It's amazing how things just seem to be zipping right along in fast-forward mode, and, with the exception of known vices, I'm drug free. (with a job like mine, drugs would actually hurt more than help, surprisingly enough).
It's been non stop bop around here for the past weeks. I celebrated Easter by going to a Chimaira show at a local club in Frankfurt. OK, so death metal isn't exactly my flavor, but I really enjoyed the show, actually. The venue itself is somewhat historic to the city; it was nice to finally catch another live act.
A couple of weeks later, I returned to the little bar adjacent to this club with Natalie and Ninjaa. This little bar is known for being visited by Robbie Williams, among others. I don't know how well he plays Foosball (Kicker), but the three of us dominated just about everyone itching for action, and I was most impressed that I hadn't forgotten all my table soccer tricks.
My folks have been lounging around Germany over the past couple of weeks. They spent the second week of April in Frankfurt, and we found ways to cause a bit of trouble, most notably a visit to a groovy Tex Mex place where we celebrated my birthday (and a bit of silliness fuelled by 4 to 5 too many margaritas). The very next day, they jumped in their hired car and have been seeing the eastern part of the country: Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, etc.
Meanwhile, I've been absolutely getting my head kicked in by the customer (as usual), and I'm loving it. I mean, can you really imagine doing something more fun?
Er, probably.
That said, I'm positioned to be given a long term contract, which basically sets me up for a long time in the EU. Goal achieved. Finally.
So, I've been to England a couple of times over the past few weeks, and have finally gotten to experience the joys of Heathrow Terminal Five first hand. Though the catastrophe of several weeks back is over, I still managed to find myself stuck in a three hour delay, which put me back into Germany really late last night.
I'm deliberately skipping over the angst and frustrations of work related crap. It's bollocks, and not worth discussing, and I'd rather talk about the cool stuff.
First off, thanks for all the birthday greetings, e-cards, memory sticks, phone calls, text messages, and pornography. It meant a lot. Birthdays are really important to the Germans, but, as I'm not German, I wasn't all that thrilled to turn another year older. On the other hand, I still appreciate well wishing and all that.
Second, how absolutely bloody fantastic that I'm now a bit more loaded when it comes to tunes. Pablo's been doing a nice bit through the email, and young McKee has once again gone through the efforts of loading several hundred more CDs of mine onto a 8gb memory stick. My iPod is excited, and I can't stop smiling and saying thanks! (I'm quite sure that the 5 Exploited albums must of a been a bit tedious for you, but then again, I bet you've held on to one or two tracks yourself.)
You might say, wow, he only had two good things to talk about?
It certainly goes a whole lot further than that. (you haven't seen the track listings, but most of you know how great that feeling is when you find something that you've lost (or have been separated from for a long long time). And, I think it's perfectly OK for me to disturb people on the U-Bahn with Bad Religion and Therapy? playing full blast.
Arsenal football is still Arsenal football, but it's time to put an end to the season, and get on with things (namely Euro 2008!)
So, this was really just a quick "yep, I'm still over here doing my bit" update. It's almost 18:30, and I'm about to make a bee line for the pub.
keep the faith
bryan
tracklist
Therapy? - Going nowhere
The Cure - To the sky
Bruce Springsteen - Born to run
