Yikes...

Well, you may all now collectively say "I told you so". I laid down the bike on my way in this morning. It was warm when I left, almost balmy, but I must have hit a patch of ice or something and it came out from under me doing about sixty. I slid quite a while, but don't have a bump, a bruise, or a scrape on me. My leathers aren't really even rashed up. The bike on the other hand... It's not looking so good. After I uprighted it (with the help of a passing motorist) it started right up with no hesitation, but things are pretty bent on it, the handlebars, the shifters, there's rashing on both sides cause the bike flipped over and got both sides. The fairing has a hole in it.

Anyway, I'm fine, I just need to get it to the dealership (whose shop is closed on Mondays) and get an idea of what all needs to be done. I'm stressed and frazzled as hell right now.

That was fucking scary. Please, don't really say "I told you so", the stress this has caused me is enough of a punishment.

Peachy

OK, so I just ran up to Walgreens to get some new razor refills, I use the Gillette Fusion (4 blades, nice shave, I'd recommend it). I splurged and got the eight pack over the four pack. It was thirty dollars! Doesn't that seem a bit excessive? Isn't this a sign that the apocalypse is at hand? I haven't used them yet (I'm going to be using one in about one minute) but they better be laced in crack. They BETTER!!!

Anyway, everything else is peachy as fuck. I mean that.

Outside the Protocol

Not too much to report on. I had a scan a couple weeks ago. The cancer continues to hold stable. I am now the current record holder at the SCCA for this drug. No one has been able to take it as long as I have. Also, because I'm still involved in the study, there's certain protocol that has to be followed according to what cycle I'm on (a cycle is three weeks of treatment), like specific blood draws in addition to the regular blood draws. My research coordinator was saying that they only wrote the protocol for 26 cycles. That's where I'm at. She had to contact the drug company to see how to proceed. It's kinda funny to me, even the drug company didn't think study participants would be able to take it as long as I have. I must rock, or something.

Also, I've been deeply, DEEPLY immersed in Steven King's "Dark Tower" series. Completely obsessed. I read the first book ("The Gunslinger") when I was in Berlin, Jeannine loaned it to me for the trip. Yesterday I finished book 5 ("Wolves of the Calla"), went to half priced books and got 6 & 7. I'll be starting on these today. I swear, I'm gonna give myself bedsores from too much reading.

Iron and Red

Sorry I haven't gotten on here in a while. I guess I just don't have anything interesting to say. I discovered a band the other day that is turning out to be a really great find. They are called "The Dear Hunter". Very interesting music.

I went to a German restaurant (probably more of a "Bavarian" restaurant, right Camilla?) last night, had their version of curry wurst. It was ok. Kind of left me wanting. I think I might take a little tour of Seattle's German (Bavarian) restaurants, trying all the curry wurst I can get my lips around (gross?).

So, yeah, Christmas is coming up. There's that.

I decided that when people ask me if there was ice on my way to work, I'm just gonna play it down. I'm a little tired of having a million moms. And when I crash my bike into a twisted mass of iron and red, I personally give everyone permission to give me a good old "I told you so". But in the mean time, I'm just gonna ride. Deal?

Homecoming

I know, I know, it's not 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Its 5 o'clock in the morning.

So yeah, arrived back safe and sound yesterday. My flight out of Berlin was delayed by an hour because of fog in Paris. Because my layover was only about 90 minutes, the flight attendant said it was gonna be cutting it pretty close to make my connecting flight. I told him that I run fast and he said "good". Seriously, I haven't run like that since I was in junior high. I made Jesse Owens look like a fucking bitch. My calves and thighs are sore this morning, and are probably going to stay that way for a few days. I did make the flight, but my luggage did not. It's supposed to be delivered today, so hopefully that's what actually happens. The flight was an excruciating ten hours. Yet somehow, I landed just a couple hours after I took off. I managed to stay awake for about 28 hours, then my brain just shut off.

So anyway, I'm probably not going to keep blogging every day.

I took the rest of this week off from work, figured it was only two days then it would be Thanksgiving break. I'm going to forget all my work passwords.

Berlin is nice, but I'm happy to be back in Seattle again.

Sunday in Berlin = Nap Time

Well, it's Sunday in Berlin. that means NOTHING is going on. I think if I had known this I would have left this morning instead of tomorrow morning. Today is going to be very... napful. There's nothing else to do.

Yesterday I was able to find another "Bavarian" restaurant and had more brats and kraut (yum!). A fellow at the restaurant from the day before told me about it and gave me vague directions and I found it. He also gave me vague directions to a used bookstore with a decent selection of American books. I found that too, but, ironically, I'm looking for book 2 from Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and out of all the Stephen King books that exist, the only one they had was an old copy of book 1 from that series which I just finished.

Then I went to a Dr. Martin store I found over the internet, thought it might be cool to have a pair of those from Berlin. I was kinda proud of myself for finding that on my own too. Look up the subway map for Berlin and know that I have mastered it :) Seriously, look it up. It's a dread lock of tracks and lines.

Finally!!!

It finally happened!! I found a restaurant that served sausages and sauerkraut. It was fucking DELICIOUS!!! The kraut was drizzled with some kind of brown sauce and the sausages were on top of that, with a delicious mustard. It was absolutely fantastic. Then I had a desert of sugared pancakes with plums, a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream. It seemed a little weird with the plums and all, but it came recommended by my waiter after telling him I had a hell of a time finding a German restaurant, so I ordered it, ate it, and loved it :)

Then I went to another fashion showing with my friend Camilla. These things have very interesting crowds. One fashion trend here that will probably start to crop up on 17 and 18 year olds in the states is men tucking their pants into their socks. It looks a little goofy to me, but as I was scanning the crowd at this event last night, it was quite the common look.

Anyway, today I'm going to try to find an American language book store to find the second instalment of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Jeannine gave me book one before I left and I practically ate it like a snake would eat a rat, in one gulp (it actually took a couple days, but still...). Then I'm gonna try to find another German restaurant, if indeed another one exists in this city.

The Wall

Today is the first day that the ground is wet. It doesn't look like rain, rather settling fog that has made it so. Yesterday I got to see a really long piece of wall that's still standing, probably about a mile long. It was pretty interesting. Fairly sobering. Then I walked back to the Alexanderplatz neighborhood and did a little shopping, got a new pair of boots (I figure steel toed boots from Berlin are more bad ass then steel toed boots from America?), they're kinda mean looking...

Then I ate dinner at an Italian restaraunt across the street from my hotel. The waiter didn't speak a single word of English. I asked him if there was meat in the lasagne (I wanted to eat some meat) and he just stared blankly at me. It was pretty funny. It did. That and a basket of bread and a glass of wine for about 9 euros...

The other day I went shopping for Laura. The store I was in had clothing racks that were very close together, and I was rubbing racks with my back pack as I was making my way through. After I paid at the cash register, I was on my way out the door when the security lights started blinking red like I was stealing something. It turns out that something had hung itself perfectly onto my back pack. It was reasonably funny :)

Bavaria

I can't believe it's already Wednesday and I haven't even had a bite of sour kraut. I tried to order it at the restaurant where I had the curry wurst for the first time, but the waiter said it wasn't that great. I'm informed by my local contact here that the whole bratwurst and sour kraut and Octoberfest business is more "Bavarian" than German, which is deep south Germany. She said people there have such a strange accent with their German that they can hardly be understood. Kinda like our south I think :) I actually saw a Bavarian restaurant yesterday but didn't have time to stop there, probably tomorrow.

Last night I went and saw the new Ben Stiller movie (I think it was called "Tower Heist" or something?). They have a huge movie complex that only plays American English movies. Then we went to a very popular Italian restaurant in Down Town Berlin that was simply amazing. We split a medium peperoni pizza, had a bruschetta (is that spelled right?) appetizer, one glass of red wine and some tea, all under 13 euros. It was fucking delicious. I also did a little shopping last night, got a new pair of jeans and a couple shirts.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Hope everyone is enjoying America. I'm kinda starting to miss it...

Loving the Wurst

So, yesterday I was fortunate enough to have another curry WURST. This time it was out of a street stand instead of a restaurant. Curry wurst here is like cream cheese dogs back in Seattle. There's even guys with over-the-shoulder grills they actually wear, cooking up and serving curry wurst. Then I saw some "wall" sights, pretty interesting. Saw a very touching Holocaust memorial, it was very sobering. If I understand it correctly, the place where the memorial sat was the platform where Jewish people would catch trains for concentration camps. Thousands of people left that platform to die. It was sobering. It's weird to think that I'm treading the same streets Hitler himself once roamed. It's a little surreal. 

Anyway, now I'm off to go see a movie (in English) with my friend Camilla. Probably another early night, people here seem to not like to stay up late. And by late, I mean 5pm or so. It's weird. Not that I'm a big night owl, everyone knows that I am most certainly not that, but I'm on vacation and staying out bast 6 was something that WAS on my agenda that is just not going to happen. I'm not complaining though because I'm getting plenty of sleep and reading a ton. I finished one book and am about a third of the way through my second...