i recently finished up Blue Like Jazz. i devoured the pages, the book was written with a true rawness that, i believe, is rarely achieved on this sort of topic. the post modern christianity one. the stories were what they were. no special extra but a simple dose of truth and honesty. it is a funny thing to think about the act and mastery of storytelling, as this book was a lot of storytelling and read as if the author had nothing to prove. refreshing! why do so many write, talk, tell, yell as if they have something to prove?
[huge edit] realized the internet isn't the place for some topics.
{insert ridiculous and laughable banter on a web-page forum}
anyways. the other day i was in the middle of a crowd in berlin and overhead a brittish man ask another friend of his why he feels like american pastors have this certain aura about them that is along the same lines as a car sales man. he stated that their "time on stage" was like a production as if there was something to sell him. i followed for a few steps before we veered on different paths. he seemed bothered. and quite frankly this bothered me as well. this is only one man's opinion. however i don't think that is the biggest concern. a friend of mine used to say: just because they are many and i am one doesn't mean they are right. so that is the thought.
o n t h e u r b a n s c a l e-- we are close enough to one another in this city to be overhearing conversations all throughout the day. you just have to open your ears. and let me tell you, when you hear your native tongue; it screams at you. your ear somehow picks up on this like the sweetest song you have heard. i can't explain so well how this is, but when i hear english in my daily moves through the city it is just like a loud whisper, the one that is louder than regular spoken word and (usually) no matter what is spoken, holds a little more time for thought. this happened on the bus the other day when two friends were complaining to the max about another friend...blah blah blah. i got twenty minutes of my tram ride with their chatter, i didn't mind, felt a little bad for the brit they were hustling but enjoyed the english. i then excused myself in my best american accent. whatever that means. even though there isn't as much diversity when it comes to languages in the states we really don't get the chance to even find out. it isn't the norm to be brushing shoulders and sharing bahn seats where this sort of interaction or hearsay happens. it still and probably always will blow me away when i talk with a friend in english and then see them turn a switch and speak another language fluently. how can they dooooo that??? i'm simply amazed by fluency in language. on another note, a six year old german girl taught me some important words the other day. i now have: mirror, candle, fork and newspaper in my deutsch vocabulary.
german words we use in america and maybe didn't know it ::
gesundheit (ga-zune-tight)
doppelganger (who is yours?)
kindergarden (we are growing children)
scheisse (shiza, shit)
