Sunday Sundries

1. It took four boxes of throat lozenges, 1 bottle of DayQuil, 1 bottle of NyQuil, and a lot of doing nothing for me to be able to say that I'm finally better... almost. There's still the occasionally coughing fit and a semi-persistent sore throat but I feel like doing things. That's a far cry from how I've been feeling these past two and a half weeks.

Due to work commitments, I couldn't miss any days but it meant my evenings were naps, followed by some TV, followed by bed.

I'm happy to have that part of the illness behind me.

2. Dunkirk is fantastic. The movie is less a story and more a moment in time. If you are interested in seeing it, definitely see it in the theatre.

3. Sticking the with movies (because when you want low-energy activities, you go see all the movies), Atomic Blonde is a lot of fun. If you enjoy James Bond films and like strong female protagonists then check out this one. The fight scenes are pretty intense but unlike most action flicks, the characters become tired and affected by their injuries as the scenes go on. Thumbs up on that.

Now, the one thing I didn't like. I'm going to preface this by reminding you that the use of Xhosa in Captain America: Civil War bothered me because NOT THE RIGHT REGION. The movie takes place in the days immediately before the fall of the Berlin Wall and there is a scene set in East Berlin. When the lead character crosses the street, you can clearly see the crossing signs behind her and they are not the correct Ampelmännchen. They should look like this:

The former East Germany is the only place in the world with these symbols. But Andrea, I hear you say, why would they change the crossing sign for a 5 second shot? Because East Germany never got rid of these signs. They started to but after a huge public outcry, the government decided to keep them. They are an endearing symbol of East Germany, one of the few items to survive into the modern era. They might as well have digitally removed the Fernsehturm from the skyline and it wouldn't have been as jarring to my eyes.

Now to tuck that complaint away into the same neglected corner as my Civil War complaint!

4. Monaghan and Armagh both won their GAA Gaelic Football games this past weekend. We now have a pub in Victoria that shows the games live. I'm the only person in there watching them but at least I don't have to watch them on super sketchy Internet sites. YAY! Monaghan faces off against Dublin this coming Saturday. In the meantime, I'll be psyching myself up by watching this classic on repeat.

That ad is a thing of beauty, I tell you. Also, it's nice to know that 31 of the Irish counties will be cheering for Monaghan this weekend because everyone hates Dublin.

5. Updating your CV for a job in the same place you currently work is annoying. I really just want to hand them a paper that says "you know what I'm capable of so do you think I can handle this position or not?" It's that fine line between talking yourself up but not overstating your abilities to the point where they can call  you out on it because they also worked on that same project. Ugh. Just ugh.

Please?

Trivia Tuesday: Oktoberfest

If you have the (dis)pleasure of being my friend IRL or on Facebook, you know that I have a love for trivia. I once joked that I'm a horrible dinner guest because I can't stop passing on random trivia that no one cares about. Welcome to Trivia Tuesday, my weekly internet dinner party.

It's the end of September and Oktoberfest officially kicked off on Saturday with a parade from Munich to the fairgrounds (which once upon a time were on the outskirts of Munich... not so much anymore). But if it's September, why isn't it called Septemberfest? Because it used to be held in October.

Celebrating Oktoberfest in 1999. Can you find me?
Hint: I'm wearing a dirndl... just like all the other girls.

In honour of his marriage to Therese of Sax-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) invited the people of Munich to celebrate the occasion with a huge festival in a field outside the city gates. It was decided to make the celebration an annual event which would included a harvest festival and horse racing (although those two items have long been done away with).

How I celebrated the 2013 Oktoberfest!

The problem is that the later you get in the year, the higher your chances of rainfall. A decision was made to move the celebration to the end of September when higher temperatures, longer days, and less rainfall prevailed. As a result, while Oktoberfest concludes the first Sunday of October*, the majority of the event usually takes place in September.

*German Reunification occurred on October 3rd, 1990. In the years that October 3rd does not fall within Oktoberfest dates, the event is extended until the 3rd. To get the most bang for your Oktoberfestbuck, you should go in 2017.

The Blogging Life

I'm starting to understand why so many bloggers follow a schedule or theme with posts. Monday Moves, Taco Tuesday, all that jazz. Sometimes it's just easier to start writing when you have set parameters for your topic. Friday, therefore I must talk about French Braids! I can't tell you how many posts I have in draft right now (actually, I can, it's 18) because I start writing and then get lost going on tangents and trying to figure out how to tie it all together.

If you haven't seen The Lego Movie yet, go watch it and then come back so we can be friends.
It will also help with the Taco Tuesday reference.

I shy away from the idea of themed posts, however, because I find so many of them boring and/or really repetitive. There are only so many What I Ate Wednesdays before the blogger can pretty much just link back to the one post over and over again.

Still, there is something to be said for regularity and themes.

*sigh*

Dammit.

So, I'm going to give it a try. Not every day (because I'm lazy) but I'm going to try for three themed posts a week.

1. It will give this blog more structure over all.
2. The blog will be updated regularly.
3. I won't be looking at a blank page with no idea where to start on a post.
4. All the cool kids People are doing it.

And I'm going to start next week because, again, lazy.

Also, then the World Cup will be over and I can pretend to have a life again. Until then, Germany is in the final against Argentina so win or lose, I'll be drunk on Sunday!

Until then...

Making Plans

Welcome to the future! Isn't it glorious?!?

I'm a little sad that the future doesn't actually look like this,

I had a rousing evening of staying home and watching movies. It seemed that all my options for the night involved large crowds and loud noises, and I just wasn't feeling it. So after a viewing of Dinner for One (it's tradition), I snuggled in with my kitties and a couple of movies: The Social Network and Michael Collins. I'd never seen The Social Network which seemed odd given the amount of time I spend on Facebook. I saw Michael Collins on a date 17 years ago - yes, I'm that old - but a recent discussion about it prompted the repeat viewing. While it's a decent enough movie (historically accurate bio-pics are hard to get right), a better option to learn and understand that time in Irish history is The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Great film. Check it out.

At any rate, I'm just going to assume everyone had a more exciting evening than I did. On to the 2014 resolutions!

1. Go to kickboxing/bootcamp at least 11 times a month.

In an ideal world, I'd be making a commitment of going to every class, every week (that's four classes a week) but this is not an ideal world. Attending class is a huge time commitment as I go straight from work and don't get home until 7:30 or 8:00pm. Some weeks, doing that four nights in a row is just not going to be feasible. So while I want to aim for attending every class, my minimum is going to be 11. And maybe, for added incentive, I should say something silly like "if I don't make the 11 classes, I will do [insert number] burpees".

 Because if there is one thing that will make sure I get my ass to class at least 11 times a month, it's the threat of more burpees than I'd get in class.

2. Run two 10Ks

I will be running the TC10K in April because that's what you do when you live in Victoria and like to pretend you're a runner... or you're high on running endorphins and you agree with some Twitter friends that it sounds like a great idea to form a team. Same thing, really. But I want to aim to run another one in the Fall, something to keep me going once the TC is finished. If I get really hardcore, I'll do the Gunnar Shaw but I don't know if I'm ready for that level of trail race in the cold.

And just to be very clear, when I say 'run a 10K' I mean 'jog a 10K with plenty of walking breaks'. Let's not fool anyone here with thoughts of speedy races.

This totally counts as running, right?

3. Start the process of becoming certified in Instructional Design.

I'm a technical writer. To move forward in my field, Instructional Design is where it is at. Don't worry, I don't expect you to understand any of that. The plan is to enroll in a few classes, probably starting in September because they're through schools that start in September. Someone should probably remind me of this in June.

4. Improve my German.

A few years ago, I gave myself an ultimatum: either that was going to be the year that I worked on my German or I would drop it and just accept that das Schiff had sailed. I did nothing that year and so I let my half-hearted attempts to improve my German stop. 

Then I went back to Germany and Switzerland this past year and had to use my rusty German. Surprisingly, my German was much better than I anticipated and I gained a lot of confidence in my ability to use it. Not surprisingly, it reignited the desire to improve my German. I've been working on it casually for the past few months and I'm going to continue doing so in 2014. I'm still trying to determine how I plan to 'measure' my improvement. Hmm, a Christmas trip to Germany/Switzerland where I speak only German for the entire two weeks? Anyone want to fund that?

And that, my friends, concludes my resolutions for 2014. Nothing crazy, but building on what I've already started.

Wish me luck!

Question: How about you? Any resolutions? Or are you not a resolution person?

Is It Only Tuesday?

You know those weeks where it feels like it should already be Friday but it isn't? In fact, if you're really unlucky, it's only Monday? At least I made it to Tuesday before I started ugly-crying about my desire for it to be the weekend already. During one of my meetings, we were talking about setting up review sessions for next week. Plans for next week?!? It must be Friday!!!

Lying bastards.

For my next (and last) meeting of the day, however, my coworker brought each of us one of these:

I totally stole this picture from Bon Macaron's Facebook page without asking. So, if you're in the Victoria area, please visit them and tell them Andrea sent you so they don't get mad at me when they find out. Or Jennifer. Or Claire. Any of those names should work.

I raved to my coworker about the awesome blackberry not-really-a-macaron creation from Bon Macaron during a meeting on Monday (my picture here). Obviously, my powers of persuasion are amazing if she bought three of the blueberry ones today! Best. Meeting. EVER!

(Just to be really clear, I'm getting diddly squat for raving about the macarons so when I say this is my honest opinion, this is my honest opinion.)

***

Once upon a time, I attended university in Freiburg, Germany and lived in a student residence called Ulrich Zasius Haus or UZH. The UZH had a magical Pepsi machine in the foyer/mailbox area. What was so magical about it, you ask? Well, two buttons dispensed Pepsi but the other six buttons dispensed beer! BEER, PEOPLE! Even more magical? It was cheap beer. Our building became the meeting place for nights out... which often became nights in.

My older brother and two friends came to visit.
They were also amazed by the magic Pepsi machine.

I was reminded of this fact while I stared at the Coke machine in my current apartment building. Sadly, all its buttons are for non-alcoholic beverages and no amount of fake spell casting would change that.

*sigh*

As much as I made fun of the UZH and called it 'the ghetto', I do miss some things about it.

***

I try to remain vague about my job for various reasons (not least of which because it's the professional thing to do when you work in my field and have a personal but public blog) which means that it's hard to explain why finding this picture online today made me so damn happy. Just know that it put a huge, goofy grin on my face for the rest of the day.

If you don't get this poster, click this link.
And then ask to borrow my DVD so you can watch the whole movie.

Now to figure out where I can put it up in my cubicle without it being noticed...

Question: Any work pet peeves of your own to share?