listen to the jingle, the rumble, and the roar

On our recent trip to Switzerland, Ellis and I did really well on the train by ourselves. This was helped, of course, by traveling with only one backpack (since our hosts graciously borrowed a stroller from a friend for our visit). However, part of it is just that, in our experience, Die Bahn makes it easy to travel with your kid. First, kids ride free so the trip to Switzerland and back cost us less than 100 Euros. Second, most long distance trains have these glass enclosed compartments for small children. Ellis and I had the six seats to ourselves for most of the primary (3 hour) leg of our trip home. He could walk around without getting in any one's way and I could sing him to sleep without embarrassing myself disturbing or being disturbed by other passengers. Eventually we were joined by another mom and her 4 year old and two kids pretty much entertained each other. Oh, and guess what? The porters are actually friendly (well, by German standards anyway, and certainly friendlier than the average flight attendant). Here you see Ellis perusing the schedule.

So, if my train trip was about as fast as flying and less expensive than driving why don't we have this in America? I've heard that train travel doesn't work in the US because it's so big and spread out, but Canada has a similar scale and a functional rail system. Meanwhile airline travel seems to become less comfortable, more expensive, and less convenient by the minute. But I guess Americans just love their cars too much. But when I think about taking a 5 or 6 hour road trip with even 1 or 2 children...a train just seems like such a better option: babies don't have to be in car seats, older kids can walk around, stopping is not required for potty breaks or snack procurement, parents can drink beer.

Trey can attest that I am not even much of a fan of train travel. But it's really going to be something I miss when we come home.

Lausanne trip

With Trey out of town, Ellis and I decided to finally go visit my friends Brooke and Noemie in Switzerland.

Ellis and I arrived Friday afternoon in Lausanne and Brooke met us at the train station. We were treated to duck confit and pasta for dinner. Amazingly, confit 1) comes in a can there and 2) is still delicious.

Saturday morning, we headed out for some grocery shopping and a walk around the town. Lausanne is hilly, seriously hilly, San Francisco hilly. Fortunately for me, Noemie was good enough to do more than her share of stroller duty.We stopped to see some of their friends who were selling "girl scout cookies" on the main street. Here's what girl scout cookies look like in French Switzerland: Ellis sampled a mini croissant with ham and it must've been good because I didn't get a bite. In addition to be excellent cooks, the girl scouts are savvy business people; they charge "donation pain" instead of a set price for their baked goods, virtually guaranteeing that people overpay.

Lausanne is located on Lake Geneva and Brooke repeatedly told me that gorgeous views of the lake and the mountains were available from their apartment. However, it was simultaneously sunny and foggy (how?) the entire weekend and so when I looked towards the lake, this is what I saw:So I think perhaps Lausanne is actually located on the edge of the known world. Next we went up the hill to to Sauvabelin Lake and tower. The tower is the main attraction, but it didn't seem worth the climb on account of the fog. Fortunately, its helical design is interesting from the ground as well. We devoted more time to visiting the animals which included traditional Swiss breeds of cows, goats, and pigs. Most amazing were the "woolly pigs," which were truly woolly from snout to tail.

On our way home, we walked around the cathedral, which was unfortunately not open. The outside was quite lovely, though, with obvious differences between the portions completed in different time periods.

On Sunday, Noemie took Ellis to the park so Brooke and I could explore the Collection de l'Art Brut (this link will let you see photos of the entire collection). Art Brut is art made by those without professional training and typically on the fringes of society. To my shame, I couldn't stop thinking about The Probot. I still have kind of mixed feelings about it and maybe didn't appreciate some of the pieces. Many, though were very interesting and the museum itself was housed in a small building with a steep roof, so the floor space got smaller and smaller as we climbed, giving it an intimate feel. Predictably, my favorite was of the sillier sort: the shell based art of Paul Amar. I especially liked how his biographical note explained that he "eats a lot of shellfish" to keep himself supplied with his medium of choice. The photos don't really do justice to these 3-D pieces which poke out of the plane of their frames and are intricately lighted to make the shells glisten. Brooke preferred something more heartbreaking: this wedding dress woven from the threads of a bed sheet by an elderly psychiatric patient.

Sunday night we had tasty dinner of take-out Indian, which is a rarity for us in Germany and was quite delicious. Monday morning we headed back to Germany and from the train, finally glimpsed the elusive mountains. This photo, though, seems rather like one that "proves" the existence of the Loch Ness monster. Can you spot the mountains?

Thanks to Brooke and Noemie for being such great cooks and great hostesses. Yah!

back home

Ellis and I have returned from our visit to Switzerland, where we had excellent hosts who were very good natured about Ellis trying to destroy their apartment (full travel report coming soon). And tomorrow, Trey comes home! Yeah!

We are having extremely early mornings around here because despite my repeatedly explaining it, Ellis refuses to recognize that daylight savings time is over. This morning's wake up time: 5:45. Thanks a lot William Willett.

bon voyage, papa

Trey is flying across the Atlantic Ocean as I type. He expressed a strong intention to (among other, more important tasks) "eat as many big fat American sandwiches as possible."

Ellis tried to carry his suitcase downstairs this morning, but ultimately required an assist from Dad.Ellis and I are in for a long couple of days. Luckily, our Halloween package from Grandma Lisé arrived today. Hooray! Since, unlike last year, we are the first ones to get ours, I won't say what was in it (except that it is awesome). But, Ellis was very emphatic that we open it.

Fresh Air, with Daniel Hughes

Dan at allthatcomeswithit offered up this meme and then took a while getting me his questions. I guess these are punishment for finding a way to ridicule him via the last meme he tagged me with. Maybe Rachel will answer later.

What three things about Ellis' babyhood do you miss?

1) Staying put. When he was little you could put him somewhere and it was as good as planting something in the garden: he would be in the same place you left him 2 days later, but the wind might have blown him over. 2) Simpler needs. I don't know why he suddenly needs all three of my guitar picks at once or else throws a tantrum. Never needed them before and doesn't have the words to explain it now. 3) Probably using the Asian style baby carrier which he is too big for now. This thing is much more convenient than a stroller and having him snuggled down inside my jacket was quite nice.

Are you ever tempted to do comedy Hitler impressions while talking to your neighbors?

There are so many things to make fun of the Germans about that there is no need to be so uncreative and take a cheap shot at their greatest national shame. My favorite thing to make fun of them about is the fact that they think BMWs break down less than Toyotas.

The house is on fire but you’ve managed to get all of your possessions out in time. Which of your spouses belongings do you dislike enough to slyly toss back in.

I probably would be more likely to spend the time making sure I had checked all of my hiding places to make sure nothing was forgotten.

What job could you never do?

Anything requiring a round, shapely ass. Seriously though: I could never be an executioner.

What could America learn from Germany, and what could Germany learn from America?
America could learn that it is possible for the government to help stabilize a large middle class. Germany could learn that not every possible job, like gas station attendant and roadside vegetable stand proprietor, should require a two year certificate and apprenticeship. America could learn how to control urban sprawl. The Germans could learn that the social fabric will not be torn asunder if a grocery store is open on Sunday. More to the point, the Germans could learn that a few more civil rights is a good thing and won't lead to general mayhem. Americans could find more compromise in their government. Americans could learn to appreciate more varieties of ham. Germans could learn how to raise beef with the idea that it might be edible without being boiled for half a day. Americans could learn that chocolate is for breakfast. The Germans could learn that Cheddar can be very, very good cheese.

Screen Capture Meme

Well, Dan at "All That Comes With It" tagged me this meme that required that I stop what I was doing and do a screen capture. In the interest of fairness and as an example of "living 'art'", I didn't close anything and just did the capture, despite the slightly embarrassing thing I was working on at the time.Aside from the embarrassing email in progress, you can notice several things here that tell you about me. First the desk top is cluttered, but less than half full. When the icons reach the fisherman's butt, it is time to clean up. The picture is of something I used to do a whole lot, but recent life choices have taken me away from there. A picture of someone doing esoteric single molecule imaging of cytoskeletal proteins while daydreaming about more time with his family would be a better choice. Notice that my task bar is at the right, the only sensible location since you can put many more running apps in there and still read the what they are.

Wash your hands in dreams in lightening; cut off your hair and do whatever is frightening

I notice Ellis is wearing the same flannel shirt today that he wore in the previous pictures. That is because 1) It is cold here now and 2 layers are necessary every day and 2) he loves being just like Dad. In that vein, Ellis thought if Dad was getting a haircut, then he better have one too.
Rachel was not exactly keen to do this, but with father and son of one mind on the issue, what choice did she have?And , after two brief puppet shows and a lot of funny stuff going on around his head, our little savage is ready for his job interview next week. Oh wait, I am the one with the interview.**This is Ellis's favorite t-shirt.

cordon ellis

"Put down that camera and pay attention to what I'm saying. Your last white sauce was CRAP!"

"Now, Alton says that we make the roux to coat each flour particle with fat so that it happily blends with the milk. BUT, we also must make the roux to cook the flour and avoid a pasty sauce. On the other hand, if you overcook the roux, it won't be white sauce anymore."

"Since the sauce brings a lot of flavor to the party, proper seasoning is essential."

making fun of a language i will never master makes me feel better

Last Sunday we went to an "Ecumenical Service for Children" in our village. This is not necessarily the type of event we usually frequent, but it was organized by the leader of the krabbel gruppe I sometimes attend and she invited me. I figured I have to make some effort to make friends or I will forfeit my right to complain about not having any friends. And complaining is a pretty important right.

Anyway, the service wasn't anything too interesting. They have a few per year and they are seasonally themed so this on was a "Harvest Thanks." This rhythm with the seasons-type stuff is probably something I would really dig if this were a more permanent home for us or I could understand more than 50% (up from 5% when we moved here- that is a whole order of magnitude! never mind that this is probably a plateau) of it. For this service, they did a small puppet drama and had the kids make necklaces out of chestnuts.

One thing I could translate, with the help of our preferred online translator, was the announcement for the event. It confirmed our previous observation that the motto for creating new German nouns is "smashy-smashy." The following types of people, along with their parents and grandparents, were invited to participate:

Knirpse im Kindergartalter = tots of kindergarten age
Windelträger = diaper wearers

and our favorite....

Dreikäsehochs = those that are three cheeses high

New Releases: October 2007

This week DJ Krabmaster E. Merle B.B. Loot issued his latest single, "Ape-sh*t in the Monkey House". Among his influences B.B. Loot lists American folk and country and German hip-hop. This instrumental was written and recorded shortly after the death of Kurt Vonnegut. The title was selected as an homage to Vonnegut's work "Welcome to the Monkey House". B.B. Loot has indicated that the rhythmic and harmonic dissonances of the track and the juxtaposed images of the helpless infant, frustrated toddler and cuddly little boy were selected to parallel the comic dissonance of Vonnegut's work and symbolize the struggles of the very young in this innocence-challenging modern world.


The video was filmed on a single camera and directed by B.B. Loot's mother. Keeping with the family affair, his father edited the video and mixed the final cut. B.B. Loot is in talks now to cut an album with Rick Rubin, famed for his work with Johnny Cash on Cash's American recordings. He has also indicated some interest in producing a dance remix of "Monkey House". With so much going on, it is hard to believe that B.B. Loot has time to study four new musical instruments. Even harder to believe is the fact that a baby (or should we say young man) with so much talent has taken an interest in such marginal instruments as the maracas and the ukulele. Other future projects include hip-hop versions of several old Carter family songs and several "back to basics" projects with his vocalist mother, whom B.B. Loot names as one of the top five unrecognized talents in the business.

how's about cookin' something up with me?

Sorry for the lack of posts. When all else fails...rely on baby pictures. Here's Ellis lending a hand in the kitchen. "Ok, Mom. Let's get baking. I'm not sure which pan you need, so I'll just lay them all out on the floor and let you take your pick." "Oh, crap, I forgot to load the bread pan into my harness before I started climbing." "Better wash my hands first. After all, who knows where I've been." "Mom, whoa, whoa, we don't want to overwork the dough. An autolyse of 2-3 hours is necessary to improve extensibility; only after it's complete should we further knead the dough to realign the gluten strands. Don't feel bad, you didn't know any better." "Wait, what? Dad told me all you have to do is pass the dishes under the running water and they're totally clean."