Joy in the Middle

In excess of 1,000 questions the test gives you 30. Each question is weighted between 1-5 points.

You know it’s bad when you get to question 16 and you already know you’ve answered three questions incorrectly. You get to the end and go through the entire test again only to come up with the same incorrect answers. Resignedly (is that a word?) you press finish test and wait for the fail sign to appear.

This occurred a couple of days ago and is not the first time since living in the Bavaria area of Germany. Ranting is good sometimes.

If there’s a bus stop that states your bus number, along with your time, stops at this location, what do you take that mean?

If you live in Germany, it means that the bus driver will completely ignore you (you’ve waved to let him know you want that bus and you’ve made eye contact with him) and leave you to wander down to the next stop where you have to wait another 30 minutes for the next bus.

Is Germany not a 1st world country? You’d never know if from the complete lack of public transportation consideration.

Well, the snow is gone and the days are getting longer so this is the perfect time to get back to cycling!

I posted this to Facebook on Friday, November 11th. I don’t post here too often but realised I should. This is part of my heart and Tumblr is where I place these thoughts.

This time last year I was living in The Netherlands and for a number of weeks leading up to Remembrance Day I would take trips to different Canadian or Commonwealth cemeteries to walk "between the crosses, row on row". I read names and ranks, dates of birth and death, the epitaph words from families, and stopped for a moment of silence for an unknown soldier. It was beautiful and heart-wrenching.

In Flanders Fields, by John McRae took on a new level of meaning for me. I continuously enjoyed the vast silence that encompassed me whenever I read this poem. How the world fell away and I heard "the poppies blow between the crosses", and "the larks, still bravely singing," along with the jolt "amid the guns below." I "felt dawn, saw sunset glow." I still hear and feel those but now I see those crosses and those poppies, and think of the stories from loved ones also in those cemeteries on those days.

May each of us pick up "the torch; be yours to hold it high."

In Flanders Fields, by John McRae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

I just finished re-watching Gilmore Girls S02E07, Like Mother, Like Daughter. Rory is called out for not socialising at school as she enjoys reading and listening to music while she eats her lunch. I love reading at lunchtime. I’ve been at my new job for just over a month now and it’s painfully obvious social interaction is crucial. I feel that I stick out like a sore thumb when I choose to eat alone and read. I feel I need to bow to the social pressure and go for lunch with my coworkers everyday. Sometimes that’s nice and I truly enjoy it. Other times it’s a trial. Eating and reading alone at lunch is sometimes my way of rejuvenating before heading into the afternoon of work. It’s a chance for me to get lost in some other universe, not to discuss work, allow for my brain to shift functions, a time for me not to have to talk to other people. 

I noticed an article on how the Dutch became such a tall people which intrigued me so I clicked in to read it. Apparently, according to economic history professor J. W. Drukker of the U of Groningen, it correlates to the first parliamentary democracy. I thought, why would democracy have anything to do with a growth spurt? Prior to this new era the wealth was for the elite but that began to change with more people having access to more money to eat healthier and afford healthcare thus being able to raise healthier children. What an amazing correlation that did not enter my mind yet makes perfectly sound sense. 

Obviously this was true for other nations as well but by the 1980′s it’s the Dutch who ruled the daddy-long legs look. So why when so many other nations were also growing? For centuries the Dutch diet was quite poor so when their nutrition could be stepped up a notch they included plenty of dairy, bread, and meat. Yet it remains that genetics plays the largest role. Research has also been said to note that more of the tall Dutch men prefer women of average height so that could also play a role. Perhaps not quite as tantalising as the how but the why is in there. 

Each day I like checking out to see which celebrity has a birthday that particular day. Smartly, IMDb includes birthdays of those who have gone before us. Today I opened it up and whose face was staring at me but Robin Williams. Taken from us a year ago next month at the age of 63. Keep scrolling and I come across Edward Herrmann taken from us on New Year’s Eve of last year at the age of 71. Don Knotts is next having passed away in 2006 at the age of 81. The last of these is Sir C. Aubrey Smith passing away at the age of 85 in 1948. 

Four theatrical men who all share the same birthday and who each played a role in my life from afar. Sir C. Aubrey Smith, knighted OBE in 1944, played Mr. Laurence in the first adaptation of one of my favourite books, Little Women. Also, his final role. Mr. Funny Man Don Knotts had me laughing in The Andy Griffith Show reruns and kept me laughing as Mr. Furley in Three’s Company. Then Edward Herrmann brought the beloved Richard Gilmore to life in the Gilmore Girls. He also delighted me each time he showed up on The Good Wife and when I realized he was in a movie I was watching. 

Lastly, Robin Williams. The man of a million voices. The first time I remember him was in Dead Poets Society which is still a favourite of mine. Good Morning Vietnam would come later as I was too little to understand it when it first came out. Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire and The Birdcage left me in stitches. Then came Good Will Hunting. Fantastic. What Dreams May Come and Patch Adams delved into a slightly more serious side while One Hour Photo and Insomnia showed a dark side. Then came Happy Feet and Night at the Museum (both including sequels). Finally, his one season sitcom, The Crazy Ones. And that’s just “scripted” pieces I enjoyed of his. Note I put scripted in quotations seeing as he often would drive directors mad by improving much to his fans delight. I also think of all his stand up from his countless impressions to his whole take on golf. 

It’s nice to remember what they’ve left for us yet sad to know they’re gone. Either too early, Robin Williams, or from brain cancer, Edward Herrmann, or from complications from just getting on in age.