by end of August......

create your own visited country map

I will have added a few more countries to the map.

Can you figure out which ones?

Raining everywhere

I keep hearing about the heavy heavy rains in Texas and I send y'all my thoughts. I hope everyone is safe!

We are having the same sort of thing here too, though not quite as heavy. But rain rain and more rain.....Good for ducks but that's about it. The ducks are damned happy though.

can't even read it anymore.

It's gotten to the point where I just can't read anything having to do with the Bush White House anymore. It makes reading the news almost impossible. From Cheney and wiretapping to that prosecutor's firing deal, and the veto of stem cell research and then they rejected a taxpayer suit regarding the faith based initiatives, I despise everything our government represents.

So as I read it:

As taxpayers who support the government with our hard earned money, we have no actual rights to say where that money goes.
I won't even go into why the government funding faith based initiatives is just a bad idea.

The justice system is rigged to support whatever Bush wants. And the rest of the system (Congress, etc.,) can just suck it as far as the White House is concerned.

The government can listen in one our most private conversations at any time without our knowledge.

A research initiative that might save lives is rejected by a president who has killed hundreds of thousands in a senseless war, on the grounds that he is saving lives.

Fuck it, I need a drink. I'm just gonna go read about Paris Hilton some more. I hate her, but i hate her way less than Bush.

The Farmers and the Smell

Oy vey.

The local farmers (we are surrounded, our little town, by very rich and productive farm land) have apparently all decided to fertilize their fields at one time. And the wind has been very effective in blowing the smell of cow shit DIRECTLY into our flat. The whole damned town smells like a cow. A farting, chewing, shitting cow.

And guess what we had last night for our anniversary dinner? If you guessed Big Ol' Steak, you are right.

There's all sorts of irony there somewhere, but right now I am just too busy covering my nose to suss it out.

And for you Brits out there, here is a very hilarious example of a difference in wording between the UK and the US. I introduce...The Fanny Facial! When I think of it in UK terms, I really am curious as to how one would go about doing such a treatment? I guess it's all about the lips.

Safety tips for your summer beach holiday

This made the rounds at work, and something about it just tickles my funny bone. Maybe because it's obviously written by someone for whom English is NOT a first language, and the quaintness of their writing makes it even funnier.

We are discussing including it in some QHSE manuals as a safety precaution for employees who might go to the tropics on holiday.

__________________________

1: Don't swim in the ocean.
Ninety-nine percent of all shark attacks take place in exceptionally large bodies of water also known as oceans.
The way to determine if you are currently in an ocean is to taste the water, which should be salty.

2: Listen out for the music.
In the event that you are foolish enough to swim in an ocean, listen carefully for the music, as demonstrated in the marvelous documentary film Jaws. All shark attacks are preceded by the "daah-da, daah-da" chords, which will gradually become more rapid as the shark gets closer. This is due to the Doppler Effect.

3: Swim with fat people.
Try to surround yourself with more appetizing companions. If you know them well, you might even try to switch their suntan lotion with A-1 Steak Sauce. This will definitely improve your odds. (Karla's note: I'm a prime candidate for the A-1 spreading. My ass with steak sauce would be a treat no self respecting shark would want to miss out on.)

4: Don't go into the water without a knife.
This is not to defend yourself but to stab the person (a.k.a the fat A-1 slathered decoy) closest to you in the case of a shark attack. Once you are sure the "decoy" is bleeding profusely....swim for your freekin life.

5: Don't panic.
In the event that a shark actually bites you, try to remain calm. This really won't help you survive, but everyone else on the beach will appreciate you not shrieking madly, as this is quite unsettling.

1000 posts and random possession I adore

Wierd. That last post I made, about seein' my home bitches in Austin, was my 1000th post.

Three years, 1000 posts. Not quite one a day but close enough all told.

Ok so anyhow, tonight as I cooked dinner (lightly breaded pork chop with a white wine mushroom gravy, very Deutsch and very delish) I realized how freaking much I love my cast iron skillet.

My mom gave it to me when I went to college, and she had it from at least the time she came to the US, so it's probably at least 40 years old. It's perfectly seasoned, pitch black, practically non stick and totally awesome. It's heavy as hell. It clangs and bangs and it practically breaks my wrist every time I try to pick it up with one hand. There is NOTHING like cooking with an old cast iron skillet. And even better, once you are done cooking with it, you swab it out with hot water and some soap and it's clean.

Tomorrow is my 14th anniversary, and if the husband forgets, it's also a good tool for beating him upside the head. *CLANG!*

I love multi purpose kitchen ware.

Comin' home to see my bitches.....

I'm comin' home to see my bitches......*

Ticket's all booked and now I am planning all the corollary bits that attend that.

Such as a rental car (you can't go to Texas without a car).

And to give my friends Julia and Heather (not pictured) , who I normally stay with, and who have a very active 10 month old, a break, I booked a room at a hotel for the last three nights I am there. And I'll be DAMNED if Priceline doesn't work! I just threw out a larky bid for a room, never thought I'd get it at that price, and holy crap if I ain't set up but purty in a four star in downtown Austin for my last three nights. SWEET! For half the price I expected and over 100 bucks off per night!

You know what that means don't you?

MORE MONEY FOR BEER. And Mexican food. Which I shall eat and drink by the POOL of the FOUR STAR hotel.

Now I just have to buckle down and get some crap taken care of at work. It's gonna get insane by August, which is why I am breaking my usual rule of "no travel to the US in summer" to go home now. I was gonna go in September and tie it in with a trip to see my folks for various birthdays and anniversaries, but I just don't think I can take two 1/2 weeks off work right then. So instead I am breaking it up into two trips, one to Texas and one to the 'rents, and that way hopefully everyone is happy, especially the airlines who get LOTS MORE of my money than they would normally.

*Bitches in this picture are Jenny, Malcontent Mama, Karla May and the adorable Bookhart. Please note, it was like 10 am when I took this photo and we were all having an early morning beer (see Jenny's hand) to ward off the hair of that damned biting dog......

Home! Home!

I booked myself a flight home to Austin mid July. Just for 9 days.

I need a dose of home, dammit. It's time. The homesickness was invading my dreams.

Short visit but oh I can't WAIT!

MEXICAN FOOD! In less than a month!!!!

(wiping up drool)

I missed my own third blogiversary!!!!!!!!

It's no secret to many people who know me that I am very bad with dates. It's pretty much a given that I will not remember a birthday, anniversary, holiday, etc. It's not that they aren't important to me, or indeed that the person involved is not important to me, I just sort of feel like the random unexpected remembrance or gift is always so much more fun than remembering to send that card on Valentine's day or whatever.

That and I really, REALLY suck at keeping a calendar. I never know the date, unless I am traveling on it. Time goes so fast and I have a real problem trying to turn the pages of that calendar (whether weekly or monthly) fast enough to keep up. Maybe I am avoiding the passage of time, trying to hide from my own inevitable aging, I don't know. But I do apologize for those I love and care for that they take the fall for my calendarphobia.

So I guess it's no surprise, then, that I forgot my OWN Third Blogiversary on June 17? Three years bitches! Three years!

Sigh.....three years. (shakes head, wonders where it all went.)

Biff Lindstrom to the Rescue!

Last night at the pub the "dagens rett" was a dish called "Biff Lindstrom". This dish was described as "like a hamburger without the bun, with gravy and rhubarb". I did not order it.

I did, however, vastly enjoy the name of the dish. Biff Lindstrom. BIFF LINDSTROM!

I get two very disparate images of a guy named Biff Lindstrom.

Guy #1: "Biff Lindstrom! He's our hero! Go team go! Gosh he's peachy keen, our American hero, I hope he takes me to the sock hop tonight! Have you ever seen anyone so DREAMY?" (girls in pony tails and poodle skirts screaming as he runs by to score the next touchdown for the college team)

Guy #2: (Cue music) Boom chicka chicka wah wah...."Biff Lindstrom, Swedish Porn Star, now appearing in his latest hit, "I Got Yer MeatBalls Right Here". Biff Lindstrom, women love him, men want to be him. Biff Lindstrom. See him at sticky theatres near you".

I have fun with my food, what can I say.

Letting my Geek Flag Fly

1) As I was getting dressed this morning I realized I could not zip my dress all the way up the back. I could get the zip up enough so the dress would not fall off me, but it was obvious that the zip was WAY open. Rich had already left for work and I really didn't have time to change clothes and I for real could not get that damned zipper up. I am just not that flexible.

What to do what to do? Ah, yes. Find a friend. Luckily I have made friends with the ladies in one of the shops downstairs from our flat. So, on the way to catch the train, I popped by the shop (it had opened not 1 minute earlier) and asked one of them, sheepishly, if she wouldn't mind zipping me up the back. I felt it was ok since I had bought the dress from them. (Not that the purchase of a dress includes permanent zipping services, but in emergencies one does what one must.) The gals there are pretty used to me, sometimes I just stop by to say 'hi', so she just busted out laughing and zipped me up.

Remind self to buy them some chocolates or something....because I am just NOT normal and they are nice enough to accept me anyhow!

2) I am letting my inner Geek out in a big way. The other day I bought Buffy Comics season 8, issues 1-3 and devoured them pretty much momentarily after the purchase. Cool graphics (though what the hell do I know about comics?), great writing (what else would one expect from the Almighty Joss?) and fun story. I still sort of hate Dawn, though. But I am sure she will get more interesting....and it is kind of cool that she can squash things with a good stomp now. I hope to get season 4 and maybe 5 (is it out?) Friday. We are a bit behind, here.

3) Inner Geek continues its 'Aliens' like birth as I read the Hyperion Omnibus, by Dan Simmons. A fellow Geek (one of the pub crowd, we share a love of Terry Pratchett and naughty stories with lots of cursing and use of the word 'bollocks') lent it to me, telling me that yes it was Sci Fi but also based on the poetry of Keats and has a good human interest. (I've always professed to hate Sci Fi but for all intents and purposes I had better review my thoughts on that, considering my love of Serenity, Douglas Adams and some other similar things.)

I confess I borrowed it only because he seemed so intent on lending it to me, but I'll be damned if it is not a quite riveting story. I thought I'd give it an hour or so, to see if it would draw me in, and three hours later I looked up not realizing how much time had passed. So, I guess I will continue with it! It's really good, thought it is also a VERY big book, two books in one, hence the 'omnibus' part of the title. I guess I won't be seen out in public much in the next few weeks as I muscle my way through the very large tome. Well, the hammock is comfortable and the weather is mild. Perfect conditions for a laze around with a good book whilst getting a tan.

4) Work is going to seriously and completely kick my ass starting in about a month. I have such a huge project staring at me that I get a bit anxious thinking about it. I need/want to do advance planning, and am doing what I can, but the nature of the project, the companies, regulations, and agents I am dealing with don't actually allow me to do much more than obsess. I just have to wait for the information I need before i can get going. One of the things I hate most in this world is procrastination by others that holds me back in a project. Because it usually ends up that their lateness makes me late, and as a timely person that just chaps my ass big time. I just don't see what is so hard with getting things done on time as necessary! Ja Wohl! My Kraut is showing.....

Tonight (ok so tomorrow, but it's just as long now) is MidSummer night. We gots 20 hours of sun today. That's alot of sun. I plan to be outside for at least some of it tonight. People set of fireworks and generally go insane, so sleep is not much of an option.

Imagine laying in your hammock outside and reading a book at midnight with no extra lighting but the sky.....I did that yesterday! tonight I just drank beer.....I needed sunglasses until 10 pm.

and for the hell of it, random photos of boats in diffferent places

Boats on the beach in Thailand.

Boats outside the city walls in Essouira, Morocco.

Boat on the Mekong in Laos.

Boat on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. I like the face painted on it.

Boat on a canal in Copenhagen.

I think I'll post more themes over the next weeks. I have a few of them: Trees, laundry drying, boats, alleyways, colorful mayhem in markets, etc. Do you have themes in your photography that seem to pop up, even though you may not be consciously doing it?

A dress a day continues, but with pants as well

Monday: Black linen dress from H&M

Tuesday: Cool linen pants with matching bolero jacket from H&M. Pants are baggy and high waisted, cuffed and a little cropped. Jacket is a bracelet sleeved, vintage-looking affair. All in a slubby tweedy looky linen in black and yellowy-tan.

Wed: Black baggy linen trousers with suspenders from H&M. Worn with a white vest (or "waistcoat" to you Brits) and a white shirt with big puffy sleeves. Discovered, too late, that wearing a vest OVER your suspendered pants looks cute? But makes having to go pee a real BITCH as you pretty much have to undress and then start again from scratch. And I was short on time and apparently long on pee that day.
Wed Eve: Rich's birthday, silk chiffon dress from Noa Noa in a great shade of celadon green that somehow makes my eyes that same color. I really like that dress, got it way on sale and so bought its twin in an orangey peach shade. Hey, 80% off is 80% off!

Thursday: Back on the dress track. And loving the celadon green, so wore a green linen Noa Noa wrap dress over an old Thai silk CP Shades skirt in a slightly lighter shade of same green. Wore it with my mom's jade beads she gave me, that her mom gave to her.

Friday: Brown point de esprit dress from H&M with smocked peasant top and spaghetti straps. Empire style, which I normally don't like, but this one fits me well and so avoids that pregnant look. Needed a sweater (it's cooled off a bit) so wore with a cream colored granny crocheted shrug.

Today: There's a medieval festival in Oslo so might wear something long and floaty, mayhap that purple floral dress from the other week......

Beautiful day today. God summer in Norway is gorgeous.....

tgiff

I think you all know what the extra "f" stands for.

This was a really long week. I worked EVERY DAY. Usually I just work 4 days a week (or try to) and for all of May there were holidays every week, so I haven't worked a full week in a long time. And it was a doozy of a week.

I was in a class at work for most of it, which meant getting there extra early (for me) and then being alert, smart, engaging and intelligent for HOURS at a time. Usually I try to give myself breaks in the smartness, you know, but this week it was ALL smart ALL the time. And then there was a TEST. I haven't taken a test that was graded in absolute YEARS. I was really nervous.

Ouch. Brain overload. But I passed and now you can go ahead and ask me about auditing procedures, ISO9001 and OHSAS 18001 and other assorted businessy crap that is surprisingly useful once you get past the lingo. The lingo is stultifying boring. Painfully, sleep inducingly boring. But once you associate that to what you do every day, it gets if not hugely interesting at least certainly understandable and logical.

Then it was Rich's birthday Wednesday and I planned a very small surprise gathering for him at a local restaurant. Just a few of his work buddies, but still even a small thing needs planning and then there was the issue of how do I clean the house for the apres dinner cake eating without him noticing I am cleaning the house? Because if he notices I am cleaning he will KNOW something's up, because I really don't clean unless someone will see it, you know? So there was that.

And I still had to somehow do my NORMAL work.

And other daily stuff.

(Oy, Looking down at the fountain below there is a young man in a t shirt and no pants who is maybe a bit old to be pantsless. Mommy, Daddy, that kid ain't 2, so I think he needs to wear more than he is wearing, especially as every time he bends over I am getting an eyeful of kiddy junk that I really would rather not see. Thanks.)

I also wanna send HUGE props Badger's way. Not only was she quoted in an article in the New York Times, but the article is in the Fashion and Style section, which sort of makes me green with envy as holy crap, it's the NYT FASHION AND STYLE SECTION! Which, like, EVERYONE reads! So there are all these FAMOUS people who now think that Badger is a Mom Guru, a Wise Person of the Blogging Set.

And to think I know her and have even ridden in her Bad Ass Minivan.

One small quibble to the NYT? Where Badger lives? Is not exactly West Texas. It's sort of (well it IS) central. But hey, nobody expects Yankees to know where everything is in Texas, just like all those small states in the east are, to us Texans, those Small States in the East.

Of ALL people....

I have decided that of all the famous people in the world who don't deserve to be famous, this woman bugs me the most.

I mean, look at her here.

And here.

And here.

Does that woman EVER smile?

What has she got to be so angsty about? I mean, holy crap, she is the biggest sour puss and acts like being famous is such a HARD job, yet all she does is pose and.....try to be famous. She just glours and stares and grimaces and pouts. Pose pose pose. HATE her! Go back to England and.....oh, wait. Never mind. You guys keep her in America, she's farther away from me there. Maybe I won't have to hear about her as much.

I truly can't stand her and every time I see her I get more annoyed with her.

Yes, I hate her more than Paris Hilton and Elizabeth Hasslebeck combined. I hate her THAT much.

42

happy birthday
richard!

42 is not an age
it's the answer

now you just gotta find the question

**love kiss love**

Dress a Day

Well, so far so good on my Dress A Day for Summer plan. (Unless I decide to wear pants or a skirt, of course.) To recap last week's sartorial variety:

Mon: Gold/white floral silk jacquard skirt and top from Noa Noa (bought on sale, natch). The top is a short sleeved peplumed affair and the skirt a basic a-line. Comfy.

Tues: Purple/lilac "maxi dress" bought 4 years ago in London. Frock by Leona Edmiston, ever heard of her? Long, stretchy knit floral fabric, sort of peasant-y looking. Bought it for 90% off at Browns, this uber-posh joint off Bond street. It is a dress that needs a very specific body type, which I have, but which is probably why it was on sale. . Tall, curvy, not too fat or too skinny, though I only wear it on "skinny" days. This dress needs curves to fill it in but only has room for so much. I have to wear heels with it or it hits the floor. Platforms work quite nicely with it, thanks.



Wed: Wore my favorite skirt that I "stalked" last summer (you can see it left, there, when I wore it in Berlin at Charlottenburg palace) until it finally went on sale to where I could afford it. By Malene Birger, butterfly print, very long full skirt. Looks great with a tank and I have a cute scarf that I wear Euro-style with it.

Thurs: Turquoise linen halter dress I got three years ago at H&M. It fits so great, has a just below knee length pencil skirt fit on bottom. I always get compliments when I wear it and it cost me about $35. I also got one in brown. Need to fit that one into the schedule.

Fri: Double dress day! Dress 1) white with yellow embroidery edged in black, cotton, halter dress with circle skirt, knee length. Backless, so the the only bra I could find to wear with it was my bikini top. (Girls do that here in summer, wear swimming suit tops as bras, it's a very casual summer environment, especially during a heat wave.) The fabric kind of reminds me of a very cute and sunny sofa. Trust me, cuter than it sounds.
Dress 2)(I sweat thru number 1, it was like 93 that day) Ancient barn-red Ann Taylor halter dress that ties in the back with a complicated string arrangement. I used to forgo the bra with that one, but that bikini thing worked so well I did it again. The dress is ankle length, full skirt.

Sat: Hungover as hell but managed to wear a grey smock waisted dress I got at H&M.

Sun: Wore shorts all day as cleaned and exercised.

Today: Black linen dress from, you guessed it, H&M. Fits very nicely through the waist, hits just below the knee, sleeveless button front, a line. Simple, comfy, flattering. Dressed it up with leopard print belt.

Tomorrow: Will have to wear pants (suit) as am in meetings all day. However, wearing a very cool looking suit I got at H&M, linen, very full legged high waisted pants and matching short jacket. There is this one section of H&M that has sort of "advanced" fashion, and I hit it but hard. That is the only place I can find full pants and sort of funky, out of the ordinary stuff you don't see on everyone. Sometimes they really have horrible stuff, but if you check often enough and know where to look, man there are some SCORES to be had. Most of it in the $50 range....woo!

It got to 95 degrees yesterday, fyi.

Reasons why getting older sucks

1) Having a "spa day" in your own bathroom when you were 25 used to mean experimenting with different brilliant colors of eyeshadow, testing out that new liquid eyeliner, playing with a new nail polish and maybe coloring your hair just because you felt like it. You'd have a bath, shave your legs quickly, use good smellies, and arise from your bath rather like Venus on the halfshell, glowing, fresh and rosy.

2)Having a "spa day" now (at age 38) means shaving, plucking, bleaching, and using horrid smelling creams on hair growing from places you didn't know hair COULD grow, while bemoaning the fact that the hair that's left has every shade of grey known to human kind. (And why is it that men get balder as they get older but women get hairier, and we both decry this fact? What sort of cruel cosmic joke is this?) Your bath (still perfumed with good smellies, at least THAT doesn't change) is now all about buffing, puffing and scrubbing the bits that you want smooth and moisturizing the hell out of the rest. Instead of playing with pretty colors of makeup, you do a facial, and a mask, and a toner, then try out that subdued brown hue of eyeshadow that's supposed to bring out the eyecolor without bringing out the incipient wrinkles that are nicely called "laugh lines". You do another check for random and badly placed hairs. Well, at least the teeth are still in good shape.

3) Losing weight used to mean laying off the booze for a week, going for a walk on a hot day and then taking a good shit. You'd lose five pounds without even worrying about it.
Now? You walk 5+ miles three times a week, do sit ups push ups pull ups leg lifts squats and planks, skip carbs, sugars, bread, alcohol, fun, yumminess and chocolate and all you get are grindy knees, blisters on your feet and bad breath and gas from all the beans you are eating. Your weight? Exactly the same as before, + or - the dreaded PMS bloat where NOTHING fits for at least a week. Hey, but at least you are eating right, right? I know I am eating right when I fart like an 80 year old on a treadmill...pop pop pop pop pop. Frrrrppp.

4) Your parents used to say "when you have kids....". Now they don't even mention grandkids. At all. In fact, your mom gives you menopause advice and you both mull over the benefits of botox.

5) You no longer can wear that cute favorite skirt you wore when you were 24 (even though it still fits!) because, honestly, your knees now frown instead of smile. Yes, the Old Lady Knees have arrived. And they are crotchety old bitches, who whine and creak alot.

6) You go shopping and all the crap you wore in high school is at H&M and all the girls buying it think it is the newest cutest thing they have EVER seen, like OHMYGOD how CUTE. And then the helpful girl working there tries to tell YOU how to wear it! Honey I did leggings before you were born, and I do mean that LITERALLY! In the meantime, you are just trying to find something to cover your ass that does not make you look like Minnie Mouse on acid.

7) You realize that you have shoes that are older than about 1/4 of the humans on this planet.

Bad girl....BAD girl

I didn't post yesterday because the day got away from me and then I got really very drunk. (Well I got drunk later in the day. During the day I had a strange experience when a blind guy completely knocked me over when he ran into me because his seeing eye dog apparently can't see Americans or something. He just whammed into me, full body tackle, and we were both rather surprised, getting the breath knocked out of us and all. I apologized, he apologized, and the dog just kept going. I think some retraining might be warranted.)

I didn't post today (well, not REALLY this is not a post so much as an apology) as I spent the day hungover in a very truly painful way and berating myself for wasting yet ANOTHER Saturday being hungover after a knees up at the pub. Today's was particularly vicious what with the really bad headache and nausea that creeped up every time I attempted to eat. I hate being really hungry yet not able to eat. And it's HOT outside, so eating is not very tempting. And have I mentioned we don't have A/C? I mean, it's not that hot for Texas, but it was, like, 90 today, and that's hot to be in an all glass and steel flat on top of a building. Like being in a tin can. With no a/c.

I am going to limit myself to 3 drinks on Fridays from now on, and when people go get a round I am going to resist the temptation to say "Yeah, sure, I'll have another, thanks!" No more wasted Saturdays due to hangovers!

My new favorite word will be "NO". A word I've always had problems with.

Though I did fairly well with it today. NO cleaning. NO cooking. NO moving.

Hmm...maybe I don't have problems with no after all.

random photos Thursday

These photos are from my trip to SE Asia in March/April 2006. I took over 1000 pictures but have only posted about 20 between blog and Flickr account.

Monks in the Upper Pak Ou caves in Laos. I'll never forget how those caves smelled. And how many Buddha statues there were everywhere.

Scene from a boat trip along the Mekong River in Laos. They really wear those umbrella shaped hats.

Monks' laundry in Luang Prabang, Laos. I'm not sure why I like taking pictures of laundry on the line, but it is a running theme in my photography. I guess because it is such a normal slice of life, and so evocative of home and daily life. Plus it's pretty when it flaps on the breeze, all colorful and flag-like.

Street scene in Luang Prabang. That was such a GREAT place.

View from Angkor, Cambodia. I have many shots like this, down long ancient roofless hallways with many doorways.

Bangkok at night, from posh bar on roof of tall building.

Me and a baby elephump. I was nervous, but it was sweet. I love elephants.

We are having a heat wave in Norway right now. I have to go ice down. Remember when I complained about rainy cold weather just last Friday? Well, sometimes you get what you ask for. Woo! Everyone is running around half naked and gleeful. Naked babies are swimming in the fountain in the plaza beneath us. Baby butts everywhere.

We interupt your random photo viewing.....

.......To blog about some shit.

1) Holy shit, I so am stunned by Weeds season 2! I lost all willpower and downloaded it to iTunes instead of waiting for the DVD as I had planned to do, and watched it over this week. Can I just say, as a season ender, that is the most cliffhangery thing I have EVER seen? I couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking about it so much. One thing that makes it so watchable, but so perverse, is that really, NONE of the characters have any truly redeeming qualities.

Think about it...Celia (my favorite character) is a bitch. Look how she treats her daughter. Andy is a wastoid free-loader (though smokin' hot), Silas is a manipulative little shit, and Nancy really is NOT a good mom and you can't tell me that dealing pot is the ONLY thing she could have done to support her family. Conrad is the only one who even comes close to having a moral compass, but he is still a drug dealing badass who beats people up.

I mean, let's face it, they are all fairly horrible people, but they are also intensely human. Painfully, relate-ably, human.

So, while you may not do any of the things they do, you understand WHY they are doing them. And understanding is in many ways also empathy. Nancy has this vulnerable thing going on that just shines through, and Celia is just so confused and messed up and angry, but what she is really doing is trying to make things better and help other people avoid her mistakes. She just goes about it all wrong.

That last episode of season two, with the Mexican standoff, just killed me. I'm stunned. When Nancy was standing there with guns pointed at her and she finds out her boyfriend is killed, and she's just trying to deal with it and process the news? And she's all "Wait, he's DEAD?" and they all yell "Yes!" at her and she sort of flaps her hands and goes all girly? It was so feminine and vulnerable in the midst of all the macho gun pointing posturing, I thought that was a phenomenal moment. Wow.

2) Summer arrived on June 1. Thank you. I can now officially begin my Dress A Day plan, where I work through my summer wardrobe of skirts, dresses and sandals and hopefully never wear the same thing twice (unless I want to, of course). I have a skirt fetish, what can I say. (Summer is not so very long here, so while a Dress (or skirt) A Day seems really ambitious for a whole summer, we are really only talking three months MAX, so for me that is doable. I think. I have alot of skirts. And dresses. I will have to do some repeats on shoes.)

3) Bed issues. Well, first of all, Badger you are a total bitch for having a new bed and then BLOGGING about it, with you being all comfortable and individually well rested and shit. I hate you! Ok, so maybe I only hate your bed, but that's only because I CAN'T HAVE IT.

We, on the other hand, went looking at beds and realized that in order to buy a bed in Europe we are going to lose about 6-7 inches of sleeping width. Length is the same but width is narrower (our American King sized bed, by general measure now, is about 200cm by just over 200 cm. A large Euro bed is 200 by 180, so we'd lose + /- 20 cm of width.) Sheet fitting issues aside, I don't know that I want to lose that much width and buy a bed that won't really fit anything in the US when we go home. So I am sort of stuck. Also? European beds are WAY softer than American ones. I want a softer bed, yes, but not a marshmallow, so I was pretty shocked at how squashy some of those beds were. And expensive.

We did, however, try a compromise and bought some 'over mattresses' at Ikea, the Sultan Tuvebo ones, that add about three inches of padding on top of an already tall bed, thus hopefully leveling out some of the gorges in the bed and making me hop up to get into it. We also put the bed sideways, hoping to avoid some of the worst divots by making new ones elsewhere. The Tuvebos seem to make a difference, so far, for me at least. Rich thinks it might be too soft for him, but we bought two of them and he can remove his if he so wishes. He'll just have to climb over the cliff of mattress if he wants to get near me.

I'm fairly certain out future includes separate but equal mattresses, a la Badger and husband, because Rich's idea of a mattress is a bit too board-like for me, and now that the firmness is causing me actual PAIN instead of just a modicum of discomfort, we have to find a solution.

Ikea did have a kick ass round bed, which we both briefly went "Hmm...?" to, but then I realized that 1) I could never find sheets to fit and 2) How many times can you roll around on a bed like Austin Powers, rubbing your bum and saying "Do I make you horny baby?", before it stops being funny? Answer: About twice.

Today's random pictures: Istanbul

My favorite Mosque in Istanbul. It's as old as , or older than, Hagia Sophia, in fact it's referred to as Little Hagia Sophia. It's recently been restored, and I really enjoyed visiting it. The man watching it was very, very nice and allowed us to wander where we wished, which was very different from other mosques I have visited.

We had dinner at the Orient Express restaurant. This is where the very posh train used to stop and all of the the best international society would pause while waiting to catch their trains. The food was quite good even though the place was not very crowded.

Picture of me in a mirror taking a picture in the harem at Topkapi palace. I had to wait ages until all the other tourists moved on before I could get the shot. Visiting the harem there (I've now done it twice) is an exercise in patience because you are squished in with about 100 other people, all trying to see the same tiny room at once.

A boat on the Bosphorus.

View up towards the Blue Mosque from the stable market behind. L iked that market, it was a bit more relaxed than the Grand Bazaar and had some (few) different items. I also had a very nice conversation with one of the stall owners there, he was the son of the former Imam of the Blue Mosque. He was a big admirer of Bill Clinton, who he met when he gave him a tour of the mosque.

My muse...

....has left me. Sorry for lack of posting, I just don't really have much to say. So I think this will be Random Pictures Week.

Today's Images from Vilnius.

A courtyard of an old baroque building.
Rich in the sky bar of the hotel we stayed at. If that bar were in London or NYC, it would be the hippest place in town. As it was in Vilnius, it was not crowded, ever, and a mojito cost $4.

The Church of the Babies. Little flying babies everywhere.

Nuns on the run. From me.
Sunlight hitting bricks and reconstruction materials inside an old church being fixed up.

The beer that kicked my ass. 7% strength, porter. I didn't realize how strong it was until suddenly my arms would not work. Be wary of the local beers, they are not for wimps. I also liked this beer because they sort of named it after my mom.....and she can kick my ass as well.

floating away on my own ark

It's done nothing but rain all week. Rain. Dreary greyness. Clouds. And cold. Bloody cold. Cold breezes. Cold wind. Cold. Wet. For a week straight.

I'm about to claw my eyes out. I am so tired of wearing jackets and rain gear and warm socks and having frizzy rain hair. Ugh. I just want SUMMER and WARMTH.

So, I am building an Ark. An Evil Party Ark. Or, maybe more aptly, A Slightly Naughty, Perhaps Even Baudy, Fun Boat with Lots of Alcohol and Soft Squishy Beds. On it will only be people I like, lots of beer, roasted cashews (my new favorite snack), waffles with sour cream and raspberry jam, and quesadillas. Everyone can do whatever they want, but they all have to bring lots of beer (wine's ok too, but only good wine) and extra supplies of the above mentioned snacks. The beds will be really nice, that is one thing I don't skimp on, even on a homemade Ark. And the toilet paper will be high quality as well. I won't tolerate sore arses on MY ark.

A selection of DVD's will be provided, of course, right now I am thinking 'Weeds' seasons 1 & 2 and anything by Joss Whedon.

My ark will, of course, have free wireless and coffee at all hours. First stop..... Amsterdam, because if we are all going to be stuck on a smallish (hey, building materials are expensive and I am not letting just ANYONE on my Ark) boat with lots of munchies, soft beds and good stuff to watch, don't you think we should first go to Amsterdam?

**Next Day:
They forecast SUN all week and say that summer is here! Well, we'll see. At least it's not raining right now......

Big Girl Panties

My sister in law Stev has an expression: "Just put on your big girl panties and deal with it".

I love that expression. First time I ever heard it I bust out laughing and I still giggle at the mental picture I get whenever I hear it. WAY better than pulling yourself up by your bootstraps!

Anyhow, today I did indeed put on my big girl panties and deal with it.

I, all by my mine own self, fixed my start up disk on my Mac. Yep, me, all by myself, I booted from the install disc and everything! Disk Utilities, First Aid, the whole shebang. Me did it!

I've been nervous about fixing it, my Mac told me it need "minor repairs to the Macintosh HD" or some such blah blah and to restart from the install disc. But I, never having "booted" from any disc or sandaled from a frisbee or high heeled from a plate or any such thing, was distinctly nervous about it, especially after my Dad's late saga of erasing EVERY FUCKING THING from his Mac on the not so complete advice of his Mac guru. (Nobody, apparently told Dad that he MUST BACK UP before reinstalling his operating system. Dad's a literal kinda guy and needs ALL the instructions, he's been known to hand his cell phone to strangers at gas stations and say "Can you make this work?")

I did need to find some more specific instructions as to HOW one goes about booting from start up discs, but thanks be to the Mac website for explaining to me that I need to restart the computer with the install cd in it whilst holding down the "c" key. Some digital gymnastics and a few "wow, that's a wierd noise"-s later, and voila! fixed disk!

I have to say, the Mac website is really great for finding anything I need when I have questions about my Mac, in a clear, concise and easy to find manner. Kudos to them. Cuz, for real, the iBook G4 booklet that came with the computer is USELESS.

These big girl panties are a comfortable fit.

Proust Questionnaire

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being in a beautiful place on a beautiful day, with a beautiful meal ahead of me and no pressure to be anywhere else. (Gettin' laid is also nice.)

What is your greatest fear?
I'm actually quite superstitious and writing my worst fear could make it happen. I don't like to leave myself open for that sort of karmic interference....

What historical figure do you most identify with?
Diana Vreeland (ok so she's not exactly a "historical" figure), Queen Elizabeth I, Edith Wharton.

Which living person do you most admire?
Dalai Lama. Hirsi Ali. Jimmy Carter.
(Dad, don't scream).

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impatience and intolerance.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Lack of initiative. disloyalty.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Pretty clothes.

What is your favorite journey?
I've been on many journeys of late, so I am honestly going to say my journey of discovery over the past 5 years.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Religiosity.

On what occasion do you lie?
Whenever I am confronted with authority or bureaucracy.

What do you dislike about your appearance?
I'm a bit annoyed with my new belly. It is going to go away. After that I can go back to complaining about my ass.

Which living person do you most despise?
Our current president. Now that Jerry Falwell is dead, that certainly helps shorten my list.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Fuck. also, "Rich where is my......?"

What is your greatest regret?
I don't really have any regrets, as I think of regrets as something you have when you did something actively you would like to take back. I have some "what if's" and I do wish I had not miscarried in Jan 2004, but how can you regret something that you did not initiate?

Who is the greatest love of your life?
My husband, of course. Duh.

When and where were you happiest?
When I went to Oxford the summer of 1989 and studied there, I remember being in a haze of such happiness I thought it would never end. That will always be the absolute best time of my life. Sometimes my heart would race I was so happy. I still get that occasionally, but not for such an extent of time as then. That is the happy place I go whenever I need to rekindle that certain excitement.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I'd like to be a bigger risk taker. I'd also like a 36" inseam and legs and bum like Giselle Bundchen.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Becoming an inveterate traveler. Realizing that life comes one day at a time and letting go of some unnecessary stresses.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
Minor yet very wealthy royalty somewhere in Europe. Either that or a redwood.

What is your most treasured possession?
My Luccese boots, my bug ring and my glasses.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Being cold and wet.

Where would you like to live?
I'd love to live in London. But ultimately I will always want to go home to Austin.

What is your favorite occupation?
Reading.
My favorite job was doing visual merchandising for stores. I loved creating store windows and making style statements. If I could I'd be a fashion editor.

What is your most marked characteristic?
My sense of humor. It won't be contained.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
Humor, initiative, tall, with a way of making me feel safe. I also like a hairy (not TOO hairy, think Pierce Brosnan) chest.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Independence and strength. Humor and a certain quirkiness as well.

What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty, acceptance and humor.

Who are your favorite writers?
Diana Gabaldon, Bill Bryson, Terry Pratchett, Alexander Dumas, Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, Antonia Fraser.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Pick a Musketeer.....I also love Lady De Winter, even though she's not a hero.

What is it that you most dislike?
"Compassionate conservatism". "Faith Based Initiatives". Red, green or yellow peppers. Rude people.

How would you like to die?
In my sleep. Or very quickly and painlessly.

What is your motto?
Try it once...if you don't like it you don't have to do it again.

With thanks to Jaye, from whom I snatched this. She, of course, snatched from others.....

A great article from the New York Times that I am posting in its entirety.

By PAUL VITELLO

Published: May 27, 2007

EVERY summer, people all over the world become acquainted again with a deep truth spoken by the philosopher-tourist Steve Martin.

He was speaking for tourists everywhere, not just to France, when he said: “Boy, those French, they have a different word for everything!”

That people from different countries observe different customs — not only of speaking, but of eating, sleeping, gesturing, counting change, observing boundaries of personal space, tipping cab drivers, standing in lines, avoiding certain topics of conversation at dinnertime as unbearably disgusting — is a truism one probably can never be reminded of too often.

Especially this year, which according to statistics compiled by New York City, is likely to be a very big year for foreign tourists around here. The dollar is cheap. The shopping is endless. And about seven million foreign visitors are expected in the city — the highest number since before 9/11 — mainly from Britain, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Germany.

This is good news for New York, of course. Foreigners who vacation in the United States spend about four times as much as American tourists do.

But it is bad news only in those isolated cases (which you hear about if you talk to cabbies, tour guides and certain sarcastic individuals in sales) where the awe of Mr. Martin’s revelation is supplanted by the ugly reality of a culture clash — a tip denied, a personal boundary violated, or a long line at a drug store counter jumped by a family of Italian-speaking people, who forever thereafter shall be remembered by the offended party present (an acquaintance of mine) as those “ugly Europeans.”

Let it be said that no group holds a monopoly on the title of “ugly.” Tip-stiffing, line-jumping, excessive price-haggling, sidewalk-blocking-when-stopping-suddenly-to-take-pictures-of-a-person-playing-the-steel-drums — none of these are unique to any national group.

Expedia, the online travel service, conducted a survey of tourist boards around the world that rated British tourists as the most obnoxious. Some people in the tourism world claim that the Chinese, the newest wave of world travelers, are even more so.

Whatever. Is it time, at least, for retiring the term “ugly American” from the dictionary of foreign phrases?

The answer, according to experts in the rarified field of tourism anthropology, is a possible yes.

“Ugly” behavior in tourists is almost always in the eye of the people being toured; and Americans are no longer the only, or even the dominant group of tourists out in the world. We are now as often toured as tour-ing.

And New Yorkers, it turns out, are just as likely to be exasperated being toured by tourists unfamiliar with their local mores about tipping or standing in check-out lines, say, as the Achuar tribesmen of Ecuador are to be offended by tourists who sit on certain sacred rocks.

“The Achuars have actually developed a list of rules for tourists,” said Sharon Gmelch, an anthropology professor at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. “If you are a man, you are not to look directly at a woman, for example. You are not to sit in certain sacred places, or touch anyone’s person. You’re not to take pictures without asking permission. Some of these rules might work in New York, too, I would imagine.”

Nelson H. H. Graburn, a professor of anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley, said one of his graduate students recently asked tour guides in China to rate the tourists from various Western countries.

“They told her that Israeli, French and American tourists could be the most difficult,” Professor Graburn said, “but that what distinguished Americans was that they could be loud and demanding, and then would invariably apologize and give them big tips.”

To be an ugly tourist is to miss the fundamental truth in Mr. Martin’s statement. “It is to have an overall lack of understanding that there is such a thing as cultural difference,” wrote Prof. Inga Treitler, the secretary for the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology, in an e-mail message.

Valene Smith, an anthropology professor at California State University at Chico who pioneered the academic study of tourism and travel in the 1970s, said that the tourists most likely to be deplored by their hosts these days are not the euro-rich Europeans or the British or the standard ugly Americans but the Chinese.

“They have only been traveling widely in the last five years or so, but they are touring in numbers no one has seen before — by the thousands,” she said. “They behave as they would at home — there is a lot of pushing and shoving. Very few speak languages other than Chinese.”

Last summer, in an incident widely discussed among travel experts, she said, 40,000 Chinese tourists descended on the small German city of Trier to visit the birthplace of Karl Marx.

“It was quite a mess,” Professor Smith said. “No one was prepared ahead of time. The Germans were quite upset.”

And so, my fellow Americans, this summer let us host and be hosted as travelers in a world in which we are no longer alone; a world where we can venture forth with the unschooled of other nations, and join hand in hand in ignorance of all the different words those French have for everything!

Adventures in mowing

I thought this was an interesting article.

It's about the small renaissance of reel mowers, like the one they used to use on the Brady Bunch on the Astroturf backyard? Those non-powered ones that you just pushed and they whirred around and scythed the grass off?

I remember being fascinated with them when I was a kid, a lawn mower that was not gas powered and you just push it casually (and quietly) around and it mowed the lawn. Seemed fun. Like playing. My father has always been a bit of a power guy, so our lawn mowers were always big and loud. (Hell, all our household and lawn appliances were big and loud. Dad likes power, alot. Cars, mowers, go carts, anything that has wheels, and at one point, a small experimental hovercraft. We learned Hovercrafts are VERY hard to steer and you might not want to take them on busy streets for fear of the cops showing up.) They scared me, mowers did, and I refused to ever mow the lawn. I always wished we had a Brady mower.

Cut forward to the mid 90's, when I got my own house. Rich traveled alot and I got stuck with the yard work. So, to indulge my retro-yard urges (and to match our house which is solid and original 1950's and has a fairly small yard) I found a little reel mower. I was so excited with it...I thought, Wow, I can be a Brady too! How retro! I could mow at night if I wanted, it was that quiet. Cool!

It was kind of hard work, though. My arms got really tired. And the blades got kind of dull over time and if you went over a really long patch it would sort of yank the grass instead of mowing it, so you had to go over it multiple times. And sometimes you had to use a weedeater anyhow. Rich refused to use it and bought a power mower. I think maybe he thought my little reel mower was too sissy.

But it was still better than those noisy horrid gas movers, in my opinion.

My parents moved away from where I grew up, and now have a very large yard on their land, and so they have moved up to riding mowers. They have to mow 5-10 acres at a time. (Dad's mower even has a cup holder on it, for Chrissakes.) Once or twice Mom has roped me in to help, and I gotta say, I don't really like riding mowers, either.
Mom would plunk a giant brimmed sun hat on my head, kindly protecting me from sunburn but also severely limiting my eyeline above my forehead. I couldn't see anything higher than about 4 feet off the ground with out tilting my head way back and peering out from under the ridiculous hat. So, one time I was riding around near the house, where some of the bigger trees are, whizzing in between the trees and around them, trying to get the hang of the forward, reverse, and the turning radius of the mower. I thought the tree branches were pretty high, but...no. I ran right into a low tree branch with my hat-covered forehead, never even saw it coming, and just went ass over applecorn off the mower and landed on my back behind it, legs in the air and the breath knocked out of me. Luckily the hat and the hardness of my head somehow helped me avoid any untoward injury. The mower, I learned, has an automatic stop so if its rider gets knocked off in a cartoonish accident, it just turns right off. Which was nice, as I didn't think I was up for chasing it out of Mom's flower garden, which was right ahead of me. They haven't asked me to mow again. that's probably more for worrying about the welfare of the trees than anything else.

When we moved to Norway the first place we lived in had an electric mower. It was sort of a cross between a vacuum cleaner and a lawn mower. I thought it was cool. Rich didn't like it much, I seem to remember. Now we have no lawn at all, which I like 90% of the time but sometimes on sunny warm days I just want to lay down in my own grass (I know what's been there as opposed to in the park when God only knows what may have pissed, pooped or whatever'd there).

When we move back home (whenever that may be) I will campaign for another reel mower. I really liked playing Brady, and I liked what the mower did for my shoulders and biceps. But if Rich kicks up a fuss and wants power, maybe he will be willing to compromise on an electric one? We'll have to see.

Anyhow, this long treatise on mowers is my convoluted and very wordy way of saying Happy Memorial Day! (I seem to remember everyone always mowing on this weekend....)

Random Friday

• Train: On the train to work today, I was listening to music on my iPod (one particularly evocative song being Gary Numan's Metal) and realized that listening to music on a train, any train, is nothing less than a holistic, full body experience. It never fails, somehow, the rhythm of the train will always match the rhythm of the music and they blend in a very harmonious way. Then, as you watch the scenery pass by outside, you suddenly feel as if you are the center of your own 3d light and sound and sensation video. The cabin rocks in motion to your music, the world flashes by, you feel the 'gedunk a dunk de DUNK a dunk' of the train on the rails and you feel like a secret stealth rock star god who controls the motions of the world. Or is that just me? Anyhow, I freaking LOVE listening to music on trains.
  

• Food: Today at lunch we had tacos and waffles. As a combination it sounds strange, but load that taco up with some rich Norwegian sour cream (have I mentioned my absolute adoration of Norwegian dairy products?) and salad fixins' and you have a yummy, practically homestyle Texas Taco Salad. Then for dessert you get waffles, that you spread with sour cream and raspberry jam in a fairly thick layer and I tell you what, that is the best tasting damned thing in the world . Trust me on this one. Sour Cream. Jam. Waffle. Eat. Moan.
  

• Weeds. I am watching the first season of the Showtime show Weeds. Holy crap what a great show, and at times it is laugh out loud ribaldly funny. And yet very true to life. Elizabeth Perkins is a revelation in that series, she is amazing. I have always loved her, she seems very real in whatever she does. Thanks to Grant for bringing it back from the US for me, and I certainly enjoyed texting you about you getting me my weed..... (However, a big "fuck you" to Showtime for blocking me from their website because I am from outside the US. I really, truly HATE that shit.....)
  

• Summer and feet: Summer is a tease. It showed up briefly a few weeks ago, then retreated back to southern Europe somewhere and has not come back. It's grey, rainy and really chilly. It is seriously messing with my plan to wear a Dress A Day for the summer. I think I could manage to wear a different dress or skirt combination every day for the whole of the summer, if it would just freaking warm up. As it is, I have to pull out the tired old sweaters and jackets and not the cute linens, cottons, voiles and chiffons I have loved my whole life. But, and I don't care HOW cold and wet it is out there, I am wearing my sandals and that is THAT. Cold feet be damned. Honestly, my feet are always cold anyhow, so wearing sandals when it's 55 degrees just gives me an excuse as to why they are cold, as opposed to my usual answer which is, "They are long and bony and no blood gets to the ends". (Which is also true. I have the BONIEST damned feet . I never understood how I could have such bony hands and feet and then have this ass and these boobs. Makes no sense.)

• Work: We have yet ANOTHER holiday next week, on Monday. We have had May Day (May 1), May 17 and now this Monday off from work. I'm feeling a bit guilty about it, to be honest. I have not worked a 5 day week this month. Rich and I are NOT going anywhere this weekend, I am traveled out and want to stay home and go for walks in the balmy (chilly) sunny (overcast) beautiful (beautiful) hills.
  

• Play: But first, I am going to the pub this evening. And with the new cell phone (did I mention I dropped mine last week and it exploded and I had to get a new one? and so I got once again the cheapest Nokia, because I am SO not a phone snob and I have bad luck with cell phones as a rule? But this new phone compared to my crappy old one, is like a computer to a typewriter? Wow...) (and how's that for a lengthy digression.... where were we...oh!) I think I can take pics and send them to my Flickr account....so check it out later. Pictures of drunk people...woo!
  

Some images from Lithuania

These are some of the pictures that Richard took in Lithuania. I haven't downloaded mine yet.

Trakai Castle, about 30 km outside of Vilnius. It's been restored, sometime in the 50's, but it's still really lovely and evocative. It helped that we had a really great tour guide. This trip to Trakai was actually one of the best tours I have ever taken, due almost solely to our very pleasant and knowledgeable tour guide, Eve. The town of Trakai is also really interesting. It is the last remaining home of some cultures that are dying out. Only 200 Karaim remain. I also did not know that there are still Tartars in Lithuania. Cool.

Rich put me in the box for bad behavior. We were the first ones to do this, using the box, then after we did it people lined up to get in after us. People are such sheep. Note my freakishly long hands.

He also put me in the stocks. It is as uncomfortable as it looks, not least because I could not move my head and it was 90 degrees in the shade. Of course, with an attitude like mine, perhaps I belong there after all. (I think Rich wishes we had one in our house.) I ended up being a photo op for laughing Russians.

Cool shot of women cleaning up a church after a service. There are like 50 churches in a one or two square mile area in Old Town Vilnius. They all are very baroque and look alot like wedding cakes. One we went into was covered in little statues of naked babies (putti) , and reminded me of a King Cake from Mardi Gras. Fat pink naked flying babies everywhere. And we came across at least three churches that were being vigorously scrubbed by very serious ladies. I can verify the cleanliness of the churches there. They all smell like Pine Sol. The churches are all very much in use, which is refreshing after so many places where they tend to be more monuments to history than living breathing centers of culture and gathering.

This church is cool because it hasn't been restored yet. We happened upon it during a wedding; the lights going up the aisle are all little votive candles. The church was huge, airy, decrepit and yet somehow spiritually uplifting, maybe because it wasn't so covered in ornate crap. It felt well used and authentic. I really like things that haven't been restored and fixed up. I like to see the bones and the guts of a place and then put my imagination on it from there. This place really felt good. The Soviets used it for storage when Lithuania was under Soviet rule. Many beautiful churches met that fate.

Speaking of Soviet, when I download my pictures, I'll post some of a visit we made to a KGB prison/museum. THAT was freaky, and sad too. I've always been fascinated with the cloak and dagger KGB era. and to see a prison in situ was a treat, if also a bit of a brutal and eye opening experience. So many lives ruined for a failed political experiment.