london ii (as in junior)

you may have guessed if you don't already know, but i am back in london. i have dubbed my new life, london II (as in Lord Albert II) because london, jr. just sounded so ... so ... american... and that would be inappropriate given my location.

i know it's been awhile but, as it turns out, when you settle, you make friends and you tell them what you're thinking instead of your computer. but here i am, unemployed in a new(ish) place and without me knowing, my computer has acted up out of old age and loneliness and said, "no" to my attempt to make it work again.

but i'm back. for now.

the return of cat?

maybe...

but if there were ever a reason to start posting again, even if temporarily, it would be to show off my adorable niece and nephew, whose adorable-ness cannot be expressed by a person who uses words like adorable-ness.

i didn't get to spend too much time with these guys during my short stay in new york but this is what i learned:

ryan (1 1/2) cries. that is how he expresses himself.

joie (3 1/2) uses her words and is arguably more articulate than ... is it i or me?

this may have been one of the only times ryan smiled for me, so i tried to get in as many pictures as possible:

 

quick link to pictures and more stories later!

i just chose my favourite 60 but will probably add more when i have some time.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hhkt9ax.3lg1mgid&x=0&y=-5tf65s&localeid=en_US

griechenland :)

it's been awhile. things have really settled here. i'm still working at the hostel and am in the process of fully working for the film company as well. www.f24film.de for anyone interested. eike's all grown up now with a real job.

i write because i'm off to greece today! back on the 9th with hopefully lots of pictures.

peas

normalcy

so i think i'm showing signs of stability. the symptoms are all there - work, a little money, health insurance, a home, etc. i'm unbelievably happy and have no more really great stories to tell. okay, that's a lie. i have a million stories to tell because hilarious/insane/smelly/weird people come into the hostel everyday but they just aren't right on paper and i think it's unethnical to post videos... it makes me a little sad though that life here is normalising and nothing shocks me enough to write about it...

it reminds me that while at potsdamer platz in berlin, we saw a section of the wall standing there. after careful observation, the east side of the wall is undoubtedly more interesting than the west side. this implies that oppression feeds creativity whilst democracy and capitalism feeds ... well nothing. what can be done about this?

...

in other news, i am now officially a master of ethnomusicology. results came out and i passed - woohoo :)

alright. not too much more to say. i'll be back in the states in less than 2 weeks :)
see you all soon.

my new (busy) life

so yea... another month gone by and who noticed? some things that have happened:

we went to berlin. it was very cool. it was a tad cold and we were also there to support rafi at the mtv extreme playground bmx competition but i got to see some things and the things i saw i liked. the first day was tiring (6:30am flight) and a packed architecture tour downtown but the other two days i got to walk around some neighbourhoods, visit some markets and it was awesome. pictures to come (?)

we went on my first winter overnight hike in the mountains. it was unbelievably beautiful and calm. it was a friends birthday and the mix of people somehow actually worked out well. i sang (gasp). definitely pictures to come.

the piano finally moved in! our fourth and final roommate and probably my favourite.

i started german class and i go everyday from 9-1. my teacher's name is jürgen and he is fantastic. the class is intense and difficult but supremely fun because of all the different accents.

i started working at a hostel. i have just started this job (my first day was yesterday) and i shared my shift with a girl named alexa. she was awesome. i get to use a little german but mostly we just listen to music and smile. work is relaxed and i get to wear jeans. it is also supremely fun because of all the different accents.

that's all. it doesn't sound like a lot but my sleep has already deteriorated to only about 7 1/2 hours per night, which is just enough to get by. it's a tough life.

hope you are all well.

new mixed tape: munich

i'm officially moving. i technically moved here in june but i guess until now i was never really sure what was going to be happening now, so since i'm still here, i consider myself re-planted.