Also... Das rothaarige Mädel war schon eine Weile aus Deutschland...

Und bestimmt jetzt wissen Sie, dass ich total unzuverlässig bin.... Ich poste manchmal... manchmal nicht... manchmal warte ich fünftausend Jahren vor ich wirklich überhaupt eben daran denke! Es passiert... ich mein, ich ein Leben (mehr oder weniger) und die Schule ist wirklich schwierig dieses Jahr (in meiner Meinung).... Ich kann auch nicht posten, wenn da keinen Strom ist also könnte ich bestimmt nicht letzte Woche posten.
Der letzte Schneesturm hat viele Bäume niedergeschlagen und damit viele Stromleitungen und so wir waren eben letzte Woche für vier Tage mit überhaupt keinen Strom. Als ich es fand war es total ungünstig, besonders wenn wir schon so viel für Strom bezahlen und wir haben es doch nicht. Ich habe bei meinen Freunden geduscht und habe immer nach Feuerstelle gerochen (nicht, dass das schlecht ist aber es gibt Schmerzkopf nach einer Weile).
Jetzt während ich nicht in Deutschland bin denk ich immer, dass ich leute aus meiner Klasse sehe! Ich vermisse die alle aus Deutschland... und auch die Brezeln und Kürbiskernbrötchen. Und Bier und früh aus der Schule zu kommen. Ich vermisse damals, wenn ich Rad überall fahren konnte oder in der Stadt mit einem Zug fahren und bücher kaufen. Ich vermisse SPÄTZLE! Ich vermisse viele Dinge, wie man alles will, was er nicht gerade hat. Ich werde irgendwann zurückkehren und ich hoffe, alles im Deutschland eben mehr lieben als früher :)

Schönen Tag Noch! Bis später!
Deni!

The redhead is super pumped for:

Harry Potter and  also the Women's World Cup Final: both of which together with meeting my best friend after a year of not seeing her, join together to make what will probably be one of the most memorable weekends and moments of my life.
      My last few weeks in Germany are here, and they are blasting apart and out of control like crazy. Two weeks from today is my going-away party, where I will say a long goodbye to all my dear friends here (who also for the most part all recieved the lovely invitations today), and I shall be leaving the next day for Dresden with my father and be traveling with him for a week before landing in my very own bed in my very own room in my parent's very own house in my very own little Pennsylvania, USA.
      And my heart quickens to think of the smiling faces of my family, the hugs that have waited months, my nephew, my sisters, my closest friends. And everytime I think of it something leaps inside me, up into my throat: my soul I expect, hoping that maybe it could speed up the process. I already know what I want for my coming home dinner: I want corn. I want good, loving Pennsylvania corn on the cob and most of all I want to shuck it myself. Everything else about the meal from my perspective is rather unimportant, althought ribs might be nice and some of my mama's mashed Poh-tä-toes! I can't wait to re-arrange my room, and do something in our backyard. I can't wait to see my puppy-dogs and play with them!!!
      but in the mean time I have to pack and plan and make lists of things I still need to do! Have a hoppin' Harry Potter weekend!


      "... gimme dem chocolate Frogs, every flavor beans,got my permission slip signed, going to Hogsmeade. The Pheonix gives the orders at platform 9 3/4 and after dinner we're gettin' sorted an' I hope I'm GryffinDOR. AWWYEAh: Hufflepuff  know what's up: let me see you gettin' nasty wit yo Pumpkin Juice Cup with your Pumpkin Juice Cup.All these muggles all around me they be actin' like they drunk!"

The redhead has had a fantastic Independence Day so far.

And it is not just because today I handed in my last assignment for NWT (Naturwissenschaft und Technik), which is not exactly my favorite subject.
OHH No.
You see my lovely audience, yesterday I said to myself: "DENI ANNE POOPY-PANTIES TOBIN," (yes this in how I speak to myself in my head) I said,"Tomorrow is the fourth of July! What are you going to do? You can't just go to school like normal!". So I decided then and there that I was going to dress funny so that I looked like an awful stereotype of an American. But of course, that could not work out because I do not possess a super huge cowboy hat at the moment (and it was to late to order one on Amazon), nor do I have a Texan accent..... so that option was sadly extinguished. I asked my Host Family if they had any ideas and bless my luck, my host parents, thanks to both their consecutive exchanges in the United States, both just happen to have each a huge American Flag lying around collecting dust in the cellar (because what the hell is a German supposed to do with an American Flag anyway?).
      So this morning, because I needed to do something obnoxious, I donned the flag happily about my shoulders, and Miss Captain America was born. Many did look funnily, and two of my three teachers asked me if the USA Women won yesterday or something, but of course my english teacher knew a second after he gave me a funny look that it was the 4th. On top of that my cape and Independence Day gave me the choice of what song we would sing in music class (to which my classmates muttered something along the lines of " I thought this was a day that celebrated Democracy?" and to which I have nothing to say except, do you celebrate your birthday with Democracy? XD), so of course I picked "Happy Ending by MIKA because, I mean.... that's EVERYONE's obvious Independence Day song choice! (sarcasm)
      Anyway I hope you guys have a great 4th of July with Hot Dogs and Marshmallows and too many fireworks! And Happy 235th Birthday USA! (:

The redhead can't think of a fantastic title for this post.

Did you miss me?
Well, my gingersnaps, I have been to Corsica and now, I am BACK!
We were there for two weeks in the Pfingstferien.(Pentecost vacation which her is two weeks. For those who do not know: Pentecost is the 50th (Penta = five) day after easter, it is a christian holiday that celebrates and commemorates the recieving of the Holy Spirit by the disciples)
Corsica has very big mountains, very spikey plants, and a very hot climate. The only way I survived their was by clogging my pores with more sunscreen that I can ever remember having to put on in one single vacation and sleeping with any possible windows as open as they would go to catch the lovely breeze of the beach. It was very beautiful: and definitely a strange exotic world from the view of a simple Pennsylvanian. We went hiking so many times and for hours and then swimming in the ocean or one of the fresh mountain streams that are overly-abundant. If you are going to go to Corsica, just please note (if you shall be driving on the island which I guarantee you probably are at some point) that the roads are basically all built onto the sidesof mountains, something that at first sounds pretty but in the end is just VERY narrow, and windy and at times a little scary, in other words, if you are easily car sick DO NOT sit in the backseat of the vehicle or, if it cannotbe avioded, take turns with the person riding shotgun. Also: please be careful of the cattle. Especially around mountain paths and such like that there are a LOT of stray goats, pigs, and/or cows! Don't hit them and go slowly around curves!
Anyway, it was pretty, and the Crousants were excellent considering it is technically a part of France!
In other news I have a 2/3 on my very last German test! (much better that the 3/4 on the one before and best in German so far) I will be ending the year, I believe in pretty good standing in all my subjects apart from Math and NWT...and Music... but I think everything else is great and I am fine with it, I mean I can't exactly change anything now anyway so, yeah.
Apart from that I also am going to Altstadtfest today! Altsstadtfest (Old City Festival?) is in Waiblingen. All my class is going to it and we're going rock it out. It should be really fun!
AND YO. The Women's World Cup is rocking so far: The USA is leading their first round group, having won their last game against North Korea 2 to 0 and are going to be in the first WWC game (on Saturday) that has completely sold out that is two completely foreign teams. (WOO!) I'm so proud of my team and I know we're gonna kick boo-tay!
Anyway, love you all, sorry I've been MIA for a while (sheepish grin)

The redhead is going to write about a favorite poet of her's.

Shel Silverstine has been turning ourimaginations upside-down and inside out since our first days in the school library,since our first days of storytime before bed. The Missing Peice, The Giving Tree, or just silly poems such as Backward Bill--teaching us and making us see things not the way theyare but the way they could be. Because of him and Dr. Seuss and so many other children's writers we learned at that age that words are not just for communication: Words a toys that one can use for almost anything and that you never grow out of. Words are bridges and blocks and musical instruments and there is no limit to them. They extend for miles in every language and because we created the languages, we can always make new ones.

"Listen to the MUSTN'Ts, child,
Listen tot he DON'Ts,
Listen to the SHOULDN'Ts,
The IMPOSSIBLEs, the WON'Ts
Listen to the NEVER HAVEs
then listen close to me--
ANYTHING can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be."
-Shel Silverstine

So thank you: You are one thing in my life that I would be completely different without.

Dem Rothaarigen Mädel geht es sehr gut.

(The redhead is very well)

Why? Well let's see:
Though the redhead's soccer team did not win their big game last saturday, they fought hard and worked together as a team and tied in the bi-polar Weather. I call the weather bi-polar because it was really fracking hot and then at half time it began suddenly to rain, without warning; though this was fantastic, it was also very strange because as I say, it was really sunny and really hot. As far as I'm concerned we won because we fought as hard as we could and we could never have stopped the one goal that went in because after all it was a really dumb one. But as I say: we tied and because we tied and the team that was one place below us lost, we are in third place for the season, baby!! But every good part is accompanied by the bad: and because I am so proud of my girls here and I will be sad to leave them and miss them for sure next season.  : (
I have been planning my next month or so and have realized that I have ABSOLUTELY NO FREE WEEKENDS LEFT. Everything is so crazy. This next weekend my family and I are going to Korsika (a tiny island that belongs to France in the Middle Sea.....I mean Med. Sea!) and going to cover myself with WAY TOO MUCH SUNSCREEN because we know what happens to pale little Deni in sunny weather (and the reminder is still viewable on my poor wittle back), then the next weekend I will be going to this cool Medieval Fest in Waiblingen with a friend of mine and chill, the weekend after that I shall be off hiking with some friends, then the weekend after that in Kassel (and we will be watching HP7 part2 at midnight!!!!!!!!!!), and then my father comes. That's how close it is! My father will be here six weekends from now as my time ticks slowly away, down to the home-bound arrival that I both don't want and yet long for.
Now I will stop babbling at you because I got things to do and essays to writing and time to enjoy!
You should go enjoy yours!
Deni

The redhead has things to say.

But first: Happy June! and Happy Father's Day!
I shall be calling my father later tonight. (I wrote it on my arm so that I DO NOT forget.)
Today I awoke at 1 o'clock in the afternoon and had to rub my eyes a few times before I was convinced that I hadn't read the time wrong. I had been sleeping for 12 hours! I had no idea how I could have possibly done that, but I got up and changed and ate brunch, finding out that my host family were a little worried about me and how long I slept. But I'm fine, just tired.
Since this morning I think I have discovered why I slept so incredibly long this morning. It starts with a strange victory of yesterday that sent my goody-two-shoes, american concious into a perfuse sweat: I bought my very first beer in a super market. Alone and with my one money--and I was so proud of myself.
I bought two Beck lemon and lime beers to bring with me to a little grill party that our class was having at the YMCA center (here YMCA is a different bunch of four letters but I forget what they are: anyway, you get the point.). So I brought them with as well as much appreciated marshmallows (because what is a fire without smores?) and a few Rotwurst for myself. It was quite a nice evening, just sitting, talking, laughing. We ate cookies and played on the nearby playground a little to, because, let's face it, Swings are the BOMB.
We also started telling riddles at one point starting with this one which I will write in German and English because in German it sounds a little better:

Der blaue Punkt geht ins Wasser, der grüne Punkt geht in der Wiese, der rote Punkt geht ins Feuer. Wo geht der gelbe Punkt?
The blue dot goes in Water, the green dot goes in the grass field, the red dot goes in the fire. Where does the yellow dot go?
After a rather long time contemplating it in actually seriousness no one knew andwe asked our friend who told us to give us the answer. And he refused, something that made this particular riddle a Plague of the evening consuming almost everyone's thoughts. So we tried to distracted ourselves, we played other games like 20 questions, we ate the marshmallows. Eventually we started playing campfire songs which reminded me horribly of home but also reminded me how awesome my friends and my experiences are here. But finally the yellow dot was getting to be quite annoying because no one could solve it and noone would give the answer. We went on likethis for an hour until we decided to leave and were all quite annoyed that the answer was "Der gelbe Punkt geht auf die Nerven" (The yellow dot gets on your nerves.).
During the course of this nice little get together I managed to drink both beers, because I was thirsty and they were good, but I showed really no sign of it, because I ate things in between and drank them sparingly (as they were the only drinks I had with) the only sign of me drinking them at all were the empty bottles and, I suspect, my 12 hour sleep.
In other news we started reading "the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon in English and I think it is a fantastic book. If you havenot read it yet, I would highly reccomend it.
Anyway, thanks for reading and subscribing! Keep a smile on (:
Deni

The redhead sometimes really doesn't like being a redhead.

     And it is rare--but at those small rare moments I find slipping through the cracks of my pride I lose it.
I can barely ever hide from things physically because my hair is like a huge flame throwing eyes immediately to it, making old ladies stop me in the street to talk to me about how they had hair just like me when they were little and you know, I'm fine with that. Afterall, most of the time, I'm lost and when I'm not I always like compliments on my parents genes going around and I like sweet little old ladies (Who doesn't? They're adorable!).
     But this rare ginger hating moment stems not from my actual hair, oh no no no, it stems from the indications of my hair to my skin color, which is not JUST white bread, it is like bread bleached in cream cheese, it's like a blinding, flourescent-light-shoved-up-your-eye-socket white, a white that will never get darker no matter how many times I TRY to dance my sweet small-town behind like a black ghetto booty can or tan or rub dirt into my skin--well actually i can't say that one, I've never tried it--but you get the POINT! And I do not shame in my skin color or my race. I am far from it! I am white and nerdy and you couldn't do anything to changeme! I have never had, nor will ever want to be something I am not except for, maybe, in times of EXCRUCIATING PAIN. And let me tell you honey, not being able to sleep for three nights or painlessly wear a bra is wearing me down.
     I have a sunburn--a sunburn as red as the Kool-Aid man. A sunburn almost the whole length of my back, but, my dear readers, it FEELS like a football field. IT HURTS when it comes in contact with ANYTHING. It hurts to lean back, lay down, turn around, run, wear a bra, or even stand with good posture!
     And I understand the concept of sunscreen, I do, I swear, I even put some on on the said pool day that led to this disasterous yucky pain. I will admit however that, though I should be for the sake of my skin, I am NOT a sunscreen extremist. I am not one that thinks about it all that time or that has a stop watch for my effing suncream, because sunscreen is gross and oily and I hate having it on my skin and clogging my pores and I want to ENJOY MY LIFE not worry about things. And so, on this day, in this cranky sleepy mood, with this paper-skinned back, I am done. I HATE being a redhead and I HATE having pale skin, in this moment, for this one thing. I am done.
      In the future I will remember this and be more careful, I will sunscreen it up, and maybe make a dance that is called "Das Einschmieren Tanz". Sunburns make things complicated and painful and not fun. I don't want them, but being a sunscreen nazi doesn't make anything enjoyable either. I will try my very best and hopefully find the balance that makes my life the most convenient to enjoy. Thank you for reading my silly rant about myself and my superficial mistakes. Have a pleasant day and week.
Love, Deni

The redhead analyzes.

       To analyze: is to separate (a material or abstract entity) into constituent parts or elements; determine the elements or essential features of; (opposed to synthesize): to analyze an argument. (Thank you dictionary.com)

      How many things do we analyze? Well for starters we could analyze the word "analyze": The word analyze sprang from a latin word: Analysis. This word is still the noun in English. The spelling of the word "analyze" varies from British to American English where in the former the word is spelled with an "s" instead of the latter's "z", but they are both at the end pronounced "-ize" as in "size". And depsite all the good intentions meant in this spelling, it never takes away from the fact that the word "anal" is in it, and well... that's just hilarious. It's like saying the word "duty" you just can't help it, childishness is a necessity that no one can escape.

       Today we were analyzing poetry in German class, which seems surprisingly unpopular with almost all the students I have met so far in Germany. I'm not sure why that is, but I think it might have something to do with the abundance of poetry from the Baroque Period, Renaissance, the Middle Ages, and all the upity-dupity fancy language that is sometimes even spelled at least a little strangely and the rather less amount of more contemporary poetry that is easier and directer. I might be wrong about that, but at any rate we never really study slam poetry in class, so forget about that. I sort of understand the not wanting to think too deeply into words, it can create headaches if you aren't a wordy type of person. But I LOOOVEEE Poetry, and analyzing it. For me analyzing poetry is that feeling a scientist gets when they are finally allowed to pull something apart to see how it works.
         But poetry and literature aren't the only things that can be analyzed-- what about a situation? Like for instance how I should have probably better analyzed my situation while I was at the Stetten pool on Wednesday and immediately applied sunscreen and done it every two hours, so that I would not have gotten huge cow splotches of tomato-red burn on my pale, papery skin in awkward formations. But alas, this type of analysis is not my most proficient: is it not that I cannot do it well, it is that I simply forget to do it sometimes or decide not to on a whim. On this particular afternoon I thought, "It can't be that bad, I will just wait a little while. I will put some on later, eventually, when I know I should, afterall the sun is warm and big and happy and I want to dose quietly in it's smiles." But God, who knew I should have been studying for Chemistry at that very moment because I had my test the very next day, handled fate how he felt, on his whims and left me for days unable to sleep comfortably due to the awful pains upon the collision of anything with my skin.
            Or how about scientific anaylsis? I have only one solid problem with scientific analysis, I do not speak scientist, I speak DENI ANNE, a language that is simple and sweet and loud and has no real boundaries of politeness. For example: Why the hell should I have to say " feces" or "fecal matter" when I could just say "poop"? I mean seriously? Are you uncomfortable with the word "poop" Mr. Biologist? Then why the hell are you trying to everything harder than it is!? I swear if I am ever a biology teacher (unlikely) I will NEVER say fecal matter or feces, I will say poop, because then everyone's on the same page and no one need get uncomfortable about such words! Same with sex, "intercourse"? REALLY?
             Or you could analyze further that it seems to be part of the American culture to shut out and make uncomfortable and unacceptable everything normal and natural about our bodies and our processes. And I don't know maybe it's me, but undressing around other people in the US always seems unusually awkward in comparison with here. Not just at Locker Rooms, I mean, even at sleepovers!!!  I have never had a public shower in the US, but here, I take one after almost ever soccer game we have. Even discussing such things is awkward when you make it that way. But why?
              WELL I HAVE NO CLUE! I'm done with analyzing for now, you can analyze further in the commments if you want.
Have a happy weekend and summer for those of you in America who now have the whole summer off (who I am angry at)!!!!!

<3 

The redhead freestylin'.

    Where stone towers in wild spikes into heaven like a bread knife, the clouds sticking between it's wobbly teeth. Where your feet carry you too fast and your eyes never have enough time to really see and the steep slopes grumble their morning mishaps into hiking boot souls; the grass sighing contentedly.
     This is where I see everything, where I've found a second home: a world where valleys roll out like dough colored alive and vineyards spike the wild too-tall trees. This world here has wrinkled eyes, and knowing hands that see the way that life just spans... forever. And the things I tend to think at times like these are how hard it will be to please my two-tongued soul: for every tongue comes with slight differences in taste.
     Germany spoils me like a clueless child, the (grand)fatherland with kisses and tones so mild, love so wild, that being ripped from it's soil may cripple me a while.
     You see, I just want both with all of the people, the language, the food. But then again together, were neither the same--it would be a rude immitation without the same name.
     And I love the US, believe me, I do. I often sing undertone of red, white, and blue. My sweet apple pie promise, a silly illogical world, it needs some help, maybe, but you gotta love it's twirling heart, swinging in open circles and looking at the sky, just wants to get dizzy, never meant to lie. It is warm and big, and proud, big mouth too--it's thinking for the good, it tries to sing on the right key, and it's not always right on but eventually, I believe it will find that with practice.
      I love these two places, miles apart. Both homes, both beautiful, both made with the hands from the heart.

The redhead had her math test today.

    And as far as i can tellit went rather well, I think it was my best Math test so far. (YAY!)
    But besides math things have been hopin'. I've been stressin' about testin' lately, but ya know, testing ain't so bad when it's over... then I can fall onmy backside and enjoy the sun for three seconds until the next one curls up around my spine when I wasn't looking.
     But I got over the big ones that were to happen directly after the spring break, so I am rather satisfied.
     Today for me was tiring but also a very good day. We had Gym after Math (and just if you didn't know how badly I can no longer speak english, just notice how I keep randomly capitalizing my nouns... : P). We worked on the long jump and then after did this awful sprinting exercise that only three people in the class completely finished. I was the last one that was made to leave, but after that I was done, I was tired, I had an energy level of zero point zero zero. Somehow I just managed to slump through the geography period to lunch, but we also went to the bakery much closer to the school than our normal bakery even though it is more expensive because none of us to go further to be honest. We sat for our lunch hour in the quad throwing bits of bread in the pond and watching the fish devour them in crazy ripples like iron shavings being sucked to a powerful magnet. We talked and looked at the pictures in the clouds or lay quietly, almost asleep. We named ourselves the queens of grass or flowers. It was chill.
      Aftersuch a good lunch break returning to the dreary building was like being unwillingly swallowed by a very unpleasantly yucky slimy thing. Biology was not such a big help in distinguishing this metaphor either, inthe fiveminute break I nearly fell asleep on Caro's chair while she talked to Amelie. I felt like a drift dust mote, I just needed a little corner to float to, to fall in to, to be forgotten.
      In other news, shout out to Löki Gale Tobin who I believe should now be visiting home: I love you, hope you have a great time in the good old US of A and I would also like to express my complete surprise at the victory of Azerbaijan in the Eurovision competition.... it was a little strange. (:
Have a great week!

The redhead has been thinking about the research.

This is the internet. If you are reading this, you are on it, you are a part of it, giving and taking. The internet is a new form of media, bursting from socks and hats and hidden places we never knew were there.
    Good, now, with that in mind, in elementary school I learned how to use a library. We had to learn the Dewy Decimal System. We played a game of it, running from the bookshelves to the card catalog, the first to find all the books on the list and have it checked by the teacher won. I still remember my elementary school library, the tables, each with eight chairs, the shelves at front were the fiction section, Harry Potter always hovering behind the librarians right leg as she toldus stories. The books about mythology (a very small collection that I read very quickly) was at the other end of the library and around the corner, the biographies in the back. I could probably go in there and still know exactly about it all, if it hasn't been changed around (which i'm sure it has been).
     I remember once we had to do these presentations about animals and everyone was assigned an animal. Everyone wanted to do the presentation on a cheetah or lion, I wanted to do mine on the black bear, but somebody else pciked it first and I cried. I got howler monkey instead, which was actually ok. We had to learn about them in the library using the books and then talk about it in front of the class with a special puppet that the teacher had for each person to use. Before I left the fifth grade to go to the BIG SCARY MIDDLE SCHOOL, I was allowed to make a cover for my favorite book in the library-- I made one for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.... I wonder if it is still there.
    But we are off topic!
    I realized yesterday that I wouldn't know where to go for research today if there were no computers.... if i have a question I ask google or bing or ask.com (what was once ask jeeves, but as of now has no jeeves which saddens me thoroughly). I am so ridiculously dependent on computers that I can't even believe it. And I've been starting to feel guilty about it, like it is an awful habit, like I have no idea how to have fun or operate when it's not through this damn machine. I like day when I have been computer suspended, where I can go outside and breath air and move my body ormaybe just read a book, climba tree, talk to a PERSON.
    There are obvious benefits to the internet and computers of course, it is now easierto get information than ever before, but also makes it easier to get false information than ever before instead of the right stuff. The internet is democratic with voices spewing everywhere, but if the information that they recieve in the first place is wrong, how are wesupposed to have any valid opinions or words? How are we supposed to act correctly? Everyone seems to be running away with technology! Even books are being digitalized! And I ask myself what happened to paper and pencils? What happened to a bibliography that you slaved over for hours writing out by hand?
     But overrall I do love the internet, the internet makes communicating across an oceanmuch easier, makes communication in general much easier. Love andmiss you all at home, hope you have a great week!
Deni

The redhead isn't sure what she thinks.

    Where do we get our opinions from?
    Well, I think that we get our opinions from our own beliefs and feelings and knowledge, but our opinions are also very heavily influenced by our parents and our friends-- people we look up to, people we believe in. And this is the partisanship of humanity: Humans are trusting. Humans (for the most part) want to trust, want to believe everything, want the world to be unlying and pure and pretty and true (and at least at the beginning they believe that it will be). Who wants a fake world? Life is not made of paper and plastic lies held up with toothpicks.
    But, how do we know anything is true? How do we even know that when we sit down to watch the news, that things will be true? Well, we don't, not entirely. We can never be completely sure. Because though people like to trust, people also like to use that trust, to corrupt the trust.
     I trust in my family, and my friends. I trust in myself. andin this trust and this influence they have on me, I tend to see things the way that they do. I tend to like eating seafood. I tend to like wearing converse sneakers. I like to make up silly words. I tend to be of a more politically liberal mind. And I don't know if I would do those things, would be this same person that likes seafood if it weren't for them, because they are a part of me and I trust them and their judgement.
       Being seperated from them and their opinions, and being suddenly in an entirely different country gives you different people to trust, different opinions to draw on, and different eyes to see through.
      And here's the thing. If I were in America at the time that Osama Bin Laden died, with my friends, my family, and all the people who's eyes are easy for me to see out of, I would have high-hived someone, I would have probably whooped. Awesome! This dude, who killed thousands of people that one day that I was in first grade and ruined storytime is FINALLY dead. That guy who I can only think of with the undertones of kindergarten memories turned sour: sitting on the bus next to my dosing father as our class took a trip to New York City, my first trip, and I craned my neck to see those two ginormous buildings far in the distance. They were bigger than big bird, they were taller than my dad times five thousand, but they were just dominos we stacked on one another, and another, and another. They fall just as easily. And the sound of his name has meant nothing to me than a New York City I barely knew before it came crashing to it's knees. A name I have heard since my childhood as frequently, or perhaps more frequently than Bugs Bunny. A name that order the death of thousands of innocent, unaware Americans who just on their way to work, to get money, to feed their family, to live their life.
        But here, I'm not so sure. Here we talk more abouthow he wasn't armed, how he was with his own family, living peacefully in a house in a country that America has no (or should not have) power over to just seize residents and kill them point blank. They talk about how no one really wanted him anymore anyway, how he wasn't hurting anything or anyone. they talk about how his wife ran at the man holding the gun shielding her husband and was accidentally shot in the leg. And I wonder what she said to them in her language, if she pleaded that they let him go, that she loved him, if they understood her at all. I wonder what his children thought as they shot him, if later in life they will always remember that day. I don't know. And neither does any one else really. No one cared to ask.
          Is freedom what the USA stands for? Freedom for them to carry their revenge thousands of miles to a country they have no place to be in, let alone give orders in. And....
 I don't know what to think.

But whatever happens, if we tell them that they need to take the hatred off their shoulders, that means that we must do the same.

The redhead is SO TIRED.

           There is a part of your brain called the Brain Stem! It runs from the thalmus to the spinal chord (No idea where the thalmus is? Click the word Brain Stem in the line above to see a picture of the brain!) and has three little tiny pieces that, despite their physical size, are hugely enormously important to the operation of vital functions of the body! The three peices are the Pons (latin for bridge), the Reticular Formation, and the Medulla.
            The Pons is the bridge between the two halves of that silly brain of yours, without it you wouldn't be able to understand yourself, let alone the world around you!
            The Medulla is the bottom part of the Brain Stem, closest to the Spinal Chord, and makes sure your body does things like breathe, and also that your hearts beats, your blood pressure stays stable, and regulates wakefulness so that you don't just randomly fall asleep in the midst of everyday activities (because that would be embarrassing).
            And finally we come to the little peice between the Medulla and the Pons called the Reticular Formation! This little worker sorts the information sent to your brain for the important stuff that needs to be passed on to the Thalmus as well as managing your digestion, your blood circulation, your patterns in sleep, your attentiveness, and arousal (Growwwll :). Just gotta say, that is a pretty damn funny combination of functions to be squashed all together in one small peice of your brain.
             But anyway the reason we are talking about this at all is because this part of the brain (the Reticular formation) is also the same one that scientist believe is why we yawn! Basically, if your little information sorter starts getting bored because he's not recieving enough information to sort he just goes all "your are getting verrrrrrrrrry sleeeeeeeeepppyyyyy" and you yawn.
              Other funny facts: There has been an observed relationship between errections and yawning (probably because both actions are managed in the same tiny section of the brain), it has also been noted that castrated animals yawnless frequently than uncastrated! There also seems to be a connection between them since an errection is a reaction that through stimulus is functionally independent-- it just happens when this or that happens, spontaneously--and well, so does yawning. When another person yawns across the room you yawn too most of the time! It's contageous!
               There was once a woman hospitalized formonths because of "relentless yawning". She would yawn eight times every minute, something that seriously disturbed her breathing pattern, but because one deep yawn can supply about all the alveoli (part in the lungs that takes in oxygen to your blood!) with the oxygen they need this condition was not incredibly deadly, just, as I imagine, super annoying and fascinating!
               In your cheek there is a concentration of mutiple veins so that when you yawn the the muscles in your cheek that stretch effect the circulation so that more blood is available for oxygenating!!!
               (:

(I got my information from these websites: http://www.baillement.com/recherche/askenazy_reticular.html
http://neurons.wordpress.com/2007/05/30/the-brain-stem-pons-medulla-reticular-formation/ )

The redhead's Mommy is no longer in Europe.

      I've been ignoring you my lovely blog. i've been ignoring you because of the physical presence of my mother in Germany. In this time we traveled together to meet distant family, see Munich, and spend time of course in Stuttgart! We spent most of her time here as well with my oma and my aunt.
       And I have learned lots of things, I've found lots of answers and more questions. The only thing that was slightly dissappointing was that during the whole time my mother nor my oma or aunt met none of my friends my age. I was planning to bring her to a soccer game but learned too late that it was an away game and I had no way of transporting us there (I thought it was a home game!). It's too bad, but then I guess some of my german friends will just have to come visit me in America (I'm not kidding when I say that I would gladly take an exchange student next year, both my sisters are grown up and our house is empty!).
       Some of the funniest moments include our visit in Munich at the Hofbräuhaus (which if you didn't know is one of the freakin' most famous beer houses in the world) where I had a light Weißbier in one of the ginormous Munich beer cups and was a wee bit tipsy (for the first time, in front of my MOM). They sure thought it was funny.
        We also noted the how every single goddamn Banhhof in Germany has the exact same billboards featuring the same two new types of ice cream that were themed with the tragic stories of Dr. Schiwago and Gone with the Wind (click on each respectively to see this lovely ice cream) saying that you could buy these ice creams and finally have a "happy ending" to the stories... or something along those lines. Anyway, my aunt became very curious as to how it tasted after we saw thesame billboards five bajillion times and then in turn determined that she needed to try this ice cream and have her happy ending (oh advertising, how effective you are at times). So we searched for it, not very actively until the last few days, when we finally found our happy ending in the Rommelshausen Edeka and brought it home to devour, and oh did we devour. Between the six of us (Myself, mom, aunt, oma, Christian, and Katerina) we finished both containers because advertisement isn't the only thing that makes a product good, so does it's yummified- ness. It was pretty great.
        We had a great week, packed and happy and eastery. Chocolately above all. Jesus was a pretty cool guy with some cool ideas (my best friend often likes to call him "the first hippie") but nomatter what you call him, or ifyou worship him or not, you gotta admit-- he was a pretty selfless guy convincing a ginormous bunny to hop around for miles a few days after the anniversary of his death and distribute chocolate to the people of the world. From me, thanks Dude-- your the rockin'est.

The redhead needs to have a serious talk with her country.

So here goes:

      Dear American Public,
              DONALD TRUMP? Are you KIDDING ME? May I have any documentation that could possibly prove your sanity at any level? I understand, politicians can be very dramatic clowns, but a tv-celebrity millionaire is a bit much, don't you think? I looked at what he has to say (which hurt my eyes to read/watch, but was the fair, bi-partisan way and he said on the Today show,"The world laughs at us, they won't be laughing if I'm president."
.............
               Really? Really? You don't think they will be? NOOOO, I mean how on earth could they laugh at the USA after they have elected a tv-show millionaire celebrity with the number one show on NBC, who is really just doing this stunt to boost his ratings (I hope)?! I could never see that, could you?
               Yes, america, yes I'm pretty sure EVERYONE would be laughing. Ha, and my host family was scared about you electing another Bush, oh pleeeeeaaaase, they didn't give you enough slack, when is everyon going to realize that America is sooooo much more creative than that.
                But on a serious note, this is a plea from a tree-hugging sissy liberal to the beautiful country that I came from and I love: if you care for America, if you love America, if you want America to live a long, healthy life, at the very least, do not even fathom such a revulting idea as to elect this man. (Note that I can't even manage to put the word "vote" and this man's name in the same sentence because it causes me physical pain.)
       Concerned for your health and hoping you are getting better,
Deni
 PS: I have more serious messages coming your way very soon.

The redhead cleaned her room partially on sunday...

...but the results of this "cleaning" that took placed have not last two days.... or at least, not very well.
I think I might have to change my living habits....
     You might be asking yourself, "Deni? Room cleaning? Why?"(... afterall, it is a rare occurance) But to that I would have nothing to say but "TOMORROW IS WEDNESDAY!" Why is Wednesday improtant again? OH RIGHT, Deni's mommy comes on Wednesday the 20th of April in Stuttgart Airport!!!
      (HAPPINESS!)
       So Yes, Deni has to face up to the sloppiness of her existence-- and who knows? Maybe in the next few hours I will learn a good enough concealing charm to make everything seem tolerably liveable!
       In other words the Easter Break started today (YIPEEE!) after a schoolday and a field trip to the Rosenburg Museum in Stuttgart (which was rather lovely, despite my cravings to fresh air and sweet summer heat that was readily available outside the building.), I was free..... I went home, I read and finished "To Kill a Mockingbird", which was quite a lovely book, sat outside, and juggled. The most eventful moment of the day was probably when Janne (my host family baby sis) decided it would be fun to choke on a peice of Maultasche!! (EEK!) She is now fine, but at the time it twas of course rather scary. Luckily, however, every person within this house can do the baby Heimlich Maneuver!! Which just goes to show you how really freaking important it is to learn these things when you have a baby. Trust me, it the best idea ever.
       But of course, being the baby she is, janne cried a little, but afterwards was immediately hungry, which I wouldn't be, and wasn't the one time that I did nearly choke to death. She's smiley and not even sore in the throat. She is now sleeping and I am the man with the monitor (that is to say, the young lady with the babysitting responsibility) which is just fine with me because we just borrowed the new DVD of the first part of Harry Potter 7 from our neighbors and I can see it for the 3rd time! (:
        Shout outs to those of my lovely home that our currently in Disney World singing! And shout out to YOU, whoever you are, thanks for reading!

The redhead thinks it is very cold today...

... because, I mean, come on! it was almost like we were basking in summer. And now? I'm freezing!
      I have a few things today, however, that warmed me up considerably.
      The first is that I took my science test today and it wasn't soooo bad and it's out of the way. (If I am right, I believe we only have one left) the best part about studying was that I could do it with my class on the computer! Don't worry parents of the world, I know what you are thinking, "Oh, right, she was "studying" on the computer" but it's true! We have a closed group page for our class on facebook where we can discuss stuff and... I don't know if you've ever heard of etherpad, but it is the bomb! So *SIGH OF RELIEF* that's over, now I just have to study for my history test on monday and clean my room for my mother's arrival and everything should be fine.
      Other happy things warming me up this cool friday afternoon: The governor of Montana.
      Governor Brian Schweitzer, a democrat who last election suddenly found himself with a majority republican House and Senate, has registered a cattle-brand with the Department of Livestock. However, this brand, that leaves the word "VETO" clearly upon it's prey, is not headed for any animals, unless of course you count the the many "frivolous, unconstitutional," and public opinion contradictory bills, as he described them, that have suddenly landed upon his desk. On Wednesday he took the bills out, branding them before a large crowd with his new hot iron.
      And all I can say to that is... "Oh America, how I miss you."
      Your crazy people and your fantastic characters, your problems and your great ideas, this exchange has given me so many reasons to love you and hate you, but overall, the want to make you the best for the people who stand by you.

The redhead is impressed and stressed....

(OMG Rhymage!)
I am impressed with... YOU GUYS!
Here's the deal with this blog thing: This month is the most popular month for my blog since... well November. I have collected 154 views in the last 14 days! (craziness)
My audience is over all mostly from US but in the last week and during this month so far Germany is winning.... I guess my classmates are reading my blog.... which is silly, but makes me happy.
Other than that there appears to be quite a few people from Japan reading... which is also rather silly, but makes me happy too.

Now for the stressed/excited part:

1. 1. I have a science test tomorrow that I have spend most of the afternoon studying for and freaking out about, respectively.
2. 2. I have a History test on Monday that I'm not sure how much i should study for because, dude, last time i learned everything and used NONE of it because our History teacher just made us read a text and answer four questions about it (<---silly + pointless).
3. 3. I am starting on Saturday in a home game... ON THE FIELD. I'll be playing the left wing! (I'm so excited but also scared that I will totally suck...)
4. 4. MY MOTHER IS GOING TO BE ON THIS SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, IN THIS COUNTRY, IN THIS HOUSE, BY MY SIDE IN FIVE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Internet, please tell me, I KNOW you are excited for me that I can FINALLY cuddle my mommy after MONTHS of seperation. I just can't wait to show her this little world that I live in. It is so funny to think that she knows nothing of a world that is so familiar and homey to me. Just a few hours until the weekend! (:

The redhead has been brainwashed...

        I mean it in all seriousness. You know that post I did a few days ago about earworms?..... Well this is worse. If you are a parent or an onkel or aunt or older brother or sister you will know what I am talking about when I say:
             I HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED BY BABY BOOKS.
        You know what I'm talking about. That one or those couple books that your child/little sibling loves. the one you have read 6324593874596230475092834759734 times a billion and counting to them?
         The brainwashing began in my earlier days as an aunt in which I loved to read to nephew. It was a distraction technique and became a loving short colorfully drawn literature. I would sit on the floor, legs crossed as he plopped down comfortably in the crevice between my knees and because this tiny baby boy (that I miss so dearly as I describe this) was still so tiny, I would set my head over his shoulder and whisper the secret codes that built stories into his smiling ears. He would always sit in awe throughout the story (unless it was boring in which case he would throw it on the floor or skip to the last page as I attempted to read) and then clamber up to retrieve another vollume from his tiny book shelf.
          The first book I memorized was "I am a Bunny" by Ole Risom (which is a very funny name). It began "I am a bunny. My name is Nicholas. I live in a hollow tree. (next page) In the spring I like to pick flowers. (next page) I chase the butterflies and the butterflies chase me." and so on. Once was never enough for this book. Oh no. In fact the story was so inexhaustable that I must have read to him no less than 5 times within each sitting, over and over. Elijah read many books this way and as he grew older they changed and he would point and began to say the words. But around this stage I left leaving him with a small stuffed black bear with a brown nose that was later dubbed "Deni-bear".
          But in losing my nephew in physical presence, I got a hostfamily baby sister. Reading to her was barely different aside from the fact that the majrity of the books were in German. And it was with me again. In the midst of the day i will find myself needing to tell someone about Bär und Tiger und die Tigerente (Bear and Tiger and the Tiger-duck, the characters of a popular children's author Janosch) or I will recite "Wenn kleine Tiere wütend sind" (when small animals are angry) to a passerby. There is, however, a strange difference between our fairy tales at home and the fairy tales of Janosch and, in discussing it with my host family, we have found no other explanation but that the great artist Janosch was most likely high when he wrote these books 
             I'll give you an example. My host family sister's favorite book to read with me is called "Wie der Tiger lesen lernt" (How Tiger learns to Read) (You can click here to read the original text with me in german). At a certain point in this book we always read a part that in english is something like:

"My father is a clown, but my father says 'I am a bear, I am a bear!' and my mother calls 'Come, let's play bear and tiger', my father is the bear, my mother is the tiger.... My mother calls 'I am a Tiger, I am a Tiger.' and springs upon my father. My father laughs and growls like a bear. Then my mother starts to sing!"

           For the life of me I don't understand how any of the book fits together at all, but I mean, whatever maybe you have to be high to understand perfectly.
           Or how about "Das große Vorlesebuch" (The Big Book for reading aloud) in which the first short story is about a man who calls himself Birdman and catches bird because he is jealous of their freedom and ability to fly. In the last few paragraphs of the story he is granted a wish by the the King of the birds to be a bird and, because he wasn't specific enough, he is turned into a penguin. Then, because the Birdman lives in the desert and penguins need fish to survive, he dies and then years later the scientists find proof that there was once water in the desert because a penguin had lived there. AND THAT IS IT! He just dies and is (false) scientific data! Like, what the heck?!
             There are of course normal german kids books, it just seems that Janosch has pretty strange ones sometimes, no idea. but anyway, I love you guys, hope you don't stumble upon any brainwashing books (or do I? (do blogs count?))!!!
              THE ADVENTURES OF THE REDHEAD TO BE CONTINUED............