Day 88 - "Elle arrive, la neige!"

Got my wish!

Goodbye, I'm going out to play again.

Happy Friday. :)

Thanksgiving, I Love You

Well you knew this was coming. 
Honestly, though, I can't believe I've had this blog since 2007 and I've never written about Thanksgiving. But it's actually kind of perfect, because it's all fair game.

Let me start by saying I don't think I've ever been more thankful on this day than I am today. There's nothing quite like being totally on your own in a foreign country to make you count your blessings.

Today was a completely regular Thursday in Switzerland. The buses and trains kept to schedule, the mail came, my host parents went to work, and my host dad's mother tapped on the kitchen window at 8 am and scared the daylights out of me because I was still half-asleep, getting breakfast ready. Ok that last part was not a regular occurrence. I don't think I could take moments like that on a weekly basis. Please don't come tapping on the window until I have all cylinders firing.

As I sat at lunch, staring into my leftover leftover pasta (that's like a whole other dimension of leftovers), a solitary tear rolled down my cheek as I thought of the succulent steam-cooked turkey, my nana's dinner rolls, and sweet potato casserole that my family would be sitting down to in a mere 6 hours. Oh sweet potato casserole, you delicious pile of carbohydrates, why are you not in my life?

(answer: in Switzerland, sweet potatoes must be imported from Israel, thus hard to find and not so cheap. Who knew Israel had agriculture? I thought their main export was political and social unrest.)

And then I got on Skype, and saw these guys:

And then a few hours later, this good-looking bunch:

(That's all four of my grandparents in one room! On one skype conversation! What a rare and spectacular event it was!)

And I thought to myself, man, what a beautiful life I have. If I could choose, I don't think I'd ever be able to pick such a stand-up group of people. My family is so awesome. And yes, I searched the lexicon of the world but found no other word sufficient to describe them.


Granted, nigh upon three months without having seen any of their faces in person has caused my memory to gild each one of them as shining beacons of humanity. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. True, but it also messes with your eyesight. Flaws? What flaws? Not that I want to remember people's flaws.....where was I going with this?

In all seriousness, even though my life was missing the good old traditional Thanksgiving noms (that honestly aren't that interesting the other 364 days of the year), I was happy as a clam today because I got to talk to a few of the people I care most about in this world. I was reminded that there are people I love out there who love me too and that's all I really need to get through the day.

And maybe some sweet potato casserole.

So to all those of you I didn't talk to, I love you, I miss you, and I think about you daily. I hope you had a truly satisfying day. And for goodness sake, stop wasting time on my blog. There's more pie to be had!

Wordless Wednesday

Arcade Fire + Google Earth = AWESOME

Note: this is just a screenshot and not actually a link, so don't click on it. The link is at the end of the post.

Normally I'd save something like this for a TILTw post, but this is too cool. Now I'm not one of those people who finds all these rad links before everyone else. In fact, this may have been around for awhile so I apologize if it's old news. However, my host mom just showed it to me this morning.

Arcade Fire and Google Chrome got together to make an interactive film, called The Wilderness Downtown.  You go to the website, enter in a street address and it pulls images from Google Earth to incorporate into the film.  World's most awesome music video? I think so. 

Downside: you must have Google Chrome installed to view and it doesn't work if the address you enter does not have Street View photos taken of it. I had to use an old TN address.

Upside: TECHNOLOGY IS AWESOME.

Check it out:

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

Moustache Pleas

Friends, Romans, Countrymen....Behold the power of the Moustache!

Hercule Poirot, my all-time favorite detective!

What a dapper fellow. Anyway, he's not why I'm here. This is about George again. 

Photo blatantly stolen from his Facebook. The jazzy sunburst is not photoshoppery. He actually emits that ambiance. Hence the shades.

He's almost there! George has now raised $765 for Movember. Just days ago he was not yet at $500, and now his goal is $1000 before the end of the month. 

And so, I shamelessly come to you once more, asking for your help. Time is drawing nigh! Donate your spare change or if you're fresh out, your internet connections to spread the word! 

Why? Because it matters. Do you know the odds of getting cancer? Prostate cancer: 1 in 6 men. Cancer in general: 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men. That is terrifying. So anyone looking to change that? I'm right there with them.  And that's why I'm pushing this. 

Go forth, readers! And by go forth, I mean, click that link to go to his page. Help us in the fight against prostate cancer. 

Would it help if I told you he's a Boston Bruins fan?

Fight on, you mustachioed heroes!