the disconnect

what more can i say. it is. really. happening.

i am moving. and i know this because i am sitting on the tile floor of my now empty apartment, drinking out of a plastic cup, waiting for a potential new tenant to look at my place. man, my butt is cold.

my flight is on friday, but somehow this is already it. tomorrow i have to hand over the keys, the control, the rights, to this - my wohnung. my home. as the night falls on mannheim, it also falls on me. these past few days have been filled with wonderful laughter, bittersweet tears, painful sweat and smokey clothes. filled with moments that make it that much harder and moments that make it that much easier for me to leave.

i have just reduced my life to a series of cardboard boxes, a few suitcases, some disassembled furniture and a laundry basket but i cannot bear to pull the plug on my internet connection. i guess that will really be it - the moment i disconnect. both literally and figuratively. i have given up all other luxuries - a chair, a table, a plate. i don't even have any more toilet paper. but somehow, my computer is on and my router is still pumping the bytes away. in the same vain, i have not yet allowed myself to fully realize the effects of my relocation. that i will no longer live in germany. that i will no longer have my closest friends surround me, support me, even tease me. the disconnect i have to make will be a tough one...to pull the plug on my life here. to surrender to the pain, the chaos, just long enough to let the pain soak in, but not long enough to allow it to leave its stain. and then, to plug myself in again - and hope that the hole that was germany is now sealed.

this is probably my last post from the heim. so to everyone here - i am going to miss you all terribly. thank you for making my time here memorable, and thank you for being a part of my life. i love you all.

life is like a box

and you thought i was going to say chocolates...but you would be wrong.

right now, life is just like a box. a rectangular cardboard box. one that you are forced to squeeze your life into or toss your life out of.

you know, this whole moving process has become quite cathartic. i mean, you are forced to let go of so many sentimental items that you would have liked to have cherished for just one more day. it is also a bit shocking because i have realized how much crap i can accumulate in just a year and a half...it is sick.

for those of you who don't know - in 9 days i will be leaving germany (finally, no more unmixable mcdonald's sundaes) and will be moving to haifa, israel - where i will be for atleast the next two and a half years.

its pretty crazy, i admit but i am so excited about it! the only problem is this issue called "packing up my life" - i hate it.

too much technology, so little time

new discovery of mine - podcasting.

no, i'm not going to make my own, but i have just discovered a world of intellectual and comedic wealth - all available at the click of my mouse. yippee.

oh no, this means more time spent on/about/with/using/listening to my ipod. i think the next phase in this process will be to become an intellectually superior human (due to the massive amount of podcasts i will be listening to) with little to no social contact skills. i see myself slipping, but damn the fall is nice :)

so, you may ask...what podcasts do i recommend:

ricky gervais -this is a must. brilliant. funny. worth every penny. oh, wait...it's free. still, it is very worth it.
npr podcasts - a great resource for news summaries, books, movies, music, technology. i heart npr.

if you have any others - (and thanks sanisha for the ones you pointed out - i have downloaded but have not yet listened to them) please do let me know. not like i need any more excuses to mess around with itunes, but still...

my new mouth

so yesterday i decided to surprise myself with a post-new years/christmas/whatever gift of an electric toothbrush. i have been debating whether or not to buy one for ages, as i never really thought that it was worth it.

i hate brushing my teeth. not that i do not do it, because i do. don't get me wrong...but i just find it such a waste of time and such a boring few minutes of my day. i always have to do something else while i brush my teeth, in order to convince myself that i am not wasting time.

so, in an effort to make mouth cleaning a new and exciting few minutes of each day for myself, and after consulation with my dentist as to which toothbrush is the market leader, yesterday i bought myself the oral-b triumph. not sure at all of what to expect, i brought it home, plugged it in and waited (rather impatiently) until it was time to brush my teeth.

this already was a new phenomenon, i have never eagerly waited to brush my teeth. who has?
i used it last night, this morning and again this evening and all i can say is...nice. i feel like i have already seen a noticeable improvement in the shininess and whiteness of my teeth, but i am convinced this is just psychological. after each 30 seconds, it alerts me to move to another quadrant of my mouth and then at the end of the recommended 2 minutes it alerts me that my time has been completed. lovely.

at any rate, though it may be the novelty of a new item, it has changed the way i view brushing my teeth and was indeed worth the high price tag attached to it.

kudos to the guy who came up with this invention and if you do not have one already, i must say you are missing out.