Happy Birthday, Blog!

You're five today! We've come a long way, baby.

Is my kid weird?

On Saturday while we were out for a walk, W., who is four, kept pulling up his AC/DC t-shirt and flashing his belly. Sometimes he would say "Oh, there's a baby in there!" and sometimes he would just show his lovely, slightly rounded, pleasantly smooth, lily-white belly. Who wouldn't want to see a fine belly like that? But then, then he topped himself, doing something I will never forget. While walking past the Mondpalast, a hostel with a bar that has tables outside on the sidewalk as well, he saw a round table surrounded by several chic, made-up young ladies. What did he do? Oh yeah, he flashed that belly. But not only that. He stopped very close to them and their waiter who happened to be by the table at that moment, too, and started snorting like a little bull getting ready to charge. Then he took a couple of steps and repeated the process. All parties involved cracked up.

A little rant, because I love where I live

I am so sick of people wrinkling their noses about Dresden-Neustadt, where I live, and telling me how awful the Neustadt is. It's loud, it's smelly, there are punks and dog shit everywhere. Yeah, yeah, tell me something I didn't know. Despite all that, I will let you know how I really feel. To exploit my good old American love of the superlative: it's the greatest place in the world.

It is loud here if you are on one of the main streets, sure there's traffic, and often there are people out, talking or grilling or getting together in their garden or living room or in the park. Or right now, they are screaming because of whatever is happening with the soccer game on TV. So if you like your peace and quiet, either go home and leave my neighborhood alone or find a quiet place here, of which there are TONS. But I won't tell you where because you don't care anyway.

It can be smelly, especially in the summer from the grilling (which is a matter of taste if you like that or not) the dog pee and poo all around (which annoys me too) and maybe because of some smelly people. But come on, where don't you have those three elements? Jesus, where I come from we have super smelly Amish people, especially on Fridays in the summer, because they only bathe on Saturdays. I'll tell you what, they smell worse than the punks or the squatters here who don't bathe at all.

And on to the punks. Sure, there are punks around. But if you are polite to them and don't treat them like a total jerk, they will leave you alone too. They used to ask me for change before I had any kids, and I always said that I didn't have any. I did this in a nice way, looked them in the eye, and smiled. Do you know what? They always wished me a nice day. Honestly, not sarcastically. Once I was noticeably pregnant with W., and still lived between two of major punk begging areas, they stopped asking me for money. Since I have had kids and am on the go with my kids most of the time now, they always leave me alone, clear the way if I'm pushing a stroller and are genuinely respectful. Sure, I don't like their dogs, since they are ratty and unpredictable, but have never been bothered or threatened by their dogs, either. It's probably more my own dislike of dogs that gets me riled up in that respect. Honestly, I find the punks to be nicer than a lot of the other people out there on the streets. Small town dork that I am, I find it super cool to live somewhere where there are punks on the street. And a rather affluent American former colleague of mine put it this way, "I like living somewhere where my son can see that there are lots of different people around, and that the punks are not dangerous or scary".

And there's the dog shit, and honestly, nobody likes that. But there are more and more responsible dog owners who take a baggie with them and remove their poo. But there are still lots of jerks who don't.

Then there are all the good things about this neighborhood: the beautiful architecture, the interesting and friendly people, all the kids (I've heard we have the highest birth rate in Dresden, if not in Germany, but can't back that up with any numbers), the openness, the proximity to everything you need or could possibly desire as well as the possibility to get out of the city pretty quickly if you want. I'm sick of hearing how "antisocial" it is around here. I know of lots of other places in Dresden where you can go and see a much worse crowd hanging around the supermarkets, and I'm not talking about Prohlis or Gorbitz. Anyway, I guess what it really comes down to is that I really like this place where I live, I like going out the door and just about every time seeing someone I know, not having to drive to go shopping or to get anywhere at all, it's a neat and dynamic place with so many playgrounds, petting zoos, and kid-friendly cafes that we really can never complain of boredom or running out of things to do. It's a place that breeds and attracts people who are square pegs who don't fit into round holes, and that's just fine here. So enough of my long-windedness. I hate to carry on debates about such matters of personal taste, and even though I may be too polite to say it to your face, the next time you insult my neighborhood, do want to know what I am thinking while you barrage me with insults about my choice of a place to live? Stick it where the sun don't shine, baby.

Delicious tofu bread dip/spread

In my quest to not be such a lardass, I am trying to eat more delicious healthy foods. At the market by my house every Thursday and Saturday there is a tofu lady who makes and sells all kinds of delicious tofu products--from blocks of tofu, smoked and unsmoked, laced with delicious things like herbs, hazelnuts and chili to scrumptious tofu creams and patties. OK, so the patties are probably not that healthy, as they seem to be deep fried (but they sure do taste good, crammed full of onions and chili!), but I bet the creams are super nutritious and not too likely to continue me down my path of becoming massively fat. Then, I had a stroke of genius and thought, "Hey, those can't be so hard to make!" So I set off on my voyage into the world of creating fun food using tofu this weekend.

Yesterday I rushed off to the organic supermarket before it closed to pick up some silken tofu, since I couldn't find it at the new little organic shop around the corner. Then this morning I took 200 grams of silken tofu, whipped it up with my mixer stick (I guess the proper English name for this handy tool is "immersion blender", but I prefer mixer stick), and then started throwing in tasty chunks of stuff. I thinly sliced one green onion and blended that with my mixer stick, too, then threw in 3 more sliced green onions, as well as a few finely chopped queen olives stuffed with garlic. I added about two teaspoons of granulated vegetable broth to this as seasoning. At first glance, I was very disappointed with the runny consistency, and it didn't taste all that good either. So I put some plastic wrap over the bowl and shoved it in the fridge and hoped for the best. Just now, about six or seven hours later, it has thickened to a nice, dippable consistency and tastes great as a dip with my sunflower and sesame seed bread! Hooray! Now I can make this stuff myself! I don't have to wait until the tofu lady comes back on Thursday! But I do need the patience to wait until my dip is edible...

BRN

These were just a few of my favorite sights from the Bunte Republik Neustadt street festival this weekend. I only went out to the flea market and the kids' parts of the festival on Saturday morning. Some of the things on offer at the flea market were great, but Talstraße was not what it used to be with all of the great play equipment. It was not so exciting for us, because there some clowns putting on a show. While I am sure they did a great job, W. was scared of them so a departure was necessary. He has seen those clowns before, and they did some slapstick fighting which really upset him. Oh well. I don't like clowns either. When I was a child a Christian clown came up to me at the county fair and told me I was going to go to hell. I think I was nine back then, and since then there are two things I really can't stand. Guess what they are.

The weekend

This weekend we visited my parents'-in-law for their yearly summerfest. While the kids were off for a walk in the woods, I took the time to explore the functions of my slick new camera! I am not disappointed. Enjoy!

AC/DC!!!

It's been a heck of a week or so of concerts for me...Last week I saw my old friends from Dude Dude Chick playing at Orange on Kamenzer Str. Even though my friend and I were super tired and almost didn't go to the show after sitting around my house forever on that evening because of the heat and it was Friday, we finally ventured out and didn't regret it. The guys put on a very good, fun show, and we felt like we were 25 again.

Then this past Thursday I attended the Neustadt Guitarreros show at the Scheune. This was the kickoff to the yearly BRN festival here in the Neustadt, more on that later. Back to the band--I've heard of these guys before, the singer is even the brother of a friend and a very good cook of delicious Asian food. Anyway, they pretty much knocked my socks right off. They played cover songs, with Benny singing and 6 guitars! 6! Plus a bass and drums. The sound was HUGE. I'd heard all the songs before, but never like that!

And tonight, well, tonight was the topper. We saw AC/DC in the Ostragehege in Dresden on the stage they had been putting up all week. That was one heck of a giant spectacle. They pulled all the stops, there was a giant flaming train on stage, a giant inflatable Rosie, canons going off, assorted other pyrotechnics and even Hell's Bell, lowered from overhead so the singer could swing on it. To put it mildly, I was impressed with their energy. After being a bit annoyed with the two opening bands who we didn't find so great, AC/DC came on stage and made everything right again. For me, the singer's voice left a little to be desired, but the guitarist was crazy! That guy has so much energy, even with his age he still did all the old tricks and was running around playing like a madman. They don't look so young anymore, but they still can put on one heck of a show. The guitarist stripped down to his AC/DC knickers, and during one song one of the women in the audience even flashed her breasts while she was up on the monitors. The band requested "more titties", but didn't seem to get them. I even got more for my money when a fight nearly broke out by me and a giant security guy came to break the guys up. All the drama and entertainment of a good rock concert was complete!

Holy Birthday Madness!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy, there are so many birthdays this time of year that I have neglected several so far this month! Like my dad, my niece, a kid we know...


















This is Cream and Knuddelhase's mom, Flo!





































Above are Cream and Knuddel busy turning one today!

There's one birthday that I wasn't able to forget, since I didn't even know about it. Well, I knew somewhere in my head that the guys would turn one soon, but didn't know exactly when until my friendly bunny caretaker and bunny provider told me on Friday that the bunny birthday party would be today! So there's a lot to celebrate around here! 4 years of W, one year of bunnies (not quite the whole year with us, but close) and...almost one year back in Germany!?! What? Where did the time go? In two weeks is exactly the time one year ago when we packed up whatever belongings we wanted to keep in and on the car, drove across a good portion of North America with a three-year-old, a pregnant woman and a German driver to put the car on a boat and us on a plane in New York. How did we do it? There are a lot of things that I am looking back on that I have done and ask myself, how did I manage that?

Holy cow, and my mom's birthday! It's today, at least it's already today here...not quite there yet. And how did I manage to remember that one?

The Zoo

With our annual tickets to the Dresden Zoo, we can go there as often as we like and see the animals. Among my favorites are these lovely red birds.



















Then there's the stork. When we see him, I am usually required to sing

Auf unsrer Wiese gehet was
Watet durch die Sümpfe
Es hat ein weißes Jäcklein an
Trägt auch rote Strümpfe
Fängt die Frösche schnap wap wap
Klappert lustig klappertiklapp
Wer kann das erraten?

It's a children's song about something standing on my meadow that has a white jacket and red tights on. He catches frogs and says schnap wap wap and makes other funny noises, too. Who knows what it is? A stork!



















Here's a guy that really says schnap wap wap and klappertiklapp every darn time I see him. He doesn't seem to have all the cups in the cupboard, as the Germans would say, or I tend to think that he has a screw loose.



















The Kattas are among my personal favorites as well, they spring around and are just precious with their long, fluffy tails. One day in the winter one was by the glass, and Wilhelm cuddled him through the glass! That was also quite precious.



















Then there's this little guy, the baby orangutan! He is just adorable. The orangutans are super interesting, and I feel kind of bad for them in their tiny cubicles. Hopefully they will have a better place to live when the new monkey habitat is finished. Unfortunately I couldn't get a better picture of him because other friendly zoo visitors kept pushing in front of me to take their own photos with their little cell phone cameras. Oh well. Another day.

The Birthday Party

Today W turned 4, so we had a party. As always on his birthday, the weather was weird, one minute sun, the next minute rain. Just like last year, we were outside enjoying the sun and our cake, then next thing we knew it was pouring and we were running to rescue the cake and the chairs.


















I really like this wrapping paper, but am pretty sure that it can't be politically correct, much like this gift that I considered buying, but finally resisted.





































I baked a couple of neat cakes. They were a lot of work, but were fantastically sweet and delicious! The bunny cake is an old and pretty easy classic, but the train cake was new to me and rather time consuming. W wished for a blue bunny cake this year. Last year he had 2 brown bunny cakes, and this year I topped myself, replacing the normal construction paper ears with dyed white chocolate ears!




















































W's cousin G is 5, and he was very impressed with my big new camera. He really wanted to take some pictures, and fortunately my old camera was lying around, so I hung it around his neck and turned him loose. The above three pictures are a few of his shots. I like his work. This young man may just have a career in photography ahead of him!

A blast from the past: Fabulous San Francisco

While going through my photographs to put together an exhibition in June, I started looking through our road trip photos from Christmas 2008. I had the best intentions to document our road trip on this blog, but only got up to the scary hotel story we had, and didn't put up too many pictures at all. Since there isn't much exciting stuff going on around here lately, and taking nice pictures has taken a backseat to dealing with two kids, I thought I would put up some old pictures that I haven't shared yet! The one above is a fantastic view of San Francisco from the top of a hill, you can see the adventurous serpentine we had to drive the Jeep up to get there!



































While were in San Francisco that Christmas, it was deep winter in Michigan, but pleasantly sunny and mild on the Pacific. We enjoyed a walk on the beach, and even saw tons of these funny little washed up jelly fish! I bet they aren't so funny, though, if you step on one.























Oh, those San Francisco streets!


















And of course we also visited China Town. This is a neat, bustling neighborhood, where you feel transported out of the United States. We had a nice lunch, then were chased and cursed at by the waitress, because she thought our tip was too little. She was unfriendly anyway, and despite that, she got an ample tip.

Our day off

Yesterday we didn't do anything manly for Männertag, the other use of Ascension Day here in Germany. Instead, we did something very unmanly, and visited the kids' great grandmother in Leipzig. In addition to having some very delicious coffee and cake, before the visit we stopped off at the Völkerschlacht Denkmal, a giant monument to the Battle of Nations in 1813 when the Germans beat Napoleon.
Above you can see a picture of it being built back at the beginning of the last century.

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One of the many details on the facade near the entrance.

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Inside there is a circular crypt with these giant figures.
























There is now also a museum, where you can view Napoleon's death mask.
My first fateful trip to Saxony back in 2001 also included a day trip to Leipzig and a visit to the Völkerschlacht Denkmal. A lot has changed there since then. They started charging admission, but the monument is also being renovated, there is now an elevator to go to the first outdoor platform, chain link fence to keep you from jumping, as well as new informational exhibits and a museum.

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Later on, we also visited the Wildpark in Leipzig-Connewitz with Great Grandmother. This is a very nice, large park with free admission! It was originally opened in 1906 with some deer, later expanded, and now is a huge place with many animals which live in Europe, as well as some playgrounds and restaurants. There we saw this lovely lynx.



































Of course there were some obligatory deer, as well as tons of wild garlic! Grandmother asked us if we liked wild garlic, and said we could collect some even though it is forbidden. When we got to a place on the trail where there were no other visitors, she said "Now you can collect some!"
This may sound far-fetched, but whole areas of the park smelled like garlic from this wild herb!

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We have a hedgehog in our garden!!!

We have a little spiky friend living in our garden! I spotted him (or probably her) at about 6:00 this morning, rushing between the plants and the corner where our lawn furniture is stacked. It seems the little guy is building a nest using leaves from our plants. We also contributed some bunny hay to the effort, and the hedgehog seemed to be in seventh heaven. I suspect (and hope!) our little friend may be building a nest in this sheltered corner of our garden to have babies.

Upon further reading about hedgehogs, it seems that this little guy will be quite a useful friend in our garden. Apparently, hedgehogs love to chow down on insects, meaning that they can be an effective form of pest control. According to Wikipedia, the British even try to lure hedgehogs into their gardens for this purpose. And we didn't even have to try! We must have a superiorly hedgehog-friendly garden.

The only problem that comes with the little guy are the cats. The cats have returned to watch the hedgehog. They had finally learned, after many a bucket of water over the head, that they are not welcome at our house and not welcome to use our sandbox as a toilet. But now they are mesmerized by the new guy toddling back and forth between nest and plants. Perhaps Wilhelm will chase them away, yesterday he kicked a cat on the street (without any encouragement) for no apparent reason.



















In other animal news, we spotted a precious squirrel in the Großer Garten behind the zoo last week. I adore the sleek red European squirrels.

A little trip to Polenztal

Yesterday we visited Polenztal in the Saxon Switzerland, a place we seem to go every year in the spring. I visited this place one time with English Club, later on we discovered that there is tons of wild garlic and watercress there, so we started to come each year. We've never eaten the wild garlic, since its leaves look just like those of lilies of the valley, which are poisonous, so we are always a bit scared. And though some people are scared of getting tapeworms from watercress, we eat it and have never gotten any tapeworms (that we know of). One year we even took some watercress and planted it on our balcony. Yesterday we had hoped to take some watercress and some wild garlic, but were scared for two reasons: too many hikers, since taking plants is forbidden, and dying from accidentally eating lilies of the valley.
































































Instead of stealing plants, I entertained myself by taking pictures with my fun new camera. I have so much zoom that I can just stand anywhere and zoom into what I want to take a picture of! What a great contribution to my increasing laziness!
























I also had fun testing out the panorama function on the camera. I particularly like this picture. The treetops are a bit overexposed, but I am quite happy with the results anyway.



























































Instead of eating wild garlic and watercress, we stopped for a snack at the Waltersdorf Mill. This is a funny old place that serves snacks in an open-air picnic atmosphere. The snacks are very reasonably priced, even if there isn't much of a selection. The boys had wieners, I had some cake and coffee, but it didn't look so photogenic.