FOOD

Even McDonald's is blingy in Vegas, originally uploaded by Fuzzy Gerdes.

I normally avoid fast food, but yesterday when the alarm sounded, I woke up thinking about McDonald's breakfast. The craving was enough incentive to help me drag myself from my warm bed at 5 am. The line was so long at the drive-thru I decided to go inside for my biscuit and Coke. I was hoping to relive one of those childhood moments when the only thing better than the McDonald's food was the happy meal toy that came with it. No such luck. That biscuit was the single-most salty thing I've ever tasted. I can't call it food. It was so bad, I've decided never to eat at McDonald's again. I started heading in this direction after watching "Super-Size Me," but this biscuit was the nail in the coffin.

Speaking of food. Tonight is the final episode of Bravo's Top Chef. Am I the only one rooting for Marcel? Not sure how I got hooked on this show, but I'm surprised by how much I enjoy it.

LADY

2 of the dogs, originally uploaded by Patrick Q.

Dad's dog Lady died today. She was poisoned, we think accidentally. She suffered a lot, and it was one of those rare times when I saw Daddy cry.

I hate times when someone I love is hurting and there is nothing I can do to make them feel better...

STATE OF THE UNION

Bush delivers the state of the Union to Congress tomorrow. I will be sure to watch, but I imagine it will be the same old song and dance. We'll see...

I am finally over the jet lag. Flying was a total nightmare. More on that later...maybe. Seems like I'm a little like Bush tonight - little disclosure and no definite timeline.

What's your opinion of Bush? If you believe the polls, he's the least popular president...maybe, ever.

VOTE FOR JIM, CLASS PRESIDENT.

Obviously, one of my New Year's resolutions is NOT to blog daily. I'm finally getting around to this first post of the new year. Hope 2007 is treating you well (and vice versa, conversely).

Jim Gaffigan is my favorite comedian. I downloaded some of his material and put it on my ipod. When I listened to him at the gym, I ended up falling off the treadmill. I laughed so hard I couldn't keep running.

Anyway, Jim is in a Comedy Central contest and I'd sure like it if he won. If you want to vote for him, follow this link:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sparkler, originally uploaded by Eric....

We've just rung in the new year. Hope your weather is a bit more suited to fireworks than it proved to be here in Germany - we were forced to brave a freezing drizzle and high winds. (Happy to be back inside, warm and dry.) May you and yours have a very happy 2007!

SNOW

snow day 004, originally uploaded by Patrick Q.

We finally had our first day of snow since my arrival. I threw a snowball at David, and he built a tiny snowman. Now it feels a bit more like Christmastime.

Tomorrow night we are planning a bonfire in the firepit behind the house. We'll cook hotdogs and have smores. It has been raining a lot lately, so we're making the most of the predicted clear night.

Fireworks went on sale this morning, and David was there when the doors opened, Christmas money in hand. I might just be in for my loudest New Year's Eve, ever.

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Lights, originally uploaded by Patrick Q.

We lit the last advent candle tonight. In a few hours we'll head to the state church for a song service. Tomorrow morn we'll open gifts. Merry Christmas, everyone!

VERLIEBT IN GYMNASIUM

My niece attends public school here in Germany. Ellen is pretty level-headed, but like most 15-yr-old girls, she spends her day with schoolmates whose lives are brim-full of drama. Her little brother's English has a few gaps, so yesterday at dinner when I compared Ellen's classroom to a "Soap Opera," I had to define the unfamiliar term for David.

His Dad helped me to explain by offering the example of "Verleibt in Berlin," a cult hit in Germany that boasted 5 million daily TV viewers in 2005. Dan described the plot and cast to me, and I recognized the show as a current cross-over American weekly dramedy called, "Ugly Betty." Curious, I googled it and found out the history of the show.

It originally began in 1999 as a Columbian telanovella titled, "Yo soy Betty, la fea." In addition to Spanish, English, and German versions, there have also been Dutch, Russian, Indian, and Israeli adaptations. Score one for the "small world" concept. I imagine that the writer of "The Devil Wears Prada" also took the idea from some version of the original Columbian hit.

My inner grad student is tempted to write a comparison contrast essay about the different versions of this Cinderella story and the insights they reveal about our changing global cuture. I wonder why lots of the world's population enjoys watching fashionistas make fun of an ugly duckling.

TRAVEL UPDATE

g 032 Blankeneser Kirche am Markt, originally uploaded by Patrick Q.

I've had a bit of jetlag and the weather's been rainy, so sightseeing is getting a slow start. We did drive around to a few of the neighboring villages, and tonight we went to the State Church in Hamburg for a Christmas Concert. I've posted a few pics on flickr, and you can see them by following the link in the photo above.

HAMBURG BOUND

Empty Seat - lomo, originally uploaded by hangingpixels.

About an hour until my first flight to Houston, and I'm killing time in the airport. Then it's on to Newark and Amsterdam before Germany. Thankfully, the airports have wifi and I've packed some novels, so I shouldn't be too bored on layovers. Check-in was a breeze. It's an uneventful beginning, but I'm not complaining.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

wholesmokedturkey, originally uploaded by Madalin Matica.

Hope you and yours have a beautiful day! Don't eat too much bird!

RISK

Risk and Castle Risk, originally uploaded by Patrick Q.

My brother William gave me this game for Christmas my 10th grade year. It's become a family favorite. I've owned a ton of copies of it. I keep picking up extras at thrift shops and then giving them away to friends and family. My favorite memories of the game are late sumer camp nights. The kids and my fellow counselors really got into it.

This Thanksgiving, I'm giving a copy to my nephews, William's sons. I've got a 2nd copy I will put up on eBay. I figure if every other family member has a copy now, there's no reason to keep mine since I only play it with them.

UNPACKING CHRISTMAS

SWEET!, originally uploaded by Patrick Q.

Every year around this time I start hauling out the boxes of Christmas decorations. I carefully unpack and inspect each one - admiring its delicate beauty. Recalling all the good memories it inspires.

This year is no exception; boxes and bubble wrap are strewn everywhere. But I'm not decorating. I'm unpacking all of them so I can sell them, things I thought I'd hold onto till the grave.

What a surprise! And another suprise? I'm not sad. Letting them go is a good thing. It might just be the merriest Christmas of them all.

YOU CAN FIND IT ON EBAY

Tree Sweet Tree, originally uploaded by Patrick Q.

I visited 2 antiques shoppes today and they have NOTHING on eBay. Poor quality at high prices meant I left empty-handed.

I'm up late posting photos to flickr. Tonight I took about a million shots of my Kenner Tree Tots Family Tree House playset in preparation for listing it on eBay (and also as a nice way to remember it after it's with its new owner). I'm happy with the way they turned out. Hopefully the bidders will be influenced by them to bid higher.

After seeing other cool photos of Kenner toys on flickr (M.A.S.K. and Star Wars action figures, Blythe dolls, etc.), I decided to form a new flickr group for products made by this great company. I mean, they made Play-Doh! They deserve a little special attention.

DEL.ICIO.US

sandwich., originally uploaded by godownmatthew.

Sweetness! I'd been meaning to check it out, but I didn't expect it to be this good. No, not a giant floating ice cream sandwich! I finally got around to setting up my del.icio.us account and transferring all 400 of my bookmarks over. Editing them and adding tags was a total hassle, but the tool's already proving itself worth the extra effort. If you use Firefox, you've probably at least heard of it. For those of you unfamiliar with what, exaclty, del.icio.us is/does (like I was yesterday), you might want to check it out.

I also got a couple of eBay auctions up. It took forever to get my photography and auction stuff unpacked and set back up - way more time than it took to pack it all away for Pauline's visit. After spending too much time on all of that, I was ready to get out of the house when my brother called from Germany with a list of things he'd like me to bring for his family when I come over in a few weeks.

That's right! I did my first Christmas shopping of the Season today. I found several of the things on his list, and I should be done after just one more trip into town. Since I'm not bringing home a regular paycheck these days, I normally stay out of stores, so the only drag about the day's outing was seeing things that I wanted for myself and having to muster the self-discipline needed to not buy them. Hooray for character development. Big whomping yay!

Tomorrow should make up for it, since I'll get to spend a little dough on myself. My friends Stephen and Samantha are going to be in town for the night, so the three of us are going to Outback. I used to go to the one on the Coast regularly before the storm took it out. None of us have been to one since before Katrina, so it's kind of a big deal for us to go. I can't wait to have one of their baked sweet potatoes. I can almost taste it.

This week has been an island of old friendship in the ocean of solitude known as 2006. On Sunday night, I saw my old friends Mike and Madeline. I'd been thinking about them all day, so when they walked through the church door, I was shocked. Then on Monday night I saw my friends Alice, Sean, Kevin, and Emily at Joe Muggs when I stopped in for a coffee. They all will be in town for extended holiday visits with their parents, so I'll be able to see them again before I leave for overseas. Being around old friends made me realize what a recluse I'm becoming. I'm glad I'll be around Dan's family for the holidays. I need to make a New Year's resolution to not be such a hermit in 2007.

COUNTDOWN

German Christmas Market, originally uploaded by Alexander Yates.

The countdown continues: 40 days until I leave for Germany.

VISIONS OF IPODS DANCING IN THEIR HEADS

I started back at the gym today after a 2 month hiatus. It was around 3 o'clock, and I was the only one there besides the gym owner. I popped in my ear buds and jogged along to Taylor Hicks. Every time I use the iPod, I think of the Sony Walkman. Do you remember those? This Japanese craze hit the US consumer market in 1980. By 1981, there were a couple dozen knock-offs, but none carried the "coolness" factor of the Walkman. They were the iPod of their day. Oh, how I wanted one! But the over $100 price, considered affordable by Yuppies, was way out of my elementary-school sized budget. It would be almost 10 years before I FINALLY got one, and by that time CD's were becoming popular, so they were no big deal. I wonder how many little kids are longing for an iPod. I guess one day they'll look back and laugh about thinking, "I'll just die if I don't get one for Christmas."

A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE?

OCT 31

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, originally uploaded by Neato Coolville.

No trick-or-treaters came by tonight. I was a little surprised, since the house is in town. Maybe word got around that we didn't have any good candy. My experience with the whole trick-or-treating thing is limited. Growing up in the country, I think maybe we got a couple of kids one year, and that was it. I only went trick-or-treating once; I was Humpty Dumpty at age 4. My parents would have let me if I'd wanted to, but I wasn't into it. It just never has been my thing. I'm much more a Christmas kind of guy.

That said, I have to say that I love those little corn candies. You know, the white, orange, and yellow ones? Maybe tomorrow I'll go buy a bag half price.