ugh, again.

i've been so horrible lately keeping up with this! i'll blame it on the heat, as in the past 15 days, yesterday was the first where it was finally below 40° - this has killed all of my tomatoes AND pepper plants. *sigh*

anyhow, onto the topic of today's post. places i have no desire to live in (or visit). I am compiling this list, because someone [scott] is convinced that I think I'd be happier any place but Kansas. This simply isn't true! So without further ado, here is James' list of places he won't live (or visit.)

1) LA. no words can express my feelings towards LA or any of it's suburbs.
2) Las Vegas. bleck. I just can't get over the "glitzy" tackiness
3) Wyoming. there is something startlingly unsettling about the homophobia in WY.
4) Kentucky. despite it's abbreviation as KY, something tells me it wouldn't be so fun.
5) Florida. not appealing in the least.
5) Phoenix. sparawl sprawl sprawl.
6) the Caribbean. it seems far too touristy and doesn't seem very welcoming towards those of us of the homosexual persuasion.
7) the vast majority of Northern Africa. (well, Africa in general, but some spots, like Kenya or Madagascar would be cool to visit.)
8) much of the middle east/persian gulf. Iran would be cool, sans the ultra conservative politics. as would Omar.
9) China. well, at least major cities in China. the less densely populated areas would be pretty amazing, but so many people make me feel a bit overwhelmed.
10) the Philippines. i don't really have much of a reason other than it's never intrigued me like so many other places.

ok, that's my list. feel free to criticize at will.

until next time, tschüss meine Lieben!

OOPS

I promise, I didn't forget about my blog, I've just been a bit busy.

Now, for starters, Happy Bastille Day, to those of my FrancoPHone-Friends! Or as I like to write, the FPHF (sounds like "Ffffff") I shall celebrate by eating some pommes. I know, they're Belgian, but we'll pretend for shits and giggles.

On a much more serious note, I've had some turrrrible headaches lately. GD migraines! I'm not sure why, and I'd definitely like them to cease. Maybe I should get a restraining order?

Even more seriously, I think I've nailed down a time for my return to Deutschland! Hurrah! @Miriam, I'll email you with some specifics. It is still a long way off :'^[

I want to be back now!

Ok, that's it for today. Until next time.

*yawn*

had another German lesson with Margretta today! It was fun! German is one very complex language. but I am having a good time trying to learn. today, we worked on definite and indefinite articles. also did a little with vocabulary.

for my homework, i have to work on some charts, and i'm going to make some labels for items throughout the house.

after the lesson, scott and I decided to take a walk. unfortunately about 20mins into the walk, it started to rain. heavily. but, we ended up having fun, so we walked another 40mins in it. (I figured since we were wet anyway, may and try to enjoy it!)

now, we just got done watching the movie Flawless, which is a bit goofy, but it's cute, and sweet. plus, Jackie Beat is in it, and I love her!

tomorrow is Independence Day, so I get a day off! hooray! leisurely going to drink my coffee, eat my cereal, and take a long walk. which isn't that much different than a normal monday, except i have to do all those activities at breakneck speeds.

Ini- today it finally cooled off! it was only 28°! but, thursday and friday it was 38°!!! yuuuuckyyyyyy!

life is around you and within you

the spacebar on my laptop has decided to stop working. this, i assure you, is quite irritating. but, i'll survive!

today, i was incredibly proud of myself. i created a set of clothes lines, so i may air dry my clothes instead of using the mechanical dryer all the time. it will still have to be used for items like jeans, slacks, and shorts, but it will cut the amount of time the dryer is on! PLUS, it will help a great deal with all the wrinkles!

i also worked on my german today. Es ist nicht gut. i did this, in part, by listening to several Deutsche-Welle podcasts. i have come away with the information that there is a lot of discussion of Greek austerity cuts, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn. aside from that, i can tell you very little. OH, but I learned the word "die Wolke" which means, the cloud. jealous?

there are 328 days until i return to Deutschland! I am excited. And acutely aware of how sad it is that I am already counting down the days.

for now, I feel like watching a film. Tschüss!

dogs

Rowen has a bad habit of talking back to the television. I'm trying to watch Stonewall right now, and she keeps talking to the television.

it's a good thing i've watched it so many times that i have the entire film memorized.

mmk, time for an icy beverine and a cookie.

success!

new brew recipe for the coffee has been a success! i am very excited, and now able to enjoy iced coffee beverages at a much more reasonable price. Oh, if only i didn't love my coffee so much! (this is probably an additional issue to my waistline, but why cut out one of my few pleasures?)

walking has once again commenced. yesterday was pretty miserable on the way TO work. not because of the heat, but because after two weeks of not walking, it took me 38min to get to work, when normally it would take me 28-30min depending on wait time at stop lights. i'm going to try to go for 6 miles (or about 9.5km) a day. we'll see how this works. - it's easy on work days, it's ~4 miles to and from work, and then in the evening, i walk with scott and rowen for about 2-3 miles. saturday and sunday will be another story.

during my walk, yesterday morning, i had one of my "moments of clarity" that so frequently happen when i walk. i realized/understood my love of octopi. i can relate to them. they use their ink as a form of defense, and i feel like MY ink is a form of defensive measure, too. i am sure that sounds terribly silly. but it makes sense to me.

for now, back to work.

so!

i'm currently starting another batch of cold press. i made a finer ground coffee this time, and increased the amount of coffee from 85g to 100g. i also decreased the water from 330ml to 250ml. so, hopefully i'll get a better coffee. i'll find out tomorrow!

also, i'm working on my Deutsch! a co-worker is helping me learn. hopefully by the time i get back to Detuschland, i'll be able to communicate better (auf Deutsch).

On that thought; I'll be going back in late May. (master plan, May 26-June 15) If all goes according to plan, I'll be leaving in 334 days. Huzzah! (is it sad that i'm already starting a countdown?)

Last two thing, I promise.
1) In case you haven't had it, Stevia. Wonderful. And for me, it's Stevia season, 'cos I love it in my iced tea.
2) After two weeks of not walking (sorry body!) I'll be going back to walking every day again! yay!