Colfax enjoyed the first month or so in the apartment but now he wants out. He waits by the door and peers out into the hallway when its open. I've let him out a few times. He runs up our building's spiral staircase until he gets to the top and then pathetically lets me pick him up. Shannon bought him a new harness, despite my warnings that its a waste of time. She wants to take him on walks around the block. Right. We live in the major tourist area of Vienna. The sidewalks are almost always busy. He wouldn't have it. Although once in Paris I saw a man with a cat sitting on Boulevard Saint Michel (which for you uncultured peasants is a busy tourist street in Paris) and the cat was fine -- he seemed happy. I've been thinking about pushing harder for another cat. Colfax would be a great older brother. I really think he needs something to abuse. It would bring him great peace. Now I miss my sister.
Shannon is off on a business trip to...places most people have no business going to. She called me last night while I was at a bar with two of my buddies from German class. Claudio's girlfriend was out of town so he was feeling adventurous. He wanted to talk to girls, he wasn't going to touch them, he said, just talk to them. Michel from Quebec how is married to an Austrian apparently does this all the time. I usually never talk to girls at bars unless I'm apologizing for spilling on them. So we went to a bar near my house, and there was a group of hot blonde girls. We looked at them for a good hour or so spent the evening drinking fosters and tequila shots and discussing how much weed costs in different places.
Work has been a tad grueling. I had to laugh this evening. I left at 9:00 and there were a bunch of associates sitting in the kitchen eating take-out. I'm sure they were staying well past 10:00. I don't get it. What on earth would make you want to sit in a chair and stare at a computer that long. Money, I know. The firm gave me a blackberry but the phone function doesn't work on our blackberries because they're from London (I don't get it) -- so they issued me a separate cell phone. So even with all this advanced technology available I carried the following to work: Blackberry, business cell phone, private cell phone, I-pod.
I ate lentil soup for dinner. That's what I ate when Shannon is away because she doesn't like. I have to go to bed now so that I can get up early and go to the gym before work. It's going to be tough. Shannon paid for an expensive membership to this really upscale gym near our house so I have to start going. I'm so cheap that the guilt I feel about wasting money is actually a very effective way to motivate me to exercise. I need to exercise. I sit on my ass a lot.
Random note: Pavement's "Here" is so good.
My fancy international law firm rented approximately twelve boats and put teams of us lawyers out there with a spanish skipper. As you can see I had one of the better looking crews. The girl in front is from the Amsterdam office and in the back is from London. The crazy thing was we thought we were going on some sort of pleasure cruise but really ended up racing. It was a riot. I worked me ass off cranking the crank. We got third place. I even got a medal. That night in Barcelona we had a fancy dinner at the zoo and the President of the International Court of Justice spoke to us. She really didn"t have much to say. 
Things have been great lately, and I have no doubt that the change in the weather has played a huge role. We've been spending a lot of time outside in the sun. This is a picture of Shannon and I in Munich. That was two weekends ago. We got shown around by a couple how had lived there for several years. Europe is always great for those moments when you say to yourself: wait why don't we do this in the States? Munich's example of this is the Biergarten concept. I'm sure you are all familiar with the concept and application of the Biergarten in some form but Munich"s biergartens are ridiculous. Munich has beauftiful huge parks and in the middle of every one I went to there was a Biergarten with pic-nic tables and a booth selling locally brewed Liter-sized beers. They are incredibly popular in Munich. It's the thing to do. If it's nice you go to the park, take a walk, and drink a beer. This is called gemutlichkeit in German. The German's claim the work has no translation but it basically translates to relax, get drunk, and enjoy yourself. Which I did over and over again in Munich. I don't know why we don't do this in the States. Phoenix, for example is filled with Parks and there isn't one that wouldn't benefit from a Biergarten. 
