The Misspent Life

Auf Wiedersehen, My Dears

The Misspent Life will be posting more irregularly than usual over the next several weeks as he will be in Berlin, Germany.  Keep watch, however, for any travel thoughts and observations as well as potentially other groundbreaking insights that may be posted auf Deutsche.

Ich bin müde

One of the problems about going a trip is having to get enough sleep the night before you leave.  The excitement and nerves about embarking on a lengthy journey are enough to keep even the most practiced dozer up all night.  This is particularly true for me.  While by any standards I definitely sleep, I am very bad at falling asleep due to my nerves and high strung mind.  But tonight I should not have much problem slipping into sweet, sweet sleep.  Why?  Because I spent most of the day walking across half of downtown DC and it was hot!

First I had to drop off some library books since I'm not going to be bringing any with me and would rather just pick them up again on my return then have them sitting around my apartment.  Then I checked to see if my fellowship check had come in yet (it had not).  After that I stopped off at one bank to deposit a considerable sum from my other bank accounts so I can access it over there through their German branches.  Then I stopped off at my primary bank to deposit a small check and to see if they could find me some euros or traveler's checks.  No dice.  So I decided that I would take the scenic route to the American Express office.  I did just that and left the office with some Euro notes and Euro traveler's checks in my pocket.  Man, that exchange rate hurt! The last time I went to a Euro country, which was sadly before the Euro went into general circulation, the exchange rate was the inverse of what it is now.  Then I took the train and bus back to my neighborhood and walked over to the post office to mail my tax forms in the futile hope that they will admit their error and shell out the cash they owe me.  From there I went to McDonald's since I had some coupons.  After that I went to the pharmacy to get my prescription refill but was told that I couldn't pick it up until tomorrow because it hasn't been a full month since my last refill.  Then I came home and now I'm about to do laundry!  That is a busy day for me.

Tomorrow will be no better since I need to go back to the pharmacy to get my prescription, go to campus and pick up my fellowship check and then go to the bank to deposit it before I can even think about catching the bus to the airport.  With all that on my plate in such a short time frame, maybe it doesn't matter so much that I am tired out after all and I will end up not getting much sleep!!  Ha!

One More for the Road

As I undertake the final perparations for my trip, here is the last German video I will post for you before I leave.  Perhaps there will be others done in situ.  Anyway, continuing on with the rap theme from the last video, below is a video from perhaps my favorite German group, Fettes Brot.  I've been a fan of theirs for going on almost ten years, since early into my college days.  This isn't my favorite song of their's (I believe it is losely based on a Steve Miller Band song) but it is a great video.  Watch that and you can get a good picture of me in Germany (although they are from Hamburg, not Berlin).  There are numerous videos of theirs on YouTube, including one for An Tagen wie Diesen, which is one of my favorites (I also like Jein and Emmanuela, but those videos?  Nicht so gut.).

Anyway enjoy!

Tuesday on the Mall with George

As I previously announced, I spent a good part of Tuesday morning visiting with the President of the United States.  I shouldn't say "visiting."  More like "watching him speak."  The event was hosted by the good folks at The Manhattan Institute and was concerned primarily with the line item veto (which I am passionately and almost violently against, but I won't bore you with the reasons why).  President Bush is for it, especially for the Rep. Ryan's adjusted line item veto bill passed by the House and moving on to the Senate.  The speech itself wasn't very good (you can read it and watch it here).  It was choppy, jumped around a lot, and really didn't get to the point until the last third.  But we don't really demand rhetorical flourishes from President Bush, nor do we expect rhetorical brilliance when talking about something as bland as the line item veto.  It was great to be able to see the President in what turned out to be a semi-intimate gathering and also numerous Senators and Representatives, including John McCain.  Of course, since he follows me to almost every event I go to, Bill Kristol was there as well.

Anyway, I got to bring a colleague of mine and he appreciated it.  It was also nice to briefly say hello to a few MI people from my brief and unheralded summer with them up in New York City six years ago.  Unfortunately, my friend was a bit late so we did not get prime seating.  That couldn't be helped much since the Metro was running horribly slow.  It took me 45 minutes to go three stops so I jumped off at Foggy Bottom and ran to the JW Marriott instead of taking twice as long to get to Metro Center.  My friend came from even further away and it took him almost an hour and a half.  Because we were in the back the lighting wasn't condusive to taking pictures, especially with my aging, second rate camera.  I noticed some people only a dozen or so feet closer were able to get better pictures (i.e., better lit and sharper). I don't know if that is because of the lighting, distance, or quality of the camera.  But here is one shot.  I apologize for the framing, but there were tons of heads in the way (which also made focus and lighting difficult, btw).

All in all, it was an honor and a pleasure to see the President in the flesh.

Second German Clip

Children are cute.  But not all of them are cute, especially when doing certain things.  They can become disturbing very quickly.  Watch the clip below, please, from the German version of Star Search.  It is a bit long, but please stay until at least 1 minute and 15 seconds.  That is when it gets bizarre.  Also, at 4:33 there is a nice consolation prize for sticking through.  Click below to see it.

Check My Sheets

What does this title mean?  It means that several of my favorite "bedwetter" bands have come out with new CDs.  The best of them is Snow Patrol , who not only produce a final album but also manage to reference my favorite Sufjan Stevens in their main single.  You know that alone has to win points in my book.  The other one is Kean's new album, which frankly after only one listen I don't like as much as their first outing.  But I will give it time.  I am nothing if not generous.

Thank you.

My Problem with Policy

So I went to a panel on civil society the other day at a local think tank.  I've been to a few events there before and always enjoy the panelists (and the food).  Since I don't have a business card yet I'm loathe to start schmoozing until I have the full accoutrement necessary to do so properly, which seems to be one of the major reasons people go to these things. 

Anyway, I have always been upset that I have not been able to ask a question before.  I usually have a question or comment but never get called on to ask it since there are more important and known people in the room who usually get first dibs (and rightly so, I might add).  But today I finally got to ask a question.  I owe it all to the fact that the place was crawling with college-aged interns who were more than happy to pass the microphone to anyone, not having been taught the important lesson that at these things the big shots get to go first.  Anyway, one young fellow passed me the microphone before I was selected and therefore when the other microphone was finished I had the conch, so to speak.  There was some discomfort or confusion about this, since my having the conch was way to early given my unknown status.  But I prevailed and was able to ask my question.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the general topic of my question/comment had been alluded to in the two previous comments so it wasn't totally off the wall, but since I asked it like a graduate student (full of bluster and incoherence) one of the panelists I don't think really got it but one of them did and clarified.  It seemed like they all really thought the question or comment important and insightful so I thought I'd expand on my own feelings here, where none of you is at all interested in the topic.

Schiess den Ball ins Tor

In honor of our glorious exit from the World Cup and in preparation for the one week mark before I leave these fair shores for Berlin, this in the first of several YouTube clips I thought I would post to get The Misspent Life and you in the mood for all things German.

Tonight I watched the film Der Tunnel (The Tunnel), about a, uh, tunnel built under the Berlin Wall in the early 1960s.  It is very good and I recommend it to you.  Rather long, but well worth it.  Very well done and very effective in translating the fear and terror involved in planning such a mission on both the Western and Eastern side of that once-divided city.  I mention this not only because it is a good film and I like sharing this kind of information with you, but also because the star of this film, Heino Ferch, also figures prominently in this video.

Below the fold you will find Schiess den Ball ins Tor, a German song celebrating soccer by Max Raabe und das Palast Orchester, whom you will remember me commenting on a few weeks ago.  Enjoy.

Hold Music

Why is that hold music always sounds like it is being played out of a bad speak and heard through a bucket of water?  It's not like they have the receiver of the phone sitting next to the radio or anything.  It is most disconcerting when you are calling from a cellular phone and don't normally get good reception.  Is it just the music or is the connection bad?  I don't know!  Thankfully the thirty second interruption telling me that my call is important to them or that my patience is appreciated and that they will be back in a minute.  Boy, hearing that sure makes my wait a lot more manageable. Tha-anks.

Into Which Level of Hell Have I Descended?

That is the burning question at the moment.  Late last week I received a little drop into my bank account from my lovely homestate.  It was a little drop, and that is the problem.  It was supposed to be a big drop.  Today I received a unhelpful letter from the state informing me why my refund had to be reduced by 95%.  I haven't the slightest idea what they mean by this so am now sitting quietly on hold waiting to speak to someone who will probably be even more unhelpful.  I have been sitting here for quite a while now and all of a sudden a voice chimes in that my estimated wait is "TWENTY.........FIVE........minutes," in that tone.  What have I done?  What have I done?  What have I done to deserve this?

UPDATE:  That only took about an hour.  The gist of it is that I have to refile my taxes and explain to them in painstaking detail the sources of all my income, where I was a resident when the income was earned, and where I paid taxes on that income.  It seems that Illinois thinks that my income was almost 40% higher than it actually was which is why they shafted me on my refund.  Nowhere on any form that I submitted does it have my income that high so I have no idea where they are getting that number (actually I do, and if it is the reason than they are really incompetant).  The guy on the phone, who was actually fairly helpful given the circumstances and complexity of the issues involved (don't you love government?).  For all I will complain about this for the next week I should say that the guy on the phone was doing his best to help me out.  But still, I can't say that I'm looking forward to spending part of my week before I leave to bogging myself down in my tax returns.  And what will I have waiting for me when I return?  Probably another letter saying that I owe them money and that it is past due since it came due two weeks before I got back.