The Misspent Life

Definition of a Good Night

Listening to 5th Dimension records while enjoying a nice glass or two of fine scotch.

Strange News

Hey all.  Sorry I've been busy.  I am gearing up for the upcoming school year.  Yesterday was my last day of freedom since I started things off with a meeting today.  Same thing tomorrow, except all day, and then for the rest of the week and weekend I am going up to Philly for the annual conference.

Anyway, you should go read this story at Mere Comments about the fate of independent campus ministries at Georgetown. I heard about this shortly after it happpened, but have been waiting until I've seen it other places before bringing to your attention as well. I don't want to say much about it here since I don't have much information and don't want to betray the confidence of those I have spoken to about this, but from what I have heard this is entirely an inside baseball land grab by the official university protestant ministry.  I should say that all of the conspiracy-focused comments on the blog are likely mistaken.  From what I've heard, the official ministry is not popular with the student body while the independent ministries are.  The official ministry is a cost to the university and needs to justify its existence.  The only way to get people to come to the official ministry events if no one likes them is to be the only game in town.  That's what I think this is, although there has been no communication as to why this decision was made so everyone is just guessing.  While the university has been sensitive to evangelism, I don't think this was the primary driver behind this unexplained, extreme, and sudden decision.  I hope this doesn't last since it is sad not to have the connection with my brothers and sisters in Christ at Georgetown that these organizations provided. 

I should also add that I agree with the statement made by the Cardinal Newman Society quoted here.  If Georgetown is a Catholic institution (one can joke that it is better to say Jesuit institution) why do they have official Protestant, Jewish, and Islamic ministries?  In my mind it would be best for them to be explicitely Catholic in all of its official capacities and encourage the presence of outside ministries that they have just kicked off campus since it would allow them to be tolerant of other faiths while not officially accepting and sanctioning them.

Please keep the campus and the groups in your thoughts and prayers.

Revolutionary/Reactionary

I am currently reading the book "Explaining Hitler" by Ron Rosenbaum.  I had brought a Flashman book to the family compound but realized that I had read it already and that I should have brought the next book on the shelf, Flashman and the Dragon, since that is the next one in the sequence.  Despairing, and not wanting to re-read the Flashman book without completing the series, I looked through POPS' collection.  I pulled off "Spy Handler" by Victor Cherkashin, which is the Soviet version of some of the major sections of "The Main Enemy" which I read last summer.  I finished that quickly, so pulled off the Hitler book, thinking that after reading a book on Weimar I would read an overview of the Hitler literature.  One part of the introduction got me thinking about one of my major interests.  The topic was whether Hitler was a revolutionary or a reactionary.  Here are my thoughts, as they come, on this subject.

Oh, Post Office

So I return to the Virginia compound today and go to get my mail and find only two envelopes.  Two envelopes?  I was gone for almost a week and there are only two pieces of mail?  Come to think of it, I didn't have much mail on the few days in between my return to DC and my leaving for Chicago.  Nothing has been forwarded to Chicago after it was supposed to stop when last Monday, so what is happening to my mail?   Three discs from Netflix were supposed to have been delivered over the weekend. I'm waiting on information regarding renewing my health insurance.  Who knows what else has gone missing?  Again, what is happening to my mail. This is the question that no one seems to know the answer to.  Oh, thank you USPS for making my life just a little bit easier.

Golf Report

Sadly, I won't be reporting much from the PGA largely because it has been requested that I do so in German and frankly I don't have the energy or desire to do so and also because they do not allow you to have cameras on the grounds during the tourney.

Today, Saturday, I have been left at the suburban compound because POPS had some business guests today, MOTHER was working as a volunteer from the wee hours of the morning and SIBLING has guests of his own he is taking. But I do have a few notes from round 2 on Friday.  

German Television

So what did I do in Germany?  Watch TV!

Here are some notes:

Where to Start

I really don't know where to begin when telling you more about my adventures in Berlin.  I did briefly mention my run in with some neo-nazis, so I should probably flesh that one out a little bit and provide more context.

Why I Love Suf

While I was in Berlin I sent Blimpish out on a trip so I could do some shopping and errand running since I had pretty much wasted an afternoon in Munich dragging him around to look for pants.  I wanted to get the Sportfruend Stiller CD and look for some CDs that a friend asked me to pick up when I stumbled across an interesting sight.  I knew that Suf's new CD was coming out in July (although it isn't really new since they are songs left over from the Illinoise CD that didn't make the cut) but I wasn't expecting to see it in Germany.  I really wasn't expecting to see it in Germany with a sign over it that said, translated, "New Singer Genius -- Tip! Tip!  Tip!"  And I really REALLY wasn't expecting to see it placed at #9 on their charts, one spot over the more high profile new Keane CD.  Anyway, as a show of solidarity to my man Suf I decided to bump up his sales numbers in Europe by one.

But this isn't my point, I just need to relate every post for the next few weeks to Germany in some way just to rub it in and revel in it and attempt to remove the drudgery from my hohum existance here in DC (and no, Card, not even going to the PGA will pick me up too much).  My point is that I love Suf because one of his songs is called "Inaugural Pop Music For Jane Margaret Byrne."  When I saw this I told Blimpish how awesome it was, but I don't think he got it, and frankly I don't blame him.  He didn't even seem to show any additional interest when I told him about the snow storm that did her in.

Anyway, Suf is awesome and even the Germans know that.  Buy his CD, or do you want the Germans to be better than you?
 

Eine Liebe, die nie endet

One of the fantastic things about being in a foreign country for a long spell is that you get to taste a little of the local "scene."  One of the highlights for me was the introduction to Sportfreunde Stiller, the group responsible for the WM song that was on everyone's lips, "'54, '74, '90, 2006" (or as it is now known, "'54, '74, '90, 2010" in a clever and therefore somewhat un-German move). If you don't know, those are the years that Germany has won the World Cup.  Since they didn't win it this time, they sing about the next.

Doch.  So I am quite fond of their current single "Eine Liebe, die nie endet" which means "A Love That Never Ends" not only because of the melody and lyrics, but also because of the video.  What a beautiful setting.  Plus, you cannot beat the clothing.  Believe it or not, I was a breath away from owning my own pair of Lederhosen but Fate intervened and it was not to be.  I will have to tell you that story later.

Back Home Again and I'm Feeling Fine...

Or, well, at least a little fine.

I am indeed back in my Virginia estate.  I had some trepidation regarding flying transatlantic, but my fears were unfounded.  There was little to nothing to complain about and, in fact, things to praise.  I may have mentioned this before, but I was particuarly excited that I was flying Singapore Airlines because I had always heard that it is the best in the world.  Well, the Lufthansa plane on my way over there was newer and nicer, but the service on the Singapore Airlines flight was amazing.  They called everyone by their last names and would attend to your every need immediately.  Fantastic.

Anyway, I had a few errands to run now that I am back.  My cable doesn't seem to be working right even though the internet is just dandy.  Also, to explain my "at least a little fine" qualification, I checked my credit card balance today for the first time.  OUCH!!!!!  But, it was worth it, I think.  I will just have to tighten my belt a little for the next month or two to make up for it.  After all, it is not like I am in a cash crunch--since I am such a poor investor the bulk of my assets are in plain old bank accounts (I really should do something about that...)

As soon as I organize my photos I will be sure to share some with you!!!

Tschüß!