i'm way behind...

i'm super behind in this blogging thing, so forget about trying to keep up with the days. i don't know how bloggers keep their sites going. there are so many other things to do. like read blogs.

so, i didn't really explain Saturday night, because the last thing i could remember before carpal tunnel set in is that i collapsed in the apartment as the strangely comforting odor of cheap cigarettes wafted up from the carpet. (This place has really nice wide-plank hard wood floors, but for some reason is decorated with a giant Turkish child-labour-blindness-and-permanently-disfigured-fingers rug.)

so, what else happened on Saturday, you ask? or don't ask. read on, friend.

so after unpacking (i.e., dumping all my crap on the floor and practicing how hard it would be to climb up the stairs to the loft bed drunk), i took a walk outside. i went directly across the street to the place N.L. said had good food. it was way past dinner time, so i ordered off what i can only imagine is their "pub fare" menu (because if it is their dinner menu, then N.L. isn't such a gourmand). i ordered the very best potato salad i have ever ever ever eaten in my life. And I have consumed a lot of potato salad. so, for dinner i had a side serving of potato salad (that i engulfed with my face in about 5 seconds) and an order of tortillas (with three sauces (three sauces cost more) -- guacamole, salsa and a white glop that had the consistency and appearance of tartar sauce and kind of tasted like it too.) anyway, the tortillas were just that. a bag of corn tortillas poured out into a plate with aforementioned three sauces. it sounds really bleak, but it really went well with my beverage au berlin: bier, bitte. so dinner being consumed, i took a walk around the neighbourhood, attracting the attention of every Turkish man on the street between the ages of 47 and 64. clearly, i have a niche. so back off all you other bi*ches who want my mans. but yeah, and i'm pretty sure that "verstehen-sie "f*ck off?" is a good way to get someone to just stare at you more. [why do i keep putting * in place of letters in swear words - it's because every time i read back, i imagine someone bleeping out the swears, so i just take one letter out because that will totally fool the non-existent internet censors. anyway.] ok. so rest of saturday was exciting times trying to find a pay phone that (a) worked & then (b) had some rudimentary instructions in english. luck was had. i called my mom. conversation was:

R.M. -- "hi mom. it's me. i'm calling from a payphone in berlin"
R.M.'s mom -- "hiiiiiiiiii. sooooo gooooood you calllllled. we were worried that a vat of sauerkraut might have fallen on your head."
R.M. -- "no, i'm fine. everything's fine"
R.M.'s mom -- "okay, this call must be costing too much money. bye."

[R.M.'s mom hangs up]

Max time on phone: 4.3 seconds. Probably a new long distance call record for both R.M. and her mother.

Sunday, 15.07.07

Just the facts:

** checked out an awesome outdoor market in Friedrichshain. if ever i live in berlin, i would probably live in f'shain or prenzlauerberg. anyway, the market was super. all sorts of amazing things were for sale, including washing machines. oh, how badly i want one.

** went to the eastside gallery, piece of the wall that is still around (not much of it is) with art on it from artists from all over. some of it is brilliant, alot of it is crap. i then walked up to karl-marx allee and found a good coffee shop (ehrenberg cafe, or something). anyway, coffee double plus good. but best thing was definitely the musik. if you haven't heard "it's getting hot in here" as a rockin' country tune, you just haven't lived a full life.

** walked about 4 blocks in the wrong direction

** did some other things that i can't remember now. mainly involved walking and eating. oh, had dinner (take-out) from a vietnamese place near my apartment. it was good. the asian woman working there had this hilarious way of shouting out the order numbers. so i ordered nummer funf. and when my turn came, she looked right at me and shouted nummer 5, nummer 5, nummer 5 like 14 times. everyone started laughing, especially me. she frowned at me and probably covert-ops-like spat in my food. anyway.

[random thoughts: who walks slower -- people in china-town nyc, or people in turk-town here? worth a sociology ph.d. or something. another thought: why are old german people (men & women) seriously the grouchiest people in the world. it's okay to smile. i don't think it will kill you, though it might strain the muscles in your face that you obvs haven't used in 50 years or so.]

** ah, came back to the apartment to realize that i'm feeling wide awake. decide to go check out a movie. see that marianne faithful's movie "irina palm" is playing near-ish. in german. i go and up until 2 minutes before the movie started at 10:30, i was the only one in the theatre. then a couple walked in, and then another couple. and no one laughed except for me. maybe it wasn't funny in german. anyway, go see it if you haven't. and also go see "away from her." i know you haven't.