…maybe it’s patriarchal undertones deeply entrenched in my brain that I’m still trying to work out. I have a weird relationship with makeup. Like any relationship, it’s constantly evolving and has its moments of utter clarity followed by rapid dissolution into suspicion and doubt. What’s that? I might have an unhealthy view of relationships and […]
Read more "Maybe she’s born with it…"PROLOGUE: Sing, oh muse, help paint for me the story of November, bring forth the tales of feasts, missteps, and play this month engendered. Those thirty days expired ‘fore I could believe it true — consumed with cooking, word goofs, holidays, and travel to two northern urban hamlets, ‘spite the ever chilling clime and gore […]
Read more "Dickens, ‘Big Chickens’, and Greek Tragedy to Boot"Happy belated Halloween, Reformationstag, World Pasta Day, and all other manner of holidays I’ve missed since my last post. As you, attentive reader, may remember, I bought my first packet of Christmas cookies in September, so honestly, I’m just over here waiting for everyone else in the world to catch up. I’ve done a bunch […]
Read more "Travel guru coming at you"I’ve been back in Germany for fifteen days and I’ve already committed the equivalent of a cardinal sin. I bought Weihnachtskekse in the second week of September. I couldn’t help myself. Germans don’t do fall the way American commercial culture does fall, and I was missing my flannel clad advertisements and ritual ginger snaps with […]
Read more "Sucker for Seasonal Transitions"Although it has next to nothing to do with the subject matter to follow, I have to do my due diligence to small-talk enthusiasts across the globe and take a moment to remark upon the weather. I always seem to forget how affected I am by the change in seasons and sudden prolonged presence of sunlight come […]
Read more "Vollkorn in Ordnung"Over the past few weeks, many of my German friends and students have mentioned how strange they find American politics, specifically its modern tendency toward ‘pageantry’ and emotional addresses. The idea that we find it commonplace for our political figures to take to social media, talk shows, or sketch comedy acts in order to promote themselves and voice their thoughts is as foreign […]
Read more "How to Say Goodbye"Airport terminals are super aptly named because being in one usually makes me feel like I could die at any moment. In related news, I pulled a JTT and am back home for the holidays! While I’m already missing the Christmas markets, spekulatius, and glühwein of Oldenburg, I can’t tell you how lovely it was to simply drive […]
Read more "Just call me Jonathan Taylor Thomas"I decided to actually publish this draft I wrote in Spring 2015, when I was abroad in Göttingen, because I found myself feeling very similar things during my first bit of time in Oldenburg/Wildeshausen. Plus, having another post so soon gives me the illusion of being way more productive on this blog than I really am […]
Read more "All the grammar, none of the glamour"In a stunning turn of events, this blog post is overdue! I started writing this three weeks ago and then never got around to finishing it — partially because I got busy and there seemed to be too much to write about, and partially because I was subconsciously (or consciously if we’re being honest) avoiding writing about certain […]
Read more "Way Out"An incomplete and non-exhaustive list of the weird or unfortunate things I’ve done since moving into my new apartment: Wore a camping headlamp to the bathroom at night Planned my first few showers and meals around roommates not being home so I could be super discrete and out of the way Spent a total of four days actually living in […]
Read more "Weird New Roommate"