My Pictures Of You

Was machts du

Recent Posts

  • Guten Morgen

    Guten Morgen

    What notable things happened today?

    It is 7:30 in the morning and I had a parade in the house. I’m watching our daughters dog. When I get up in the morning, the parade starts with two dogs and two cats, marching down the steps and towards their morning visits to the backyard and eventually breakfast.

    I did about a half hour of German and actually wrote a short paragraph in German.

    Right now, we are in transition as my wife has not moved to Everett as she has to finish out the school year. So I have not actually talked to anybody other than the dogs. Right now, my mind has a German soundtrack going on.

    Here’s what happened on this day in history. A whimsical look back.

    A Quirk in the Cosmos

    Many in my family are well into their days. It is almost dinner time in Germany. I usually talk to them about now before they settle down for dinner.

    Es ist 7:30 Uhr morgens und bei mir zu Hause herrscht reges Treiben. Ich passe auf den Hund unserer Tochter auf. Wenn ich morgens aufstehe, beginnt das Treiben: Zwei Hunde und zwei Katzen marschieren die Treppe hinunter, auf dem Weg zu ihrem morgendlichen Ausflug in den Garten und schließlich zum Frühstück.

  • Bring the Orange Slices

    Bring the Orange Slices

    Certainly hats off to the US men’s team for dismantling Paraguay in the opening game of the World Cup?

    And welcome to the United States way of doing things.

    Traditionally water breaks only happen in matches that are above a certain temperature and I believe humidity. And another when it’s freaking hot.

    In the World Cup, that is not how it works. I introduced the term Skyboxifcation in a previous post.

    Skyboxifcation

    hidden deep and most corporate mission statements is this missive, “ maximize shareholder wealth.“

    That is what everything is about. This is why we make such ridiculous short, sided decisions when running a business.

    FIFA is all about ridiculous maximization of wealth. So now we have a soccer match that is essentially four quarters. And in theory, the match is still playing during this, sorry I’m not gonna hide. I’m not going to candy coat this. I wlll call it a commercial break.

    Extra Time – yes that innovation, automatically adds three extra minutes of extra time to a a match.

    It’s been a rather busy day and I sat down to watch the match. I put some vegetables in the oven, knowing that I would have to eat sometime during the game.

    22 minutes into the game was a nice time to turn off the oven. The broccoli was perfect as were the potatoes and the vegan sausage, especially good. I guess food tastes better when your team is winning three nil.

    Even though I’m American, I can’t say I’m exclusively rooting for the American side .. I think blind patriotism is dangerous.

    I simply love Soccer.

    I have very little idea how this tournament is going to progress. I am lucky as I will be in Germany during the knockout phase the tournament.

    That is going to be kind of fun.

    The United States will not win the World Cup.

    You can say you heard it here first, but if they made an outrageous run and won the World Cup while I was in Germany.

    That would be very much against the run of play.

  • When I Was Younger

    When I Was Younger

    What are you passionate about?

    On a sidenote, I’ve always been younger.

    There’s was a time when I was a little kid that I was passionate about baseball. As an adult, I still get a sensation from freshly mowed grass. I think it goes back to when I was a kid freshly mowed grass means let’s play baseball.

    I was actually very good at baseball and got a scholarship. My focus was not always perfect as there was a girl watching my game that I was passionate about.

    Segway to music

    I have always been passionate about music. One summer day in late August in Williamsburg, Virginia a girl named Amy slipped a cassette tape into my pocket.

    It contained the first two REM albums. I was passionate about their music for a long time.

    About that same time, I became passionate about running. Running has led me down many avenues. I never would’ve gone before. I can’t run as far or as fast anymore, but I’m still passionate about it.

    Passion, comes and goes, obsession comes and goes.

    Empty prayer, empty mouths talk about the passion
    Not everyone can carry the weight of the world

    Talk about the passion.

  • Spargelzeit

    Spargelzeit

    What is your favorite season of year? Why?

    I like asparagus, but not quite to the extreme that those in Germany do. Still I love this season in German Germany. Everything centers around asparagus, and it is served at almost every single meal.

    Asparagus & Strawberry Soup (Spargel-Erdbeersuppe)

    A favorite seasonal mashup where sweet spring strawberries meet the delicate bitterness of white asparagus. The asparagus is boiled, pureed into a velvety cream soup, and carefully balanced with a strawberry reduction so that you can taste both sweet and savory notes in one bite. [1, 2, 3, 4]

    Yes, asparagus ice cream is the real thing.

    Everything Has A Time and Place

    Everything in Its Proper Time: Spargel is not a year-round ingredient. The harvest season, known as Spargelzeit, strictly runs from mid-April through June 24th (St. John’s Day). After this date, farmers leave the plants alone to regenerate for the following year.