Done couting cars...

Did I mention that we left the Garden State and now have a garden of our own? Only flowers so far, but after the inside of the house is done, we might be able to do some fall planting. We will also get two kittens tomorrow. More exciting news ahead.

Scandalous!

If you lifted that rock you call home during the last 2 days, you probably heard of this thing. Yeah, that's the mayor of Secaucus getting arrested for corruption. And Secaucus is where we live, just in case you weren't sure. Well, I'm glad they caught those people, undermining the very foundations of a free, just and democratic society.

We have a neighbor who we don't like very much, mostly because he was rude for no reason and seems to think he is righteousness incarnate. And he supported the incumbent mayor. In your face!

Radio silence.

Almost two months. Two weeks of those we were in Germany, to celebrate our first wedding anniversary with friends and families that live there. It was really amazing and it was so great to see everybody again. But you know what, just look at the pictures. One of them was taken in Jersey though, from the top of the fun slide race ride or whatever that's called. It was the one with the shortest line and we already had tickets.

Sing theory.

I have been developing a theory about musicians from New Jersey. As you may well know, the Garden State has an image problem. And when I thought of it, I had "dirty industrial areas" and "Bon Jovi" in my head. The theory, and as you will soon find out, this is the scientific kind of theory that serves as a model to explain a certain aspect of the world, as in the theory of relativity, is that bands from New Jersey are freaking awesome (Axiom 1). Solo artists, however, are not so hot (Axiom 2). Have a look at the field data: Monster Magnet - Awesome. The Fugees - Awesome. Bruce Springsteen - Unawesome. So far so good.

But what about Bon Jovi? First of all, just admit it, when you hear "Livin' on a Prayer" or "Wanted Dead or Alive" come on the radio, you feel the excitement swell up inside of you and almost start humming those undeniably annoying songs. But then you would admit those songs are at least partly fun, so you swallow that hum, honk you horn (New York City drivers only, and yes, that's why there is so much honking going on in that town, but that's a different theory altogether), and vow never to talk about it to anyone. If somebody else is with you, you actually start singing along, in a way that suggests you are mocking the song, in order to assert your dislike of that abomination of a band. It's okay, we all do it.

Then remember, that Jon Bon Jovi is the singer of Bon Jovi, and thus they belong to a particular subset of bands, a subset that, at least to my knowledge, does not exclusively contain crappy, but definitely questionable bands. They're bands named after one of their members, usually the singer, without actually saying "band" in the name. Like Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson and, of course Bon Jovi. Anyway, Bon Jovi doesn't count as an example of a NJ band that isn't awesome, because they are named after their leading member (Axiom 3).

Enter Titus Andronicus for further proof. Back in 11th or 12th grade, I was struggling a little in my English class. In case you didn't know, the German school system goes up to grade 13, and you have either classes that meet twice a week, or intensive ones that meet 3 times, and individual sessions last longer. You have to pick 2 intensives starting in the second half of 11th grade where I'm from, and a bunch of regular ones. I picked English and Math as my intensive classes, because those were my favorites and I got decent grades. However, I wasn't doing as well in the English class as I was expecting. I ended up doing a few sessions with a tutor, who basically helped me practice writing essays, and next thing you know, I get a freaking 1 in the next test (scale is 1-6, 1 being the best). No, it was the second next. But that doesn't matter. What matters is, that the test was on Shakespeare's Macbeth. I really enjoyed reading it, and that good grade was a great reward. And what's even better, I didn't struggle in that class from there on after. All thanks to Ol' Bill da Bearded. Yeah, he has a rap name. And the tutor of course, but I like to think she just helped me get on the right path. I had to do the walking myself.

Also, an album with the first song called "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ" is almost certain to be awesome, especially if you actually know where that town is. Though I think some people might not like the singer sounding a bit like Johnny Rotten sometimes. I guess it's an acquired taste. But Fear and Loathing, the one of the Las Vegas persuasion, reminds me of another great book, one of my all-time favorites, on which I wrote a paper in university and also received an excellent grade. It's "The Crying of Lot 49", which incorporates some elements of "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles, who also wrote "Antigone", which we saw at the theater last night. Science, Shakespeare, Greek drama, Rock and Roll. Is that what life is all about?

Meta complaining aka Note to self V

You know what sucks? Complainers. Some people just seem to want to complain no matter what is going on. On Sunday, we had to get money from the ATM here in town, and something extraordinary happened: There was a line. When we got into it, there were two people in front of us. And then another lady got in line behind us, and said to us, at the very second she got into the line, "Is she studying the machine or what?", referring to number one in line. She followed this up by saying something about how she's been waiting in the car already, and the lady at the front was making a deposit and took slightly longer than someone making a withdrawal would have. We already had our backs turned trying to ignore her though. I mean, what's the big deal, sure it was cold, but if she's been waiting in the car, why didn't she wait a little longer? Or was she maybe trying to get us to let her in front of us? I don't know what her point was, but I know one thing. Coming up and complaining about a complete stranger without anything warranting it is not the way to do that.

Oh, by the way, I'm gonna clean up the links. If your blog is listed under "c and c lo recommend" on the left, let me know if you want it to stay there.

Note to self VI

It's been almost a year. If you ever become a gas station attendant, DO get an exotic bird to sit on your shoulder while pumping gas for your customers. Even if it's cold outside. Arrrrrgh!