Sundog...

I was riding home two days ago and saw a really nice sundog.

I had to take a photo of it.

Another Nail in the Coffin...

The girlfriend didn't like my dessert sushi.

It was banana and raspberry sushi with a chocolate drizzle.

Sure, it had rice and seaweed, but still...

Now I wonder if we can ever be together.

What's Better Than a Beer After a Great Squash Game?

2 Beers.

:-)

15 Plus a Dog, and a Social Experiment

How does one begin a birthday blog? With a frog?

Well....

Karen made me a cake.

Me blowing out the candle.

See the gifts on the table? I found out later that they were wrapped in WALLPAPER. How cool is that??!

There is always a slight panic in my mind when having a party: how much food to buy, how much beer to have handy, snacks, etc...but it worked out wonderfully! Once everyone got to my place it turned into a nice party.

I got a coffee grinder and a gift voucher for amazon. (Thanks again!) I spent the morning tweaking the settings on the grinder and almost had caffeine overdose!

And the gift certificate has already been used.

I was a bit ambitious with the amount of people invited. Since I have a small apartment, I knew I couldn't invite everyone, but I tried. I found out the limit to what my apartment can hold comfortably: 15 people and a dog. I was counting on good weather so we could also use the balcony but that didn't work out so it was a good thing that everyone knew each other and that the beer and wine flowed the whole evening!

Wayne

Danielle and Jule

Hendrick and Delphine

Karen and Desiree

Katrin

Karen hiding behind her glass

Jessica, Torsten and Desiree

Dave

Well, 15 people, if a few go outside from time to time on the balcony to have a cigarette. (or to be the grill master)

Thanks again, everyone for coming to the party and celebrating with me!

A Day In The City

What does one do when there is a whole day to spend on anything and no significant other to take pictures of you in the city?

Bring the cable trigger!

That's right. I took my tripod out and experienced what a long exposure on a windy day can do to exposures.

(hint: nothing good)

But I was able to sneak a photo of myself on the Augustusbrücke. I was getting looks from people who acted like they wanted to help, but then relieved when I said I was ok.

Lil' Sunday Morning Entertainment...

For those of you not holy enough to go to church, here is something "else" to watch:

Freakiest few minutes EVER.

I'm Just Sayin;...

It's no secret that I have an irrational fear of bees.

Yes, I was stung once when I was little and it has psychologically scarred me.

Yes, I don't like icky insects butting into my life.

I'm just sayin': if I stumbled into their nest, I'd be stung mercilessly.

I'm returning the sentiment.

Bring it on.

One is German "let's-be-sensitive-to-mother-nature-and-wasps" chrysanthemum blossom spray. (it's cruel, actually - it kills the wasp slowly) The other is American "scorch-the-earth-while-killing-the-nest" spray.

Either way, I'm ready. I refuse to close my windows. I refuse to change my life to live in fear of these disgusting, useless*, intrusive insects.

*I know they are not useless. I just think they should all die.

Bust Out That Scotch!

The other night I stumbled across a video on the internet and decided to grab myself a drink and watch the 2 hour free video. (link given after a verbal bitch slapping from Toby)

It was of "the 4 horsemen" who are Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, a group of 4 scientist/philosopher/free-thinkers who have all written books about science, religion, philosophy and rational thinking.

I recommend any of the books from any of these authors. Maybe at the end you'll disagree with what they say, but they are extremely intelligent and make a really strong case.

Anyway, I decided to bust out the Talisker and have a drink with my current idol Christopher Hitchens. He's as smart as he is witty and I love his take-no-crap way of arguing.

If only we all could be so critical in our thinking as these men.

Some Of My Duckies In a Row...

2 Weeks without the girlfriend can be interpreted different ways. I can sit here and be sad and feel lonely, or I can try to proactively do something new.

I am inspired from a co-worker's site (I hesitate calling him a friend at this point only because of the German definition of friend being that we've "had a beer together" keeping me from saying it. Come on, Toby, let's get a beer together sometime!) and while I am essentially as strong as a wet noodle, I want to try to do 100 push-ups. Here is the site.

While contemplating the whole "will my bad shoulders handle the stress" question, I also went out with my snazzy bike computer (attached to the bike, of course) to map out a nice 5KM route to try to jog 4 times a week. (I popped the back tire and had to walk almost the whole way) I am quite sure I can do 5KM, it doesn't seem that hard, but I'd like to get up to 10KM. Who knows...this whole thing may be delusional but I want to try it.

The 70-200mm lens is up on ebay. I want to buy the next best version: the Image Stabilization version.

I'm thinking of selling the Fender guitar because my teens-through-twenties pipe dream of becoming a rock star is over. I could use the money for camera stuff...and by "stuff", I mean a new camera body.

While I'm at it, I have a question: the camera body I want is only about 100 dollars more expensive here but that includes a 2 year E.U. warranty. Should I just buckle and get it? Whaddya all think?

South Bohemia

Did another bike tour on the weekend. This time, we went to Prague and had Ivana's best friend and her boyfriend come along with us.

We had a car this time. More mobility. :-)

We started off in god-knows-where and was quickly told about the controversial nuclear power plant: here. 

It's a Soviet station with American technology...weird mix.

Anyway, we got to our B&B and biked around for a day. We started off in Hluboka nad Vltavou, a small town with a nice castle.

Then we went to Holašavice where there was a street festival going on. 

The bike ride along the countryside was really relaxing and quite what I needed.

The next day, we went to český Krumlov, another UNSECO city and, I might add, quite a nice city.

After that, we went back to Prague for the trip home.

This weekend, the girlfriend is off to be a tour guide in Scotland. That means I can rest for a couple weekend. I need it.