buffalo

standing in the winestand at the weinwoche can be very tiring for your feet, so we tend to wish for closing time to come. in order to keep us entertained, my uncle the winemaker (who is also a very well-read man) recites a poem by theodor fontane. it's about a fire onboard a ship on lake erie, on its way to the town of buffalo. holding out against the flames, the helmsman (john maynard) tries to maintain course to the shore, while the people onboard desperately count the minutes to reach buffalo.
maybe not quite as desperately, we also count the hours to closing time. that's why we call it buffalo.

this year for the first time, my uncle could not be there during the wineweek. even though we safely reached buffalo every night, we hope that he'll be there again next year to recite the poem:



"Who is John Maynard?"

"John Maynard was our helmsman true.
To solid land he carried us through.
He saved our lives, our noble king.
He died for us; his praise we sing.
John Maynard."

From Detroit to Buffalo
As mist sprays her bow like flakes of snow
Over Lake Erie the "Swallow" takes flight
And every heart is joyful and light.
In the dusk, the passengers all
Can already make out the dim landfall,
And approaching John Maynard, their hearts free of care,
They ask of their helmsman, "Are we almost there?"
He looks around and toward the shore:
" Still 30 minutes.... a half hour more."

All hearts are happy, all hearts are light --
Then out of the hold comes a cry of fright.
" Fire!" it is, that terrified shout.
From the cabin and hatch black smoke pours out.
Smoke, then fire and flames aglow,
And still 20 minutes to Buffalo.

And the passengers, in a colorful crowd
Stand pressed together on the bow.
Up on the bow there is still air and light
But the smoke at the helm forms a thick, dark night.
" Where are we? Where?" the men must know,
And still 15 minutes to Buffalo. --

The wind grows strong but the smoke cloud stays.
To the helm the captain turns his gaze.
The helmsman is hidden by the raging fires
But through the bullhorn the captain enquires:
" Still there, John Maynard?"
" Yes, sir. I am."
" Onto the beach! Into the surf!"
" Yes, sir. That's my plan."
And the people cry: "Hold on! Hallo!"
And still 10 minutes to Buffalo.--

"Still there, John Maynard?" And the answer is clear,
Though with dying voice: "Yes, sir. I'm still here."
And in the surf, rocks, obstacles afloat,
Into their midst he plunges the boat.
To be saved, it's the only way to go.
Salvation: the shores of Buffalo!

The fire is out. The ship's run aground.
All are saved. Only one can't be found.

The bells ring out, their notes all fly
From churches and chapels to heaven on high.
The city is still but for funeral bells.
For one service only the sad sound swells:
In the procession ten thousand go by,
Or maybe more -- and not one dry eye.

With layers of flowers the grave they soften.
Under more flowers they bury the coffin.
With golden script in marble stone
The city has its tribute shown:

"Here lies John Maynard! In smoke and fire
He held fast to the wheel; he did not tire.
He saved our lives, our noble king.
He died for us; his praise we sing.
John Maynard!"

the english version of the poem was taken from here.
for the german original check here.

kapow!!!!

become an italian stallion.

siggi III.

i heard from a reliable source yesterday that siggi is still around, has been mended a few more times and is enjoying retirement in a comfortable bed.

rheingauer weinwoche

this week i work at the rheingauer weinwoche in wiesbaden. it's a 10-day long festival where over 200,000 bottles of wine are are drunk each year (during ten days ;-)). this might cause a lot of tipsy visitors, but the atmosphere is very friendly, as people tend to get very merry when they drink yummy rheingauer wine (and there is lots of food and music, too). since the first time the festival was held in 1976, over 10 million people have visited. it is a very popular festival not only locally, people come from many places in the world. just yesterday, i sold glasses of wine in four languages. my mom's family has had a wine stand at the weinwoche since the very first year (for my uncle's winery, take a look here), and so i have helped out there ever since i can remember.
it's a fun festival, so if you ever find yourselves in the rheingau area the 2nd and 3rd week of august, don't forget going to visit wiesbaden.

for a picture and a map of where we are, take a look at the pictures.

prost!!!

movie

liberate yourself!

with the lemonademovie.

the stages of relaxation

written by a work-a-holic and recovering caffeine-a-holic

we normally spend most of our time ticking items off our to-do-lists. our days consist of work, sleep, coffee, and maybe a meal with some friends in-between. when the week-end comes (that is, if we are lucky enough to have a work-free week-end come our way), we run errands we were unable to fulfill during the week, give our flat-bottomed bodies some exercise, or try to schedule some fun. we feel we deserve this even though we have nothing to talk about but work and are so exhausted that we'd rather stay in bed. if we manage to avoid these duties, then we might spend our free time in bed, eat muesli interspersed with take-away and go through yet another dvd marathon, in order to rest our bodies, empty our brains and let our muscles atrophy even further.
(by the way, i say we because i don't want to feel all alone.. ;-))

this has been my lifestyle for longer than i'd like to admit. so after spending months trying to reduce my working hours which caused me more stress than actually doing the work, i decided to put a stop to the situation and take some time out to wind down: three months of self-prescribed relaxation.

so what happened since then?
since my last day at work at the end of june, i have experienced several phases on the path to relaxation. here they come:

STAGE I
the first stage of relaxation was unexpected and brief: FEAR. having been full of enthusiasm and anticipation on my last day of work, coming home without anything to do was moving out of my comfort zone into undefined territory. was this a good idea? would i be able to entertain myself for three months at home?

STAGE II
thankfully these thoughts only lasted moments. since i was exhausted, the next stage of relaxation kicked straight in: the bed collapse and TV MARATHON phase, already mentioned above: you are tired, you want to rest, but you are still so hyped up on stress hormones that you can't fall asleep. hence you need something to do in bed: watch mind-numbing television (it also helps to purge any stressful thoughts, at least for the time the movie is playing). in my case, for the first few days, a DVD set of old black and white miss marple movies served the purpose. and die hard I-4. and a few rocky movies. excellent.

STAGE III
after experiencing phase two for a few days, i was ready to move on to phase III: return to COMMON patterns of BEHAVIOUR. having partly recharged my batteries, i was keen to do something, but my mind was still not free to start something new. hence i used my new energy to do what? yes?
work. just a little bit, "for fun", you might say. embarrassing.
(i have to mention that phase III also had a positive side-effect (phase IIIb). i did something i had meant to do for years and never found the time: i started my webpage. this was a great thing to do at this stage, because it resembled work and was still creative in a way. not too bad for a start!!!)

STAGE IV
thankfully work can be boring. however much we like to fool ourselves (using "we" helps me admit uncomfortable truths), working hard is not our natural state. when you finally come to this realisation, you are ready for the next stage: the FUN phase!!!!!
i spent this phase in venice. drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, eating ice-cream and far too much mozzarella, while looking at art in-between. splendid. i even read a book. oh yes indeed. (if you want to hear real people talking like this, take a look at the miss marple movies i mentioned above).

STAGE V
i returned home ready for more. and entered phase V: SELF-REALISATION. i consider this the peak of relaxation: i set up my drawing room, started with some sketches, played the piano.... i felt happy that true relaxation had finally kicked in.

that is.. until i got an e-mail from my boss. oh no! i had to climb down the ladder back onto level three, work for two days full of self-pity and go into work for a meeting. that was that.


but even if the path to relaxation is rocky, i don't give up! i returned home, keen to get back to where i had left off. it wasn't easy...
i was disappointed.... in the end i spent a few days in a state of amalgamation of the stages i had experienced before: hanging out with friends (IV), cooking my favourite meals (IIIb), watching tv (II), being afraid that i would not reach stage five again (I) and stressing about work (IIIa).
a slight boredom kicked in, which even led me to clean the house. but all that made me realise something important: boredom can be a catalyst to reach stage five again!

STAGE V (again)
this time around, stage five came to me in a different shape: SELF-REFLECTION. i started thinking about what i want in life, about the future, and i was able to do this much more freely than before. very nice!!!

so far at least, i can say that my holiday-relaxation-mission has been accomplished.

i've attached a little drawing to illustrate the stages of relaxation.
i hope you all need less practice to get where you would like to be!

c.

sometimes...

... you wanna have a simple meal!

;-)

jamaica torte

i am critical towards cakes,
but this one is goohood....
a clever man has written down the recipe here.