general appeal to the masses

so, i'm in Strasbourg right now with my sister.  it's day two of our 8 day "tour de france."  short, i know.  but it's almost the end of my time here in Europe and, well, i'm a little strapped for cash and really more excited about going home in a month than actually traveling right now.  don't get me wrong, sis, i really like traveling with you.  

being excited about coming back to Canada is, as a matter of fact, the reason for this post.  does anyone need a roommate or know of some sweet apartment in need of renting in the Winnipeg area?  as well, does anyone know of some sweet jobs coming up?  i already have a wonderful friend named Jess Klassen helping me out (she's an employment counselor), but i'd thought i'd check with everyone who may read this.  can't hurt, can it?

oh, and i'm still quit of smoking.  take that.

materialism saves the day

so, the other day i did some math.  i calculated the amount of money i will save now that i'm not smoking anymore.  i was startled by what i came up with.  let me go over it.

back in Canada i was smoking about half a pack a day.  that's 3.5 packs per week.  and at that point they were roughly $12 per pack.  by now they're probably $13, but we'll stick to $12.

$12 x 3.5 packs per week = $42 per week

in one month alone, i will save $168.  "what will i save in a year?" you might ask.  well, that would be the grand sum of $2,184!  i was a little shocked.  i mean $1000 wouldn't have surprised me.  but, double that?  

naturally, to keep my cravings down, i started thinking of all the things i will want to buy with the money i'll save.  going for a sky's the limit approach, but keeping to thing under $2000, here's the list i came up with.  materialism never felt so good.

15" Powerbook 1.67Mhz (why not a fancy new macbook?  i don't need the latest model because i need the next item at the same time as the new-ish laptop)

Digidesign Digi002 ProTools interface and software

Fender Rhodes electric piano

Fender Jazz Bass

1960's Fender Bassman

Reason 4.0

M-Audio Keystation 88 midi controller

touring van (i hope 2 grand will cut it)

Yamaha NS-10s

glasses! (i found out i could use glasses shortly before i left the continent and had no insurance)

and that's really about it.  it's a little one sided.  but, i spend a large part of my day thinking about music gear.  i could buy any two of these items with 2 G's.  and i think 6-8 would buy them all.  so, perhaps in 3-4 years time i'll have my list of wants completed.  and i'll just have to keep thinking about it for a while to keep myself from starting back up.

reflections on quitting smoking while trying to quit smoking.

so, i've quite smoking.  actually I'm only 4 days in, but who's counting?  

me.  

every minute.  

after nine years, it's become, well, a bit of a habit of mine.  one that was, by far, easier to start.  some of the things I will miss most about it will be: taking and spending some time outside thinking about things - either by myself or with someone, taking extra breaks at a workplace where break-times are unscheduled, and use it as an excuse to leave a conversation or group of people i don't wish to be around anymore.  what i think smoking has really been for me is a way to get me out of uncomfortable situations; or at least, let me take a break from them.  please don't get me wrong.  not every time i went for a cigarette was i trying to get away from you.  still though, don't fool yourself.  it may have been the case once or twice…

i'm joking of course.

so what will i do now?  i don't know.  i think i have to find something.  something less addictive.  something that doesn't make me want to spend 10 minutes every hour in -40 degree Winnipeg winter.  i may take up a pipe.  but, that'll only work for part of the time.  and will i just be altering my addiction to tobacco?  possibly.  perhaps, i will now learn how to deal with the situations that have made me run behind the bike shed for a smoke.  hmm, maybe.  or maybe, i'll just find another way out.  who's to know how i'll react in a situation.  i mean, now that i'm not continually drugged, i may discover that i can turn into the Hulk, or something like the Hulk.  maybe, Hulk Hogan.  wait, if i turn into Hulk Hogan because i quit smoking, i'll smoke double.  health be damned!  (which it will inevitably be.)  i can grow the handle-bar moustachio on my own thank you very much.  and without the aid of the steroids and that stupid yellow bandana.  stupid bandana.

sorry to disappoint

the only reason i'm posting right now is because i'm bored.  sorry to disappoint.  i used to think that blogging had this romanticism to it.  you know, telling everyone, and no one at all, what's going in your life.  and at first, i found this fun.  but now, it's hard for me to care.  maybe this has something to do with my life here in germany.  at first it was exciting with new things, people all around.  overwhelming, frustrating, and adventurous.  now it's normal and i feel that i've lost that excitement.  things don't feel all that adventurous anymore.  i feel like i could handle myself in any european country, even though i still haven't seen many.  well, okay, maybe not albania or bulgaria; and the french still make me nervous.  still, i know i can adapt to many situations.  but maybe i've played it too safe?  it's true, i like as little risk as possible.  i like to keep things relaxed. however, if i'm planning anything, there is always something inevitable that i miss, which ends up causing at least a little stress.  ask me about my trip to taize, france sometime.  i'd write about it, but that would take too long to do well.  

so things are normal.  that's good right?  i feel at home, sort of.  i used to know that i was still excited about being here when i would look around me and say, "holy fuck, i'm in germany."  or europe, or spain, or wherever i was.  i don't think i've done that in at least 4-6 months.  i don't know if that's good, bad, or to be expected, but that's how it is.  maybe i need to be more active. but that's hard when you're tired from working all day.  working hard all day.  maybe i need more vitamins.  vitamins are the german's "cure-all."  like polysporin for my mother.  whatever i do during the day, though, it almost always seems fun.  sure the romanticism of being a farmer has died off and the tractors don't always run, but everyday i accomplish something.  at 6 pm the cows are fed and the eggs are gathered.  and that's important.  even more important than seeing the eiffel tower or brandenburg gate.  of course, when i finish here in germany, i feel i missed out on some opportunities.  but when haven't i missed out on opportunities.  i do that all the time.  i asked my friend niguel one time, when he was planning to go to paris for his holidays.  he told me he wasn't going.  he decided he would not go to paris.  to him, paris was magical, romantic. and to go there, now, would only ruin it.  he would see that it's a dirty, smelly, expensive city.  and these negative aspects would do away with the romanticism.  ( i haven't been to paris, i'll back this statement up after i go in july.  i have no doubt that it is a dirty, smelly, expensive city.) 

now i'm tired, would like to stop thinking.  to sum what i've learned today, it would be: blogging, farming, going to europe or just paris, all seem like a good idea at first, full of romantic magic and wonder.  but when you actually do them, you realize what a fool you were.  hmm, that didn't come out right.  oh well.

first post at new placement, sorry it took so long

hi there, sorry it took so long to post. i find that it's hard to reflect on things while taking in so many new experiences and learning new things at the same time. and i've been on a bit of information overload for the last two weeks. learning new routines, learning how to be farmer, getting to know a whole family, figuring out how to integrate myself. but now that i think of it, perhaps reflecting might help with this.

so when i came from Karlesruhe after the mid term conference to Kaiserslautern i was incredibly tired and a little hung over. i really couldn't wait to get into a bed and sleep away some of the cloudiness. no a good place to be in when your going to meet a family you'll be living with for the next six months. but after i put my bags in my new room and had a really stupendous lunch, i was able to set up my room and take a nap. after my nap, i was quickly thrust into the world of farming. being taken to the barn to help with the evening chores. after this i felt pretty comfortable.

the Albrecht's have had trainees, i think, since 1997. a good ten years of experience dealing with north americans, and this helps a lot. they know how to make you feel at home. i just wish my german was better, or that everybody in germany didn't speak a different type of german. the dialect here has been hard to get used to. and to be honest, i'm not used to it, yet. i hope i can begin to understand it without it affecting my own german. i don't know if this is even possible, but i can hope.

i only have my morning routine down yet, but so far my days go like this:
7:30 am breakfast
8:00 feed the chickens, the turkeys, and the pig
8:45 drive to a neighbouring village to feed the cows, feed cows, make sure that everything's okay
11:00 do whatever i have been told to do that day
12:45 lunch and nap time
2:00 back to doing whatever i have been doing before lunch
4:30 feed cows again
6:00 feed pig and get the eggs that the chickens have layed
6:15 finished

so that's a little what's going on, if your interested.

mitch

...oh i would like to add that i just listened to this album by this spanish artist called El Guincho. the albums call Alegranza. i read about it on pitchfork. it's really really good. it's kind of a collage sample happy record, but pretty fun.

Gift In Kind

hello there,

for those who are interested, you can check out this set of recordings i did with some friends and fellow trainees here in ol' europe. we wrote (some) and recorded them between Christmas and New Year's here in Gießen. it was a lot of fun and i think they turned out pretty good considering we did it all except mixing in three days. hope you enjoy!

www.giftinkind.googlepages.com/home

almost the end of some time

so, i'm down to my last two weeks here in Gießen. i'm excited to try something new, but i was just starting to get comfortable. these last weeks have been really good on the whole this week proves to be the same. i wonder if it was planned by intermenno to get you sort of settled one place and then uproot you just as you feel comfortable. it must be.
it's okay. i mean, in the last seven years i have moved at least once every year. i suppose i haven't really felt settled since i left home. so what i'm feeling now can only be that quasi-settledness i'm so used to, i guess.

one day, i hope, i will live in one place for three years. it doesn't seem like much, but you gotta work up to something. but, it's hard for me to think about anything, finite past february, let alone when i get back. i dream on occasion what i will do when i get back. but, nothing ever seems to become a plan. my latest idea is to stay with my family till New Year's all the while fixing up a car that's been sitting in my parent's back yard for 10 years. but, i keep changing my mind every two weeks. i don't think i'll have an idea until i finally get back to the motherland. which hopefully will allow me to concentrate on having adventures here. it's hard to be content when you're continuously thinking about what you're going to do next.