A crappy family, baked goods cravings and a guitar loving cat. {Ten On Tuesday}

Hallo meine Lieben,

happy Tuesday! You can link up with my friend Alyssa here.

1. Popular Halloween costumes of the last 25 years. What is your favorite costume ever?

{Personal Creations}

2. Sometimes I get so cold in the evening that I wear two pairs of socks (one of them my over knee socks) and two warms sweaters, make a hot water bottle and have two blankets with me on the couch. I am lucky to also have cats who keep me warm. 

3. I finally downloaded Spotify (Thank you, Rika!) and I am loving it! I am listening to songs that I have not heard in years right now. 

4. This is pretty much the coolest towel ever. Tea is clearly my favorite drink in fall. And ever. Still loving the licorice and mint tea but I am also drinking Moroccan mint and chai tea on a daily basis. 

{Uncommon Goods}

5. This family sold their house for 2.000.000 dollars together with their cat for 140.000 dollars. Who does that? Very responsible pet owners. And look at their stupid smiles in the picture. Just want to punch them. 

6. This looks like a person who really loves her cat. And that cat clearly loves her. My cats would probably do the same - or run away because I cannot sing at all.

7. I need more cooking books in my life. 

8. I am craving cinnamon rolls. So much. But I am cutting out sugar right now. And anything not whole grain. But soon....soon....I will try to bake these....

{Pinterest}

9. I am also planning to make some pumpkin pie, coconut cream pie, Apfelstrudel and poppyseed buns. As you can clearly see, I like baked goods. 

10.  Random fact: My mom once met Kevin from the Backstreet Boys in front of a restaurant restroom. 

Have a fantastic week!

Ten On Tuesday. Fan talk, book love and crazy bunny lady jewelry.

Hallo meine Lieben,

happy Tuesday! I hope you are all doing great! You can link up with Alyssa here.

1. Robbie Williams recorded a new Swing album which is very exciting. I can't believe I have not heard about this before. I need to listen to it as soon as possible. I love "Swing when you're winning" so much. It's an album which never gets old. And let's be honest, Robbie Williams never gets old either. I am usually more into indie/alternative/punkrock kind of music but I can always listen to RW. 

2. I have been to three Robbie Williams gigs and all of them were fantastic. Then a couple of years ago my friend Julia and I got tickets for a Take That concert but I got a kidney infection and could not go. I was so mad. 

3. I still have a souvenir from a 2003 Robbie Williams gig on my key chain and I think it will stay there forever. 

4. I should not talk about Robbie Williams so much. 

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5.  I think I am in desperate need of this necklace. It is from a Dutch store called RabbitsFantasyWorld and I guess it is perfect for a crazy bunny lady like me. 

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6. I am currently addicted to vegan marshmallows. I can't even put into words how delicious they are. They taste like marshmallow heaven. Thank you so much, Em! You rock!
7. I went to the book store yesterday and I found 21 new books I want to read. My book wishlist is growing and growing. Well, I guess there will be some books under the non-existent Christmas tree. 

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8. Does anybody have a good recipe for cinnamon rolls? It does not matter if it is vegan or not, I can "veganize" it. 

9. I am disgusting by a person called Melissa Bachman. Never heard about that woman before but it seems like she is some kind of TV presenter. When you pose smiling and holding a gun next to a dead lion and say things like "An incredible day hunting in South Africa! Stalked inside 60-yards on this beautiful male lion...what a hunt!", then you are a terrible and disgusting human being. Hunting is not a sport. And congratulations to that stupid woman for killing an defenseless animal with a gun in a fenced area. Great achievement. It's sickening.

10. A perfect tote bag.

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Have a fantastic Tuesday!

My husband's favorite music of 2012.

Hallo meine Lieben,

today I want to introduce you to a very special person. The most special person. My super awesome husband who knows everything about music and knows how to play every single instrument you can imagine. He is a hero. And he wants to talk to you about music he loves today. 

Thanks Schatzi, it is a huge honor that you were willing to write a guest post for my little blog and share your music wisdom with us!

And here he is....


Hello Katrin's readers! My name is David and I'd like to thank my wife for letting me blab about music on her blog. Music is one of my greatest passions in life, and every December, I like to offer my unsolicited opinions on the year in music. Forgive me as I'm a little late for 2012, but I was still consuming new music in the final weeks of the year and I wanted to make sure I was thorough. 

By the way, this is not a list of the "best" albums. My ego is not so large that I feel qualified to make that statement. This is just a list of my favorite music of the year. You can feel free to disagree.

First, I want to start with an honorable mention:

Favorite band I discovered in 2012 that didn't actually release new music in 2012:

And the winner is...

Insomnium

I suspect that melodic death metal may not go over particularly well with my wife's audience, but give me a chance here. I'm not a huge fan of blast beats and growled vocals either, but Insomnium makes such beautiful and epic music. The above song is a great example of that. In 2012 they vaulted into my top 10 favorite bands list and I can't wait to hear new stuff from them, hopefully in 2013.

And now on to the list. 2012 was one of the most anticipated years for new albums in my recent memory. Many of my absolute favorite bands released new music, so I figured my year end list would be chalk full of great stuff. That is the case, but there should have been more. I could talk probably twice as long about the albums that AREN'T going to make this list. Minus The Bear, for example, is one of my top 5 favorite bands and they released a new album this summer, but it's not on the list (in fact, they may not even be in my top 5 anymore). However, there is no sense wasting time with disappointment. On to my favorites!

10. Muse - The 2nd Law 

I'm a "serious music fan," so Muse is one of those bands that I'm a little embarrassed to like because "serious music fans" recognize Muse for what they are: overly bombastic Radiohead rip-off artists. Except, they aren't. Muse hasn't had anything in common with Radiohead for at least a decade. They started off aping the Radiohead formula but Muse ran with it and made it their own. Muse is like if Muse had a baby with Muse, only more Muse-ier. Get my drift? Muse is Muse. Anyway, when I first listened to The 2nd Law, I hated it. I thought I was finally done with Muse and could join the rest of "serious music fans" in despising them. But then I listened to it again. And again. And again. And, yes, Muse "went dubstep," and they are just as over-the-top as ever, but you have to respect it. Nobody else does it like Muse. 

9. The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania 

A disclaimer: The Smashing Pumpkins are my favorite band of all-time. I have been obsessed with them for over half my life. I'm still obsessed with them. And when they announced plans to release a new album in 2012, you can imagine how excited I was. When I finally got the album, I loved it. It had great production, great performances, and it touched on all eras of the band's history and broke new ground in doing so. But after a solid 50 listens this year, the problem is the songs just don't resonate with me on the emotional level I expect from the Pumpkins. Don't get me wrong, they still resonate to some degree, but I expect a lot from my boyhood idol Billy Corgan. He delivered enough for it to make my list, but it's a disappointment in the sense that I expected this to be an easy number one.

8. Passion Pit - Gossamer 

Now we take a bit of a turn with the synthpop indie darlings, Passion Pit. This album is catchy as hell and insanely dancable, but it goes far beyond that. I don't usually pay much attention to lyrics, but this was the most meaningful album of the year to me in those terms. If you read any interviews with frontman Michael Angelakos, you'll understand why I feel so lucky to have seen them live when I did: it would not surprise me if he is the next rock star to "Kurt Cobain himself". The guy definitely has issues, but those issues result in some deep lyrics, the pain of which is hidden underneath a deceptive glossy sheet of pop.

7. Cloudkicker - Fade 

Fade is one of the three albums on this list that I didn't discover until December, but a healthy 20-30 listens in 2 days cemented its position on this list. It's purely instrumental music, and some people don't get into that, but this is very approachable instrumental stuff. Cloudkicker is the brainchild of Ben Sharp (residing in my home state of Ohio). He does everything himself. He plays the guitars and bass and programs the drums. On this record, he went for the "wall of guitars" sound found on Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins and he certainly achieved it. This is what I wish Billy Corgan were doing today.

6. The Sword - Apocryphon 

The Sword started their career on an impossibly high note with "Age of Winters" and have been trying to match it ever since. They went a little less metal and a little more classic rock on their previous two albums, but this one strikes the perfect balance of heavy grooves and Guitar Hero shredding. The rhythm section is great at keeping things interesting. Their bassist, in particular, is always doing what you least expect, and it makes the music that much more interesting, yet still insanely heavy. I've seen these guys live twice and they blew the doors off the club both times. With this album, they are trending in the right direction. It doesn't top "Age of Winters," but I have a feeling they will do it eventually.

5. And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Lost Songs 

Trail of Dead is another band residing in my top 5 all time. "Tao of the Dead" was my favorite album of 2011 and one of my favorite albums ever, and they are the only band to make my "favorite albums" list two years in a row. This one isn't as good as "Tao," but it has some very high points. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my favorite song from the album on Youtube, "Awestruck," but the above video is still a high note on the album. My only complaint is the production. These guys are punk DIYers, and while I do love that attitude, it results in a production style that obscures some of the power that I know hides in these songs. They are a force to be reckoned with live, and I wish that came across on the album.

4. Enslaved - RIITIIR

Another album (along with the next one) that I discovered in the last few weeks. The bias of being so recent might mean they are too high on my list, but I can't stop listening to them. Enslaved are considered black metal, which I don't typically get into, but they have more in common with Insomnium than they do Mayhem. Since Insomnium didn't release an album in 2012, Enslaved has to carry the mantle for brutally beautiful metal, and they do so amazingly well on RIITIIR. 

3. Forgotten Tomb - ...And Don't Deliver Us From Evil

I never would have thought there'd be two black metal bands topping my list, but here we are. Forgotten Tomb, as their name, album title and album cover imply, are not pretty like Enslaved, but they are about as catchy as I imagine black metal can get. This is like a much more evil version of The Sword but with less singing (none). I don't care for the vocals--after a while I'm not sure if he's shrieking or whispering--but they don't detract from an otherwise brilliant and devastating album.

2. Deftones - Koi No Yokan

I talked about "brutally beautiful metal" with Enslaved, but nobody produced that combination better than Deftones on "Leathers." They tear you limb from limb on the verse and then put you together again on the chorus. You can only listen and marvel. "Leathers" is certainly the high point, but the entire album is barely a notch below that. With them doing the best work of their career on the last two albums, it's time to recognize that Deftones are one of the best metal bands of the last 15 years.

1. Pinback - Information Retrieved 

Pinback is the partnership of indie stalwarts Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow, and is what happens when two musical soulmates find each other and don't allow anyone else to interfere. They released their first album in 1999, a barebones production of insanely catchy songs with darkly hilarious lyrics. You know how most bands release their best album early in their career and slowly fall apart over time? Pinback has done the opposite. Each album has been better than the last, and their most recent, Information Retrieved, is the best of their decade-plus career. It's perfect. Utterly perfect. The songs are perfect, the lyrics are perfect, the production is perfect. The only thing you can say against it is that it's over quickly, but perfection doesn't need padding.

I hope you enjoyed David's guest post! Hopefully he will come back for another insight in his taste. I would surely enjoy to read another guest post about movies he loves....or shows. Or books...hehe.  
Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Random Thursday. Music I never get tired of...

Hallo meine Lieben,

hope your new year is going great. I am linking up with these lovely ladies...



Today I want to talk about...

I love music. Period. I don't want to live without music. I love to listen to music when I feel good, when I feel sad, when I need distraction or when I just need some motivation.  I have been to many concerts in my life, David is a great musician, I play saxophone and a little bit of bass guitar. I am not very musical but music is a part of my life that I don't want to miss. 
So here you go, some of my all time favorite songs that I never get tired of. And I really mean it when I say that I never get tired of these songs. I can listen to them 50 times in a row and still love them and need more. 
Tocotronic - Die Welt kann mich nicht mehr verstehen

Oasis - Whatever
Suede - Can't get enough

Refused - New Noise
Robbie Williams & Jonathan Wilkes - Me an my shadow

Kula Shaker - Tattva
The themes of my favorite shows when I was a kid. 

Moneybrother - It's been hurting all the way with you, Joanna
Minus The Bear - When we escape
Ash - Kung Fu

Maximo Park - Apply some pressure
Oh well, I don't want to bore you but there are many more songs that I never get tired of. 
What are the songs you never get tired of? When do you listen to music? Do you play an instrument? What was the last concert you went to?  Have a wonderful Thursday!

Vegan peanut butter Nutella awesomeness & rock star awesomeness.

Hallo meine Lieben,

yesterday David discovered something really fantastic on the internet. A mix of peanut butter and dark chocolate. That sounds too good to be true but it really exists. We looked at the website of the company that produces this heavenly stuff and found out that the next store that sells it is only a mile away. 
Which means that it was time to get out of my ugly pants (comfy pants I only wear at home) put on some fancy clothes and go grocery shopping. 
We ended up buying a lot of awesome things ( I think I ate a kilo of watermelon yesterday) and we were lucky to find the peanut butter Nutella awesomeness. 

So this was part of my dinner last night.

They sell different types of funny peanut butter but as chocolate lovers we had to get this one. It is certified vegan, gluten free and kosher. What else could you ask for. 

And it tastes delicious on fresh baked baguette. 
You can find all the different types here. The next one I want to try is definitely Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. 
I love to discover new delicious things.

I have a question about watermelons: How do you eat them? Do you spit out the seeds? Or do you remove them before you even start to eat? Or do you just eat them? Like me?
David asked me how I do it yesterday and when I told him that I always eat the seeds he told me that a watermelon will grow in my stomach. That's fine for me because I think it's too much effort to remove all the seeds or spit them out.

As you probably know David's band played on Saturday and it was awesome. 
It was so great to see this:

How cool is that? I think it's pretty awesome and I would probably burst with pride if this was my band. I mean, I was already proud that this was David's band. Haha. 

And don't they look like rock stars?

And that's how they look on stage. You just have to ignore the terrible quality of the picture, my iPhone doesn't take really good pictures. 

How was your weekend?
Have a great Monday, Ihr Lieben!

PS: Mama, I love you & I miss you so much!

Rock stars and lots of thoughts about names.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! 

Today will be the first time I see David play with his band and I am totally excited about it. He is a great musician, he can play guitar, bass and drums and he also writes his own songs. Which are fabulous by the way. 

I have heard him playing at home and I have heard the songs he recorded but I have never seen him together with his band. So this is a premiere. I am so proud of him, I can't tell you. 

They will play at the Volatility Festival in Columbus.

There will be lots of music and tons of other stuff so you'll definitely get a lot for your money. You can find me in the first row when David's band plays. He's the amazing bass player of The Stars Collapse by the way.

Did you know that I named my blog after one of his songs? It's true. 

I have thought a lot about names recently. I don't know why. But I have several questions.

First of all: I guess most of my readers are female...so do you know if your parents had a male name for you in case you were not born as a girl? Or if you are male, do you know your girl's name? 

If I were a boy my name would be Daniel. Not so bad but I am still happy that I am a girl. 

Another question: 

Do you have a middle name? I have realized that most Americans have a middle name. I know lots of Germans have one too but I don't. So what's your middle name? Is it embarrassing? And are you named after your parents? Grandparents? Godmother? Godfather? Is it even possible do have a male middle name when you are a girl?

My parents both have middle names and David has one too. He is named after his father.

One of my friend's name is Michael. His father's name is Michael too. His grandfather's name is also Michael. Isn't that confusing? I don't think I would do that. 

Most people in America can't say my name the German way...that's why I tell those people to use a nickname. Kat or Kaddie. That's a lot easier to say for people who don't speak German. 

David can say my name perfectly. 

Do you like your name? Did you ever wish to have another name? Do you have nicknames?

I know, all this name talk is completely random...but I am really interested in your answers. 

Have a lovely weekend. 

Minus the Bear...and some other bands I never heard of.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you guys had a fabulous weekend! Mine was great, I got to spend lots of time with David and my American family. I also ate way too much and gained two pounds. Haha. 
Yesterday David and I went to a Minus The Bear concert in Columbus. Minus The Bear is one of David's all time favorite bands (also: The Smashing Pumpkins and Mew) and he introduced me to their music when we met. And I am glad he did because I loooove their music. They are great. Period. David has been to a couple of their concerts too but I have never seen them playing so I was really really excited. 

We arrived their early so had to wait half an hour in a very long line before we were able to go into the concert hall. We got a great spot in second row so we were able to see everything. Yay for that. I am so blind that I need to be close to the stage. 

Minus The Bear were the co-headliner together with The Airborne Toxic Event, a band that I have never heard of. But it seemed like they were pretty famous, I got the impression that most people, especially the one between the age of 16 and 20, came just because of this band. 
The support act was a girl in a glittery dress named Tristan who played some nice songs and had a great voice. I liked her funny dancing moves but I wasn't overly impressed with her music. 

Then it was time for Minus The Bear. And time for David to be shocked because of my lack of musicians knowledge. There were some guys on the stage doing the sound check and I was pretty sure that these guys must be the roadies. Because: first of all, roadies usually do the sound check and not the band. And second: I love MTB's music but I have to admit that I have seen pictures of the band but I am really bad with names and faces so I did not recognize them. Plus, in Germany people start to scream when the band enters the stage, even when they just bring a bottle of water. And nobody got excited here so I assumed that these people were the roadies. I was wrong and David was shocked. 

Anyway, the concert was amazing. Minus The Bear is a fabulous live band and I got really excited. The bass player was pretty entertaining because he was pretty drunk ( I assumed so, he emptied his first bottle of beer after the first song and I am pretty sure that he had a couple of beers before that.) and showed his thumbs up after every song they played. The guitar player was a very sweaty guy who played a song with a towel over his head. Now that I have seen this band live I can say that I love their music but also the band members seem to be really nice guys you would want to hang out with. I am sure David and those guys could be great friends, I should find a way to introduce them. 

I think they played 3 songs of their new album which will be released next months. I liked those songs a lot, especially one of them and I can't wait to listen to their album. 

I was a little disappointed because after one song they just left the stage and did not come back for a Zugabe. And that's what I expect from a band I love. But I guess people were waiting for the other band to play. A fact that I can't really understand. 

Here are some pictures of Minus The Bear. I apologize for the horrible quality of the pictures but I forgot to bring my camera and had to take pictures with my iPhone. 

I really really like their band name. It comes from an inside joke among the band members and I think that's how a band name should be. Here is the story of it:

"It is referring to the 70's television program, B. J. and the Bear. "A friend of the band had gone on a date,” explains singer-guitarist Jake Snider, "and one of us asked him afterwards how the date went. Our friend said, 'You know that TV show from the '70s B.J. and The Bear? It was like that... minus The Bear.' That’s the straight truth.""

Awesome story. 
Anyway when Minus The Bear finished their set we left our spot in the second row and walked around a bit and looked for shirts.
We have never heard of The Airborne Toxic Event which is surprising because David knows every band on this planet. Not kidding. So we wanted to check out that band and see if we like it.
After a couple of songs we had to realize that we did not like their music. David thought that the singer is a bad Bruce Spingsteen impersonator. I thought that they sounded like a band that would play at a high school prom dressed up as wannabe rock stars. One guy looked like Russel Brand (Pfui), the other guy looked like he came from a bad early 90's reality show. 
So yeah, we were not really impressed. We waited a couple of songs for the music to get better which never happened so we left early to eat something and watch the newest episode of Breaking Bad. 

Do you guys know that band? Do you like Minus The Bear? Have you watched Breaking Bad? 
Have a fabulous week!

Nighttime routine - Die Drei Fragezeichen.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you guys had a wonderful weekend and got lots of sleep. Do you  have a nighttime routine? I can't just go to bed, close my eyes and fall asleep. Not possible, I don't know why. Even when I go to bed at 3 am. I need my nighttime routine.

Sure, the first thing I do is to brush my teeth, wash my face (with the fabulous Herbalism from Lush. I love the product, my skin feels so fresh and clean. Plus you look like the Hulk when you use it) and use some night cream. 

When I am in bed I usually read first (Before I start to read I get a good-night-kiss from David, that's the most important part of my routine.). I can't sleep without reading at least a couple of pages. I got a Kindle last  year for Christmas (Thanks so much to my wonderful parents-in-law!) and it is perfect to read in bed. I don't need a lamp and I don't make loud noises when I have to turn the page. I also have a pile of books next to my bed. I love my Kindle but I could never live without real books. I think it's  the collector in me. I love to a bookshelves full of books, I love to go to bookstores and smell all the wonderful books....my Kindle doesn't smell. They should invent a Kindle with the smell of books. That would be awesome.

When I feel that I get really tired I stop reading and grab my iPod. It is full of episodes of Die Drei Fragezeichen, The Three Investigators in English.

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It is a juvenile detective book series and I started to read them when I was a child. There is also a taped radio drama of every single book and that's what I listen to every night.  Again, it is the collector in me: I own a lot of books of the series, a lot of tapes (oldschool) and every episode as a mp3. Every time I go to a flea market and I see a book or a tape that I don't own yet, I have to buy it. I just have to. I love to see the whole series in my bookshelf. There are more than 150 episodes so far. It is the most popular radio play production in the world.

And yet, it is made for kids but I don't really feel like it's made for kids. I know so many adults who love to read the books or listen to the plays. Especially it's very famous in Germany. I think every kid grew up listening to Die Drei Fragezeichen, Benjamin Blümchen (an elephant) and Bibi Blocksberg (a teenage witch). 

I was fascinating by Die Drei Fragezeichen from the beginning and it never stopped. 
It was first published as "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" and created by Robert  Arthur Jr. who believed that  using the name of movie director Alfred Hitchcock would attract a lot of attention. The first book was published in the early 60s and a lot of people believed that they were written by Hitchcock but he only allowed Arthur to use his famous name and face. 


In the first couple of books Die Drei Fragezeichen even meet Alfred Hitchcock as their client and mentor. Die Drei Fragezeichen are: Justus Jonas (in English Jupiter Jones, I don't know why they changed that. Germans....), Peter Shaw  (Peter Crenshaw) and Bob Andrews (surprisingly, he has the same name in German and in English). An important role plays their nemesis Skinny Norris. 

Die Drei Fragezeichen live in Rocky Beach, California and their headquarter is an old trailer. The investigators were typically introduced to a mystery through a client or by accidentally stumbling upon something unusual in their scrapyard of Uncle Titus Jones and Aunt Mathilda, who run a salvage business. The boys encountered baffling, sometimes misleading clues and danger before finally solving the mystery. 

Justus, Peter and Bob were able to solve their mysteries with relatively few resources: they generally could get by with little more than a telephone, bicycles, access to a library and - in a nod to the peripheral Hollywood setting of the series - a chauffeur-driven vehicle.

There are also several movies and even live plays. I have been to one in Saarbrücken a couple of years ago and it was unbelievable. A very unique experience. When the radio actors, who have been narrating the plays since 1979, toured the country, entire stadiums in major cities like Hamburg were packed. As you can see, Die Drei Fragezeichen are a big phenomenon in Germany. Die Drei Fragezeichen are a cult and the early books and tapes are collector items. 

Have you ever heard of  Die Drei Fragezeichen? Do you listen to plays like that? What's your nighttime routine?

Ten on Tuesday. Wake up songs. Books. Mixtapes. Cute pet pictures.

Hallo Ihr Lieben,

I am linking up with the fabulous Lin from Linny's vault!

I don't like to get up in the morning. I really really really dislike it. Sometimes I had to get up at 4:30 because I had to leave the house at 5:30  to catch the train at 6 to be at work at 7. That was nice. So you can imagine that I needed lots of coffee to stay awake. (The problem was that I never went to bed before midnight). I also needed some good wake-up-music that prevented me from falling back asleep. So today I want to share some of these songs with you. 
And because I don't want this post to be too boring I split it 50/50 into wake up songs and another random things about me. Sounds interesting? Maybe not. You'll see.

1. The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger

The perfect song to wake up in the morning. At least in my opinion. It is also used as the "goal hymn" for several Fußball clubs. And Fußball is always good. 

2. Surfer Blood - Swin

I have seen Surfer Blood last year when they opened for ...And you will know us by the trail of dead and they were incredibly good. The singer seemed to be a little awkward but I guess that was only my opinion. Haha. I guess he was just nervous because those guys are pretty young.

3.  Kaiser Chiefs - I predict a riot

I love to listen to that song in my car. Really loud. And then I ruin it because I have to sing. But I am awake then. 

4. Maximo Park - Apply some pressure

Oh, I think this is my favorite wake up song! I just love it!

5. Goldfinger -Superman

That's the only song I really like from that band but I heard it in my friend's car and immediately liked it. And makes me smile in the morning and that's why I always have the cd in my car. Does anybody still have tapes by the way?

6. That brings me to mix tapes. :) I love mix tapes! And I mean "tapes". Sure, it is not the easiest way to share music  but I am pretty oldschool and I love it. I mean, you sit in front of your tape deck for 90 minutes and record some great music for people. I always swapped mix tapes with all my pen pals when I was a teenager and I still have all of them. I am scared of the day they will stop working. I have themed mix tapes, mix tapes from different bands, different countries, the covers are all designed with love....it is just so awesome. The world needs more mixtapes. 

7. And that brings me to a really good book: Love is a mixtape by Rob Sheffield.

I have read it a couple of years ago and I really feel like I want to read it again now. It is a heart-warming books about love, loss and music. Rob Sheffield tells us the story of his life using the listings of fifteen of his favorite mix tapes. It begins with the day he first met the girl of his dreams and ends when he has to watch her die. This book shows what power music can have for two people, that it builds a strong bond between two persons that not even death can destroy. I really recommend this book! Even when you are not a music lover.

8. I have some of my favorite albums as vinyl. Not that I listen to them every day but I really like the fact that I have a record player and lots of albums that I can play with it. It is such a completely different experience, I can't really describe it but it's awesome.

9. My lovely Miss Sugar Shack (you can find her fabulous blog here) requested some more pics of my pets. So  here you are:

Tiffie looking pretty cool. He eats my homemade cookies here by the way. And yeah, Tiffie sounds like a bunny-girl....The first couple of weeks I though he is a girl but then he turned out being male.

Tiger in one of his favorite sleeping places: a cardbox.

10. I hate it when water runs down my back. I just can't say why but the first seconds when I am under the shower are always terrible for me. It just doesn't feel right. 


I hope you are all having a fabulous Tuesday! Thank you so much for reading my blog, you are all more than wonderful!!

My cats want to take over the world. My week. Pulp.

Hallo Ihr Lieben.

I hope you are having a wonderful start into the new week. I am a little tired because I stayed up late last night to watch Game of Thrones, Mad Men and Breaking Bad. It was definitely worth it. 
And next week, Season 5 of True Blood will start! I am really really excited for it! Yeah, I watch too much TV.

Okay, here is a little recap of what I have done last week.

|seen| Into the Abyss (a death row documentary), Breaking Bad (I need to catch up before the new season starts), Mad Men, Black Books (only one episode left! so sad!), Game of Thrones, The Innkeepers (so scary!). German shopping queen. 
|read| Die Tätowierung by Helene Tursten, university stuff
|listened to| Lots of German music: Tocotronic, Die Sterne, Beatsteaks
|done| went to my nephew's Big Brother party, translations...I just realized that my week was very uneventful...Hmm. 
|eaten| Veggie-Burger and fries, salad, lots of tofu, tofu sausages, Bretzeln, popsicles, broccoli, chick peas.
|drunk| Dr. Pepper, coffee, ice tea and a beer. Yes, only one. 
|thought| I would love to have a dog someday. And a donkey.
|annoyed| My stupid neighbor. 
|enjoyed| Having beautiful lilies in my garden. 
|bought| Tofu sausages, tofu burger, tofu. Lots of tofu. 
|astonished| I will never get sick of eating carrots. 
|clicked| blogs for sure, Goodreads, online dictionaries.

How was your week?

Did you know that my cats are not just supercute but also spies from another planet? 

Lumpi came from his home planet to spy on us. I am the only one who is allowed to know about his secret mission. So psssst. He needs to find out all the secrets about us human beings. 

Tiger has secret superpowers and wants to take over the world. I support him because I am sure that an animal controlled world would be much much better. 

Lumpi operates from his hiding-place to support Tiger. They are the perfect team and I am sure that they will succeed together. 

Their secret weapon is that they are disguised as normal cats.  They look completely innocent. Nobody can ever stop them.


Here is my song of the day...Pulp is an English alternative rock band and this is my favorite song. "Common people". The video is also pretty cool.

I am not very creative today, excuse me. I just feel like today is not my day.
But I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday!