Life Changer Lupus- from the first symptoms to the diagnosis and on

 

With all I have learned in the 5 years after my diagnosis I can honestly say I was very fortunate. When I finally went to see a doctor I was finding myself in a hospital two weeks later. With me living in southern Germany and with that a part where Lyme disease is common I was tested for that first because the general symptoms are similar. I had lost weight, only weighing 47 kg and my parents were afraid I was bulimic. Having been only 17 years of age it would have been a probable explanation for the weight loss. I also suffered from fatigue and the typical butterfly rash, the latter I covered up because I was ashamed but when I was finally too weak to do so my doctor could see it and called a rheumatologist, who shipped me off to be admitted to a hospital.

After two years, right with me finishing school I could finally accept being ill and I seek help in a support group. Sadly I have no Lupus support group close to me but the patients under 26 meet once a year for a weekend to exchange experiences. The friendships I build there are really helpful and we have a deep connection. It is probably because we all have similar problems and we feel ourselves understood.

It was in that year that I decided to do something and I became actively involved in the self-help group and helped plan our next meet and I am a telephone contact to answer questions. This involvement gives me a sense of accomplishment back. Before I got ill I was an avid handball player and gymnast and I was a lifeguard with the German life guard association. In the hospital I was told to stop doing all strenuous sports which meant do no sport besides a little bit swimming …

I stopped handball and gymnastics as I already had lost a lot of muscle strength and my so called teammates there all but kicked me out of their lives when I wasn’t able to pull the weight anymore. That hurt a lot. I was only 17 and all the changes in my life were devastating but thankfully my friends from the life guard association didn’t give up on my and did all they could to coax me out of the symbolical hole where I was hiding aka my room. They called and wanted to meet with me and never let me alone. I also was and still am a swim instructor for younger kids (I am doing this for 8 years now) and this was what kept in and near the pool. Although I wasn’t able to qualify as a life guard for 4 years I didn’t give up and got reinstated after passing the test. (I had to train for 4 years and normally I would have had to redo the test in 05 [test is to be redone every 3 years]). I am mighty proud of myself for requalifying and I intend to stay a lifeguard for as long as I can.

Being in the self-help network gave me the chance to go to a couple of conferences and learn many things about a spectrum of rheumatic diseases as well as meet many different people which all are involved in raising awareness that rheumatic diseases can be found in every age group, even infants.

I know of two special pediatric rheuma clinics in Germany one of them I have already visited but only as a guest, not a patient. I was too old and I never saw a pediatric rheumatologist. One of the kids in my swim training has arthritis and she was in the clinic during holidays and when I heard that and I knew as was going to be in the town I visited her and got to know the clinic. It was a great experience and many friends of mine who have been there two tell stories about deep friendships which have been formed in the clinic. For all of us it is important to get the feeling that they are not alone and that there is someone out there who understands our every difficulty. The experience to be able to call someone I the middle of the night who really understands the pain which comes with insomnia is comforting. The most of us have to take more than 4 pills a day and some of the medicines used to treat Lupus have serious side effects. Take the steroids (cortisone) it diminishes the bone or better say effects the calcium consummation of the bone (it lessens it) other meds suppress the immune system and we can catch every cold out there. Some meds make you sleepy or depressed or you gain a boat load of weight. (I have three different sizes clothes at home) We all know the list of side effects is long but giving in and feeling sorry for ourselves doesn’t help. We have to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel and with the news of Benlysta in the US I am confident that it will come to Europe and Germany too and will help! (Fingers crossed)

What are your ways to the diagnosis? Feel free to share.

Lyrics Music Power Life

 

Today I read on twitter that the Theme Song of one of my Shows is going to return and that got me thinking about the time when I started watching that Show and what the song meant to me, especially the lyrics and all.

To lift the suspense now I am talking about One Tree Hill, a show I started watching in 06 a little under a year after my diagnosis, kinda at the same time I finally got around to accept my illness. Some of you may know the song that was sort of a synonym for the show for four years and then suddenly disappeared when the fifth season started.

Gavin DeGraw’s I don’t want to be is an awesome song.

Listen closely to the chorus and then you can probably understand why this song was so important to me back then.

A little hint …. I don’t want to be anything other than ME! [I don't want to be ---Lyrics]

And like Lindsay Wolfington, the musical advisor on OTH tweeted this morning (for me at least) the theme song and the opening credits are back but with a special music every week an artists covers the song and his or her version will be used for the opening sequence but Gavin kicks off the party. I might have to get back to watching OTH and if it is only for the music. (or i could wait and buy the versions? or someone could send them to me, please?!) btw for those of you who don’t know it Lindsay is also the music supervisor for Ghost Whisperer, so you know she is fantastic at her job.

Anyway like I said through OTH and Gavin DeGraw I discovered the power of music and the way lyrics can influence you. This is probably why I identified so much with Peyton even though I am not all that artistic. In school I sang in the choir (not show choir aka Glee) normal traditional without competition just for fun! We sang Musical classics and Disney and stuff. Later on the more talented did Anatevka and we wrote our own version of Shakespeares Midsummernights Dream called Nightfever. And yes you guessed it it was a musical which borrowed from Saturday Nightfever! I am still singing but only on parties and only karaoke and I am in no way claiming that I can sing. I do that for fun and for my lungs, because my doctors think my lung function is too weak…. Hey I am working as a lifeguard in the summer so how can that be?

Another song that deeply influences my life is Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful.(starts at 0:30)

She reminds us all that we are beautiful and shouldn’t let anyone tell us different. This song is so true and raw and touching I can’t even put it in words.

Tell me about your theme songs? Which songs touch you and influence you or is music not your thing?

I am open to discussion.

And to finish a beautiful quote

Music is what feelings sound like.  ~Author Unknown

My trip to munich

 

 

A Picture says more than a  thousand words

check for yourselves ;)

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the definition of friends

 

The social media has changed the over all meaning or usage of the word friend and that scares me. Facebook wants to make me believe that all the people I have added there are my friends? I have to be honest with myself and possibly a lot of people most of these contacts are acquaintances or people I know or don’t know. I am not condemning the Internet or social media, that would be blasphemy because I am a part of more than one online community and I would feel honored if I could consider some of the amazing people I had the opportunity to get to know online my friends. But sadly I haven’t even met them. They let me be a part of their lives via the twitter feed they post or through their facebook profiles or their amazing and inspiring blogs.

Even in real life many people can’t be considered real friends. A nice tweet came my way but sadly I forgot who sent it. It said ‘A friend is a person you can call after a year and talk like it was yesterday!’

Friends? What does a person qualify to be my friend? A topic I spent a long time thinking about and now it is important for everyone who may get mentioned below to know that I am not setting out to hurt you! I value everything you say, write or do!

Let me start with BiancaLuL she is a fantastic girl I met while twittering. She is part of the German Lupus Selfhelpnetwork , well a member and so we kinda run in the same circle. I learned a lot about her through our connection on twitter and in later stages on facebook. Not only Lupus connects us we found out that we both have a love for Handball (the german version.). Sadly we haven’t met yet but maybe someday because I have family near her place and I myself live in a touristic region in southern germany. (Bianca this is an invitation, I am moonlighting as a tourist guide ;) )

But is she a friend? Facebook and Twitter would like me to name her that. On that note what is that system on Twitter? I follow your tweets you follow mine and that makes us friends? Sorry but I think it isn’t like that… we can be acquaintances who keep each other updated through twitter.

But it isn’t only Bianca who has this ‘fate’ in my head. I would love to consider her a friend but there is one important part missing in our connection. We haven’t met and I never talked to her in person and that is an integral part to a friendship for me. Not only the connection via internet. Sadly for me I can never really think of some amazing people out there as my friends and I want you to get to know them too!

They are Christine ‘The Spoon Lady’ [bydls.com] , Tiffany [TiffanyandLupus] and Kimberly [ChroniclysILLy] and all the other Lupus warriors in my twitter list!

These three ladies seriously inspired me again and brought me to the point to refresh my activities with the Lupus Network in Germany. Due to my studies at the university and other life struggles I had let down my efforts to a point where I wasn’t helping anymore (bad girl I know!) Thank you for brining me back on track!

As much as I want to say you are my friends, my heart wants to but my head wont let me … YET! If I am ever in the states I’ll tell you and if you let me I’ll visit you or you come visit me and we will see if we are compatible in real life!

Okay so what makes a friend?

A friend is the person I can talk to about everything, on the phone, in a café or else but I have to have met that person face to face! (In the same space not only via a webcam!)

Please remember this wasn’t meant to hurt you!

Sound off below!

A handy travel aid

I love to travel but there is this nagging thought in the back of my head what would I do when I am abroad and in a country where I can’t communicate? What can I do in case I get a flare and have to explain to a doctor what is going on if we don’t speak each others languages? I mean I can write in English and I learned Spanish and French in school also but I am German and in case of emergency I am not sure I could explain Lupus in any Language.
This problem was recognized by some amazing people who then created an awesome book called the Butterfly Traveler. In it you can find the translation for 1400 words and phrases you could need on vacation, in the hotel and most important at the doctors office. The 12 languages include Russian and Greek. The guide is easy to handle and you never need to be scared again. There is only one problem, you can’t really buy it anymore.
I found one offer at amazon.de [http://www.amazon.de/Butterfly-Traveller-Multilingual-International-Traveller/dp/3933185343] it is from ELEF the old name for Lupus Europe.
Now Imagine what you would do on a vacation when you get a flare?!
I would panic for sure, that is just what I do ;)!
But then I would remember my neat little helper and use it to find a doctor who can help me!
You don’t believe it can work?
Try me and post a challenge for me,either here or on twitter @lalez88 with tag #butterflytravel! [and specific language if you like]
I’ll try to answer as fast as I can [as soon as I read your message!]

Trying out something new

 

Did you know there is a Windows Live Blog Tool?  The Windows Live Writer!

It is free!

On top of that I think it looks pretty good. It already has the general look of my blog imported (you need an Internet connection for that) but you can work offline and create drafts to be reworked at a later time.

The features you can insert are Hyperlinks , A single Picture or a whole Album!!!!

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but you have to have a LIVE ID (aka hotmail email or else) and then has the server to work. What do you say? Cool or don’t use?

Tables, Maps

This is where I live

Tags, Videos 

german TV article mentioning LUPUS

and more you just have to download the plugins.

That is awesome, right?!

good god what is it

today I was planning to go out and wear this dress but some how the weather god decided rain would be cool it really isn't! on another note leo dicaprios new movie inception starts today maybe i'll go and try to see it

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the vikings are among us

great work and craftment as always from our swiss friends

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movie songs

Unforgettable movie songs: Which are YOUR top 10?

Reading that Article got me thinking. What would be my top 10?
What does a great and unforgettable movie song need? I mean I am a TV and movie nerd or geek whatever.

Songs I can never forget again.... probably all old Disney movies...

Come on the Bare Necessities or Circle of Life or Colors of the Wind

Never ending Story

Just to name a few songs that come to mind.

I admitted before that I love karaoke and I have two song lists dedicated to TV and movie scores.

Two of my absolute favourites are Bittersweet Symphony and Hallelujah but there are so many more.

Check out the link and sound of below.
Anyone who knows the title of the last song in Cruel Intentions (I mean the one where he dies....)

hot hotter weekend

and finally it is cooling down again. The got weather really got to me. I had to even sleep with my balcony door opend.

Well the weekend was slow on  funny tourists but high on the normal fun. But isn't it depressing if five kids that all had or have swim training with you need at least three minutes to GUESS your name?
I told them that I would keep there football if they shot me and what happend only seconds later? I had a ball in my face!

To get it back I asked them to tell me my name ... and the rest is history ;). Oh god I wish I could have played mice in that conversation! What were the names they all had ? What name would you give me?[If you know my name, well what would you say fits too?]

On the topic of football[or soccer]:
I am not really a soccer fan, prefering handball! But what was going on in the quarterfinals?
The Dutch send Brazil home, the Germans beat Argentina [I remember a game four months ago, I believe it was in Munich. It ended 0:1 for Argentina!!! What happend with the german team? Did the Nutella therapy finally work?
I didn't really get to see the german game because i was on lifeguard duty but I heard it [Public Viewing and Vuvuzelas]! I watched a recap later on.
When I went online to check up on my email and twitter and stuff one of the topics trending in my facebook page was this little youtube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Spy3Nd2D6w

at first it was a video with the song and the four german goals and then crying argentinian players but the sound was deactivated.....yeah sometimes youtube is infuriating.

And I finally turned the page on my COSMOPOLITAN Men Calendar (In June there was Hugh Jackman .... *dreamgirl stare*) and now I can look at Jared Padelecki *sigh*. Sadly they are off the market, not that I even had a chance in hell....

Next weekend I am going to travel, yeah tourist myself! Not quite I have been to Kassel (a town in Hessen,Germany) too many times and I have family up there so not quite a tourist.
We are going to meet there from the German Lupus Association and I hope it is going to be a fun and educational weekend.

Adverse effects of school exam parties....

yeah I know end of school and finally free needs to be celebrated but the scheduling couldn't be more horrible.
It started Sunday at 6pm during the Germany vs. England world cup game. And it was a SUNDAY!!! People! Some persons actually have to get up early on Monday. Well anyways after a good coffee I am now able to write.

The weekend over all was pretty great. I mean the list of stupid tourist questions got a little bit longer....

"Can I use the toilet?" -- Just so you know we have a public toilet at the beach so that was really stupid. What do reply to that? Principally I am always nice ... well I have here to vent.

Thankfully the sun decided to stay a while and after the full moon last night and all my father felt the need to tell me that during full moon the weather is always good.... great but I am not usually do my event planning according to a lunar calendar. Maybe I should start?

On these ominous parties you always meet people you may never want to see again but being the well raised person you are you are nice to everyone. Even strangers....

Anyways... against all odds (in my head at least) Germany won the game last night. I admit the Brits should have gotten the goal but that wouldn't really have changed anything right?

Seeing as football (or soccer) was never really my sports I can't say that my opinion of the team is the most accurate hey but that is just me. But I don't really think that the Germans can go any further. I had the same feeling with Lena and the Songcontest so you never know.... ;)

Gaga and the Wolf?!

No this is not a new version of Peter and the Wolf performed by Lady Gaga --- but that could be fun too. 

Her newest RollingStone Interview created the same controversy as her recent appearance on Larry King. On Kings show she said that she was tested borderline positive for Lupus disease. Well borderline what is that supossed to mean? There are different ideas out. One being that she tested for ANA's (Antibodies against cell material) and that the titer (the ratio of antibodies in the blood) was on the border between negative and positive. But only a positive ANA test wouldn't lead to a diagnosis as harsh as Lupus.

A second possibility in my eyes to be  borderline positive is that she has some of the ARA (American Rheumatology Association) criteria to diagnose Lupus. There are 11 criteria but to diagnose Lupus you only need 4 established. So I am guessing she could also have 3 and so she nearly has it.... 

One  of the more important things to know is that Lupus isn't given to you by your parents although it seems to be a gentic problem. 

These are just  my two cents on the subject before the summer now fully has my attention. Tourists beware ...

Well this weekend i am going to play mini golf with kids so that is going to make for fun moments and on top there is still the world cup and there is a live screening of every game near the beach.

On that subject Vuvuzelas... don't you love hate these stupid things? Even youtube now has a soundfilter for that frequence!

Soccer Worldcup

takes over ....

the simple truth.

It is really scary how important soccer is. I mean it.
Even CNN created their own Buzz page on twitter and it is promoted. And the tag #worldcup is permanently trending.

Well on a sidenote today is the start of summer, well my calendar says so but the sun is still missing.

Summer at the lake this year doesn't look too good right now. Well we are still hoping!
This last weekend we were supossed to go play minigolf but due to havy raining we had to reschedule. Maybe next saturday will work better ;).

It's a long long night

Wow the Academy Awards are always impressive sadly it is really difficult for us germans to watch.
Just so you know the Red Carpet starts at about 1 am German time !!!

But I love the show and just seeing Neil Patrick Harris opening and I really have to admit Steve and Alec are fantastic. I was thinking that it is hard topping last year I mean with the musical theme and Hugh Jackman but I am impressed.

So happy about Christoph Waltz winning (which I tweeted and posted on facebook [crazy right?])!

Also loved Ben Stiller presenting Best Make Up to Star Trek in a Na'Vi make up (which wasn't even nominated!!) Did you forget?

Uhh Robin Williams just got on to present best Supporting Actress...
I can't decide thank god the Academy did that for me ! :)
All these fabulous women did such a great job so they are all winner for me but who gets the guy?
They chose :
Mo'nique ... yeah she did a fantastic job I could really feel her characters pain in the short clip we could see. I haven't seen the movie yet! (But I really want to![Precious based on the novel Push by Saphire] Go check it out!)

I do realise I am not the best blogger but I am writing from my heart. And Movies are a passion of mine.
On with the show:
Jodie Foster presents the Award for best production design:
who would've thought but AVATAR won! Well the movie can't top Titanic but hey they have 9 Nomination and well how many are they going to take home? I saw Avatar my self in 3D and yeah it was soooo amazing and the world of Pandora was so beautifully designed I believed it excisted or at least could excist!

Sarah Jessica Parker and Tom Ford are presenting best costume. Can someone explain me her dress? Just saw it mystery solved. It is a pretended strapless.  Love the women who just won (sadly I didn't catch her name but she also won for Aviator!)

Uhhh a special tribute to Horror Movies! Haha can you imagine Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin in a room for a whole night? Seems hilarious :)

Taylor Lautner and Kirsten Stewart present. It is a great category and well they kind of are out of a horror-esque movie series (or what are you calling Twilight? I mean Vampires and Werewolves and stuff??)
Wow they chose great clips[here just a few I recognized]
Sleepy Hollow
the birds
Interview with a vampire
Edward Scissorhands
silence of the lambs
and many many more!!!
(Maybe I can find the clip on youtube! And you can see for yourselves!)

Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick are going to present best sound editing. Morgan Freeman speaks the teaser clip with the great example of last years winner 'The Dark Knight'. [--> great movie btw]

WINNER : The Hurt Locker! --> Another must see movie. I believe it is going to be amazing to watch.

Best sound mixing:
Hurt Locker again!! CONGRATS! The poor guy could have just stayed on stage :)

"new" series on the horizon

like i promised a change :)

i kind of just discovered that there are books about this percy jackson movie that is new in the theaters and sometime in the past i vowed to read the books first ...
i did that and i have to admit i had a fascination with the old greek myths in my younger days and so i was sucked right back in.
Rick Riodan, the author has the ability to make us want to know and for me to re read the original stories behind it all.
His background information is pretty accurate seeing as he has experience in history having been a teacher in this field and all. He presents the concept of the West in combination with the Greek gods of Olypmus and over the course of the 5 main books he mentions many myths and opens the door for everyone to expand their knowledge. Much like in the Twilight series and Harry Potter the main protagonist has much to learn and the readers knowledge develops with that of the main character.
It is my strong believe that the movie will be hugely successful and now that the books become known they will be sold too.
When you go looking for parallels you are going to find them. One really huge is Fluffy [Hagrids pet, the three headed dog] and Mrs. O'Leary [a hellhound who becomes Percy's pet, well sort of]

Okay and why, are you asking do I want to see the movie?
Look at the cast list:

kevin mckidd (greys)
melina kanakaredes (csi ny)
uma thurman
pierce brosnan
sean bean
oh and we can't forget chris columbus who was kindly directing...

what is your opinion? want to know more about the books? ask and you shall be answered

Objectivity in media

Every day we open up our newspaper of choice. Everyone of us has their own seperate reason why we read this exact newspaper. For some it is because they think highly of the contense others chose theirs for money reasons or some just read it because it is there. Every published journalist has a group of readers in that case and even the best sometimes slip up and write their articles not as objective as they could.

In our really fast paced world with news around the clock, internet availability, email, mobile phones and blogs you cannot count. Also the many many twitter users. This all creates a snowball system for news, but not a snowball system in the traditional sense as seen here where every person reaches two new persons. NO now one click on retweet manages to reach < 100 People. So to say new spread almost faster as light.



There is a huge risk in spreading wrong news in this time and when you don't pay attention you do that. As examples i can show the wrong news about deaths of actors. What was the most bizarre one in my memory? I have to say the reported death of Matt Damon. The news of his untimely death spread like fire and to end that buzz and all the rumors Damon had to appear on TV alive as you surely have all suspected. I can't find the original spreader of the rumor but if you follow this LINK. You can read a little what another writer wrote.

Objectivity and research are the most important tools in writing articles for an audience and maybe a little more research before publishing would have prevented this chaos.

Journalists usally say they are allowed to write what they want because we all have the constitutional right to free speech and we also have a free press and no one is saying other wise.(At least not me!) I only want to caution people. From history we have seen what one persons opinion can accomplish if it is presented at the right time.
I also know that writing articles objectively is hard and your own opinion always somehow sneaks in but try to be as subtle as possible with it so your readers can draw their own conclusions in the end. Objectivity is a learning process and it almost never ends. Talking to others and always keeping an open mind helps immensely.

Long time no see

Well I was away for some time as you may have seen in my twitter feed I was watching Handball European Championship. Sadly Germany was out after the group phase but the semifinals were fantastic to watch and also I am very happy for Iceland whose team won 3rd place in a great game against Poland.

next up is the FINAL:

FRANCE VS CROATIA!

Who is going to win? I can 't say right now because to be honest both teams are amazing and strong!
But on the note of honesty I really want France to win :)

Allez-les bleus!

I can't promise to post more now because Fasnacht (Karneval in my part of Germany) is right around the corner.

Okay so I hope you are all well

Snow Storm ahead

Heya the weather man predicts snowstorms and heavy weather for my place tomorrow... maybe i'll have to stay in? It would be beneficial for you.... because then I could really write something for this and it would look like this outside

Well anyways enjoy your evening and if you have a wish ... send it my way

Catching up or on

Well that certainly is a difference ... :)
Today I am taking really big pride in the fact that I update one of my stories on fanfiction.
Great right? Well I have to shout out to julianafun who really got me going today when I got the email informing me that she added me as a Favourite Author. Thanks girl that really is an honor!

On fanfiction you can find some really great authors over there and one of them is heichen. She is writing for Prison Break and she really has great ideas and her stories are interessting.

On another note I caught up on the latest NCIS and NCIS LA episodes which aired last night.

---------------------Spoiler Alert--------------------

The episode had the title Ignition and the victim of the night was a navi pilot who at first apeared to have died in some sort of flight accident. His flying device, which we learn from McGee's tellings is in fact a rocket belt, more commonly known as a Jet pack really exploded after it self ignited. (Caught the title...)
Sounds easy, right? But that wasn't all. Ducky and Palmer find out during the autopsy of a squirel that the pilot has been poisend and so he probably was incapable of flying. After another close look at the fragments of the jet pack McGeek finds that the object was remote controlled (drum roll here). In the end and after a couple of more twists the team catch the real murderer but one person stays in mind. A new nemesis perhaps? She is a lawyer who seems at first just annyoingly well informed. She knows about the teams tactics and also their names.... Yeah strange I know... and in the end Gibbs himself connects her to a General who was let go from a Mexican prison that day.(This little info was presented at the beginning of the episode and up until the end didn't seem conected to the case!) Maybe she is the rumored love interest for Gibbs that was supossed to show up in the second half of the season.

This episode, with the title 'Breach' seemed weird at first. Hatti was totally on edge and seemed to be on a money saving mission. Anyways the case of the night involved a dead crypto guy who saved a stripper from getting run over by a car in a night club. The navy guy got killed. After initially believing the driver meant to kill the officer Cullen finds some sort of surveillance equipement in the strippers home, which by now is in NCIS custody. The team finds out that she is filming her clients so that her boss can later use the material for black mail. The bad guys specifically target people who have much to loose and give up. Cullen goes undercover ...kind of like always and they solve the case. During the investigation we learn a little bit about Sam Hanna's past. He has been serving in Sudan and he killed men over there. One of the men's son he brought to the US and this boy has a key role in solving the case. At the end of the episode the young man leaves the states and appears to go back to Sudan....
Also the Hatti situation gets explained in the end. One of her friends died and she wants to make sure that the team has lived their lifes and don't die doing paperwork and all alone. Kind of sweet :)

Also I caught a preview for a new movie today. It is called Valentines Day. Check out the cast pictures in the heart. Yes this is the movie on which set Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift supossedly fell in love :) Also Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper are reunited on the screen.... god ALIAS was a long time ago huh? And all the other great names you can find on this picture...

Ah and this movie opens, who would have thought, in the second week of Febuary. Just in time for ....(drumroll) Valentines Day!




Are you going to see it? I definetly plan to but I am a sucker for romantic movies.
That is also why I am dying to see New York I love you! which opens on 28.January in Germany. So wait until then and I'll tell you my opinion.

Snow and Classical Music

I am kicking of my day with some classical Music. Today's choice Frédéric Chopin. (Music on last.fm (german))

I told you yesterday already that I was planning on watching Handball and I did.

29:30  Germany won! But the game was close til the end. The Austrian could have reached a tie but in the last 10 seconds they threw the ball away.... well good for Germany. The German team was expected to win because lets face it they were World Champions in 2007!


This test game clearly showed that the German team has still some 'learning' to do and according to the interview Heiner Brand (german coach) gave the ORF after the game he knows that but he still is optimistic that they can accomplish something. The group Germany caught for the first round is a tough one. (Click here for an overview of all groups.)

The Austrian equipe has another great opportunity to learn . They are part of a four-nations tournament alongside Poland, Hungary and Croatia. All three teams are really good and many of their players are in the german league....

Last night NCIS and NCIS LA came back from their hiatuses (??) and right now I am waiting for the Episodes to come to me :). I just love that OnlineTVrecorder added these american stations...

In  German Television remarkable last night was an airing of a 2007 documentary about Monsanto. Well to be exact it aired on ARTE which is a german and french co owned station. I haven't seen it in total but I am going to watch it later today. When I find the time I am going to tell you all about it.

Until then enjoy your day

Oh what to do on a sunny day

Sounds a little like  "To be or Not to be!" I know that but yeah what should I do today?
The options are :

• finally updating my fanfictions
• go ice skating
• stay in and do nothing aka watch TV

Well updating or better say writing for my fictions would be a wise choice since I haven't written anything for them in ages and somehow I managed to get myself some inspiration last night.
After some small problems I found a movie to watch.

Love&Basketball

Well the start was a little weird but one of my favourite quotes is
"Wanna be my girl?" Just picture it two kids with their bikes no idea what being a couple means a the sweet boy asks that. It was jsut too cute. I didn't really know any of the actors except for Omar Epps, who we know as Dr. Eric Foreman on House. BTW I might need to catch up on that show... I kind of stopped watching after they started 'creating the new team'! And from what I heard the show went really downhill from there...

If you have checked out my links you must have noticed that I often use imdb for reference and right now it is safe to say that they often have the most information on upcoming project but also on older ones.

So and now you ask why did that inspire me. It is a good question and it leads to telling you that up until last season I was watching One Tree Hill, now you might now why a basketball movie can inspire me :)! Yeah I know it isn't that big a part in the show anymore but still....

Anyways onto my other options...
Iceskating yeah that would be fun seeing as the weather is actually nice outside. We'll see! I have to be home by 17:55 at the latest because then I have to watch TV! (Yeah I am crazy!) But in a short time the European Championship starts and they broadcast a test match between Germany and Austria. Oh didn't I mention the sport before? I am a huge fan of handball! BTW there is a tournament in NYC right now with some great german players (who aren't in the national team anymore but still brilliant!).
so watching this game is sort of a must.

My third option, staying in well that would give me the chance to read up on a movie that is starting in Germany today.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

This movie intrigues me not only because it was one of the last projects Heath Ledger did but also because of the story. The Castlist besides our dearly departed is also reading like a who is who of Actors. You need examples? 

See for yourselves :

• Johnny Depp

  Jude Law

  Colin Farell

  Peter Stormare [John Abruzzi in Prison Break] 

   

  Well so now you can maybe understand why I decided to go check it out. Also I am planning on going to see Up in the Air for obvious reasons :). 

  
  
  
  
  Enjoy the rest of your day and maybe I'll post again later .
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Movies now and ahead

So I was planning to watch The Fantastic Four sequel (Rise of the Silver Surfer) in hopes that I might like it better than the first one, but after reading the reviews on RottenTomatoes.com my expectation were a little low. And then my DVR threw in another wrench ... okay I admit it must have been my fault. I recorded it in spanish.... Why would I do that? So I couldn't watch it. My spanish isn't enough for movies... sorry guys :)o

So and then I started to watch Freaky Friday and OMG why did I like that movie again??? I am not so sure but the same goes for Cinderella Story I used to love that movie ... well I guess taste improves in time :)[BTW cookies for the one who can tell me what links before mentioned movies!]. But I still love 10 things I hate about you and Cruel Intentions (THE ORIGINAL not the stupid sequals) and Legally Blonde is gold too (both movies in that case)! Thought I throw that out there...

If I can't find a movie maybe I'll just rewatch a couple of FRIENDS episodes.

Chandler dumping Janice is something I love! See for yourselves :

On another note I have a new movie on my must watch list!

Wanna take a wild guess? 

Here a few clues....

1. a rabbit who is always late 
2. a crazy hatter
3. a chesire cat 

and the Queen of Hearts

Where am I? YES in Wonderland , (thank god my name isn't Alice :))

Oh and if you didn't know it already the mad hatter is Johnny Depp!

But his name isn't the only one you should recognize on the cast list.

Tim Burton not only got Depp again (according to imdb's trivia page it is the 7th time they work together) no he also enlisted Helena Bonham Carter again (6th project together). Some might remember her from Sweeney Todd other may know her as Bellatrix the crazy witch from the Harry Potter series...but I am wandering off topic.

Other great names from the cast list include:

• Anne Hathaway [The Princess Diaries ;The Devil wears Prada]
• Stephen Fry [Dr Gordon Gordon on Bones]
  
• Christopher Lee
• Alan Rickman [Severus Snape]
  

and Michael Sheen.

Yes I admit it it kinda looks like a HP reunion party :)[it could also be a Sweeney Todd reunion] but I am planning on watching it non the less.

Do you have movie recommendations or wishes on reviews?

New Year -- New Header

So I decided to make a new header ...
Yeah I guess it isn't that much different but I had to at least try out my new picture programm...

Last year a friend of mine convinced me to do 'customer research' of sorts and now I am member at a page called TRND and I am testing a WC scentener.

It is fun, really!

Today the weather is great and maybe I'll go out for a walk and then I can show you how wonderful our lake is even in the winter :).

I also forgot to mention that I went to see Avatar in 3D! It was weird because of the funny glasses but the movie is awesome! I can recommend it. I am wondering why  a critic on RottenTomatoes.com said it is the Star Wars of our time! I mean yes it is a different planet and all but I felt it was more like Stargate meets Hitler's Regime...

Anyways have a great day and maybe stalk me on twitter...

Happy New Year!

We are just now finishing our second day in 2010 and all people are posting New Year Resolutions.
One of the most surprising I read about today was Lindsay Lohans. She wants to stay away from bad people and habits! Don't we all :).

I am a TV fanatic and in the cold times of the year that habit is much worse. So I have to admit that I am also following Michael Ausiello on twitter. And most of the times he has some intersting scoop on pretty much every show I watch :).

One of the most important things to know is his cheat sheet. You can always rely on this to find out when your fav come back from break.

BTW for all you Germans out there I know that your DVR's aren't that powerful but I found one that is pretty much all I could ask for. OnlineTVrecoder is free of charge and includes all the german channels you can possibly think of and since a few weeks they include some US Stations (including ABC, CBS and NBC!).... Otherwise you may wanna check out eztv.it.

Well I am enjoying my last days of vacation now and I hope you do too.