• Confessions,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  Random Thoughts,  Tough Questions,  Travels

    Analyze This: The Doors and Windows Question

    One of the things I’ve learned over the past six weeks in regards to myself as a “photographer” (I have to put that in quotes; I’m not sure why.) is that I really, really enjoy taking photographs of doors and windows. Open or closed, it doesn’t matter. Plain or decorated, it doesn’t matter. What does that say about me as a person? I’m certain that there is some special meaning hidden somewhere; it probably tells something about my personality. Hey Holger, what are you doing there? An “expert” might say that I like to look for other ways of doing things. Or that I am the type of person who…

  • Family Fun,  Food,  Travels

    I’ll Tell You What’s Yummy: Cold Spaghetti and Room Temperature Snowballs.

    Those of you who know me well probably read last night’s post about the food we ate in Germany and wondered if I was holding something back, because I only mentioned a dessert (Black Forest cherry cake) once. You’d be right. We had lots of sweet treats while in Europe, and I thought I’d tell you about two of the standouts. The younger boy’s German teacher (who used to be the older boy’s teacher when she was at his high school), a really cool woman who is a real, live, native German, told him all about “Spaghetti Eis”. Eis is the German word for “ice cream”, by the way. Once…

  • Family Fun,  Travels

    We Even Went to Church in Germany…Sort Of.

    Europe is full of castles. (I think there are almost as many castles as Starbucks locations, but I can’t prove that) Another thing Europe is full of is beautiful churches. I visited one of the most gorgeous churches in the world in Dresden back in 2006, but Munich has its own treasure: the Frauenkirche. A Catholic Church whose full name is “Dom zu unserer lieben Frau” (Cathedral of our Dear Lady), the Frauenkirche has landmark status. It’s got two breathtakingly pretty towers. Yes, I said TWO. One of them is covered for renovation, though, so it’s not as pretty. See? The doors are carved. Here’s the inside. Nice, eh? I…

  • Family Fun,  Food,  Travels

    They* Made Eating Fun.

    A few years ago, Jim went on a week-long business trip to Japan, accompanied by a co-worker friend. This co-worker had never been to Japan before, and drove Jim crazy with the massive amounts of pictures he took, all along the way. He took a picture of EVERY SINGLE MEAL he had while in Japan, too, and the idea of that was pretty funny to us. But then again, when I think about it, it’s not really as silly as it sounds. If you’re going to a foreign country, it’s not any less silly to take pictures of the food than it is to take pictures of the buildings, right?…

  • Travels

    Germany Is Obviously Full of Green Thumbs.

    The planters all over the towns we visited as well as the flower boxes hanging outside of the houses were exploding with gorgeousness. It was ridiculous. (And by “ridiculous”, I mean “something I am way jealous of because I have a hard time keeping weeds alive”.)