Let's see how far we've come...

Here's what it probably would look like.

Ouch.

 I just saw the final version for the cover of Open Game Table which is the soon-to-be-released anthology in which one of my essays will be appearing and, wow, it looks impressive.  Take a look.

 

I got to see it on Monday night and I really liked it. While it wasn't a perfect representation of the book, it was extremely close. Given the time constraints and the nature of the story, I don't think anything closer would have been better. I also thought the ending was actually better (gulp) than the book's - it just felt more satisfying to me. While there were a few pieces of the movie I thought could have been done better (e.g., I think they gave the muder's identity away in the first scene), it definitely lived up to my expectations.

 

We spent a week in the Allgau region of Germany, just over the Austrian border. Overall the weather was good, although it snowed almost every day which meant the visibility wasn't so good on a few of the days. Niklas managed to regain his technique pretty quickly (we started him on skis when he was 3) and by the end of the week even went down a couple of red slopes with us. 

We're heading to Riezlern, Austria.


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We've now slid in to the traditional NRW winter weather which involves cool and wet weather, and gray, overcast skies.  I can't wait until Spring finally arrives

The German government's approach to helping out the auto manufacturers here is pretty interesting: Instead of simply giving the auto makers billions of dollars in loans, they are offering a 2500 euro rebate to anyone who has a 9+ year old car junked and then buys a new car.  That's a pretty novel approach IMO since it stimulates new car purchases while getting the old, less fuel efficient, less green automobiles off the road at the same time. We happen to have the good fortune of owning two cars that actually qualify so it looks like we're going to be replacing both this year.

...which is pretty cool because I didn't even know one of my articles was nominated. Evidently somebody submitted my Principles of Scene Framing article for consideration and it was chosen.  Very cool. Stay tuned for more on the actual book.

It's that time of the school year again and that means I'm neck deep in writing reports.

...and I love it.  I'm really not much of a video game geek: The XBox 360 I bought off a colleague sat in a box for four months before I could be bothered to even set it up and other than the games of Spiderman: Friend or foe? or Lego Batman I play with Niklas a couple times a week (Tues & Thur we get 30 minutes in the evening to play), I haven't used the console as much more than a DVD player. However, a few weeks ago I picked up Bioshock in English on a lark and last week gave it a try.  Holy $hit!!!  The game is incredibly intense and immersive: While I really don't enjoy the first-person shooter aspect of the game all that much, the creepy, spooky side of the environment (which includes the visuals as well as the audio) is amazing: I totally feel like I'm in the game and identify with the rather fantastical situation you find yourself in (deep underwater in a submerged city that is a throwback to the 1940's). I can see how people can get addicted to these types of games (especially with the way the story is paced).

I finally got a chance to sort through some of the photos and are posting a few here.

To round off an odd week of weather, it's now very cold outside (18 degrees F at the moment) which is actually unusual for our area; we usually hover around the freezing point this time of the year. What that means is that our snow isn't going anywhere fast.

One of my colleagues took a few snap shots of the snow around the school grounds.

For the first time in a few years, it's truly snowed here in the Ruhr valley: We got about 6" last night and everything is blanketed in a pristine white layer. Of course the morning commute was hell and it's likely to continue to be bad for the next few days because the temperature is not expected to rise about freezing until next week.

Ok, so time to start a new tradition:  I'm going to post my resolutions here for all the world to see (and potentially bug me about to see if I've accomplished them).  So without further ado, my resolutions for 2009 are:

• Lose 10kg -  Yes, I know that's the perpetual resolution and that most people give up after a couple weeks. We'll see if I can do a bit better. I've already moved the exercise bike into position and started eliminating all my after-dinner snacks starting yesterday. Less than 1 kg per month seems like a pretty reasonable goal.
• Publish my Kidz RPG book - It's 75% written and I've already started contracting for art so this has to happen sometime. 2009 is my goal.
• Landscape part of the backyard - Timmy needs a sandbox, the back corner of the yard is completely overgrown, and the two seem like a perfect convergence of situations.
• Play more board games - I've got quite a nice collection which I don't play enough.
• Get more sleep - I never seem to get more than 7 hours a night, even when I'm on vacation. I'd like to get at least 8 hours a couple times per week in 2009.

We spent last night at our friends Uli & Birgit's, along with two other couples with kids. New Year's isn't really a very kid-friendly holiday and so we all gathered together to create an environment where we could celebrate and still have a bunch of children (of which Niklas was the oldest) running around. Overall it was a big success.

We started around 6pm with oysters on the half shell (which my friend Jeff opened & I cleaned up), smoked salmon, and Prosecco. We then prepared and cooked dinner which consisted of 3 courses (pasta, fish, and dessert). The kids ran around while dinner cooked and the adults drank wine.  At midnight we bundled up the kids that were still awake (only a couple including Niklas) and headed outdoors to watch the fireworks, drink some Champagne, and twirl some sparklers. We stayed overnight at their apartment to avoid having to drive.

Overall it was a really nice way to spend New Year's Eve: Relaxed and fun with lots of good friends and food.

It's a tradition here in to watch Dinner for One on Sylvester. I'm not sure where it started or why a British comedy skit is so popular here but it is and I happen to really like it too..... same procedure as every year!

You can see it on youtube and join the party.

So this year was very eventful, with mostly ups but a few downs. The highlights:

• In January we had a house warming (a year after moving in!) - we opened up all the bottles of Champagne (the real stuff so of which was $50+ a bottle) we had accumulated over the past 6 years; there's no point in saving it and it was a big hit. We also made gumbo and served a bunch of finger foods as well. One of neighbors even brought along a mini-keg of beer so we had quite a selection.
• In March, I had my contract as grade 9 year head renewed for two more years. I really love the position although it also makes my work life a lot busier.
• In April, one of our friends from graduate school came to visit; she and a friend had decided to take a one-week tour of Holland & Germany to see some friends and so we got to have a BBQ in our backyard. The weather was nice enough to oblige which is something you can't really count on here in Germany in April.
• In May our basement flooded thanks to a storm-cell that stalled right over our village: We ended up with about 6" of water in the basement which wasn't bad considering some of our neighbors ended up with more than 3 feet! We were quite lucky but the water did ruin the carpet and created one hell of a mess which took weeks to clean up.
• Also in May MiLK played at I.S.D.'s International Festival; we sounded great. Really.
• In June school wrapped up for the year. The year ended on a very low note because the college admissions secretary, Margit Ostrowski, died very suddenly and unexpectedly. Margit was a curmudgeon with a heart of gold. She also was a critical cog in the high school's daily life. I truly will miss her.  Once school was finished I set to work on tiling the basement which had been left with nothing but a concrete floor. Of course all that work ended up aggravating my CTS and that lead to the surgery in October... At the end of June we spent two weeks in the Netherlands on the island of Texel. A colleague and her family were also on the island for the first week and then some other friends came to visit us during the second, so we certainly weren't lonely. This year we ended up with really great weather which made the whole experience much better than 2007.
• Niklas turned 6 in June; Sigrid turned 34.
• In July we flew to the US for two weeks. During that time I went to my 15-year college reunion (I had a great time). Otherwise we spent most of the time just relaxing at my dad's camp as well as using the very high exchange rate to our advantage.
• In August, Niklas and I started school again. He repeated Prep again this year and though Sigrid & I were nervous about the decision it's turned out to be a very wise one: Niklas is much more confident and also at the head of his class. He also fits in much better size-wise: He's no longer the shortest kid in the class.  This year marks my 6th at the school and my 3rd as the grade 9 year head.
• In September I went off to Switzerland for the G9 class trip (my 6th year in a row for that too). This year we managed to hike the highest of the peaks on the route which meant I ended up at 2576m.
• In October we spent some time in Belgium. I also got to go to Spiel in Essen which was a lot of fun.
• Timothy turned one in December.

And that brings us up to date.