Blythe Spirit

The best thing I saw on the internet today

Is this video. And that’s saying something, since the Oscar nominations were announced today too.

It will make you happy.

Books – January 2006

The Cowboy Way: Seasons of a Montana Ranch by David McCumber
If I had been paying attention, this is what I would have learned from my dad. Thank goodness David McCumber wrote a book about it so I could get caught up.

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
Last year, I read Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Lucy’s friend Ann Patchett. Inspiration for memoirists everywhere.

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Yum, a good thriller for the airplane.

Travels by Michael Crichton
Climbing mountains and levitating and writing about it all the while.

Provence & The Cote d’Azur Lonely Planet Travel Guide
I need a vacation from my vacation.

It’s from Russia

So I exaggerated a little yesterday when I insinuated that no one ever comes to visit us. My mom and her husband will arrive on Friday, and we’ll do the tourist thing around here for a few days before hopping the train to Switzerland and France. Since they are from Montana, -9 degrees Celsius will seem like a tropical vacation to them. And don’t think I’m the only one whining about the cold around here. When I ask my neighbors about the weather, they say, “It’s from Russia,” like I used to say, “It’s from Canada.” My mom is bringing me chocolate chips and the latest issue of Vanity Fair. Can’t wait to read the interview that Lindsay Lohan doesn’t want me to see.

Besides watching two episodes of Buffy every day (Now I understand what all the hype was about, except I’m not digging the Willow and Tara thing, if I were Willow I would have gone for Faith I think. Or maybe that’s some kind of subconscious homophobia on my part? Though I really believe it’s just that I’m not into whiners. And, by the way, James Marsters is my new TV boyfriend.), I am studying for the German driving exam. Apparently I should have obtained a Louisiana or North Dakota drivers license before I moved here, because in that case I wouldn’t have had to take the test. Or, on the bright side, I should be thankful I’m not from California, because those sun-worshipers must pass both the written and the driving test. I am required only to pass the written exam. While this might seem like a minor hurdle, keep in mind that the Germans are much more serious about these things than the American DMV. I can’t say that I blame them. Should I really have been allowed to drive a muti-ton vehicle through rush hour traffic in Chicago after simply achieving 69% on a multiple-choice test and correctly performing a left-hand turn at one of the five stoplights in my podunk (and I say that with great affection) hometown at the age of 15? I’m apparently supposed to memorize 1,800 (not kidding) question-and-answer pairs in order to pass this exam. (Did you notice that despite not being into whiners, I am allowed to whine I all I want? Just clarifying.) Then I will be legally allowed to drive on the Autobahn, where there is no speed limit. Just like Montana! But with smaller cars and highway dividers! This should be a piece of Kuchen.

These are the people in my neighborhood

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Ice skaters

Yesterday we took a long walk around Fürth. We really didn’t want to live here. We wanted to live in Nürnberg, near the old city where we could walk into the medieval center and up to the castle and feel like we were living In Europe. But apparently we arrived at the height of the Great Nürnberg Apartment Drought of 2005, because we couldn’t find anything that worked for us. And we got really frustrated, and our relocation agent got really frustrated, and we were beginning to see the same real estate agents over and over again and they were tired of looking at us.

So we found a great place we liked, and the nice landlord said he would build us a wall so that we could have an extra bedroom and our many relatives and friends could visit us. (Did I mention that no relatives or friends have visited us yet? Hint.) So we rented it and we really liked it. Except we just weren’t that jazzed about living in Fürth. It’s about fifteen minutes by subway to the center of Nürnberg, which isn’t bad, but it’s just not he same as looking out the window and seeing a castle. Here’s a map of the area if you want to see what I mean. When we tell people where we live they say, “Oh, you know, you’ll probably really like it there, it’s not so bad. I hear it’s an up-and-coming suburb.” Not to mention that it has been so cold here that all the umbrella tables that might make the cute village square up the street from our place look festive are frozen shut and covered with snow.

But yesterday the temperature rose above freezing and I could go outside without feeling like my eyelashes were going to snap off. We spent a couple of hours walking around our new home, and we figured out that it’s kind of nice. Pretty, even, with a big park and a pond where people ice skate. Lots of people, in fact! So that’s where everyone goes on Sunday when it seems like everyone else in Bavaria has been invited to a party and we didn’t get an invitation. Or maybe we just couldn’t read the invitation because it was in German.

So check out the photos of our new home. I hear it’s not so bad.

The obligatory David Hasselhoff post

Isn’t there an international law that all bloggers who live in Deutschland must post about “The Hoff?” And here’s an appropriate reason. Plus, there’s a dachshund in the video!

My best-of-3-games score was 81. Rock on.

Can you spare me a strike?

Blah blah blah, freezing cold, blah blah blah, reading books, blah blah blah, watching TV blah blah blah. But tonight we’re going BOWLING. I promise to post my score.

This is a PG-13 post

Lately, I’ve been reading this blog, written by a rancher in the Billings area. Is it possible that I’m waxing nostalgic for my bygone cowgirl days? Not really, but it’s nice to see and read something that seems so familiar to me, even when I disagree with his views. And his photos are lovely, they capture daily life on a ranch just as I remember it.

You’re probably wondering why I put the parental warning at the top of this one. It’s because, if you dig far enough into that blog, you’ll find an artsy photo of a bucket of freshly-harvested Rocky Mountain Oysters. Wiki that one if you don’t know what they are.

Back to Life

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Our building

I’ve been back in Germany for three weeks, roughly the same amount of time that I spent in the USA over the holidays. Our trip was all that we had hoped it would be. We basked in the simplicity of navigating a city that we know, in a language we can speak, amoong people who understand us. They are people who understand us in the literal sense (as in,they know what we mean when we say “I’ll have a burrito but can you add extra guacamole and leave out the onions?”) and also in the personal sense. We were surrounded by family members who love us even though we are jet lagged and cranky, and friends who do a great job of acting thrilled to see us. And no one forced us to show off our German to them, which was a good thing, because I forgot everything I’d learned, immediately after stepping into the customs area at the airport.

We knew it would be a shock to move from the bustle of the holidays (nephews and nieces giggling! parents doting! friends buying us drinks!), in the land where everyone was on vacation and everyone seemd to love us and we were surrounded by menus and street signs that we could read sans dictionary, to a place where we had a job to do, and a thesis to write, and a language to learn, and no one to call and catch a movie with. I realized one day last week that I hadn’t left the apartment in 72 hours. I have been using the cold weather as an excuse; temperatures hover around the freezing mark most days, and I can see the wind rattling the satellite dishes mounted on the roof next door. Today it is 12 degrees Fahrenheit. I know you Montanas are scoffing at me but my thick weather skin melted off in Oregon, so I’m a weenie now. But it was also a way to preserve my holiday, and to avoid the challenge of solving a new problem every time I turn a corner.

You’ll see from these photos of the outside of our apartment building that we made some outings over the weekend (I didn’t realize that Nurnberg is home to the largest IMAX screen in Europe – now we’ve seen a documentary about sharks while wearing 3-D glasses). This week I plan to find the local library. Wish me luck.

My Friend Flickr

I’m trying out a new toy. Here are some Christmas photos I’ve posted on Flickr, a fancy little photo hosting site that allows comments, tags, all kinds of neat-o stuff.

Want to see something cute?

Go to the “video” section of Fiona Apple’s website and scroll down and watch the clip of her producer’s 4- and 2-year-old (twin!) daughters singing along to her song “Tymps.” They actually came up with the subtitle. Hee.