Three days ago a terrible thing happened. I reached into my hamper to grab a pair of socks (I don't always get around to sorting and folding my socks after I do laundry because I hate it). As I donned my foot coverings I realized that this was my last pair of socks. I had to do laundry again. damn it. Whats worse it highlighted the loss of half of my favorite pair of socks a few weeks ago, because if only i had those red and gray socks I could have made it another day.
if you've been keeping up on the Vienna blog circuit you already know that doing laundry here is a rather hellacious misadventure. Well recently things have gotten worse. For about two weeks there was only one laundry machine, which was bad but not awful because the cycle is only about 30 minutes long. Then one evening laundry room attendees were greeted with the triumphant return of the second washing machine. HUZZAH!
But just when things were looking up they got so much worse. Soon the second dryer had a sign that simply read, scrawled in pencil, "KAPUTT!" What makes this so bad is the dryer cycle here is 90 minutes and even after that your clothes still aren't dry; they're really just hot enough that the water will evaporate when you take it out of the dryer, if you're lucky. Come to think of it, its more a sauna then a dryer. Well as you may have gleaned from the title, I did not do laundry due to unavoidable delays (read: my favorite Irish pub in vienna) and have been wearing my Chucks with out socks. As a result I live in a constant state of fear that my shoes and feet will smell bad. They don't for now so I'm safe but my fear has led me to frequently remove my shoes in public.
Laundry day is tomorrow because I've run out of more than just socks now. Wish me luck.
Ryan Adams Talking about Smelly Socks before going into "Easy Plateau" during a show in, I think, Scotland.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
I have tasted delicious bagels, and I cannot give them up.
I have tasted...(read down to at least the 6th paragraph. overall its a bit over-simplified but the quote is the important part in this case.)
As of a few days ago I have tasted bagels in both Prague (ps. i went to Prague for spring break) and Vienna and they were both pretty awful. Neither cheap nor filling nor even that tasty they lacked all of the 3 major attributes of a good bagel. I should have known that nothing will ever live up to Hot Bagels Abroad (150 Valley Rd. Montclair, NJ - go.)
as the bagel post might suggest a lot isn't going on right now. i'm in the midst of spring break and when its over i'll try to get a big spring break wrap up email and/or post.
but first, because the bagel is inextricably linked to a not to be named religious group, a hilarious Woody Guthrie Song.
Hanukkah Dance - Woody Guthrie - Asch Recordings
and just because I can...
Boyfriend - The Bird and the Bee
As of a few days ago I have tasted bagels in both Prague (ps. i went to Prague for spring break) and Vienna and they were both pretty awful. Neither cheap nor filling nor even that tasty they lacked all of the 3 major attributes of a good bagel. I should have known that nothing will ever live up to Hot Bagels Abroad (150 Valley Rd. Montclair, NJ - go.)
as the bagel post might suggest a lot isn't going on right now. i'm in the midst of spring break and when its over i'll try to get a big spring break wrap up email and/or post.
but first, because the bagel is inextricably linked to a not to be named religious group, a hilarious Woody Guthrie Song.
Hanukkah Dance - Woody Guthrie - Asch Recordings
and just because I can...
Boyfriend - The Bird and the Bee
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Footwear Update
As part of my on going shoe gazing (not in the usual sense of the phrase) I've made a discovery: the sweetest dress shoes ever.
Who wouldn't want those D&G wingtips?
If you want them enough to buy them, or get them for me.
Songs About Shoes! (Nominally at least)
Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - Elvis Costello
Can't Even Tie Your Own Shoes - Golden Smog (sans Tweedy)
The Other Shoe - Old 97's
Woman in the Shoes - Dengue Fever (Most of the lyrics are in Khmer so I'm not sure if this one is really about shoes, but its in the title so why not?)
I really like being able to put music on here.
Who wouldn't want those D&G wingtips?
If you want them enough to buy them, or get them for me.
Songs About Shoes! (Nominally at least)
Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - Elvis Costello
Can't Even Tie Your Own Shoes - Golden Smog (sans Tweedy)
The Other Shoe - Old 97's
Woman in the Shoes - Dengue Fever (Most of the lyrics are in Khmer so I'm not sure if this one is really about shoes, but its in the title so why not?)
I really like being able to put music on here.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Course Registration: A cruel joke
Some music to read to.
(the song's instructions evoke the complexities of online registration) Technologic - Daft Punk
At Trinity you wake up for you 7:10am enrollment appointment, prepared list of classes in hand, and stumble to your computer, log on to TConline, register for you classes and then get back in bed before it even feels like you've left. In rare circumstances you don't get into a class you want/need to take, but in most of those cases a seat in the class is just an email to the professor away (unless it's Masur's Dylan class but thats a-whole-nother story). I've gotten a pretty good handle on Trinity's registration system, and it didn't take me long to do so.
I've registered and unregistered for about 8 classes in Vienna thus far and still have no idea what the system is like. Thats mostly because there is no unified system. System implies unified parts forming an intricate whole. Every department here has its own system. The philosophy department for instance uses the main university network but requires you to assign points, up to 1000, to classes you want to get into. The history department has its own system, for which you need to create an independent account, with a crazy waiting list procedure, a procedure I do understand because I went through it, twice.
Since before I got here I'd been interested in a history seminar titled "The Wars of Ireland" and once registration opened up, and i figured out how to register, I tried to get in. That itself was a production because everything was naturally in german and I'm just at level where I can order a coffee and say my name. But after some translation help from the internet i made it onto the waiting list and thats where things got really complicated. I could have sworn I was number 30 on the waiting list that day, then a week later i was 58, by the time I got to class I was 61. Keep in mind, the class has a 25 person cap. At this point I figured I'll just show up and see what happens. What happened was intense.
The professor started by taking attendance. Of the 80+ who registered only 33 came. The ones not there were immediately crossed of. I was getting closer. Then he informed us all that the policy in cases like this is to take 27 people so 6 had to leave. He was going to decide which 6 by going through the randomized list a computer had spit out before class and and picking the first 27. I knew I wouldn't be in the top so i started getting my things together then came a glimmer of hope. "Who is an Erasmus student, because I have to take you into my class?" I raised my hand. It was a bit of a lie but i'm closer to an Erasmus student than I am any other existing classification of student here and the only reason i'm not is a technicality. After that he put me on the list and I was in. I sighed with relief and sat back in my chair as the stressful process continued around me. Then came time for the final list to be read and my name was curiously absent. I asked what was going on, because a lot of the going ons had been in german, and the answer was essentially "woops sorry." He then suggested I try to get into another class of his and after going through the same process again I finally made it into a graduate level history class I'm probably going to drop anyway. Course registration here seems likes a giant pratical joke, that i'm not in on, in german, and i don't get it.
a parting gift... Charm School - Bishop Allen
(the song's instructions evoke the complexities of online registration) Technologic - Daft Punk
At Trinity you wake up for you 7:10am enrollment appointment, prepared list of classes in hand, and stumble to your computer, log on to TConline, register for you classes and then get back in bed before it even feels like you've left. In rare circumstances you don't get into a class you want/need to take, but in most of those cases a seat in the class is just an email to the professor away (unless it's Masur's Dylan class but thats a-whole-nother story). I've gotten a pretty good handle on Trinity's registration system, and it didn't take me long to do so.
I've registered and unregistered for about 8 classes in Vienna thus far and still have no idea what the system is like. Thats mostly because there is no unified system. System implies unified parts forming an intricate whole. Every department here has its own system. The philosophy department for instance uses the main university network but requires you to assign points, up to 1000, to classes you want to get into. The history department has its own system, for which you need to create an independent account, with a crazy waiting list procedure, a procedure I do understand because I went through it, twice.
Since before I got here I'd been interested in a history seminar titled "The Wars of Ireland" and once registration opened up, and i figured out how to register, I tried to get in. That itself was a production because everything was naturally in german and I'm just at level where I can order a coffee and say my name. But after some translation help from the internet i made it onto the waiting list and thats where things got really complicated. I could have sworn I was number 30 on the waiting list that day, then a week later i was 58, by the time I got to class I was 61. Keep in mind, the class has a 25 person cap. At this point I figured I'll just show up and see what happens. What happened was intense.
The professor started by taking attendance. Of the 80+ who registered only 33 came. The ones not there were immediately crossed of. I was getting closer. Then he informed us all that the policy in cases like this is to take 27 people so 6 had to leave. He was going to decide which 6 by going through the randomized list a computer had spit out before class and and picking the first 27. I knew I wouldn't be in the top so i started getting my things together then came a glimmer of hope. "Who is an Erasmus student, because I have to take you into my class?" I raised my hand. It was a bit of a lie but i'm closer to an Erasmus student than I am any other existing classification of student here and the only reason i'm not is a technicality. After that he put me on the list and I was in. I sighed with relief and sat back in my chair as the stressful process continued around me. Then came time for the final list to be read and my name was curiously absent. I asked what was going on, because a lot of the going ons had been in german, and the answer was essentially "woops sorry." He then suggested I try to get into another class of his and after going through the same process again I finally made it into a graduate level history class I'm probably going to drop anyway. Course registration here seems likes a giant pratical joke, that i'm not in on, in german, and i don't get it.
a parting gift... Charm School - Bishop Allen
Saturday, March 8, 2008
The Gift of Music
Matt told me how to put music on my blog so now I don't have to link to hype machine. In celebration I'm posting the songs I've made passing reference to thus far on "Tramps Like Us" as well as a Black Dice song, off the album Load Blown and a song from She & Him (Zooey Deschanel of Hitchhiker's Guide movie fame and M.Ward). The Black Dice because John and Matt took me to a show I was not totally prepared for but ended up enjoying; I think matt addresses the show in his blog better than i could or care to at the moment. And the She & Him because I just got the album and I like it. Hark! Music. (click to stream, right-click to download)
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe - Okkervil River
House of the Risin' Sun - Bob Dylan
Kokomo - Black Dice
Black Hole - She & Him
A real post is coming tomorrow so check in.
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe - Okkervil River
House of the Risin' Sun - Bob Dylan
Kokomo - Black Dice
Black Hole - She & Him
A real post is coming tomorrow so check in.
Monday, March 3, 2008
More Pictures (Those of Email #3)
The Main University and its inner courtyard featuring the sculptures of famous professors of yesteryear. Also, the Votivkirche across the street.
The Kunstforum (Vienna)
Graz (City Hall, Clock Tower and Kunsthaus and "True Garden" in the Kunsthaus)
Café Central
BOOOOOO!
The Kunstforum (Vienna)
Graz (City Hall, Clock Tower and Kunsthaus and "True Garden" in the Kunsthaus)
Café Central
BOOOOOO!
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