially it was the first beef steak I've eaten since Bill Clinton was president. After our lunch we headed over to the Marschsee, a large man-made lake in the city. The sun was about to bake us alive so we parked ourselves under some shade trees at a beer garden and chatted and drank and refreshed ourselves before starting back for the train station. By then we'd walked a good ways so our trip back was at a slower pace but it gave us the opportunity to chat more, discuss the delicious scent of linden trees, read some Latin and see a pro democracy-in-Iran march.

More refreshment was needed by then so we stopped at a ice cream cafe - and that's when I noticed we had a problem. When I reached into my handbag to get out my wallet I noticed that my cell phone wasn't in it's little pocket inside my bag. Normally I'm positively anal about putting things in their proper place in my handbag so my cell phone being gone could only mean that I'd left it somewhere. While we were at the Marschsee I called B and that was the last time I remembered seeing it. Christina called my number to see if we could hear it ring and I wish someone had taken me a picture of with my handbag up to my ear trying to hear it ring so I could locate where it was - except none of us could hear it ring. Claire and I dug through my bag and couldn't find it. A second call to my phone didn't help either. All I could think is that after I'd called B I'd set the phone down on the bench instead of putting it back in my bag. It was hard to be upset about it though because I've been very disappointed in that phone since about two weeks after buying it and it's a pre-paid phone so I didn't have to worry about someone racking up a bill. I was dreading telling B though because I knew it wouldn't be very enthusiastic about having to replace a seldom used cell phone because I'd layed it down on a park bench in Hannover. Still it was worth the loss of a phone to be able to spend the day with Christina, Claire, the German and the Dude - who just may be the most well-behaved and charming toddler in the world. I was sweaty, hot, tired and my feet were swollen by the time I reached home but it was a well spent 4th of July holiday.

By Saturday night I'd ordered another cell phone. A fairly basic Nokia flip phone that I got for under 60€ and I'd planned on going to buy another SIM card come Monday morning. Sunday afternoon, just on a whim, I called my cell number again just to see if someone would answer and that's when I heard my handbag ring. I found the phone wedged under one of the inner pockets of my bag. Uhhh honey! About that phone we ordered for me...

It's red. And I like it way better than that crap Sony I lost and then found.

Friday Shuffle - Lifesize and Orange Edition

2009-07-03T22:21:00.004+02:00

I'm sure I've mentioned a ~~couple~~ seventy-jillion times that I absolutely dig Abraham Lincoln. While he was flawed and did some things during his life and during his presidency that could and did raise eyebrows, he was a master politician and accomplished the feat of preserving the union. We think the United States is polarized now? At least half of us hasn't broken off and declared itself to be a sovereign nation.

And macabre as it is, Abraham Lincoln also had a...well...an interesting death. Of course I believe it was a terrible tragedy for his family and for the nation because who knows how far back his death set back the south (Welcome to Revenge! I mean, Reconstruction!) but I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing and I can look at the assassination of Lincoln on its own. It fascinates me no end and always will.

Abraham Lincoln during his life was intelligent, determined, witty, eloquent, compassionate and a brilliant politician. However there was one thing he wasn't - Lincoln was never a giant block of Wisconsin cheddar cheese. At least he wasn't until today:

My friend, Mary Ann, who knows of my love of all things presidential and my special fascination with Lincoln pointed me yesterday to an article in the Washington Post that said a sculpture of Lincoln made entirely of cheddar cheese would be on display in Washington on, I believe, Constitution Avenue. For just three hours because cheese in Washington in July gets pretty skanky pretty fast and this cheese would later be divided up and given away. It was then that I began to lament that I no longer lived outside of DC and could not go see the Abe-as-Commander-in-Cheese sculpture. But I happen to have amazing friends. One of my amazing friends, Lorrie, who is so thoughtful and generous and who also is fortunate enough to live in DC, took a bit of time this afternoon to go see this (literally) cheesy sculpture and get me a few photos. Tell me that's not a great friend.

One time of year that I get homesick is when the 4th of July rolls around. The 4th is one of my favorite holidays. I dig all those parades and picnics and I really love the fireworks. I love my country. I may live abroad but I will never forget that I am an American and I am grateful for all that my country has provided me. Even presidents in cheddar.

On to the shuffle.

Reflections - Diana Ross & The Supremes
To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High) - Ryan Adams
Bright Young Thing - Albert Hammond, Jr.
Creep - Radiohead
Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups
Two Halves - My Morning Jacket
Angel - Adam Ant
All Over You - Live
Daughter - Loudon Wainwright III
Swoon - Maria Doyle Kennedy

Friday Shuffle - Already Said My Goodbyes Edition

2009-06-26T21:16:00.003+02:00

Like many of you I've been watching a lot of coverage of the death of Michael Jackson. I was shocked but not particularly surprised. Actually it would have been surprising for Michael Jackson to not die before becoming an old man. I don't think many could really feature a seventy-five year-old Michael Jackson.

I loved the Jackson 5 starting back when I was just a little kid. I loved Michael when he released Off the Wall and I thought Thriller was brilliant. And it's at that point where I stop. To me his subsequent music didn't have the same quality. Every song seemed to be filled with that hiccupy phrasing he used and all those annoying "Heehee!"s he'd throw in. Each album would be just a pale copy of the last pale copy. After Thriller I never spent another penny on his music except to replace in CD or MP3 what I'd lost in vinyl. Michael Jackson stopped being relevant to me sometime in 1984.

So when I heard that Michael Jackson had passed I didn't have the reaction that I'd miss him or his music. I have his music - the music he made that mattered to me. And the Michael Jackson I grew up with and loved faded from view about twenty-five years ago. I'd already lost an icon of my youth back in my youth.

I'm not sure what to think of the post-Thriller Michael. The duality of his personality is hard for me to understand. He seems to have been used by his family and yet remained close to them. He talked about how he didn't have a normal childhood but didn't seem to be letting his own children have a normal one either. He was known for being a kindhearted man who was compassionate and caring and yet he was accused of doing heinous things to young kids. If what he was accused of doing is true then it's repugnant and yet he truly didn't seem to get that anything he did was wrong. I don't mean that he was deep-down evil or he didn't care about consequences. I mean he just didn't get it. He just didn't seem to get what the real world was like. I have pity for the man while at the same time I have irritation at him.

I'm sorry for those fans of Michael Jackson who are mourning now. I'm sorry for his family and I'm sorry for his friends who will miss him. I wish I could feel sadder about this but I don't. I suppose it's because I did my mourning decades ago and the Michael Jackson who passed yesterday was a stranger to me.

Let's shuffle.

Heavy Cross - Gossip
Guitar Town - Steve Earle
You Never Know - Wilco
Her Diamonds - Rob Thomas
Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot
Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady
Golden Skans - Klaxons
This Ole House - Bette Midler
Leaving On A Jet Plane - Peter, Paul & Mary
Somebody To Love - Queen

Buyer's Remorse

2009-06-24T22:46:00.003+02:00

I've been wearing glasses since I was ten years old. There was a good twenty-five years where I wore contact lenses almost exclusively but since age caught up with me and I had to switch to bifocals I stopped wearing them except in a few instance when I didn't want to wear glasses and I knew I wouldn't have to read anything. Therefore it goes without saying that in the past thirty-seven years I've purchased my fair share of eyeglasses. And every single time it's a nightmare that leaves me feeling slightly sick afterwards.

My current pair of glasses is a pair that I don't like. I've never been very crazy about how they feel on me and so I don't wear them often. I have a cheap pair of glasses that are more comfortable but I don't see particularly well with them. It was time for me to get a new pair so off I went to the optician.

I tend to buy glasses that run to the conservative side of style. Classic, as the optician likes to call it. Now that I've resigned myself to wearing glasses full time I decided that I would break out a bit and get a pair that would be a little more stylish. More chic. More trendy. Less old lady. I go to the same optician and the same guy helps me each time. I told him that I was looking to get glasses that would be a bit different than my current pair and yet not make me look like an idiot. Heavy plastic frames, intense colors and off-beat shapes are great for some but I am not that some. Regardless of the years I've spent wearing glasses, I don't like them. I have never really felt comfortable in them and I don't think I'm really suited to wearing glasses. I don't have a glasses face. And I can count on one hand how many pair I've had that I have really liked. Actually I can count them on one finger.

I tried on at least a dozen pair of glasses. Some were on the flashy side and I immediately rejected them. Some were of the style I already have and while I was tempted to wimp out and get them I really wanted to get a more updated look. There was a pair that I'd tried on about four or five pair into the process that were good. I kept looking but I returned to them again and again, trying them on over and over to make sure that I could live with them. The legs are plastic and a bit wider than I've ever worn. And they're black. Not super black. Light black, if such a thing exists. The lenses are rectangular but not severely so and the frame around the lenses (they're rimless on the bottom) is a nice blue-gray. They're cute. They add some color and interest to my face. I think.

So I bought them. And while the frames were on sale (I got a third off) the lenses certainly weren't. Know what's the worst part about having to go to bifocal lenses? It's not the fact that it means you're getting older. It's the fact that bifocal lenses cost a king's ransom. I don't like to buy cheap lenses (the ones in my cheap spare pair are crap lenses and it definitely makes a difference in how well I see) but when all the elements get added up I still go into a state of shock. Buying a car doesn't send me into a fit like getting the total cost on a pair of bifocal glasses. The last time I went into such a state of shock was when I bought a four bedroom house.

Now I'm back home and now is when the doubt begins. Are those glasses really that cute? Maybe I was just settling. Maybe I think they're cute but others will see it and think I've lost my mind. And did I make the right decision on the lenses? Maybe I would see just as well if I'd gotten the middle grade lenses and would have saved a hundred bucks. And did I do the vision test right? All that "Is this better? This? Number one or number two?". All that pressure to pick! Did I involuntarily squint while reading the bottom line and didn't realize it? I've just bought a pair of glasses that cost me more than a month's rent and my monthly utilities combined. Have I done the right thing?

Tell you what. The glasses will be ready in about 2 1/2 weeks. If when I get them I feel brave enough to take a picture of myself so you can see them and you think they're terrible, do me a favor. Lie. Or at least break it to me gently because I'm going to be stuck with them for a few years.

Friday Shuffle - Music from Unexpected Sources Edition

2009-06-19T22:20:00.003+02:00

I'd planned on letting y'all in on what I've been doing for the past three weeks but since it's Friday let's just stick to a musical theme. I'll bear my soul next week.

I live smack in the middle of the city and my flat is very close to the university. It's the tradition here that when someone earns their doctorate degree that the person being honored rides on a barrel being pulled on a wagon while someone beats a drum and the honoree's friends parade along behind. We hear the drum beating fairly often and when we do either I or B will comment to the other, "There's a new doctor in town!".

When I heard the drum beats today I noticed that they were just a bit too rhythmic to be a regular new doctor's parade and there were some definite sounds of brass instruments being played so I tugged on some shoes, grabbed my camera and went outside to investigate and found this:

It was a jazz band from the Sax'n Anhalt music school (the state I live in is Sachsen-Anhalt so you can appreciate the play on the spelling) out across the street from my flat. They were out in front of a cabaret - I don't know if they were hired by the cabaret or it was just providence that brought them there but they were excellent. I sat there on a bench across the street from them as they played to the gathered crowd. They'd walk around the people as they played and get down on the level with the little kids and everyone loved them. I sat with my downstairs neighbor and her two little girls and watched the kids dance. Know what's so great about living in the middle of the city? A mini jazz concert can break out at any time.

My other tale of music today took me back in time about thirty-five years. A few years ago I wrote about elementary school and the fantastic music teacher we had who taught a bunch of kids to sing everything from Peter, Paul and Mary to the Cowsills to Manfred Mann to the music of Jesus Christ Superstar and Fiddler on the Roof. A few of us who went to school together have found one another again on Facebook and joined a group for those who attended our elementary school. Naturally a big part of the conversation within that group has centered on our beloved music teacher and she found us again as well and joined us. Those of us she taught were anxious to friend her and on her Facebook wall are lots of messages from folks who remember her fondly. Virtually every one of them thanks her for making music into something that has stayed an important part of their lives. Mrs. A is 70 years old now, lives in New England and still plays piano in a hotel lounge on weekends. She reports that many of those songs she taught us are part of her play list and the patrons often tell her they have their own fond memories of those tunes.

Our elemenary school choruses made a couple albums and I remember we were so proud of them. I'd lost mine years ago - in fact the hundreds of vinyl albums I had are gone forever...don't ask - but my old friend, Elaine, wrote to me and said she still had hers and she'd put the parts our class' chorus sang on CD for me. It arrived today and I played it immediately. Some of the songs I ddin't remember especially well but some are so burned into my brain that I could sing along with them without missing a word even though I haven't heard those songs in thirty years. The performances didn't sound perfect - the record was recored in the school's cafeteria so you can imagine what the acoustics were like - and there were all sorts of notes we didn't quite reach. I laughed at how crummy we sounded sometimes but we really weren't all that bad. And for what we may have lacked in pitch sometimes we made up for in enthusiasm. I remember that making these records was one of the highlights of our elementary school years and rehearing them now brings back memories I forgot I had.

Time to shuffle.

Clerkenwell Polka - Madness
Over It - Dinosaur Jr.
Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Rock Lobster - The B-52's
Heavy Cross - Gossip
For Emma - Bon Iver
Tiger Mountain Peasant Song - Fleet Foxes
One Day Like This - Elbow
Summertime Blues - Alan Jackson
Loreley - Blackmore's Night

Resurfacing

2009-06-17T22:24:00.002+02:00

I considered seeing if I could go three weeks without a blog entry but decided against it.

I'm fine here. Better than I've been in a while actually. I'll give you more details later - probably Friday - but for now I'll tell you that I've been spending the past few weeks trying to break a lot of old habits that have been holding me back. I've spend too much time doing what wasn't working for me and now I'm trying to refocus on what will work. And trying to use as many pretentious words like "refocus" as I can.

Now I must go eat a kiwi.

Friday Shuffle - Swing and Sway Edition

2009-05-29T22:34:00.005+02:00

Oops! You caught me. I was absolutely not paying attention and didn't realize how late in the evening it is. Y'all were expecting a shuffle and I was busy listening out the window to the folks on the street coming from the beer tent that's set up at the end of our block. That only means one thing - it's Pentecost weekend and that means it's Magdeburg's annual Stadtfest - city festival.

I look forward to Stadtfest every year. It's a bit like the Christmas market without all the Christmassy thing so it satisfies me until the actual Christmas market opens. There are shows on various stages spread around the downtown area where I live. There are rides and sale stands and of course lots and lots of yummy food that you probably shouldn't eat but do anyway because it's a festival, dang it all! I believe the root of the word "festival" is Latin and means "eat lots o' crap". And of course the Stadtfest wouldn't be complete without the beer tent - an enormous tent set up with tables and benches where folks gather to drink beer, eat more junk and listen to an enormous amount of German Volksmusik from a band from Bavaria. Music that's so hokey and ridiculous sounding when you first enter the tent but becomes fabulous and you find yourself clapping along or linking arms and swaying with your seatmates as you drink more and more beer. For years the beer tent's location would change. Some years it was down near the cathedral. Some years it was down by the river. Finally they figured out where it worked best and as luck would have it, the place it works best is at the end of my block. Just a few hundred meters walk and I'm there. Even better, just a few hundred meters walk and I'm back home to a clean bathroom.

How much one enjoys the Stadtfest depends a lot on how the weather is. The worst thunderstorm I've ever seen since I've lived here occurred when I was at the Stadtfest. One minute it was a warm, muggy late afternoon and the next minute the winds howled, the clouds puked rain and I was in fear of being electrocuted or having a tree limb whack me on the head. Three years ago when my sister and her family were visiting it was dreadfully damp and much too cool. It didn't slow us down any though. We hung out in the beer tent and drank and sang and laughed. It was the year when the band played "My Way" and my sister gave us a stunning (read: drunken) vocal interpretation of that song. I wish my sister remembered it because it's burned into my brain. I've never seen her so uninhibited but that's what happens when you're a little plowed and you're in a country where you don't live.

It's supposed to be somewhat warm this weekend - in the upper 60's - and hopefully not rainy so we're planning on getting Burkhard outside and down the street to the Stadtfest. We'll weave our way through the crowds, maybe watch a stage show or two, get some junk to eat and then we'll make our way to the beer tent. 'Cause it just ain't Stadtfest unless you hear the music.

Speaking of - let's shuffle.

Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen
Hidden Shame - Elvis Costello
Kiss And Tell - Alexander Rybak
That Look You Give That Guy - Eels
Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations
C'mon C'mon - Von Bondies
For What It's Worth - Placebo
Come And Get Your Love - Redbone
Cruel To Be Kind - Nick Lowe
She's A Rainbow - The Rolling Stones

First Day of Many

2009-05-27T22:21:00.003+02:00

Yesterday was one of those days you dread - the first of the season, in fact. Those days when it's too warm and too muggy and you're praying for a thunderstorm to come along and wash everything clean. We had storms predicted for our area and I was anxious for one to conjure itself up and give us some relief.

I'd just cleaned a winter's worth of grime from the plastic chairs that sit on my balcony - a necessity since I was wearing white slacks. I took the current book I'm reading, When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson, outside with me to sit for a spell.

Outside the air was thick with humidity despite the strong breeze that was blowing. My hair was pinned up at the back of my head. Loose tendrils of hair snaked around my neck, sweat slicked and sticking to my skin. I was barefoot and I propped up my feet on another chair.

I'd brought a cocktail with me. Not much of one - just a glass crammed with ice and two fingers of Martini Bianco and then filled to the top with Sprite Zero. A bit sweet but I told myself the lemony flavor would be refreshing and therefore displace some of the sweetness. The glass stood sweating on a flower cart and occasionally I'd have to fan away a bee before taking a drink. Tipsy bees.

Below me on the street I could hear the fountains gushing and the occasional sounds of splashing and laughing from little ones as they walked by and were unable to resist dipping their hands in. I had on sunglasses but they weren't very necessary. The sun would blaze and then duck behind thick, gray clouds and back out again. The breeze pushed the clouds farther and farther to the east but as of yet wouldn't build up to be a proper raincloud.

So I sat. And I read. I'd squint when the sun would catch the corner of my eye and I'd be happy when a strong breeze would cool the sweat on my neck. And I waited for the thunderstorm that never came.

Friday Shuffle - Not What I Expected Edition

2009-05-22T22:56:00.003+02:00

I was up to my elbows in taking a grilled chicken off the bone. It's a job that fairly grosses me out and I try not to think of what exactly I'm doing less I lose my appetite for chicken completely. Anyway, there I was with my hands covered in chicken grease, seasoning from the chicken beneath my nails, fairly nauseated from performing this rather disgusting task when I could hear B holler from the living room something that sounded like "fire" and "Fernseher" - the German word for television.

There were a couple things that caught my attention immediately. B nearly never mixes English and German words together in the same sentence - I'm the one that pulls that stunt. Second, B was hollering pretty loud which is very seldom. He has little control over his diaphragm so yelling is very difficult for him and he saves it for emergencies only. It can literally exhaust him to scream. The whole combination of yelling and mixing languages and of course hearing the word "fire" told me that I had to move and right now. As fast as I could I scurried from the kitchen to the living room to see the flames I'd find shooting from the television we've had for three weeks.

No flames. Just the regional news.

"What's going on?"

"I told you. Freya's on TV. Look! There she is again."

I stood there with grease coated hands and watched Freya tell the reporter why she as a young person wanted to run for political office now. Freya is the 22 year old daughter of our friend Kirsten and Freya is running for city council. She's been involved with the CDU political party for a few years now and this is her first time running for office. Anyway, when the report was over I turned to B and said "You know you really scared the daylights out of me! I thought the TV was on fire!"

"No, no! I was saying Freya was on the Fernseher."

"And you know what I was thinking when I was rushing in here thinking the TV was on fire? Not that you were in danger or that the TV was only three weeks old. I wasn't even thinking that it likely wouldn't be possible for the sound to be on the TV. I'm actually embarrassed to tell you what I was thinking as I ran in here."

"What?"

"All I could think was 'I'm going to ruin the TV touching it with my chicken grease covered hands'."

"We all have our priorities."

Time to shuffle.

Words Of Love - The Beatles
Night By Night - Michael Stanley Band
Katherine Hit Me - Franz Ferdinand
Hard To Beat - Hard-Fi
Burnin' For You - Blue Öyster Cult
I Was Zapped By The Lucky Super Rainbow - The Flaming Lips
Your Rocky Spine - Great Lake Swimmers
The Loving - XTC
Hey Now - Tenfold Loadstar
The Lark Ascending - Sir Adrian Boult, Hugh Bean & New Philharmonia Orchestra

Friday Shuffle - Who Needs a Calendar? Edition

2009-05-15T22:54:00.003+02:00

Hmmmm. Nearly forgot to write today as all day I've thought it was Saturday. B and I tend to live on a pretty regular schedule so when anything pops up to throw off that schedule, I'm hopeless to remember what day of the week it is. Have an unexpected appointment crop up or cancel a weekly event and I'm screwed. All day yesterday I thought it was Tuesday and all day today I've thought it was Saturday. Even flipped on the TV mid-afternoon to watch the soccer matches. It's not going to get any better next week either since the doctor's appointment we normally have every fourth Thursday will be on Tuesday instead and Thursday is a holiday here so I'm sure that day I'll think it's Sunday.

And that, my friends, is what's passing this week as current events.

You shuffle. I'm going to go have a Magnum bar. Ice cream doesn't care what day it is.

Peeled Apples - Manic Street Preachers
Spaceman - The Killers
Baby I'm A Fool - Melody Gardot
Gracie - Ben Folds
Sadness Soot - Grant-Lee Phillips
Silent Sigh - Badly Drawn Boy
See No Evil - Television
Everybody Loves You Now - Billy Joel
Pictures Of Lily - The Who
There Goes My Heart - The Mavericks

I'd Never Left But Now I'm Back

2009-05-11T23:10:00.002+02:00

I do apologize for being out of pocket for as long as I was without leaving word. It was just one of those things that sort of happens. I would plan to write a blog entry and then get caught up in other stuff and when I again had the thought to write it would be too late in the evening. The same sort of thing happens when I should call my mother - lots of good intentions but an equal amount of falling down on the job.

Let's get y'all caught up on the goings on in this joint.

Wheelchair - The saga seems to have finally come to an end. Naturally we had to call the medical supply company to get someone to pick up the chair and the lady B spoke with said she couldn't find a record of his old push wheelchair. Not surprising since he got it in about 1992. The lady said she'd call back after she found the record. The next day when I wasn't home B got a call from a guy who was a salesman for that company for many years and who B used to have all his dealings with. The guy called to say that he saw an order for the company to pick up his electric wheelchair. Egad! Do these people get anything correct? B told him of the screw up (this guy is now some sort of middle manage for the medical supply company) and the guy said he'd expedite an order to pick up the old push chair. And they did. Of course they didn't pick it up before the salvage company canceled two other appointments with us but it's now gone. And Middle Management Guy that B knows wants to come over for coffee and a chat. Believe me fella - it's going to be some chat.

Television - We got a new one. B has been wanting a new TV for over a year now and he'd been doing research online since before Christmas to find the right TV for us. When the new line of Sonys came out in Germany in April, B could not wait. Our local electronics stores didn't have them yet and when they did, it was my job to go down and buy one. I am the sort of customer salespeople love. I don't want a demonstration, I don't want you to tell me about the features. Just write me up a sales ticket, schedule delivery, let me pay and you can start counting your commission. I scheduled a delivery for the next day - sometime after 2:00pm. When it wasn't delivered by 6:15pm B started to panic a bit and called the store. They said they deliver until the store closes at 8:00pm and our TV was definitely on the truck. When it got to be 7:50pm the panic started again and once again the store assured us that we'd get our TV that day. The delivery guy arrived about 8:30pm and about had a stroke when he saw that he was by himself and would have to haul out our 100 pound old TV on his own. The salesman neglected to say on the delivery request that we had a big-ass TV even though I specifically told him we had a big-ass TV. Still the delivery guy got the old TV removed, the new one set up and even though he wasn't required to do anything more than plug in the TV and see that it came on, he hooked it up to our pay TV decoder box and our DVR. Even figured out why it wouldn't get sound through our pay TV service. The guy spent an hour messing around with it and absolutely earned every single cent of the nice tip I gave him. And B called the shop the next day to praise the delivery guy and the nice lady who was very patient with us when we called in a panic. Yay Saturn in Magdeburg! You're rock-a-licious!

And the television? Top quality. Both B and I have been staring at it like a couple goobers saying repeatedly "Look at that picture. Would you look at that picture? It's fantastic!"

Birthday - B celebrated his 50th birthday on Saturday. He's having a little trouble believing he's 50 years old because it just sounds so old so I take that opportunity to remind him that there was a time, his 25th birthday specifically, when people, himself included, thought it would be his last birthday on this earth. We had a nice party for him. Friends and family came over for cake and coffee in the afternoon which soon changed to drinks and dinner and then drinks and snacks. Lots of Jägermeister and beer was consumed but I limited myself to one glass of champagne. I don't do well being a hostess when I'm toasted on Jägermeister. The next day B's aunt and uncle came for coffee and cake which just stayed coffee and cake. They also brought with them some photographs B's uncle recently found and scanned. Some were of B from when he was about 5 years old and there were some from about 1974. At that time B was in the midst of growing his hair long and in the photos it was at the length where it made B look like Prince Valiant. It cracked me up to see them but it also choked me up a bit. Seeing B standing or holding something in his hand is something I've never seen him do and seeing it in a photo gets me a bit emotional.

And The Rest - Friends of ours gave B a beautiful orchid plant for his birthday. Shall we now take bets on how long it'll be before I cause its untimely death? I drove my MIL home this afternoon and noticed that sometime between Saturday afternoon and this afternoon somone had taken a nail or key and had scratched down the length of my car from 2/3 of the length of the passenger door to the tail light. I shit you not - if I ever found who did that I'd snatch his balls off like a paper towel. And finally, it's just now after midnight. My windows are open. And for some reason it smells like schnitzel and French fries outside.

Good grief. How could I have gone over 2 weeks without filling you in on tidbits like that?

Yikes!

2009-05-10T23:26:00.002+02:00

No posts in over two weeks! A record for me.

I apologize to any of you who got worried while I was out of pocket and I'm grateful for your concern. All is fine here. I did have a week of B being sick and then there was a week of getting ready for B's 50th birthday party. Add on top of it all that I honestly didn't have anything to write about that didn't sound like a laundry list of things to bitch about. While sharing the ups and downs with y'all is important, constant whining isn't and I don't want to be one of those who only writes when there's something going wrong.

How 'bout tomorrow I get y'all caught up with things in the Peach household?

Friday Shuffle - 800 Years Edition

2009-04-24T23:27:00.004+02:00

I love Magdeburg's cathedral. It sits in the middle of the city and Magdeburg is so flat that regardless of what direction you enter the city you can see it.

Today at the cathedral was the beginning of months of scheduled celebrations to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the laying of its cornerstone. On the same spot was originally an abbey built of wood which later became the city's cathedral but it was destroyed in a fire in 1207. Two years later in 1209 they began to rebuild the cathedral and it took about 300 years to complete.

In the summer when it's horribly hot outside it's lovely to go into the cathedral. The walls are all thick stone and it's always cool inside and I always feel comforted when I'm there, regardless of the time of year. There's a new pipe organ - the original had been completely destroyed during the 1945 bombing of Magdeburg - that's absolutely gorgeous. The baptismal font is huge - I understand it likely was originally to be a fountain or was a fountain - and is said to be thousands of years old. In one corner of the cathedral is an Ehrenmal - an honor memorial - that depicts the sadness and misery of war and candles for peace are lit at its base. The graves of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I and his first wife, Editha are there. And one of my favorite things at the cathedral is outside of the north entrance to the transept - the sculptures of the ten virgins from the Bible - five wise virgins who are smiling and happy because they brought their lamp oil to the wedding and five foolish virgins who are miserable and crying because they didn't bring their oil and have to miss the wedding feast. Their expressions are so compelling and I could study them for hours.

Over the centuries the cathedral has seen many changes and uses. Originally it was a Catholic cathedral but years after Martin Luther preached at other churches in Magdeburg, the priests at the cathedral coverted to Protestantism and it's still a Protestant cathedral. During the Thirty Years War the virtually only survivors of the slaughter of Magdeburg in 1631 were the the 4000 people who hid out in the cathedral and survived because the head priest of the cathedral, on his knees, begged General Tilly for the people to be spared. For a while the cathedral was used as a fortress and even for a time as a horse barn and sheep pen. It's been looted, had all it's windows smashed, been bombed and caught on fire, but 800 years after its construction began, it's still there. The renovation and repair of the cathedral is almost unending. I moved to Magdeburg in late 1997 and it wasn't until a couple months ago that I had ever seen the cathedral without one or the other of its towers covered in scaffolding.

And its bells. They're named Susanne, Apostolica and Dominica. I love their voices and if I happen to be close enough at noontime to hear them ring I pause what I'm doing until they stop.

During the time that Magdeburg was part of East Germany, most people here weren't religious but it never stopped the cathedral from being the heart of the city. It was a natural meeting place for folks to gather in 1989 to begin the Monday protest marches that were so instrumental in the demise of communism in East Germany. I think for a lot of people in Magdeburg the cathedral is their favorite building in the city and when they've been away for a while they get a feeling of being home again when they can see its towers in the distance. Even when I am in my flat I like to stand out on my balcony and look southward and see the cathedral. It gives me a feeling of being home even though my home is really thousands of miles away.

Let's shuffle.

Here In The Real World - Alan Jackson
Morning Star - Blackmore's Night
There Are No Goodbyes - Sophia
I Want You Now - The Feeling
I Wanna - The All-American Rejects
Spring Released - Grant-Lee Phillips
In The Mood - Glenn Miller Orchestra
Cecilia - Simon & Garfunkel
You Wanted More - Tonic
Spanish Flea - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

Have a great weekend. Go somewhere you love to be.

After Having Watched a News Piece About Asparagus Season

2009-04-21T21:48:00.002+02:00

B: Did you know that if you can asparagus while you're having your period, the asparagus will go bad?

Me: Where did you get that idea?

Everyone knows that. Everyone I know.

That's nothing but an old wives' tale or something. How in the world would having your period make the canning go bad? How would the asparagus know something like that? It's asparagus.

I don't know, but it does. When you touch the asparagus or something. Your chemistry or something makes it go bad. It'll be spoiled.

That sounds ridiculous. Who would believe something like that? That menstruation would make canning go bad?

Just canning asparagus. But it's true. Ask my mom.

You want me to ask your mother? The same woman who went to the village witch to make the warts on her fingers go away?

And it worked! She went to the witch and then her warts disappeared! Everyone went to the village witch to have their skin problems cured!

Well then. There you go.

Friday Shuffle - You're the Greatest! Edition

2009-04-17T23:02:00.004+02:00

I love you people. I love that you still show up here to read my meager offerings even when I start to blather on about the same topics over and over. You're awesomely awesome.

I figured I'd give y'all the love early because I've not got much else to offer. The wheelchair delivery was the high point. Oh. And that little stabilizing wheel the driver said was not there? Upon getting down and giving the wheelchair a better look-see I found the stabilizing wheel was right where it was supposed to be. Stupid, stupid delivery driver. And still no call to pick up the old chair. I'm really considering squeezing it into my Starlet over the weekend and leaving it in their parking lot.

Enough whining. If I don't stop now I'll start up on how I've got a sneaking suspicion that my MIL's birthday party on Saturday evening is going to turn into a cluster fuck. Don't get me started on that.

Better shuffle while I've got the opportunity.

Whiskey In The Jar - Metallica
Middle Man - The Bottle Rockets
A Matter Of Trust - Billy Joel
Hold On, Hold On - Neko Case
Southern Manners - The Watson Twins
Riot In Cell Block Number Nine - Wanda Jackson
Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels) - Jim Croce
Racing In The Street - Bruce Springsteen
Hell In A Bucket - Grateful Dead
Black Dog - Led Zeppelin

Immediate Seating Available

2009-04-15T23:00:00.003+02:00

B's new push wheelchair has arrived! I should be thrilled except they didn't bring two parts that belong to the chair and they didn't take away the old push wheelchair. I am never going to be shed of these people!

The delivery guy - someone who is not in danger of being named Mr. Congeniality anytime soon - wouldn't take away the old wheelchair because he "didn't have enough room" in his truck. Hell, in my world it looks like he lightened his load one wheelchair's worth when he came to my flat and therefore had enough room to take away the old one but what do I know? The driver is supposed to have his office call to make an appointment to come fetch the old chair. Shall I start taking bets on how long it'll be before we get that phone call?

In the meantime I'll have plenty to do with learning how to take apart and reassemble the new chair. Cross your fingers that I don't end up pinching mine.

I'm Taking Bets

2009-04-14T22:08:00.003+02:00

The medical supply company called this morning to say that B's push wheelchair will be delivered tomorrow between noon and 4:00pm. Think it'll happen? Think it'll happen during the time they said it would? Think it'll be the correct wheelchair? I have my doubts about it all. It's pretty sad to be doing business with a company that inspires no confidence whatsoever.

Friday Shuffle - In the Biblical Way Edition

2009-04-10T22:10:00.003+02:00

So far today I've watched on TV Spartacus, Ben-Hur and now I'm watching The Ten Commandments. If before Easter is over I can manage to catch a viewing of The Robe, King of Kings (distracting because in this one Jesus is kinda hot) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (who doesn't love a Swedish Jesus?), I'll have hit all the holy highlights.

In the meantime, let's shuffle.

Does Your Mother Know - ABBA
Said & Done - Kilians
She's Rather Be With Me - The Turtles
Beware Your Only Friend - Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Corduroy - Pearl Jam
Love Is Everywhere I Go - Sam Phillips
Chick Habit - April March
Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen
Lil' Jack Slade - Dixie Chicks
Long Cool Woman - The Hollies

Have a great weekend. Get out and enjoy the spring. Score half-price chocolate bunnies on Monday.

Complaining Just to Complain

2009-04-08T21:33:00.003+02:00

If you have to do something, you may as well enjoy it, right? That makes sense to me but regardless of how much I try, I can't like grocery shopping. It's boring. Pick up food, throw it in your cart, pick up food, throw it on the check out conveyor belt, pick up food, throw it back in your cart, wheel cart to your car, pick up food, throw it into your car. How delicious or decadent or how much I'm looking forward to eating the food does not negate the fact that getting the food and buying it is one dull-ass chore. I try to make the process go as smoothly and quickly as possible because I want to get the hell out of there and back home where I can engage in the second most boring chore - putting all the crap I bought away.

I go to the same grocery store week after week and I know where everything I buy is located. I may not be able to tell you where to find the capers and the olives because I never buy them (I'm guessing they're somewhere together) but by golly, I can go in that store and put my hands on tomato paste and bell peppers and butter and tea within moments because I buy them every week. If you get the hell out of my way, I can be in and out with a full cart of groceries in fifteen minutes, tops. Unfortunately no one is getting the hell out of my way.

Men are the worst culprits for slowing me down and the older they are, the worse they are. My husband would protest this and say that he would not be a grocery shopping albatross around my neck but he's wrong. They may vary in degrees of delaying me but they all delay me. Men are the worst for doing things like stopping their cart in the front of an aisle so that no one can get in or out and randomly staring into space. They have no idea about what brand they want to buy and if they're with their wives, they have to strike up an argument every aisle as they debate whether to buy this or that brand. I want to yank from them whatever it is they have in their hands, throw it in the cart and push them the hell out of the way. I mean if these people debate this much over which jar of instant coffee to buy, what must they be like when it comes to a real decision like when to have children or what car to buy?

I understand that people cannot help but bring their kids to the grocery store and of course kids are just going to be kids so I don't blame them for slowing me down but who I do blame are parents who: A: won't keep their kids from running up and down the aisles while they're off on another aisle arguing with each other about that jar of instant coffee and B: let their young kids push the cart. I understand, little one, that you're likely bored - believe me, I get that grocery shopping is boring - and you just want to help but Junior, if you bang that cart into my hip one more time I've gonna have to liven up your day by having you witness me beating your mother to a pulp because it's her that I'm holding responsible for my bruised hip.

God love old folks. Some of them walk slowly and they have trouble reading labels or reaching high shelves. I happily help them if I can. I would never wish to be disrespectful to them because, goodness knows, one day I'll be old as well and I'll be taking extra time to do my shopping. However, can they not do their grocery shopping during the less busy hours? Why do old folks wait until 5pm to shop - the time when folks who are tied up with work responsibilities can do their shopping? And it's not just a few here and there. I was at the grocery store today - I got there at 4:30pm and there were hordes of old folks! What were they doing all day that they had to pick that time to shop?

As you can likely tell I was grocery shopping late this afternoon. And I would have gone earlier in the day myself except that today is my MIL's birthday and between celebrating that and various other appointments today I wasn't able to leave B alone until after 4pm. Normally I just roll a dreaded trip to the store right off my back but since holidays are looming (Good Friday and Easter Sunday and Monday) and shops in Germany are closed on holidays, it was extra annoying. Extra men. Extra kids with lazy parents. Extra old folks. I should get extra credit because I was extra patient.

And I picked up some cheese to go with my whine.

Friday Shuffle - Diverted Edition

2009-04-03T22:43:00.004+02:00

I'm not the first to have noticed it. Recently Angela and Poppy have mentioned their noticing a decline in blogging popularity for the immediacy of Twitter and Facebook. And I'll admit that over the past few months I've found myself writing tweets and giving status updates on Facebook. Well, not so much tweet writing. I never did cotton to Twitter all that well. Facebook, however, is a whole different story. It's not so much my need to update folks on what I'm doing at that moment as much as my need to play those dopey games. I have a definite need to gather my folks and fight other Mafia crews in Mafia Wars, harvest and sell my crops on Farm Town and redecorate my flat in YoVille. It's the one flat I live in that's not grimy with dust. And those quizzes. What Greek God Are You? (Apollo) What Shakespearean Character Are You? (Viola) What TV-Sitcom Mom Are You? (Carol Brady. I was so disappointed with that!) What Swear Word Are You? (Shit) When B took that same quiz his result was "crap". That struck me as hilarious because it's dead-on accurate. He's a little bad, just not too bad. In reality I don't care what the results of these quizzes are but I take them compulsively just to satisfy my curiosity. At any rate - when I'm not here writing blog entries like I should be you can guess that I'm over there getting updated as to what my friends around the world are up to, catching up with folks I haven't seen since I graduated from high school nearly twenty-nine years ago (that may be one of the best parts of Facebook), tending to my farm, blackmailing cops, buying yet another rug and finding out what Gone With the Wind character I am. But don't give up on me completely. I'm not closing up shop here. And go read Angela's and Poppy's stuff as well. It's worth the detour.

I haven't made the complete plunge into the virtual life world just yet. On Thursday I had a human, face-to-face lunch with my new speaks-English-and-actually-lives-in-Magdeburg friend, Kerry. Fun, fun, fun. I'm a sucker for going out to lunch anyway and it's even better when it's with someone who is so enjoyable to talk with you have to keep checking your watch, not out of boredom but out of precaution - else you'll completely forget about time and she'll have kids abandoned at the Kindergarten and I'll have a husband at home dying for a simple drink of water. Really - Kerry is just lovely. She's got a terrific, friendly smile and she exudes this sort of confidence and ease that is very charming. And she loves to read. That thrilled me no end. Now I have someone with whom to share books with.

But no one tell her that the Gone With the Wind character I am most like is Scarlett O'Hara, okay?

Regardless of how much I Facebook and Twitter, the Friday Shuffle is an exclusive of my blog. Let's hit it.

Stranglehold - Ted Nugent
Kingdom Of Rust - Doves
Welcome To The Fold - Filter
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song - The Flaming Lips
1969 Again - Adam Ant
Mad About You - Belinda Carlisle
You Just May Be The One - The Monkees
Middle Cyclone - Neko Case
Where Is My Mind? - Pixies
Bicycle Race - Queen

Friday Shuffle - Wrap It Up Edition

2009-03-27T21:58:00.003+01:00

I can't think about that stupid wheelchair fiasco another day so until they call to have it delivered, I'm putting it out of my mind. Instead, let's just consider the rather unimportant and infinitely more pleasant things to think about.

I'm looking forward to turning the clocks an hour forward this weekend. Not only do I need the extra hours of daylight but my flat needs it as well. We're going to finally get a genuine spring day and I'm going to find an amazing amount of dust I've overlooked for months. I'm at the point where I'm all giddy to start the really gritty parts of spring cleaning. Shame that the giddy feeling won't last until I actually do the cleaning.

My husband bought me a surprise today. It should be delivered tomorrow. He has the crappy week and I get the gift. Tell me I didn't luck out in the spouse department.

Here's what I'm currently knitting:

That's the stitch detail of the leg of a sock I'm knitting. Best part of it? It's the easiest sort of two-color knitting there is short of getting someone else to do it for you.

I'm taking a Flat Stanley for a tour of Magdeburg early next week so I'll have pictures for you. I'd have done it this week but high winds, rain, sleet and snow and a boy made of paper aren't a good mix.

That's it. 'Cept for the shuffle. Hit it, Fletcher.

Satellite Mind - Metric
For Your Love - The Yardbirds
And She Was - Talking Heads
Go Out Tonight - Mando Diao
The Hazards of Love, Part 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle The Thistles Undone) - The Decemberists
Oh Yoko! - John Lennon
Here She Comes Again - Sasha
Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis
Mercury Blues - Alan Jackson