Today Susi and I were talking about the new Incubus album which came out the other day, and she mentioned wanting to go to the next concert. I was thinking that I would actually like that too, and I looked up the tour dates, and they are playing Munich on March 19th. Which is - a Monday - but right during semester break. Tickets are around €30 which is a lot less than I expected and a lot more affordable. Since I want to do that internship at the DAI during the break, I have tried figuring out a way to be home in time for the concert, and I think it will work out. I will have to talk to Ingrid at the DAI first, but I am hoping to do my internship for five weeks, February 12 - March 16. Then I could go home for three weeks, and have another week to get ready for classes to start again. I really hope this will work out. After Snow Patrol canceled LU, this would be another great band I would really love to see live. (By the way, they are coming back to Germany in February, but of course not here, why do they not actually do concerts in the places that were canceled? The closest they are coming is Stuttgart which would be cool, but getting home after the concert without a car will be impossible, and staying at a hotel is not really an option either.)

The other day I saw a trailer for Shut Up & Sing, a documentary about the Dixie Chicks and their infamous statement at a London concert, and the consequences. It made me really want to see it. The thing that bugs me is, there is no release date for Germany. The thing that really bugs me is, they showed this movie at the film festival in San Sebastián, and I did not want to see it then. This is so frustrating, because I could have seen it two months ago, and I chose not to, and now that I want to see it, I can’t. I guess, this is what I get for not being able to make up my mind, huh?

Speaking of, I made up my mind, and decided to get the BtVS DVD collection. I ordered it last weekend, along with Merry Christmas and now I just have to wait until it is released next weekend. I did receive the other DVD already, though. I am really excited, although the amount of money I am spending is still making me cringe on the inside. I mentioned this (that I ordered the DVDs) to my dad the other day, and he just said, “oh that’s horrible, I don’t want to hear any more”. That’s my dad for you. Kind of comical, isn’t he?

And another speaking of, I have been wanting to replace my mp3 player. That is, get a smaller one. I would not be getting rid of my current one, probably use it on longer trips, but get a new one for everyday bus rides and such. And I was looking at the Sandisk Sansa e270, which looks great to me, however a few things bug me: the navigation does not seem that great (judging from reviews), and since I have not found a single store that had this one in stock, I have not been able to take a look at it myself. It sells for €149 at Amazon.de and the storage space is 6GB (however you can add another 1 or 2GB by inserting a microSD card). Now the new iPod Nano came out. It sells for €188.90 at Amazon.de and the storage is 4GB. Aside from the obvious that the Sansa has more space and is cheaper by a good €40, the main thing that bugs me about the iPod is the battery. I have heard a lot of bad things about the iPod battery, and the fact that you have to send it in to have it exchanged which will cost you around €80 does not help. Since the new generation was just released, I will not be able to find any reviews on the battery life. The iPod also only comes with a 1 year warranty, which may be standard in the US, but here a 2 year warranty actually is what you usually get. However, the iPod’s navigation seems really good, and it is an iPod. I try really hard not to fall for the brand concept, but it is hard. Everyone wants an iPod, everyone has an iPod. People pay a lot just for the name. I really don’t know what to do about this. I will probably not get a new one before the end of the year (or the beginning of the next, however the Mehrwertsteuererhöhung (sales tax on non-food/book is raised by 3% to 19% on 01/01/07) is making me think I should get it before January 1st), so I have some time to decide, but it is bugging me a little. If any of you have any input, let me know.

Now on to real - not hypothetical - news. Sunday a week ago I met up with Caty. We met in the afternoon for coffee at Starbucks, and we really had a good time. I had thought we would probably meet for a few hours. Well, we actually hung out a lot longer. After spending a couple of hours at Starbucks (one hour with a weirdo sitting at our table… he was probably mentally handicapped, but he really was a bit creepy, he kept mumbling to himself, we were more than relieved when he left), we went to Caty’s place. Turns out she lives really close to me (10 minutes/5 stops on the bus) and we just hung out there until around 2300, chatting and surfing the internet. It was a lot of fun (the picture is proof), and we will definitely hang out more often now. Yay for making new friends who live so close by.

Thursday was the thanksgiving dinner as I mentioned before, and the food was great. I had turkey (duh!), stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, corn on the cob, and pumpkin pie. We should introduce this holiday in Germany, and preferably celebrate it once every season. I love Thanksgiving (food)! One of my professors was invited to the dinner too, since he is the AmLit professor at the English department. He is actually the one I want to write my thesis with and who I want to be my examiner at the end of my studies in two years. He is a cool guy, but can I say how glad I was he did not sit at my table? I was glad I could just have a nice, relaxing dinner and be myself, not having to impress anyone. We just waved at each other, and that is it. His class is good, but so much to read. I have read three books so far, am in the middle of the fourth, and have another four to go (two of which I do not even have yet). Anyway, on the right is a picture of Nate (my language partner and fellow Grey’s watcher) and me.

Other than that, this week has not been that exciting. I worked on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (15 hours total, not that bad, and it means more money so I don’t mind at all). Tomorrow I have an Italian exam, a fact I have so far successfully ignored this weekend, but since it is 1930 now, I should probably start studying. I also have a 1-2 page summary paper to write by midnight. Of a book I read in August. Needless to say, I first have to refresh my memory as to what exactly happened in the book.

Speaking of reading, I borrowed a book from Caty and I already finished it: PS, I Love You by Cecilia Ahern. An easy, fun read, but nothing special, and very predictable. I enjoyed it, though, and I think the fact that I finished it within two days speaks for itself. Now I am reading Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and I really like it so far. Unusual and interesting, a good book.

Anyway, I better get back to doing laundry, and get started on studying and homework before it gets too late.

Today is Thanksgiving in the US. I celebrated Thanksgiving 2004, when I lived in the States, with Colette and her family, and it was great. I really loved all the food and these past weeks I had really been craving some good typical Thanksgiving food.

Well, tonight I will be getting a Thanksgiving dinner, as AJY (the American exchange students group) is organizing one in a restaurant, and all the language partners are invited. I am so excited about this. Good food and fun people. It should be a great night.

I hope all the Americans of you are having a wonderful holiday and lots of delicious food.

Then I hide until it goes away.

This is a quote from what is probably my favorite TV show of all times. Now, which one I am talking about? … Guessed it? It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer! I used to watch this show religiously - in fact I think there is not a single episode I have not seen. It is such an amazing combination of action, drama and comedy. And it just accompanied me throughout my teenage years - I started watching it in 1998 when I was 15 years old, and it finished in 2003 when I was 20 years old. I used to count the days until the next episode would air. I just loved that show and the entire buffyverse.

I knew I wanted to get the entire series on DVD eventually when I could afford it, and the DVDs were not that expensive any more. Now I looked at Amazon and saw they are releasing a box set containing the entire series (seasons 1-7) in two weeks (just in time for Christmas business, smart Fox people).

This actually works perfectly for me. The set does cost €159 which is a lot of money to spend on a TV show, but really if you divide it by 7 one season costs €22.70 which is actually quite inexpensive for an entire season’s DVD set. I am very seriously considering buying this, as Christmas is coming up, and I will be working more hours, so I can actually afford to buy it. Of course other things that are on my imaginary wish-list would have to wait a little longer, or I would just have to cut down on clothes shopping for a month or two, but it is possible.

It’s just… the guilt. I really do not like spending big sums of money like that at once, on just one thing, with one click. But in this case it would save me a good €30 to buy all the seasons at once, and not separately.

I will probably wait a few more days to make sure I really want to do this, but I do think I am going to. Buying all of the BtVS seasons on DVD is, after all, not something I just randomly came up with yesterday.

By the way, there are two more TV shows that I want to get on DVD eventually: Grey’s Anatomy and 24. These along with BtVS and Gilmore Girls are probably my four favorite TV shows of all time. I want to get seasons 6 and 7 of Gilmore Girls when they come out, and I will probably get Grey’s soon-ish (there are only two seasons out so that is not as big an amount of money, however, it may have to wait a few more months until I actually get them). 24 is the last one on my list, not because it is my least favorite show of the four but simply because this show really works best when watched for the first time. 24 mostly relies on suspense and surprise. Once you know what is going to happen, it is a completely different experience (which is why I never ever read any spoilers on 24, with other shows I don’t care as much). The other three rely a lot more on drama and comedy, though, which is why you can keep watching them over and over.

Gosh, I really do write about TV shows a lot lately, huh? I promise I will try to write more non-TV/movie posts in the future. TV really is not all I care about, although lately it may appear so. ;)

Next week is Thanksgiving. I have been thinking about Thanksgiving food for the past couple of weeks, wishing I would get to eat some Thanksgiving food, especially pumpkin pie and deviled eggs. So good! I was considering making my own pumpkin pie and deviled eggs (and still am, actually, though I doubt I will for Thanksgiving, maybe some weekend). But the great news is, AJY is doing a Thanksgiving dinner again. I remember they did one last year, but for some reason that I cannot think of, I couldn’t make it. I am not sure how a Thanksgiving dinner at a German restaurant will work, but the invitation says Thanksgiving Dinner with turkey and all the trimmings, so I guess, we can at least expect … a turkey, right? Anyway, this year I am definitely not going to miss it. I will have to leave work a bit early, but that should be okay, since I can make up for that half hour another day. Thanksgiving food, here I come!

On a movie note, Nate and I saw The Science of Sleep on Monday and it was awesome. I will get the DVD of it when it comes out. It is one of the weirdest and funniest movies I have ever seen. Love the idea of a disasterology calendar! And poor Stéphane feeling all schizometric being talked to in English and in French. Just to share some funny quotes with you:

Stephane: Tonight I'll show you how dreams are prepared, love, friendships, relationships. All those ships.

Stephane: It's like touching your penis with your left hand.
Stéphanie: I don't have a penis.
Stephane: But you have a left hand.

Stéphanie: I have big hands.
Stephane: That means you have a large penis.
Stéphanie: ...
Stephane: That was inappropriate...

Now go see the movie! Speaking of movies, some good movies are coming out on DVD in the coming months, Merry Christmas next week, PotC2 next month, and Volver in February. And while I am at it, two good movies that are coming out in the theaters here this month are Children of Men and Little Miss Sunshine (another must-buy-DVD movie). I saw them in San Sebastián in September, they are great. Go see them too!

A short note on yesterday’s Gilmore Girls: Oh my gosh, I totally didn’t see that coming! However what I was most shocked by is Lorelai’s face at the end of the episode! What the … can that woman not ever be happy with a decision she makes, and stick with something (that is, a man) for a change? I am getting a little tired of all that relationship drama… and that is all I will say, because I don’t want to spoil it for others who haven’t seen the episode yet.

Random astrological fact: the other week we were learning all the Italian words for starsigns, and our teacher did a little poll who has which starsign, and it turns out that of over 20 people, I am not only the only cancer, no, I am also the only person with a water sign. Shocking, I know! There are no pisces, no scorpios, and no other cancers in the entire class. I feel so lonely. ;(

Tomorrow is my last working/class day of the week, and I am ever-so-thankful for that fact. I never get enough sleep, no matter what, I never make it to bed early. I really need to work on that. It is too exhausting to do this for another three months. And according to the weather forecast it is supposed to get as warm as 17°C (63°F) tomorrow. Very warm for mid-November, but I am not going to complain. It is horrible enough that the sun goes down at like 1700 every day, and it never seems to be all bright and sunny outside.

Well, I will end this post with a super-cute picture of my friend Sheela and me. It was her birthday last weekend and her party was great. We did raclette with her parents, Nelly, and two other friends of hers, and then just chatted, and took funny pictures. It was good for me to have such a fun girly night. Took my mind off some things that had been keeping me a little down. I am a lot better now. I am glad we have been friends for so long now, we took two classes together in our second semester, and have been friends ever since, so that is a good 3.5 years now. She is the friend I have had for the longest here in Heidelberg, and I am really thankful for her friendship.

Anyway, I hope y’all are having a good week.