Halfway

Today marks the one year point of me moving to Belgium. Can it really have been that long? Was I really spending this day, one year ago, without possessions (and hot water)? It just doesn't seem possible.

i [heart] zooey deschanel

Seriously. I love her as an actress. She is pretty much the quintessential sci-fi chick for me right now (in a slightly geeky but totally hip sense, not in an action sense - i'm thinking about her roles in Tin Man and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy). And now she sings with M. Ward? Can she get any cooler?

Thanks to my big brother Bob for pointing me towards their band, She & Him. Excellent.

Song of the Day: Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?, She & Him
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2008/03/she_him_great_a.html

Erins of London

Next weekend is the Second Quarterly Erins Weekend. (The first happened in December - the blog epic chronicling it is still under construction as of the date of this entry, but who knows? It might show up eventually.) An "Erins Weekend" is very similar to a Girls Weekend, just without the strict adherence to the female only rule and with the added restriction that there must be at least two Erins in attendance (specifically, myself and a good friend of mine who lives in Munich).
EW 2.0 is taking place outside of London at the home of our good friend Jen (promoted to Honorary Erin status for the weekend), who just happens to live in the town I lived in when I was 8 (and little mechanical dolls start singing their song...) It promises punting in Cambridge, high tea at Kensington Palace, and pints at the local pub. But first, it promises a day of sightseeing in London Town by Erin squared, so any recommendations of the "must see" places to visit are more than welcome.

Song of the Day: London Calling, The Clash (What? It's a good song, even if I did just crank up the cheese to 11 by using it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiVvA9YQpiI

Mr. Blue Sky

Belgium is having the weirdest weather today. I woke up this morning to the standard clouds. Then, wonder of wonders, things cleared up, and there were beautiful blue skies. Normally, that would be odd enough for me, but it's actually been sporadically pretty (if still slightly chilly) the last week or so. Here's the thing, though - five minutes ago, it was hailing. HAILING. And the wind was going full force - the flags on the apartments along my street were all in a tizzy. Right now? Clear blue skies, plenty of sunlight, no clouds, no wind.
Craziness.

Song of the Day: Georgie James, Cake Parade
(If you have emusic, I recommend the CD "Noise Pop 2008", which includes this song and is free. Just another reason to love my emusic subscription.)
http://www.myspace.com/georgiejames

Can I get a Gesundheit?

So I have been sick for the last three days. Sneezing, stuffed up, slight headache, cold one minute, kind of hot the next (that could be my inability to adequately manipulate my radiators). It sucks. And you know what's worse than being sick? Not being able to buy any cough syrup (the only medicine I actually use) because they don't seem to sell it over the counter here? Nope, worse than that. I had to work all weekend reviewing workpapers regardless of my feeling like hell. What an excellent weekend...

Let's hope I kick this thing before I fly home next weekend. If anyone is still reading this thing (debatable, since there has been such a gap between entries), I will be in Orlando November 11-16 and in Michigan November 16-24. Totally looking forward to it. Call me on my old (617) cell number, if you want to meet up.

Song of the day: Kate Nash, Foundations (to be honest, I didn't want to like it, and I thought it was Lily Allen for weeks, but they play it on Belgian radio all the time and it's grown on me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9XA5Xb-ALk

Flight of the Conchords

My new obsession. Check them out on HBO. And for those of you who don't have HBO (which I think might be almost everyone I know), iTunes has a free podcast of a bunch of clips and the first episode. Best thing out of New Zealand since Kiwi Dave.
(Also - might I recommend searching for Hiphopopotamus v. Rhymenoceros on Youtube? Classic. Thank you, Steve O, for the brilliant recommendation.)

Attack of the killer mold

So the mold drama continues to unfold.
Last week, I reported that I had mold and that AFN (the EAGLE) said it was normal. I have had a few common questions come back to me as a result. For general consumption, here are the FAQ's of my mold issue.

Q: How do you know that you have mold?
A: Well, in a good portion of my hall and one wall of my bedroom, the bottom foot of the wall is no longer white. At first, it was just speckled with a light covering of light green. It is currently almost completely green with black spots in some places, with intermittent spots which show more white. Yeah, I would say it is now unmistakable.

Q: What are you doing about the mold?
A: Mostly, complaining to my management company. Also, complaining to anyone else that will listen, and worrying about whether I am having allergic reactions to the mold. Once, last week, I tried to clean some of it off on my own, vigilante style, but I gave up on that sometime last Thursday.

Q: What is your management company doing about the mold?
A: Mostly, ignoring my complaints. After the first time I brought it to their attention, someone came out to the apartment and kind of cleaned it off and then opened all the windows. I thought this was related to my complaint, and meant that I needed to keep the windows open, for air flow and all that. After my second round of calls to the management office, it turns out that, in fact, the windows had been opened for another reason altogether and the cleaning had been done prior to hearing from me, and they hadn't done anything except check out the situation after the first round of complaints.

Q: What?! Well, what are they going to do about the mold?
A: Absolutely nothing. Apparently, the mold is related to the boiler incident (from the first day... will that day never cease to haunt me?). Along with the mold, there's also major damage to the floors in the kitchen. Word on the street is that it has become an insurance issue, and the landlord can't even allow the management company to clean the mold off before the insurance company agrees to it. According to my Belgian colleagues, insurance claims can take upwards of three to six months to deal with in this country. As a result, I don't think the mold is going anywhere fast.

So, in conclusion, please hope for a quick end to my apartment search, so that I can get out of this ridiculous apartment. My throat and sinuses will thank you for it.
On a much brighter note, I got my first piece of mail today!! YAY! Thank you, Laura, for your awesome birthday card. A few days late, granted, but totally surprising and much appreciated (perhaps more for the unexpectedness).
Other than that, nothing major is going on. I am still stressed about the apartment hunt, but I have been hooked up with a relocation company, so hopefully it will be a swift process from here on out. Work is going well; it's about the same as it ever was, just with (slightly) shorter hours. I am busy finding flights around Europe for weddings (can you believe that there are flights between Brussels and London for 5,99 EUR? INSANE!)

Song of the Day: Starz in their Eyes, Just Jack (it's totally infectious, I can't get it out of my head)
http://www.justjackmusic.com/