Random Thoughts - Albuquerque
It is the 22nd of May, 2012. And these are my random thoughts of this particular moment in time:
Albuquerque. When this word popped into my mind as a subtitle to this random thoughts post, I asked myself. "Why Albuquerque?" The second thought was: did I spell that right? The answer was NO. I first spelled it "Alburquerque" ... an extra "r" there. But before I looked up the spelling, I realized that the last time the word Albuquerque entered my mind was just the other day, watching an episode of "Frasier" with Veronika. Frasier's father was talking about his old police officer colleague, who had a wife with a butt the size of "Albuquerque." Random.
Frasier. Can I pat myself on the back here? Veronika and I have made it a part of our relaxation time together to watch TV shows. I think this is something she's always enjoyed doing, whereas I never was a big TV guy. I was always more of a surf the web guy when I was passing time. (Or video games. Or when I was younger, reading books.) Anyway, our first TV show together was FlashForward, an ABC show starring Joseph Fiennes. We liked it but it lasted only one season, so we had to find something new. I believe our second series together was Battlestar Galatica. It was heavily recommended by a few German friends. Yes, the German people I know seem to consume a lot of American television. The French and Italians have fashion and food. The Brazilians have soccer and Carnival. The Swedes have blond(e)s. The Japanese and Koreans export electronics. The Americans have television shows and movies. But I digress. Battlestar Galatica was awesome. But after four seasons, we had to find more television series to sate our thirst. We went through Arrested Development. We started series like 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother. (I've weened myself off of those continuing shows at this point). We hit the jackpot with Seinfeld, which we both loved. After Seinfeld, I decided to mine more classic American sitcom. I figured, Cheers had 11 seasons, and its spin-off, Frasier, also had 11 seasons. Twenty-two seasons of classic American television! We did like Cheers, but the first two seasons of Frasier have been great! To quote Hannibal from the A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together." Hence, why I deserve a pat on the back. Random.
Americans. We're known here for more than television and movies of course. We're known for Barack Obama, who is generally admired in Europe. You may have heard that George W. Bush was not as popular around the world. You may have also heard about the stereotype of the loud and obnoxious American. Here in Germany, so many people use the public transportation system. On trains, people in general have to respect space, because you have to share it with so many strangers. So for the most part, you see people sitting politely in their seats, perhaps reading or listening to music. I can see how a group of fun-loving Americans might come into that space and give a certain impression. When we're with friends, Americans like to laugh together and have fun. Not a bad thing. When you think of Germany, you might think of Berlin. When you think of England, you think of London. France, Paris. Italy, Rome or Milan. Etc etc etc. The U.S. has of course Los Angeles and New York City. When I mention that I'm from Los Angeles, young people here, especially, almost always react with wide eyes. Perhaps because younger people consume more American television, movies, and also music. Los Angeles seems to be some sort of Mecca. It's strange to me. I lived in LA for over 23 years. To me, it's nothing special, and it doesn't make me special. So it's strange when it seems to give me some sort of cache when I say I'm from LA.
Bow-legged. I showed my pair of favorite shoes to my friend Neil yesterday. They're these Polo Ralph Lauren hiking boots that I bought three and a half years ago. I found them at a Kohl's in Rosemead, California, and they were only 40 dollars. I purchased them right before my first trip to Europe in January 2009, and I thought they would be good for stomping around in snow. They became my favorite shoes and I wear them A LOT. Anyway, the wheat-colored leather is now a deeper tan in color and there's a lot dark smudging. The back part behind my ankles are raggedy and therefore make holes in my socks. There's a strap that latches across, and the velcro is worn and doesn't catch so well anymore. The soles are of course worn. Neil noticed that the soles are wearing out dramatically more on the outside part of the heel. So on the left shoe, it's the left side at the back, and on the right shoe, it's the right side of the back. So he said that maybe I walk kind of bow-legged. Nice. Random.
Albuquerque. When this word popped into my mind as a subtitle to this random thoughts post, I asked myself. "Why Albuquerque?" The second thought was: did I spell that right? The answer was NO. I first spelled it "Alburquerque" ... an extra "r" there. But before I looked up the spelling, I realized that the last time the word Albuquerque entered my mind was just the other day, watching an episode of "Frasier" with Veronika. Frasier's father was talking about his old police officer colleague, who had a wife with a butt the size of "Albuquerque." Random.
Frasier. Can I pat myself on the back here? Veronika and I have made it a part of our relaxation time together to watch TV shows. I think this is something she's always enjoyed doing, whereas I never was a big TV guy. I was always more of a surf the web guy when I was passing time. (Or video games. Or when I was younger, reading books.) Anyway, our first TV show together was FlashForward, an ABC show starring Joseph Fiennes. We liked it but it lasted only one season, so we had to find something new. I believe our second series together was Battlestar Galatica. It was heavily recommended by a few German friends. Yes, the German people I know seem to consume a lot of American television. The French and Italians have fashion and food. The Brazilians have soccer and Carnival. The Swedes have blond(e)s. The Japanese and Koreans export electronics. The Americans have television shows and movies. But I digress. Battlestar Galatica was awesome. But after four seasons, we had to find more television series to sate our thirst. We went through Arrested Development. We started series like 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother. (I've weened myself off of those continuing shows at this point). We hit the jackpot with Seinfeld, which we both loved. After Seinfeld, I decided to mine more classic American sitcom. I figured, Cheers had 11 seasons, and its spin-off, Frasier, also had 11 seasons. Twenty-two seasons of classic American television! We did like Cheers, but the first two seasons of Frasier have been great! To quote Hannibal from the A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together." Hence, why I deserve a pat on the back. Random.
Americans. We're known here for more than television and movies of course. We're known for Barack Obama, who is generally admired in Europe. You may have heard that George W. Bush was not as popular around the world. You may have also heard about the stereotype of the loud and obnoxious American. Here in Germany, so many people use the public transportation system. On trains, people in general have to respect space, because you have to share it with so many strangers. So for the most part, you see people sitting politely in their seats, perhaps reading or listening to music. I can see how a group of fun-loving Americans might come into that space and give a certain impression. When we're with friends, Americans like to laugh together and have fun. Not a bad thing. When you think of Germany, you might think of Berlin. When you think of England, you think of London. France, Paris. Italy, Rome or Milan. Etc etc etc. The U.S. has of course Los Angeles and New York City. When I mention that I'm from Los Angeles, young people here, especially, almost always react with wide eyes. Perhaps because younger people consume more American television, movies, and also music. Los Angeles seems to be some sort of Mecca. It's strange to me. I lived in LA for over 23 years. To me, it's nothing special, and it doesn't make me special. So it's strange when it seems to give me some sort of cache when I say I'm from LA.
Bow-legged. I showed my pair of favorite shoes to my friend Neil yesterday. They're these Polo Ralph Lauren hiking boots that I bought three and a half years ago. I found them at a Kohl's in Rosemead, California, and they were only 40 dollars. I purchased them right before my first trip to Europe in January 2009, and I thought they would be good for stomping around in snow. They became my favorite shoes and I wear them A LOT. Anyway, the wheat-colored leather is now a deeper tan in color and there's a lot dark smudging. The back part behind my ankles are raggedy and therefore make holes in my socks. There's a strap that latches across, and the velcro is worn and doesn't catch so well anymore. The soles are of course worn. Neil noticed that the soles are wearing out dramatically more on the outside part of the heel. So on the left shoe, it's the left side at the back, and on the right shoe, it's the right side of the back. So he said that maybe I walk kind of bow-legged. Nice. Random.
No comments have been added yet.
