So in grand bi-monthly tradition I will now cheerfully subject you to a longish list of Things That Make Me Smile, midsummer night edition (it was light until 11 pm here last night!). If you missed volumes one, two and three, these links will equally cheerfully provide them to you at no additional cost whatsoever. (You'll note how I get progressively happier as the months go by.)
- Elizabeth and I have become buff runner-types lately, braving the summer heat* and a mini-plague of creepy-crawlies to wow ourselves (and puzzle the guys across the street at the Hookah bar) with our determination and grace and vigor. Our usual running path takes us past the Elbe Bridge, over some train tracks and around the Wittenberg castle (the one that's home to the church on whose door Luther nailed his theses). Just today, we realized that that's sort of cool. Also making me smile currently is the fact that we just barely beat the lightning storm home. We sprinted the last bit. :-)
- I am reading the kind of book that sucks me into its world so violently and thoroughly that it irritates me slightly when I have to put the book down to go about my daily life. When I find books like these I wish I could just build a cocoon around myself and let the world simply pass on by while I binge on bygone days. My hair is on fire? Tell me tomorrow. You're going into labor? Can't you get someone *else* to drive you to the hospital? I have a book to be reading...
- Stroopwaffeln. The yummiest Dutch confection ever, now available at your local Edeka in handy 2-packs of gooey, waffle-y goodness.
- I came home from work the other day and ran into a full-on production of Faust. It was the final dress rehearsal, taking place in my very own backyard. A nice cast member explained to me that a traveling version of Faust is played every Friday and Saturday throughout the summer, beginning at the "Faust house" down the road and continuing on to my courtyard. Mephisto on wheels!
- At choir practice today, the medieval court ensemble came to play some pieces with us that we're singing in a service on Sunday. The ensemble consisted of a middle-aged married couple and five young boys, all playing various incarnations of recorder and one 7-stringed cello-looking thing called a gamba which required a lot of tuning. They did a commendable job, and I felt all medieval and cool. I no longer automatically think I suck at singing. This is a huge step for me. Also, Elizabeth and I wore our far-out wigs to choir practice to stir things up a bit. (Photos to come.)
- Two old friends are coming to visit on the weekend. I really haven't seen them much since college, but we have kept up through mass e-mails and the like. I always see Wittenberg through new eyes when visitors come. And I am getting to be a better and better tour guide, as I get to know the nooks and crannies and skeletons in our collective closet. See that tower? That's where the old lady lived for years with her goats and chickens and ten children...
- I have a roommate! Have I mentioned that lately? It's so fun to have someone greet me when I get home from work, a buddy to run with, someone to cook with (and for), someone to suggest new things to do and new ways of looking at life. Hooray for Elizabeth! It is really sad to think that she is leaving in August. But The Great Roommate Experiment was a smashing success and I am looking to repeat it next summer. Any takers? I can offer you free rent, a comfy sleeper sofa, cable TV (all in German, of course), a somewhat spotty but generally reliable internet connection, and home cookin' by Jess. Plus you'd have your days free to explore, study, write your autobiography, knit, whittle, whatever. It's close quarters, and I am not the tidiest person in the world (though by no means the messiest), but it's fun and most importantly, you'd get to hang out with *me* for a while. Plus you don't even need a visa for stays of up to three months. I am serious about this, folks. Just let me know! Former roommates get brownie points. :-)
3 comments:
Yea! for the things that make you smile! :)
Thank you for smiling with me, Carrie and ppb! :-)
Meckhead, I didn't mean to be so cryptic. What was making me smile was more the feeling of being sucked in to another universe, so I didn't add the details. But you people are always asking me for titles! The book is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, which was recommended by Greg over at heckuva far and, since it's the third most popular book ever in Germany (next to the Bible and Lord of the Rings), I actually found it in the tiny little English section of a bookstore nearby. I wish I had larger chunks of time to devote to reading it, but slowly works too. Maybe I should ask people for book recommendations again, since I am almost finished reading the last batch.
I love this.
Also, I love this: I am reading the kind of book that sucks me into its world so violently and thoroughly that it irritates me slightly when I have to put the book down to go about my daily life.
What's the book? I need some of that in my life!
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