Boring Betsy Update

Tonight is my going-away party at work! We're going to a Heuriger, one of my favorite Wiener things to do. (Sort of like a biergarten, but a WINEgarten!)

I also have a Going Away Happy Hour on Monday...Markus F. asked just how many going away parties one can have...as if!

Roland likes to tease me about how I love any and all parties in honor of ME! And I'm not too ashamed to admit it, either!

One more week of work and then we're off to Velden. I can't wait to sleep and read and eat and sleep and read and eat and sleep and read and eat......

Big, fat, hot wimp!

I am not too proud too admit it!

I miss air conditioning!

I miss wearing a wool sweater at work in July. I miss my glasses fogging up when I enter a building. I miss wearing long pajama pants to bed.

All of it.

Highs today of 102.

Leo's family commemorated with Stolpersteine

On Thursday, June 28, 2007, three Stolpersteine were dedicated to Leo Bretholz's family members who were deported from Vienna and murdered at Izbica in 1942. Roland was able to go to the dedication and take photos.

Leo and his family lived in the 20th district in Vienna, which is right next to our district. I can walk to Leo's former home in about 10 minutes. Brings it all home, literally.

New internet obsession

http://www.goodreads.com

Join! Search with my email and "friend" me.

Thanks, Christine! It is Myspace for nerds!

Germanic Stuffed Animals

I really don't want to fall into stereotypes or make fun of strange senses of cute and loveable, but this is a picture of Roland's childhood kuscheltier.



Kuschltier = "Cuddle Animal" = Security and love for little Roland.

It's a wild boar, folks. It even has itchy fur.

It is actually this, in "cute" form.

I got nothin'

I have nothing to say but feel that I owe it to both of my readers to post something. Um...it's hot here...

To answer everyone's questions in one place, though (what a novel idea for a blog...duh.) --

I finish work at HIAS on July 27th and then Roland and I go on vacation. First, a few days in Velden (southern part of Austria) at the lake, reading and sleeping. Then, we'll fly to Berlin to see Constanze and Jascha AND Björn and Katharina and the kids! They are in Berlin for a one-year sabbatical, starting July 1st or so. Roland has still never been to Berlin - can you believe it?! Must be remedied.

After Berlin, we will go to Krakow for a few days and to a friend's wedding in a nearby town. I have always wanted to go to a Polish wedding and I finally have my chance! Last I heard, the total number of guests equalled the total number of bottles of vodka ordered! I will be sure to bring the Excedrin.

I fly back to DC on Aug. 17 and will spend a long weekend with the fam, and then Leslie will drive up to Wuh-stuh with me. I'll move in with my Mass-hole host-family (AKA: Liswa and Sebastian) and am hoping for a cookout on the back deck upon arrival!

Orientation for school starts Aug. 21 and on the 27th I will officially be in the full swing of things with classes! It's been 10 years...when I was last at a university, they were just introducing email! In addition to the classes, I have to learn electronic blackboards and networking and things. (By the way, I am already on top of Facebook! "Friend" me if you are, too!)

I am really geeking out about school and even got a reading list for one of my classes ahead of time and started reading. Who is this person, you ask? I'm not sure, either. Never met her before and certainly not at St. Mary's or UMD! I just can't believe I will soon be sitting at a table full of people eager and willing to discuss the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising for hours on end! I know - dork.

Hmmm...Vienna is amazing, the closer I get to leaving, the less I want to go. But it's really friends and Roland that I will miss and - as I have learned - friends are there, even if you are far away. Roland and I have done long distance before, so it's do-able. Not preferable, but do-able.

Hmmm...anything else you want to know? Oh, I met Roland's Japanese nanny last night! She said he always talked a lot and was stubborn...hmmm...not much changes, eh?

"Echoes" still making me damn proud!

I shared a copy of "Echoes of Memory" with a coworker recently and she was just now telling me how she loved it and found it so touching. Another coworker, just back from a trip to the US, asked me - "You had something to do with the book Echoes of Memory?"

She had stayed with a teacher-friend of hers in Idaho during her trip home and the woman had shared the book with her because she liked it so much and was incorporating it into a curriculum she was developing!

If you can't tell, I am GLOWING right now!

* For those not in the know, I started and oversaw a writing workshop for Holocaust survivors at the Holocaust museum in Washington, DC. The magnificent Maggie (Polizos) Peterson still teaches the monthly workshop and, to date, 4 volumes of survivor writing have been published! It is definitely my most proud achievement!

I'm back in Wien!

I'm home again, after a whirlwind trip. As soon as I have pictures of Leslie's wedding, I'll post. It was a great time, beautiful setting and perfect weather. Of course, she looked beautiful and, yes, I cried.

I got to meet Selah, too! Here she is...



...and here's one of me with the little cutie! Please disregard bra strap...

Arnie for President!

In my first years in Vienna, all the Wieners were convinced that the 2008 Presidential election would be between Hilary and Arnold Schwarzenegger! It made me crazy! I gave many a Constitutional Law lesson at parties. I can tell you, I was annoying, dashing all their hopes and dreams of 2008 being even more ridiculous than the 2000 "election."

"It's America," they'd say, "You all will just change the law."

Good God. I explained - amending the Constitution to allow naturalized citizens to run for President opens this theoretical big door to a bunch of people 1/2 of America doesn't even want to acknowledge!

Dear natural born US citizen friends -- raise your hand if your teacher or your parent or any adult at all told you, "You can grow up to be president!" We're all told that, you should all have your hands up. In addition to it being a huge fat lie (I mean, 51% of the population is female. How dare you tell me that I can do anything, fuckers?), it also keeps all the little immigrant children from being the same. Just one more way they are the "other." And the Republicans will never want them to feel the same, always want them to be "other," so they'll start with the kids. You can NEVER grow up to be president.

One can always rely on racism and xenophobia, my Wiener friends. And, honestly, don't Austrians know enough about that? It's something our countries share, in some spots and regions more than others, and it will even keep that big, hulking Aryan out of office.

Do you think Al Gore is going to run?

I've been thinking about it lately. Um, no, I'm not an idiot. I know the rest of the country has been, too.

But I just wanted to say - I kind of hope so.

I would still vote for Barak in the primaries but would be excited to be relatively happy with any of the big Dems, whomever comes out on top.

Hillary, Obama...Al?

Funny things about Wieners #15687

Paul Rose (yes, I called him out by FULL name) whined that I don't make enough entries on the blog. Those of you who have been with me from the start know that I am now - relatively speaking - prolific.

Okay, so maybe I should muse a bit more about the Wieners.

I love them, actually, am really very, very comfortable here. I am starting to get sad about leaving! I love our apartment, I love our life, I love our friends, I love my quiet time and alone time...it's really perfect.

That said, Wieners are funny!

Funny thing about Wieners #15687:
In Vienna, the definition of "vegetarian" usually includes chicken.

Veggie restaurants serve a chicken dish or two, even ones that call themselves "vegan!" I know that it's probably considered thoughtful to the non-veggie guests...but when I want a steak, am I going to go to a place called "Vegarant?" I don't go to a Kosher place for crabcakes, I don't go to a Persian restaurant for ham...it just makes sense, doesn't it?

Don't get me wrong - I am an all-out carnivore! I'm not necessarily complaining. I just like pointing out funny things about Wieners!!

Happy Birthday, Sgt. Pepper!

It was 40 years ago today...

Selah Lee Linebaugh

Welcome, Selah!

Selah was born on Friday evening, May 25th, at 7:40 p.m. and weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz!

I'm flying home in a week and can't wait to meet her!

Love and congrats to Darin and Melis!

Constanze and Jascha are here!

Constanze and Jascha are visiting for the week! Here is a photo of them visiting a few years ago. Doesn't everyone look happy??

They are here to do a new performance they've developed about the Spanish Civil War and to do a presentation of their "old" performance about poetry in Ravensbrueck. They are also going to speak with our Austrian-Jewish dialogue group about their work! (For those of you not in the know, Jascha plays beautiful flamenco guitar music to accompany Constanze's stunning voice.)

Very happy to have my two good friends in town!

Off to Tatzmannsdorf!

Roland and I are going to Bad Tatzmannsdorf for the weekend!

Bad T is a "therme" (therme = spa, hot springs, massages, sauna, etc.). We leave tomorrow and are going to be as silly-happy as these two fools.

It's yet another Catholic holiday (Pfingsten? I have no idea...and I don't care!)

Nothing but sleeping and reading and eating and soaking and sauna-ing and, oh, did I mention the vino???

Utter disappointment

Bill doesn't have time for us.

He has to meet with Vladimir Putin or something.

Come on, Bill - can't you come up with something better than that? Besides, isn't Putey W's friend? I can't belive Bill would slum it like that.

Good old-fashioned American sign I want to hang in Vienna

This is coming from a woman who was late to work today because she was soaking and toothpicking her sandals free of dog shit.

(Picture found on funny site http://passiveaggressivenotes.wordpress.com/)

Bill is coming! Bill is coming!

Bill is coming to Vienna!

I got an email from Democrats Abroad-Austria yesterday, alerting all members that they are trying to arrange an event with him and asking who wants to attend.

WHO WANTS TO ATTEND? Who DOESN'T want to attend?!?!

Not all DA-A members can be there, so they were taking replies to the email and creating a list on a first-come/first-served basis. OH, please, please, please tell me I replied fast enough!!! I must experience the allure and charisma of Bill, first-hand!

Now, DA-A is the same organization for whom I have tirelessly toiled as Voter Registration Volunteer Coordinator - *ahem* - shouldn't that get me a little Bill?!

Barb and Heather, part II

As I posted earlier, Barb and Heather Rhoads-Weaver are having a boy. He’s due September 15! No names as of yet and they seem to be leaning away from jinxing anything by saying their ideas aloud. I am all for that – very superstitious! Besides, Leah says that people say awful, awful things about baby names.

“Earl? That sounds like a gas station attendant!”

“Sally? Oh, Sally Rogers was the biggest slut in high school!”

The process they went through intrigued me and Barb was kind enough to share some details. I thought it might actually be something others might be interested in, too, and Barb and Heather agreed to go public.

So, my first question was how they chose who would carry the child. Evidently, Heather’s clock was ticking a bit louder than Barb’s and she’s also more established career-wise. They felt like she could take time off and still be in a position to get back in the game, as they say. What a great, fair way to be able to approach it. They are lucky!

They explored many options for sperm donors, including friends and friends-of-friends, but finally went with Rainbow Flag, a sperm bank that primarily serves gay and lesbian families. Their agreement includes that the organization releases the donor’s identity to them when their child is 3 months old AND the donor has already agreed to be known to the child.

And this was the part I thought was really interesting – how the hell do you choose a sperm donor for your child? In some ways, reviewing files and choosing based on questionnaires and forms seems distant and formal. On the other hand, it seems better than methods many women use. *ahem*

Barb said they ordered the profiles of some donors and picked the one that seemed healthiest. She said that the profiles were very detailed and extensive and that she even nixed one because he was a Republican! Um...can’t imagine what gay or lesbian couple would go Republican in any case, but some must. To each his or her own, I guess.

Exciting news was that Heather got pregnant on their first visit to the fertility doctor! But, as Barb pointed out, they didn’t really have a “fertility” problem but were actually just missing an ingredient!

If you are interested, Barb recommended the following clip from NPR’s Story Corp about sperm donors:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6691648&ft=1&f=1021

Congratulations, Barb and Heather!!

Babies, babies...

...and more babies!

Barb and Heather Rhoads-Weaver are expecting a little boy!

Congrats to the happy, happy parents-to-be!

(More on Barb and Heather's interesting experience to come, after a little editing. They were kind and patient enough to answer the questions of their straight, childless and admittedly naive friend!)