Praha, Pivo, Prosim

In regards to my nerd status, I think this video says enough…   

Although I’ll have limited space in my luggage for anything other than clothing and toiletries, I’m taking suggestions on any new books you think I should read. I saw a nice big stack of historical non-fiction at Joseph-Beth the other day and I would gladly have purchased any one of them.  I’ll have lots of down time on my big travel day so I don’t necessarily want something fluffy or something I can get through in 2 hours. An engrossing book would occupy more of my time, anyway. Otherwise I’m likely to go drinking at the Detroit airport. (Here’s a brief update for anyone who has been to the Detroit airport–it no longer looks like a bus station. Dare I use the word nice? Yes, I do.) 

On the note of books, I came across this Wiki entry the other day and it struck me as well…just being stupid.

Go ahead and call me an idiot for never having heard of the genre of ’speculative fiction.’ According to the Wiki entry, it’s as sub-genre of general fiction. Ok, then it starts blah blah blah-ing about different worlds, etc. However, what strikes me as just stupid is the SPECULATIVE part. Isn’t by it’s basic meaning fiction already speculative? That’s kind of WHY it’s fiction as opposed to NON-fiction. According to dictionary.com, speculation is 

1. the contemplation or consideration of some subject OR 4. conjectural consideration of a matter; conjecture or surmise   

I understand that not all of the contents of fictitious book are false or bullshit. There are usually very real and factual parts to a work of fiction. Dictionary.com defines fiction as the following…

3. something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story  

But, again, if a book is classified in the FICTION section of your local library or bookstore, it’s generally received to be not necessarily a work of lies but perhaps one of non-truth. So, if we put all those little words together–consideration, contemplation, conjectural, invented, imagined…. hmm, they all read rather synonymous to me. Or am I just being stupid?

/end rant

Book recommendations wanted!

For those of you that know me, the answer to the above question is probably yes. Why? Because I’m making reference to this move with great frequency. But this move is a HUGE deal for me thus it occupies much of my thoughts. So on that front I apologize and you’ll only have to hear about it for a few more weeks and then I’ll be blogging from across the pond. 

Four weeks from today I’ll be on day two of my European/Iron Curtain adventure. It will be Saturday, February 7, 2009. Yes, I really do know the exact date.

I have packed up no more than I had a few days ago and I’m alright with that fact.There is still the wish that I had a bit more done for the mere desire of living in a slightly less unorganized domicile.

Updates are still to come when something more interesting happens. Until that time, I’m going to drink my beer and be a Facebook whore. If anyone out there wants to ‘friend’ me, please do so as I will probably welcome the request. However, if you do not know me personally and you still want to FB, give me some personal info and perhaps we can exchange mails and then I’ll honor your request. I’m by no means trying to be bitchy on this front but I’ve never revealed my last name here so keeping a bit of anonymity here is something I’d like to maintain. My name isn’t a secret but you know, the paparazzi are just an evil nuisance of my daily life. Oh I keed, I keed….  

Just a couple more random videos detailing the mess that is my dwelling. 

No need to tell me I’m a dork–this is a given.

I started boxing up some things in the apartment today. I decided that packing away books and non-essentials would be the easiest plus, it will make the living room look a bit tidier. For those that do not know me, I like collecting random chotchkes. My preferential chotchke is that of the bobblehead. They come cheap to accrue and they’re usually fun. Said collection was interspersed between books and other random little kitschy pieces on my bookshelves.While packing up box numero uno, I inadvertently dropped a book and it landed on my favorite bobblehead. Shit. I just so happened to break the face off a little Asian kid. 

If you are faceless, you deserve some wine regardless inferior and cheap quality. Drink up Ming Lee, you are going in the trash. 

In one month the new chapter begins! Although I still have plenty of time, my apartment is still a mess. I’m usually prepared for stuff and hate doing last-minute cramming so hopefully I won’t be scrambling to get things done the last week of January. I’ll be departing the US on Feb. 5th, and after a nice 24-hour travel day, I’ll arrive around 9am local time following layovers in Detroit and Amsterdam. And before anyone asks–a) no, I won’t be hitting any Dutch hash bars and b) no, I’m not going to buy you any weed. Airlines and airport security don’t like you travelling with illegal substances. Come on, haven’t you seen Brokedown Palace? 

Yes, this is the beautiful Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic. I kind of can’t believe I’m doing this; I’m moving to Europe. Holy shit. I’d always had the desire to live abroad.  While most do this kind of move right out of college, as the saying goes, ‘better late than never,’ right? People keep asking me why I’m doing this and my simple response is, ‘Why not?’ The only reasons I shouldn’t do this are out of personal fear and intimidation. Being a person who is usually neither, I’m taking a leap of faith and just DOING IT. I think Nike was right on that one. Of course, this blog will be updated often and now that Wordpress is my pal, frequent updates are super easy which is a convenient factor for someone who is acquiring a quasi-vagabond lifestyle. I am also bringing along two cameras therefore photos will accompany many blogs. My current freebie Flickr account only permits 200 images but if I pay for a subscription, I can upload mass quantities for everyone to see. Wordpress  allows one image upload at a time thus making bulk uploads time consuming. We’ll see about the Flickr thing though; it’s a bit premature to make a decision as I’m considering other photo site upload contenders. Ever seen SmugMug? Personalized user site design is a plus and some of the layouts look awesome. It’s tempting but I haven’t been able to navigate to a pricing sheet. They’re making it tricky on purpose! Either way, I’ll definitely be putting up lots of photos so stay tuned! 

Well, I’m one step closer to this big move thing. I just sold my car today. The VW has gone bye-bye. I surely would have kept it had I not been moving but it’s just a superfluous expense that I don’t need at this time. Of course the extra money is beneficial, too.

I’m also half-ready to go ahead and put stuff in boxes. Not because I’m so eager to go right now this minute but for the mere fact that my apartment is a total wreck and it would look cleaner. It’s a totally lazy move on my part not to clean but I’m the only one who lives here so….

Although most of you already know, I’ve got something big in the works so as a result, I’m posting a pretty picture. Why? Well, I’ll be relocating to this city in February. Sure yes, it’s going to be the cold time of the year as I’m not moving to Fiji. I’m no advocate of cold weather but I think I’ll be just fine here….

Just in case you are out of the loop and want to know where this is, go ahead and ask Google or Babelfish to translate the first word of the post title or the blog page title.

Here’s another shot that I just love. Of course, I’ll be bringing my cameras and will be updating the blog furiously. That’s my intention (at least) but I’m hoping to keep all my stateside friends abreast of my new adventures abroad!

NEW LOOK! So, I decided not to eff around with my domain name and have to redirect readers. I’m staying at this cyber address. This new format should be more user friendly as well as admin friendly (me!) because in the past, I had some serious issues with my blog provider. I hope that entries will be easier for me to upload and now (per Glenn’s request) you can leave your comments. Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll still be blogging until I leave so stay tuned. Next entry? I have a new (and even more impressive) shot of my neighbor’s growing stack of bagged dog poo.