Hail we now our Alma Mater...

My Alma Mater is hosting the Democratic Debates tomorrow night. Congrats Drexel!

www.drexel.edu/debate/

Another year of this?

Each day I wake up and immediately check drudgereport.com. I don't know why. It was a habit formed back in college when my sister told me that if there is breaking news on drudge, it is usually true. Drudge provides me with enough "news" to last a good fifteen minutes. Each day, the headlines focus on Clinton or Obama. As a registered Democrat, its funny to read all these articles lambasting Clinton or Obama, but never have the chance to read anything in support of Romney or Guiliani. It's always negative, even on a page that leans severely to the right. At least drudge is bi-partisan in his negativity.

This is where my title comes in. We have another year of this until the election? I'm not sure I can care this much for another year, especially when I'm starting to feel like I don't care at all. From my point of view and in my limited knowledge, here is what I have deduced about the following candidates:

*Obama is a pre-schooler who is dangerously strattling the line when it comes to politics and religion. The fact that Oprah supports him is enough reason for me to vote against him.

*Romney is a republican's dream over the past two years, but has a *gasp* liberal history that won't allow him to win. In addition, he looks like one of Madam Tousard's wax sculptures. I don't know what importance my second point has but I had to get it in there.

*Guiliani is a good guy. I don't have much bad to say about him except that I don't think he's that qualified. Out of all the candidates, though, he's the one I'd most like to have a drink with. His wife, on the other hand, is the reason I would NEVER vote for him. Have you heard about this woman?

*Clinton isn't bad and will be the candidate that I vote for. I say this because I like her, I think she is smart, and I don't think that she pretends to be 'one of the people.' She gets that she is a politician, has nothing in common with the general population, and will play this election-game to win. You have to respect that.

*All the other candidates- Good luck but you haven't caught my interest. I have taken a number of quizzes as to who would be my candidate and Kucinich always wins, followed by Clinton. If you are still out there Kucinich, good luck and god speed!

Today's song: America by Neil Diamond

Vincient Buddhist

My brother and his boyfriend are both actors in NYC and, in my opinion, are two of the funniest people I know. I am really looking forward to their visit in November but until then, David's videos will have to suffice for my day-to-day.



Today's song: Missed Me by The Dresden Dolls

And so it is..

To everyone who made my birthday yesterday an absolute blast, THANK YOU!

It was an unbelievable night! Love you all.

Alright, back to bed.

Today's song: Family Affair, Mary J. Blige

I was finally able to upload my pictures from my travels and have posted a few of my favorites down below. Enjoy!

Reykjavik is full of art and public sculpture. The above, Voltar, was my favorite. It sat looking over the Reykjavik Harbor.

Reykjavik from afar (not that far, just at the top of a hill).

My sister and I took a long walk at Sundown when I got into Frankfurt. This is a shot of the River Main and some of the Frankfurt Skyline.

We travelled to Entville about an hour outside of Germany to an old Monastery, now a winery. This is perhaps my favorite shot of the whole trip.

And this is perhaps my favorite meal of the whole trip which I had at the Winery in Entville.

One of the canals in Hamburg leading out to the Harbor.

The larger of the two lakes in Hamburg. It was the most beautiful day.

Josh and me in the St. Georg part of Hamburg after a few drinks.

Rose Garden in Vienna.

Wine with the sister in Vienna. It was this tiny little square she discovered just off the beaten path.

The last day in Frankfurt with my sister's friends. We were tired having just played a lot of ping pong in the park.

U ! S ! A !

Back in the states and I can't sleep. Each day I wake up rediculously early and I can't get back to bed. The good thing is that I now have more than enough time to catch up on the television that my roomate thankfully DVR'd for me while I was away.

So far, Grey's is slightly disappointing, although the new S&M relationship makes me smile. The roomie didn't DVR Private Practice and at first I was a little annoyed, but now I've already lost interest in the show which was probably inevitable. I'm still trying to get into Heroes but I've only seen the last episode of Season 1 so I am a little bit lost. Speaking of Lost, when does that start again?! I was really looking forward Pushing Daisies, starring my favorite, Kristen Chenoweth, but I actually stopped watching halfway through. I'm going to give it another try later today. In addition to those shows, I have Ken Burns' 14-hour documentary, The War, to finish.

One show that completely delivered (as usual) was Brothers and Sisters. I'm in love with that show.

Today's song: Where Does the Good Go, Tegan and Sara

Frankfurt to Hamburg to Frankfurt to Vienna

I just got back to Frankfurt after spening the night with a friend in Hamburg, a beautiful city. I am too lazy right now to figure out exactly how to post the pictures, but I promise you, they will be worth the wait. I was afraid that Hamburg was going to be very rainy, like Reykjavik, but it ended up being exactly the opposite; about 65 degrees and not a cloud in the sky all day, perfect weather for picture-taking and touristing around.

Josh was the perfect host, welcoming me with open arms and open bottles of wine. We chatted for a couple hours before calling it a night. I spent the day today walking all around Hamburg, from the lakes, to the harbors, and all the way up in a really large balloon that lifted you above the city for about 20 minutes. The view, from about 100 meters up, was fantastic and will post some of the shots once I figure out this camera ;) Towards the end of the day, I met up with Josh again and we shared some beers, dinner, and a lot of laughs and I caught a flight back to Frankfurt.

Tomorrow we head out to Vienna and I am looking forward to a lot of Lederhosen!

Today's song is Adelweiss, sung Family Von Trapp-style.

Pictures

I figured out how to get my pictures on to my sister's computer but I am having some trouble posting them here. I will continue to try to post but also need to start packing for Hamburg. Argh!

Hopefully they will be up by tomorrow. Happy Monday!

Travels

After four years (almost four) of my sister living in Germany, I have finally made it over here. I'm only on day 4 of my journey, already spending some time in Reykjavik, Frankfurt and Etville. Tonight I'm on my way to Hamburg to visit a friend who has been studying there for the past couple months. I'm a little peeved that I haven't brought my USB cable because some of the pictures that I have taken are fantastic if I do say so myself.

Some highlights:
*Reykjavik as a whole- the people are fantastic, very courteous and helpful. Reykjavik was a beautiful, eclectic city architecturally. It would have been nice to have spent one more day there but in the 23 hours on that little island, I learned a lot more than I thought I would have. I highly recommend Iceland for what I saw and for what I did not see: picturesque waterfalls, glaciers, puffins are all within a few hours of the capital city. I would love to come back and spend some time outside of the city. One thing that was a bit of a bummer was how expensive everything was-- extremely expensive, 10-dollar beer expensive. Oh well, it was a great time.

*My sister met me at the airport in Frankfurt early afternoon on Saturday, and we immediately hopped on a train to get to her area of town (which is completely fantastic, loaded with little shops, and restaurants and every Saturday there is a street fair for blocks) I helped her pick out a new coffee table. I think the table rocks but the sis is still undecided... we may have to try to return the table to the street fair next Saturday.

*Met up with my sister's friend for dinner after taking a long, long walk along the river. The weather so far has been beautiful- an average of 60 degrees, no rain. We had a wonderful dinner, full of good converstation and a lot of Czech beer (Yum). I had my first weinerschnitzel which I have to admit was quite tastey!

*Yesterday, we travelled to a small town, Etville, about an hour and a half outside of Frankfurt, to visit an old Monastery/Vineyard. Great little place, kind of touristy but is was all very relaxed as we went along our self-guided tour through buildings dating back to the 12th Century. We didn't take the typical vineyard tour but we made sure to taste a few different kinds, none of which were to-die-for but they we all quite yummy. We lingered at the Vineyard, had dinner, drank some more and meandered (read: power-walked) back to town in a losing effort to catch our 8:30 train. We were able to get home at a reasonable hour still and enjoyed a nice talk with our family so we could wish our neice and nephews a very happy 4th birthday!

I will try to post again before I return home.. until then, Ich Habe mich verirrt! (j/k)

Today's song from the shower: I've Seen it All by Bjork and Tom Yorke.