Incoherent Scribblings

Peace and Quiet

A. left yesterday morning and will be gone until Wednesday. I am totally enjoying the peace and quiet!

I haven’t done much except cross-stitch while I watched the extended versions of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I also watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

I made enough spaghetti last night so that I won’t have to cook until A. comes home on Wednesday and I slept in the middle of the bed last night. I seriously considered really “bach”ing it up by not taking a shower, but that was asking a little too much.

Currently the only sounds in the house are the ticking of the wall clock, my typing fingers, and the snoring cats. Life is good.

The Itch to Stitch

I woke up this morning with the itch to stitch! The last couple of days I have been reorganizing my stash and in doing so I got lots of ideas for new projects! However, I also discovered that I am missing a color for “Passing Admirers.” So instead of working around it today, I decided to start a new project.

While printing out some previously downloaded patterns the other day, I started to think about the holidays and I found out I have a bunch of Halloween (my favorite holiday!) patterns. This morning, it was DMC’s “Witch on her Broomstick” that called to me. (Download the free pattern!) It is pretty small, so I imagine I will get it done in just a couple of days.

When I get my missing color for “Passing Admirers” it will be back to that project. I think I am going to like this whole “project rotation” thing!

The Contents of My Purse

They say that the contents of a woman’s purse say a lot about her. What do you think the contents of my purse say about me?

• Book (currently Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity to read on the train into town - or anywhere else for that matter!)
• Large light blue hair brush with lots of blonde hair
• Half-full bottle of Volvic Water
• Purse-pack of tissues
• Wild Berry Smint
• Umbrella
• Sack of (Caribbean-style) trail-mix
• Digital camera
• Sunglasses with pink and purple tinted lenses
• Fingernail file
• Pen and pencil
• Eye drops
• Carmex
• Strawberry-flavored Labello lip balm
• 2 old reciepts (one from a bookstore, the other from a craft store)
• Rubber band
• Purple velvet ponytail holder
• Passport
• Subway map
• Munich street map
• Small mirror
• AAA battery
• Oh Yeah… My Wallet (with assorted business cards, credit cards, and about 20 euros)
• But NO kitchen sink!

I’ll tell you what this list told me about myself… I may be prepared for anything, but it wouldn’t hurt me to clean out my purse once in a while!

Lesen auf Deutsch

About a week ago, A. and I had a discussion about my German reading ability and I didn’t much like what he said. He thought that I bordered on illiteracy in German. And let me tell you something… not only did that really rub me the wrong way me, but it got me to thinking.

I’ll be honest. Since I finished German classes a year ago I haven’t read too much German. I might glance at the newspaper headlines or the tele-text on TV once in a while, but that’s about it. When I really started thinking about it, I realized that it is very sad that I, who claim to like reading so much, have not taken the initiative to read in the language of the country where I live.

My main reasons excuses for not reading in German are:

• I haven’t found any German authors I like.
• Anything that sounds good to me is usually a German translation from English and why should I read something in German if I can read it in English?
• I don’t enjoy reading in German because it requires so much concentration.
• Since I don’t think in German, I have a hard time visualizing the story in my head.
• I have the reading level of a child and the reading tastes of an adult.
• It is just so frustrating!

But in addition to all that, is this: While it is true that I learned the basics of reading in English fairly quickly, the refinement of my reading skills took years. Therefore, why should I expect myself to read at the same level in German as I do in English when I only learned German two years ago? Of course, I also admit that I will never improve my German reading skills if I don’t practice them. And honestly, I do want to be able to read as well in German as I do in English.

So, I decided the other day I needed to think about reading in German. Not only why I didn’t want to do it, but how I could approach it so that I would want do it!

One thing I thought about was my oral comprehension: At first I had a very hard time understanding German and it wasn’t until (and I am a little ashamed to admit it) that I started watching TV that I really began to understand German. But even more, it wasn’t just TV watching in general that increased my ability; it was watching American movies and shows that I had already seen translated into German. I started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Gilmore Girls, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Friends, The Simpsons, and a host of other shows that I was familiar with. I found that when I knew the basic plot of the show I started to understand the language… not only of the show, but also of the conversations around me.

How could I apply this to reading, I wondered. First I decided that I must discard that second excuse for not reading in German. If something sounds good to me, I can always read it in English, but I shouldn’t refuse to read it in German. Second, I thought about my method for improving my oral comprehension ability and modified it to this: Why not try to read books that I am already familiar with? Since I will already know the plot and will be able to visualize it, I can focus on thinking/reading in German.

I also thought about my reading level in German and thought books written for a younger audience might be the way to go. So, I have decided to start by reading Harry Potter in German. First I need to buy them and then I can start with my experiment. Since A. is going to be away on a business trip the first part of next week and I will be home alone, I think it will be the perfect time to start!

Confessions of a Coke Addict

They say the first step in solving a problem is to admit that you have one:

So, here goes… My name is the blondelibrarian and I am addicted to Coke. How addicted I am to that sweet, bubbly, brown, cola-flavored liquid that I jokingly refer to as “Liquid Gold” I never fully realized until I decided to stop.

First let’s get one thing straight: I do not now, nor have I ever been able to drink Diet Coke. It just doesn’t taste like the “real thing” in my opinion. People have told me to keep drinking it because I will get used to it, but I just can’t. My Diet Coke experiment lasted all of three days. I don’t care what you say. It DOES NOT taste like Coke… just NutraSweet!

Second of all, while I can drink Pepsi, RC, or even a Jolt Cola in times of desperation, I choose Coke. I once did the (in)famous “Pepsi Challenge” and I chose Coke. The people doing the whole thing were so rude about it too: They wouldn’t even give me the rest of the Coke when I asked for it!

I used to drink a lot of Coke. In my heyday I could easily drink at least 2 or 3 liters a day. I drank Coke for breakfast and before I went to bed. My favorite drink was Jack and Coke and a friend once gave me a cook book entitled Classic Cooking with Coca-Cola. I drank Coke when I ate chocolate, potato chips, nuts, or cookies. Everything goes with Coke!

In the last few years I have tried to reduce my Coke intake and think I have done a pretty good job. I try to limit myself to about 3/4 liter per day and usually succeed.

However, a couple of weeks ago A. decided that he was no longer going to drink Coke and encouraged me to think about it too. After all, he told me, think of the calories and money I would save. I was resistant at first, but finally agreed to give it a whirl.

For three days I didn’t have so much as one sip of Coke. I drank plenty of milk, water, and even some wine, but no Coke. I had a headache, was tired for no apparent reason, and today I nearly snapped the lady’s head off at the book store when I was trying to explain that though I obviously speak English, I wanted Harry Potter in German.

I walked home grouchy and when I got home I was very thirsty. I looked in the fridge with every intention of drinking water, but the Coke was there looking so cold and refreshing… I just couldn’t take it anymore! I nearly ripped off the lid and in one long, swift drink drained half the bottle! And let me tell you something, never had a Coke tasted so good and I feel better now than I have in days. Yes, it is true. I admit it: I am addicted to Coke and you know what? I don’t care!