Exercise the bell.

Oh man, today was awesome. 80 degrees, not a cloud in sight. I worked, then rode my bike for 5 hours all around Berlin (and I mean all around), met up with a friend visiting Berlin, went to the Asian foodstore to quiz myself on recognizing seemingly unidentifiable foods (it's kind of like Name That Tune, but instead of music, it's just weird Chinese and Japanese food packages with no English written on any of them-- and no Italian or German either. ("Um, um, um, it's... it's... DRIED BABY SQUID PACKED IN FERMENTED CATFISH OIL!!!!!" Ya know, that sort of thing.) And finally (drumroll please) I bought one of these:




I've been dreaming of the day where I'd finally buy one!! It's a squeezy squeaky honky bike squeaker honk!!! So exciting. It was Gloria the Hippo or Melman Giraffe (Madagascar, people!) I had to go with Gloria. Although I definitely would have gotten this guy if they had him:



People are responding much better to my squeezy squeaky honky horn much better than my regular bike bell. And you need to exercise your right here-- that bike path is alllll yours! But I usually try to give blockers-of-the-bike-path a little chuckle/smile as I'm honking on by. Either because I scared the shit out of the them or just because it's the funniest sound you ever heard. And it's so much more pleasant than an official Ring Ring Ring! isn't it? Making people smile (or crap their pants) is always fun. Speaking of making people smile, I saw a guy walking down the street down with a sign on his shirt that said "Kostenlos Umarmung" (Free Hugs) and I wanted to get a free hug from him, but he looked really dirty. I bet he didn't get a lot of hugs.

Oh man, I'm really tired now...

Notes to self for when next paycheck comes:
1. Buy some expensive vegan food. Preferably at the crazy asian market, where you can always get a deal! (It was like the Crazy Eddie's of asians supermarkets, but with asian women singing chinese songs instead-- and then speaking broken German.)
2. Get a haircut!!!!!! (I haven't had my haircut since FEBRUARY people.. Ugh.)

I should create a poll to see what people should think I should do to my hair. Michi always requests the fauxhawk and I'm so tired of hair that I just might freak out, get really angry at the fact that I have a bushel of hair on my head and do it. Or I just might get a trim in the back and make an angled bob out of it. Either way, I believe I finally found a place to do it, a place which recently was rated best hair salon Berlin. So they gotta be decent, right? Cuz I'm too cheap to fly back to Milan to get my haircut by my savior, Giovanni Tropeano. (But trust me, I was considering it.)

Sum-sum-summa time..

Now that the warm weather's here, you see a lot more motorcycles, scooters and even some roadsters around here. Normal. But I don't suppose to see these rollin' around town, do ya?






Yep, people still ride around in motorcycles with sidecars in Germany. Not many, and pretty much because it's cool. (Maaaan, I wanna ride in one!) And speaking of motorcycles with sidecars, we saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull last night. Exactly what I expected it to be, a fun movie with corny lines and George Lucas' cheese-lovin' fingerprints all over it. Not excited that they'll eventually be making "Son of Indiana Jones" movies soon. Well that's capitalism for ya.

Did you ever see the Cheese Run in Gloucester, England? It's an annual contest where lots of people literally chase a wheel of cheese down a verrrry steep hillside. It's pretty funny to watch, although lots of injuries ensue!

Ah, yes, reminisce...

While we were waiting for My Big Fat Greek Wedding to download yesterday night, Michi asked me to play some music for him, so I chose some badass 80s tunes that he never heard of (remember, he did grow up in East Germany...)



(Ohmagawd, look at that pink bodysuit-jacket getup!!! I SO know what I'm gonna be for Halloween!!!!)

And my All Time Favorite Bon Jovi song:
(I couldn't embed the original video from youtube since it was uploaded by the label and they disabled that function, doh.)




Michi was born in '83, so he has his own collection of 80s song memories... here's one of his favorites: Marius Müller Westernhagen - Weil ich dich liebe (Because I love you) Live 1989




I could probably post about 500 videos of 80s song I adore, but you all know them. :)

What could be more fun than an 80s-themed wedding?! AAHHH!!!!!!!!!


So Michi fell asleep halfway through My Big Fat Greek Wedding but he appreciated and dually noted the cultural references for which I wanted him to see the movie. Of course, my favorite line is when Tula's aunt finds out that Ian is vegetarian: "What you mean you don't eat no meat?! ... That's ok, I make you lamb." I experienced a similiar scene with my father unwittingly handing me a plate of salami, me shooting him a sneering look and comment about having forgotten that I haven't eaten meat in over 10 years, and him saying "What? It's not meat..!"

My stupid cold is almost gone. It's so annoying, the last bit of it. I've been blowing my nose SO much to get that sticky snot that's totally stuck in my upper nose unless I blow my nose as hard as a trumpet (sorry to be so graphic, but I know you know what I'm talkin' 'bout here!) I think I've lost a lot of braincells in the course of doing so, which would explain my complete brain-fartedness in the past few days of post-sickness. The funny thing about the trumpet is that I still don't have my full hearing back, and every time I blow my nose, I hear --no joke-- squealing in addition to popping inside of my ears. I may have to go back to the ear-nose-throat doctor, who is conveniently located a floor below us. Then I can also ask her why the hell I can't dive deeper than 8-9 feet without feeling like someone is stabbing me in the ear? How am I ever supposed to go scuba-diving, goddamnit?! Michi's ears never pop-- not underwater, not on airplanes, not when I scream and yell at him. Unbelievable.

I got a new bike on Monday, woohoo! Well, it's actually a year-old bike but it's in mint condition and I got it from the lovely folks from TakeABike, who I had been renting bikes from since I started visiting Berlin on a regular basis. (Oh, wow, I just realized now that the TakeABike was a play on words..take a hike? take a bike? Ha!!! Another blond moment or what?) They are also repairing my old craptacular bike free of cost. They're so sweet. The new bike cost me 200 euros, which seems like a ton of money but for a brand new bike, you can't find anything cheaper than 500 anywhere in Berlin. Today I actually got comments from a pedestrian on the street today. He said, "Schönes Fahrrad!" (Nice bike!) as I cruised on by. You see, riding down the street of Berlin with a nice bike is the equivalent of riding down the streets of SoBe in a Lamborghini. People rubberneck to check your shit out, it's pretty funny.

I was craving something sweet yesterday so I made some oatmeal peanut butter cookies yesterday. Yes, they are vegan. And they're the best damn PB cookies I've ever had, I swear it's true! Michi hates PB with a passion, so I lied to him and told him that they weren't PB when he asked if they were or not, but after his first bite I told him the truth and then he admitted they were damn good. :)

You know what's cool? The sun sets at 9:30 here. And it's only May-- wee!! :)

Well, that's good...

I'm feeling much, much better, thankfully. I think having to get my ass up and go to work today sort of gave me the psychological electro-shock that I needed to get my ass physically in gear. Plus I had to go to work, since it certainly would have look crappy to just cancel a class when I had plenty of time to call in for a substitution but didn't. So I went, although in Europe, it is quite uncouth to go to work with even a slight cold. I swear to god, at least 75% of all Europeans are hypochondriacs (And 99.9% of all Italians.) So my (very polite) students laughed at me nervously with furrowed eyebrows when I sneezed or blew my nose 10 feet away from them, so as to say "Ugh, I really hope you don't infect me with your friggin germs, lady!" Heh. What was I supposed to do, suck up my snot or something? Eww! I only do that at home. Ahahah.

*Sneeze*
*Sneeze*

(I really did sneeze twice. Not on my keyboard though.)

In other good news, it seems as though the Berlin Philharmonic building isn't severely damaged by the fire that engulfed it just yesterday. The firefighters actually cut through the zinc roof to get to the fire and used a lot of foam to limit the fire and water damage. It seems as though the fire was started by welders doing some work up in there. I'm sure those welders already have a major fire lit under their asses for that massive screwup. Wouldn't wanna be in their boots right now.

So that's better than good news. It's great news. That building has one of the best, if not thee best, acoustics in the world. Plus, the building is considered an architectural gem worldwide. Plus plus, their concerts are being rescheduled at other venues, including beautiful outdoor Waldbühne ("Forest Stage".) Yay for spring in Berlin!

Well, that's all for now. I'm off to go do the dishes. And take out the recyclables. And buy some groceries. And then bake some apple crisp. And contemplate throwing my craptacular bike into the Spree. (What? It could become, like, an artificial reef for fish, right? Mebbe..? ...no? ...sigh...)

Dalai Lama in Berlin

Here's a cool link to the video of the entrance of the Dalai Lama, with the letting go of thousands of balloons in the crowd and the first 5 minutes of his speech.




You can see the Brandenburg Gate in back of the stage. (This is also where LoveParade used to take place.)




Freedom: Germany for Tibet; Tibet for the world.





When we got there, you could barely move through the crowd (and for a while we ended up standing next to a really dirty old man wearing birkenstocks whose toenails looked like they hadn't been cut in 3+ months... Not to be an asshole or anything, but maybe I got sick from him.)
The unofficial count of the crowd is about 25,000. Not bad, eh? There was also a Tibetan nun who sang Amazing Grace in Tibetan and then in English as well as a traditional Tibetan chant. (I have that on video but youtube is not cooperating with me at the moment.) I was pretty proud of myself for having understood about 80% of what the German announcer was saying and the speeches from various prominent German figures.

It was pretty cool seeing and hearing him live. I realize he's become a sort of celebrity over the past few years, but he just seems like a really cool mofo. I'd hang out with him. I mean, the man's smile is contagious and so is his cute giggle-like laugh. Every time he chuckled, the entire crowd would crack up, I swear. He had a translator next time translating into German as he spoke, and a few times, his microphone still on full volume, he would spot a few kids in the front row, wave and giggle at them and even gave them candy from his satchel. Candy from the Dalai Lama? I'd frame it in a glass box!

On the way home we encountered some Chinese protesters with signs saying "Go home Dalai Lama" and passing out anti-Tibetan literature. I showed off my Free Tibet tote bag while passing them.

Anyway, I'm feeling better after having spent the majority of the day in bed. I was force-fed some honey-lemon cough drops for my sore throat today. Ok, not exactly force-fed (as if I were hungry strike or something) but Michi was nice enough to pick me up some medicine without me having asked him, so I said alright. They made my tongue numb and not much else. (Honey is one of the things vegans do not eat.) :/ Here's the vegan substitute for honey, agave syrup/nectar, which is damn good! In German it's called Agaver Dicksaft, (Agave thickjuice) so you can imagine all the jokes Michi and I came up with. Hardy-har-har.

In other news, Michi came home today around 3pm and said there was a huge fire somewhere in Berlin, having seen the smoke clouds so high up. Ends up there was (is, actually, because I think they're still in the process of putting it out) a massive fire in the Berliner Philharmonie today, the seat of the world-renown Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. (Michi and I went to see their New Year's Eve performance there on December 30th, which was broadcasted on national television... and guess who was on TV? Me!) Apparently it began just under the roof of the building but I haven't read reports about the full damage or how it began. Musicians were allowed to go in and get their instruments out (obviously not the big ones, like pianos-- but some instruments costs up to 400,000 Euros, which doesn't surprise me since a Stradivarius violin goes for a million!) Each concert they cannot play is an approximate 750,000 euro loss. Hopefully they will be able to repair everything after the damage assessment.

The Itty Bitty Barbeque Committee

Last weekend we hung out in Tiergarten (the central park of Berlin), right across from the Bellevue Palace (See? Even we got a Bellevue in Germany!)




2 big monkeys.






Michi and our friend Kay. (pronounced Kai, like kayak.)


Fanning the flames.


Just to give you an exact idea of the size of the disposable BBQ. (It worked really well though! And it cost a mere 2,50!)

I'm really pissed off today, I've had a head cold since last night-- and of course it's a gorgeous day out too. AND I popped a flat on my bike the other day and can't seem to find a place that wants to fix it in less than 5 days time. Wtf? How long does it possibly take to fix a flat tire?! I guess May is get-your-bikes-up-and-running season for cyclists and their bikes in Berlin. But I'm too achy to even go out today. My nose is like a Wal-Mart factory in China, packed to the gills and rollin' out the goods non-stop. It's 1pm and I'm still in my PJs. Ugh.

Today, today...

Veganism is going pretty good. Went to a Nepalese restaurant with my friend Tia today and all was good and vegan. And cheap. I especially love the last part. It's kind of weird passing by bakeries, cheese, and ice creams shops saying to myself, "Hmm.. Nope, can't have that... or that either..." but it's just a matter of finding the vegan equivalent, really (You'd be surprised at the stuff they make these days.) While Michi and I live in Mitte, the Upper West Side of Berlin (ie, less funky/trendy, much more residential and family-oriented), Tia lives in one of the funkier- and cheaper- neighborhoods, known as Kreuzberg, which is similar to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Walking down her street today, my jaw nearly dropped at the variety and uniqueness of all the shops and cafes and markets, all filled to the brim with people of all types, which I love. Talk about a happenin' hood.

Anyway, my newest obsession is replacing my current cosmetics and toiletries with all-natural products. Actually, lemme rephrase that-- I'm just going to phase them out when they're done and then replace them with all-natural products. I was reading up on food additives and cosmetic/toiletry additives and it kind of freaked me out... For example, additives in tons of popular cosmetics/toiletries:

• Sodium laurel, lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) - Is a white powder used in thousands of cosmetic products and non-cosmetic products. SLS is a strong degreaser that dries the skin and hair. It can also cause hair loss. Used in many products that are called natural as a result these products are not natural. This product is found in shampoos, toothpastes, lotions, and creams. It is also found in many car washes, engine degreasers, and garage floor cleaners. When combined Triethanolamine (TEA) it can become a nitrosamine, which is a potent class of carcinogen.

• Mineral Oil, Paraffin, and Petrolatum - Are hydrocarbons which come from petroleum products. On the skin, it is heavy and greasy and clogs pores. It is toxic and leads to skin issues. It disrupts natural skin grown causing skin aging. It is also suspected cause of cancer and disrupts hormonal activity. If take internally, it prevents the absorption of nutrient into the blood in the small intestines.

• Phenol carbolic acid, Phenolic compounds - Are used as a preservative and found in many lotions and skin creams. They are toxic and can cause paralysis, convulsions, coma and even death from respiratory failure.

• Benzoic Acid, sodium benzoate - is used as a preservative in cosmetics and foods. Often combined with sodium bisulfites, which are banned in some countries. This is a dangerous additive, since in low amounts it has been associated with brain damage, neurological disorders, and cancer.

The worst part was when I looked at my shampoos and facial cleansers. They had ALL these chemicals. I know, I know, I may be going overboard but it just sort of makes sense to me to not trust all these chemicals in the stuff we use/eat every day. The vegan shops I've researched all have alternative/natural cosmetics and whatnot (even natural laundry detergent!) But it is definitely more expensive, of course (around 5-6 euros for a very small bottle of shampoo! 150ml! Time to used quarter-sized drops I guess..)

On that note (sort of a tangent, but whatever), they say that, in order to lead a healthy life, no single ingredient you consume should have more than 5 ingredients in it. (Ie, it's okay to combine lots and lots of ingredients as long as each individual ingredient contains less then 5 ingredients in it...Got that?)

I know, I'm turning into a total hippie. Hah!

Oh, and Micha is trying to tell me that I have a bald spot on the crown of my head (where my part ends.) Of course, there's no way I can actually see if I indeed do (although I'm vehemently disagreeing wit him on the topic, I have a ton of hair, damnit!) unless he takes a picture with our digital camera. But I totally refuse to do that or let him do it either. He only pays attention to it because at my height, the top of my head fits neatly under his chin, so it's like a constant presence for him I guess.

He's making vegan pancakes for me with soy milk and a vegan egg substitute...so sweet and considerate. :)

Oh and another thing: The Dalai Lama is coming to Berlin (or perhaps he's already here?) and there's going to be a massive gathering/peaceful demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate for Tibetan Solidarity. We'll be there!

Pictures from New Jersey...

Beaker and his family!


Hmm.. Left or right for lunch?


Beaker: It's what's for dinner.


Lil angel resting.


I don't have a best side-- every side is my best side!


Big brother Conrad and Dad.


Bisnonna! (Greatgrandma!)




With Monica, Grace, 2 childhood friends, and a mango margarita.


With my cousin/godmother Joann. Spent a day down in Brick (aka Bricktucky!) with her and her fiancee, Kurt:







Das ist alles. Bis nächstes Mal!

Jeez, is it already the middle of May?

*Looks at calendar* Uh, guess so...sheesh.

I had a great trip home, although (no offense, ma) being home (in a new house, so not exactly home) with my parents was a bit odd after having lived solo and then with my bf for the past 8 months. And before/during/after my trip back, I've been finding myself sort of pondering and struggling over what the word means for me. Yea, there's a literal home, a home where you grew up, and a metaphorical home, a place where you feel at home. Not like I had that much trouble adjusting to the new house (well, not like I had that much time to adjust anyhow, I was busy buzzing around in my car, aka zippy car, aka caffetiera, aka the percolator! Way too many family and friends to visit.. and I still got flak from some for not including them in my plans! But Beaker was my number 1 concern anyhow so deal with it, peopo!) I ate horrendously, with pizza and pasta being number 1 on the list of what I'd eaten... Ugh. Now I'm paying for it. Regardless, it was fun and I miss my nephew already. And I wish I had gotten to see some people more than just once! (Like Nico aka my little buddy, the little baby I used to babysit :)

I was just reading some previous posts I had written and this one (obviously as I'm typing it) and I notice that sometimes I write how I speak/think-- ie I don't put that much thought into these blog posts, which sometimes results in sloppy posts dripping with spelling errors, etc. I'm also sort of a forgetful person and a scatterbrain to boot. So mix that together with too many thoughts going on in my head at once, and the result is a mishmosh of dashes and parentheses since I feel I need to immediately type everything in lest I forget what I was just thinking. My favorite professor (the one who suggested I apply to University of Wisconsin) was the one that pointed that out to me (the fact that I was/am a scatterbrain, hehe.)

Anyway, I got back to Berlin and it was like Christmas all over again for Michi. Presents from my grandmother, mother and me, wee! A new backpack, a shoebox full of nonna's famous cookies (which are an instant reminder of my childhood), a bracelet, a new water canteen, 2 Wii games and more.

What sucked about getting back here was that I had to work within an hour and 30 minutes of my plane landing. I didn't originally schedule it that way; my plane was late. But oddly enough, I didn't have jetlag. Stayed up til 10pm on Thursday, took a 2 hour nap on Friday and I was good to go.

Today I had off due to a class cancellation. Not like I work too many hours but I got to sleep in, read some and just generally ride around the city and see cool stuff and interesting people and architecture. Which reminds me, I always forget to bring my camera! There were definitely things I wanted to take pics of and I missed the opportunities. And I got a flat tire. A damn nail went into my rear tire. That sucked. I walked all the way home, although I could have taken the U or S-bahn but that would have cost me 3,60 euros and I only had 1 stop to go. Weather was nice enough so I didn't mind. Also went to a vegan health food store. Yea, as if I am not complicated enough as a person, I'm trying out veganism for the first time. Started officially yesterday. Not that I'm not happy about being vegetarian but since I was a kid I always felt it was kind of weird that humans drank cow's milk, for one. I really love milk, don't get me wrong. (Don't even get me started on cheese. I'm such a formaggiona! Vegan cheese is definitely not a good substitute whatsoever-- at least, not yet.) But scientifically speaking, I think our bodies were designed to drink our mothers' breast milk for a while and that's it. And to this day, the enzyme in our bodies use as babies to breaks down lactose fades away and disappears as we get older, which explains why many of us become lactose intolerant by the time we're in our early teens (including me.) I do like fish but when I first starting being vegetarian, I didn't eat fish (for about a year or two.) I don't think I'll miss that too much. As for nutrition, there's no question that you get all the vitamins/minerals/protein you need on a vegan diet. And pretty much any way you slice the cake, it's healthier for you, which is pretty much the bottom line for me. This is what I made for dinner yesterday. With a side of Lebanese bulgur. Sooo good. I'm eating it again now actually. (I even omitted the honey in the bulgur recipe since it's technically an animal product. I promised myself I would go all or nothing! And I also promised myself I would post about falling off the bandwagon if I do.)

I do feel bad for Michi's mom though, who cooks for us three when we visit her on the weekends. It's nice enough that she cooks vegetarian meals for me, so I feel bad that I'm making life harder for her. But we'll have to cooperate. Michi's grandmother won't take the news so lightly, as most Germans don't understand non-meat eaters. Anyway, we'll see how long I last. (Just to let you know, when I became a vegetarian about 10 years ago, it also started as a weird fad/phase I was going through. It just never ended.)

My ultimate goal is to be a weird/cool (it's all relative) vegan Italian doctoral student with really long dreadlocks in Wisconsin. Ahahaha! Slowly but surely.

Oh, by the way, I'm also little beaker's godmother! woohoo!