A good dog is an invisible dog

Hello, me again.

It is the 6th day of my imprisonment with these silly bipeds.

My harebrained humans went on holiday leaving me in a strange house with two hairless creatures who think that they speak kitty language. What is worse is that they say it funny, "miau" is not my language. Stop trying to speak to me in German or in "kitty language", I know only two languages, English and bad English.

Even worse, they have no idea how to read MY kitty language. When I bite, this means "put me down and don't hug me any more". How much more clearly do I have to say it?

My two slaves have once again closed the bedroom door, not allowing me in to walk all over them as they try to sleep. Somehow they are managing to ignore my pitiful cries and insistent scratches on the door, thus I have decided to help myself to the computer again.

Someone needs to redesign and rename this "mouse".

Since there are only so many times a guy can play "Castle Cat 4" without getting bored, I found my way to this nonsense.

Can you believe this? Humans are soooo stupid. DOGS! HA!



Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through the snow. -- Jeff Valdez

Photo Friday - Dawn

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the world
- Morning has Broken sung by Bob Dylan
(edit: sung by Cat Stevens) ;)

This week's Photo Friday theme is "Dawn".
In my collection I actually have many images of sunrises, warm "golden hour" light, and even some pretty pinkish bubbly clouds. But when I think of sunrise images, I don't usually like to see the sun itself, the shadows it throws are more interesting to me.

That is why I picked this shot for the "dawn" theme.
Well, that and because I doubt you want to see a picture of an ex of mine who just happened to be named Dawn... OMG! Out of curiosity I just Googled her! She's actually online (Facebook of course) and she looks like she put on some weight (haven't we all?), and moved to St. Louis. All I can say is that every lesbian in STL should steer clear!

OKOK, back to the photo!
I caught this image during the Whiney Expat Bloggers Meetup in 2008 in Bremen, Germany. Unfortunately I don't have a great post about the event, but I do have some pictures. J put out the original call to come.

On this particular Sunday morning I had rolled out of bed early and headed off to get some early-morning pics of what really is an endearing city. I was almost alone on the quiet streets, soaking in the cool, sweet fall air with a hint of fresh-baked bread. It was pretty much me and the bakery people. (Germans must have their bread, Sunday or not)

Meandering along though the "Altstadt" (old town) area I came across J of Germany Doesn't Suck who was also there for the Expat Meetup. We joined up and walked through the park, enjoying each others company and the lovely dawning of the day as the sleepy city woke up around us.

After some time we began looking for the restaurant Alex which would be the site of more Expat Whineyness. Without knowing it we walked right past the thing, into a lovely courtyard area flanked by fantastic buildings which most certainly age back two hundred years before my ancestors ever dreamed of emigrating to America.

Ahead there was a break in the eastern wall of buildings allowing a through way into the Domshof courtyard. Down the cobblestones of the street was flowing the most lovely river of fresh, morning sunlight. When we walked out of the cool shadow of the courtyard into the sun rays I immediately felt the warmth on my skin overcoming the crisp fall air. Wunderbar!

I looked down at that very moment and saw the view which you see above. Perhaps J thought I was crazy as I crouched down to get the shot. But he stood respectfully nearby and quietly allowed me to figure out the right angle and lighting to make the metal cover glow so gloriously. Thanks for that, J.

Visit Flickr to see the image in its original size.
Or see more of the Bremen shots.

See more entries or participate yourself by visiting Photo Friday.

Where is the disconnect?

OK Blogworld... I'm turning to you because I have no idea who else to turn to. I've never found the answers to the questions below, and I actually sincerely doubt that anyone reading will have the answer, but I'm willing to put it out there if you are willing to read it.

Please note that I am paraphrasing a conversation had between three friends today. Not all of this is my words, but they certainly are my feelings.

Am I crazy? Mentally defective? You be the judge.

When I feel that my hair is too long, I cut it.
When I have leg cramps, I eat more bananas or take Magnesium.
When I feel tired, I go to sleep.
When I realize that I can't see so well, I put on my glasses.
But
When I realize that I have gained weight, I get depressed and eat even more.

WHAT is this?
Where is the disconnect?
Why are we like this?

I know I'm not alone because my friends and I have talked about this often. Books have been written, exercise facilities have been constructed, libraries full of information have been compiled, thus I know that I am not alone in this.

Of course I know that I shouldn't be hanging out with the "fat kids" because their acceptance of their body shape gives me the freedom to accept mine. But I can't stand sitting through lunch with a person who takes five bites and pushes the half full plate away saying that they are "too full".

Too full? WHAT IS THAT? I don't think I've ever felt it.
I know that I have felt miserable from eating too much food.
I know that I have eaten so much at times that I have felt the need to loosen my pants.
But what is this TOO FULL thing? I've never had that.
I'm not even sure I've been "full enough" to just stop eating.
Generally I eat until whatever is before me is gone.

So what is it?
Have you ever felt this way?
Do you have some advice for three ladies who had this discussion while walking back to the office after a grand display of eating abilities at the local sushi buffet?

Random Tuesday - Halloween Edition

How about another spin on the RTT?

Don't know what I am talking about? Visit Keely over at the Un-Mom for all the info. She has all the answers... except how to live Drama Free.

Would someone please tell the FDP Berlin that the election is over and that we are all aware that they won more votes this time than ever before? SO maybe now is a good time to take your signs down from all over Berlin. They are detracting from the graffiti. (sorry to the non-German residents... we had an election weekend before last)

Does anyone else read the license plates of the cars around them and make words out of the letters? (crickets) OK, I must be alone here. Oh well, it's not the first time.

Berlin plates start with a B then have a space and then two more letters and a few numbers. I can usually find something in this grouping such as B OY or B ed or B IG... sometimes BIG is even seen on correspondingly funny vehicles such as BIG ASS Trucks or itty bitty cars.

It really gets fun with some of the other German cities... Frankfurt is a "F", so I've seen a couple "FU" plates. Potsdam is a "P" which can be interesting, but "LDS" for an area around Berlin just has me thinking about the Latter Day Saints, hmm. Maybe I'll start taking pictures of the more funny versions... hmmm. Could be a blog post.

Recently I've been asked by a family member if the Germans celebrate Halloween. As I told her, we really haven't seen much, although it seems to be growing. Last year we had a few Trick or Treaters but they don't seem to "get it". They just ring the bell and then hold out their bags when you open the door. Not even so much as a "Trick or Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat". Oh, and no thank you or anything. (I remember this behavior from the four year olds... but here it is the twelve year olds too.)

I keep wondering what the sweet old German Omas (grandmas) are thinking when this happens at their doors...

Are there kiddie costumes in the stores? Not that I've seen. Do adults have parties? Not that I've been invited to. Will I have a party? No, I'll be scuba diving in the crystal clear, blue waters of Tahiti for Halloween this year. (not that I'm excited or anything)

BUT I did get the grins as I walked into my local grocery store a few days ago. Storck products, maker of Nimms and Lach Gummies (fruity, chewy candies) had a display of bags with individually wrapped items inside! WOW! This is an improvement.

OK, I should start my work day. Today among other more boring things I will get to go shopping for gifts for clients. For a pregnant woman I've decided on some lovely foot and leg revival from LUSH, and another recipient will get a bottle of Veuve Cliquot Champagne. Fun job, eh?

Have a fantastic Tuesday!

Just because:
Uniting American Families Act - I really wish they would pass this bit of legislation. If so, Sweet No and I (as well as hundreds of thousands of other couples world wide) would once again have some rights.

Photo Friday - Fast Food

Another installment of Photo Friday with the theme "Fast Food".

This image was taken last year on Tag der offenen Tür in Botschaften (Day of the open Embassy doors). This same date, July 4th, 2008 the American Embassy was celebrating its Grand Opening on Pariser Platz with a party for the general public. Before you ask... NO, the American Embassy did NOT open its doors to the general public. And NO, being an American wasn't enough of a reason to get me into the big party being held INSIDE of the building.

We visited four Embassies that day, Malaysia, South Africa, Malta and India. The program at the Malaysian Embassy was exceptional. They had children in traditional dress, singing and dancing as well as a full tourism exhibit with booklets in German and English. Everyone who wanted one could pick up a lovely necklace with small stones, and ladies in beautiful, colorful traditional dress were walking about offering small shots of a fruit juice.

The colorful and stunning Malay decorations in a not-so-stunning building showed much more innovation than the Maltese Embassy which was simply office space with a dude in the outfit of a Templar Knight standing in the hallway and unintensionally scaring children. South Africa had gone all out with a tent in the back yard of the building which had on offer many local food products such as wines and biltong (jerked meat). In the corner was set up for braais (barbeque) filling the entire tent with the scent of smoked meats. We tried some boerwors (sp? sausage) and some wonderful milktart and washed it down with a delightful fruit juice which I didn't catch the name of.

Our Indian friends have a beautiful Embassy, but really didn't allow the public into much of it. I would assume that it is hard to do this and still maintain security. But they did allow us through one main room and then onto the grounds which were spectacular. A river of water runs through the place even on the inside of the building and along a staircase, or you can see the courtyard from above. From the courtyard terrace there is a nice view over the Tiergarten, Berlin's not-so-central-park and famous "green lung".

In the back area there was food for sale. Of course there was a mango lassi stall which always makes me think of the cute mango lassi/washing machine advertisement. We were thirsty on this hot day so of course we bought bottles of water from this guy at twice what they would sell for at a grocery store.

The next stall had a line of about 30 people in front of it, and no wonder... the smells coming out were wonderful, tickling my nose and exciting my tastebuds. We couldn't really see what was on offer, but for sure there was some meat and rice because that is what the smiling customers walking away from the stand were carrying. We queued up and chatted the next ten minutes or so as the line dwindled down. Soon the signs showing the offerings were visible and decisions were made, "I believe I'll have the chicken", "no, maybe the beef would be nicer because we don't get much of that here".

As all of this was going on, I pulled out my camera and snapped this little beauty. The colors are fantastic, and I really enjoy the way it is split between the food on one side and the woman sampling on the left. This picture was one of several of mine which were used by an online magazine... the first such request I've ever had.

See more entries or participate yourself by visiting Photo Friday.