all that and a snapdragon scaled the wall

Berlin has returned me to New Jersey a changed woman: Sara Einsteinuberguten is full of yua (see below) and utter respect for the public transportation system in this fine city. The U-Bahn is clean and efficient. Electronic signs indicate which train is coming and how many minutes before it arrives. Same with buses, only, better yet, the electronic sign indicates the next five buses that will arrive and how many minutes until arrival. What a boon.

Next, I fell face-first in love with the little men on the stoplights: Ampelmann.

Neither sausages nor saurkraut found hearth in my belly. Rather in the same day I ate Italian food twice. It’s rare that I order Italian food out at all. Frankly, I don't know what got into me. Sara da Vinci Rossellini perhaps. At a fancy place with fancy courses I ordered an "in-between" meal of spinach-smoked cheese-various pepper lasagna that was quite keen. Apparently I transgressed by ordering an "in-between" as my meal. Pardon me. I’m freaky. You should see what I do with dessert wine.

Some of you may know of my rich affection for cranes, as in the machinery. Cranes in Berlin were at every turn of the eye. I was in regal phallic-machine heaven. It took gritted teeth and much might to not take a picture of every one of the handsome stretches. I knew there was more to Berlin than cranes. I extended myself and explored.

Perhaps more later on my visit to the fine city. In the meantime, is everything alive and your thumb aching making you want to bling disrespect in the face of your co-workers? Tinctures appear in the following yips:

Do you have BlackBerry Thumb? Earlier this year, the American Society of Hand Therapists issued a consumer alert, warning users of small electronic gadgets that heavy thumb use could lead to painful swelling of the sheath around the tendons in the thumb. Did anybody read or see Even Cowgirls Get the Blues? Thumbs up.

From Rob Brezny: Yua is a term the Yupiit people of Alaska use for the spirit that inhabits all things, both animate and inanimate. A rock, for instance, has as much yua as a caribou, spruce tree, or human being, and therefore merits the same measure of compassion. If a Yupiit goes out for a hike and spies a chunk of wood lying on a frozen river bank, she might pick it up and put it in a new position, allowing its previously hidden side to get fresh air and sun. In this way, she would bestow a blessing on the wood's yua. (Source: Earl Shorris, "The Last Word," *Harper's,* August 2000) I am full of yua. You are full of yua. Beloved Ampelmann is full of yua. Let's have Hefeweizen and frolic.

Now for some imperatives:

Put on your thinking cap and reconcile the following headline and final sentence of its article. Headline: Dead man gets parking ticket. Final sentence: It is simply a case of the parking officer not noticing. Simply, I suppose. Like mom always told me, Shit happens.

Fuck business casual. While baseball bobbles an issue as critical as the health of its players and the game's image, pro basketball is focused on the players' off-the-court attire....NBA Commissioner David Stern issued a memo Monday banning retro jerseys, any headgear and ‘bling,’ the players' slang term for the gaudy chains, pendants and medallions favored by some. 'Business casual' will be required when players appear in public as a representative of the sport.

Note the concise definition of "bling". From here on out I'm wearing bling (e.g., gaudy as I can manage and medallions that only some basketball players favor) both outside and during basketball games, white and open-toed shoes past Labor Day, and I'm going to form cleavage in the office with my denim bustier. One who refuses to be a sheep must take a stand.

That said, I've developed orange rapport with Berlin. We will hang together again.