Lazy lazy lazy

I haven't done anything today. At all.
I have finished Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, read my way through The Chamber of Secrets and I'm now on page 29 of Prisoner of Azkaban.
Coming from the English version, the sentences of the German translation seem rather long-winded, but that is something that is a general thing with German, IMO.
I'm always surprised about how much easier some things can be said in English. Vice versa, too, though. When I did the translations for my Dad it seemed that a simple German sentence turned into a monster sentence once translated into English, and then I had to work something out to make it sound less awkward. But apparently nobody at the conference complained, and some other German guy now wants me to do translations for his company flyer as well.
Extra money. Good. And I suppose they essentially say the same as the stuff I already did, as the company does the same job in another State.
So I have been thinking of work, but that's about it.
I'm going to get a haircut this afternoon.

I had a weird dream last night, I could remember it very clearly when I woke up and still know a lot of it. There were a lot of teenagers in there, and some teachers from my school. Oh, and a convicted murderer, I think. At least he had been convicted for some crime, but he was a lot like a big kid and he had run away or something, and I and somebody else brought him back.
Hey, now that I'm writing about it, yesterday I played around with the Reincarnation thingie on BowieWonderworld and when I typed in my birthday it said that I might have been a detective or spy in my former life. In Ontario, of all places. Funny. I knew I have been Cleopatra's lion before, but this was new to me.
Anyway, back to the dream. For some reason we brought the guy to some summer camp, where I met my former teachers who were really upset that I treated that guy like a human being, and I answered very haughtily, which was cool, because in RL I have a deep respect, however undeserved, towards teachers, at least when I talk to them. And I stayed overnight in that camp and slept in a locker room.
As I said, weird dream.

So much for the pointless post of the day.

Political sidenote: Bush says even though there were no WMD in Iraq, Saddam might have build or bought them soon and thus the war was justified. What kind of logic is that???
In what system of law do you get punished for things you might probably do one day?
I'd say punish all men for rape. They might not have done it, but they might think about it and they have the necessary equipment. *shakes head* Ober-Doppel-Riesen-Mist.
This deserves the Bernd das Brot icon.
And now I'll go and stare at my wallpaper. ;-)

I don't want no shrub

Something to read to make you feel unsure whether you should laugh or cry.
Bush's "resume"
If only half of that is true, I'm definitely hoping for a change in the coming elections.
Found in jonthedull's journal.

Santa Claus is coming

Last time I checked, it was October.
But the stores are already full of Christmas stuff.
Things I hate about Christmas:

electric bulbs that are supposed to look like candles. If you are afraid to put real candles on the tree, leave it. (Exceptions might be made for people with pets or little kids)

Stupid figures in front yards. (This annoying American habit has come to Germany, not getting less annoying on the way.)

people going to church on Christmas eve simply because they don't have anything else to do (worse still, people sending their kids to church to have them out of the way.

Christmas songs played in stores, sung by badly trained children's choirs

too much decoration on the outside of houses or in the windows or any other place were I can see it and be annoyed by it.

the stupid "peace on earth" stuff that somehow implies you should suddenly love the stupid family you try to avoid during the rest of the year.

Pseudo-Christian decoration in atheist houses. If you don't believe in this, why don't you just have a party and don't worry about the star of Bethlehem in the window?

Speaking of pseudo-Christian stuff, I was recently forcefully reminded of why I don't usually listen to the radio. The horror has a name: Xavier Naidoo. The self-acclaimed savior of the world is played a little too much in German radio stations, IMHO.
I don't need to be converted to Christianity or whatever he believes in when I'm working out in the gym and are defenseless, meaning I can't even switch the radio off. If I want to be preached to, I'll go to church, thank you very much. It's enough for me to hear his voice to want to go and kill him. And I am usually pretty good in ignoring annoying music and /or musicians (like the terrible Eternal Flame version by Atomic Kitten, ruining a perfectly good Bangles song or the equally terrible Preluders singing Losing my Religion). But with Xavier Naidoo, I break down and become some sort of Miss Hyde.
This is the main good thing about American radio. No Xavier Naidoo. As far as I know, he hasn't made it over there yet.

How I missed that!

I went to choir rehearsal for the first time since we did the Mahler symphony. Must have been months ago.
They are currently working on two new pieces, one written in 1944, the other in 1945.
I like the one by Mauersperger, Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst. The other one, an oratory by Frank Martin, I'm not sure about yet. Has some weirdness in it.
As you can judge from the time they were written in, they both aren't particularly happy things.
Actually, I had tears in my eyes while singing. I kept seeing pictures of Dresden after the bombing. The texts used are from the Bible, but city that lies wasted can be any city after any way, Jerusalem after the Babylonians came or Dresden in 1945, or maybe Bagdad in 2004.

I enjoyed the mere act of singing very much. Of course, I have sung along with songs I listened to all the time, but it isn't the same as singing in a choir, being part of a group of people trying to convey a certain feeling to the listener just by the music. It is a beautiful and great feeling. And if anybody believes music doesn't have power, singing in a choir can convince them of the opposite, I'm sure.

*yawn*

Good night everybody.
I've started reading a Labyrinth fanfic for a change after all the Harry Potter. ("Survive" by Cormak)
I'm up to chapter 14 and that looks like a nice point to take a break, but there are a lot more chapters to go, so it'll last me for a while, I suppose. Especially with the weekend coming and my brother occupying the computer in the study, leaving me the sorry excuse for a computer in my room.
Tehe, listen to that. A few years back I didn't have any computer and the one in my bedroom would have been great. (And it was pretty up-to-date then, too.)
Anyway, good night for today. Until tomorrow.
May you sleep well.
And to add my favorite Irish blessing: May you be in heaven for fourty years before the devil realizes you're already dead. I think that's kind of a cute idea.