Pursuitist
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Dresden Gets Her Frauenkirche Back!
"He who has forgotten how to cry, learns it again upon the destruction of Dresden". And what to Dresden’s revival though… There is much more to learn from that! After 60 years, the concrete bell once again triumphs over the majestic skyline of the Florence of the Elbe. It’s hard to imagine the city without it.
Memories on Home
I found some pics on my camera recently I thought I’d throw up. The first, well, it’s just magic. I took it on my last day in Dresden. I went out for a bike ride, followed the Elbe back to the city and got absolutely poured on. Shortly after that, well, I was chasing after that pot of gold and I just may have found it. What a day!
Off to See the Wizard
Berlin, Berlin... finally. I have arrived. I rolled into town last Wednesday behind the wheel of a truck I had rented, which was neither very cheap nor completely legal, but few questions were asked at the leasing desk (not your usual line of German operations) and I was cruising with a heap of furniture loaned/bought from Keith. In the end I like to think everything worked to my favor.
Just Rolling with the Punches
“The second best beer I’ve ever had” is how Keith described our refreshments the other night. That should count for something. He’s one of the few kids I’ve ever met who likes beer more than I do. We’d found ourselves in the cellar of a medieval castle which just happened to double as a brewery.
Ich stehe bis zum Hals in der Scheisse...
aber der Ausblick ist gut!
The German Beaurocratic system is currently rocking my face. I thought I had a solid grasp of the situation until Friday afternoon grabbed me by the arm and quickly showed me who was in charge. To add to the mess, I never received a pack of important documents from back home, thus delaying my application for a visa (which runs out on 2. August) and keeping us from moving into our flat in Berlin. If things keep progressing at this rate, I’ll be slipping away to Poland for a week or two to escape the heat.
Weiter Weiter Immer Weiter
I was awoken this morning by four French girls singing “Champs Elysee” to me in an attempt to rouse me out of bed. Their method was surprisingly effective. To say that my life is amazing would be to cheapen the experience. This is an effect words were not created to describe. It must simply be felt.
GO LANCE!!! REMEMBER THE ALAMO!!! (Day 3)
Woke up that morning well rested. After a nice breakfast of bread, the brothers and I split ways, them going for a ride up into the mountains, me sticking around town in hopes of seeing Lance and catching another ride. I was in the middle of nowhere-France and couldn’t afford to get stuck here as I had a train leaving Karlsruhe Germany at 4.40 that next morning.
Le Tour de Lance (Day 1)
I rolled into Karlsruhe Germany alone and didn’t have much in terms of a plan: Just jump on that Tour de France bandwagon and follow it as long as I could hold on. It was one hell of a ride.
"Hello and welcome to Tex...
Ladies and Gentlemen… I used to curse at that damn voice. I’d curse it up and down at 7:30 am on a winter morning my freshmen year of college while trying to get into that one class that was already filled.
Get In The Game!!!
Beer, meat and football. Is there anything really better in life? This past weekend I introduced about 25 of my students to the simple joys that have carried me through the past 5 years back in Texas with a field trip to the Dresden Monarchs American Football game (with funding from the Bosch Stiftung. I’m telling you, I live a dream life).
Tour De France
Lance Armstrong is a personal hero of mine.
I will be in attendence, cheering him on to victory, this weekend (July 8-10) as the tour dips briefly into Germany.
If you want to come along, contact me ASAP.
Sunrise Doesn't Last All Morning
Yesterday marked my last official day in Zittau.
I used to dread going all the way out there. Two hours there. Two hours back. And I really didn't know what I was supposed to be doing there in the first place.
But now I'm actually kinda sad.
(untitled)
And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
Football is Sex Baby
"Football is Sex baby!" I don't understand it either. But that doesn't mean that I have anything against it. In fact, I found myself chanting it along with the other 5000 fans who were in attendance for the Season Opener of the Dresden Monarchs Game - American Football in Dresden.
I'll take the National Religion of Texas for $100 please Alex
You know... as in football. REAL football. And its not that I don't respect the game of soccer. I think it's a great game. Exciting. Fun to play and to watch. The only problem is it's dominated by a bunch of whiny nancy boys who are more interested in taking off their shirt and exposing their freshly shaved chests than playing the man's game.
Balling on a Budget
So I’d be flying solo on this mission. I just couldn’t wait anymore. It would be another two hours before the next bus pulled into town but I needed to go now. Road seduction was pulling at my heart strings once again and just as with previous occassions, I couldn’t say no. I was headed southbound for the Czech Republic with a pocketfull of nickels and that’s not such a bad direction to be headed when you’re “balling on a budget” (as we in the game like to call it).
Scheiss Nazis
It would appear as if a couple of damn nazis got a hold of my email account. I don't yet know the extent of the damage, but I do know that several people in my address book have been targeted for a vicious assault of e-mails.
Kicking Ass and Taking Names
The comeback is complete. I competed in my first race in years last weekend and words can't express the fun I had. Conditions were horrible. 4 Degrees. Rain. At times hail. And a constant wind blowing directly into my face. "Kicking Ass weather" I called it. And I was ready to kick some ass.