i third-handedly stumbled upon a cool website today. i was on my friend's/ex-roomate's webpage today, and a friend of his posted on his comments section about it. i spied. i found out. Some of the entries are obscene or even scary, some of the entries are very funny, and some of the entries are very uplifting and excellent. Though i don't often recognize it, i often feel like i am too scared to listen to and accept the bad stuff about people; their secrets, their bad memories, their fears. If i don't do this, i guess there is no way of knowing how people really feel nor of finding out how to help them or to fix things. i am sure we all have strange/neurotic/sick/crazy/psycho thoughts sometimes, but we also have the best/kind/gentle/loving/caring/uplifting/giving/helping/soft/
sensitive/worshipful/empathic/wonderful thoughts that human beings are capable of. i believe that the latter ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS has the power to outweigh the former if we let it. If we have the courage to reach down inside ourselves and LISTEN. Read the next bit if you want--if you don't, that's fine to. Thanks for listening. -AC-
Taken from http://postsecret.blogspot.com
The question I am asked most often is,"which secret is your favorite?" My favorite postcard is one I have never seen. In fact, it was never mailed to me. I learned about it recently from an email I received.
"...I was very excited because I too had a secret I wanted to post. I thought long and hard about how I wanted to word my secret and I searched for the perfect postcard to display it on. After I had created my postcard I stepped back to admire my handiwork. Instead of feeling relieved that I had finally got my secret out, I felt terrible instead. It was right then that I decided that I didn't want to be the person with that secret any longer. I ripped up my postcard and I decided to start making some changes in my life..."
If someday I find an envelope in my mailbox with the pieces of that ripped-up secret, I will be sure to share it here.
-Frank
21 June 2005
16 June 2005
Eager Seas
Hey there folks (or rather, basically no one because apparently nobody reads my blog if i don't send out a mass e-mail).
So as you can see by my rather wry greeting that i am feeling a little strange. Being tired is definitely a huge part of it--at least physically. i am also tired in other ways--tired of being in Europe, tired of not talking with my friends, (especially my old roommates, both of whom haven't got back to my e-mails or calls) and most of all, tired of being away from Kirsten.
There is something great though stirring inside me nonetheless. i have come to realize some things about myself whilst i have been abroad and have more or less narrowed down a major. i have also acquired competence in a third language, not that i am anywhere near being a master. Eager Seas. Eager Seas has a few meanings for me right now. First off, Eager Seas is a band which has formed from the remnants of Watashi Wa, one of my favorites, and always a very uplifting band. You can check them out here. Secondly, i am eager to cross over seas, namely the Atlantic Ocean, to get back to the one i love. Thirdly, i am eager to steer a course for new seas in my music, take new direction, see what happens.
Some of you may know, others may not, but i have semi-recently been replaced as a member of Kindred Fall during my absence. Ed and i had discussed this option before i even left, so i was sort of half expecting it, but it still came a little suddenly and strangely. i don't know where i am going as a musician, but i still am one and i still plan on being one, wherever God chooses to use me. My performances as a street musician have been all but placed at a standstill due to the strict rules which Munich imposes on street performers, namely you have to buy a permit for a specific day of the week (5 EURO) and you are only allowed to play within a certain time on that day and then now more for the whole week. Boo. Anyway, i think i am going to buy my second one tomorrow so i can get some cashola. i am slowly adding songs to my repertoire... So yeah. That's me as music. i miss my friends though. A lot.
Munich has been treating me right, even though this class i am taking is pretty demanding: 3 hours of German per day, plus any lessons that our professor decides to give us afterward, daily journals, cultural activities pretty much every day (including weekends), and then this special category of other which i just made up. Basically what "other" entails is speaking German with my host family, hanging out with friends, grocery shopping/making sure that i eat, trying to fit in phone conversations with Kirsten, my folks, and my friends back home. i play my guitar too. Munich is very beautiful at this time of year and it is supposed to stop the random overcastness/rain which has been happening for a bit here. This weekend i am going to Grillen an der Isar and also a Hochzeitsfeier von ein Paar bekannten meiner Gaestfamilie. (aka a barbecue and a wedding reception of some friends of my guest family) Should be excellent. i am really looking forward to Saturday which will be the first day that i have slept in past 7:30 am for three weeks.
This blog is getting long already, but i have one more side note to make and that is that Erin's blog has some quite wonderful posts, not the least of which is an exquisite story told through computer Paint sketches of her and Aro's road trip out to Wisconsin. Also! California has surpassed Wisconsin in cheese quality and production for several years now, (not that Wisconsin's cheese have gone bad or anything!)
Munich has a stereotype as being the beer capital of the world for some reason...
For some reason i like links at the moment.
ich muss nach Hause...
Servus!
-Sepp-
So as you can see by my rather wry greeting that i am feeling a little strange. Being tired is definitely a huge part of it--at least physically. i am also tired in other ways--tired of being in Europe, tired of not talking with my friends, (especially my old roommates, both of whom haven't got back to my e-mails or calls) and most of all, tired of being away from Kirsten.
There is something great though stirring inside me nonetheless. i have come to realize some things about myself whilst i have been abroad and have more or less narrowed down a major. i have also acquired competence in a third language, not that i am anywhere near being a master. Eager Seas. Eager Seas has a few meanings for me right now. First off, Eager Seas is a band which has formed from the remnants of Watashi Wa, one of my favorites, and always a very uplifting band. You can check them out here. Secondly, i am eager to cross over seas, namely the Atlantic Ocean, to get back to the one i love. Thirdly, i am eager to steer a course for new seas in my music, take new direction, see what happens.
Some of you may know, others may not, but i have semi-recently been replaced as a member of Kindred Fall during my absence. Ed and i had discussed this option before i even left, so i was sort of half expecting it, but it still came a little suddenly and strangely. i don't know where i am going as a musician, but i still am one and i still plan on being one, wherever God chooses to use me. My performances as a street musician have been all but placed at a standstill due to the strict rules which Munich imposes on street performers, namely you have to buy a permit for a specific day of the week (5 EURO) and you are only allowed to play within a certain time on that day and then now more for the whole week. Boo. Anyway, i think i am going to buy my second one tomorrow so i can get some cashola. i am slowly adding songs to my repertoire... So yeah. That's me as music. i miss my friends though. A lot.
Munich has been treating me right, even though this class i am taking is pretty demanding: 3 hours of German per day, plus any lessons that our professor decides to give us afterward, daily journals, cultural activities pretty much every day (including weekends), and then this special category of other which i just made up. Basically what "other" entails is speaking German with my host family, hanging out with friends, grocery shopping/making sure that i eat, trying to fit in phone conversations with Kirsten, my folks, and my friends back home. i play my guitar too. Munich is very beautiful at this time of year and it is supposed to stop the random overcastness/rain which has been happening for a bit here. This weekend i am going to Grillen an der Isar and also a Hochzeitsfeier von ein Paar bekannten meiner Gaestfamilie. (aka a barbecue and a wedding reception of some friends of my guest family) Should be excellent. i am really looking forward to Saturday which will be the first day that i have slept in past 7:30 am for three weeks.
This blog is getting long already, but i have one more side note to make and that is that Erin's blog has some quite wonderful posts, not the least of which is an exquisite story told through computer Paint sketches of her and Aro's road trip out to Wisconsin. Also! California has surpassed Wisconsin in cheese quality and production for several years now, (not that Wisconsin's cheese have gone bad or anything!)
Munich has a stereotype as being the beer capital of the world for some reason...
For some reason i like links at the moment.
ich muss nach Hause...
Servus!
-Sepp-
10 June 2005
Bars und Blödsinn
i hate bars. They are smoky and loud. Clubs i like though, sometimes. Nonetheless i had fun. i am going to play music with some Germans next Tuesday! Sweet! They have a bass too, so i am looking forward to playing that for the first time in a while...
Tomorrow: Five-hour hike between two lakes; Schliersee zum Tegernsee.
Sunday: Schloss Neuschwanstein, the famous Bavarian castle, which, according to John James, was contructed by "ol' Crazy von Ludwig." At any rate, i hear it is large and crazy and sweet. The castle at Disneyland is a small scale model of it...
Thirdly, i met a German guy who, like me, doesn't drink alcohol. Let me say that again: i met a German guy who doesn't drink alcohol. Sweet! The next few weeks are going to be fun.
love, aaron von choate
Tomorrow: Five-hour hike between two lakes; Schliersee zum Tegernsee.
Sunday: Schloss Neuschwanstein, the famous Bavarian castle, which, according to John James, was contructed by "ol' Crazy von Ludwig." At any rate, i hear it is large and crazy and sweet. The castle at Disneyland is a small scale model of it...
Thirdly, i met a German guy who, like me, doesn't drink alcohol. Let me say that again: i met a German guy who doesn't drink alcohol. Sweet! The next few weeks are going to be fun.
love, aaron von choate
02 June 2005
Single Variable Calculus (Fifth edition)
This blog is entitled as such simply because it appeared in the drop-down menu when i went to put a title on it. It is the textbook that i had to buy and use for my Calculus class i took at Chapman freshman year--that was a long time ago...
ANYWAY-- i just wanted to tell a short story before i go off to do my homework. Today i got in touch with my natural self in the middle of a sprawling metropolis:
After a long, tired, semi-stressful day, i took the U-Bahn to the Englischer Garten, a large garden in downtown Munich. The Germans love nature, so fortunately they incorporate it into their large cities wherever possible. Gotta love it. We had been there with the group already on Saturday, when Kirsten was still here before she flew home. We had seen some surfers surfing on this wave thing near a bridge in the fast-moving river that runs through the park and also lots of naked people sun-bathing, as well as other fun or relaxation seekers. Nature aficionados perhaps. i had come dressed in my swim trunks, and i set my backpack and shoes in the bushes, walked upstream to where the surfers were (there were there again today) and after a little watching, i jumped in! The current was swift and the water was very cold, but refreshing, and gave me a little thrill. i found my way back to the place where i had stashed my stuff and then walked through the park with my shoes off. It hurt sometimes! i am not used to having my shoes off. i eventually found my way to the nude area we had seen on Saturday, but this time there were a bunch of people playing soccer, a few people relaxing on the grass, and a few walking around, all clothed. There was one man who was naked though, and he was dancing to the beat of the hand-drums which some people were playing in the distance. There are always people there playing hand-drums i guess. Anyway, feeling a little disappointed because i found out that there weren't enough naked people around for me to feel normal taking my clothes off, i found a private grove and sat down for a while and dried off. i stripped down anyway and sat for a while by myself on my beach towel. Afterward, i got dressed again and went for a nice walk in the park feeling pretty good about life. Munich is great and i am glad that i am taking this class.
Servus!
-Sepp-
(Aaron)
ANYWAY-- i just wanted to tell a short story before i go off to do my homework. Today i got in touch with my natural self in the middle of a sprawling metropolis:
After a long, tired, semi-stressful day, i took the U-Bahn to the Englischer Garten, a large garden in downtown Munich. The Germans love nature, so fortunately they incorporate it into their large cities wherever possible. Gotta love it. We had been there with the group already on Saturday, when Kirsten was still here before she flew home. We had seen some surfers surfing on this wave thing near a bridge in the fast-moving river that runs through the park and also lots of naked people sun-bathing, as well as other fun or relaxation seekers. Nature aficionados perhaps. i had come dressed in my swim trunks, and i set my backpack and shoes in the bushes, walked upstream to where the surfers were (there were there again today) and after a little watching, i jumped in! The current was swift and the water was very cold, but refreshing, and gave me a little thrill. i found my way back to the place where i had stashed my stuff and then walked through the park with my shoes off. It hurt sometimes! i am not used to having my shoes off. i eventually found my way to the nude area we had seen on Saturday, but this time there were a bunch of people playing soccer, a few people relaxing on the grass, and a few walking around, all clothed. There was one man who was naked though, and he was dancing to the beat of the hand-drums which some people were playing in the distance. There are always people there playing hand-drums i guess. Anyway, feeling a little disappointed because i found out that there weren't enough naked people around for me to feel normal taking my clothes off, i found a private grove and sat down for a while and dried off. i stripped down anyway and sat for a while by myself on my beach towel. Afterward, i got dressed again and went for a nice walk in the park feeling pretty good about life. Munich is great and i am glad that i am taking this class.
Servus!
-Sepp-
(Aaron)
27 May 2005
Munich is Gonna Be Alright...
KIRSTEN AND i AT THE MOMENT :
So, we are currently both in Ismaning, Germany at Christoph's place, and Kirsten leaves for California on Sunday and i move in with a new host family in Munich after i see her off. It has been absolutely gorgeous here, and a great relief to get a little change. i loved my Gaestgrossmutter, Frau Schoettke, but i was just getting a little stir crazy i think. i learned a lot staying with her, and my roommate Ben Englehart from Detroit worked out great. He's a most excellent gent, and also a Christian so that was cool, and worked out well for us both.
i am taking a class for the month of June in Munich, but my semester in Salzburg is officially done. It has been really great here the past few days; got plugged into the internet after a long time sporadic access, got to hang out with Chris' friends last night and listen to music at his friend Christian's house, and then we went to Simon's house tonight, had barbeque and watched Napoleon Dynamite. Sweet! Chris and his mom Gertrud have a fabulous view from their apartment over Ismaning and the surrounding area--beautiful.
It's almost time for Kindred Fall's radio appearance on the UC Irvine radio station, so i am going to catch that before going to bed. Where am i musically? Who knows? Perhaps i will still be part of Kindred Fall when i return, perhaps not. Either way i pray that i will continue to get better and i hope for the best for Ed and his new crew of hooligans. i hope we can speak again soon...
So, we are currently both in Ismaning, Germany at Christoph's place, and Kirsten leaves for California on Sunday and i move in with a new host family in Munich after i see her off. It has been absolutely gorgeous here, and a great relief to get a little change. i loved my Gaestgrossmutter, Frau Schoettke, but i was just getting a little stir crazy i think. i learned a lot staying with her, and my roommate Ben Englehart from Detroit worked out great. He's a most excellent gent, and also a Christian so that was cool, and worked out well for us both.
i am taking a class for the month of June in Munich, but my semester in Salzburg is officially done. It has been really great here the past few days; got plugged into the internet after a long time sporadic access, got to hang out with Chris' friends last night and listen to music at his friend Christian's house, and then we went to Simon's house tonight, had barbeque and watched Napoleon Dynamite. Sweet! Chris and his mom Gertrud have a fabulous view from their apartment over Ismaning and the surrounding area--beautiful.
It's almost time for Kindred Fall's radio appearance on the UC Irvine radio station, so i am going to catch that before going to bed. Where am i musically? Who knows? Perhaps i will still be part of Kindred Fall when i return, perhaps not. Either way i pray that i will continue to get better and i hope for the best for Ed and his new crew of hooligans. i hope we can speak again soon...
18 May 2005
Why Oregon Rules and California Sucks:
* Taken from USA TODAY'S Across the USA - News From Every State News section.
"California: Los Angeles--Airport commissioners approved $7.7 million in renovations to two Los Angeles International Airport gates to accommodate the 555 passenger Airbus A380. LAX expects to spend a total of $53 million to accommodate the double-decker airliner, which begins service next year.
Oregon: Oregon City--Experts in several Oregon counties are using sentinal chickens as a warning system for the mosquito-bourne West Nile virus. The chickens act as bait for mosquitos that may be carrying the virus. They're a good barometer of the disease because they don't get sick from the virus or infect anything. The birds develop antibodies if bitten by an infected mosquito."
Great. We get millions and millions of dollars spent on airplane traffic and Oregon gets sentinal chickens. Why oh why can't we be as sweet as them?! i mean, at least we oughtta be spending our millions on the production of electric cars to eliminate the gas market, or maybe the production of more efficient electric planes, or maybe that phantom high speed train system from San Francisco to LA and San Diego that never seems to get planned or built. Plus we'll probably get West Nile virus because we don't have any sentinal chickens.
Everyone please do me a favor. Contemplate the term: Sentinal Chickens! You had better be laughing by now, cause you KNOW it's hilarious!
"California: Los Angeles--Airport commissioners approved $7.7 million in renovations to two Los Angeles International Airport gates to accommodate the 555 passenger Airbus A380. LAX expects to spend a total of $53 million to accommodate the double-decker airliner, which begins service next year.
Oregon: Oregon City--Experts in several Oregon counties are using sentinal chickens as a warning system for the mosquito-bourne West Nile virus. The chickens act as bait for mosquitos that may be carrying the virus. They're a good barometer of the disease because they don't get sick from the virus or infect anything. The birds develop antibodies if bitten by an infected mosquito."
Great. We get millions and millions of dollars spent on airplane traffic and Oregon gets sentinal chickens. Why oh why can't we be as sweet as them?! i mean, at least we oughtta be spending our millions on the production of electric cars to eliminate the gas market, or maybe the production of more efficient electric planes, or maybe that phantom high speed train system from San Francisco to LA and San Diego that never seems to get planned or built. Plus we'll probably get West Nile virus because we don't have any sentinal chickens.
Everyone please do me a favor. Contemplate the term: Sentinal Chickens! You had better be laughing by now, cause you KNOW it's hilarious!
28 April 2005
Aaron der Straßemusiker
Anyway, playing on the street is a lot of fun because not only do you earn money for doing something you love, but you get all kinds of cool people and interesting reactions. i've had my photo taken together with Asian girls, and also an Indian man, and more than a few people have filmed me or photographed me by myself. Little kids smile and stare while their parents shun away and search their pockets. People cast funny glances and their lips curve slightly upward at the edges. A crowd of Bavarians came up and played Pearl Jam and sang so i improvised and some dude came last time and wanted me to play a blues riff whilst he played harmonica. Sweet.
Here's my playlist: Green Day's 'Time of Your Life,' Tiffany Joy's 'El Ritmo Del Mundo' (which has attracted a group of Mexicans asking where i was from and how i knew Spanish!) Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here,' Dishwalla's 'Counting Blue Cars,' Dashboard Confessional's 'So Long Sweet Summer,' Fuel's 'Innocent,' Jimmy Eat World's 'Hear You Me,' Smashing Pumpkins' '1979,' Switchfoot's 'Let That Be Enough' and of course Kindred Fall's own '3Drom' and my own, 'Kirsten's Song' and 'Apokalipsis' (named just now in honor of Aro and his blog...and of course, Jesus).
There may be some more songs that i've played which do not come to mind at the moment, but i will add them later if i think of them. I am going to be learning some new material soon by downloading music off the internet including, (hopefully) the rest of Dave Mattews Band's 'Gravedigger,' Nena's version of 'Neunundneunzig Luft Balloons,' Green Day's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams,' among others. IN FACT, if any of YOU WHO ARE READING THIS BLOG, would like to post some SUGGESTIONS, on which new songs i should learn and play, POST AWAY!
LOVE, -aaron-
Here's my playlist: Green Day's 'Time of Your Life,' Tiffany Joy's 'El Ritmo Del Mundo' (which has attracted a group of Mexicans asking where i was from and how i knew Spanish!) Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here,' Dishwalla's 'Counting Blue Cars,' Dashboard Confessional's 'So Long Sweet Summer,' Fuel's 'Innocent,' Jimmy Eat World's 'Hear You Me,' Smashing Pumpkins' '1979,' Switchfoot's 'Let That Be Enough' and of course Kindred Fall's own '3Drom' and my own, 'Kirsten's Song' and 'Apokalipsis' (named just now in honor of Aro and his blog...and of course, Jesus).
There may be some more songs that i've played which do not come to mind at the moment, but i will add them later if i think of them. I am going to be learning some new material soon by downloading music off the internet including, (hopefully) the rest of Dave Mattews Band's 'Gravedigger,' Nena's version of 'Neunundneunzig Luft Balloons,' Green Day's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams,' among others. IN FACT, if any of YOU WHO ARE READING THIS BLOG, would like to post some SUGGESTIONS, on which new songs i should learn and play, POST AWAY!
LOVE, -aaron-
25 April 2005
i have an art test soon...
Hey everyone, just wanted to type up a quick-ish update since last time! Hope you all are enjoying the links and downloading Kindred Fall songs! We are on the brink of revolution...
Mostly i have been helping out my Hausfrau with her new Kasten (closet units), as she had the old ones demolished by a demo crew and new ones installed by Helmut (her handyman-type friend) and myself. Needless to say, things have been in quite a crazy disarray roundabout the house--especially since Ben's two friends who are on break from studying in Spain came and stayed two nights on an air mattress in our room and then the living room amidst the mountains of clothes and other miscellaneous items...
Mostly i have been going to classes, doing chores, and playing my guitar for money and listeners on the main footbridge. However, i got talked to by the Polizei who say i have to relocate the next time since the bridge is not one of the designated street musician areas of Salzburg (who knew?). Anyway, they were nice and helpful and also did not fine me for not having my passport and attached visa on my person (i had forgotten it at home). They radio-ed in and confirmed my residence and studenthood in Salzburg, so i didn't get in trouble. Good thing i had registered with the Police though! They also knew English which was nice, though i tried to use as much German as possible as a courtesy and also for practice.
In other news of more serious nature, we went to the Death Camp of Mauthausen near Linz, Austria last Friday with our World War II class. Probably just as sobering as any trip to a concentration camp, Mauthausen was unique for a couple of other reasons:
1. It was the only camp of mass exterminations within the borders of the former German Reich.
2. It was a major source of the stones used by the Nazi for Hitler's extravagant building plans. There was a stone quarry where prisoners were forced to work long, hard, and mercilessly until death.
3. It is very beautiful and close to the natural landscape of the region. Unlike Dachau near Munich which we visited before, Mauthausen is located on a hill, dotted with trees and flowers, and covered with green grass. One can hear birds singing and see blue skies and even see the mountains in the distance on a clear day. The quarry nowadays has three lakes and lots of growth along the rock face. It is very hard to imagine such suffering took place in such a beautiful, seemingly peaceful location.
Like i said before, i have an art test very soon, so i'd better get going. However, if you could please post a response to anything mentioned here if you feel so inclined. 'til next time...
-ac-
Mostly i have been helping out my Hausfrau with her new Kasten (closet units), as she had the old ones demolished by a demo crew and new ones installed by Helmut (her handyman-type friend) and myself. Needless to say, things have been in quite a crazy disarray roundabout the house--especially since Ben's two friends who are on break from studying in Spain came and stayed two nights on an air mattress in our room and then the living room amidst the mountains of clothes and other miscellaneous items...
Mostly i have been going to classes, doing chores, and playing my guitar for money and listeners on the main footbridge. However, i got talked to by the Polizei who say i have to relocate the next time since the bridge is not one of the designated street musician areas of Salzburg (who knew?). Anyway, they were nice and helpful and also did not fine me for not having my passport and attached visa on my person (i had forgotten it at home). They radio-ed in and confirmed my residence and studenthood in Salzburg, so i didn't get in trouble. Good thing i had registered with the Police though! They also knew English which was nice, though i tried to use as much German as possible as a courtesy and also for practice.
In other news of more serious nature, we went to the Death Camp of Mauthausen near Linz, Austria last Friday with our World War II class. Probably just as sobering as any trip to a concentration camp, Mauthausen was unique for a couple of other reasons:
1. It was the only camp of mass exterminations within the borders of the former German Reich.
2. It was a major source of the stones used by the Nazi for Hitler's extravagant building plans. There was a stone quarry where prisoners were forced to work long, hard, and mercilessly until death.
3. It is very beautiful and close to the natural landscape of the region. Unlike Dachau near Munich which we visited before, Mauthausen is located on a hill, dotted with trees and flowers, and covered with green grass. One can hear birds singing and see blue skies and even see the mountains in the distance on a clear day. The quarry nowadays has three lakes and lots of growth along the rock face. It is very hard to imagine such suffering took place in such a beautiful, seemingly peaceful location.
Like i said before, i have an art test very soon, so i'd better get going. However, if you could please post a response to anything mentioned here if you feel so inclined. 'til next time...
-ac-
15 April 2005
Salzbergwerk - Salt Mines
So, last weekend Jenny and Jon arrived in Salzburg Thursday night, checked into their hotel and gave me a call on my cell phone (Kirsten was on the phone with her mum at the time). We said we'd meet at 7:15-7:30ish at the Stadtsbrücke, aka the main bridge for vehicle traffic in the Altstadt von Salzburg. We got there at finally met up with them (they came a bit late) and together with my roommate Ben and this girl Tamra from AIFS, we all headed over to Frau Schöttke's place zu Fuß (on foot). We enjoyed an excellent Austrian meal, exchanged some laughs and stories and listened to some traditional Austrian Music: Barry White, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong duets, etc...
Next Morning we got up and after a little bit of a mixup met up with Jenny and Jon again and went for a Spaziergang up to the Fortress of Hohen-Salzburg and the Great views from all sides of the mountains. Spring is here, and the bugs and flowers and green and sun and colors and smells and sights are OUT! We then checked Fred and Ethel out of their hotel and went to stash their bags at Kirsten's dorm and we found our friends Emily Boyd and Joy Meckes waiting for us. Joy is studying in London, England and Emily is in Sussex; they were both on a Spring Break of sorts. So the whole crew--Jenny, Jon, Joy, Emily, Kirsten and i--made our way to the train station with a short walk through the Mirabellgarten and the adjoining dwarf-statue garden. We took the train out to Hallein bound for the Salt Mines. We got there and discovered that we'd need to take a bus to get there and it would take about an hour before we could leave. We figured it out, got there and bought our tickets (with no discount for me because they wouldn't believe that i am a student and that my ID was stolen in Italy). We visited the Celtic Village there to pass the time before going into the Salt Mines. The Celts were the first ones to mine salt there and then it passed into the hands of the Archbishops, rich in power, corruption, and false religion. There is a tram ride to start off the journey into the mountain which knocks off much of the walking. Then you begin a guided tour with various exhibits and short film clips shown along the way--luckily everyone in the group was OK with English, so that was the language used. i was the only one that broke some salt off the ceiling and ate it, and it was quite good. Salty. I guess everyone else was afraid of dirt or something, who knows. Anyway, the most exciting part of the Salt Mines is that you dress up in these Spacey looking suits to slide down mine-shafts and keep you clean from the walls. You ride in a boat over a salt-saturated separation pond (more salty than the Dead Sea) and see a series of other film clips and hear some other cool info about the mine. 70% of the mine is in Bavaria, a German Province where Munich lies and the Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau actually died as a result of the battles he wages for rights to the mines. You cross the German-Austrian border underground. This same Archbishop was also responsible for most of the grand buildings that Salzburg is famous for today as he rebuilt them after a large fire (which he did nothing to stop) as an excuse to build the Schloss Mirabell, die Residenz/Residenzplatz, und Der Dom. He hired an Italian architect to build them and with revenue generated from the lucrative Salt trading business. This is, in fact, how Salzburg got its name. Salz, meaning Salt, and Burg, meaning castle; the castle was built out of salt, (though not literally, but €conomically!) The Austrian Schilling has never done too bad, even with the results of war because of it's strong connection with the old Deutsche Mark. Of course, both countries are now part of the EU and Austria is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a member.
So! This was a great way to wrap up the Spring Break travels and say farewell to Jenny and Jon (though after a week of school of course). They took a train back to Munich that afternoon to catch a plane the next morning. Emily and Joy stayed at Kirsten's dorm and resumed their travels while Kirsten and i took a trip with our class to the Schleedorf Cheese Factory Käsewelt! More on that to come!
LINKS!
photos
band (Studio Photos, Performance Photos, Video, and more!)
band2 (Secret Demo Leak + More!)
'Stache Revolution...
Kirsten
Aro
Ed
your link here!
Next Morning we got up and after a little bit of a mixup met up with Jenny and Jon again and went for a Spaziergang up to the Fortress of Hohen-Salzburg and the Great views from all sides of the mountains. Spring is here, and the bugs and flowers and green and sun and colors and smells and sights are OUT! We then checked Fred and Ethel out of their hotel and went to stash their bags at Kirsten's dorm and we found our friends Emily Boyd and Joy Meckes waiting for us. Joy is studying in London, England and Emily is in Sussex; they were both on a Spring Break of sorts. So the whole crew--Jenny, Jon, Joy, Emily, Kirsten and i--made our way to the train station with a short walk through the Mirabellgarten and the adjoining dwarf-statue garden. We took the train out to Hallein bound for the Salt Mines. We got there and discovered that we'd need to take a bus to get there and it would take about an hour before we could leave. We figured it out, got there and bought our tickets (with no discount for me because they wouldn't believe that i am a student and that my ID was stolen in Italy). We visited the Celtic Village there to pass the time before going into the Salt Mines. The Celts were the first ones to mine salt there and then it passed into the hands of the Archbishops, rich in power, corruption, and false religion. There is a tram ride to start off the journey into the mountain which knocks off much of the walking. Then you begin a guided tour with various exhibits and short film clips shown along the way--luckily everyone in the group was OK with English, so that was the language used. i was the only one that broke some salt off the ceiling and ate it, and it was quite good. Salty. I guess everyone else was afraid of dirt or something, who knows. Anyway, the most exciting part of the Salt Mines is that you dress up in these Spacey looking suits to slide down mine-shafts and keep you clean from the walls. You ride in a boat over a salt-saturated separation pond (more salty than the Dead Sea) and see a series of other film clips and hear some other cool info about the mine. 70% of the mine is in Bavaria, a German Province where Munich lies and the Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau actually died as a result of the battles he wages for rights to the mines. You cross the German-Austrian border underground. This same Archbishop was also responsible for most of the grand buildings that Salzburg is famous for today as he rebuilt them after a large fire (which he did nothing to stop) as an excuse to build the Schloss Mirabell, die Residenz/Residenzplatz, und Der Dom. He hired an Italian architect to build them and with revenue generated from the lucrative Salt trading business. This is, in fact, how Salzburg got its name. Salz, meaning Salt, and Burg, meaning castle; the castle was built out of salt, (though not literally, but €conomically!) The Austrian Schilling has never done too bad, even with the results of war because of it's strong connection with the old Deutsche Mark. Of course, both countries are now part of the EU and Austria is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a member.
So! This was a great way to wrap up the Spring Break travels and say farewell to Jenny and Jon (though after a week of school of course). They took a train back to Munich that afternoon to catch a plane the next morning. Emily and Joy stayed at Kirsten's dorm and resumed their travels while Kirsten and i took a trip with our class to the Schleedorf Cheese Factory Käsewelt! More on that to come!
LINKS!
photos
band (Studio Photos, Performance Photos, Video, and more!)
band2 (Secret Demo Leak + More!)
'Stache Revolution...
Kirsten
Aro
Ed
your link here!
09 April 2005
Big Net
Hey all, and i'll try to keep this one a bit shorter! Sorry for wearing you out with the longest blog known to man! As you can see by the fact that a new blog has appeared, Kirsten and i actually made it back alive from Spring Break! Here's a brief synopsis of the rest of our journey:
1. We bliebed in Barcelona for a total of 4 nights because AlBerGuest was so excellent and explored the city and enjoyed excellent weather! It was hard to leave Al and his excellent hangout.
2. We took a few trains to the same stops we made on our way through France, but then took and overnight train from Toulouse to Nice...crazy. In Nice we rolled our bags down to the rocky beach which this section of the French Riviera is Famous for and enjoyed a hearty meal of McDonalds (some sort of French Delicacy i presume...) Anyway, it filled our stomachs. Actually, before i was about to enjoy my McMeal, i had to use the WC and i found one on the beach. It was one of those lame ones you 'have to pay for' and as there was no one at the counter i just went in and did my business. i came out and there was an old man expecting 35 Euro cents. crap. Having zero (count 'em zero) coins in my pocket and my wallet back on the beach blankets with Kirsten (the beach blankets were really our sleeping bags), i decided to side step the guy and just walk away. The man came busting after me so i picked up my trot a bit and (cursing in French which i of course cannot understand) proceeded to pick up the giant French Rock of Nice and chuck them at me!!! HARD!
i ran right off that beach as quick as i could.
...and this was the only WC i paid for on our whole trip; which i opted to pay 1 Euro for in exchange for no more hurling rocks and a peaceful spot on the rocky beach. i went swimming after that and it was really cold. Eventually, we got back to the train station on our way to Italy to meet Kirsten's sister Jenny and her brother-in-law Jon in Cinque Terra, but not before i went to an ATM and made a large withdrawal from my bank account to pay for the rest of our hostels and for food money upon arriving back in Austria. turned out to be a bad move.
3. Cinque Terra. ('Five Lands' or 'Five Cities'). What a beautiful place! Go there if you ever have the chance. You can hike between all five of the cities and they are all right on the ocean with the bluest, clearest water you have ever seen. That is the real Italy, not Florence or Rome, and well worth it. I cannot speak for Venice, as i still have not made it there, though Aro told a great story about it during his adventures in the Old World. At any rate, i had a bad experience there as my wallet was lost/stolen near the grocery store DeSpar in Monterosso! BOOOOOOOO!!! (i'm not entirely sure how it happened, but i lost about 280 Euro, all my IDs (except my passport thankfully) and some other stuff which undoubtedly is important, because i keep it in there. i was able to somehow communicate this to the very Italian store owners in the area and the Carabinieri (local police), but to no avail. i did file a report of loss, but who knows if i will ever see it again. We did our hike to Vernazza anyway and it was quite beautiful.
4. After a short stop in Pisa and seeing the main square and the tower and all-at, we booked it on down to Rome where Jenny and Jon already had a hotel reserved. Kirsten and i found one too after a bit of searching and a little bargaining and got a decent deal, but it was still the most expensive we paid the whole trip. Then we went to dinner. While we were eating, an Italian waiter came and turned on infoTV with the newsline: Juan Paulo II è mort. Of course meaning, The Pope had just died. Craziness at the Vatican! We went. i am really glad we hadn't been there later, after the massive wave of people that came! We probably would have been stuck for sure. It was pretty dang full of people and kind of strange. i really do not understand what all the commotion is--i mean, i know he's the leader of the Catholic Religion and all, but he's still just a man. Not God. He has no special access to God that the rest of us don't. i know that is pretty to the point, but why are so many people so riled up about the death of this old man as if he were Christ? Infallibility? I should think not. The only one infallible is God himself, and the only reason Christ is infallible is because he was fully God.
Anyway, i'm steaming out my ears with plenty of other things i should probably not write on this topic, so i will close on a positive note: it was worth it to go from a pop culture standpoint and to see all the people out and about.
So, here i am at 'Big Net' an Internet Cafe, which Kirsten and i have taken to calling 'Big Butt' which of course is both hilarious and true. Classes have started up again and lots of stuff is due soon. i also must register for Chapman classes and i found out i have a business hold which i have to clear up (party!). Also i have a German test on Tuesday! AHHHH!!! i am a bissel verrückt i think. (a little bit crazy!) I will post an update sometime this week regarding Salt Mines and Home Cooked Austrian Meals. I Don't Know Why I'm Capitalizing Everything! Tschüss!!
love, ac
1. We bliebed in Barcelona for a total of 4 nights because AlBerGuest was so excellent and explored the city and enjoyed excellent weather! It was hard to leave Al and his excellent hangout.
2. We took a few trains to the same stops we made on our way through France, but then took and overnight train from Toulouse to Nice...crazy. In Nice we rolled our bags down to the rocky beach which this section of the French Riviera is Famous for and enjoyed a hearty meal of McDonalds (some sort of French Delicacy i presume...) Anyway, it filled our stomachs. Actually, before i was about to enjoy my McMeal, i had to use the WC and i found one on the beach. It was one of those lame ones you 'have to pay for' and as there was no one at the counter i just went in and did my business. i came out and there was an old man expecting 35 Euro cents. crap. Having zero (count 'em zero) coins in my pocket and my wallet back on the beach blankets with Kirsten (the beach blankets were really our sleeping bags), i decided to side step the guy and just walk away. The man came busting after me so i picked up my trot a bit and (cursing in French which i of course cannot understand) proceeded to pick up the giant French Rock of Nice and chuck them at me!!! HARD!
i ran right off that beach as quick as i could.
...and this was the only WC i paid for on our whole trip; which i opted to pay 1 Euro for in exchange for no more hurling rocks and a peaceful spot on the rocky beach. i went swimming after that and it was really cold. Eventually, we got back to the train station on our way to Italy to meet Kirsten's sister Jenny and her brother-in-law Jon in Cinque Terra, but not before i went to an ATM and made a large withdrawal from my bank account to pay for the rest of our hostels and for food money upon arriving back in Austria. turned out to be a bad move.
3. Cinque Terra. ('Five Lands' or 'Five Cities'). What a beautiful place! Go there if you ever have the chance. You can hike between all five of the cities and they are all right on the ocean with the bluest, clearest water you have ever seen. That is the real Italy, not Florence or Rome, and well worth it. I cannot speak for Venice, as i still have not made it there, though Aro told a great story about it during his adventures in the Old World. At any rate, i had a bad experience there as my wallet was lost/stolen near the grocery store DeSpar in Monterosso! BOOOOOOOO!!! (i'm not entirely sure how it happened, but i lost about 280 Euro, all my IDs (except my passport thankfully) and some other stuff which undoubtedly is important, because i keep it in there. i was able to somehow communicate this to the very Italian store owners in the area and the Carabinieri (local police), but to no avail. i did file a report of loss, but who knows if i will ever see it again. We did our hike to Vernazza anyway and it was quite beautiful.
4. After a short stop in Pisa and seeing the main square and the tower and all-at, we booked it on down to Rome where Jenny and Jon already had a hotel reserved. Kirsten and i found one too after a bit of searching and a little bargaining and got a decent deal, but it was still the most expensive we paid the whole trip. Then we went to dinner. While we were eating, an Italian waiter came and turned on infoTV with the newsline: Juan Paulo II è mort. Of course meaning, The Pope had just died. Craziness at the Vatican! We went. i am really glad we hadn't been there later, after the massive wave of people that came! We probably would have been stuck for sure. It was pretty dang full of people and kind of strange. i really do not understand what all the commotion is--i mean, i know he's the leader of the Catholic Religion and all, but he's still just a man. Not God. He has no special access to God that the rest of us don't. i know that is pretty to the point, but why are so many people so riled up about the death of this old man as if he were Christ? Infallibility? I should think not. The only one infallible is God himself, and the only reason Christ is infallible is because he was fully God.
Anyway, i'm steaming out my ears with plenty of other things i should probably not write on this topic, so i will close on a positive note: it was worth it to go from a pop culture standpoint and to see all the people out and about.
So, here i am at 'Big Net' an Internet Cafe, which Kirsten and i have taken to calling 'Big Butt' which of course is both hilarious and true. Classes have started up again and lots of stuff is due soon. i also must register for Chapman classes and i found out i have a business hold which i have to clear up (party!). Also i have a German test on Tuesday! AHHHH!!! i am a bissel verrückt i think. (a little bit crazy!) I will post an update sometime this week regarding Salt Mines and Home Cooked Austrian Meals. I Don't Know Why I'm Capitalizing Everything! Tschüss!!
love, ac
27 March 2005
Me Encanta Barcelona...¡y más!
Spain is a wonderful place. After a long week-ish of travelling the sounds and sights of Barcelona, Spain are music to my ears and rest to my weary soul. But that might possibly be best discussed a bit later, as many of you are unawares of my current travels and adventures in Wilderland.
First things first, i am on what is called in German, "Frühlingspause" which is nothing short of "Spring Break!" Kirsten and i have had plenty of troubles and also plenty of great experiences along the way.
Secondly, a list and broad detail of our travel schedule thus far, and in the days to come: First destination - Berlin, Germany. 2nd - Amsterdam, The Netherlands (formerly Holland). 3rd - Paris, France. 4th - Toulouse, France. 5th - Barcelona, Spain (current). 6th - (possibly Toulouse again en route to Marseille or Nice France with and ultimate goal of making it to an Italian town called Cinque Terra to meet up with Kirsten´s sister Jenny and her husband Jon! From there we may travel to Pisa and Rome and then back on up to Salzburg to start up classes again.)
Thirdly, some highlights:
1. Our journey to Berlin was long and arduous, namely delayed in Leipzig, German in a mishap where our train was delayed because of us not having understood the announcements made in unclear German. Long story short, i got off the train to ask for directions, and afraid of being left behind, came back before i found anything out. More waiting. Then i decide to get off the train again and find out what the heck is going on. BAD MOVE! There goes the train off into the darkness with Kirsten on it as well as all of our baggage and no ticket to boot. (i had it in my pocket). Gott sei dank we both had cell phones with barely enough credit to get in contact with each other and make a plan. We spent a very inconvenient and mostly sleepless night in the train station and then took a 4 am train to Berlin. Sights include our sweet Berlin-oriented hostal with a Volkswagen Beetle in our bedroom (which was still under constuction as a future bed site!) the TV tower at 300+ meters high and a great view of the city, a free walking tour including the former site of the Berlin wall and fragments, the Brandenburg Tor, and explanations of other buildings and sights of the war-torn city. Berlin was cool, we did some stuff, on to Amsterdam!
2. Not having made a previous reservation, we spent much of our first day walking around the city hauling our bags and gear trying to find a cheap, available hostel. We smelt many a whiff and waft of "weed" or "pot" whose proper name is Marijuana, as the drug and many others are legal in the Netherlands. Also, prostitution is legal and we stumbled unawares upon the Red Light District where prositutes dress up (or dress down) and try to lure "customers" into their bedchambers by standing in front of the street side windows. Crazy. i hate using the term "customers" here, i destest that this is even a business, and am appalled that they stoop to making this a profession. I don´t know what to think or feel or pray about the whole thing actually. One of my first inclinations is to feel sorry for them, and i do, but not in a way that i feel makes any difference. Sort of the same sorry that i feel about the countless homeless/needy people that we´ve been approached by throughout the trip. How do you really help? i am only one person and i can´t help them all. i certainly cannot "help" prostitues, i have no idea where to begin. We walked out of that area as fast as we could, but not without several more sightings of women peddling themselves and the occasional unfortunate sideways glances into sex shops and porn/peep show type places. On a lighter note, the city was very, very beautiful, situated near the Atlantic Coast but on a fresh water bay, created by the ancient system of locks and canals in Amsterdam. We went on a canal cruise, looked at a bunch of shops, and enjoyed our two cheap as cheap budget hotels that we were able to find a bargain for a bit. The first one had and excellent view of the "Raathoos" which is roughly the Dutch version of "Rathaus" which is German for City Hall. On the street below we could watch traffic of cars, pedestrians, bike riders, and anything else that wandered by. Very cool. The clouds and weather were beautiful. Second night we moved to a hotel just next door, only cheaper with a reverse view into secret gardens, skylights, and other dutch-type buildings and things. For the most part, Amsterdam was great!
3. Paris, France. As we found out in the Amsterdam international travel section of the train station, we´d have to make expensive reservations up the wazoo to be able to continue with our plans to Barcelona and Granada Spain, and then back through France into Italy--at least at the rate we were hoping. Anyway, we bit the bullet at least to get to Paris and our reserved two hotels and vowed to take non-reservation slow trains and alter our plans a bit. Sights: Notre Dame, The Seine River, Mont Marte district, Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) Cathedral, Moulin Rouge, Eiffel Tower, and other French-type stuff. Baguettes and cheeses were had. Kirsten and i sang songs on the steps of Sacre Coeur with some French dudes with a guitar. Mostly nineties from the states. Pretty much lots of stuff we knew. i was able to play a bit too, but they didn´t really know the songs i know how to play. pity. The second night we made our way to a little town called Jossigny, which, little did we know, was not exactly a walkable journey, even with the help of the out-of-city train service RER. We had intended to get to Euro Disney, but that never happened. It was a great detour though. i would need library of novels to write every reason why i loved this particular stop and still it would not express them all. i´ll leave it at that.
4. Toulouse, France. The only non-reserve train that went to Toulouse was at 4 or so in the afternoon putting us in Toulous at about 10 or 11-ish. We spent the night at an excellently cheap and very nice place there and spent the morning walking around the city a bit and trying to get ahold of Kyle Warner (!) who is studying in Granda, Spain to try to visit him. All we had is e-mail and we still haven´t got ahold of him and thus we are staying Barcelona for a while... Anyway, then we took a train to La Tour de Carol right near the border, and then a slow train to Barcelona. We have spent LOTS AND LOTS of time on the trains and metros and the like thus far. (but all well worth it) We have learned a lot about the countries, cities, sights, and perhaps more practically, ourselves and each other. Speaking of long train rides, i have spent most of them reading JRR Tolkien´s novel "The Hobbit," a precursor to his "Lord of the Rings" books. It is most excellent. It is probably also the reason why i have written about a novel on this post. Kirsten is reading it too, and started before me, and even though she reads faster than me, my tenacity has paid off and i have caught and surpassed her and am about to finish the book. It has become somewhat of a huge joke where i pretend to steal the book and read it while she´s not looking or to pretend like the book has special powers over us like the famed Ring which plays such an essential role in the both "The Hobbit" and the books to follow. Read them if you can.
5. Barcelona, Spain. Once again having no reservation or any clue as to where we were going to stay, we arrived in Barcelona at 10 pm last night. Since we were largely discouraged on our initial search, we decided to have some Chinese food. (actually it was more like, i saw Chinese food and made a bee-line for it, and luckily kirsten agreed). We were both famished from the largely food-less day and tired of looking. Everything was full to the brim due to the "Semana Santa" and "La Pascua" celebrations (Holy Week and Easter) which are a huge hit in Spain and cause for a great party with much merry-making. i only hope that at least some people don´t forget the reason why Easter is celebrated. After Chinese Food (en español of couse) we headed back out on the streets, still to no avail. We chanced upon some other travels in our same plight, a girl from Michigan, or one of them "M" states (not Mississippi or Maine or Missouri, so either that or Montana i think) and a Canadian dude. They had met on the train only a short while before. Both were doing different things abroad, but both also on Spring Break; she was doing a three-city grad. school architecture program across Europe, and he was going to Bible school, and soon to be changing locations to a small city in the south of Austria. Crazy. i actually was chatting with our cab driver and practicing my Spanish and learing about other stuff (we hailed a cab in our desperation) and i learned most of this information from Kirsten the next day. We had no luck at the first hotel and the second had one opening, and ridiculously expensive at that. i knew we couldn´t afford it, but offered it to the girl and dude and reluctantly and in an act of desperation, they took it. it was a three star hotel i think and it was getting quite late and seemingly impossible to find a place. Kirsten and i stayed with the cabby and got dropped off at Plaza Cataluña (the Castillian name for a very famous square in Barcelona) and had the idea in our heads that we´d just stay up until morning and take a train to Granada and Kyle and relief the next day. Gracias a Dios, that didn´t happen. The clocks changed at two am, so that as our cab driver pointed out, "a las dos..." "son las tres." said i completing his sentence. He was a rather interesting and friendly fellow, though i realized today that he scammed us. He was talking about how cab drivers don´t know where hotels are or at least they pretend not to and that the deceive their fares into exuberant prices for nothing and no lodging. This turns out to be basically what happened to Kirsten and i. We did end up staying up until 430 am and contemplated sleeping near some homeless folk in an alley and ended up on a park bench. that ended right quick when we were approached by some definitely drunk and probably high unfriendly Spaniard punks who tried to touch Kisten. NO YOU DON´T! We were out of there in a flash, not caring where to, but just out of there un-harmed. Wandering about some more and doing a little more searching, a miracle happened to us. His name is Alan. He runs a hostal called "AlBerGuest" which is a combination of his and his business partner´s name and also it is similar to the Spanish word for youth hostel. His doesn´t do much advertising, and he doesn´t have any signs or markings on the door to attract guests, save for a little sticker on the doorbell button which even then, would tell you absolutely nothing if you didn´t already know about it. "How does he get customers then?" you might ask, and rightly so! He simply hangs out around Barcelona and chooses the people who he thinks would be cool to have in his hostal. He does this to keep a safe, fun, relaxed atmosphere. It is sweet! Not too expensive, friendly folk, great facilities and great location: only a few block from the aforementioned Plaza Cataluña! Gracias a Dios he got hungry at 430 in the morning and went down to the Plaza to get something to eat from a street vendor. He chose us, and here we are! There´s even free internet bringing this post to you!
So i suppose i will finally end this record-long post...not that i have explained it all, but i guess i can´t really do that. i hope i´ve been able to at least give a feel for the whole adventure, if only to myself and in so few words with so few readers! ; ) (Smiles and Cheers if you are reading this)
As the Hobbit has found out, adventures are often very hard and not altogether pleasant, but certainly they show you what you are made of. They challenge you in new ways and make you be a better person. That´s what i hope this one has done for me.
Oh, HAPPY EASTER!! Christ has Risen! To God be all the glory.
Love, Aaron
First things first, i am on what is called in German, "Frühlingspause" which is nothing short of "Spring Break!" Kirsten and i have had plenty of troubles and also plenty of great experiences along the way.
Secondly, a list and broad detail of our travel schedule thus far, and in the days to come: First destination - Berlin, Germany. 2nd - Amsterdam, The Netherlands (formerly Holland). 3rd - Paris, France. 4th - Toulouse, France. 5th - Barcelona, Spain (current). 6th - (possibly Toulouse again en route to Marseille or Nice France with and ultimate goal of making it to an Italian town called Cinque Terra to meet up with Kirsten´s sister Jenny and her husband Jon! From there we may travel to Pisa and Rome and then back on up to Salzburg to start up classes again.)
Thirdly, some highlights:
1. Our journey to Berlin was long and arduous, namely delayed in Leipzig, German in a mishap where our train was delayed because of us not having understood the announcements made in unclear German. Long story short, i got off the train to ask for directions, and afraid of being left behind, came back before i found anything out. More waiting. Then i decide to get off the train again and find out what the heck is going on. BAD MOVE! There goes the train off into the darkness with Kirsten on it as well as all of our baggage and no ticket to boot. (i had it in my pocket). Gott sei dank we both had cell phones with barely enough credit to get in contact with each other and make a plan. We spent a very inconvenient and mostly sleepless night in the train station and then took a 4 am train to Berlin. Sights include our sweet Berlin-oriented hostal with a Volkswagen Beetle in our bedroom (which was still under constuction as a future bed site!) the TV tower at 300+ meters high and a great view of the city, a free walking tour including the former site of the Berlin wall and fragments, the Brandenburg Tor, and explanations of other buildings and sights of the war-torn city. Berlin was cool, we did some stuff, on to Amsterdam!
2. Not having made a previous reservation, we spent much of our first day walking around the city hauling our bags and gear trying to find a cheap, available hostel. We smelt many a whiff and waft of "weed" or "pot" whose proper name is Marijuana, as the drug and many others are legal in the Netherlands. Also, prostitution is legal and we stumbled unawares upon the Red Light District where prositutes dress up (or dress down) and try to lure "customers" into their bedchambers by standing in front of the street side windows. Crazy. i hate using the term "customers" here, i destest that this is even a business, and am appalled that they stoop to making this a profession. I don´t know what to think or feel or pray about the whole thing actually. One of my first inclinations is to feel sorry for them, and i do, but not in a way that i feel makes any difference. Sort of the same sorry that i feel about the countless homeless/needy people that we´ve been approached by throughout the trip. How do you really help? i am only one person and i can´t help them all. i certainly cannot "help" prostitues, i have no idea where to begin. We walked out of that area as fast as we could, but not without several more sightings of women peddling themselves and the occasional unfortunate sideways glances into sex shops and porn/peep show type places. On a lighter note, the city was very, very beautiful, situated near the Atlantic Coast but on a fresh water bay, created by the ancient system of locks and canals in Amsterdam. We went on a canal cruise, looked at a bunch of shops, and enjoyed our two cheap as cheap budget hotels that we were able to find a bargain for a bit. The first one had and excellent view of the "Raathoos" which is roughly the Dutch version of "Rathaus" which is German for City Hall. On the street below we could watch traffic of cars, pedestrians, bike riders, and anything else that wandered by. Very cool. The clouds and weather were beautiful. Second night we moved to a hotel just next door, only cheaper with a reverse view into secret gardens, skylights, and other dutch-type buildings and things. For the most part, Amsterdam was great!
3. Paris, France. As we found out in the Amsterdam international travel section of the train station, we´d have to make expensive reservations up the wazoo to be able to continue with our plans to Barcelona and Granada Spain, and then back through France into Italy--at least at the rate we were hoping. Anyway, we bit the bullet at least to get to Paris and our reserved two hotels and vowed to take non-reservation slow trains and alter our plans a bit. Sights: Notre Dame, The Seine River, Mont Marte district, Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) Cathedral, Moulin Rouge, Eiffel Tower, and other French-type stuff. Baguettes and cheeses were had. Kirsten and i sang songs on the steps of Sacre Coeur with some French dudes with a guitar. Mostly nineties from the states. Pretty much lots of stuff we knew. i was able to play a bit too, but they didn´t really know the songs i know how to play. pity. The second night we made our way to a little town called Jossigny, which, little did we know, was not exactly a walkable journey, even with the help of the out-of-city train service RER. We had intended to get to Euro Disney, but that never happened. It was a great detour though. i would need library of novels to write every reason why i loved this particular stop and still it would not express them all. i´ll leave it at that.
4. Toulouse, France. The only non-reserve train that went to Toulouse was at 4 or so in the afternoon putting us in Toulous at about 10 or 11-ish. We spent the night at an excellently cheap and very nice place there and spent the morning walking around the city a bit and trying to get ahold of Kyle Warner (!) who is studying in Granda, Spain to try to visit him. All we had is e-mail and we still haven´t got ahold of him and thus we are staying Barcelona for a while... Anyway, then we took a train to La Tour de Carol right near the border, and then a slow train to Barcelona. We have spent LOTS AND LOTS of time on the trains and metros and the like thus far. (but all well worth it) We have learned a lot about the countries, cities, sights, and perhaps more practically, ourselves and each other. Speaking of long train rides, i have spent most of them reading JRR Tolkien´s novel "The Hobbit," a precursor to his "Lord of the Rings" books. It is most excellent. It is probably also the reason why i have written about a novel on this post. Kirsten is reading it too, and started before me, and even though she reads faster than me, my tenacity has paid off and i have caught and surpassed her and am about to finish the book. It has become somewhat of a huge joke where i pretend to steal the book and read it while she´s not looking or to pretend like the book has special powers over us like the famed Ring which plays such an essential role in the both "The Hobbit" and the books to follow. Read them if you can.
5. Barcelona, Spain. Once again having no reservation or any clue as to where we were going to stay, we arrived in Barcelona at 10 pm last night. Since we were largely discouraged on our initial search, we decided to have some Chinese food. (actually it was more like, i saw Chinese food and made a bee-line for it, and luckily kirsten agreed). We were both famished from the largely food-less day and tired of looking. Everything was full to the brim due to the "Semana Santa" and "La Pascua" celebrations (Holy Week and Easter) which are a huge hit in Spain and cause for a great party with much merry-making. i only hope that at least some people don´t forget the reason why Easter is celebrated. After Chinese Food (en español of couse) we headed back out on the streets, still to no avail. We chanced upon some other travels in our same plight, a girl from Michigan, or one of them "M" states (not Mississippi or Maine or Missouri, so either that or Montana i think) and a Canadian dude. They had met on the train only a short while before. Both were doing different things abroad, but both also on Spring Break; she was doing a three-city grad. school architecture program across Europe, and he was going to Bible school, and soon to be changing locations to a small city in the south of Austria. Crazy. i actually was chatting with our cab driver and practicing my Spanish and learing about other stuff (we hailed a cab in our desperation) and i learned most of this information from Kirsten the next day. We had no luck at the first hotel and the second had one opening, and ridiculously expensive at that. i knew we couldn´t afford it, but offered it to the girl and dude and reluctantly and in an act of desperation, they took it. it was a three star hotel i think and it was getting quite late and seemingly impossible to find a place. Kirsten and i stayed with the cabby and got dropped off at Plaza Cataluña (the Castillian name for a very famous square in Barcelona) and had the idea in our heads that we´d just stay up until morning and take a train to Granada and Kyle and relief the next day. Gracias a Dios, that didn´t happen. The clocks changed at two am, so that as our cab driver pointed out, "a las dos..." "son las tres." said i completing his sentence. He was a rather interesting and friendly fellow, though i realized today that he scammed us. He was talking about how cab drivers don´t know where hotels are or at least they pretend not to and that the deceive their fares into exuberant prices for nothing and no lodging. This turns out to be basically what happened to Kirsten and i. We did end up staying up until 430 am and contemplated sleeping near some homeless folk in an alley and ended up on a park bench. that ended right quick when we were approached by some definitely drunk and probably high unfriendly Spaniard punks who tried to touch Kisten. NO YOU DON´T! We were out of there in a flash, not caring where to, but just out of there un-harmed. Wandering about some more and doing a little more searching, a miracle happened to us. His name is Alan. He runs a hostal called "AlBerGuest" which is a combination of his and his business partner´s name and also it is similar to the Spanish word for youth hostel. His doesn´t do much advertising, and he doesn´t have any signs or markings on the door to attract guests, save for a little sticker on the doorbell button which even then, would tell you absolutely nothing if you didn´t already know about it. "How does he get customers then?" you might ask, and rightly so! He simply hangs out around Barcelona and chooses the people who he thinks would be cool to have in his hostal. He does this to keep a safe, fun, relaxed atmosphere. It is sweet! Not too expensive, friendly folk, great facilities and great location: only a few block from the aforementioned Plaza Cataluña! Gracias a Dios he got hungry at 430 in the morning and went down to the Plaza to get something to eat from a street vendor. He chose us, and here we are! There´s even free internet bringing this post to you!
So i suppose i will finally end this record-long post...not that i have explained it all, but i guess i can´t really do that. i hope i´ve been able to at least give a feel for the whole adventure, if only to myself and in so few words with so few readers! ; ) (Smiles and Cheers if you are reading this)
As the Hobbit has found out, adventures are often very hard and not altogether pleasant, but certainly they show you what you are made of. They challenge you in new ways and make you be a better person. That´s what i hope this one has done for me.
Oh, HAPPY EASTER!! Christ has Risen! To God be all the glory.
Love, Aaron
14 March 2005
Photos = Excellent!
Hey all! PHOTOS! i don't have time for a real update today as i have two tests (count 'em two) coming up in about 45 mins. (Yes, people, i really am taking classes here whilst i'm abroad, believe it or not). enjoy.
Love, -aaron-
Love, -aaron-
08 March 2005
Bavarian Rock and Roll Report
I'm happy to report that Jimmy Eat World was most excellent (still) and i was also able to speak with the lead singer and bass player of the opening act called 'Apartment' hailing from London, England. 'Fabulous blokes' they were (though David (the lead singer) said this in reference to Jimmy Eat World). You can view photos of the concert as well as photos from Austria on my Yahoo photos page! Sweetness! This weekend we are going to Vienna and it should be a blast. Kirsten and i went to the Salzburg Helbrunn Zoo and went on the Sound of Music Tour this weekend and are planning on going to see the Sound of Music play performed and see the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna! Are we crazy? Yes! But we have fun. Oh! here is a guest entry by Kirsten about TWO weekends ago!
"last weekend i went to munich and it was very fun. i went on a city tour with my group, then aaron and i stayed the weekend with his friend chris and chris's mom [Gertrud]. we went to some german parties and to dachau (the concentration camp) and to the Deutsch museum. we also ate at some very typical bavarian restaurants: the haufbräuhaus and some other one [Augustiner something...]. i ate lots of delicious pork, potatoes, and spetzel(?)[she means spätzel which = noodle type things]. on saturday night chris's mom had people over and we all ate Rocklette, which is a situation where theres a grill with a heater under it and we lop different foods together with cheese into mallettes(sp?) and then cook it together and eat it! yum! it was a very good weekend. next weekend is vienna, and this weekend, well i dont know yet. we were thinking about berlin, but dont know if it will work out yet. anyways, ive been cooking really good cheap spaghetti every night. i started a fencing class last night, and it was difficult because i couldnt understand the instructor. but at least we got to prance around doing exercises and i learned the correct form for standing when approaching someone with a sword. we get to wear special outfits too. i am tired and have more class in an hour. ive been busy which has been good and time is going by fast and it makes me not miss home so much. its been sunny the past few days, but still very cold and theres snow on the ground, and ice. well, thats all i got for now. aaron is doing very well also, he's right here (he says I LIKE MEAT)."
i like meat.
"last weekend i went to munich and it was very fun. i went on a city tour with my group, then aaron and i stayed the weekend with his friend chris and chris's mom [Gertrud]. we went to some german parties and to dachau (the concentration camp) and to the Deutsch museum. we also ate at some very typical bavarian restaurants: the haufbräuhaus and some other one [Augustiner something...]. i ate lots of delicious pork, potatoes, and spetzel(?)[she means spätzel which = noodle type things]. on saturday night chris's mom had people over and we all ate Rocklette, which is a situation where theres a grill with a heater under it and we lop different foods together with cheese into mallettes(sp?) and then cook it together and eat it! yum! it was a very good weekend. next weekend is vienna, and this weekend, well i dont know yet. we were thinking about berlin, but dont know if it will work out yet. anyways, ive been cooking really good cheap spaghetti every night. i started a fencing class last night, and it was difficult because i couldnt understand the instructor. but at least we got to prance around doing exercises and i learned the correct form for standing when approaching someone with a sword. we get to wear special outfits too. i am tired and have more class in an hour. ive been busy which has been good and time is going by fast and it makes me not miss home so much. its been sunny the past few days, but still very cold and theres snow on the ground, and ice. well, thats all i got for now. aaron is doing very well also, he's right here (he says I LIKE MEAT)."
i like meat.
04 March 2005
Corks
Hey everyone. So last weekend's Munich trip was a grand time, going off without too many hitches...at least no one got married. (ha!) ok now all of you are like, what??
ANYway it was excellent to see Chris and meet Gertrud his mum and Marina his gf. Kirsten and i wanted to go to Berlin this weekend, but that plan got foiled on account of massively expensive train tickets from here to Berlin...who knew? Lately i have been getting rather annoyed with the operating hours of basically everything which has made getting things done rather hard. i definitely have no space to complain though. especially after i heard what happened to joy meckes in england... here's and excerpt from the e-mail i got from emily boyd:
''Joy was supposed to come spend the week with me, but there wasan unexpected change in plans. Joy missed her bus to come here, and whilewaiting for the next one, she got her purse stolen. In her purse she hadher digital camera, wallet, credit cards, cash, and passport. It was aterrible twist of luck.''
Wow. Is it me, or does Joy have terribly bad luck? She got run over by a friggin pickup truck at the Switchfoot video shoot, got her laptop stolen out of her locked hotel room the first week she got to England, and now this. i'm thinking everyone who knows her oughtta send her five pounds or perhaps at least a nice card.
So now kirsten and i are about to go back to her dorm and perhaps watch a movie or do homework. One thing's for sure, i am definitely looking forward to seeing Jimmy Eat World on monday night in Munich! Ahhh, yeah! i love everyone reading this.
ANYway it was excellent to see Chris and meet Gertrud his mum and Marina his gf. Kirsten and i wanted to go to Berlin this weekend, but that plan got foiled on account of massively expensive train tickets from here to Berlin...who knew? Lately i have been getting rather annoyed with the operating hours of basically everything which has made getting things done rather hard. i definitely have no space to complain though. especially after i heard what happened to joy meckes in england... here's and excerpt from the e-mail i got from emily boyd:
''Joy was supposed to come spend the week with me, but there wasan unexpected change in plans. Joy missed her bus to come here, and whilewaiting for the next one, she got her purse stolen. In her purse she hadher digital camera, wallet, credit cards, cash, and passport. It was aterrible twist of luck.''
Wow. Is it me, or does Joy have terribly bad luck? She got run over by a friggin pickup truck at the Switchfoot video shoot, got her laptop stolen out of her locked hotel room the first week she got to England, and now this. i'm thinking everyone who knows her oughtta send her five pounds or perhaps at least a nice card.
So now kirsten and i are about to go back to her dorm and perhaps watch a movie or do homework. One thing's for sure, i am definitely looking forward to seeing Jimmy Eat World on monday night in Munich! Ahhh, yeah! i love everyone reading this.
22 February 2005
The icy-cold beautiful blanket.
Hello everyone, so i have a bit of time so i'm going to write a short post about what's up with me. So this weekend i went snowboarding in the Austrian Alps (two words: a mazing) and hung out with kirsten and watched some girly movies. We went for a hike on Sunday up the mountain near her dorm through a snowy park for a beautiful overhead view of the City of Salzburg. Let me tell you, God is an amazing creator and this place is so full of beauty, wrapped up in it's crystal ice blanket. This week classes are starting up (i've got german in two hours) and we are going to Munich this weekend to tour the city and stay with Christopher McKissick! Hopefully there i'll be able to hook up to the internet and post some photos online for everyone's viewing pleasure. i've been riding my bike around mostly to get to/from home-class-kirsten's dorm-the library-the grocery store-etc. This has been a great blessing and it's much more enjoyable than the city's public transit and mostly more convenient. It is a little freaky sometimes with the ice and crazy drivers, but as long as i'm cautious i should make it out of here alive. Right now i'm trying to find a part-time job so's i can make a bit of money and meet some new Austrians hopefully, so i won't stay any longer, but i love you all and i'll post again this weekend. Tschüss! -aaron-
17 February 2005
Es gibt Schnee! (There' Snow!)
15.01 Local Time - Salzburg Austria - Universität Hauptbibliothek
Hey everybody! So unfortunately internet access has been mega-scarce up until now so i haven't been able to e-mail nor update practically anyone. (booooooo...) Anyway, Kirsten and I have our Salzburg Uni. Matrikelnummern so once the fees are paid in Vienna we'll have full access to university resources.
Since my last post, I've:
-been to San Diego with ed, aro, emily, kirsten and myself.
-got all packed up said goodbye to folks and left orange outta LAX on British Airways.
-flew to London, England and enjoyed a long day and a half-ish in the land of the Brits.
-saw the typical sights of London: Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Pauls Cathedral, Leicester Square, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, The Glass Testicle, The London Eye (the under maintenence London-Eye) Parliament, The Clock Tower of Big Ben, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and a grand array of other British-type tourist activites. (Kirsten and I also went to Abbey Road!)
-ate sandwiches, drank British water, and experienced other British type foods, etc.
-experienced grand frustration with the London bus system and the horribly early closing time of the London Tube.
-Visited Joy Meckes (yay!) who is currently studying at a university on the East End.
-Flew to Munich, Germany and immediately boarded a bus to Salzburg, Austria.
-Moved into my housing accomodation with Frau Schöttke, Ivan (a spaniard from Barcelona who speaks rather good Deutsch), and my roommate Ben Englehart from Detroit.
-Ate many traditionally cooked, greasy Austrian meals made by Frau Schöttke who is in many ways like my Grandma Jones...
-Journied to Oberndorf on the German-Austrian Border and saw the Cabelle where "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" (Silent Night, Holy Night) was composed and first performed and crossed the bridge into Germany for a tour of an old church and Pita Bread and Salmon paste at an extremely Greek Restaurant with ten people in all from our group including Ben, Frau Schöttke, Kirsten, and myself.
-Had two weeks of German class.
-Went on a very beautiful sleigh ride up in the Alps to a 'hut' = a hunting lodge for food and drink and merryment.
-Kirsten and I had our first Valentine's Day!
-Today is our Eleven Month-a-versary so that means i have to leave so we can go on a date!
i love you all and i miss you.
my address is:
Aaron Choate
bei Frau Schöttke
Karl-Adrian Straße 12
A-5020 Salzburg, Austria EU
(Please write the word 'Geschenk' if you are sending a package for customs declaration)
my cell phone number if calling from US is: 01143 676 4709744 (free to me but probably expensive to you!)
bis später -Sepp- (Aaron)
Hey everybody! So unfortunately internet access has been mega-scarce up until now so i haven't been able to e-mail nor update practically anyone. (booooooo...) Anyway, Kirsten and I have our Salzburg Uni. Matrikelnummern so once the fees are paid in Vienna we'll have full access to university resources.
Since my last post, I've:
-been to San Diego with ed, aro, emily, kirsten and myself.
-got all packed up said goodbye to folks and left orange outta LAX on British Airways.
-flew to London, England and enjoyed a long day and a half-ish in the land of the Brits.
-saw the typical sights of London: Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Pauls Cathedral, Leicester Square, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, The Glass Testicle, The London Eye (the under maintenence London-Eye) Parliament, The Clock Tower of Big Ben, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and a grand array of other British-type tourist activites. (Kirsten and I also went to Abbey Road!)
-ate sandwiches, drank British water, and experienced other British type foods, etc.
-experienced grand frustration with the London bus system and the horribly early closing time of the London Tube.
-Visited Joy Meckes (yay!) who is currently studying at a university on the East End.
-Flew to Munich, Germany and immediately boarded a bus to Salzburg, Austria.
-Moved into my housing accomodation with Frau Schöttke, Ivan (a spaniard from Barcelona who speaks rather good Deutsch), and my roommate Ben Englehart from Detroit.
-Ate many traditionally cooked, greasy Austrian meals made by Frau Schöttke who is in many ways like my Grandma Jones...
-Journied to Oberndorf on the German-Austrian Border and saw the Cabelle where "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" (Silent Night, Holy Night) was composed and first performed and crossed the bridge into Germany for a tour of an old church and Pita Bread and Salmon paste at an extremely Greek Restaurant with ten people in all from our group including Ben, Frau Schöttke, Kirsten, and myself.
-Had two weeks of German class.
-Went on a very beautiful sleigh ride up in the Alps to a 'hut' = a hunting lodge for food and drink and merryment.
-Kirsten and I had our first Valentine's Day!
-Today is our Eleven Month-a-versary so that means i have to leave so we can go on a date!
i love you all and i miss you.
my address is:
Aaron Choate
bei Frau Schöttke
Karl-Adrian Straße 12
A-5020 Salzburg, Austria EU
(Please write the word 'Geschenk' if you are sending a package for customs declaration)
my cell phone number if calling from US is: 01143 676 4709744 (free to me but probably expensive to you!)
bis später -Sepp- (Aaron)
22 January 2005
my life in the knife trade
So just in case you were wondering about the conspicuous title of my album, i mean blog, it's the title of a Boy Sets Fire song. They're a pretty decent hardcore band and i like most of their songs on the record of theirs i actually own which is entitled 'After the Eulogy.' Anyway, that being said, here are my thoughts/activities of late. i have been working a few days already with Mark Wright, a handyman and a member of Circle Church, (which my roommate ed attends and plays in the worship band for). So that's been pretty cool. It'll be nicer to get some money for Austria, though i keep having to spend it on stupid things. We have been working at this dude's house in Coto de Caza on the opposite end of where kirsten lives, and his place is HUGE. The guy's name is Tom Gephardt and he owns a brewery or two in Pittsburgh. Whatever it is, they make a beer called Iron City and it's light beer companion, IC light some of which are contained by aluminum bottles (sweet!). They also make Augustiner beer, and probably some others I'm not aware of. So the guy has a 'carriage house' (not a garage) which houses eleven of his prime condition show cars, all of which get driven someplace in the range of never to almost never. Oh yeah then the cars that he and his wife actually drives on top of that. There are three Rolls Royces i think, a Bel Air, a yellow Woody, a mustang GT, an all black show car which i'm not sure what it is, an old school Cadillac, and obviously a few i can't remember. The main house is pretty crazy also. Blah blah blah. So in other news, my old roommate Aro returned to california with his girlfriend Erin after their extreme road trip 2005 from Wisconsin to Oregon to here. Crazy. Sounds like they had fun, minus the TWO speeding tickets that Aro got. ha. ha. ha! It's weird that he's here after being in Spain and just gone for so long. What's even more crazy is that i actually hung out with Grant for a record amount of time 'cause ed, aro, and grant all used to be roommates in Pralle-Sodaro Hall on campus. So they go way back. We all played a sweet board game called Loaded Questions last night that Naomi's sister's husband's brother invented (something like that, i don't remember exactly who it was.) It was a lot of fun and much craziness and good times ensued. i miss Kirsten a lot lately. i know it sounds crazy since we are still able to see each other every few days or so, but she still ends up having to drive back to Coto every time we hang out which is usually late and she's tired and i just wish i could drive her home so she could rest in the car and then tuck her in for sweet dreams and go home. i don't have a car either so i don't have any logical or convenient way of getting to Coto. i am wearing an excellent anklet which reads the name of the girl i admire and has some rainbow beads on it. i won't mention any names*ahem*...KIRSTEN...*ahem* but the anklet is really great and give me warm fuzzies and little bundles of joy whenever i look at it or remember that i'm wearing it. Here are a couple of Proverbs that i really liked yesterday and decided to rememberize and think on while i was at work:
As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another.
He who tends a fig tree will eat it's
fruit
and he who looks after his master
will be honored.
As water reflects a face,
so a man's heart reflects the man.
Death and Destruction and never satisfied
neither are the eyes of man.
These are located in Proverbs 27--i'm not telling you where, go read the whole thing!
Love.
As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another.
He who tends a fig tree will eat it's
fruit
and he who looks after his master
will be honored.
As water reflects a face,
so a man's heart reflects the man.
Death and Destruction and never satisfied
neither are the eyes of man.
These are located in Proverbs 27--i'm not telling you where, go read the whole thing!
Love.
16 January 2005
Home again Home again, Jiggity Jog, Home again back again
Well here i sit at my parent's computer in San Jose about to depart for Orange, Ca and a whole different world. Home was nice but I was only here for a few days--got in Thursday night and it's now Sunday afternoon and I'm soon to be southbound. My mom threw a surprise birthday party for my Grandma Jones (my mom's mom) with the help of some cousins and relatives up in Sacramento. It was pretty cool. It was nice to see all of that side of the family having a fun get-together. I think the last two large family events for those people have been funerals. Anyway, it was good to see them, even though I didn't really know a lot of people there. I performed part of "The Lady is a Tramp," and "Fly me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra with the help of everyone snaping and the karaoke machine on the second one which I borrowed from my neighbors across the street here in San Jo: Eric, Dee Dee, and Brian Dineson. Gratzie, gratzie! It was a lot of fun. My other grandma from the East Coast is here as well for a while and I count myself very lucky. Though both of my grandfathers have expired, I still have two great grandmothers and a wonderful family. My brother and mom and dad all love me and support me very much. sometimes i do not know why i am so blessed and others are not... i don't feel more deserving. i mean, roundabouts 150,000 people died in the Tsunami/Earthquake incident a bit ago and there are so many tragedies of less casualties happening still and constantly (perhaps not lesser magnitude for there is still loss of life). My brother Travis and I just finished watching the movie Troy today. It got ahold of me a bit more than when i saw it in theatres i think. it was a great movie, and exciting, but it begs the question to me: why war? why must people have a name that never dies and lives on in history? what about living in peace and being a good person and a good husband, or a good father, or a good son, or a good wife, or daughter, or grandparent, or whatever? where's the shame in that? what about loving God, and your lover, and your family and friends and your neighbor, and your enemy and being content with living well? De todas formas, como se dice en espanol, he escrito mucho esta vez en mi <> I didn't expect that when I opened up a new post I'd have so many thoughts ready to come gushing out. Welp, methinks i'll go have a flight and meet my love for a night of joy and gratitude. like my good friend Dillon always says, I leave you in the grace and favor of the Lord.
10 January 2005
Patience That Kills
Alas, we are here in the studio (still) without much progress on getting the system to work how it should. We have made at least a little bit of progress, what with practicing and rehearsing over again so we'll be ready to record if (hopefully when) we get this thing working. We also played with some effects to decide what sounds we want for this and that--mostly guitar stuff. I am very frustrated right now. Why is it that out of all the versions of Pro Tools out there the school has to use 6.5? Oh yeah, and this particular software works with the MBox, and the Digi002 Mixing Board, but NOT the Digi002 Rack (which is what we're working with). Kyle called Pro Tools this morning and found out that specifically the things we are using are probably not compatible with one another. BOOOOOO. I pray we can get it working and that some sort of miracle happens. Perhaps we can put another version of Pro Tools on the computer? Perhaps we can get another computer with Pro Tools on it? Maybe it'll all of a sudden start working? Maybe some computer genius will stumble upon our little room and find us dejected and downcast and then say, 'hey guys, what's the problem?' and then just be like: *click* *click* *click* and voila! It's fixed! Maybe? Maybe. See you later. -Aaron-
05 January 2005
Hello again blog! Hello online world!
Well, ED and I just finished doing scratch tracks for the new album right in our very own bedroom! We just used an overhead mic and recorded on acoustic guitar, bass (w/the little 'Back Stage' Peavey amp) and sang. We had fun. I'm getting excited to get into the studio. I hope we can get in there on Friday night as planned. What might hold us up is the fact that the drummer who will be playing for the album, Matt Wise, had to get a Yellow Fever shot today as he will be going to Brazil on a film shoot with his dad pretty soon and they will be living in the Amazon Jungle like crazy wild savages! ...uh I mean film-makers. Anyway, due to this fact, we may not get enough practice in between now and then, but we'll see. Hopefully we will.
Also, kirsten decided that getting a blog was a great idea after seeing mine and Ed's and Aro's, so she got one too! You can look at it here. I can't wait to go to Austria with her!
In other news, I just learned how to create DVDs with my parent's DV camcorder on the computer so I've been messing around with that and it's been fun. I am stoked to make some really great DVDs for people. I also got a chance to chat with Chris the German via Skype (an excellent program which many more people ought to use, especially when planning to go abroad or needing to talk long distance for FREE). We are trying to plan when Dillon's plane ticket to and from Germany oughtta be and also when my return flight should be. That'll 'bout do it fer now. love, aaron
Also, kirsten decided that getting a blog was a great idea after seeing mine and Ed's and Aro's, so she got one too! You can look at it here. I can't wait to go to Austria with her!
In other news, I just learned how to create DVDs with my parent's DV camcorder on the computer so I've been messing around with that and it's been fun. I am stoked to make some really great DVDs for people. I also got a chance to chat with Chris the German via Skype (an excellent program which many more people ought to use, especially when planning to go abroad or needing to talk long distance for FREE). We are trying to plan when Dillon's plane ticket to and from Germany oughtta be and also when my return flight should be. That'll 'bout do it fer now. love, aaron
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