T. Storm & the dykes

Today I visited Theodor Storm's house, the highlights of which were his cool desk and his Biedermeier sofa (with a mahogany backing, described in one of his pieces, have forgotten which at the moment). I also learned a few things; I'd had no idea of his Briefweschel with Turgenev, not to mention with Moreike and Gottfried Keller (grüne Heinrich discussion inklusiv) as well as a few others I hadn't heard of before: some Kuh guy from Austria and a few female poets and writers. I guess he was influenced by Goethe & Eichendorff, though he didn't like Eichendorff later on. Hmph.
The most troubling parts of the exhibit were these small dolls, in small cradles, covered with glass, which were distributed in different rooms. They looked like open coffins with mannequins inside. The other troubling part was that all of the furniture seemed to match and the rooms were painted nicely (his library, originall 4,000 books, but now fewer because of private collections elsewhere) was cherokee red. It was difficult to tell what was original and what the Storm Gesellschaft had actually put there just because it looked authentic, and the exhibit didn't do much to differentiate beyond the sofa, his desk, and both wives' desk. I have also now broadened my postcard collection; I usually only get postcards when I travel because they're small and light. Of course his poems and ones by others were hung about, pictures too..... I took some pictures while in the area, but I'm not up to uploading and posting just now.

Then walked along the harbor out to where the sea is, and there were dykes made of grass to be had everywhere. They looked like good, strong dykes. I couldn't imagine any sort of normal flood being able to overtake the biceps of mounded earth which enclosed the green pasture areas leading up to the town. I could barely want for masterful dykes under those circumstances. The sea was also good to see, and the fresh sea air was good for me, as well as the long walk alongside nature (though in retrospect I would have rented a bike; bikes on dykes, or would that be dyke on bike on dyke. The tidal plane was covered with green fields and grazing sheep; the snow had melted over the week I spent in the area and by then end I could see the purple crocuses which had sprung back to life in places. This was all lovely, as I was in a bad mood in the morning and after that, it evaporated. Such sweet baby sheep with their moms prancing about. I also think that these wind turbines which are scattered about are good for people: just watching them for awhile can have the same effect as EMDR, I think. Maybe that's why the Germans are in better moods than I remember; they've all had turbine therapy.

After this I passed by the castle and then caught my train. By then, or rather, by 7am this morning, everyone else in my course had left, and I had some solitude in the town without invitations to do stuff during every free moment. My pants had started falling down and I'd forgotten my belt, so I got one of those, and I also could not find my EC card before leaving the U.S., so have been wrangling with my bank in MS to try to get some of the money I stored there, a thing which demands dealing with bureaucracy, faxes, id, and lots of papers. It's been a hassle, but hopefully can be clarified next week. The thing I love about the concept of the business trip is the 'flights and hotel paid' and the 'per diem allowance' parts. That has certainly been a new and delightful thing.

Also got to visit Luneburg (the Luneburg of the Luneberger Heide song) with my Hamburg relatives on Easter, a lovely medieval city with some interesting pieces of architecture. What was interesting was that the houses were so old, that the earth had moved and the full weight of the house succumbed to gravity throughout the centuries, and there were large bulges of bricks and windows, making for seemingly misshapen brick structures everywhere. There was also of course a moat and a mill to be had. Next week is more time in Hamburg doing business things before flying back. These days, am esconced in another big city which I've pulled on this evening like a warm woolen sweater and get for 3 more days.

Osterspaziergang

now in frankfurt, killing a little time before my next flight northwards. the entire felleuton of die zeit is about goethe, and how the first part of faust will have it´s 200th b-day this year on easter, along with the poem ´vom eise befreit´ from the österspaziergang monolog, which i love and find fitting.

Vor dem Tor

Vom Eise befreit sind Strom und Bäche
Durch des Frühlings holden, belebenden Blick,
Im Tale grünet Hoffnungsglück;
Der alte Winter, in seiner Schwäche,
Zog sich in rauhe Berge zurück.
Von dort her sendet er, fliehend, nur
Ohnmächtige Schauer körnigen Eises
In Streifen über die grünende Flur.
Aber die Sonne duldet kein Weißes,
Überall regt sich Bildung und Streben,
Alles will sie mit Farben beleben;
Doch an Blumen fehlts im Revier,
Sie nimmt geputzte Menschen dafür.
Kehre dich um, von diesen Höhen
Nach der Stadt zurück zu sehen!
Aus dem hohlen finstern Tor
Dringt ein buntes Gewimmel hervor.
Jeder sonnt sich heute so gern.
Sie feiern die Auferstehung des Herrn,
Denn sie sind selber auferstanden:
Aus niedriger Häuser dumpfen Gemächern,
Aus Handwerks- und Gewerbesbanden,
Aus dem Druck von Giebeln und Dächern,
Aus der Straßen quetschender Enge,
Aus der Kirchen ehrwürdiger Nacht
Sind sie alle ans Licht gebracht.
Sieh nur, sieh! wie behend sich die Menge
Durch die Gärten und Felder zerschlägt,
Wie der Fluß in Breit und Länge
So manchen lustigen Nachen bewegt,
Und, bis zum Sinken überladen,
Entfernt sich dieser letzte Kahn.
Selbst von des Berges fernen Pfaden
Blinken uns farbige Kleider an.
Ich höre schon des Dorfs Getümmel,
Hier ist des Volkes wahrer Himmel,
Zufrieden jauchzet groß und klein:
Hier bin ich Mensch, hier darf ichs sein!

(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust I)


also,
'To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.'
- Farmers' Almanac


And the next installment, now from Hamburg:
a cartoon which is funny to me because the whole flight thing required so much telephone time, not to mention the telephone time on my job, and I've learned to really appreciate good hold music.

a social debut & poster-klepto confession

My weekend has been better. I attended my first hot flash party. I even got some digits, but I think they were not my type. The main reason was the motorcycle story. This woman told about an ex who had wanted to drive the motorcycle. This was the cause of their breakup, because the woman was completely unwilling to let her drive, and called herself an old school type. Her friend was the same. But then she made fun of the ex because the ex eventually fulfilled her dream to drive a motorcycle in the dykes on bikes pdx with her new girlfriend on the back. But the kicker was that the woman had not learned how to turn the motorcycle and didn't trust herself to do so, so she went by only once and that was that. We all felt sorry for the new girlfriend on the back. This was funny and I laughed, but I am also the sort of person who would want to drive from time to time, though not all the time. Anyway, they want to go roller skating with me sometime. As long as everyone's got their own wheels, that could be fun... but then there's the whole into football element, which I don't really care to hang out with. They were about 47 and 53, but the age gap doesn't bother me so much. Also, after the whole motorcycle story I realized I was wearing the wrong undies; because I need to do laundry I'd taken to wearing boxers, which gave me quite a thrill, makes me feel a bit more butch and is very comfortable and freeing, so even after I do laundry today I may continue this practice.

Here's a moment of confession.
Today I will discuss about an episode relating to film.
I will tell about a magical moment which transpired while I was in college.
I had come upstairs from my job in the basement of a building, and looked down the hall. There she was, oh my god, pinning a film poster to the wall. I stood still and literally couldn't move as entranced as I was by this action of her pinning a poster to the wall. And then she looked at me and said "Hi! I am putting up a film poster" (she always explained in-depth what she was doing) and smiled flirtatiously, which produced on my part what I'm sure are referred to as "googley eyes." It's always the small things. I wanted to be poster, pushpin, and wall all at once. I subsequently did get pinned to the wall, but that's another story. Then a different day I passed her door, and she had pinned a poster to it, too. The poster was for "Jungfraumaschine." I nearly passed out after seeing the film, at which she sat one row in front of me and looked at me throughout the introduction. And I made sure to see all other related films on my own. Sometimes when nobody was looking, I would actually take copies of the posters from the wall and hoard them, keeping them tucked away in a manila folder and adoring the moment when I touched the very pushpin she had touched. I in fact took one pushpin one time and kept it in a ziploc bag with the posters. I always felt a bit guilty about taking about one poster each week, so I tried to repay this debt to society later on by making and then posting some other new posters. It's definitely an art.

the golden belly

There's a Buddhist monastery in my neighborhood, and it looks gorgeous from the outside. So I dedided to go in today as I went for a walk, and as I had not been feeling very well, despite some good mail this week. I just felt I could do with a big belly to rest my head on a bit, some 8-fold path action, and some enlightenment.

They have an outdoors garden with a koi pond and statues and a gazebo with an enormous Buddha in the middle. One is not allowed to feed the foot-long goldfish. There are all sorts of interior rooms, all designed with a lot of feng shui in mind, and then an enormous palatial chanting room at the very back. In the chanting room, there are places to kneel, books in Sanskrit, and another enormous golden Buddha with offerings of fruit on the altars along with burning incense. The fruits were pineapples, avocadoes, and bananas. It felt pretty holy.

I also liked to talk with the buddhist monks and nuns who were wandering around and who told me about the place, which is largely staffed by volunteers. They also gave me a free Buddhist book. Maybe I'll go do a meditation ritual there one of these days. The experience also inspired me to do things like wash the dishes, which, if done correctly, can probably be a zen action.