Some Flaky Puns

We ran out of cat food last night and there's obviously nowhere in Berlin that sells it. What to do, what to do? I wonder if cats eat cereal?

They do! Or at least Chubby does!

In fact, he turned out to be a veritable cereal killer!

No? 

Too corny? 

Too flaky? 

Was that pun a catastrophe? 

I myself thought it was purrfect!

A pun you could really sink your teeth into.

I chuckled so much that now I'm feline fine!

Just try to stop meow!

Only don't be catty--there's no claws in the blogger contract that prohibits puns.

OK, I'm done.

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

What's In Your Bag?

I recently found a picture contest on Photobucket, a website where people dump their pictures. The contest had expired, but I liked the topic: "What's in your purse?" The winning photo can be seen by following this link, but the premise of the photos are simple: arrange all the stuff you've got in your bag for a picture. So, I decided to do it for a Picture of the Day about a month ago. I'd meant write a blog post commenting about it, but I never had the time... until BLOGTOBERFEST, that is!

So, here's my bag, all packed up and ready to go (I don't have a man-purse, let alone a woman-purse, so I just used my backpack instead):

...and here's my "neatly-exploded-bag" picture:

If you're some kind of a creep or something, you can check out a larger version here.

Remember that this is the backpack that I take to work, so there are obviously a lot of job-related things. Let's have a look, generally from left to right, top to bottom (just pretend you're reading my junk like a cheap romance novel you picked up for a dollar in the checkout line at Rite-Aid):

1. Mini tripod, small camera, regular camera, and plastic bag: Because you never know when you'll find a Picture of the Day, and the plastic bag is because you never know where you'll find mold in this Godforsaken country.

2. Ipod and charging cable: Because music is important.

3. Cell phone: I should probably also have a charger for this, since it's usually dead. I think there's one in my car, but in any case, it's really only for emergencies.

4. Flash drive: That's how things get done around here.

5. Re-filled bottle of water: Small enough to carry easily and look cheap.

6. Folders and books: I do teach, after all.

7. Paperclip: Like free-range prairie dogs, they seem to be ubiquitous in my bag unless I'm trying to find one, in which case there's not a single one to be found.

8. Pens and whiteboard markers: More tools of the trade.

9. Two of those little "do not eat this" packets: I think they're supposedly made to keep moisture out of packages, and I'm crossing my fingers that they'll do the same for my bag.

10. Earphones

11. Medicines: Hand sanitizer (the water goes out here more than you'd imagine), generic "anti-diarrheal," "pink bismuth," "ibuprofen," and "gas relief" pills (to counteract traveling classes or horrible food).

12. Toothbrush and toothpaste: I was surprised that everyone here brushes their teeth after lunch, just like they say you're supposed to. When in Rome...

13. Gum, mint, and more gum: For when the water goes out and I can't brush my teeth.

14. Belt: I have no idea how I manage to forget a belt so often--maybe I don't think I'll need one when I get dressed, and my pants stretch out throughout the day?--but it's good to have one on hand.

15. Mini-notebook: Old school solution for carrying phone numbers, and allows me to avoid learning how to program numbers into my phone.

16. The Book of Questions: For use when I need a fast warm-up in class.

So, what's in your bag? Have you ever shot a picture like this? It seems like I've come across quite a few of them, most of them nicer than mine, but oh well. By the way, here's the set-up for this picture:

...which made it by far the most complicated Picture of the Day I've shot in these nearly two years. 

So, that's it for now, but stay tuned for more Blogtoberfest fun, coming soon to a Sitzblog near you!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

I Heart German, Germany, and Germans

I heart German, Germany, and Germans, but you have to admit that they do often provide fertile ground for some good-natured joking (after all, when most people think of Germany, the first thing that comes to mind is "humor"). Additionally, Blogtoberfest is inherently Teutonic in nature due to its name, so on that note, I wanted to post my two favorite not-necessarily-German "Funny German" videos. I originally saw both of them via my friends Brian and Barbara quite a few years ago, actually, so you may have seen them, too. If not, enjoy:

This one really makes a strong case for Germans' rights. Now, here's another classic, and although it involves German, it's actually more of an English-oriented video:

So, that's it for now... but you can hold off the incredible onslaught of blogging that is Blogtoberfest for only just so long (till about tomorrow, probably). Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Sitzbook: "Death in Venice"

The cover of the book indicates that it's been made into a movie by Warner Brothers.

I've not technically seen the movie, but I can tell you this: It's boring as shit.

As part of my ongoing Sitzbook project I read Thomas Mann's Death in Venice. I actually read this when I was in grad school, but Bobby offered to loan it to me, and it seemed like a quick read in a time when I'm trying to get closer to hitting my goal of 52 books by the end of the year.

Well, it is a quick read, but it's also a bit of a dull read. The most remarkable thing about it is that I actually read it in German the first time around; it's been scientifically proven that books in German are 37% more depressing than books in other languages. If you don't believe me, you should have seen the reading list for the German MA program. Over half the books ended with the protagonist dying, committing suicide, and/or murdering someone (usually a lover). 

But I digress. I guess the best thing I can say about Death in Venice is that it has a very succinct title. In fact, it pretty much tells you the plot of most of the book. A guy goes to Venice, sees a boy, and dies. Sure, he also walks down to the beach a bit and eats some meals, and Mann's sure to recount those events in excruciating detail, but that's really about it.

It was a quick read, at least, but if Mann had had a sharper editor, he probably could have pared it down to pamphlet size with the same end result.

So, that's it for now. Thanks to Bobby for loaning me the book, even though it wasn't my favorite one ever. And thanks to you for reading, and please stay tuned for more Blogtoberfest fun!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Pictures of the Day: September 2011

Blogtoberfest continues! The Pictures of the Day from September admittedly start off a bit dull, but they get better as the month goes along. It was a pretty long, boring month with lots of rain and fog and lots of hanging out inside. That seems to translate into taking lots of random pictures of crap around the house:

Thanks for reading, and be sure to stay tuned for more Blogtoberfest fun!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Content Warning: Literary Nipple!

Blogtoberfest continues! Willkommen!

If you've been following my Sitzbook book-a-week project, you may have noticed that there was a nipple on the cover of one of the books. And it wasn't just any old disembodied nipple floating in space (as nipples are apt to do, I'm told). No, my friends, it was a female nipple, on a female breast! For shame! I would normally just have made a short joke or comment about this, but then I started over-analyzing things, and eventually a blog post became inevitable. 

Before we go any further, and so we're all on the same page, here's the picture of the book cover in question, from the Spanish-language version of Isabel Allende's Inés del Alma Mía ("Inés of My Soul"):

As you can see, the picture on the cover is old-looking; in fact the credit says it's called Desnudo/"Nude" and it's an 1890 photo attributed to Leopold Reutlinger, whose name sounds suspiciously German (the plot thickens: Germans just love nipples on book covers, billboards, and bus stop ads!). But what's it doing on the cover of a historical novel about Inés Suarez, a Spanish woman who helped found the nation of Chile through the conquering and suppression of its native tribes?

I know that this book cover nipple isn't just an isolated phenomenon, since at one point we had three Latin American-published books in our house that had nipples on their covers (The other two were Paulo Coelho's La Bruja de Portobello and Gustavo Bolívar Moreno's Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso). I think that if these books were sold in the U.S., someone would strategically put a "15% off!" sticker over the nipples in question. Either that, or else there'd be a controversy called "Nipplegate* 2011."

Let me make one thing clear: I think it's fine that there's a nipple on the cover of this book. I don't care. In fact, I think that most books should probably have nipples on their covers, just in case (except cookbooks... that would be weird). But I have noticed that the nipple aspect makes this book more interesting. For example, Angela read the book after I did, and so did our friend Adriana. Both seemed embarrassed to be reading such a tit-ilating book in public, but they weren't able to explain why exactly they felt that way.

So I guess this leads me to a series of questions: 

1. Did you know the German word for "nipple" is Brustwarze? Did you know that literally translated, that means "Breast-wart"? Isn't that wonderful?

2. Is a cover like this "indecent" or even simply "problematic"? Do people still get offended by an exposed nipple or breast these days? If so, do such people fan themselves, swoon, and then experience fainting spells when they see nipples?

3. If nipples aren't problematic or indecent, is it because this is a novel? Does that have anything to do with it? What if it were an advertisement for margarine? 

4. Would a book like this be sold out in the open in the U.S. and if so, would anyone comment about it (besides me, of course)?

5. How is it that a proportionally higher number of "nipply" books seem to be published and sold in Latin America, a region that at least to me seems to be more prudish and prohibitive than the U.S. when it comes to general public nudity?

6. Is this non-controversial because it depicts breasts and nipples, and not the "junk" of one's nether-regions? 

7. If this is OK, then why aren't there topless beaches in Latin America? 

8. Is all of this just a ploy to try to trick people into reading?

Please answer the questions in complete sentences, using a number 2 pencil, on a separate sheet of college-ruled, loose-leaf paper. You have 30 minutes. Please begin.

Oh, and by the way, the book was really good. As the Brits might say, "It's the tits!"

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more Blogtoberfest fun! 

*The only thing that should be called "nipplegate" is a door that leads to actual nipples, like the entrance to a strip club.

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

O' ZAPFT IS!! Blogtoberfest is Back!!

It's now officially October, but before we get into it, I'll let the gents from Earth, Wind and Fire dance September out of the room; hold on to your brain to make sure the horn section doesn't blow it out of your skull in a aural blast of awesomeness:

Thanks boys! Alright, now it's time for October, but more importantly, it's time for BLOGTOBERFEST! 

Sitzblog isn't in the business of promoting beer, so while you may have expected to see a picture of drunk idiots in a Biergarten in Munich, this creepy/hilarious cat is much more wholesome for the whole family. Plus, I took this picture in Germany, so it counts!

If you remember last year's Blogtoberfest, this humble little blog managed to put up 30 posts, a new Sitzblog record. Let's see if we can get 31 this year!

I've been getting some blog ideas ready in my brain in preparation for this month, so I'm pretty excited here--I hope you are, too! If you prefer to follow these posts on Facebook, just click "Like" in the Facebook box to the left, or go to Sitzblog's Facebook page--I'll be posting them there, too.

Thanks for reading, and bloggoms up! (That's "drink up" in blogspeak!)

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Sip On This, Nissan Leaf!

If you thought a car that ran on electricity or water or air or whatever was cool, then evidently you've not seen a car that runs on coffee:

I guess it's also set a land speed record for this type of vehicle. In any case, it reminds me of the Simpsons where Homer hears about a car that runs on alcohol. He imagines filling up the tank, saying, "One for you, one for me, one for you, one for me..."

It sounds like it's time for Costa Rica to get into the car manufacturing business!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

7 Big Ones... If A "Big One" Is A "Thousand"

My 7,000th flickr picture. Angela was working in the flowerbed the other day
so I took a picture of this hand shovel.

I realized tonight that my flickr account now has 7,000 pictures, which is pretty ridiculous by most any standard. Then again, I can sort of justify it because I've got about 7 years of pictures, plus a pretty questionable infrastructure down here in Costa Rica (I try to have an online backup of everything in case of earthquake, landslide, fire, theft, hurricane, and/or cat vomit). 

In any case, I mainly keep the flickr account updated for me and my mom, since I think we're the two people who seem to be most interested in it. But if you'd like to see some pictures, you're welcome to go check them out. You may find the following sets or collections to be interesting:

Various Trips

Life in Costa Rica (including Traditional Costa Rican Food, Coffee, and the Formerly Crappy Casita)

My Current "365" Set (where I take a picture a day... this one is less complicated than looking for each month or its "Leftovers")

So, there is obviously a lot more, and you don't have to check out any pictures if you don't want to. But I just thought I'd mention it...

My 7,001st picture. If I had known I was nearing a round number, I would have uploaded this as #7,000.
Some cats are quite a bit more interesting than a hand shovel.

Thanks for reading, and have a good one!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Using My Illusions

I took this picture in Las Vegas at the beginning of this year. It demonstrates the awesome
staying power of Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion albums... and trampy wedding dresses.
Stephanie Seymour would be proud.

Mike recently pointed out that September 17th was the 20th anniversary of Guns N' Roses' albums Use Your Illusion I and II. Rather than wallowing in self-pity because I'm getting older, and rather than mourning and my lost childhood/ youth/ innocence/ hair, I decided to be positive and say what I like best about these memorable albums. But just as a disclaimer, I still prefer Appetite. As long as we're clear on that, I can talk about how great the Illusions are.

Use Your Illusion I

I guess I was introduced to these albums a bit late, since I bought them when I was in Germany as an exchange student in 1998. I know I'd heard some of the songs before, but I was pretty late getting on the album train, and most of the music I had until about 1993 was on cassettes that I recorded while listening to radio. We didn't have cable, and the internet didn't exist yet in any comprehensible form, either. We had to work hard for our entertainment in the early 90s.

In any case, I believe I bought these two albums at a Saturn store in Hannover, Germany in 1998, and listened to them over and over on my Discman. At first I preferred UYI II over I, but within a few years I'd switched and started to prefer I. It's hard to argue with; It's got "November Rain," the better version of "Don't Cry," and the lyrics "I ain't superstitious but I know when something's wrong" (from "Garden of Eden"). I also had a long period where I was into "Bad Apples," calling it the "quintessential distilled version of a GNR song" or some such nonsense. It is a good and underrated song, though. But the best point on the album is certainly on "November Rain."

At seven minutes and nine seconds into the song, Slash begins the first note of his second solo in this song. Based on that one note, around 10 years ago I came up with a theory based on the excellence of that note. The theory is called, simply, "The 7:09 Theory." I've also been known to shoot my mouth off and say that this is "the greatest moment ever in music" and that "everything before it led up to it, and everything after this note was just music going downhill." Sure, I'll stand by those statements.

Use Your Illusion II

As I said before, I've gone back and forth regarding which of these albums I like better, and I'm currently in a II phase. It's just got such a jam-packed opening ("Civil War," "14 Years," "Yesterdays," and even "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"), the likes of which is unlikely to be found on another album (except maybe U2's The Joshua Tree, but the three songs there sound too similar anyhow). Plus, it's also got the under-appreciated songs "Breakdown" and "Locomotive," as well as "Estranged," which, despite its weird, dolphin-infested video, is a great song. The only down note seems to be "My World," but since it's such a bizarre track, we can almost write it off as an Axl rant instead of an actual GNR song.

II doesn't have anything as memorable as 7:09 into "November Rain," but it does have one thing that I think is really great, weird, and hilarious. On the song "Pretty Tied Up," which is possibly about a dominatrix, the perils of rock n' roll decadence, and/or finding money in the street, there's a strange line near the end of the song. After Axl sings "It's days like this that push me over the brinks," a deeper voice comes on and says "Kool Ranch Dressing." That didn't make sense when I first heard it, so I looked to the lyrics sheet in the liner notes. On the lyrics, it said "Cool and stressing" but then literally underneath that, it said "(Pronounced: Kool Ranch Dressing)". I just remember reading that on a train from Hannover to Munich and being blown away, since neither the original line, nor the attempt to explain the "correct" pronunciation, made any sense whatsoever. Obviously, I was dealing with Advanced Rock Music. And it's been a great ride ever since.

So, that's it for now. If you liked or like those albums, feel free to go to the comments section to chime in. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back in 2031 for the 40th anniversary blog post!

And OK, sure, why not:

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Names, from Sitzman ABC

Yesterday I wrote a blog post about common names in the USA on Sitzman ABC, my language-learning blog. It was ostensibly for my English students, but I thought some Sitzblog readers may like it, too. Plus, some of the vocabulary--like ostensibly--may be a bit difficult for some of my lower-level students. In any case, feel free to check out the article on Sitzman ABC or here:

Common Names

A few weeks ago I wrote two articles about naming customs in the USA and Costa Rica. I mentioned that I also wanted to talk a little bit about common names in both countries, but since the posts were already so long, I decided to do a shorter post later. This is that post.

Common Last Names in the USA

First of all, let's look at last names, since they're the same for both men and women, obviously. According to this list, which seems to be available in some form on more than one site, the two most popular names are Smith and Johnson. I had actually thought it was the other way around, but they're both very common. The top 5 is rounded off with Williams, Jones, and then Brown, which didn't really surprise me much. In fact, of the top 20 names the only ones that surprised me were Garcia (18) and Martinez (19), mainly just because they were the first Hispanic last names on the list, and I expected Hispanic names to be a bit higher. I'm sure that a lot of last name statistics also depend on geographical regions, though.

I also noticed that "Sitzman" was conspicuously absent from the Top 20... and the Top 100. So I searched for it, and apparently it's number 24,083... that's right, my last name is the 24,083rd most popular last name in the US! Believe it or not, but it's even less common than the last name "Pizza" (ranked 24,007th). But still: Pizza! I'd have a more common last name if my name were "Ryan Pizza." Ouch, that hurts.

Common First Names in the USA

Now, first names were the ones that surprised me a bit more. I discovered that the Social Security Administration (the agency in charge of retirement and pension payments in the US) keeps statistics related to baby names. I spent a while looking at different names, charts, and statistics on their website, and it was pretty interesting.

According to this table, the most common first names in 2010 were Jacob, Ethan, and Michael for boys and Isabella, Sophia, and Emma for girls. Hmm, not too bad, I guess, but then I saw that for boys Jayden is #4 and Aiden is #9. Are those even names? (Disclaimer: I'm a mean, grumpy man.) I suppose that it's cold comfort that it's not as strange as the list of top baby names in Great Britain (seriously, England: "Alfie"? What's going on over there?). 

Still, I guess the names don't seem so strange if you look at this chart, which displays the top 5 names for each year from 1911 to 2010. It also explains why I know a lot of Jennifers, Ashleys, Matthews, and Christophers. 

So how does "Ryan" fit into these numbers? Well, in 2010 it was number 23, just above "Samuel" and "Jackson" (and probably even further ahead of babies named "Samuel L. Jackson"). Sadly, it's still below Mason and Logan. Brian and Bryan don't seem to be on the top 25 list for 2010, but maybe they count them as two different names because of the two spellings?

On the SSA site you can also search for popular names from the year in which you were born, so I did that. I had always imagined that my name was pretty common and boring, since I know a lot of Ryans, Brians, and Bryans. I was right. In 1980, Brian was #12 and Ryan was #15. The #15 name for girls in 1980 was Christina, and that seems about right.

There is one part of the SSA baby names website that is very disturbing, though. It's the "Change in Popularity" section, which lists names that have gained in popularity recently. There are some really ridiculous names on this page, especially for the boys. Seriously, who in their right mind would name a beautiful baby boy Bentley, Knox, Jax, Zayden, or Ryder? 

Anyway, that's my names post. I hope there was something interesting for you. And if any of my friends who read this have children with those "strange" names, then of course I was just kidding! Your baby and his name are both wonderful and special!

Thanks for reading. If you want to join in on the discussion, say hi in the comments section. Take care, and have a great day!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Didn't Prince Write A Song About This?

The other day I got scratched up pretty badly by Boner, our evil backup cat:

Unfortunately I only found out after the fact that I could have scientifically predicted this attack. Check this page titled "How to tell if you cat is plotting to kill you." It even has a little quiz that you can take to verify the results:

I came through this alive, but I was lucky. Don't let it happen to you!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

The Wall

"We don't need no education"??

"We don't need no thought control"??

"No dark sarcasm in the classroom"??

"Teachers leave them kids alone!"??

It looks like I'm going to have to make some drastic changes to tomorrow's lesson plans.

Although I'll still probably promote the same meat eaten : pudding allowed ratio.

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook

Coffee, Again

Café Chorreado, Costa Rican Style.
(Yeah, the style with the filter that looks like a gym sock)

Recently I wrote a bit about coffee, including a link to a page I made about the coffee process, as well as a link to my various coffee pictures (see that post here). 

I know I write about, talk about, and drink a lot of coffee, but it's Costa Rica's Independence Day today, so some coffee celebration seemed in order. So, the other day I found this page about coffee on The Oatmeal, and I thought it was pretty cool. Have a look!

365: Picture a Day Project    365 Leftovers    All My Pictures    Sitzbook