Happy Holidays!

Hello world! Yeah, I am still alive, believe it or not, but I was so busy that I did not find time in the midst of life at L'Arche to get a new post going. But here it is, I actually felt kinda bad that there was no update or any Christmas wishes from my side. Sorry 'bout that.

But here I am, celebrating my first American Christmas with the community. It was great! There is no big difference to Germany besides that Christmas Day is usually a bigger day than Christmas Eve(24.) as the time to open the presents and everything. Oh and the Americans are all about lights. Lights everywhere. In Germany I felt like you had one or two crazy weird people in your neighborhood who seemed to take the Christmas lights a little too seriously. But here literally everyone is going crazy about those damn lights. But that's okay, everything is a little bigger and over-the-top-ish than in Europe I suppose.

I am doing very well, I got some (bad quality) pictures from my holiday impressions.. well, actually it's just some random snapshots. I got a photobook from my parents, like the coolest thing ever, about the first 20 years of my short life! Here are 2 of many highlights!

So this is just our fake-tree with way too much bling-bling.. right?

I got some nice presents from lovely people...

My new mug.. sorry for that

...and my new awesome shirt(don't pee your pants, it's real)

I hope you like what you see! I am right now enjoying a game, OKC is playing the Bobcats and it is pretty intense because Russell Westbrook is out due to knee surgery.. why do these superstars always have to have knee problems? Shit..
And tomorrow I am going to see the Wizards taking on the Detroit Pistons at 7 pm.. live, in person, for real! Oh, and on January 1st it's gonna be against the Dallas Mavericks with Dirk! ..And on the 5th of January against the Golden State Warriors, all in the Verizon Center, I am so excited!

I am celebrating life, as you should also do!
Take care!

Back on track!

Aight guys, it has been over two weeks! PJB is back with a lot of information.. nothing really important but still some things I want to share!
First of all: another German friend visited me a week ago and it was really good to see her again after a few months! We made a trip to DC, went to a museum, some monuments - and Vapiano. Same as in Germany, I know, but always great! It could have been better because we were both feeling a little bit sick - for whatever reason.
The past 2 weeks have been so stuffed that I am grateful for all the free time I can get. I am actually enjoying some time alone while writing this, listening to/watching one of my new Dave Matthews Band live DVD's!

Oh and also my parents sent me a huge (care) package from Germany! Wrapped up Christmas presents, some clothes and way more important: A German beer glass and German chocolate! I was craving the good stuff(Americans are terrible at making choc, no offense)!
What also was in the package:

How great is that?! I feel like a twelve year-old.. which is actually a good thing!
After having felt like a grown-up with discovering my love for cooking and having the ability to actually fix toilets or take care of finances etc... it was great!

I wanted to share more pictures with you guys(a great Christmas picture of all my housemates in the makin'), but I worked so much in the last 2 weeks that I did not really take too many good ones..
Oh I almost forgot: Thanksgiving was great! We ate the usual turkey/stuffing/pumpkin-pie things and I felt a little sick after all that. It was an honor to spent one of the most remarkable American holidays with L'Arche! Looking forward to bringing the tradition back home(yeah I know it does not really make sense as a German, but I love turkey)!

So lovely peeps I now need some rest and the live version of "The Dreaming Tree" from the DMB is coming up(it's f**king insane!!) and I have to be prepared!

Since it's Jim Morrison's birthday, this is the end:

Love y'all!

PJB

These Days!

Wow, it was a long time I posted something on here, sorry for the long delay. I know you guys would sit tirelessly in front of your computers waiting for some new post so I don't want to hesitate anymore.
A lot of things happened this week, 2 amazing of these standing out! But first a short overview: I'm doing good. The last 9-10 days(since last post) were really packed and tiring but that's okay. I dealt with it really well, so I finally got to go on my -early- weekend.
I have off-days yesterday/today(Friday) and tomorrow/today(Saturday) which was desperately needed. Sunday I'm going to share more time with my housemates, but this yesterday a friend from Germany came to DC/VA, going on like a 3-month US-trip and visited me.
He is staying in my room for a few days and we explored DC together, this time a little further than I did before. We're gonna do that tomorrow, too, probably later at night when it gets darker, visiting the Lincoln Memorial and probably the Jefferson Memorial. I think I never did so much sightseeing like I did today.
This is me doing the 'what the hell'-move in front of the Washington Capital. It was a lot of fun.

We walked for like 6 hours straight making a short break at Fuel for some hot wings/tenders - I feel so American sometimes...
Sharing that with you, you are probably thinking like 'huh, he eatin' meat again, man?`'
YES! Since Wednesday I am finally eating it again. I proved myself to be able to become a vegetarian and also did something for my health. I feel really good having done that kind of experiment, but I'm also glad to be 'able' to eat disgusting fast food etc. again. Oh, and also bacon. Baaaaacon. I love bacon.
I am enjoying it but I am trying to not eat as much meat as I ate before the month-long hiatus.

So, where were I. Ah, right, the sightseeing-tour! We saw plenty of stuff, I also had my first museum experience today at the National Air and Space museum.
We had a lot of fun, and we also (of course..) went to see the White House. I feel like it's my new home..
This is us. Bam! Note to my German friends: come visit me to be part of such an awesome super-duper-mega picture like this one!

I think this is it. I don't want to bother you with the usual I-listen-to-Dave-Matthews-Band-all-day-long king of stuff. It's like a disease..yet it's only positive.
Have a great weekend everybody, I hope I won't let you wait too long for the next update..

To end it smoothly: Bartender please..

'Papa misses you!'

Well, that's what the advertisement for Papa John's Pizza says. Why do I share random things like that? I don't know! But what I know is that my past week was most def' one of the best weeks I ever had in my entire life! Despite a lot of transition, uncertainty and stress concerning work, I still managed to not get affected by that too much.
Me and another German L'Arche assistant went to Baltimore on Thursday to go to a concert of Less Than Jake and we used the time before the concert to explore the harbour and the surrounding area a little bit(my first time at the Cheesecake Factory, I still feel sick..). It was awesome!
While the atmosphere and even the look of especially DC feels a little sterile, Baltimore feels like home! It reminded me a lot of Hamburg in Germany. Just take a look at that picture!

I missed the fresh, cold air and the water to be honest!
So we went through the city(which is considered to be one of the most dangerous, at least in some parts) and it was awesome. The concert also was a great experience, we saw Less Than Jake(seen 'em before in Germany, though), Anti-Flag -yes they are still alive- , 'The Masked Intruders'(?!) and Get Dead. The last 2 are not really popular at all but they were still pretty good. It was so much fun!
This is a picture of us with The Masked Intruders, I will never forget that!

..I also got this nice autograph from the frontman and singer of 'Get Dead'(hell, I never heard of this band before). I suppose that this is his name:

Fun times, yay!
Oh, I also went to my first NBA game on Friday night, we got tickets for free! I went to the Verizon Center in DC with 4 friends from L'Arche, it was amazing! We saw the Washington Wizards taking on the Brooklyn Nets including Paul Pierce 'The Truth' and Kevin Garnett. It was magical, my first NBA game - and an overtime win for the home team. We all loved it! The picture down here shows the Verizon Center like an hour before the game. Yep, the DC fans are probably the least interested fans in the NBA. But that's ok, at the end of the game everybody was standing and it was very loud!

Yeah, that's it for now, I think. I used the rest of the weekend(today is 'Veterans Day', I don't understand why people celebrate stuff like that) to just rest and enjoy my free time. More DMB CD's are ordered and new songs are learned. Gotta do what you gotta do. Life is hard but Dave makes it quite more enjoyable.
I am sorry for the long post but it was a long week and I hope you still like my blog. If not, I don't care, haha!
Hope you are having nice days, I enjoy my last 8,5 days as an official-vegetarian! I'm craving chicken tenders/wings and crap like that.
See you soon,
Love

PJB

What a return!

The return of the NBA made my week so sweet! Even though I was busy I found the time to watch a lot of games, yeah in good quality, thanks to the NBA league pass! There are some complications because of blackout restrictions and local/national TV ..  but that's life!
A lot of good things happened so far in the season, the Heat lost 2 games so far, 1 against the Sixers(!). So sweet! And the Splashbrothers shooting lights off in 2 of their first 3 games and the Warriors are just a lot of fun to watch in general, Iggy is a great addition giving them scary depth. Dirk and Dennis Schröder(the new upcoming German star á la Rondo) are doing great so far! My favorite team OKC Thunder playing tonight against the Suns had a disappointing loss on Friday night but today Russell Westbrook is making his season debut in the home opener in OKC! It's so crazy and awesome at the same time, I am really excited to see him on the court again.
But I'm gonna switch the topic since most of you guys are not basketball fans at all. I forgot to count the days and I am super-lazy so I won't do it .. but I know that I am a vegetarian for at least 13 days or so now! On November 20th I will eat meat again and hopefully I won't get sick.. I'm craving wings and fried chicken to be honest.. but after more or less 2 weeks so far I have to say: It is easy and totally fine to live a vegetarian life! I still have a lot of respect for people doing it lifelong or for a longer period of time than I do it, but I think I proved myself I could do it longer, too. I eat way more vegetables and have widened my horizon on food.
I also think I am on a good way to become a 'good' cook! I am not saying that I am good yet, but it's getting better. I have not used a recipe once to be honest, I just throw everything randomly but also precisely and reasonably(paradox or not?!) together and it kinda works. At least for my standards. And cooking vegetarian is also a lot of fun!

Anything worth mentioning? Well.. maybe this here, how great is this? A friend sent it to me and I was stunned!
Childhood memories!

Yeah, that's about it. Ah, yeah, 10 minutes ago I ordered two more DMB records! Busted Stuff and an acoustic concert from Dave and Tim Reynolds live at Luther College. And a bottleneck. I'm excited!

My evening is gonna be great! OKC, PBR, DMB and ALOO(a lot of Oreos).
Oh and I've been told that my English that I write here is maybe a little bit too colloquial/inappropriate/informal etc.. I just try to keep it interesting, bitches!
'I shouldn't care if you do or don't like it'(Jimi Thing - Dave Matthews Band)
Seize the day!

PJB

..ongoing obsession

..for Dave Matthews.. I never thought I would reach that point but he and his band may be my all time favorite, and this is a realization after only ~6 weeks of intentional listening. They brought me back to playing guitar like the whole day. Most people know me as someone who can definitely be highly annoying with recommending and spreading my opinion on music, series and sports etc.. but this one is fo' real!
I now own like 6 CD's and 3 Live-DVD's of the Dave Matthews Band and it is absolutely amazing! 'Before These Crowded Streets' has to be in consideration of the best album of all time with a collection of stunning songs that take you to another place. Keeps me floating, it's like a drug.
Time to switch the topic.. it's 1:13pm and I am still snoozing in my bed after watching the HSV soccer club win 0:3 in one of the most ridiculous games I've ever seen, haha!
And it is my 8th day as a vegetarian, and I feel really good. My body is not affected at all which makes it easy for me to keep going. I just eat more eggs and beans and I'm fine. I guess the biggest part of my friends back in Germany would not have hesitated to say: 'Paul, you a veggie? Wtf!' - But nope, I can do it, ha!
I think I will get myself some Subway-lunch now, the veggie patties are actually reaaally delicious! Nothing special in the next weeks but some visits from friends, we'll see!

I had one of the biggest laughs of my life last week.. just check it out, it is kinda popular over here!

..and how could I forget it, only 2 days left until the NBA season 2013/14 will start with one of the greatest openers you could imagine on Tuesday: Bulls vs Heat. Schedule is checked - free on Tuesday night! League pass - bought! Ready to start the season, OKC(my favorite team) will play on Wednesday night, I am so excited! And I just had the realization that Dirk Nowitzki has the same jersey number as one of my favorite DMB songs, #41. It's magical! See you!

In the warehouse!

Man, yesterday and today were crazy days.. because one of my fellow housemates is on vacation participating in a half-marathon tomorrow(good luck with that!) I had plenty of work but it was actually chilled out.. so this weird thing happened to me yesterday morning.. I was working in the morning so I usually get up at 6-6:15am to be downstairs at 6:30.. I woke up, extremely tired, and went to the bathroom where I took a shower.. I was thinking "Why am I so freaking tired, I slept at least 6-7 hours!!", so I walked back into my room and randomly looked at my iPod and it was 1:23am... I ended up oversleeping until 7, but nevermind.. 

I'm getting ready for the NBA, tip off in now less than 10 days! Whoop whoop!

My day still consists at least(!) of 3 hours Dave Matthews Band music, either in the car, in bed or in the common space.. it's everywhere, yuhu!

Life is short but sweet for certain..

Love y'all!

PJB

Neeews

Today I felt the first time some crazy little thing called consistency coming into my life at L'Arche. The months before were kind of crazy but also exciting and people who have lived here before I came would call it "unusual". But it feels really good to now have finally settled in, because it can get really stressful here from time to time. And it is incredible how much I've grown in the last 3 months. Yeah, I arrived on the 11th of July and now it's October 11th(well, almost) which makes (I think) 3 months. Wow. And "the best is yet to come" - to quote Dave Matthews, you won't find a post without him anymore, hehe - that's what I hope for myself and the community that is supporting me! You are amazing!

That being said, I still have a lot areas of growth. I had an interesting conversation with one of my housemates about spirituality and whether it is independent or directly connected to religion and we came to the conclusion that it's definitely independent from each other. I hope I will grow even more in the 9 months that are ahead of me, personally and spiritually. Yes, spiritually. Because my energy has to come from somewhere, right? I don't know. Something to think about when I put on some music and go to sleep. 

What also helps me to clear my mind is playing (basket)ball. Shooting 3's and even hitting one from time to time, swoosh, man, that helps a lot! 

What I also think is worth sharing - if you don't believe it, just don't do it - I will start be a vegetarian next week for a month to prove myself that I could do it if I wanted to. Why right now? Because at the end of November we celebrate Thanksgiving.. and almost all my housemates approved my thought and some want to do the same thing, but the turkey (or whatever) at Thanksgiving is a must! 

Oh yeah and I also got a haircut. My hair has never been that short since I think I've been like 10 years old, for real. Thanks to my housemate Eva-Elizabeth for doing it again! This time we both have not been that nervous about the whole process which led to a great haircut I think. 

Next update coming soon, I hope that I have the opportunity to give you guys some more interesting stuff than my haircut.. but traveling is not on my schedule on the next weeks..

So far, so good: Have a great weekend, mine is starting on Sunday!

PJB

Crush me

Damn, I just spilt some beer.

Okay, let's do serious business now, I am doing very well this week. It's a busy week since our community in DC/Virginia will celebrate its 30th anniversary this weekend! Woohoo, cool times!

But I don't feel like sharing too much about that, it's just going to be a lot of fun and stress.

Nevermind, I want to tell you something else. Most of you guys should know that I am a huge music fan. I mean, huge. I really care about what I am listening. ALL the time. Sounds usual, right? But I think I would consider myself as someone who is really intentionally listening to music. I like more or less all kinds of music, I went through all the phases and stages you could imagine.. let's not talk about that too much.. 

But now, I think it was like 2 weeks ago, I went into a local CD/DVD store to look for some John Butler Trio records and kinda randomly ended up walking out of the store with 3 albums from the Dave Matthews Band that I was listening to a little bit before. 

I know that I might exaggerate..but: It changed my life. My last 2 weeks could be described by 3 things: Work, Breaking Bad Finale, Dave Matthews Band. I loaded the 3 records on my iPod and since that particular moment I listened to like 5 songs from different bands. And 1 of these 5 songs was the "Imperial March" from Star Wars which I turned on when I walked downstairs to work. 

So I found myself only listening to this one awesome band. I never heard anything that is filled with such power, diversity, complexity and fun combined. It's a mix of.. well, just listen to it yourself, it's amazing.

The good thing about it: they got 8 albums out. So I will probably go get the bus on Monday and get me at least 2 more. I learned a lot of their songs on guitar and it is so much fun..

Well, I guess most of the people who read this are not really interested in it.. but shit, I'll share it anyway.

My favorite song(if I had to choose one): Crush.

It is arguably, hands down, the best love song ever written. And not only the studio version is awesome, it grows even more on stage.

I want to share these to performances with you. 

The first one is a version with the whole band, and the second one, it gets me every time, is a version just Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, 2 acoustic guitars and a bottleneck. Magic. 

Passion.

And even though like most of you people won't care at all.. maybe I get one or two of you to become a DMB fan as I am now. They are in my top ten. And not in the lower part!

I will now finish my laundry and go to sleep. And "shut down" my laptop. I hope you see what I did there.

Peace & Love from Arlington

PJB

Peace & Love

Muahaha, what's up you gangsters. PJB is back in town. Okay just kidding, today was just a beautiful day. I had half a day off and could relax more or less alone in the big house that I live in since most part of the other people went to a wedding mass of former L'Arche assistants. I've never known that this could be such a peaceful place, well, I'm not saying that it's disturbing or something in general, but sometimes it can be loud. Really loud. So this gave me a lot of energy which made it so easy for me to share time the whole evening. It was lovely! I also had to cook dinner for the house(normally 10 people) but since it is a Saturday it turned out that we were only 4 people eating here. I will never be an awesome cook but practice makes perfect.

I cannot stop talking about how great my day has been! Wow, it's amazing! Greetings from my sister Nele, we are skyping at this particular moment. <3

I'm ready for my days away now. It's such a great feeling to have in mind that you can sleep in in the 'morrow. I love it. My days away will probably be boring. Ha, gotcha! Never gonna happen!

Breaking Bad. Finale. AHH. This. Is. Going. To. Be. Fucking. Awesome. Yes, it will be like the best thing ever that happened to TV screens and desktops and laptops and all the other electronic devices that can play television. My gosh, I am so excited.. I have to get my laundry going so I have enough underwear for each time I shit my pants! Ok, seriously, it'll be amazing. If you yet have not had the chance to give Breaking Bad a try, now is the time. Do it! And try to endure the first season, it's kinda boring in comparison to what happens after the first one. You will get rewarded by one of the most intense and wild series the world has ever seen. 

Sharing all that, I will go on skyping and enjoy the night. 

Peace & Love everybody(sorry for the cuss words btw)

PJB