Time Management

Today was a big day. Lots to do and little money to earn. Somehow, I seem to be losing track of time.

Quite honestly, I am enjoying my life more than I have in a long time. I am extremely grateful that all of my stars crossed and I got some time to get back on track. Evil corporate life simply wasn't for me. When I think of some of the things I was asked to do last spring, I shudder. No wonder I felt so exhausted all of the time. The whole process lead me to lots of talks with friends, neighbors and colleagues about what we each need to lead fulfilling lives. The strangest thing is, no matter what the answer, only a small percent of people really feel that they are entitled to follow their passions (or at the very least, reject the things they hate).

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. a first interview with an organisation I would really like to work for
2. a strong and healthy son, who loves to go on bike rides with me
3. spontaneous visits from fabulous women friends
4. it's asparagus season
5. ladies' night tomorrow (let's get loud!)

Now off to bed to dream about all of the wonderful things I have left to experience.  I refuse to give up hope on them - people have called me a ridiculous idealist for decades, but that hasn't stopped me yet. Trust me, I have had adventures and plan to continue.

Summer adventures

So far, I have only been able to lure one American friend to visit G-Town. Shocking, but Guetersloh is not on the list of top ten tourist attractions in Europe.

Did I mention . . .

that I'm going to teach a class on "Cooking to Save the World" this fall?

I love being freelance.

Haiku to my April Lover

Friend asparagus
German crazy maker you
Fill my pot with love

Here's a nice post on the Germans and their love affair with the phallic white wonder. What would Freud say? The vegetable fits with the German preference for foods in the white to brown color range. There are even official "Spargel Parties", spargel menues and spargel festivals. The best thing: Spargel Queens. 

I repeat: what would Freud say?

A walk on the wild side

This weekend, a friend brought over a bonus-sized bag of wild garlic, gathered from a local forest.
This is what Wikipedia has to say about it.

 

Learning new things every day to help my family live healthier is one of the things I love most about my experience in Germany. Somehow I never felt very close to nature in the States. Strange, considering I'm from rural Michigan and we always had a garden growing up. Somehow I got used to having any vegetable or fruit I wanted, any time I wanted. Strawberries in winter? No problem!

In Germany, it is possible to tell the seasons just from the produce aisle. This used to bother me ("This is the 20th century! Why the hell can't I find fresh raspberries in January!? "). Now I really enjoy it. Nobody in their right mind here would ever consider buying a punnet of strawberries before May. "Das schmeckt nicht" - "That doesn't taste good" they claim - and they are right. Why waste a lot of money to transport bland, unripened berries from Morocco to me?

Slowly, I have gotten used to telling the seasons from what is locally fresh . This week, it is wild garlic, which can be had for free and makes a yummy pesto. Next week, it is white asparagus, the vegetable of the gods. White asparagus (incredibly phallic "white gold") will be around until the beginning of June, and is the beloved darling of dinner parties and brunches. After that it is GONE, not to be back until next Spring. I'll know Fall is on its way when Claudia calls me to go elderberry collecting with her.

Maybe that is what the 21st century is all about.

Just wondering . . .

when coloring my hair stopped being about self-expression and started being about denial of aging?

When I grow up . . .

Looks like I'm not the only one going through a premature mid-life crisis. It is amazing how many people I know are still trying to find their way in life. When we were little, being "grown up" seemed much easier. There was only the one question "what do you want to be when you grow up" - and didn't require multiple answers. Who knew that instead of pursuing my adolescent dream of being a waitress, instead I would be: an unemployed art historian, an evil HR lady, an assistant at an embassy, an teacher, a sales clerk, a temp in charge of paid outs at a seed company, a temp in charge of data entry, a temp in charge of (fill in the blank). 

The funny thing is, although I never did wait tables, the reasoning behind that dream has remained a constant. I wanted to be a waitress because I love food (see my backside for physical evidence) and I love making people happy (do not debate this with my husband, just try to accept it as fact). Most of the jobs I have enjoyed so far have had some element of making other people's lives easier. Now is about figuring out how to do the same to mine.

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This reminds me of an old joke circulating in the grad rooms of art history departments around the globe:

Q: What is the most important thing for art history students to learn in college?

A: How to say "do you want fries with that?"

Maybe it's not so far off target. In an existential sense, of course.

Ducks with excellent memories

We've seen these perpetrators before. Last spring, they arrived on the scene, charming us and all of our neighbors to feed their snack habit. "So cute" we thought! The children were enchanted. Our very own ducky love! In our yards! On our patios!

Then - the awful truth. The romantic duo have a pavlovian response to small children feeding them pumpkin seeds. Food in = shit out. Immediately. In our yards! On our patios!

This year, we thought we would be smarter. There is plenty of food out there for the ducks. No need to feed them our precious organic nuts. We thought they would accept this and move on. No. They have learned a new response. No food in = shit out. Immediately. In our yards! On our patios!

I guess they showed us. So much for ducky love.

Getting back in the groove

A few years ago, one of the VPs told me, "Sarah, you've got balls." Being most definitely female, I decided to take this as a complement to my self assuredness. This is currently being tested.

You see, I have sold myself to the local community ed as a painting instructor. After all, I do have a BA in art and a MA in art history. The only problem: I haven't painted in 15 years.

The lovely program administrator called me in March and asked for some photographs of my work to put in the upcoming course guide. Oh. Panic. How can I make up for over a decade of non-activity?

After 4 weeks of worry and a few days of hard painting, I feel like I am finally limbering up. No, I haven't painted a masterpiece, but I definitely reached FLOW in the activity (I love the idea of flow, but I can never remember how to spell Csikszentmihalyi). The pictures are a bit silly and trite, but they make me smile and gave me a feeling that I haven't had in a long time. Maybe I should stop caring about a market for my makings and just concentrate on the make process - who knows what will come out of a few more days, months and years of hard painting?

Happy daubing!

PS. if you are the community ed culture administrator, please ignore this post. Of course I have been serious about my art for the past decade. Really!