Vocabulary learned from "House and Philosophy"

Yes, I read. Sometimes. When I have the time. And this time I thought it might be good not only to underline and look up the words I learned from the book "House and Philosophy" but also to share my newly gained wisdom with you. So here are the words that you might also not have known until now.

Word	Type of word	Page	Translation to German
abolitionist	noun	188	Sklavereigegner
abound	verb	194	hervortreten
abound	verb	228	im Überfluss vorhanden sein
acerbic	adjective	36	bitter, herb, sauer
ailment	noun	237	Leiden, Beschwerden
albeit	adverb	146	obgleich, dessen ungeachtet
amorphous	adjective	202	gestaltlos
anguish	noun	171	Pein, Qual
antics	noun	34	Possen
arbitrary	adjective	141	willkürlich
artifice	noun	35	Kunstgriff, Trick
ascribe	verb	118	zuschreiben
at a loss for	verb	173	um etw. verlegen sein
audacious	adjective	204	mutig, dreist
awry	adjective	142	schief, krumm
balk	verb	146	hemmen, vereiteln
befit	verb	114	sich ziemen
berate	verb	127	beschimpfen
bicker	verb	219	sich zanken
biped	noun	189	Zweibeiner
bolder	adjective	204	mutiger
botched	adjective	120	verpfuscht
brazen	adjective	190	dreist
callous	adjective	50	abgestumpft, gleichgültig
canine	noun	116	Eckzahn, Hund (?)
censure	verb	34	tadeln, rügen
chide	verb	217	schelten
coax	verb	66	überreden, abschwatzen
coerced	adjective	142	genötigt, erzwungen
coercion	noun	151	Nötigung, Zwang
conducive	adjective	189	förderlich
conjectural	adjective	58	mutmaßlich
consecrate	verb	96	widmen
covert	adjective	229	heimlich
culprit	noun	181	Übeltäter, Angeschuldigter
defeatism	noun	32	Miesmacherei
defecate	verb	189	koten
deliberation	noun	129	Überlegung
demarcation	noun	49	Abgrenzung
disparity	noun	140	Ungleichheit
disunity	noun	234	Uneinigkeit
divvy up	verb	139	aufteilen
eligible	adjective	117	geeignet, qualifiziert
embittered	adjective	198	verbittert
entail	verb	131	mit sich bringen, nach sich ziehen
exacerbate	verb	31	erschweren, verschlimmern
fallacy	noun	158	Täuschung, Trugschluss
fidelity	noun	206	Genauigkeit, Wiedergabetreue
flesh out	verb	192	untermauern
flout	verb	151	verspotten
foible	noun	211	Marotte
forfeit	verb	142	verlieren, einbüßen
glee	noun	219	Fröhlichkeit
gritty	adjective	38	kiesig
gruff	adjective	220	grob, schroff
habitual	adjective	231	gewohnheitsmäßig#
heed a call	noun	116	einem Ruf folgen
hemlock	noun	190	Gefleckter Schierling (bot.)
hindrance	noun	217	Hindernis
hinge on	verb	218	von etw. abhängig sein
impede	verb	35	hemmen, verhindern
impediment	noun	189	Behinderung
impiety	noun	190	Pietätlosigkeit
incarcerated	adjective	170	eingekerkert
incommensurable	adjective	203	unvergleichbar
infallible	adjective	195	unfehlbar
insubordination	noun	188	Ungehorsam
irreproachable	adjective	204	tadellos, einwandfrei
irreverent	adjective	211	respektlos
juxtapose	verb	148	nebeneinander stellen
keen-witted	adjective	64	scharfsinnig
languid	adjective	64	kraftlos
languor	noun	63	Schwäche, Mattheit
maroon oneself	verb	188	sich aussetzen
minuscule	adjective	146	winzig, unbedeutend
mishmash	noun	80	Mischmasch
mitigate	verb	42	abschwächen, mildern
muddy	verb	49	trüben
noxious	adjective	195	schädlich
ostensible	adjective	231	vordergründig
overzealous	adjective	135	übereifrig
paragon	noun	226	Vorbild
peevish	adjective	46	reizbar, verdrießlich
perjure	verb	182	Meineid leisten
plainclothes	adjective	182	Zivil-
posit	verb	77	postulieren
prodigious	adjective	15	erstaunlich
prone to	adjective	205	-anfällig
propensity	noun	212	Hang
rash	adjective	230	hastig
rebuke	verb	182	tadeln, rügen
rebut	verb	162	entkräften, zurückweisen
relentless	adjective	64	unerbittlich
reproach	noun	194	Vorwurf
repudiation	noun	30	Ablehnung, Zurückweisung
resuscitate	verb	154	wiederbeleben
retardation	noun	162	Behinderung (geistig)
run afoul of the law	expression	180	gegen das Gesetz verstoßen
scanty	adjective	46	dürftig, spärlich
scoff	verb	57	Spott, Hohn
scorn	noun	144	Hohn, Verachtung
scoundrel	noun	213	Halunke, Schuft
shambles	noun	96	heilloses Durcheinander
sleuthhound	noun	64	Bluthund, Spürhund
stance	noun	147	Standpunkt, Einstellung
stifle	verb	193	ersticken, unterdrücken
stonemason	noun	99	Steinmetz
stork	noun	77	Storch
stumped	adjective	194	verblüfft
subservient	adjective	182	unterwürfig
surly	adjective	198	mürrisch, griesgrämig
surrogacy	noun	126	Leihmutterschaft
swat	verb	64	(zer)quetschen
tantamount	adjective	127	gleichbedeutend
telltale	adjective	117	verräterisch
tenure	noun	189	Amtszeit, Anstellung
tenured	adjective	216	anstellungsbezogen
thwart	verb	149	ausbremsen
time and again	expression	173	immer wieder
tomfoolery	noun	214	Albernheit
triteness	noun	79	Banalität
true to form	expression	155	um sein/ihr Gesicht zu wahren
unconcern	noun	119	Sorglosigkeit, Unbekümmertheit
unimpeded	adjective	219	ungehindert
unrelenting	adjective	170	unerbittlich
unrepentant	adjective	191	reuelos
utilitarianism	noun	118	Utilitarismus
vagaries	noun	47	Einfälle, Launen
valorize	verb	133	aufwerten
vehement	adjective	170	vehement
veracity	noun	232	Aufrichtigkeit
vigor	noun	194	Kraft
visceral	adjective	80	Eingeweide betreffend
volitional	adjective	200	willensgesteuert
whodunit	noun	56	Krimi, Detektivgeschichte

Now go and have a marvelous evening.

New This Week, Parts 25 and 26

Just when I wanted to start my entry with a line like "My weeks seem to be coming back to an at least half-way normal routine" I find myself sitting here not having written again for two weeks. Well, at least it's only two weeks, not four.

So here are the novelties for week 25:

1. Activity/Event: J. P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Run
There is a good chance that you have never heard of it although it is the biggest run worldwide, at least if "big" means "many participants" to you. The J. P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Run in Frankfurt has grown to approximately 70,000 runners, and when it took place this year I was part of it. Along with nine colleagues of mine, I ran in our white rabbit shirts and did my zigzag darts to make the 5.6km in merely 29 minutes. For those of you who think they can do faster, you actually might but the fact that you have tons of people running in front of you can actually give you a hard time running at your possible speed.

2. Occurrence: Handing In Driver's License
I sent my driver's license to the authorities in Cologne this week because I had to hand it in for a month. I had been caught speeding with 46km/h too much. Three points in Flensburg, 160 Euros plus fees and a month of driving suspension. Not such a big deal because I don't need the car for the job or any other purpose in the upcoming weeks at all anyway, and besides I don't like driving.

3. Stupidity: Forgot Debit Card Number
There I am at the Dresdner Bank ATM, thinking I should just get some cash for the errands I wanted to run that Saturday, and I had a lunch appointment with an online acquaintance. So I put my card in, and when I'm asked to enter my PIN, my brain cannot come up with it. For over a year I had entered it automatically, had remembered it by mere hand movement. There I am standing, not having a clue what my PIN is.

So I tried one that felt right. It was the wrong one. I didn't dare trying a second one, knowing that with my spontaneity I'd probably enter three wrong ones, which would end up my card being held back by the machine.

I met the guy for lunch. Not a problem; I had enough cash for it. But I told him the story, and when we walked a few blocks afterwards and I tried getting cash at another ATM -- at the time I was mistakenly confident I had remembered the correct PIN --, I again didn't get any cash. So when I told him about that he hesitantly said, "Well…do you want me to lend you some money?" You could tell he only did it because I must have sounded like I had planned to make him give me money, so I obviously declined.

I decided to go back home and check my papers for the real PIN, and here comes the really incredible part. I went through the paperwork and found it, but I was far from a "God, Frank, you're such an idiot!" experience.

4. Event: Schweizer Straßenfest (street festival)
Some things belong to Frankfurt like to no other city. Like construction sites. But one of the things seems to be that there are always street festivals, at least during the warmer seasons. This weekend was the first one I actually had to myself here in Frankfurt, and I went to two street festivals, the first of which was the one in the Schweizer Straße. I went with a friend of mine whom I knew from college and some of her friends and colleagues. The streets were packed, and we had quite some fun and apple wine ("Eppler"). Be careful with that stuff. It can give you bad headaches. :)

5. Event: Schäfergassenfest (street festival)
Just the next day I went to another one, now a gay one in the Schäfergasse. I stumbled upon a guy whom I had known for years although I still cannot remember how we got to know each other. Anyway, he was hanging out with some friends of his, and we had a blast even in spite of the pouring rain that hit the festival pretty badly. Yippie, I'm finding friends easily here!


And we're proceeding to week 26!

1. Event: mailingtage in Nuremberg
All new at the job, I went to Nuremberg for the mailingtage, a fair on direct marketing through mailing, with my colleagues. Two days of constant talking about what we do. You probably know that I love hearing myself talk, but God knows I had enough of that when we took the train back to Frankfurt. Just the next day, however, I was back at the college in Cologne to teach, and I had no trouble talking for six hours again. Seems like I'm loving these fairs. :)

2. Event: Packed Too Few Clothes!
It certainly happens regularly that you travel somewhere and pack too many clothes, right? We all do it. Our fear of uncertainty is probably a big part of this. Better risking a broken back than ending up somewhere without our oh-so beloved tanktop when going out to the bars. Or something. Well, maybe for the first time in history, I have actually packed too few clothes. Packing for the weekend when I was about to attend a birthday and housewarming party in Cologne, I had already packed a pair of shorts and flip-flops, then looked at the weather forecast and then again decided to take them back out, thinking that the weather wouldn't be so warm after all. I was wrong and ended up buying in Cologne exactly what I had taken out of my backpack.

Shocking, I know. I'm still trembling myself.

On to another week of all of this! I'm lovin' it.

New This Week, Parts 22 Through 24

Okay, at this point my apology for not having written for weeks again is sounding silly. When I wrote the last time, I was about to get out of my lethargy, move to Frankfurt and start rocking again. And in a way I did. At least that’s what my back signalized me after more than a week of pretty much constant carrying around stuff. When I moved into my friend’s apartment in Frankfurt, all that he, a good friend of his and I did was wrapping, packing and carrying downstairs his things, amongst which was an abundance of crystals. Yes, my friend loves crystals, and I agree: As long as you don’t have to carry them and you have space for them, they’re gorgeous. Too bad that I was the one to carry all of his stuff downstairs because he and his friend had serious back problems and couldn’t lift the boxes with his stuff. Well, my back had rocked for over a week, I could tell at the time.

Also, I am in doubt whether listing the new things of the weeks has proven to be so sensible. With my being back in Düsseldorf and pretty much mourning my sorry-ass existence in that old job, it seemed like a good idea to list the new things. Now that my life has come picked up the pace of life again, listing the weekly novelties seems a little ironic to me because what’s been basically happening is my life getting out of a cocoon, again, for good.

So you will probably believe me when I say I had some novelties in the last weeks. I just have trouble remembering them. Everything is rushing by so fast, and I’ve always been bad at making lists. So forgive me when I just write what’s been going on, for now.

To start off, a few paragraphs on what’s been happening with me.

My new job at the e-mail marketing company has been working out great, I think. I’m feeling in a good place with nice, interesting and creative people, love the job opportunities that are presented to me, and my bosses are great visionaries. I also like the city, or rather what I have seen of it so far. The only things about Frankfurt that leave quite a bit of room for improvement are the fact that the traffic lights are not synchronized, and that when you want to use public transit and don’t have a monthly pass, your only choice is to buy a ticket at a machine before every single ride. There are no books of four and no tickets that you can buy in advance and cancel when needed. It is as if using the system was supposed to be piss you off.

My apartment in Frankfurt is great, too. It is much bigger than what I need, and, in fact, unaffordable if I were to pay the market price, but I found a great arrangement with my friend who owns it. He can leave his stuff there, and if he ever comes back to Germany he can move back in, and I will find myself another place. I take care of his mail and handle things like the craftsman who is still working on the renovation of the guest bathroom. So it’s a win-win.

You should see the balcony on a sunny afternoon! The house is in a very quiet and nice neighborhood, and you can yet walk to the next subway stop in ten minutes, and I need approximately ten minutes by bike to my office. Also, I have two big sleeping couches that give room to up to five or six people. It’s time for a visit of yours, isn’t it?

This Energy-Consuming Time

But you can tell that both the move and the whole new job situation have taken their toll. The biggest downside is that I have grown tired of all the going back and forth between Frankfurt, Cologne (for the teaching), Düsseldorf (to clean the old apartment, pack away furniture and other stuff, and celebrate my birthday), and Mettmann (to visit my parents and move even more stuff). Right now as I’m pre-writing this entry, I am sitting in a train from Düsseldorf to Frankfurt after a seminar on privacy management for my new employer (see the irony?), and on the upcoming Friday I will have to go back to Cologne to teach again.

Although I like the teaching job I am very happy to say that on the 10th of July, the semester will be finally over and I will be able to drop at least this part of traveling.

It’s not the traveling part itself that bothers me though; it’s the packing. Every time I am planning a trip, I need to think about what I will need where and when, how to pack efficiently and what else to consider so that I’ll be able to do the things on my agenda: Did I pack the letter I wanted to send? Do I have the paperwork with me that I will need to contact the authorities about my one-month driving interdiction? Do I have the invoice with me that I will have to remind the college of? Did I pack the screwdriver that I will need to deconstruct the desk I wanted to pick up at my parents’?

Speaking of driver’s license, I actually have to hand mine in for a month because I was caught speeding with 46km/h too much on the A3 on my way back from Munich recently.

My Birthday Party Last Weekend

Most of you know because you were there but for all others, I celebrated my birthday again last weekend, still in Düsseldorf and again a theme party. And although I was originally hesitant to choose the theme again, I finally decided to have a clothes swapping party again. For those who don’t know it yet, here are the rules, again:

• You have to show up in clothes you want to get rid of.
• Everybody’s entitled to swap clothes with anybody else at the party other than the person they just got their clothes directly before. For the swapping process there is a special room that people can use.
• All clothes may be swapped, from single parts to whole outfits.
• Everything is changed, except underwear, shoes and socks, and jackets, unless both parties agree to.
• Everybody leaves the party in the clothes they are wearing when they do.

If you have never attended such a party you’re probably frowning and thinking that it is a sex-oriented party but that’s far from the truth. In fact, that might rather be your fantasy talking, as everybody is extremely relaxed and at one point will probably start dropping their pants right where they’re talking to others when you approach them with your swapping request.

This theme is much rather the best theme I have experienced when it comes to connecting people. Especially when you invite a wide variety of people and you want to prevent them from gathering in the small groups of people they already know, this theme is for you. There is just no ice breaker like, “Wow, you look even crappier in my already ugly shirt!”

All this being said, I think I speak for all of us when I say, we had a blast. Amalia had cooked an incredible selection of Asian food, and in spite of everybody who still had to drive home, we ate and drank a lot, danced and laughed our asses off. I am so happy everybody showed up again and had such a relaxing and fun party again. Thank you, everybody, thank you, thank you, thank you!

By the way, I got an extremely cool present at this party that I, admittedly, pretty much ordered. I know many have probably declared me crazy or that they wanted to send me their shirts, but the present I wanted to have and actually got is a professional steaming-iron station with the accessory ironing board. With this, ironing especially dress shirts will be not only more fun but turn out so much easier than before! I quote my friend who organized it, “The board even sucks and blows!” Honestly, what more could a gay man want! :)

These are the things I can think of now, knowing that I have probably forgotten half a dozen others, like the fact that I have followed a friend’s recommendation and installed and liked the new Trillian Astra, or that I have started playing the Facebook application “Vampire Wars” that is pretty much like Mafia Wars, which I have become addicted to. But let’s keep it at this for now. Drop me your questions in the comments, and I’ll answer them in the next entry.