For example: my numbering system on my blogs this past week. It's starting to confuse me. I started this whole NaBloPoMo thing on Nov. 1 but didn't start numbering until Nov. 2, which means I'm always a day behind. I think I need to fix that or I'm going to end up in some cerebral knot.
If you get a chance, be sure to visit my friend Adriana's blog, What I Made for Dinner, today. She's written many a fabulous recipe in the last year or so, but today's is a gem and I think is my favorite entry to date from her. It'll make you run out to the store and buy bacon, I guarantee it!
Over at my friend Diana's blog, Swiss Account, there's been some commenting going on around her recent entry about not doing the whole NaBloPoMo thing. She also included a link to some pictures of a baroque church she and her husband, Scott, visited recently.
The pictures prompted this comment, in part, from our friend, JaneAnne: Aren't those baroque churches awesome? I had no idea they even existed (all we hear about are the gothic and romanesque ones over here) until I went to Mitteleurop with the BYU Singers.
I started to reply, but then realized my comment was taking up too much space. Here's what I said:
JA: I found your comment about baroque churches amusing (which reminds me of a funny line from Beauty & the Beast: "And you know what they say? If it ain't baroque, don't fix it!")Austria is littered with baroque churches, one of the most famous being the Karlskirche in Vienna. Unfortunately, I never set foot inside of it, despite walking past it at least twice a week on our route to visit an investigator who was also a heroin addict (my first exposure to hard drugs. I actually watched her shoot up one day. Talk about naive.) All three of my companions when I was in Vienna weren't much for getting out to see things on P-day. One was always exhausted and in bed on Mondays, the second had been to Vienna as an exchange student and seen it all already, and the third was from Finland and wanted to write lamentations and epistles to her missionary boyfriend in Finland.
Sad, huh? Nine months in Vienna and all I ever saw was the Naturhistorisches Museum and the inside of Stephansdom.
UPDATE:
In the interest of sanity, I've decided to match my NaBloPoMo posting numbers with the calendar date. I've fixed all of the blog numbers to correspond with the day. Now, aren't you happy to know that?!
For those who aren't familiar with Mormon lingo and esoterica, here are some definitions:
Investigator: a non-Mormon; someone being taught by missionaries or church members; someone interested in the teachings of the Mormon church.
Companion: another missionary you are assigned to work with and with whom you live and work 24/7.
P-day: short for Preparation Day; the one day of the week (usually a Monday) that missionaries have to go grocery shopping, do laundry, and write letters home.
7 comments:
Why oh why did you have to mention Vienna at a time like this? I am thrown into some serious homesickness.
Did you see art by Klimt when you went to the museum? I loved it! I only went once. Idiot!!
Not at the Naturhistorisches. Klimt is probably in the Kunsthistorisches. At the Natur, we saw rooms and rooms and rooms full of hunting trophies (head and antler mounts and full taxidermy) from the Kaiserlich eras. It was actually kind of dull. Still, it was Vienna.
I use to love going down by the Karlsplatz, though, because of the all the art deco and Jugendstil on the buildings. And remember the street car to the stake center and how it would take you past the Hundertwasser Haus? That was funky.
I kick myself for not taking photos, and also for my shitty memory. If I went there again, it'd be way different, let me tell you. I'd have hundreds of photos to keep.
Or would I?
We went to Hawaii, and got upgraded to this awesome suite that was usually $1200 PER NIGHT, and I didn't take one photo inside that room. Shaking my head at myself....oh, the whiplash!
I never made it to the Natur one. I don't think.
Did you ever get to tour any castles at Christmas time? Awesome!
I've still never been to Vienna, so maybe you'd like to hie your ass over here to "urge" me to get to Austria. Although the very few Austrians I work with are not making me overly excited to visit their likely uptight and controlling country (going purely on sweeping generalizations of course, as I extrapolate from a handful of driven professionals to an entire nation). Heh.
SML: I got to a point where I carried my camera with me everywhere and if I saw a picture moment, I took it, because I knew I wouldn't ever be back that way again. Still, there's a lot in Vienna I didn't see because I didn't stand up and say, "I'm sorry your sick/lived here before/have this in your country. I don't know when I'll ever be here again, so I'm going to go see this stuff while I can." Then: young and stupid. Now: older and wiser.
Swizzies: The way I'm feeling today, I'd like to hie to Switzerland and never leave. Can I come and be your hausfrau?
The Austrians are a funny bunch. On the one hand, they have a certain old world charm that makes Austria and its people magical and warm. On the other hand, they are so uptight, they make the Germans look like the laid back segment of the Teutonic tribes! The Viennese in particular are especially either adored or abhorred. Again, they can be quite warm when you get to know them well, but they also have an aloofness that even other Austrians note and mock.
You're doing a great job with NaBloPoMo. The daily numbering is a great reminder that, oops, I haven't posted today (yet). I think I'm off a day too, just because one day I couldn't post because blogger was down.
Loved the "baroque" title :)
Post a Comment