I finished my laundry in 3 days this week! I was diligent about watching the clock and going down every 2 hours to change the load. Yes, 2 hours. It takes 2 hours to WASH one load of laundry. This does not include drying, mind you. I like the washers here better from a cleaning standpoint. They aren’t as hard on clothing as US machines. The hot wash does, literally, boil your clothing, but the dryer is extraction not heat. It is much better for my sports bras, et al. So anyhow, considering how long it takes to do one load and the social rules about the times you can do laundry (thank GOD my building mates are modern enough to wash on Sunday) 3 days is darn good.

So the Lesbian bar…It was interesting. For the most part when I have encountered lesbians in public, here in Germany, they seem very unhappy. The seem bitter and angry. Not a lot of smiling going on. Being that I don’t know any lesbians in Germany, I don’t have anyone to ask, but I guess this is because of their “status” in society. They are not looked upon well and are discriminated against. On the other hand, Germany recently passed a law allowing same sex marriages. It was challenged in court but was upheld. And just this week the first lesbian couple was married by the state. They both wore tuxedos and looked great and happy. Anyhow, I went with my friends Jenn and Theresa. I told them I had gone by the club just before it opened and no one was wearing skirts or strappy sandals with heels. Did they listen? No. Those 2 were in their hetero-boy-seeking finest. Tight slim skirts, coifed hair and make-up. Lip gloss no less! We decided to go with the “lesbian showing her 2 straight friends around” front. I was in low slung khaki’s, a tight cropped t-shirt and SENSIBLE shoes (see new Stephanie Plum book Seven Up for an explanation). No make-up and flat hair. I passed. We walked into the club and were surrounded by very similar looking women. I am sure they feel the same way about Heteros but really the outfit 99% of the time was slim jeans, trainers (tennis shoes for you Americans) tank tops, short flat hair, no make-up. They were having a good time though. Everyone was smiling and dancing and singing and drinking. There were couples sitting on each others laps. There were a few smooching a little (nothing really graphic like Gay clubs). It was like any other club though everyone seemed more…united? It was more like a class party, where everyone was basically friends. Maybe a club party? It was cool. I was really happy to see them all so happy. At the same time I was bummed they couldn’t be happy like that in public too. Maybe they are and I just haven’t encountered enough. I hope that is it.

Finished my magazine pile this week too. Feels good. Lots of recycling to go out now. I learned all sorts of interesting things too. I read about new interesting authors I think I want to read now. I read about politics. There was a great article about the news organizations having to deal with the election fiasco from last year. It was hysterical what some of these people had to do. There was one awesome quote from the “law and justice unit producer from ABC”, Ellen Davis, who got pulled out of bed suddenly because the Supreme Court had issued its final decision. She ended up going on air, sans lipstick or hairbrush to try and explain what the decision meant. After it was over someone asked whether, when she got the call, she thought that she was going to have to go on the air. She simply replied, “Don’t you think I would have combed my hair and put some lipstick on if I had known I was going on camera?” Apparently the same week everyone was in Florida for the recounts, there were several conventions and the Florida vs. Florida football game. News agencies were renting student apartments for like $3000 a weekend because there were no hotels. Politics are so amusing.

Last weekend I cleaned out the drawers in the bathroom. I was just feeling really organizational. I was very honest with myself and threw out all the make-up/skin treatment stuff that I realized I would never use. As is typical with women, I am willing to believe any make-up counter girl once and try their product. Most of them have too much fragrance and my skin freaks out. Anyhow, I piled it all up and tossed it out. My mom loves samples. She has tons of them. Some are so old they are scary. As a result of growing up with this, I am a purger. Sorry mom, I threw out tons of worthless samples. Boy, do I feel good though.

Do you like myBetsey Johnson Death Rock dress? I bought this at the San Francisco store last September. Wore it to the Marilyn Mason show in Praha. It hangs really well on me and with a corset shows off my waist well. While writing this I realized I have been to Betsey Johnson stores in Washington DC (2), San Francisco, Seattle and LA. The people that work there are always so nice. Though perhaps, it is because I spend so much money there. Nah, I think they are just cool people. The girls at the Seattle store put me on their newsletter list. Though I don’t usually get them until after the sale, it is nice to be remembered.