So... I guess you might all be wondering what my usual schedule is like here. Well, I'm attending German classes five days a week, from 10 am until about 1:30 pm. However, it takes me about 45 minutes to get to class, so I don't normally get back until after 2:00. If I use the internet at my school, it could be significantly later. After that I'll run any errands that need running, particularly if I need to go somewhere outside my immediate neighborhood. For example, the place where I get my photo supplies is in the city center, and requires two metro transfers, so going that direction can turn in to a whole afternoon jaunt around the Mitte district.

Once I'm back in Friedrichshain, I usually attempt to do some tidying up around the apartment. Our kitchen is a perpetual disaster, and no matter how often we mop the floor it turns black again. Then there's Larry, our cat, who's having psychological problems after the departure of his owner. He's used to having someone home with him all day, and walks around the house meowing forlornly until someone picks him up and pets him. The catnip toy I bought him doesn't seem to be helping much.

I have a few projects I'm working on, too. I can often be found wandering around, taking photos of whatever catches my eye. Lately I've been playing around with long, wide-angle shots from sidewalk-height. I haven't made any prints yet, but I think they're going to look pretty cool. I'm also designing a few different styles of bracelets - I have a leather jacket I bought at a thrift store that ended up being a terrible fit once I got it home. Oops. And the shoulder pad in one of the shoulders is currently serving as an elbow pad. So, the jacket is being sacrificed for it's leather. And once that runs out, I'm thinking of switching to a stiff canvas wrapped with other materials. I also have a bunch of plans for stencils and silk screens - I've never cared for vandalism before, but around here every flat surface is covered in stencil art. At that level, it really stops being vandalism and starts being an addition to the local art scene. And I'm scouting around for a used sewing machine - I saw some really neat re-designed shirts at a punk rock shop in Prague that looked really cool, but would be incredibly easy to make and sell.

I'm reading a lot - everything from the history of Berlin to philosophy. I have a great book right now, titled "A Nation of Sheep," that was written in (I think) '59 or '60. It's a brilliant critique of American's naivite in world politics that was written in the late 50s or early 60s. The scary thing is that, as you read the opening chapter, the author could easily be talking about Iraq at this very moment. The author criticizes the American government for essentially listening to what 2nd and 3rd parties tell them about supposed enemy activity, criticizes the media for buying in to the government position without doing its own research, and critizes the American population for not asking questions - not asking where the supposed "facts" are coming from, for just blindly accepting what the government tells them is the case. At the time the enemy was "Red China," and everyone was afraid of being seen as "pink" if they dared question America's actions, but you could easily substitue "terrorists" and "soft on terrorism" and republish large parts of the book right now. It's really, really well written, and really fucking sad and scary.

Other, random events like the occasional potluck dinner are fun, and every Sunday afternoon I head a few blocks over to the Boxhaganer Platz flea market. I almost never buy anything, but the people-watching is fantastic, and I love looking at all the things people bring to sell. A lot of people use it as a place to sell their knitting, jewelry, art, or homemade clothing without the investment of opening a proper store. One guy puts his dog in sunglasses and a hat, sits him on a podium, and charges 1€ for "your picture with the most famous dog in Berlin!" (written in English). There are other people who scour thrift stores during the week and sell their finds for a markup every weekend. And then there are the people who just bring out random boxes of shit from their garages. Today I was digging through a cardboard box full of old dishes, and I found a sugar dish complete with ancient, discolored sugar cubes. It was unreal.

My favorite stalls, though, are the people selling their crafts. There's a lady who makes rings out of old typewriter and keyboard keys. They run about 13€ for a standard keyboard key, up to 60€ for a key from a really ancient typewriter. People sell armwarmers (really just forarm sleeves made of fleece fabric) for as much as 12€ a piece, when I know the actual investment was about 30 cents and the 20 minutes it took to cut and stitch it. There was a girl today selling magnets she'd made by just cutting out pictures and gluing them to magnet backings (John, care to go in to business with that one?). And of course, the ubiquitous handmade fabric wallets (again, all I need is some stiff canvas and a sewing machine and I'm in business on E-bay).

And, to wrap everything up, here's my top 10 favorite new habits I've picked up in Berlin (in no particular order):

1) Drinking tea (all the time - it's about 59 cents for a box of 50 tea bags)
2) Drinking out of jam jars.
3) Putting a lid on said jam jar and taking it to school with me as a "to go" mug.
4) In that vein, realizing that no one really gives a shit what I do. No one is staring at me thinking I'm inferior to them because I'm walking around with coffee in a jam jar.
5) Taking the U-bahn.
6) Having a real neighborhood, where I actually know some of the people who live within walking distance of me.
7) Walking to the grocery store.
8) Using a fabric shopping bag as a matter of course. Everyone does. Just like the ones that Trader Joe's sells for 5 dollars - except these are only 50 cents, and carrying one doesn't give you the right to be smug.
9) Dressing in layers - looks cooler, feels warmer.
10) Buying real butter instead of margarine, because it only costs 1€ for a half-pound. Mmmm...

Oh yeah, and to continue with the things I miss: The Simpsons, Family Guy, Mexican food (just like everyone warned me), being able to buy things like standard painkillers and antisceptic spray without talking to a pharmicist, and knowing that I can talk to anyone around me without a problem.

Something I don't miss at all: People like the ones featured in this fabulous website.
http://www.thecobrasnake.com/partyphotos/sloanjam/index.html

For those of you who are unfamiliar with his "work," the Cobra Snake is a 24 year old hipster kid in LA who manages to make a living taking party photos of pretentious hipsters and putting them up on his website. Because, God only knows, hipsters in LA don't think highly enough of themselves already. They really need Cobra Snake running around with a camera to prove that they're hip enough. And seriously, in case you make the mistake I used to, and think that these people look at all "alternative," look closer. There isn't one stylistic detail left unnoticed. They aren't just smiling at the camera- they're all consciously putting on their "look at me, I'm gonna be a star" face. It's impossible to get away from them in LA, and I didn't really understand how pretentious it all is until I got over here. Yeah, Berlin has it's own small hipster population, but you can still go out here without having the right "look," and no one will look at you like you aren't good enough to be sharing the air with them.