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February 07, 2003 : laramie day 2.5
It was yet another grueling day in Laramie. I started off the morning the same as yesterday, both early and at the same coffee-shop as yesterday with yet another Latte. For some reason I can't bare to bring myself to have a simple coffee because I'm spoiled from the Belgian version. I imagine going to Steak-n-Shake won't be an eye-popping joy when I see the coffee mugs always filled to the brim. Now I like coffee, but I'm used to a certain version that is somehow creamy, always served with creme and a cookie. I met another half-dozen people today before having my half-hour to prep for the room of students and faculty. I was fine until more and more people started coming in, I was dead nervous and could hear my heart-beat like it was coming from a boom-boom car at a stoplight. I wanted to use this opportunity to go over my transmedia projects with them, but in a last-ditch effort to calm myself, I unplugged the projector. Which in turn made the projection look like watching a 3-d movie without your special goggles. I tried to shake this off with humor but not to much avail. I did, however, get a few laughs when I counted to 15 in Dutch while Jean restarted the projector. Embarrassed and devastated at the same time and so nervous I could have vomited. By the end, however, I could see that it would only take me a few more times to get completely used to this type of setting. The amphitheater setting with the ant-like-teacher on the bottom and the chairs which have the hidden desk-board built into the arm-rest. Yeah, I could do this. After it was finished I had another round with two additional people before I was finally dropped back off at the Comfort Inn. The fact that it was -17 didn't make Eva's prospects of exploring the city seem very feasible, but thankfully she had hooked up with Mark and his son and he had given her the grand tour, just like I had gotten from his better half, Leah, before lunch. We had consequently found an abandoned car out by this hiking area and it gave off all warning signs of being a hiker's car and the hiker got stranded. Not having nearly enough time to simply rest, Eva and I were soon picked up by Mark and Leah and ushered off to the student art show opening at the University's Gallery. I stuffed myself senseless on pretzel sticks, Hi-Ho crackers and cheese and tried to fit in. It wasn't really easy, as I can imagine no one would really fit-in to such a tight-nit community/school as an outsider. As a teacher, sure, but not as the prospective version. Eva and I got lost in some of the other lithographs in other parts of the gallery, and soon it was time to head downtown with Mark, Leah and their son for dinner. Finally it was time to unwind a bit. Having been running here and there for 2 days straight, I was glad to see that the real interview-part was coming to an end. Now it was us having dinner with two new friends. We liked them immediately, and could tell that if we ended up in Laramie we'd have someone to ask out/over to dinner already. We got back to the hotel at a normal hour, around 11, and were in no shape or form to try to see the nightlife of Laramie. I was exhausted. Probably more exhausted than I've been in a long while, but hopeful that all of this exhaustion would pay off. Good school, good support, friendly co-workers, and a beautiful landscape. Really, technically speaking, what more could a person want? IN THE NEWS:
February 10, 2003 : back in belgium
we arrived safely, we finally got our missing bag, and we slept our lives away. more later.
February 12, 2003 : day in Brussels
Since coming back from the States, I am once again of the opinion that I should make the most of my time in Belgium and be a bit more proactive and self-sufficient and such. Today the first year transmedia students were getting together for a walk around Brussels, so I decided to join them. I debated about it for a half hour. I missed the train that would assure me that I would make it on time (10am) and finally speed-walked my way to the station to hop a train that would assure me that I was at the North Station by 10:05. I suppose if one lives in a city, one doesn't get to see so much of winter. When it was snowy before we left for the States, it was twice as snowy outside of the city. The snow lingered. It covered the fields. Children made snowmen. Well today, the frost was perhaps the thickest I had ever seen it. The whole of Belgium (the part that stretches between Antwerp and Brussels) was ice-sparkled gray. I was, in fact, there at exactly 10:05, at which point I bought a subway/tram ticket, ran downstairs and road it only one stop which meant I was on the right street by 10:10. I had already decided that if I didn't make it, I was going to buy one of those Brussels tour books and see all of the sites I haven't seen yet in Brussels, but when I rounded the corner and the meeting point came into view, I was mildly pleased to find them all still drinking their coffee. After small-talk and chit-chat, we headed out on the street, someone making the statement that every time we came to a cross-roads, we'd make a new decision about which way to go. It's a good idea in concept, and one that perhaps Eva and I will take someday when we're stuck in some foreign town somewhere. I suppose every time we are in a city we do that to an extent. Scanning each length of street at every intersection deciding which way to go. It would have been more promising if we had kept heading away from the direction of school. I was getting a little leery of our plans once, after our stop at the HUGE Salvation Army second hand store, when the current Transmedia professor said, "Ok, ready to head back to school?" And several students agreed. There were three of us that didn't. Valarie (Val I guess?), Fredrick, and myself. Valarie is a Canadian transmedia who is currently pregnant (due this summer) and the fact that she is getting to be great-with-child didn't slow her down one bit. When the others had gotten far ahead and were headed back to school we hid out behind a Turkish vegetable truck and headed in another direction. Apparently Fredrick used to give tours of Brussels, so we took advantage of his stories, passing by a building where people scrawl their name into the brick, and on to a cafe where we stopped to have coffee. This is the section of the day when my trip bettered me even further. Over hot chocolate that you make yourself (with chocolate chips) the three of us got to talking about our art. I had been talking to Valarie about her own work, video installations, and we'd already decided that we were going to get together to look over each other's work. She uses a program that makes video installations interactive, and that's a step in the direction of where/what I want to do. I'm dead excited, actually, and so in the coming weeks, I should make great strides in that direction. Then I told them about my future project ideas and the fact that I have ideas, but not exactly sure of what I want to do with them. Not what I want to do, exactly, but what I can do with them. "What?" they asked? "What do you mean?" "Well, I mean that I dont' know where I could show them or if they will pan out at all." And so I told them of my integration project, and they nudged me on with enthusiasm and promised to help me out in any way they could. They, as Steven had, were really excited about it, and we talked on and on about how I could realize the project and what research they thought I should do, other artist I should look into, etc. Cool. When Valarie left us, Fredrick and I ordered another round of drinks and started talking about any number of additional projects. We got off on a completely different subject and came up with a new project we plan on making in a week or so. I hope it's not something that will die a project death. (rots in the back-areas of our brains) We were so excited about it, that after each of us had gone to the bathroom and returned, we had even more ideas that we had though of while peeing. We wrapped up and headed back outside and he went on in the direction of school and I went on in the direction of just walking around. We promised to get together soon, and I daresay that I'm going to hold him to it. So now, alone in the city that sometimes seems so daunting to me, I looked at it with a new perspective. No longer overwhelmed by the fact that it's a different language than the one I'm learning and no longer overwhelmed by gray-ness, I just meandered around, stopping at a toy-store to look for one of the pieces of the new project, and then on into a shopping center where I did manage to find what I was looking for. Enroute, I passed by a flower kiosk, circled round, and bought Eva some beautiful orange/yellow tulips, and decided that no matter how long I'd have to wait for the train afterwords, I would drop by her work and surpriser her with them. It was already past her lunchtime, so I knew it would only be a knock at her window and the exchange of smiles and flowers through the iron bars. Sure enough, at Neckerspoel, I gave her some flowers, "just because" because it's always great to get flowers out of the blue, a few days before, a few days after valentine's day...because that makes it even more special to not be tied to a certain date. I road back to Mechelen to catch the fast-train to Antwerp, and back at home I fixed the mp3 player that even the bastards at the maker of the mp3 player had told me was un-fixable. Last night I had emailed several companies that sold the same player under different names, and finally, via an additional website, I found the pdf that told me the root of my problem in updating the firmware. Simply hold play down for 5 seconds. One would think that the companies would share that bit of information, no? Mp3 player in hand, I dropped Eva and email to let her know that I was heading into town with my mp3 player (a dream of mine as of late, as music adds much to a tram ride/walk) and by the time I got to the tram-stop, Your Body is a Wonderland came on. I turned at the end of the street and headed home. I couldn't let Eva get to the station and not have a ride home. At the station I asked Eva if she wanted to go see a movie, and after dinner, and a lengthy round of decisions, we made up our mind to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Joris and Tom both met us there, and though the movie wasn't as fabulous as I had expected, it had its funny moments. We were hoping that Joris would stick around after the show as Joris is the economist who has different insights into the world, but he went on home. The three of us headed on over to the cafe of the Vlaams Opera (still the bar that I like and Eva isn't so crazy about) and ordered three rounds. We actually ordered one that became two that became three, and we actually closed the bar. (last ones to leave) Outside Eva said, "I wish we could talk all night!" And both Tom and I agreed that we would have to do that sometime. No limitations of work, simply us out all night, not partying, but having one hell of a good time. We covered a whole range of topics that included Wyoming, Iraq, American backlash, the concept that maybe the US wants to un-unify the European Union, the great machine that runs the world, the importance of music in revolution, Tom's students, opening a restaurant/coffeeshop, and the list goes on and on. Eva and I returned home on our scooter, grunting out noises, as we often do when it is bitter koud and Tom took off in the direction of his house on his classic-style 10-speed, dodging red lights and going so fast we could barely keep up with him on the route we shared before parting ways. Not too bad for a cold, gray day in mid-february. IN THE NEWS:
February 13, 2003 : flowers two
Eva left the heat on when she left this morning, and so around noon I woke up in a coma-like-heat-induced-stupor. Last night I found some super cheap flights between SFO and BRU or was it AMS? Regardless, it was the cheapest of the year (my prediction) and I begged Bobbie on Instant Messenger to come and see me, even if it's for a weekend. I ask her at least once a week to do the same thing, and I've vowed that I shouldn't pester her with the concept anymore because she'd come if she could. I just get this feeling that Bobbie and Erin are going to wait to come to Belgium when Eva and I are already in the States. What most people know if we have tortured them with the story of how Eva and I met is the story of Valentine's day flowers...and how I had told the lady on the phone at a flower shop somewhere in the states who had flower-ship friends in Belgium, that if the flowers didn't get there on Valentine's day, well, it didn't matter. In fact, I had gone, "you can just deliver them the day after." (which wasn't a Saturday that year) And of course you know the story that the flowers arrived on Valentine's Day anyway, and one thing led to another with the 19th being the date when we said, "ok, let's try to make this work." It's so funny to see that written down. It seems downright ridiculous really. "Hey Andrea, who-I-have-only-hung-out-with-for-7-days-over-the-course-of-3-years, let's start a relationship over an ocean and over a continent. That sounds fun. Let's have Paris as our first date." "Sure Eva, no problem. I've always thought that having a euro-girlfriend would be cool." Neither of us thought of any consequences or visa troubles, just giving it a try. The real promise for success comes on the 19th, this entry should only really talk about flowers. So today I headed to Del Haize, meal-vouchers in hand, before Eva came home and I had give myself what I thought was plenty of time to get to Del Haize and get to the train-station. (they're in the same region of Antwerp) Well it wasn't easy. I only had a few vouchers and I was painstakingly rounding up every item to see what all I could afford. Once in line (the line was obnoxiously gigantic...even after this Del Haize's vast overhaul/change of layout which added an additional line) I even asked the lady in front of me to watch my stuff as I ran back to the fruit and vegetable area to put back my bananas (they were an astounding 1.35 Euro) and my flat beans. Passing the flower section on the way back to the checkout, I saw a section of tulips that would look perfect withe the tulips of yesterday, and I added them to my purchase, still panicking a bit that I wouldn't have enough extra change to buy the non-grocery items. 15-20 minutes later, already late (thought I had warned Eva that I might be late due to grocery shopping), I headed on to the station. En-route, I passed the pink house, and passed it once, suppressing the idea that I should hide my flowers at the bar. I circled back around and decided it was just the thing, ran in, and told the bartender that I'd be back within the next half hour. I knew Eva wasn't at the station anymore, and so I started tracing our route back home. I caught up with her not too far from home and insisted that we go for coffee. (I've neglected to mention that I looked really nice tonight as well, with a new shirt on!) We get to the cafe, situate ourselves at a table, and Eva starts telling me how nice I look in my new brown shirt. :) I order a coffee and Eva orders a fruit-juice. I say, "I'm going to the restroom" in order to distract her from my direction to pick up the flowers, and instead she gets up and stands there leafing through the leaflets--I leaf too. Finally, after she's found something to read, I say, "oh yeah, I'm going to the bathroom..." and I go and get the flowers. I bring them back and she is shocked and happy all at the same time. I figured she wouldn't expect flowers today since she had gotten flowers yesterday. All the more reason to surprise her with more! We had a nice time sitting there, and I managed to spill my coffee all over the front of my new shirt (thank goodness it's brown!) and on my jeans. (not new, not clean, and it's no big deal.) That's right, Eva has latched herself to a certain clumsy dork. I had thought that my carelessness only exposed itself when I was doing dishes. (several glasses and mugs and bowls in the last year) This evening Eva and I also came up with the plan, somewhere around the time we started discussing the state of "high alert" in England at the moment (Joris was also here to fuel discussions), that when the war with Iraq starts, we should go and hang out with a few friends. Just because it's more comforting that way to watch and/or know that a bit of the world is falling apart all in the safely and presence of your closest friends. I suppose I've overreacted (is it because we were in the States last week?) and have become a news junkie who is just waiting for something to happen. For instance, I passed by a taxi that was parked right in front of the jewish old folks home today. And as I passed I considered the chances that a suicide bomber could be planning something. Come on now. I didn't come up with that on my own. Where'd it come from? IN THE NEWS:
February 14, 2003 : valentine's day.
A brief overview: IN THE NEWS:
February 15, 2003 : two nights in a row
In brief: IN THE NEWS:
February 16, 2003 : ignorant fool
Since I'm extremely behind in journal entries, I'm attempting to put the pieces of my last-few-weeks together again. In doing so, I'm listing out the things that are noteworthy and coming back to fill in the blanks. If this seems a bit erratic, please note that it will be read-quality again, and hopefully that means this week. After such an obnoxious evening out (take two) Eva and I slept in until the last possible moment that we could this morning. Eva talked with her mother last week and her mother asked why she never came out to her childhood home to visit. (meaning that we should/had-to come out for a visit.) So today, on a day when we had so much that we had to get done in order for it to be a successful weekend, we ate a bit of breakfast and bundled up for a scooter ride to Brochem. We could have taken a bus, that's true. But with the day rapidly approaching night, and the sky so blue, it beckoned us out. "Eva, Andrea, ride the scooter!" So we did. And we thought we were prepared. I had a stocking cap beneath my helmet and Eva did as well. Her cap stabilizes her helmet, so it's a welcome addition, but mine? Well it situates my helmet in a way that is quite hysterical really, and at the intersection next to the Holocaust memorial, a mom and dad pushing a baby carriage actually stopped and laughed at us. "They're laughing at us," I told Eva. "you sure?" she asked? Positively. So out into the "country" we went. One thing I've realized since living here, is that if it's pseudo warm in the city than it's not really warm at all outside of the city. It was freezing cold. My thighs and hands were frozen numb. Our behinds were sore from the distance (we're not used to it!) and at ever possible stoplight we got up to stretch. So out at the house we were once again awed by the space there. It's gorgeous. Her mother had cleared out the entire first floor to rent out and it ended up not working out with the renters. The first thing I thought of was, "we should move in." And not two seconds after I mentioned it to Eva did her mother say, "You two should move in." Something to think about. A garden! A tuin! Vegetables! Fantastic. So much space that we wouldn't know what to do with it. We would have to get a car! A car! Fantastic. Something to think about. With Jasper, Joris, and Rita, Eva and I watched color TV. The colors were so bright that how could we not want to watch it. It didn't matter if it was football or adverts. Since we had been so cold, Eva's mother offered to take us, and our scooter, back to Antwerp. When we got back, Eva and I went to the frituur and grabbed some fries for me (which she consequently helped me eat) and settled in for the rest of our wee-tiny weekend. We talked about the color TV (we're ad-less in Belgium and Eva and I are even more ad-less) And since Eva's reading No Logo, we wondered what sort of consumers we are. Are we brand-aware? Are we conscious of it? We talked about it in respect to the US and their onslaught of ads every 10 minutes, and vowed to only buy second hand clothes. Or not--though brands dont' seem to matter much when every pair of pants is 5 Euro a pair. (hmmm...something to think about!) Nichole also called tonight. She wanted to know about coming to Europe under the circumstances we're in. (war-ish) She said, "can I get back here if I go there and war breaks out?" After the phone-call I decided to do some research on something that Eva's mother had mentioned. She had read that Muslims are eager to kill themselves for the sake of their religion because if they do, they arrive in heaven for an eternity full of 70+ always-virgin-virgins, young boys, wine, and fruit. Eva and I hadn't known that. We had never heard it before, so I poked around to find out some more about Islam, because there is no time like the present to learn about a global religion, one with so many myths and misconceptions about it. So I did. Sure enough, some facets of Islam believe in the eternal bliss with virgins. And besides all of that, I learned a lot more. During my quest for information, I also landed on: If those are my only two options, then I'm supposing ignorant fool. On a lighter note, visit http://www.adbusters.org. There's always a lot of interesting counter-consumerism culture tidbits floating around there. IN THE NEWS: Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Sunday he thought the current terrorism threat level would likely be lowered from the high-risk orange level, but wouldn't say when. "When it is lowered, and I'm confident it will be, then there will be an appropriate explanation at the time," he said. Ridge defended the Bush administration's decision last week to increase the level to the second from the top on a color-coded scale of five, even though the government later determined that some of the information which led to the upgrading was likely fabricated. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Saturday that the end of the hajj — the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy Mecca — was causing officials to consider seriously lowering the threat level.
February 17, 2003 : locked in
I spent most of the day on the web. It started out with the curating project we are doing at school. I'm not necessarily doing it, but I'm interested in it. I'm sort of caught in the middle. I don't really know any artists really. I'm not involved in any artistic scene per se. I'm out of the loop really. It's not my choice, but I can look back and see why. I see the art scene as very exclusionary, and I include myself in the exclusion. Maybe it was because my parents were not "museum types" or something. We would pack up on our journeys West and East and stop at any museum along the way, but more of the historical type; old wagons re-enacting the move out West, guns, shrunken heads, Indian artifacts, weapons of the calvary, pots and pans, airplanes, civil war stuff, pueblo ruins, historical points of interest. And so now, how I stumbled into an "art field" which is not so artistic really, but everyday. We were not Nelson-Atkins museum folk. And when I was introduced to the museums of Europe back when I was 22, I was overwhelmed completely. I still remember massaging my feet in the Pompidou--inundated with art of all sorts. So today I was looking for people to inspire me in my current pursuit of art. And boy did I find some. Not only did I find projects similar to mine, but others far surpassing my use of simple technology, imagery, and verbage. Yay! I then proceeded to work on a project with little green army men. They've been collecting dust for just under one week now, so I figured it was time to break open at least one bag and start dismembering a few. The result isn't yet complete, but it's a starting point. If you look closely you can see a few heads and arms at the bottom, a few green men missing arms and legs or simply torsos. I hate to write that in such a lighthearted manner, because that's what I want to avoid; though I am still reworking it to see what I can come up with. Now comes the funny part of my day. There I was with my bag packed, dressed and ready to head out for school when I realized I was locked in my own house. Our house has a front door which we all keep locked and then our own front door to our apartment. I couldn't find a set of keys, and just when I was headed down to check the front door I realized that I shouldn't shut our door or I would, indeed, be locked between two doors. (in the hallway) I checked the front door, found it locked, and walked back up the stairs trying to find the humor in it all. Just when I have promised myself to go to each and every lesson...I'm locked in my own house. I called Eva and she too thought it was funny. Ok, it was. Disappointing, but funny. Since it was pointless to get worked up about it, I set to cleaning up the house a bit before Eva came home. Just 5 minutes before she walked into the house I found that missing set of keys...in the pocket of my brown pants--the pair currently missing the top button. It was entirely too late to head to school now. I would barely make it to class before the pauze. So a dinner of vegetarian meat and veggies and trivial time-wasting before it was time to watch Inspector Morse. Tonight I couldn't take my eyes off of Eva. She was absolutely stunning. Sitting there working at the computer in her new old-navy cotton track pants and a tight black 3/4 sleeved v-neck shirt. She looked like a dancer hanging out between performances. And me? I was sitting there on the sofa eating everything I could get my hands on. (one of those days, you know?) Sitting there in my way-too-big wal-mart sweat pants (I grossly misjudged my size) and a gigantic longsleeve t-shirt. Where and when did I find her? After Morse, we crawled into bed and talked until we both drifted off to sleep. I had actually had a brief pang of panic while turning off the computers. The date on the computers said 18 and I hadn't realized it had turned Tuesday in process. I thought, "Oh my god! Our anniversary is tomorrow!" but it's really only tomorrow, tomorrow. IN THE NEWS:
February 18, 2003 : beeeeeeep
So we were already in bed last night when a strange noise suddenly took over our house. Shrill. Muted. Loud. I was positive it was an alarm of some sort, possibly in the building next door. I climbed out of bed and started searching it out. I walked to the livingroom wall and cupped my ear against the wall. Nothing, yet it sounded like it was coming from that very corner. I moved to the kitchen wall and did the same. Nothing. I stood in the center and no matter where I looked it seemed like the sound was coming from there. "Get out of bed and help me!" I yelled to Eva, who was not as enthusiastic about getting to the root of the sound. I thought it was pretty unavoidable. And the more we heard it, the less avoidable it was. I opened the window. Nothing. We unplugged all sorts of outlets, opened the refrigerator door. Nothing. We even swore it was a clock that is unplugged. We thought it was a CD player stuck or something, perhaps a battery about to explode. Nothing. And then Eva started going through bags. The instance she peeled open my backpack we knew it was there. Somehow my mobile phone was stuck on beep. How did it happen suddenly? We laughed so loud and hard, that as soon as we were in bed we realized we were awake. So we just lay there and visited. I explained what Presidents day was and we both relayed every scary moment we could remember. Eva's were mostly creepy men and ghosts in her grandparents house. Mine was primarily about coyotes and being alone in my parents house out in the country. I often think of my mother out there alone when my dad's driving a bus for one of the teams he drives for--how she's out there in Missouri with a deaf dog and two ferociously gentle cats, completely unafraid. :) This morning Eva headed off to work and I got out of bed when she left to get ready to go to school. Still, no matter what I do, I can't seem to leave the house at 40 like Eva does. I left at 44 and sure enough, i missed the train I had really wanted to take. No big deal, I ended up with a half-way slow train. With my mp3 player plugged into my head, I didn't mind at all. I browsed the newspaper and watched the landscape...ah Belgium. I swear it's not a bad place at all. The landscape of the Netherlands, only more chaotic with brick houses popping up everywhere. I had an interesting time at school and vow to return to it on a regular basis. (something I always say) I started back to Antwerp hoping to get back home early enough that I could just rest for awhile. I started getting so sleepy on the train it's a wonder I didn't end up somewhere in the Netherlands or the place where they clean the trains at night! At home, I talked with Eva on the phone and the two of us decided that I should take the scooter to school since missing the tram adds an additional 20 minutes to my night. As I was getting ready to leave, I made a little present for Eva to see as she walked up the stairs, little notes on Post-Its. "See you soon", "[ ]" and "Ik hou van jou" among others. So helmet on, jacket on, gloves tucked under sleeves of jacket, scarf situated, backpack adjusted, I headed out the door. Now of course I've waited until the last possible minute to leave. I still have plenty of time to make it there, just not oodles of it. As I was walking down the stairs I start thinking about the scooter. The city is working on our street, so our scooter is parked over behind the glass recycling containers...locked. For a brief moment I envisioned the scooter lock key attached to my keyring. (consequently that is the key ring that Joris currently has) And then I poke around in my pocket only to reveal that I'm key-less again! Two nights in a row! By this point in time it is already too late for me to take the Tram because I'd already be over a half-hour late even if the trams arrive just as I get there. And, if I wait for Eva to get home with her lock-key, then I'm already nearly 45 minutes late by scooter. Geez. So it's sort of funny. Not REALLY funny, but humorous all the same. Two days in a row of good intentions about learning this language and both of them end in laughter and ruin. Oh well! So what's a girl to do except add to the surprise of Eva? By this time she's already on her way home, so I light some votive candles in the shape of a heart and climb up to bed to wait for her. (nearly the only spot where I can hide in our whole apartment.) Half an hour later, as I am fighting off sleep, I hear her climb the stairs, pick up the post-it notes, open the door and enter a house with burning candles and no-one in it. Surely she must have been thinking, "what on earth!? Why would she leave something burning when she left?!" Then I surprised her. And after relaying the Story of the Sleutals part II, she agreed to write my teacher next week explaining my absence because my explanation in Dutch just won't do it justice. IN THE NEWS:
February 19, 2003 : in sickness
Today was our anniversery. 2 years. It seems more like 5, but that's a good thing I suppose. We're to the point where we don't remember what it was like to not know each other or know what we would do if we weren't together. Of course we can remember not being together, but only so far as we know that we weren't--nothing specific really. :) Well of all days to wake up sick, today was one of the worst! I had a lot to do at school today in Brussels, several people to meet, and of course I wanted to do something even slightly special for our anniversary. Well nothing really went as planned. Last night I had passed out on the couch just after dinner and just wasn't the same for the rest of the night, which was perhaps a precursor to being sick. A warning sign. When I woke up this morning, my chest was heavy and my throat sore. All of the glands that could swell in my neck were swolen and I felt awful. Eva was quick to break out the Lemocin and to tell me, "You're not going anywhere today." How could I refuse her? I didn't feel like doing much anyway. Basically I tried to take are of myself today by resting. Resting and just laying low. I tried to go outside for a walk thinking that the fresh air would help out, but instead it made matters worse, I returned from the Vergo with blood-orange juice, yogurt, bread, milk, and the feeling that I was wearing a lead vest from the dentist's office and a lead hat. By the time Eva got home I was feeling even worse and consequently sleeping on the couch when she got home. There were no surprises tonight. No candles or specially made meal. No wine chilling in our empty fridge. No special chocolate treats for Eva. Nothing. Eva didn't seem to mind. She simply tucked me in, made me some tea, and took care of me for the rest of the night. We ordered Chinese (the 20 Euro family meal) and I tried to eat away my fever and pain only to realize later on that nothing really tasted very good, though the eating helped my spirits a bit. (scary thought!) We then decided that we should rent a DVD and try to watch it on our old PC. It actually has a DVD drive, we've just never used it because I figured it would be such poor quality that it wouldn't be worth viewing. We brought it home only to realize that some update along the way, the DVD program quit recognizing the DVD drive. 2 hours later, after installing another DVD program, it was working like a charm. Entirely too late for it to be any use to us on the night of our anniversery, but it looks like we'll be watching the Royal Tennenbaums tomorrow night. Yay! Over the sink in the bathroom, while brushing our teeth, Eva remarked, "Wow. I bet this is going to change our life like the scooter did." So there you have it. We read into the "living in Laramie" prospect and saw us skiing/hiking on the weekend-days, working/going to school during the week-days, and the nights spent with movies and books...or something like that. I'm sure the Super-Wal-mart will wear off soon enough. To be honest, we were pretty unimpressed when we went. (maybe I'd feel differently if it was a 24-hour one. It's just an open-til-midnight one.) Regardless, life would be a little different in Laramie and we'll find out soon enough if/when it's going to be a reality. We climbed into bed and talked about our being together and how another 50 years sounds not only possible, but sounds like a nice lifetime. Weird. 50 years. Like there is an end to it or something. But they go so fast, dont' they? I don't have to ask my mom or dad to know that how fast their lives have gone. So 50 years and here's to the first two. (by the way, that makes 52 years in total not counting 48 from now!) IN THE NEWS:
February 20, 2003 : music and the dvd
I'm still sick. I got up this morning and sorted out whether or not I felt well. I didn't in the morning, but by noontime I felt 'ok'. Whatever 'ok' means in reference to sore throats and achyness. I headed in to Brussels with my mp3 player and sat on the train listening to music. No wonder Eva never hears her phone when it rings. Listening to music on the train is too important. No wonder younger people here all are found with cd players in hand regardless of mode of transport; bike, tram, bus, or trian. Music makes it all better. Several songs later I was in Brussels winding my way out of the North station headed to school. A beautiful day in Belgium. Not spring, but not winter, something inbetween. I had thought that today was going to be the day that David Karam was going to start his section of schoolyear. Unfortunately, I found myself at school with little to do. I went ahead and started working on my little green army men project some more and finding statistics to use in it. I also got into a lengthy discussion about Macs vs. PCs. Will that row ever end? I suppose it just depends on which you like to use more. It really doesn't matter to me anymore. I can remember the days when I thought the next, greatest Mac was my dream machine. Now I just salavate over some no-name PC with the latest-greatest inner-workings. Actually, I'd settle for less-than-gratest guts, but I'm happy with my ol' PC and Mac laptop. The (not quite newest) best of both worlds. When I was leaving Eva and I tried to coordinate which train I should take to hook up with her in Nekkerspoel. The train was so packed (just post rush-hour) that I had to sit on the steps in the door compartment. I didn't mind, though, and it's easy to realize why. I had my music with me. :) When the train was approaching her station, Eva called me and told me to hop out so that her and her co-worker Jenneke could tell where I was. I was actually at the far-end of the train and ran to meet them only to have us run back down to the far-end to find an open compartment. We sat in the smoking-section (the only spaces left) and chatted over some guy's overly-loud music. So loud, actually, that we lip-synched to the song. I dont' know if he ran out of batteries or "got the message" because another song later he turned it off and/or down. At Berchem station we parted ways with Jenneke and headed home. It was just like old times when we both rode the train and we were scooterless. We got home, I made dinner, and then we called Joris over to see if he wanted to watch the movie with us. "Sure thing." and an hour later, after much re-arranging of computer on phone-books and boxes (to rase it to an appropriate elevation suitable for viewing) we settled in for the show. Wow! So I've had this old laptop for a couple of years and tried to get the DVD player to work a couple of times but gave up because I figured A) it's not that important B) it's old, it will be poor quality. It didn't matter to the three of us that the pan-shots were a little choppy, everything else was great! Even on full-screen! We were completely amazed. We've decided that we should do this every week or so. A regular ol' "movie night." Funny how little things come into our lives that seem to change it a great deal. It's not that we'll become movie-crazy (doubt that!) but at least it's an option. There has been many a night when we were lazing about with it pouring rain outside and we've said, "it'd be great if we could watch a movie tonight." And now we can. Here's to many more small revolutions in the quietness of our own home. IN THE NEWS:
February 21, 2003 : friday sickness
If I were straight, I'd swear it was morning sickness. Not the sore throat really, but the morning part. Today I woke to aches and pains and slept for most of the morning. It wasn't until afternoon that I felt like I should attempt to be a part of the world. (read: do dishes and eat.) Eat. Hm. I've been doing a lot of that lately. I've gotten into eating more white bread crusty bake-them-yourself baguettes. And now I've sworn off of them. I'm not longer losing weight, I'm gaining! (maybe not really, but I'm steady I suppose) It doesnt' help that my longish hair (the girly side of me peeking out) adds a lot of weight to my face. Anyway, got sidetracked there, Eva came home late (as usual) and I picked her up at the station and we headed home. I was actually pissed that she was late. On friday's she's supposed to get off work at 4 and be home around 4:30. It's not her fault, but her bosses plan for all sorts of "important" things on Friday afternoons. Today it was the birthday 'party' for one of the new workers and Eva had actually left early. (thank god!) It left us with little time for eating before we were supposed to meat Lisa and her girlfriend-ish friend Sophie at Cartoons (a really cool small theater in Antwerp) to see The Hours. Eva and I headed into town for a bite to eat and while sitting at the awkward stoplight at the KBC end of the Meir, we realized our front tire had gone flat during the time we were waiting for the stoplight to change to green. Devestation set in. The same ol' squishy feeling of walking a scooter with a flat tire. We were actually quite stunned. Why, God, Why? We parked it in front of Quick (lock-less) and walked to Mama's Garden for falafel. The typical falafel/shoarma place doesn't have a cafe/restaurant feel. Mama's Garden is falafel/shoarma for the elite. (i'm stretching it a bit) It's really cool with great falafel balls. (they're more green than usual, but are delicious!) We then headed to Cartoons to meet up for the show. Our theater sat about 50 people and was packed to the gills by the time the show started. During the pre-movie screening a man in front of us fell asleep and jerked and snored himself awake. Everyone around, including his wife, laughed at him. Thank goodness he was awake for the film! Ah, the film. I was the lone stunned person out of our four. It was one of those movies that had me stuck in the thinking mode. (no one else wanted to discuss it as much as I did) Something about it moved me. There were over-the-top suicide scenes, namely the jumping out of window, but other than that, I thought it was a great movie. Maybe it was the mid-life crisis everyone seemed to be facing...and the wanting to take chances, or to change lives during the act of living. That's what I took away from it. Lisa and Sophie suggested we go to Poppi Club, as Sophie had said she'd take us to the scooter and home after we went out. Cool! (a rare belgian offer!) I suggested we go somewhere where we would be able to visit since the Poppi Club is not the visiting type of place. (too loud as I am becoming too old!) ;) We ended up at De Ware Jacob, a typically old-style Belgian bar. It's beautiful, with only enough tables for a handful of people and had a wide-variety of clientel. There was your average group of regular ol' Belgians stationed on bar-stools around the bar chatting with their friends, couples sitting at the window tables, and other small groups like us, just drinking beer and chatting it up. I dont' know what we talked about, half in Dutch (half of which I understood!) and half in English. It was great to meet Sophie as we had met her under more awkward circumstances when we first arrived from the states. After several rounds of beers (I chose raspberry and Duvel) we headed on to Poppi Club only to find to find it a packed house. I suggested somewhere else (again, so bold!) and we made our way to the Lady Palace. (the formerly exclusively lesbian turned transvestite turned neighborhood lesbian and everyone-type of bar). Funny thing is, last week Eva and I went there and found it heaving at the same hour as we arrived this week, only to find it empty save a a dj, a bartender, and a couple of other people. The bar was ours. We decided to dance. In my very best Dutch I became the go-between between the four of us and the dj. We came up with every fun song we could think of and danced the night away. (literally) I had so much fun with Lisa and Sophie. Funny how it seems that I'm almost completely out of my living-in-Belgium-who-am-I depression. I mean, this time last year I wouldn't have talked to the DJ in Flemish! (I even sang her songs for which we had no artist or title!) We walked on to Lisa's house and she donated her bike-lock to secure our scooter for the night. We first attempted to put it in the back of Sophie's VW Golf, but soon realized that, though our scooter is small, it's not that small! Eva and I came home and turned in for the night...not cursing the fact that it was so late, simply enjoying the fact that 2 days of weekend stretched out in front of us. IN THE NEWS:
February 22, 2003 : spring in Belgium
In brief: IN THE NEWS: Police are still looking for the goods taken from 123 of the 160 high-security vaults at Antwerp's Diamond Center and the burglars who actually broke into the building Feb. 16. The theft is widely considered to be the theft of the century in Antwerp, the world's diamond-cutting capital. We're just waiting for them to make a film about it.
February 23, 2003 : simple sundays
I was dreadfully ill today. Dreadfully because it was a beautiful day outside and ill because I was. Eva attempted to nurse me to health for most of the day. I kept coming in and out of feeling sick. Sometimes I was too hot, sometimes I felt nauseated, and other times I just felt weak. We rented a movie (Gosford Park) and watched it on the computer in bed. We nixed our idea of washing clothes due in part because of my sickness. We simply took it easy. I lazed about (I washed some of Eva's work clothes in the bathroom sink) and tried to start cleaning up the house a bit. On Tuesday we have people coming over to look at our apartment because apparently there is a leak somewhere which is flooding the people next door. (flooding is a bit extreme) But our house is somewhat of a wreck, so I spent a bit of my day tidying while Eva worked on her translating project. In the evening we had our usual meal of fritjes and went to bed at a nice and normal hour, with socks, underwear, shirts and jeans hanging over radiators to dry. Tomorrow I've got to work on the fridge (the ice-box section of it is one solid block of ice.) We're trying to find all of the things the people could "happen to notice" while in our apartment. I'd really like to not be here at all, but I suppose since my schedule is more flexible than Eva's...well I'll get to do it. IN THE NEWS: Also, Allie and Julie (our favorite New Yorkers) had to put their cat Azteca (Boopie) to sleep yesterday.
February 24, 2003 : the 'berg
I spent most of my day battling ice in the fridge. I felt like crap when I woke up (due to cough) and since our fridge doesn't currently have much in it (since I've been sick I haven't made the trek to the grocery store as often) and since tomorrow we're getting a visit from the landlord and the people next door, I figured I should do my best to make the whole house look ok. I should have taken pictures. That's true. What started by my desire to have cold food, and the occasional lack of a complete seal of our fridge door (something we are sure to do now) led to a complete ice chunk in the upper right portion of our fridge. Think polar caps. Think impossible to remove. Think ice-picks and sledgehammers. Now you've got the picture. So I took out the few things that were in the fridge and placed them in the coolest darkest place I could find. (read: cabinet) And everything that was past it's expiry date, I set aside to empty and recycle. (not much, leftover Chinese food, a few sauces that we bought when we first moved in, a salad dressing, etc.) Then I turned off the fridge, sat a chair in front of the door, sat down and started hammering away. Wow. My first real bit of success was gigantic. A huge piece of ice the size of a youth-sized American football or a deflated European football (soccer) ball. I took it, placed it in a plastic bag, and put it down below with the edible goods in the pantry. A suitable pseudo-fridge for the afternoon. Back to hammering. I have to admit it was sort of fun. I hammered on screwdrivers to leverage off chunks. I blew the hairdryer on areas I couldn't reach. I had water all over the floor by the time I was finished, and it took me a couple of hours to finish the removal. Another half-hour and I had washed the entire inside, dried it off, and placed the items back in the fridge. I was also a bit of an archaeologist as well. Deep in the middle of the 'berg I found a plastic-wrapped Aldi chicken cordon bleu. It actually looked edible. But I don't remember the last time we bought them. We haven't bought any in awhile because of the 'berg! Our sink was still full of ice when Eva got home from work, but our fridge looks practically brand new. The setting is one '1' and keeps our food as cold as I could possibly want it. I told Eva later that, "Wow Eva, yogurt is even better when it's cold." Here I had thought our stuff was staying fresh, but the temperature on '5' was warmer than the '1'. Of course I've always gotten fridge-numbers messed up. I wish they'd simply put labels like 'cold' and then 'coldest' with several stops in-between. So yeah, cold yogurt is the way to go. Lesson learned: Don't let a 'berg happen in your freezer. It's hard work to remove it, and it's not energy efficient. :) I also fixed our shower door, and then tidied up the rest of the house. Then I sat down, exhausted...and my sickness set in again. When will I be over it! I'm missing the first week of spring! Eva came home and had she just gone to the freezer and peeked inside, she would have not recognized our house. Not only do we have a handful of items in our fridge, but the 'berg is missing. IN THE NEWS: And if you don't live in the states and you're wondering why Americans are living in fear, please visit ready.gov, then you won't wonder any more.
February 25, 2003 : Laramie
The people came in today to check on everything and I first heard them as they were climbing around on the roof. I didn't actually see them, I heard them. First I heard their walking about, and then I saw their shadows. I was expecting working-man types, men with hammer/construction belts and pain on their jeans. But what I saw on the roof was well-dressed men in suits and ties. The typical look of what Americans think of when they think of European businessmen. You know the type, well-dressed, smallish glasses. There's something that sets them apart from your average American businessman. (my opinion) Regardless, I don't know if it was insurance claim people, construction supervisors, or what. I'm thinking one of the men was the owner of the house next door, and the less-suited man was the boyfriend of our landlady, but there seemed to be two additional well-dressed types, and soon they were knocking on my door, and marveling at how dry it was in our apartment. "Why there's no leaks here at all. It's perfectly dry in here," one man noted scanning the walls in the 'bedroom/library' and our 'kitchen/dining/livingroom/office.' "Yes." I said. I suppose I should have told them about the minuscule leak we have around our toilet basin. But it's not that prominent. I spend the rest of the afternoon, fixing up the Little Green Men Project. It's a long download, but I think then end result was what I was going for, so in that respect, it gets a gold star. Before I left for school, I had Eva email me a note to give to my teacher, describing my reasons for absences as of late: Beste leerkracht van Andrea, Met dit schrijven zou ik U willen vragen Andrea te verontschuldigen voor haar afwizigheid tijdens de drie laatste lessen. De kwestie zit zo. Vorige week maandag stond Andrea op het punt te vertrekken (zoals gewoonlijk met een erg kleine marge), en kwam plots tot de constatatie dat ze haar sleutel niet meer vond. Ons huis is onververdeeld in verschillende appartementen, en het is de gewoonte de gemeenschappelijke voordeur telkens op slot te doen. Dinsdag besloot ze het zekere voor het onzekere te nemen en met haar scooter naar de les te komen in plaats van met de tram. Het obstakel van maandag - de De reden van Andrea's afwezigheid gisteren is in vergelijking met de andere dagen ietwat voorspelbaarder. Ze voelde zich namelijk niet honderd procent, en dacht met haar hardnekkige hoest en andere verkoudheidssymptomen beter thuis te blijven. Vandaag luistert ze echter weer wel uw les op en vroeg mij nederig te vragen of er misschien taken zijn die ze hoort in te halen, die zal ik dan samen met haar Alvast bedankt. Eva PS. Ik laat zo snel mogelijk een extra sleutelbos voor Andrea bijmaken die aan een speciale 'Les Nederlands - haak' zal komen te hangen. My teacher appreciated the effort, and chuckled over my problems from last week, then we settled in for class. Apparently some numbers had dwindled and a teacher quit, so our class has blossomed to a class of relatively large proportions. (Around 15-20) And, as usual, we all got along really well. I was put with Mouloud (his name wasn't Mohamed after all) and we had a great time working on little in-class projects together. During the 'pauze' he and I talked in Dutch about all sorts of things. He's studying some sort of Comparative Religion course somewhere in town (in English, Dutch and French) and in Morocco, he worked at an architecture firm doing CAD work and drawings. He also wrote articles for a paper there, but the paper turned right-wing-conservative, so they no longer accepted his views or his articles. The teacher came out and asked him, "why are you studying that?" And he said, "For myself." Before she had come out, I told him that I had been looking for some good information about Islam. He was quick to point out that he was not Muslim and I was quick to point out that when I was raised a Christian but I didn't really feel that I was anymore. Funny how two people who don't really speak the same language can talk about all sorts of things in broken dialog, eh? I also relayed the story of the missing sleutals...and the teacher helped me find a way to tell Mouloud that he was a 'troublemaker' in class...but the kind who is fun to be around. The teacher agreed. After class I stayed behind to talk to her about my dream end-of-year-project that deals with integration and my experiences here in Belgium. She loved the idea and told me to write it all out and we could present it to the head of the school. What's funny is that as I was walking out of school I briefly thought, "it would be nice if Eva met me here some day." I know that sounds ridiculous in respect to the fact that as I left the school, there she was waiting for me. But I had actually though that. Albeit a brief though lodged somewhere behind the fact that I was hungry and the dutch/french word for billfold. I didn't immediately think anything was wrong. And then she said, "You know...I just want to let you know that I love you." "What's wrong? What has happened?" I said back. It wasn't that she doesn't say this often already, but it was the way she said it. She got home, checked the email, and I received an email from the head of the Art Department in Laramie that tells me that "someone else was a better 'fit'." So wow, I didn't get it. Not exactly bricks falling on my head. But one of those, "Oh my god, I'm a complete failure." sort of realizations. It's not so much that I'm a failure, it's more along the lines that everything seemed so perfect with Eva going to school there. I knew the inexperience would haunt me. But it's so strange. Basically it was a big blow to both of us. We rode around town on the tram not saying much, and not really looking at each other. Inside my head I was trying to work out what steps we should do now, in light that Eva's applications, to whatever schools I continue to try to apply to, will be grossly late. My heads on fire with guilt and embarrassment and shock, and Eva's doing the best thing possible. Just being there. So of course I cried when I got home. I decided I was going to tell anyone right off, but that I wanted to work out our next steps/other plans in relation to us know. It's not that I was overly certain, we had just started dreaming about what our life would be like in a one-horse town. How we'd relate to each other in light of the air and space. And I had gone to sleep every night thinking about cool projects for graphic design students. So, back to the drawing board. Regardless of location, it seems that Eva'll be going to school and I'll be trying to work somewhere whether it be here in Belgium, or at locations dotting the US. The Laramie Project (pun) would have solved all of our answers in one go--I suppose life shouldn't be so easy. IN THE NEWS:
February 26, 2003 : the day after the emotional bomb
No more about how wonderful it is to sit on the train listening to music. It's still just as nice, I'm just attempting to not be redundant. How I've managed to not be overly-redundant in light of the fact that the first half of the year I stayed in my apartment...I'll never know. It's still beautiful in Belgium with the blue-sky in stark contrast to the brick buildings in the countryside and the greyness of seemingly every European city. (sometimes that's a good thing...and a lot of the buildings are so old, that no wonder they are gray) I'm finally almost over the period of sickness, which means I am not giving birth to the Christchild/Antichrist child due to my bouts of morning-like sickness. I still have a dreadful cough, but I think it's getting less and less dreadful with every cough. I have a lot on my plate right now, especially in light of yesterday. I have reread Jean's email a hundred times and can only read into the bit that says 'fit' and 'more teaching experience.' It's true that most Masters programs in the states include a nice dosage of teaching experience, but I can't help but think what a better person I am for coming here and being introduced to such a wide array of experiences. I am so excited to have my senior show (it's really taking shape in my head) that I'm ready to get rolling. Next week is Krokusvakantie so I have a whole week to get cracking on writing an assortment of papers detailing my hopes and dreams for some empty space here in Antwerp. At school there wasn't much going on. No much in respect to organized class, but I listened in to the MAX demonstration, and was wowed by the possibilities. The possibilities are in reference to live performances, which is something I don't really envision myself getting overly involved in, but I take it one step at a time and try to see how a live interactive video performance could be applied to what I'm working on. That's what I like about school. I still don't really see how one could make a point of living as an artist, as I enjoy having a regular job for what it does in respect to self sufficiency. But the fact that I have ideas about making pieces/installations, seems a turn for the better. At least I see art as being something I can do. I just need to make sure I have places to do it. Oh, it's all about learning one thing at a time. I road the train to Antwerp without trying to plan which train Eva was on. Actually, I was pretty sure we were going to miss each other, and so after we talked on the phone, we decided that she was going to go on home, and that I would simply meet her there. It's strange not having the scooter to regulate our comings and goings, though I wouldn't have ridden the scooter to the station and left it there. Though it is less-likely to be stolen than a bike would, it just doesn't seem fair to leave it there. Oh scooter, come home, we miss you. If I had known it was going to take so long for a tire to get fixed, then I would have done it myself. In respect to emails/Instant Messages, seeing as how my birthday is just a little over a month away, I've asked both Bobbie and Jessica to try to make it. (that's sort of selfish, isn't it? "try to come for my birthday...") Out of the two, Jessica seems the most prone to 'make it happen,' and we should see shortly if she'll be able to make it. I'm hoping that we'll have a car by then, as that would open a whole other range of fun adventures...we'll just have to wait and see. Oh Laramie, you have dampened all of our expectations. (a bit self-inflicted) I have now told a few people about the Laramie nixing, but only a handful. I certainly don't know what to tell my parents, as they had already figured out the best way to travel between Springfield and Laramie...through Nebraska sometimes and through the basic Kansas/Colorado/Wyoming way. And there is also the question of what to tell our friends. It's traumatizing to know that Eva was the one who didn't seem to have any obstacles in her way (save the GRE) and that I was the one who botched it. I'm still going to email a couple of people to see what options are open. Of course, my optimism about what is open, doesn't mean that I didn't cry for the second day in a row. All I have to do is think of Eva and her success and construe my attempt as a failure and I get weepy-eyed. I know, I know, self-inflicted...and it's funny that I should think the alternative should involve me learning Dutch well enough to understand old-people here...and simply make some sort of non-profit that visits old-folks homes and shows them how to use the internet to email their grandchildren. See what losing a prospective job does to you? It makes everything and anything seem like a nice idea. I'm full of nice ideas. Belgium, you may not want me for another year, but you just might get to keep me. IN THE NEWS:
February 27, 2003 : emails by day, movie by night
Today I scanned every possible online search engine for other jobs to which to send my "really creative" application. Thank god I have the ability to be a sort-of swift emailer, as my dearest Eva likes to spend hours penning the perfect email. I suppose I too have spent hours penning emails, as those 4+ hours I spent every Sunday for a month or so back before Eva and I actually 'got together' are the emails that led to us 'getting together.' So, thank goodness, I too have perfectly-penned emails in me somewhere, otherwise I'd still be living in San Francisco pining over a certain Eva who would be completely unaware. :) When Eva got home, we headed to the Pyramid Videotheek and rented another film. As I mentioned several entries ago we were going to do our best not to deplete our supply of movies in the first month or so of our having a DVD player, but here we're doing it anyway! :) It's not that Antwerp/Belgium lends itself to being an extremely video-friendly place or anything (alluding to the fact that Eva and I always dreamed of being able to watch films in the privacy of our own home on rainy days/nights) it's just that it's so fun. We shut down for a bit. We don't have to leave the news program 'ter zake' running endlessly after midnight. We don't have to suffer through European football shows just because it's nice to have the TV on while we're doing other things. Now, instead, we're attempting to get up to speed with all of the films we've missed in the past few years. There aren't really that many we're wanting to see, as we've nearly seen the few that we want to see that are available at Pyramid already. (that means all of four) Joris came over, as he is now accustomed to doing, and before we left to go to the video store, we actually got sucked into a program on TV about the horrific freeze of the early 60s which paralyzed most of Europe. The footage was amazing. The North Sea even froze. There were amazing photos of waves suspended in mid-air on the beach and boats in the canal frozen solid. Besides the death, destruction and the rise in the price of vegetables, that would have been a freeze I'd like to have seen. On at the video-store, a guy there was speaking English to the store owner about his 900 Euro heating bill. (yes, all for one month) He was using all sorts of 'f' words and bits of speech, and we came to the conclusion that he, in the words of the owner, was most likely growing weed in his apartment. It can't be that obvious, can it? To which the guy chuckled and said that he wasn't growing weed with a heating bill like that, he could have been growing 'brown sugar.' I'm assuming that 'brown sugar' doesn't mean sugar-cane growing in neatly aligned fields around his bedroom. I'm assuming this is a code-word for some other drug. Funny how experiences like this leave me thinking that I not only have lived a sheltered life (thank god) but that I'm still as naive as I was at 18. The fact that he could be doing something illegal in his house which caused his heating bill to be 900 Euros for an apartment just a bit bigger than ours, well I simply thought, "wow, buddy, you've got some sort of leak somewhere..." Silly me. We spent the rest of the evening with Woody Allen's movie; The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. To be honest, it was my first experience with Mr. Allen. He's always seemed such a goof-ball guy that his movies have never appealed to me. This movie, however, had a nice blend of humor and 50s dialog. I think we all three liked it. Joris hit it on the head with the fact that, "Woody Allen's movies would be even better if he didn't choose to star in them himself." Speaking of films, IN THE NEWS:
February 28, 2003 : getting the parents up to speed
Well after much emailing back and forth and Instant Messaging about buying airline tickets off of travelocity with an AOL browser, it seems that Jessica is, in fact, coming for my birthday! It's not that she's really coming for my birthday, (she's actually leaving the states on my birthday and getting here the day after) but I suppose it's actually a party for the both of us. Her birthday is the 8th (she's going to kill me, is it the 8th or the 12th?) and so we'll both have something to celebrate. Well I thought it was high-time to let my parents know about Laramie. It was hardly fair that nearly everyone knew by this time except for them, so tonight I worked up enough strength to break the news to them. I had already tried to make it known that it wasn't a 'for sure' even back when we got back from Laramie. There was no use in making the opportunity seem more than it was; simply an opportunity which I no longer had any say over. Of course I was honest with them along the way, a great interview in Laramie, a slightly animated lecture that I gave, calls from all of my recommendations (lengthy, positive discussions which only made me feel better about my chances) and the waiting game we were playing. I called them and they were more than sympathetic/supportive but also I could tell that they stil know me well enough to know that I'm not completely knocked off of my feet by this 'setback.' Is it a setback or simply a direction finder? It's like I'm a golfer (only three times in my life) and I've picked up a handfull of grass and I'm dropping it in the wind to see which direction it's coming from. Now if that wasn't an analogy, I dont' know what is. I suppose it's sort of un-applicable in the references, but I suppose it makes sense. This is what we wanted anyway, absolute directions. No to this and yes to that and therefore it all works out in the end. For another analogy (better fitting, as I have actually done this myself) simply replace golfer with softball player. Or in references to track and field, we'd lick our finger and hold it into the air. I doubt this was the more acurate of the two, but still, it's all about trying to figure out which way is what. I did, however, get an email response back from a guy who has a really great web/advertising agency in Laramie, and he suggested (via my suggestion) that if Eva still wanted to go to school, that I should get in touch with him and maybe I could work there. The only problem with this avenue is that it seems that in such a small town I'd be running into the person who got my dreamjob at every turn. We'd bump into him/her on the ski-slopes and our carts would mangle at grocery stores. But, I suppose in light of the situation, it's better to have as many opportunities as possible. And this is one. Albeit a slightly strange one, but still an opportunity. Besides, he likes my stuff. That's always a nice blow on the finger. :) Oh, and goodbye February. You certainly were the shortest month I've lived in awhile. This time next year, try to stay around a bit longer, ok? I don't want my life to be filled with Februaries. I don't suppose it helps that it's a couple of days shorter than most, but this month seemed to begin and then end, all in the span of a week or so. IN THE NEWS: There they are with such life, I think it's rare that we have instances recorded in such manner. They're putting on their gloves. I suppose in any instance where life ends so suddenly with a viewership of millions, it is so troubling. What makes this different than the post-action shots of dead people laying in the street. I suppose it's the life-part. |