Schubert&Haydn, Jupiter&Venus, Shoes&Varnish.

Yep, I think in a nutshell that's it.

Oh alright, so in February and March the first set of final exams hit home. Big time. I think the best thing that can be said about them is that apparently both Schubert's and Haydn's works are so indestructably brilliant that even months of reading about and listening to the same pieces over and over and mindlessly learning semi-scientific essays off by heart couldn't do them any harm. Of course, a talented, handsome performer might also help in securing one's lasting admiration...

The only other realisation worth of notice for me is that the brain is a marvellous thing. All questions of sense and nonsense of learning two whole essays by heart, verbatim, just to reel off one of them in a designated time slot in an examination hall put aside, I still find it strangely comforting to know that - if the worst comes to the worst - my brain is still able to process, retain and reproduce at will any load of gibberish (in this instance 12 pages of printed text) within three days. I've often wondered how actors cope with such amounts of text, but obviously it's possible. Even if I spent those days freakishly worried that if anyone approached me with any kind of information not relevant to the exam, this one piece of information might just push one of those painstakingly memorized sentences over the edge of my hard drive and into oblivion.
Which - surprise - didn't happen and I'm glad those two exams are over. Ready for more fun to come. In a little while.

After that whole circus it seems that for now I've navigated into calmer waters. Jupiter and Venus are still hanging out companionably in the evening sky (a sight which always makes me happy, no matter what - I know, I'm weird that way...), spring has finally come, the sun is out, the trees have their first touch of green back, the first blossoms are in sight (yet my personal hayfever season is still a little way off, yay!) and the girls and I have succumbed to a mild (ahem) bout of shopaholicism and general girliness. At this very moment I have a different kind of varnish on each nail of my left hand and can't decide which of them will provoke the most (silly, pitying, admiring?) remarks by my students on Tuesday.
Hm, tricky...

Die Sache mit dem Spiegel.

Das Konzert war eindeutig das Highlight meiner letzten Woche. - Nun gut, möchte man einwerfen, gegen eine Stress-lass-nach-oder-kommst-du-etwa-erst-noch?-Erkältung anzutreten, ist vielleicht auch nicht wirklich schwer. Gisbert war trotzdem super. Und das Lied ist sowieso ganz weit oben.

...Und weil ich aber gerade gelernt habe, was das denn so genau mit den Urheberrechtsbestimmungen aus sich hat, ist das Video dann mal besser nicht hier... ;-)

Moonstruck.

I know, I know, it's been forever since I got round to posting anything here. And I won't even pretend to be able to catch up with the last three months in one fell swoop (whatever that is). It's not that I didn't have anything to write about - the stories and anecdotes were all right there in my head, and I kept thinking "ooh, you should write about that" and "you should share that picture". But you know how it is. Or maybe you don't, but since I'm basically talking to myself here, I do actually know how it is, of course.

Time's running through your hands
like water. Or sand.

Nevermind that now.
If you want to see some truly magical photos, look for the moon games by the French photographer Laurent Laveder.
...Inspiring a quodlibet of moonrelated songs in my head:
Fly me to the moon...
Ich seh den Mond und denk an dich...
Or maybe something slightly less romantic.

Autosuggestion.

Wer den Ton gefunden,
der im Grund gebunden
hält den Weltgesang,
hört im lauten Ganzen
keine Dissonanzen,
lauter Übergang.

Friedrich Rückert, 1838

In the green.

...als man sich schließlich entschied, den kompletten Flugverkehr einfach einzustellen, um den redlichen Bürgern künftig mehr betonierte Grünflächen zur qualitativ hochwertigen Freizeitgestaltung bieten zu können.


Ein Kompetenzteam aus hochmotivierten, bachelorierten Radebrechern tüftelte wochenlang an einer eingängigen, idiomatisch lupenreinen Chatchphrase...


Indes hatten sich übermütige Mücken mit einer Flasche Autan zugeschüttet und taumelten, irgendwas von Weltherrschaft murmelnd, der Abendsonne entgegen.


Während sie noch darüber nachsannen, wie man am besten Fischlaich als überteuertes Kultgetränk vermarkten könne...


...wurden einige Scherenschnittfiguren (vermutlich Austauschstudenten aus Origami) lebendig und spielten zu einer herzzerreißenden Serenade auf.


Nur ein Mann mit etwas steinerner Mimik ließ sich nicht erweichen und nörgelte "Ach, geh fort!" vor sich hin.


Aber vielleicht führte er auch nur Selbstgespräche.

Multimedia.

Szene im ICE von Berlin nach Leipzig:

Eine Mutter sitzt mit ihren zwei Teenager-Kindern am Tisch mir schräg gegenüber. Sie sind auf dem Heimweg aus dem Kroatienurlaub. Die Tochter ist etwa 15, hat mp3-Stöpsel im Ohr und redet kaum. Der Sohn ist vielleicht 13, spielt mit seinem i-phone herum und redet ohne Punkt und Komma. Die Mutter schaut per Kopfhörer auf dem Laptop eine DVD. Offensichtlich ist sie genervt vom gelangweilten Sohn, der ihr in ihren Film reinquatscht. Sie nimmt einen Stöpsel aus dem Ohr und sagt zu ihm:

"Also, eine sehr schöne Kulturtechnik ist ja auch das Lesen..."

Tag am Rhein.

Ein nicht erwarteter Sonnentag, ein ebenso unerwarteter Energieschub, ein Ausflug an den Rhein, eine überraschende Begegnung, ein Buch aus Kindertagen, ein Sonnenbrand, ein paar gute Gespräche und ein paar Kaltgetränke... - so geht's.




"Eine Ente aus weißer Watte hat am Himmel festgemacht.
Der Wind hat daraus einen Hund gemacht
und wieder ist ein schwerer Tag vollbracht..."

...where angels fear to tread.

So there I was, soaring sky-high for a few days, free as a bird...


(in this case, free as a well-fed pigeon in a tourist-flooded Italian square)

...and, if the photos are anything to go by, extreeeeemely happy.

Like so.

But alas, fools are earthbound creatures. Once the head rush wears off, the thin air makes their lungs ache and gravity pulls them back down, down, through swirling clouds and some turbulences, down to the ground.

Touch-down may be a tad rough. But don't you worry about those bruises. Wear them like a talisman while they last. They will heal in no time at all. Then you'll find you're sorry they're gone.

Touched.

I don't know what it is, but lately I've been so....what's the word... happy!
I know, I know, it's not like me at all, very worrying indeed. But there you go.
Maybe it's because of so many good things happening lately. Very probably so.

Like the field trip we took to follow J.S. Bach's traces through Eastern Germany. To be honest, it was a fair bit of work to organize it all and, yes, as soon as you are the one knowing the schedule you get pushed into the role of mum/teacher/chief nagger/cruise director, but we had so much fun, too! And we were so, so lucky in every single thing and person we met during those four days. And our prof was so happy, it was really touching to see him so touched in turn!

Or like the visit to the zoo with my sisters and nephews, to " go see the big butt!" ...The hippo's big butt, that was and it was totally worth a visit, no question! But also the sight of two little, wild nephew-tigers roaring dangerously. Or the sound of running feet catching up and the feeling of a little sticky hand taking hold of yours...


Then I had to cover a lesson with the Sixth Years yesterday - which was doomed to be a complete waste of time since all their exams are over and they'll be leaving school forever in two weeks' time anyway. Only half of them had showed up for a start, so I didn't even bother trying to teach but bought some cake and sat down and had a chat with them. We talked about their job perspectives and plans and then about their leaving ceremony. For which, since the music teacher is still ill, we are facing a bit of a live music problem. I mentioned that to them and out of the blue one of the boys said: "Well, I could play a Chopin Nocturne if you want!" My jaw dropped and we went over to the music room, where he played a couple of pieces for us. I'll never forget that picture: This lanky boy in his baseball cap, always sooo cool, rather the thug-type, who lives in a home, who is learning how to box and very busy coming across as hard the rest of the time...sitting there at the piano and playing Chopin!

And the day wasn't over yet! After classes I met up with this Fourth Year girl who had asked me very politely a few days before if it might be at all possible for her to perform Cohen's "Hallelujah" at the leaving ceremony, that the music teacher had said she might....and if I could possibly accompany her... She's a very friendly girl, extraordinarily talented, a great dancer, beautiful voice but with parents so strict and old-fashioned in their views that she, as a girl, counts for nothing much and isn't allowed to take lessons... So how could I have said no to her?!
The rehearsal went quite well and it was just so touching to see how happy she was while singing. Afterwards we walked downstairs together and she was virtually jumping up and down beside me, this girl-woman in her make-up, all excited, repeating over and over "Oh, thank, you Ms B., thank you for doing this!"

That's the kind of motivational push you obviously only get once in a blue moon, or in my case, once every five years. Better treasure it!

Mein Lieblingsgraffiti.

The fifth element, or: philosophy for run-aways, or: an inventory.

Poppies
...vibrant, full of energy, but fragile to the slightest gust of air.

Barley
...glistening like the back of a giant, green, furry thing, ruffled by the wind. Pretty. Also the stuff that makes my nose run, my eyes water, my throat itch and my lungs block up.

Sun
...warms your skin and defrosts your still hibernating feelings one day, then burns you mercilessly the next.

Wind
...against any kind of stagnation. May bring you the unexpected, or carry away what you thought was yours.

Rain
...what Nature has been crying out for and what, for crying out loud, has leaked through my roof and ruined my walls and laminate, also some books. Not the piano, though, so I guess - all in all - I'm to be grateful. (And it's nowhere near as bad as the incident two years ago, so I'm not panicking at all. I heard they've predicted more thunderstorms for tomorrow? Nice...)

Ausgesetzt auf den Bergen des Herzens.

Ausgesetzt auf den Bergen des Herzens. Siehe, wie klein dort,
siehe: die letzte Ortschaft der Worte, und höher,
aber wie klein auch, noch ein letztes
Gehöft von Gefühl. Erkennst du's?


Ausgesetzt auf den Bergen des Herzens. Steingrund
unter den Händen.


Hier blüht wohl einiges auf; aus stummem Absturz...


blüht ein unwissendes Kraut singend hervor.



Aber der Wissende? Ach, der zu wissen begann
und schweigt nun, ausgesetzt auf den Bergen des Herzens.
Da geht wohl, heilen Bewußtseins,
manches umher, manches gesicherte Bergtier,
wechselt und weilt.


Und der große geborgene Vogel
kreist um der Gipfel reine Verweigerung. - Aber
ungeborgen, hier auf den Bergen des Herzens....

You get my drift...

Well, you know how it is: One day (several days in a row actually) there's nothing but blooms and blossoms and blue skies and general merriment...


And then over night...


...it starts snowing pink petals...



...and the whole fairytale magic of it all seems to be drifting away, carried off by a gust of wind.

Fairy time.

It's just that time of year again, when everything explodes into pink!


It's also that time of year again, when I keep taking pictures of the exact same things (read: trees) as last year over and over again.


And it's definitely that time of year, when all you want to do is sit outside with a coffee and some friends and enjoy the spring sunshine.


So who's up for drinks?

March Recap.

Well, well, well, another month almost over and I must have been really lazy or else March just whirled past in a blur, because I haven't told you about any of these breathtaking, fascinating, life-altering events:
It all started off with Carnival, of course, and despite my best efforts to the contrary the Rhineland must be starting to rub off on me, because I not only managed to stay in town until Sunday, I also almost watched one of the parades (yeees, almost, no need to rush things...) AND I bought myself a real fancy dress dress (so that I could be the Queen of Everything for a day). At the end of the day, the penguin outshone me mercilessly, but still...it was worth a shot!



Then there was one very ordinary Saturday afternoon, which out of the blue was filled with...I'd like to say music, but it was more of an earsplitting noise! Three men in traditional costumes, two with huge drums and one with what I guess was something like a shawm, started playing and marching up and down the street outside my house, rounding up people as they went. It turned out to be the preparations for a Turkish wedding! While the extended family, neighbours and friends, all dressed to the nines, got their convoy of cars ready, the musicians disappeared into one of the houses to meet and escort the bride and groom to the street. I wish I could upload a video to give you a real sense of that oriental spectacle, but alas, the blog-gods won't let me. So you'll just have to imagine the squawking and banging and general merrymaking...



The rest of the month, apart from that whirlwhind of a project week, seems to have consisted chiefly of sitting in our favourite streetside café, outside for the first time after the winter, sipping alternatively countless coffees, hot chocolates and passion fruit spritzers...


...and of views like these. Up on the roof...


...in the park...


...and a whole lot of sunshine!

Too bad I'm feeling all restless and uneasy and dissatisfied with I-don't-know-what... I wish I could tame the beast and channel all this restless energy into something useful...

Hokuspokus...

...steckt der Krokus
seine Nase schon ans Licht!

Ich finde es ist allerhöchste Zeit für Frühling und Sonne und längere Tage und kürzere Nächte und neues Grün an den kahlen Bäumen und Sitzen im Park und Kaffee unter Sonnenschirmen und Feierabendgetränke im Biergarten und all das. Und wo wir schonmal dabei sind, bin ich auch noch ganz entschieden für Urlaub am Meer. Und zwar dieses Jahr noch. Jawohl. Muss mir dringend mal ein Highlight buchen... Any volunteers?

How do you spell "um-bear-as-sing"?

Apparently, we must have had one of those magical blue moons over the weekend, because, lo and behold!, that most priced, lost-presumed-dead, shrouded-in-legend bloody document has turned up again! Either that, or I simply have the world's most selfless, patient, long-suffering of all friends, who not only insisted on sacrificing a whole Saturday for me to meticulously scrutinize every single piece of paper in my posession in search of the legendary document,
she also found it!!!
Just like that! (Well, after about four hours.)
And she even has the grace to not rub it in (too much) on every conceivable occasion, but to just be happy that "we" found it and that she could be of help!
Incredible.
I know I would never ever shut up about it if I was in her place. What a sad little lunatic I am! (No news there.) Because apparently the papers (not one but, in fact, four of them - my eyewitness accounts obviously aren't worth a farthing!) were, after all, in that most likely of all folders all along. In the one with all the reeeaally important university stuff, in a clear, plastic sleeve, but alas, unfortunately camouflaged as something else.
Well, maybe best not to dwell on this any longer. Suffice to say that the monster has sulkily retreated back into its corner under the bed for now, gnawing at some left-over nightmares of mine.

Oh, while she was at it, my friend also found the original of my leaving certificate. You know, the one that was very, very definitely gone? The one I thought I had forgotten on a photocopier in Leipzig about twelve years ago? The one I caused a minor all-hands-on-deck situation at my old school over about three years ago? The one that provided the infamous precedence for the case above, proving that things can and do, in fact, disappear for good?
Yeah, that one.
(surreptitiously sidling off stage)

Bread and tulips.

A cold, crisp, sunny Saturday, blue skies,
coffee, a walk along the river and a chat with a friend,
buying warm, fresh-from-the-oven bread and a bunch of red tulips on the way home, walking, flowers in your arm, along sun-filled streets
gives you a sense of sophisticated, feel-good, well-adjusted self-suffiency in manner of Meg Ryan in "You've got mail" or similar.

Balancing bread and tulips on top of a load of laundry that you're carrying up three flights of stairs to dump them, the washing and your coat in the middle of the pandemonium that is your flat
= sliiiightly less sophisticated.

Der mit dem Hoffnungsglück.

Die vergangenen drei Morgen waren trotz allem Chaos in mir drin recht friedlich und malerisch und verlangen, wie ich finde, nach einer Portion Erbauungsliteratur. Soll ja keiner sagen, dass der Deutsch-LK damals keine Spuren hinterlassen hat...


"Schon verloschen sind die Stunden,
hingeschwunden Schmerz und Glück;
Fühl es vor! Du wirst gesunden;
Traue neuem Tagesblick...


Wunsch um Wünsche zu erlangen,
Schaue nach dem Glanze dort!
Leise bist du nur umfangen,
Schlaf ist Schale, wirf sie fort!
Säume nicht, dich zu erdreisten,
wenn die Menge zaudernd schweift;
Alles kann der Edle leisten,
der versteht und rasch ergreift...


Tönend wird für Geistesohren
schon der neue Tag geboren."

Goethe: Faust II, I, 1

In den Schnee geschrieben.

Soso. Weihnachten ist also schon wieder vorbei.
Schade.
Sch(n)ee war's.


Dann bleibt dem grinsenden, verschneiten Pferdekopf...

...wohl nichts anderes, als euch allen ein fröhliches, gutes, neues Jahr zu wünschen.

Eins mit vielen bunten Farbklecksen im blassen Alltag,

reichlich Zeit für Erlebnisse dieser Art

und am Besten völlig frei von welchen, wo man sagen möchte: "Ha, du..."

(Wie es meine Schüler geschafft haben, mir in diesen Vorgarten in meinem Heimatort zu folgen, bleibt ein Mysterium...)

Na dann, auf geht's!
(Sprach's und klickte auf youtube.)