Looong time no post

Wow, almost a month has passed since I last posted something. So what's new?

- still loads to do at work, and it won't get any better in January. The afore-mentioned X-mas inferno wasn't so bad cos I had other things to do and someone else stepped in for me. Also, I had a talk with my boss that was very positive. It was kind of official, a sort of evaluation or whatever you call that. It was all good, as I said, and I even managed not to put myself down by saying what I'd critize about myself. Hm, that sentence sounds strange. Whatever.

- more furniture has been delivered to my new apartment. Still haven't moved in yet, though. Will do between Christmas and New Year's, I think.

- haven' t done anything for Christmas. No card written, only one present bought for my best friend. I really want to skip Christmas this year. No sign of snow either, but my colleague says it's supposed to be snowing next week. We'll see.

Trying out the new features

As you can probably tell if you've been here before, I've changed the template again.
Something darker for the dark season. Hm, that sounds scary. But you know what
I mean. I like the new features, such as "add page elements" etc. And I've found out
that ...@googlemail.com is the same as ...@gmail.com. At least in my case, both
addresses work. But what's this? There are no Zeilenumbrüche made automatically.
Strange. This sucks. I have to edit the post a thousand times until it fits the template. Argh.

Okay, do I have anything interesting to say? Lemme see ... Spent the weekend
packing more of my stuff into boxes. Didn't go to the movies on Friday. Had wanted
to see The Last Kiss with Zach Braff. Watched Scrubs on TV instead on Saturday
(new episodes started a couple of weeks ago).

Can't think when I'm hungry, as I am right this moment. So I'll finish this post quickly.
See you!

Edit: the automatic word wrapping is totally messed up. Don't really know what to do about it.
Edit #2: the sitemeter button is gone. Huh.

Christmas inferno ahead

And I mean both in the office and for me personally. Argh. At work, we have decided on a Christmas card that we’ll send out to our friends and partners (i.e. customers) and the cards are now being printed. I thought they’d arrive next week, but it takes much longer so they won’t arrive before Dec 4. Then we have to sign them and I’ll have to make about 200 address stickers. Yippie. We still haven’t decided on which gingerbread boxes we’re gonna send out. And who will have to put about 60 presents in boxes? No prizes for guessing. I hope it’s all gonna work out somehow. I still haven’t had a vacation in more than 6 months, which is my own fault, really. But I definitely need Monday Dec 11 off because that’s the day when my kitchen will be delivered (to my new apartment). Keep you’re fingers crossed for me.

Anyway, so much for the office part. For the private Christmas thing, I’m pretty clueless. Who to send cards to, which ones and when. Who to give a present and what. Argh. Haven’t been shopping in town for ages and haven’t been to the hairdresser for even longer. That’s what happens when you spend your weekends in furniture shops.

And there’s New Year’s, too. I don’t even want to think about it. My sister has made arrangements for herself, her boyfriend and her best friend and boyfriend. The 4 of them are going to go see some musical if I’m not mistaken. So I’ll basically be stuck with my parents. Hey-oh, how great. New Year’s depression straight ahead. Why do my friends have to live miles away?!

Blah. That’s that, please tune in again for the next fascinating edition of my spectacular life.

P.S.: I signed in with my Google account to switch to the new Blogger beta thing. But at the end of the process it said they'll send an e-mail to myusername@gmail.com. Problem is, my address is ...@googlemail.com, not gmail. I sense a disaster. If my blog miraculously disappears, you know why.

This year’s first snow

My stomach’s better so I went to the office as usual today. It’s now a quarter past 1 p.m. and it’s been snowing for about half an hour. The flakes are getting bigger by the minute. And the temperatures were below zero last night. So, the lovely and way too warm October is most definitely over. And guess who’s still driving around in a car that has summer tires? Right, that would be me. Damn. I’m not sure my dad can change tires. I wanted to do it with my sister this year, but she’s away on the weekend. Argh. I don’t want to have an accident. But it’s the same thing as last year: even if I want to go by public transport, I have to drive to the train station by car first. Why didn’t I move house earlier? Damn. And sorry about all my swearing.

Current faves

And another new post, wow! ; )

These are my favourite songs at the moment:

Over my head by The Fray
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
U & UR Hand by Pink
Totally Alright by Ian O’Brien-Docker
Fill my little world by The Feeling
I don’t need a man by The Pussycat Dolls
Hurt by Christina Aguilera
Crystal Ball by Keane

Whatever happened to the formatting buttons? I know I posted a while ago that they are now available when you're using Blogger with Opera browser. But they're gone again. Strange.

P.S. Has anybody tested Blogger beta? I tried to log in to it once but either it didn't work or I was too stupid to see the new features.

Sick

Didn’t go to work today cos my stomach isn’t quite okay. Have no idea why. Hope it goes away soon. Tomorrow is a holiday and I’ll meet my landlady and get the keys to my apartment. Did I ever mention the apartment? Don’t think so. So, yes, I found one. As I haven’t got any furniture, I can’t move in yet. I spent the past few weekends at furniture shops picking out things. It takes about 6 weeks for them to be delivered. Hope it won’t snow early this year cos then I’ll be having real problems driving to work. October was way too warm here. On Thursday last week it was 25 degrees. My colleagues and I went out for lunch and sat outside to eat. I’m still getting along well with everybody at work. And today is the last day of my 6 months trial period or whatever you call that. But that’s NOT the reason I’m not feeling well. But I so need a couple of days off. I just don’t know when to take them cos we have a huge project in November, a study my bosses have to present on the 21th. We’re getting the data next Monday. And I still haven’t been able to discuss this year’s Christmas presents list with my bosses. Wanted to do that today. Argh. I know, there’s still Thursday and Friday, but one of my bosses won’t be in the office on these days. Sigh. Sorry, I’m babbling.

Anyway, just wanted to say I’ve been busy and therefore haven’t been on the computer very often. (And I'm very sorry for not having read all my favourite blogs lately!) I hate my computer anyway. Stopped loving it when I destroyed all my files by formatting the hard drive. I want to get DSL in my flat but before that, I think I’ll have to let my colleagues look at my system. And buy a DVD (writer) drive because none of my drives is working. I can’t even watch the films a friend copied for me. So annoying. Okay, rambling again. Not interesting. See you, bye!

How disappointing

You Scored 50% Correct

You are a solid child of the 80s You'd never confuse Tiffany from Debbie And while you may not know Prince's first #1 hit You know every word to Little Red Corvette

How Much Do You Know About 80s Music?

This can't be true. I grew up with 80s music and work in a company that has to do with music. Damn. I wish these tests would tell you the correct answers after you've completed them.

Films

I went to the movies for the first time in months and what did I see as I rode (?) up the elevator to the 2nd floor (where the theatres are in my movie theatre of choice)? An oversized poster of Christian Bale’s face staring at me! It was an advertisement for his new film The Prestige. I hadn’t expected to see that and was annoyed that the cardboard thingy only said “Coming Soon”. The other 2 sides of the cardboard thingy showed Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johannson, BTW. Excellent cast, and good director (Christopher Nolan from Batman Begins). So when I was on the internet later I checked the release dates for the film. It opens in the UK in November, but I have to wait until January to see it here in Germany. That sucks. What also sucks is that the film’s website is programmed in Flash so I couldn’t enter it. I hate Flash pages.

As to the film I went to see last weekend, it was Deutschland: Ein Sommermärchen (Germany: A summer fairy tale), a documentary about our national soccer team at the world cup held here this summer. Good film. Funny interviews with semi-intelligent players. Main problem for me: too many songs by pseudo-religious German singer Xavier Naidoo, whom I can't stand.

Back from Mallorca

The long weekend in Mallorca was a lot of fun. The weather was good, we did a bit of shopping, went to 2 different beaches and spent a day in the spa/sauna/pool area of some expensive golf resort / hotel thing. Nice. One night we met a group of guys in a restaurant and the persuaded us to come along to a disco in El Arenal, the infamous party mile of the island. That wasn't as bad as I'd expected, although the DJ completely sucked and played some songs three times in the same night.

I only got 7 hours of sleep in 2 days, so I'm still pretty exhausted and I need much more coffee than usual to keep my eyes open.

The flights there and back were mixed. Take-offs were okay, but when the planes were landing my ears hurt so much it really wasn't funny anymore. Ouch.

update

Hm, update, or "just quickly", isn't that what I call every other post? Very creative, I know. But this week is crazy so I really can't say much. I'm taking a class this week, one that's hosted by our partner company for or clients. New assistants are always given the opportunity to take part so we see what the company actually does. It's quite interesting, but also very exhausting.

Also, I'll be going on a mini-break, so to speak, from Saturday to Monday. To Mallorca, an island in the Mediterranean that's very popular with German tourists. It's also a company thing, really, i.e. all the assistants go, which means 8 girls. From what I've heard from previous years, they want to drink for 3 days in a row. Not quite my idea of a holiday. We'll see. My guess is I'll be the spoilsport and they'll all hate me afterwards. But at least I have a cold now so I have an excuse to be grumpy. Heh.

The Pope

Oh cool, the latest version of my beloved Opera browser (9.01) supports the Blogger formatting buttons! Test

Um, yes, topic: as you might have heard, the new Pope is from Germany. Bavaria, more exactly. Where I am from, too, though not the same area. And he's coming for a visit to his home country today. I am Protestant and not very religious and I couldn't care less. But you just can't miss the media coverage of the event. It's everywhere on the radio and TV. Argh. I wish his visit was over already.

What else? I'm looking for an apartment. I'll look at one on Monday after work. It's in the small town or suburb where I work, although I'd rather move to Nürnberg (the city of which the place where I work is a suburb). But the apartment sounded good in the paper so I guess it won't hurt to look at it.

What’s in a name?

Here’s something that might be interesting for you English-speaking guys out there. Some film stars have names that sound very strange to German ears, or in other words: their names are normal German words.

Example 1: Kiefer Sutherland. Kiefer is the German word for jaw.

Example 2: Johnny Depp. Depp is used in Southern Germany (and Austria, probably) for an idiot, fool, dork or something along those lines.

Example 3: Halle Berry. I guess you could translate Halle as hall, but it doesn’t mean hall as in a hall in a dorm where you have rooms on either sides or something. It’s more like a venue, a location for sports events or concerts. Many places have a Stadthalle, for instance, which translates as town hall, but isn’t where the mayor’s office is, but, as I said, a place for concerts etc.

I’m sure there are more examples, but these are the only ones I can think of now.

If you watch ER...

... and have a sense of humour, you should check out Cranky Recaps. I stumbled upon this blog recently and found the Emergency Room recaps quite funny. Oh, and I ship Ray/Neela now. Not because of this blog, though, just because they were cute as roomies. If you don't know what a shipper is, I might explain some other time. (Am at work right now, busy busy)

Weird day

On Thursday night the service team aka the back office team aka the assistants went out for dinner to an Italian restaurant. We had a good time and the food tasted good. I was home at about 11.30. But on Friday morning, I felt awful. Stomach ache. I first thought I couldn’t go to work at all, but it got a little better so I went. But the cramps started again so after about 2 hours, I asked my colleagues if it was okay if I went home. There was nothing urgent to be done that day and they saw that I looked even paler than usual, so I could go. At home, I felt a little better, of course, but still very tired and hungry.

But I was well enough to go the soccer match I had tickets for. There was me and my sister and my dad, and my sister’s best friend and her boyfriend joined us later, i.e. they got to the stadium by motorbike while we went by public transport. It was the 2nd match of the season, and the 1st home match. We, i.e. the team (1. FCN, see www.fcn.de) had won the match the week before 3-0 so we were at the top of the table – a very unusual thing for this club. The atmosphere in the stadium was very good. FCN has the best fans in Germany anyway (that’s what they say, at least, hehe). And we got free flags before the match, sponsored by the team’s beer supplier. Yay. We scored after 5 minutes. More yay. Unfortunately, one of the best players was injured after 20 minutes and after that, the team kind of lost its orientation. They managed to keep the 1-0, though. Even more yay. As we had to catch the train back home, we couldn’t stay in the stadium for long after the end of the match. We were almost squeezed to death on the train back to the central station, but we caught our connection train and didn’t have to wait an hour until midnight for the next one. So that was Friday night.

Nothing major planned for the weekend. I’ll watch Veronica Mars and The O.C. this afternoon and listen to the Robbie Williams concert from Vienna (see other post below) on the radio tonight. Tomorrow I’ll make pizza with my sister for lunch. I hope my stomach’s gonna agree with that.

Random stuff

Yesterday: was in town again (as every Saturday, it seems) to get my eyes tested for my new glasses. Had to wait 45 minutes for the test and was quite angry because of that. Of course, I didn’t say anything, I just grumbled internally or whatever you want to call that. I kept looking at my watch because my parking time was running out and there were 2 other errands I had to run. I didn’t get a parking ticket, but I was sweaty and exhausted when I got back to my car. And in a bad mood, also because I was hungry. My mood got better in the afternoon, when there was that Juanes concert I love so much on TV. Could watch it in a neverending loop. So good. When it was over, I watched the parts of another concert that I had taped recently. There it’s just him and his guitar player with acoustic guitars. Wonderful. Gotta copy it to audio tape so I can listen to it in my car.

What else: watched Donnie Darko last night. Very strange film. Must look the symbolism up on the internet. I’m sure there’s a lot of info around somewhere.

Robbie Williams’ new song Rudebox completely sucks. He never should have split from his songwriter Guy Chambers. His most recent album ... (see, I can't even remember the title) wasn't as good as the ones before, and the next seems to be worse, judging from this first single. The German concerts of his European tour are over now. From what I’ve heard, he’s still a good entertainer, but his voice wasn’t the best and he couldn’t remember the lyrics sometimes. And he seems to be on drugs again. Well, who knows. I’ll still listen to his concert from Vienna. That will be broadcast by several radio stations the coming Saturday from 9 p.m. CET, for example by www.bayern3.de or www.radio24.ch if anyone wants to listen in.

Just to post something at all ...

Your Inner Pop Princess Is Kelly Clarkson

"Grew up in a small town And when the rain would fall down I'd just stare out my window Dreaming of what could be" No doubt about it, you have star quality. Might just take a while to get there.

Who's Your Inner Pop Princess?

Ha, I like the result! I was afraid I'd turn out to be Britney!

Kaufrausch

Und mal wieder was auf Deutsch zur Abwechslung.

Wie der Titel schon sagt, hab ich Kaufrausch und renne jeden Samstag in die Stadt zum Shoppen. Hab ziemlich viele neue Klamotten gekauft in letzter Zeit, z.B. Blusen für die Arbeit, also für's Büro, oder 2 Hosen, die ich allerdings gestern noch mal mit zurück in den Laden genommen hab, weil sie mir doch zu lang sind und ich sie kürzen lassen muss. Wo ich auch nie wiederstehen kann, ist bei Drogerien, also Müller oder dm, der allerdings in der Innenstadt keine Filiale hat dummerweise. Ist seit meiner Uni-Zeit meine Lieblingsdrogerie, weil die Sachen da einfach am billigsten sind und die Hausmarken (Balea etc.) auch gut sind. Äh ja, soviel zum heutigen Product Placement, hehe. Gestern war ich dann auch noch beim Friseur, hat aber nicht viel gebracht. Ich sollte im Stehen schlafen, damit die Haare auch mal länger als einen Tag okay aussehen.

Na, das war mal wieder ein spannender Beitrag, ne? Ich bin ja so tiefschürfend. Ich glaub, für tiefschürfende Sachen bräuchte ich ein Extra-Blog. Und mehr Zeit.

English summary: lately I can't stop myself from going shopping every Saturday. So I bought quite a lot of new clothes recently, and I can't walk past a drugstore without going in and buying something. Um, yes, very deep stuff from me, as usual ...

The news in short

Thursday/Friday: I was in Switzerland on a business trip with one of my co-workers/bosses. It was the city of Lucerne, a beautiful place full of rich English-speaking tourists. Our hotel was fabulous. The business thing went okay, as did the car drive.

Saturday: from 11 to 3 I went shopping. I want new glasses and found a nice model. I also found a comfortable and not too bad looking pair of shoes. In the evening I went to a concert by a Christian choir. A co-worker of mine, who plays in the band that accompanied the choir, had invited me. The music was really good although the whole thing was a bit too religious for my taste.

Sunday: computer, TV, heat.

Fixed ... I hope

My comp is up and running again. I got SP 1 and 2 now and AntiVir, a free antivirus software. And some other stuff. Still trying to re-build everything the way I had it before, which means downloading loads of desktop customization stuff, such as Rainlendar and skins and visual styles for XP. I’m so addicted to that stuff. Just can’t help myself, even though my sister claims that's what caused my problems. Pff. What I still need is a dock application, but ObjectDock is an 8 MB download, which is a lot if you’re on a dial-up modem so everything moves in slowmotion. Blah. Weekends are too short, that’s for sure. During the week, I always think of all the things I want to do on the weekends, but of course, when Sunday evening comes, I haven’t done any of them. Argh.

What else? I'll be going to Switzerland for a day, or a day and a half, on Thursday for a business thing, accompanying one of my bosses. I hope I won't have too much trouble with the accent cos Swiss German is pretty hard to understand. I remember when I was in London back in 1994 standing in front of Buckingham Palace, there were people talking next to me and a friend and at first I had no idea what language they were speaking until I suddenly realized it was Swiss German. Um, yes.

We've still got summer weather here, BTW. Very much so. I even wore a skirt to work last week, and shoes without socks. Spectacular, I know. : )

Nice week everyone!

TGIF!

Um, yes, I'm glad the weekend is ahead of me. Great news, isn't it?

Germany's out of the world cup, but it's okay with me. Not that I wouldn't have wanted our team to win the cup, but the way they played was much better than I had expected, so I'm not complaining.

I ordered 2 CDs recently. One is Final Straw by Snow Patrol. I love their song Run from that album and listened to clips of other songs on it and decided to get it. I've only listened to it once, it sounds okay. Maybe it'll grow on me. In the booklet it says "Parents of the world, be patient with your children" or something like that, which made me smile. No lyrics in the booklet, though, which was a disappointment.
The other CD is the latest album from a Swedish singer called Patrik Isaksson. (The album is also called Patrik Isaksson.) It's his fourth. I've got the first 2, but it's hard to find his stuff at all in Germany. The 2 CDs I already have I got in Denmark. The CD arrived today and I can't wait to listen to it when I get home from work. He's got a wonderful melancholy (if that's an adjective)voice. If he sang in English, I'm sure he'd be successful outside of Scandinavia, but maybe he doesn't want that.

Anyway, nice weekend everyone!

P.S.: Had to change the template again, couldn't stand the other one. I like this one much better (for now, haha).

The never-ending story of my computer problems

Last Sunday (i.e., a week ago), I successfully re-installed Windows XP Home with my recovery CD and also installed some software I had on CD. 2 days ago, I went online to get as much of the software I’d had before, above all my beloved Opera browser. When I went to their website, I saw that it looked very different and new because version 9 had just come out a few days before. I also succeeded in theme-patching XP so I can use visual styles again, which is important for me because I like changing the look of my desktop. I also downloaded the latest version of AntiVir, a free German anti-virus software and ran it on Sunday morning. That’s where the trouble started. First of all, the virus-scan wouldn’t finish. A scan of the local hard drive normally takes about 45 minutes. This time, the search went on for more than 6 hours. I thought it was because the software actually unpacked all archives whereas it normally skips them. Anyway, at some point there was a virus warning. It kept popping up about 15 times and then it started again after a minute or so. Apparently the anti-virus software couldn’t handle or heal or delete that particular virus. I tried to go online to download an update for my anti-virus software, but the download wouldn’t start. So I shut down the computer and used my old laptop to go online to look up some info about the virus. Guess what, it’s a very nasty one. A backdoor hax or whatever. Gives 3rd parties access to my data. People in support forums say, a re-install of Windows is the best solution. Argh!!! Not again!! Other ways of getting rid of the Trojan thing were described as well, but they were way too complicated for me. They consisted of downloading several programms, running them and posting log files etc. I did download one thing called Haxfix.exe and that actually seemed to help cos the virus warning didn’t show up on the screen again. But the anti-virus software doesn’t seem to be working either and another attempt to download an update failed.

Is anybody still reading? I know this isn’t very interesting, but I just need to vent. I think part of the problem is that the recovery CD I installed from doesn’t have Service Pack 1, which I had on my computer before. This seems to make the system unstable. For instance, Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn’t make the task manager pop up on the screen now. But maybe that’s unrelated to the SP1 thing. I’ll try to get that service pack, but I think I’ll have to format the hard drive again anyway. I’m so sick of everything. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Topic: football, what else?

So … what can I say? All of Germany is in a football world cup frenzy, basically. I’ve never seen so many German flags before. There are now small flags available which you can put on your car windows and you see loads of them everywhere. It’s a very strange sight for us Germans because the black, red and gold can normally only be seen when a right-wing party or some neo-nazis are having some sort of rally or whatever. Because of our recent history (Hitler, the 2nd world war, the Holocaust) we are normally very careful with any kind of patriotism such as waving our flag, but that has really changed over the past couple of weeks.

I was in Frankfurt on Saturday, which was the day when Germany played Sweden in Munich. As soon as I got on the train I could hear men chanting football songs etc. When I arrived in Frankfurt, it was as if the match was taking place there because of all the noise and the large number of people in football shirts. Most of them went to one of the so-called public viewing areas where huge video walls are set up. I did want to see the match, but not in one of those places. Luckily, me and the friend I was with found a nice bar with not too crazy people and a good view of a TV screen. And a cool drink, which was much-needed because it was very hot that day. The match was decided after 12 minutes (Germany was 2-0 up by then), but it wasn’t too boring to watch the rest of it. Afterwards, everybody was out in the streets and there was what we call “Autocorso”, i.e. cars cruising around the streets and honking like crazy. Thank God it was quiet on the train back home, expect for the last part of my journey. I swear there were the exact same fans chanting as in the morning.

While I’m slightly annoyed with all the hype, I must admit that I’m pleased to see that everything’s peaceful mostly. On the train back, there were a couple of Africans talking about football in French. When 2 Americans and their German relative (as far as I could tell) came to sit next to them, they all started talking to each other about the world cup. It’s really a friendly atmosphere and everybody seems to get on with each other and that’s really good to see. I had expected the Dutch fans to cause some trouble in Nürnberg after losing to Portugal on Sunday, but they must have been too depressed for that.

Anyway, Germany (aka “we”) are playing Argentina on Friday and I think that’s going to be really tough. Can’t say who I expect to win. Germany’s been playing much better than I had expected and I’m almost in last place in our office betting round, so don’t ask me how it’s gonna go down.

Veronica Mars is addictive!

Remember that my best friend came to visit me shortly after Easter back in April? While she was here we watched an episode of Veronica Mars (VM) on TV (I think it was ep 104). She hadn't seen the show before (it's on at 2 pm on Saturdays, a time when no one but me seems to be home to watch it) but she enjoyed it and when she was back home she managed to find more episodes and she and her boyfriend are really into it now and have seen the complete first season. I have only seen about half of it because the German network ZDF that airs it only shows it once a week, but in Austria or Switzerland it was on every weekday so they got through the season much faster. Anyway, I don't think my friend has been so addicted to a show before. That's normally my part. Okay, she loves other TV shows too, such as 24 or Sex and the City or Lost (also because I showed her the first few episodes on DVD), but I'm the obssessed one who searches for info and photo galleries and clips and wallpapers on the internet. But now it's my friend. And she's become a shipper (without knowing that word, I guess). We talked on the phone a couple of days ago. I said I'd managed to steer clear from any VM spoilers, but we ended up talking about some things I hadn't known before anyway. She didn't say clearly what would happen, it was more like „V gets a new boyfriend“ and I'd guess who it was then. Or I'd say that Veronica's dad is really cool and that it was a pity he broke up with Veronica's teacher and then she'd say he'd find someone new, someone who's been seen before and I'd ask „Not Wallace's mom?!“ and she'd say „Yes!“ and we'd both laugh. We're such fan-girls. But VM is really worth it. Great show. And the dubbed German version is pretty good, actually. I haven't seen many English clips to compare it to, but (Kristen Bell's voice (she's the actress who plays Veronica) sounds more like Manja Doering (who dubs her) than I expected. When I'm used to one voice (either the original one or the dubbed one) it always takes me a while to get used to the other one. With Dawson's Creek, for example, it was like this: I had only seen it in German for a number of years before seeing an English episode and I couldn't get used to how strange Joey Potter (i.e. Katie Holmes) sounded. Okay, enough of that ....

What else is there to say? The weather is still hot and sunny, but I wish it would rain so I won't have to water the garden every few days. Thursday was a holiday and I had Friday off, so it was a very long weekend for me. I didn't do much except for watching lots of football. Last night I saw a really good film: Far from Heaven (German title: Dem Himmel so fern) by director Todd Haynes (who Christian Bale fans will remember as the director of Velvet Goldmine). Julianne Moore got an Oscar nomination for her role. The film is set in Hartford, CT, in the 1950s. She plays housewife (or homemaker or whatever you call that) Kathy Whitaker who has to deal with problems in her oh so perfect marriage (Dennis Quaid plays her husband Frank) and starts spending time with her gardener Raymond (Dennis Haysbert). Of course the predominantly white community doesn't approve of a white woman befriending a man of colour (or whatever the politically correct term is). Etc. etc. The film is kind of an hommage to the melodramas of Douglas Sirk and co. (according to my TV magazine). Very well done, excellent acting, and New England looks beautiful in the fall.

Linkage

Just quickly (am at work) 3 websites I love and would like to share with you:

Saker som händer (Dinge, die passieren/Things that happen), a Swedish blog with cute little pictures or drawings of funny and not so funny things that happen in Minna’s life in Stockholm. It’s all in Swedish and I don’t understand half of it, but the drawings are still nice to look at.

Surfmusik , a directory of live streams of radio stations (and web TV) from all over the world. I find it much easier to access the streams from there than going via a station’s homepage.

LEO, an online dictionary for German-English and vice versa, and also for German-Spanish and German-French. I use it a lot at work, although I still prefer my hardcover 2 volume PONS dictionary, but that’s at home and not in the office.

I got tagged ...

.. at least I think I did. Anyway, I saw this in Jen's blog and now did it myself.

I AM: sitting at the computer and typing this.
I WANT: all the data back that I lost.
I HATE: lukewarm coffee, stupid music (DJ Bobo, Scooter, etc.), etc.
I MISS: living alone and close to my friends.
I FEAR: screwing up big time in my new job, hitting another deer, etc.
I HEAR: I still burn (song by German Idol 3 winner Tobias Regner) on the radio.
I WONDER: how much longer I'll be able to stand listening to my parents quarreling.
I REGRET: not going to the dentist for years.
I'M NOT: good at making decisions.
I DANCE: in my room to music I like (but not very often).
I SING: along to songs I like very loudly in my car.
I SEE: trees in the garden, and clouds passing by.
I CRY: not that much, but very easily at certain songs or kitschy films.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: careful with my words.
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: Thomas Kinkade puzzles when I have time.
I WRITE: e-mails and sometimes letters or postcards to my best friend. Oh, and summaries or recaps of every single episode of McLeod's Daughters, my favourite TV show at the moment.
I CONFUSE: people. (Sorry, don't know what to answer here really.)
I NEED: more self-confidence and experience in a lot of things
I SHOULD: sort out the mess and try to find my Windows XP CD.
I START: reading too many books at the same time.
I FINISH: this.

Mal wieder was auf Deutsch

Hab schon lang nix mehr auf Deutsch gepostet, und man will ja seinem Blog-Namen gerecht werden, gell?

Gibt leider nicht viel zu sagen. Das Wetter ist saukalt, wie wohl überall in Dtld zur Zeit.

Meine Arbeitstage sind immer noch nicht wirklich kürzer geworden, und werden es wohl auch so bald nicht. Heute gehe ich allerdings eher, weil ich zum Zahnarzt muss, ganz toll.

Ein langes Wochenende steht bevor, weil Pfingsten ist. Meine Schwester hat am Di Geburtstag und der Mon wird daher in eine Back-Orgie ausarten, weil sie Kuchen mit ins Büro nehmen will an ihrem Geburtstag. Also werden wir Muffins in einer Silikonform backen, was wir noch nie probiert haben. Hoffentlich klappt's.

Mein Blog-Template gefällt mir nicht mehr. Mist. Die anderen, die's bei Blogger gibt, sind genauso langweilig.

Hab letzte Woche Walk the Line gesehen, der war super. Und Elizabethtown, der war ganz nett.

English version:
The weather is awfully cold for this time of year. My workdays are still long. I have to go to the dentist later today. A long weekend is ahead of me (it's Whitsun) and as it's my sister's birthday on Tuesday, we'll be baking muffins on Monday so she can take them with her to the offic on her b-day. We've never tried any recipe from the book I bought a while ago, so I hope it's going to work out.

I don't like my current template anymore. And the other ones from Blogger are just as boring.

Comp update

I'm back online, obviously, and from my own comp this time. I managed to trick my comp, whose DVD drive decided to stop working at the crucial point when I wanted to actually install Windows (the before mentioned "26 minutes remaining"). So now I have a running system, but one which says I need to activate it within 30 days. Yippie. I still need to find my own Win XP CD - if I ever had one, which I'm not so sure anymore - or try using that recovery CD again, but not before next weekend.

Um, yes, what else? Christian Bale got a parking ticket. Go to www.justjared.com for pics. Not as spectacular as I thought. He looks as he always does in paparazzi shots. Very casual clothes. When I read the headline (Bale gets busted), I thought he was arrested.

OpenOffice.org is cool. That's all I can think of for now.

Nothing but trouble

When i booted my comp on Thursday (a national holiday), nothing happened. It kept shutting down and re-booting. So I got my XP recovery CD and formatted the hard drive. Thus, all my data was deleted. Yippie. I don’t even want to think about what exactly was all lost. All my pics, wallpapers, desktop themes, browser bookmarks, fonts, games etc. Anyway, C:\ was formatted, the installation files were loaded, installation started. Then, when it said “26 minutes left”, I was asked to insert the XP CD. And the searching began, cos I didn’t have it in the box where all my other CDs were stored. I searched a number of rooms in the house and even drove to my sister’s place cos I had lent her the CD a while ago when she had a problem with her laptop. Of course, I couldn’t find it anywhere. So I clicked cancel instead of ok. The installation continued, and some kind of Windows is on my comp, but there’s not much there. No IE, no WMP and lots of other stuff is probably missing, too. When I wanted to start the Drivers & Utilities CD I also have to fix things, it said runtime error. Great. I thought the solution was to get an XP CD from someone. On Friday evening, my sister’s best friend, who lives round the corner, was home and had such a CD and I borrowed it from her. I tried several things, but never got further than I had got before cos even when I had put the CD in the DVD drive (my CD-RW drive is broken) and clicked OK, nothing happened, i.e. the necessary files simply couldn’t be installed or copied from the CD for some reason. I thought maybe the comp was looking for them in the wrong drive (it said D:\i386 as the location), but even when I changed that to E:\, nothing happened. Argh. I really don’t know what to do and am seriously considering getting Linux, if it’s available for free. I am so annoyed by all this crap. I have 4 days off from work, but can’t enjoy them at all. I just want to scream and shout all day. Stupid computers. Oh, BTW, I have no idea why my comp wouldn’t start properly in the first place. I’ve been having problems for a while, such as the computer re-booting when I wanted to connect to the internet (via my slow dial-up modem), but I had gotten used to that. I don’t think it was a virus cos my anti-virus software downloads the latest updates whenever I go online. I’m so lost.

Sorry if all of the above wasn't very interesting. I just needed to write it down, I guess. And I wanted to let you know that you probably won't here from me for a while. At the moment, I'm online via my old laptop. My mood couldn't be worse and there's not even a new ep of Veronica Mars on today because of some stupid sports event. Also, the weather sucks. It's cold and rainy and windy. GRRRRRRRRRRR

Eurovision - oh my!

Last night – as every year for as long as I can remember (probably since the mid-1980s) – I watched the Eurovision song contest (formerly known as Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson or something like that, and still called Grand Prix in my family). It’s basically the same every year: lots of very colourful and very strange performances and not too great songs – although it really is a contest for song writers. The most famous band that ever took part is probably the Swedish group ABBA, who won in 1974 with the song Waterloo. This year I was really really proud of the German song and very much rooting for it and hoping for victory. The German band is called Texas Lightning. It consists of 4 German men and 1 Australian singer/songwriter. The song is No, no, never. As you can guess from the band's name, it's more or less a country song. But a good one, very light and sweet. It's the current no. 1 in our country's charts. The song really stood out among all the oriental beats and crazy dancers and female singers with their breasts almost popping out of their tiny tops. But guess who won? Finland. Now imagine the orcs from Lord of the Rings playing instruments, singing and wearing hats with the Finnish flag on them and you get the idea. The song wasn't the worst in the competition, but the oufits and make-up, really like straight from a horror movie ... I have no idea how anyone's gonna top that next year ...

For more info (in German) and pics go to Yahoo. English article here.

Okay, I was in a bit of a hurry when I posted the above last night. I'd like to add that this was the first time in 40 years (or so) that Finland has won, so it's okay cos it gets boring if the same countries win too often. And the winning song IS catchy, I have to admit that. I've been trying to get it out of my head, but more or less failed.

As to the presenters, one was a Greek singer who took part in the contest a couple of years ago. His first name's Sakis, that's all I can remember. And then there was Maria Menounos. I was surprised to see her there cos I only know her from a guest role in an episode of Without a Trace. I know she's an American TV presenter and I think she did a good job. I liked her hair better in the semi-final on Thursday. In the final on Saturday she looked like Debra Messing, so it was very appropriate when the guy who told them the vote from the Netherlands said "You look like Will & Grace", because Maria and Sakis really did.

not MIA, really, but sort of

I feel guilty for not having posted anything new on the weekend. But there just wasn't much to say.
My week looks like this:
Mon-Fri:
get up before 6
go to work
get home at about 7 pm
watch the latest ep of McLeod's Daughters (which I always tape in the afternoons)
watch more drama series, such as The 4400, ER, House, Without a Trace, depending on what day it is.

Sat & Sun
try to catch up with e-mails
surf around
try not to be too mad at my stupid comp (problems with DVDs, mostly)
spend time with my sister, if it's a week where she's not at her boyfriend's
watch TV (big surprise)

Blah. Most interesting post ever. As I said, not much to report, but at least my few dear readers know I'm still here.

checking in

Here I am again. My first week in the new job was okay. The people are very friendly but a lot of things are new and it'll take me a while to get used to them. I had to work pretty long hours (from 8.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.), I hope that won't always be the case. I hate having to get up at or before 6 a.m. (I'm very slow in the mornings.).

Yesterday I went shopping and to the hairdresser. Bought 3 blouses and lots of bras. And a cheap bag. I love bags. And of course, cosmetics. I can never resist.

Today my sister and her boyfriend came to visit. Blah. Weekend almost over. Time is running away from me.

Rothenburg

I wanted to write a full recap of our day in Rothenburg ob der Tauber about a week ago, but instead, I'll just post 3 pics we took (actually, my friend took them cos I didn't take my crappy digicam). Longer text about it might follow. Or not. I have too many ideas for blog entries that I never actually write or finish or post ...

The 30-second Rule

I got tagged by jeopardygirl, and this looked like fun, so here goes:

Rules: Bold the following that are true about you, italicize things you wish were true, add one true thing about you, and then tag five more people.

I miss somebody right now.
I don't watch much TV these days.
I love olive rice.
I own lots of books.
I wear glasses or contact lenses.
I love to play video games.
I've tried marijuana.
I've watched porn movies.

I have been in a threesome.
I have been the psycho-ex in a past relationship.
I believe honesty is usually the best policy.
I curse sometimes.
I have changed a lot mentally over the last year.
I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me.
I'm TOTALLY smart.
I've broken someone's bones.
I have a secret that I am ashamed to reveal.
I hate the rain.
I'm paranoid at times.
I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free.
I need money right now.
I love sushi.
I talk really, really fast.
I have fresh breath in the morning.
I have long hair.
I have lost money in Las Vegas.
I have at least one sibling.
I was born in a country outside of the U.S.
I have worn fake hair/fingernails/eyelashes in the past.
I couldn't survive without Caller I.D.
I like the way that I look.
I have lied to a good friend in the last 6 months.
I know how to cornrow. (What’s that?)
I am usually pessimistic.
I have a lot of mood swings.
I think prostitution should be legalized.
I think Britney Spears is pretty.
I have a hidden talent.
I'm always hyper no matter how much sugar I have.
I have a lot of friends.
I am currently single.
I have pecked someone of the same sex.
I enjoy talking on the phone.
I practically live in sweatpants or PJ pants. (only at home, not in public)
I love to shop.
I enjoy window shopping.
I would rather shop than eat.
I would classify myself as ghetto.
I'm bourgie and have worn a sweater tied around my shoulders.
I'm obsessed with my Xanga or Livejournal. (or Blog)
I don't hate anyone.
I'm a pretty good dancer.
I'm completely embarrassed to be seen with my mother.
I have a cell phone.
I believe in (a) God.
I watch MTV on a daily basis.
I have passed out drunk in the past 6 months.
I've rejected someone before.
I currently like someone.
I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I want to have children in the future.
I have changed a diaper before.
I've called the cops on a friend before.
I am a member of the Tom Green fan club.
I'm not allergic to anything.
I have a lot to learn.
I have been with someone at least 10 years older or younger.
I have scared people off with my enthusiasm.

I am shy around the opposite sex.
I'm online 24/7, even as an away message.
I have tried alcohol or drugs before. (just alcohol)
I have made a move on a friend's significant other or crush in the past.
I own the "South Park" movie.
I have avoided assignments at work/school to be on Xanga or Livejournal.
When I was a kid I played "the birds and the bees" with a neighbour or chum.
I enjoy some country music.
I would die for my best friends.
I think that Pizza Hut has the best pizza.
I watch soap operas whenever I can. (if German telenovelas at 6 or 7 p.m. count, too)
I'm obsessive, and often a perfectionist.
I have used my sexuality to advance my career. (This one made me laugh out loud)
I love Michael Jackson, scandals and all.
I know all the words to Slick Rick's "Children's Story".
Halloween is awesome because you get free candy.
I watch Spongebob Squarepants and I like it.
I have dated a close friend's ex.
I like surveys/memes.
I am happy at this moment.
I'm obsessed with guys.
I have pajamas with turtles on them

I am punk rockish.
I am preppy.
I go for older guys/girls, not younger.
I study for tests most of the time.
I tie my shoelaces differently from anyone I've ever met.
I can work on a car.
I love my job.
I am comfortable with who I am right now.
I have more than just my ears pierced.
I walk barefoot wherever I can.
I have jumped off a bridge.
I love sea turtles.
I spend ridiculous amounts of money on makeup. (Maybe not ridiculous amounts, but I can hardly ever resist going into a drugstore and buying stuff.)
I believe in prophetic dreams.
I plan on achieving a major goal/dream.
I'm proficient on a musical instrument.
I worked at McDonald's restaurant.
I hate office jobs.
I love sci-fi movies.
I think water rules.
I went to college out of state.
I am adopted.
I like sausage.
I am a pyro.
I love the Red Sox.
I have thrown up from crying too much.
I have been intentionally hurt by people that I loved.
I love kisses.
I fall for the worst people.
I adore bright colors.
I love Dear Abby.
I can't live without black eyeliner.
I think school is awesome.
I think pigtails serve a purpose.
I don't know why the hell I just did this stupid thing.
I usually like covers better than originals.
I don't like multi-textured ice cream.
I think John Cusack is adorable.
I f**king hate chain theme restaurants like Applebees and TGIFridays.
I watch Food Network way too much.
I love coaching youth sports.
I can pick up things with my toes.
I can't whistle.
I can move my tongue in waves, much like a snakes slither.
I have ridden/owned a horse.
I still have every journal I've ever written in.
I can't stick to a diet.
I talk in my sleep.
I've often thought that I was born in the wrong century.
I try to forget things by drowning them out with loads of distractions.
Climbing trees is a brilliant past-time.
I have jazz in my blood.
I would not be friends if they weren't family.
I wear a toe ring.
I have a tattoo.
I love vaginas.
I can't stand at LEAST one person that I work with.
I am a caffeine junkie.
I know who Santos L. Halper is.
I read trashy romance novels and I am ashamed.
I love wrestling.
I am completely tree-huggy spiritual, and I'm not ashamed at all.
If I knew I would get away with it, I would commit at least one murder.
I cosplay or know what cosplaying is.
I have been to over 15 conventions.
I will collect anything, and the more nonsensical, the better.
I enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner.
I am an artist.
I have a goal to collect every Johnny Depp movie ever made.
I have an unhealthy Taco Bell obsession.
I have had a crush on a cartoon character when I was a kid.
I have spent more on anime and manga than many spend on computers or other high end products.
I only clean my room when neccesary.
Weight is my enemy! I'm a serious chocoholic. (At least the 2nd part is very true of me.)
I absolutely adore animals.
I love surprises.
I love to be seen.
I often act without feeling for people.
I like arguing for the sake of arguing. (only with some people)
I think most girls look better with spectacles
My skin is peeling because i had been under the sun.
I want to ORD. (What?)
I like men who are much taller than me.
I need a hair cut.

Now I'm supposed to tag 5 people, but I don't really know who. Maybe continuitygirl?

Damn, the profile pic I just uploaded looks blurry and my Southpark me looks depressed although I know it's smiling. Argh.

The things I wanted to do ...

It's always like this with me. I have plans, but in the end I stay at home in front of the TV. On Wednesday, I wanted to go to the movies and see Inside Man, but in the end I didn't. Can't even say why.

Today I wanted to go shopping cos I need a couple of new clothes for my new job. But my left ankle's been hurting since yesterday so I don't feel like walking around town.

Argh. Also, the post about the things I did with my friend when she was here last week isn't finished yet. I'm such a lame-ass. *sigh*

Harry Potter Quiz

As Neville, you may be shy and clumsy, but you are loyal, gentle and generous, admired for your easy going nature.


Hm. Couldn't even remember what most of the HP terms meant. And I guess I read a spoiler in the quiz about book 6, regarding Dumbledore. Damn.

hey

Ha, greatest post title ever ... j/k ...

Just wanted to say that I'm back, sort of. My friend left yesterday. We had a great time and the weather was very good, too. I'll post more about what we've been up to later this week (I hope). Am not feeling too good at the moment. And I've got 2 appointments at the dentist this week, which doesn't make me feel better either. And there's so much I wanted to get done this month, but of course I didn't. I even forgot to look at some computer books when I was in this big bookstore on Saturday. Instead, I bought Nick Hornby's latest novel. Argh.

Happy Easter!

Not much to say, just wanted to post a picture of something that's very typical around here: Osterbrunnen (Easter fountains). The fountains are decorated with painted eggs. Looks nice, doesn't it. The pic I'm posting is actually from the place where I live (not from this year, though, but from 2 years ago, according to the photo info). I'm not saying where that is exactly. Found the pic here. If you've got loads of time, you can click through all the places listed there and try to find the pic - like an egg hunt, in the spirit of Easter, hehe.

Bad weather and Harry Potter

The weather totally sucks. Rain all morning long. And it’s so dark you want to stay in bed all day. On top of that, my dad is in a bad mood cos he can’t work in the garden in this weather and he doesn’t really know what to do with himself in the house. My sister is in Munich and they had about 4 inches of snow 2 days ago. Don’t we just love this awful weather?! My best friend is coming to visit next Wednesday and I so hope it’s going to be better by then.

I have finished Harry Potter 5 now. Poor boy. He was in such a bad mood more or less throughout the whole book. And who can blame him? He tells people about the return of Lord Voldemort and what happens? Nobody believes him, they even think he’s crazy. And this Dolores Umbridge character, very nasty! If you ask me, those are not children’s books at all. Maybe the first 2 volumes still were, but the newer ones, not in my opinion. Way too dark. Okay, I know, terrible things happen in fairytales, too, but those are fairytales and I think children don’t take them literally or aren’t in much danger to be harmed by them, but with HP it’s a bit different. Yes, it’s a fantasy novel, but it’s still somewhat grounded in reality. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of these people who say HP should be banned cos it encourages wizardry and witchcraft or whatever, I’m just saying it’s not for small children. But enough of that. Now I need to find jeopardygirl’s HP 5 trivia quiz in her blog archives.

Besuch beim Zahnarzt

Am Dienstag war ich beim Zahnarzt, seit Ewigkeiten mal wieder. War echt mehr als dringend nötig, mir tut’s an allen Ecken und Enden weh. Uah. Dummerweise hat die Praxis jetzt erst mal bis nächsten Donnerstag zu, d.h. es gab gestern nur eine kurze Bestandsaufnahme der diversen Baustellen. Der Arzt war übrigens sehr jung und sehr nett und er kam mir bekannt vor, ich weiß nur nicht, woher, was mich wahnsinnig macht. Ich hätte ihn gleich fragen sollen, obwohl ich nicht wüsste, wo ich ihn schon mal gesehen haben sollte. Vielleicht im Fernsehen, man weiß ja nie ... anders kann ich’s mir im Moment echt nicht erklären. Er hat rote Haare, das mag ich. Oh Mann, jetzt schwärm’ ich schon von meinem Zahnarzt, und das bei meiner Ärzte-Phobie ... Jedenfalls hab ich in einer rausgefallenen Plombe jetzt ein Provisorium drin und es hat noch nicht angefangen zu pochen. Dafür tut’s heute woanders weh. Echt blöd, aber selber schuld, weil ich eben zu lange nicht hingegangen bin. Übernächste Woche hab ich 2 weitere Termine, mal sehen, ob dann alles behoben werden kann. Und meine Weisheitszähne müssen auch raus, das war mir so klar. Davor graut mir echt, aber da ich nicht das Gefühl hab, dass da zur Zeit irgendwas wächst, schieb ich’s noch ein bisschen vor mir her. Ich kann ja auch schlecht, wenn ich meinen neuen Job im Mai anfange, gleich für diese OP freinehmen, was würde das denn für einen Eindruck machen? OP, schon bei dem Wort wird mir ganz schlecht. Wie überleb’ ich bloß jeden Dienstag Grey’s Anatomy und ER? Ganz einfach, Hände vor die Augen, haha.

I went to the dentist on Tuesday. For the first time in ages. It was high time cos several teeth hurt from time to time and I know there are holes in them. I didn’t get anything done yet, though, cos they had only squeezed me in on their last day before their Easter holidays, but I’ve got 2 more appointments in the week after next. The doctor was young and friendly. And cute. Red hair. And he looked strangely familiar, but I have no idea why and it’s driving me crazy trying to remember where we might have met before. Maybe I’ve seen him on TV, who knows? I should have asked him right away, but I was afraid he might think I’m crazy or using a bad pick-up line. My wisdom teeth have to be taken out, too. Surgery. The word alone is enough to make me feel sick. I wonder how I survive watching Grey’s Anatomy and ER every Tuesday. Ha, I know, by putting my hands in front of my eyes!

GNTM, T-Frage, usw.

Hab ganz vergessen, was über das Finale von Germany’s Next Topmodel zu schreiben: Lena G. hat gewonnen. War eh klar, irgendwie hatte man schon in der allerersten Sendung gemerkt, dass sie Heidis Liebling war. Macht aber nix, sie hatte einfach das strahlendste Aussehen. Ein bisschen leid tat es mir schon für Jennifer, eine der 2 fränkischen Kandidatinnen (ja ja, Lokalpatriotismus, ich weiß), die sich echt rausgemacht hatte, nachdem sie am Anfang wirklich aussah, als wäre ihr alles egal. Sie hat ihr Auftreten und ihre Ausstrahlung stark verbessert im Lauf der Sendung. Und ihren hoppelnden, wackelnden Laufstil fand ich witzig. Die 3. Finalistin Yvonne fand ich optisch auch geeignet, aber was die Intelligenz angeht, nicht so ganz auf der Höhe. Sie konnte ja kaum ein Wort Englisch. Klar, das kann man lernen, aber das hätte mal jemand deutlich zu ihr sagen sollen, dass sie schleunigst einen Kurs machen soll. Man muss sich doch verständigen können im „internationalen Model-Business“. Ein bisschen kindisch hat sie sich auch teilweise aufgeführt. Wie gesagt, mit dem Endergebnis bin ich zufrieden und es hat mich auch nicht überrascht. Ich freu mich schon auf die nächste Staffel der Sendung. Für mehr Infos über Lena und die Sendung: http://www.lena-fans.de/ (ist eine Fan-Seite, nicht die offizielle Seite des Senders, und toll, jetzt funzen die Hyperlinks nicht mehr oder wie??).

Die T-Frage ist entschieden … nicht Torhüter-Titan Olli Kahn, sondern Jens Lehmann wird im Tor der deutschen Fußball-Nationalmannschaft stehen. Großes Drama. Mir ist’s mehr oder weniger egal, obwohl ich Kahn noch nie leiden konnte, schon allein deswegen nicht, weil er und der FC Bayern insgesamt mir zu arrogant ist. Mir gehen die ganzen WM-Countdowns und der ganze Hype bevor irgendwas losgegangen ist, sowieso total auf die Nerven. Noch 65 Tage (oder so), oh Gott oh Gott. Was Fußball angeht, bin ich außerdem überhaupt nicht patriotisch. Ich bin für die Mannschaft mit den süßeren Spielern, so einfach ist das.

In English:Totally forgot to write about the winner of GNTM: Lena G made it. I wasn’t surprised cos Heidi Klum seemed to like her best right from the start. And rightly so cos she had the most radiant look of all girls. I also liked the other finalist Jennifer, not only cos she’s from around here, but because she really made a lot of progress. She had to overcome her shyness and really learned how to present herself. The 3rd finalist Yvonne looked good, too, but she hardly spoke any English, which IMO is very important if you want to be an international model. Someone should have told her to take lessons. Anyway, I’m happy with the result of the show and looking forward to the next season.

The big „T-Question“ has been decided. Jürgen Klinsmann, the coach of our national football (soccer) team announced yesterday who will be the number 1 in the German goal. It won’t be “King Kahn”, i.e. Oliver Kahn, the goalkeeper of FC Bayern München, but Jens Lehmann, who plays for Arsenal (London) at the moment. I never liked Kahn anyway cos he’s arrogant. And the whole pre-world cup hype is getting on my nerves, too. I’m not patriotic when it comes to football, BTW. I support the team that has the cutest players. Hee.

P.S.: As you can see, I changed the template again. I needed something that looks more like spring, and the wintery-blue I had before wasn't right anymore.
I've also added my friend Sam to the links in the sidebar. She's great at Photoshop and a TV-show fan and shipper like myself.

My Saturday

First of all, I’m gonna be more specific about where I’m from cos it’s probably silly to think that someone is gonna come stalking me because of what I write here. I think I said before that I’m from the south of Germany. The town is called Erlangen. It has a population of about 100,000 people and is about 20 miles north of Nürnberg (Nuremberg), which has a population of 500,000. I don’t live in Erlangen itself, but in a smaller place close to it. I work in Nürnberg.

Anyway, I went shopping in Nürnberg with my sister yesterday and bought some nice tops and 3 scarves (sp?). There was this H&M store that my sister didn’t want to go in to. But then we saw the accessories department from the street and went in because I wanted a scarf. It was like heaven for girls. Thousands of necklaces, bags, hats, caps, belts, earrings, hairclips etc. etc. Kind of looked like a 70s hippie market. At least 2 men sat on some steps looking bored. Hehe. Their girlfriends had probably forced them to accompany them to this place. I found 2 scarfs (sp?) and a couple of hair clips.

I also bought the Juanes album cos it was cheaper than at Amazon. (Mi sangre, new version with a couple of songs from the album that came before it, Un dia normal) Love it! And Juanes was on the biggest live TV show (called Wetten, dass...?) last night performing A dios le pido, one of the older songs, and first song that I heard by him on the radio 2 years ago. And there was an interesting article about Juanes in the local newspaper yesterday.

We also got a coffee at the 2nd Starbucks shop in town, one that I hadn’t been to before (cos I haven’t been to Nürnberg for shopping in ages). I had a caramel macchiato and loved it.

I managed not to buy too many cosmetics products, which was very difficult. I'm totally addicted to buying new stuff. Lip balm, small bottles of shampoo or body lotion etc., although I have too much of everything already. I also love handbags, but most of them are so expensive that it's enough to look at them and I don't get too tempted to buy them.

So to sum things up, I had a good Saturday. The weather was nice, too, and the local football team (1. FC Nürnberg) won and aren't in too much danger to be relegated this season (which they usually are).

Random things

1. I got the job. I’ll probably start in May and might post some more info about it later.

2. I watched half of the Academy Awards on the weekend. Dolly Parton looked totally artificial and un-human, but her song was okay. I didn’t like all the beige/nude dresses (Naomi Watts, Nicole Kidman – they look like clones of each other anyway – etc.) or the black ones. We need some more colour! I liked Jon Stewart as presenter, although I can only remember his scientology speech at the moment.

3. A big Amazon order by me is coming up soon. I want the new Nick Hornby novel A Long Way Down and the paperback is coming out on April 6. I also want a couple of CDs (Juanes and Daniel Powter). Very greedy me. But I’ll check first if anything is cheaper in town.

4. Blah. Gotta get back to work.

What's up

I know I should be posting more about my life than just about stuff I watch on TV. There is actually something going on, but I’m trying not to think about it, so I don’t really want to write about it either. But I will so you know what’s up: I’ve applied for a job, had an interview and also a sort of test day and now I’m waiting what their decision is. They e-mailed me yesterday saying it’s between me and one other person. Part of me wants the job, of course, but another part of me would be relieved not to get it. I’m always so afraid of new things and there are some aspects of the job I’m not sure I’d be good at. Although in theory I’m completely over-qualified. And of course as soon as I got the interview for that job, my current boss asked me to if I could stay for one month longer in this job cos one of my co-workers is moving to a different department and we’re kind of short of people. Dilemma. I hate having to make decisions, that’s for sure.

DSDS 3: Juhu, Tobi hat gewonnen!!

Gestern war also das große Finale von Deutschland sucht den Superstar (3. Staffel). Wie ich im vorigen Eintrag geschrieben hatte, war ich ziemlich sicher, dass Mike gewinnt, u.a. deswegen, weil es um ihn und die Drittplatzierte Vanessa ja diese herzallerliebste (kotz!) Liebesgeschichte gibt. Sowas mögen doch die Teenies vor der Glotze. Und Bohlen war auch für ihn. Aber zum Glück haben „die Guten gewonnen“, wie meine Schwester hocherfreut am Telefon zu mir sagte nach Bekanntgabe des Gewinners. Wie schon in der 2. Staffel hat sich die Rockstimme durchgesetzt. Leider hört man von der damaligen Gewinnerin Elli – wie Tobi ebenfalls aus Bayern – gar nix mehr. Hoffentlich läuft’s bei ihm anders, er hätte es echt verdient.

Gestern sang Tobias Beautiful Day von U2 als erstes Lied. Der Ober-Knaller!! Mit Bono nimmt’s ja kaum einer auf, d.h. von U2 werden kaum Lieder gesungen in solchen Casting-Shows, aber Tobi hat das Lied auf seine eigene Art gesungen und es war spitzenmäßig. Es klang halt wieder mal mehr nach James Hetfield von Metallica als nach dem Original-Sänger, was aber kein Vorwurf sein soll. Mike fing mit Angels von Robbie Williams an. Wenn jemand sich an Robbie vergreift, krieg ich meistens sehr leicht Zahnschmerzen, aber er hat’s ganz passabel gemacht. Danach kamen 2 Lieder, die beide schon mal in der Sendung gesungen hatten. Bei Tobi war’s Purple Rain von Prince, bei Mike Love’s Divine von Seal. Auch hier fand ich Tobi klar besser. Zum Abschluss kam das Siegerlied bzw. die Siegerlieder, denn diesmal gab es für jeden Kandidaten ein eigenes Lied, was in den vorherigen Staffeln nicht so war. Das von Mike fand ich vom ersten Ton an total langweilig und durchschnittlich, das von Tobi hieß I still burn und ist eine Rockballade, so mit Klavier-Intro und großen Gefühlen. Jedenfalls viel eingängiger und stärker als Mikes Lied. Und als die Moderatoren dann auch noch sagten, dass Tobi seiner Ex nachtrauert, worum es in dem Lied auch geht, schmolz ich endgültig dahin, haha. Ich hab dann sogar für ihn angerufen, was ich bisher während der Staffel noch nie gemacht hab, d.h. ich hab überhaupt noch für keinen angerufen diese Staffel. Es war nie besetzt (ich hab 2x angerufen), was ich sehr verdächtig fand. Hat aber trotzdem geklappt. Er bekam angeblich 55% der Stimmen und gewann somit. Da war er, der sonst bewundernswerterweise immer die richtigen Worte findet und sich sehr gut ausdrücken kann, zum ersten Mal komplett sprachlos. Und dann hat er sein Siegerbrüllen losgelassen, hehe.

Was gestern auch wieder sehr schön zu sehen war: wie bodenständig Tobis Familie ist. Die Eltern ziehen sich keine albernen selbstbedruckten Fan-T-Shirts an und so. Sehr angenehm in dem ganzen Hype. Auch als zu den beiden Fan-Parties geschaltet wurde, fand ich Tobis Leute viel sympathischer. Das waren normale Leute in Jeans und T-Shirt, keine gestylten Tussis wie auf Mikes Party in Köln.

Weitere Anmerkungen: Heinz Henn ist so cool! Ich steh ja nicht so auf diesen extremen rheinischen Dialekt, aber bei ihm mit der Mischung aus Deutsch und Englisch hat’s dann schon wieder was. Und dass er immer für Tobi war, spricht natürlich auch für ihn. He’s da man! Das weibliche Jury-Mitglied Sylvia Kollek war sehr den Tränen nah nach Verkündung des Gewinners. Sehr sympathisch.

Soweit meine Einschätzung. Und jetzt das Ganze noch mal auf Englisch - zumindest in verkürzter Version:

English version:
Last night the finale of the 3rd season of Germany’s version of American Idol took place. My favourite Tobias won, although I had expected the other contestant, Mike, to win. Tobi did U2’s Beautiful Day brilliantly and his winning song (a new song written especially for him) was much better and catchier than Mike’s. And as I said before, Tobi is a very down-to-earth guy, which I like. He got 55% of the votes. I hope his career will last longer than that of Elli, who won the 2nd season. She was kind of the female version of Tobi: a very versatile and down-to-earth rock singer from Bavaria. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Mamma Mia!

Ich war 3 Tage in Hamburg und hab das ABBA-Musical Mamma Mia! gesehen. War super. Die Lieder von ABBA mag ich sowieso total gern und die Hauptdarstellerin Annika Bruhns war sehr gut, obwohl ich auf ihre Vorgängerin Carolin Fortenbacher gehofft hatte. Die Handlung des Musicals ist recht dünn, aber egal. (Es geht um eine junge Frau kurz vor ihrer Hochzeit. Sie will unbedingt von ihrem Vater zum Altar geführt werden, weiß aber nicht, wer ihr Vater ist. Also schnüffelt sie im Tagebuch ihrer Mutter und lädt die 3 in Frage kommenden Kandidaten heimlich ein.)

In Hamburg war ein ziemliches Schnee-Chaos. Freitag hat es nur geschneit und in der Stadt schien kaum was geräumt zu sein, was die Fortbewegung zu Fuß und mit dem Auto nicht gerade erleichterte. Nach der Vorstellung mussten wir dann in der Kälte 25 Minuten auf den Bus warten, das war nicht so lustig. Samstag und Sonntag war der Schnee zwar noch da, aber es kam kein neuer dazu und die Sonne schien. Samstag waren wir dann im Steak-Haus essen. Ein Cousin meiner Mutter war mit seiner Frau als „Überraschungsgast“ da. (Es war nämlich quasi das Geburtstagsessen meiner Mutter.) Die beiden kannte ich bisher noch gar nicht und sie waren sehr nett. Leider konnten mein Onkel und meine Tante wegen des Schnees nicht kommen, aber sie kamen dafür am Sonntag. Da waren wir dann vor der Heimfahrt noch mal essen und ich bestellte dummerweise Fisch mit Senfsoße, was mir dann gar nicht geschmeckt hat, denn die Soße war direkt über allem verteilt und total scharf. Bäh.

Samstag Abend haben wir dann das Halbfinale von DSDS geguckt, zumindest teilweise. Tobias, den ich sonst immer genial finde, fand ich diesmal nicht so gut. Er sah blass aus und irgendwie überzeugte er mich nicht, obwohl die Lieder schon zu ihm passten (u.a. How you remind me von Nickelback und Here without you von Three Doors Down). Er ist aber trotzdem ins Finale gekommen, was er auch total verdient hat. Leider ist der 2. Finalist Mike geworden, den ich noch nie mochte. War aber irgendwie klar. Seine Freundin Vanessa ist demnach rausgeflogen, obwohl ich sie diesmal ziemlich gut fand. Aber die Kitsch-Ansprache bzw. Widmung von Mike an Vanessa vor You are so beautiful hat bei mir fast Brechreiz ausgelöst. Können die ihren Privat-Kram nicht aus der Sendung raus lassen?! Mein Tip für’s Finale: Mike wird gewinnen, obwohl er so scheiße ist!! Tobias macht hoffentlich trotzdem Karriere bzw. bekommt hoffentlich einen Plattenvertrag mit seiner Hammer-Stimme. Allerdings ist Elli, die Gewinnerin der vorherigen Staffel, die ich super fand, auch untergegangen. Sie war auch eher eine „Rockerin“ wie Tobias.

English version:
I was in Hamburg for 3 days and I saw the ABBA-Musical Mamma Mia, which was really good. Not the greatest story ever told, but it's the songs that matter and they are and always have been very good. The lady who played the main character was very good, although it wasn't the actress/singer I had hoped to see.

Unfortunately, the weather was awful. It snowed all day and night on Friday. If we hadn't had the tickets for the musical, I wouldn't have left the house all day. On the way home after the show, we had to wait for 25 minutes in the cold because the bus was late. On Saturday and Sunday, the snow was still there, but the sun was shining. I met one of my mother's cousins and his wife for lunch. They were both very nice. It was my mum's birthday lunch, sort of. My uncle and aunt couldn't come because of the weather conditions, but they came by on Sunday.

I also managed to watch a bit of the semi-final of the German version of American Idol. My favourite Tobias wasn't as good as usual, IMO, but he made it into the final anyway. I thought Vanessa, who was eliminated, was the best this time. But her awful boyfriend Mike became the other finalist. Grrr. My bet is he'll win the final. I hope Tobias still succeeds in making music his career cos he's so good. He sounds like the singer of Metallica, BTW. But he can do more than just hard rock with his brilliant voice. And he's such a down-to-earth guy, very nice.

Ja is’ denn schon April, oder was?!

Ich schreibe über’s Wetter, also hab ich wohl sonst nix zu sagen. Hätte ich schon, aber ich hab nicht viel Zeit. Aber das Wetter bietet sich auch sehr an, so wie sich das von einer Minute auf die andere ändert. Heute früh hat’s total geschneit. Da hab ich dann ganz umsonst die Einfahrt freigeschippt. Kurz nachdem ich losgefahren war (ins Büro), hörte es zum Glück auf. Und dann im Lauf des Tages haben sich Sonne und Schnee immer abgewechselt. Echt seltsam. Und wie im April eben. Zum Glück bleibt der Schnee nicht lang liegen. Wenn ich nicht jeden Tag 60 km hin und zurück zur Arbeit fahren müsste, wär’s mir wahrscheinlich auch egal, aber so fänd ich halt schon gut, wenn der Winter endlich mal vorbei wäre. Die Vögel zwitschern ja schon wieder, so dass man glauben könnte, der Frühling kommt bald, aber gestern kam dann sogar schon wieder Last Christmas im Radio, da denkt man dann er doch noch nicht an wärmere Temperaturen.

In English: The weather is going crazy and it feels like April. Today, we have snow coming down in big flakes one minute, and bright sunshine the next. I know, weather is boring, and if I didn’t have to drive 40 miles every day, I wouldn’t care so much either. I want it to be spring now! They even played Last Christmas on the radio yesterday, as a joke.

P.S. are there more formatting buttons available than there used to be? I don't remember seeing the text colour button or the one for deleting the text formatting. Huh.

Very long meme

Found this here
He says he stole it from here

Unique
1. Nervous habits
I clean the nails of my left hand with those of my right hand and vice versa. No, wait, I can do it with fingers from the same hand, too. Not sure if I do this in public, though … I also drum my fingers on the table sometimes or I check my watch every minute or something.

2. Are you double jointed?
Hm, not sure what this is, but I don’t think so.

3. Can you roll your tongue?
No.

4. Can you raise one eyebrow at a time?
Yes, the left one, but not very well.

5. Can you blow spit bubbles?
What? Don’t’think so. Never heard of spit bubbles in my life.

6. Can you cross your eyes?
No.

7. Tattoos?
No.

8. Piercing?
No.

9. Do you make your bed daily?
Yes.

Clothes
10. Which shoe goes on first?
The right one, I think.

11. Speaking of shoes, have you ever thrown one at anyone?
Maybe at my sister, but I don’t remember for sure.

12. On the average, how much money do you carry?
About € 15.

13. What jewelry do you wear 24/7?
None. Wait, does a watch count? I do wear that.

14. Favorite piece of clothing?
Hm, difficult. Probably my Street One jeans. Model Ronja, length regular. I’ve got them in 2 shades of blue and as beige corduroy pants because this model fits me perfectly, in contrast to almost any other pairs of trousers. I also have a couple of bras and tops that I really like, and my dark purple woollen polo neck jumper from The Gap. And the pink corduroy blazer from H&M and … I’m gonna stop now! : )

Food
15. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?
I twirl them.

16. Have you ever eaten Spam?
Don’t think so.

17. Do you use extra salt on your food?
Not very often.

18. How many cereals in your cabinet?
Three. Fruit muesli, chocolate muesli and Kellog’s Frosties or some other sugary cornflakes. I like to mix them all together.

19. What's your favorite beverage?
Hm. Is tea or coffee also a beverage? I love all sorts of teas. As to cold drinks, I like water and orange juice and Sprite.

20. What's your favorite fast food restaurant?
I don’t go to fast food restaurants very often, but the French fries are better at Burger King than at McDonald’s, IMO. I also like Pizza Hut, if that counts as a fast food place.

21. Do you cook?
Not very well and not very often.

Grooming
22. How often do you brush your teeth?
Twice a day.

23. Hair drying method?
Blow dryer, or I let them air-dry, if that’s a word.

24. Have you ever colored/highlighted your hair?
Yes. I used to do it at home and once had pretty orange hair. At the moment, I have some colour and highlights in my hair that my hairdresser did.

Manners
25. Do you swear?
Oh yes.

26. Do you ever spit?
Am I a man? Of course not!

Favorites
27. Animal?
Horses and ponies.

28. Food?
Dark chocolate.

29. Month?
Don’t really have one.

30. Day?
Ditto.

31. Cartoon?
Calvin & Hobbes.

32. Shoe brand?
Don’t have one. I am not addicted to buying shoes at all, which seems to be very untypical for a woman, if you believe Sex and the City and women’s magazines.

33. Subject in school?
English.

34. Color?
Dark red.

35. Sport?
None, really.

36. TV Shows?
Oh boy, don’t get me started … too many to list. Gilmore Girls is definitely one of them. And 24.

37. Thing to do in the spring?
What a strange question. I loved walking around Berlin when I was there one May. So you could say just being outside looking at flowers and trees blossoming or something like that.

38. Thing to do in the summer?
Sitting outside reading a good book.

39. Thing to do in the autumn?
Enjoy the smell of fallen leaves. God, that sounds awfully kitschy, doesn’t it? Maybe I should say drink hot tea instead, hehe.

40. Thing to do in the winter?
Leave the house as seldom as possible.

In and Around
41. In the CD player?
I prefer to listen to the radio. My favourite song at the moment is Volverte a ver by Juanes.

42. Person you talk most on the phone with?
My sister.

43. Reading?
Harry Potter 5 (The Order of the Phoenix). I'm about halfway through.

44. Do you regularly check yourself out in store windows/mirrors?
Not regularly, but sometimes.

45. What color is your bedroom?
There’s some very kitschy wallpaper on the walls with clouds in different colours on it. (Yes, I chose that myself – when I was a teenager.) And many film posters are on the walls.

46. Do you use an alarm clock?
Yes, and my old mobile phone as a back-up.

47. Window seat or aisle?
Don’t really care.

Dumb
48. What's your sleeping position?
I sleep on my left side.

49. Even in hot weather do you use a blanket?
Yes.

50. Do you snore?
No.

51. Do you sleepwalk?
No.

52. Do you talk in your sleep?
Don’t think so.

53. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
There are a couple that sit on the pillow during the day, but I put them somewhere else before I got to bed.

54. How about with the light on?
When I was little, the light in the hall outside my room had to stay on.

55. Do you fall asleep with the TV or radio on?
Sometimes I get very tired when I’m watching TV.

56. Last interesting person you met?
Oh, stop it, I have no idea!

Stupid obsession

I’ve got a really important meeting/appointment thing this afternoon, and what am I doing? Downloading clips from my latest obsession, which is, of course, a tv show. Grey’s Anatomy. I’ve liked Patrick Dempsey ever since he played Lily’s retarded/schizophrenic brother Aaron on the wonderful show Once & Again. He is so handsome … And the show (GA) basically opens with his bare butt, so how could I not be obsessed? Hehe. I’ve even made a wallpaper for my desktop with 3 promo pics of him, although I have no wallpaper-making skills whatsoever, really. It's not just him, though. The show looks good altogether, although I'm not a big fan of hospital shows. I do still watch ER, though. GA is set in Seattle, and I like that. Most shows are in L.A. and it gets boring. Ellen Pompeo, who plays the female lead, is very likeable. Damn, the download keeps stopping ... I want my next clip!! Grrr.

Anyway, I have to drive to this thing later and it snowed last night, of course. About 10 cm, which is about 4 inches. And it’s in a place I haven’t been before so I’m very nervous and just trying not to think about it and my stomach is going crazy and I still haven’t printed the instructions that tell me how to get there … Argh.

My word cloud

Found this in Mike's blog. Originally comes from here.

I like that it is bilingual, hehe. But I forgot to change german(y) into the proper spelling with capital letters. Oh well, I'll survive ...

Lesson 1 in German culture: Fasching

Also called Karneval or Fastnacht or a couple of other locally specific names.

What you could compare it to: Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, or Venice, Italy, or Mardi Gras in New Orleans, USA.

What it is: an old tradition, but for me a crazy time (between today and next Tuesday, but some parties and balls take place earlier) where people put on costumes and party, i.e. drink as much as they can and dance to the stupidest songs you can imagine. (As you can probably tell, I’m a Faschingsmuffel, i.e. I don’t like Fasching.) Next Wednesday is Aschermittwoch (Ash Wednesday) and the beginning of lent, so the craziness will be over. Today is actually Weiberfasching (also called Fettdonnerstag or unsinniger Donnerstag) where women are allowed to cut off men’s ties.

There are also big Umzüge (parades) in cities like Köln (Cologne) or Düsseldorf. And big Prunksitzungen (sessions or galas) where different acts perform, mostly dance groups à la the dancers in Moulin Rouge and comedians who make fun of politicians or comment on current topics in a humorous way, sometimes in rhymes. Some of the parades and galas are broadcast live on TV.

For more info, see Wikipedia's English entry for Carnival

Man darf Rudolph(ine) zu mir sagen

Ich bin zwar nicht zum Rentier mutiert, aber total erkältet. Wie immer fing es mit etwas Halsschmerzen an, das war Montagmorgen. Dienstag war dann der Schnupfen da und er ist auch noch nicht weggegangen. Ein Nasenloch ist immer verstopft und meine Nase ist total rot. Ganz toll. Ansonsten fühl ich mich nicht allzu schlapp und gehe auch ganz normal ins Büro. Aber ohne Schnupfen wäre mir das Leben trotzdem lieber …

In English:
I’ve got a cold. It started with a sore throat on Monday and turned into a cold on Tuesday. My nose is bright red and one nostril is always blocked or clogged up. I feel okay, though, and do turn up for work every day. Still I want the cold to go away quickly!

Girls-only blogthings

Your Love Song Is

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing by Jack Johnson "Maybe you've been through this before But it's my first time so please ignore The next few lines cause they're directed at you I can't always be waiting, waiting on you I can't always be playing, playing your fool" You've been waiting for love, and you're not going to wait any longer!

What Love Song Are You?

I like that result cos Jack Johnson is cool and I've got his album. His music does tend to make me feel sleepy, I must admit. Same with Norah Jones.

You Are Winter!

Intelligent Serious Cozy Calm Shy

What Season Are You?

Your Element is Earth

Your power color: yellow Your energy: balancing Your season: changing of seasons Dedicated and responsible, you are a rock to your friends. You are skilled at working out even the most difficult problems. Low key and calm, you are happiest when you are around loved ones. Ambitious and goal oriented, you have long term plans to be successful.

What Element Are You?

No surprise there. My zodiac sign Capricorn is an earth sign.

Your Perfume is Glow

Fresh, sexy, and clean. You're real, intimate, and exciting. Your lush sensuality appeals to men... And you're as sexy as Jennifer Lopez. Power scents: Orange flower, grapefruit, and citrus.

What Perfume Are You?

Wow, that's a surprise. The things stated above don't apply to me, but I do have this perfume. I didn't buy it for myself, though, it was a gift. I don't like J.Lo except in some of her earlier films, but I must admit Glow smells good. It's not my favourite perfume, however. I prefer the one by Cindy Crawford.

You Don't Have a Boyfriend Because You are Too Shy

When a guy gets to know you, he finds a great catch Problem is... you're too shy for most guys to get to know. From meeting someone to dating, you usually have your guard up. And while you're just holding back, it makes you seem like you've got something to hide.

Why Don't You Have a Boyfriend?

Pff, could have told you so before.

Let's move on to a non-girly blogthing:

Well, You Know What a Blog Is...

You got 4/8 correct! But, truthfully, most blogs probably bore you.

How Much Do You Know About Blogging?

This surprised me, I must admit. I hate that they don't tell you the correct answers in these kind of quizzes after you've completed them.

more blogthings

I'm obviously addicted to blogthings. Especially the name generators. Or maybe I simply didn't have the time to think up a "real" post cos my computer crashed twice yesterday and I was mad about that. I can't even remember what I wanted to post about now. I'm so forgetful. Oh wait, I wanted to say that I put down 2 movie posters I'd had on my bedroom walls for ages and put up others. The ones I took down were The Truman Show and The Wonderboys. I still think The Truman Show is a great film, but I put up The Talented Mr. Ripley instead for a change. As to The Wonderboys, good film, too, but I just couldn't stand seeing Katie Holmes anymore. I really liked her as Joey Potter in Dawson's Creek, but the thing with Tom Cruise just put me completely off her. So I put the Down With Love poster up instead. Ewan McGregor is great and the film is fun.

Okay, so now let's see my different names:

Your Hawaiian Name is:

Ululani Peni

What's your Hawaiian Name?

Your Irish Name Is...

Jade Ryan

What's your Irish Name?

I think that sounds like a character in a tv series. Could be the child of Tess Silverman McLeod and Nick Ryan in the great Australian drama series McLeod's Daughters, hehe. (The show just started here a couple of weeks ago, but it's been running for years in Oz so I know that Tess will end up with Nick.)

Your Elf Name Is...

Sassy Fluffernutter

What's Your Elf Name?

Your Band Name is:

The Barnyard Falafel

Band Name Generator

Your Japanese Name Is...

Oki Konoe

What's your Japanese Name?