Sunday 3 July 2016

Three in One

Most of the time, you are used to my posts covering just one topic; either reviewing one book/film, reporting from one place I've been visiting, bragging about one new outfit, or giving you the recipe for one dish (which reminds me: I have not posted a recipe in a long time).

Today, I have three topics, each of which is (in my eyes) too insignificant for its own post. But see for yourself:

1. Football/Soccer:
Maybe you are aware of the ongoing 2016 UEFA European Championship (men's football/soccer). I'm not a follower normally, and have no favourite team. But when it comes to European or World Championships, I watch Germany's games when I have time and nothing better to do - and only further on in the tournament, not from the start.

I've never quite gotten the point of patriotism; most people did not choose their nationality or country, they were simply born in a certain place by certain parents, all by coincidence, not by merit.
Still, when "my" country's national team plays, I am a little more interested than when other countries' teams are playing.
Last night, my sister and I watched the game Germany v. Italy together. It was nerve-wracking (after a rather boring first half) and in the end only decided by penalties.

We shared a bottle of sparkling wine and had some specially bought football-themed crisps in front of the telly:


Afterwards, I walked home to the sound of car horns and cheering and flag-waving people. Ludwigsburg's centre was one huge party, it seemed. But they were very welcome to party on without me; I am not a fan of drinking, out-of-control and possibly violent football fans.

The one song that keeps coming to mind is this one, made popular in 2006, when Germany hosted the World Championship:


 

2. Running:
Running is truly my kind of sport. It's not marathons (or even half marathons) I'm after; I have no ambitions to "win" anything, either. But I do like running, because apart from dancing and one other physical activity (which I won't describe but leave to your imagination), there is nothing so good to your mind AND your body at the same time, nothing that makes you feel so complete and "one". I know, this sounds rather esoterical, unusual for me, and it's not meant that way at all. I just can't think of any better way to describe why I enjoy running as much as I do.

Anyway, my hometown's City Run is less than a week away, and after a break of two years (both due to a conflict in schedules), this year I am going to participate again.
And guess what - O.K. will run, too! We have been running together almost every weekend we've been spending at each other's places, and I knew he won't have any trouble completing the 10 k well under an hour. As for me, I wasn't really sure about my level of fitness until this morning, when I went for the official trial run organized by the same folks who are behind the "proper" race.

Doing the 10 k was no trouble; the greatest challenge was being at the meeting point at 9:00 in the morning, when I came home only around midnight last night. I didn't eat breakfast, just had coffee and a very superficial wash before donning my running gear and setting off with several hundred people from Ludwigsburg's market square on the original route we'll be running next Saturday.

I wrote about running back in 2009, if you are interested.   


3. Addendum to "Undoing One's Enemy"
As is my habit with most book reviews, I posted the one for "Undoing One's Enemy" not only on my blog, but also on Amazon.
The author, Camille Oster, commented there, and I think you should see what she wrote as a reply to my review:

1 Jul 2016 21:17:02 BDT
Camille Oster says:

Hi, I apologise for all the mistakes. You are reading a very old copy of this story, from when I learned family and friends could not do the job of proofreading. It has since been properly proofread.
Regards,
Camille

26 comments:

  1. Oh, I am so pleased that the author took the time to leave that comment for you! Just for that one reason, I now want to read her book!
    Also, you know I thought of you when Germany won! Richard recorded it and we watched it. Your national anthem, is the tune also used as a hymn? I thought I recognized it. (Oh and I like the sound of the sparking wine and football themed crisps!)
    I am happy you like to run, walking is my speed! :-)

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    1. Trust me, Kay, you don't want to read the book... It's nothing like the kind of book you enjoy. Not a true story, either :-)
      The German national anthem is never sung in church. Its lyrics were written by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, set to music by Joseph Haydn (the "Kaiserlied"), composed in 1796/97.

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  2. I don't run either, at my age we're lucky to get up to a fast walking speed, haha!
    Now I know why you look so trim and healthy.

    How nice that author responded - I guess she learned her lesson - using non-professional editors is perhaps not a good idea if you plan to publish a real book!

    Happy day - Mary

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    1. At your age? It's not as if you're a 100 years old, are you :-) At the CityRun, there are always some elderly ladies and gentlemen still going strong... and at 48, I am not exactly young, either :-)
      Thank you for commenting, I have just been to your blog and added it to my reading list. Your travel posts look very interesting, I know I shall have a closer look soon!

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  3. I used to run.....way back in my twenties. Unfortunately I've gained a lot of weight since then and running is out of the question nowadays. One day I would like to try again, but I have to lose some weight first. The best thing about running (besides the "high" it gave me was the fact that I could eat whatever I wanted in those days and never gained a pound.

    Of course, it's too hot to even consider running in South Carolina right now. At 11pm last night it was still 90°F and humid as a sauna.

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    1. Running when it is too hot and humid is not a very good idea, I agree. Back in my twenties, all I did was work, work, work; I was not interested in doing any sports then. But I was a rather "sporty" kid, and taking up running when I was 41 years old felt like coming home.

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  4. Congratulations to Germany, and i hope you and OK have a good time in the race!

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    1. Thank you!
      I am sure we will - it's like running through one big party, with the cheering crowds lining the route (although I know very well they are not cheering for me personally).

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  5. Have a great time in the race. Just to complete it is a win! I walk along the bay near our home or on a treadmill at a health club 5 times a week. Just keep active, right? Nice the author answered your comment; how embarrassing for her to have all those mistakes out in circulation with the older copies. Oh well, she will benefit with her next book.

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    1. The author has published many books since then, according to her website, and those have probably been edited professionally. I am still not going to look for more of her stories, they are just not really my cup of tea.
      You're right, with our mostly sedate lifestyle today we need to keep active in another way if we want to stay reasonably healthy. Yes, just to complete the 10 k - even just yesterday at the trial run - feels like a win :-)

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  6. First the crisps are adorable. Second it's good you are running. Third good for the author to write back to your comment.

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  7. and fourth, I haven't had any time to read blogs lately. I will catch up as soon as I can.

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    1. I know you are busy, Nan, I can tell from your blog!
      Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on here!

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  8. Some things we do not have in common! :)

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    1. I know, Monica - and it makes reading each other's blogs all the more interesting :-)

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  9. My daughter and her family (and her German mother in law who is visiting) are at Chautauqua for the 4th of July holiday but they were late leaving because they waited to see the end of the soccer game and enjoyed watching Germany win. Lots of happiness but no cute football themed crisps!

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    1. My sister and I only munched through about half the bag - I have saved the other half for Thursday, when Germany will be playing against France. Should be interesting!

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  10. I have never enjoyed any form of longer distance running. I think it stems from my lung problems which arose at school from having to play football and run across country when I had bronchitis. I was lucky to survive the illness. Whereas for you "there is nothing so good to your mind AND your body at the same time" for me there are few things that provide so much physical and mental discomfort. Mind you I used to hike all day in the Lake District and be happy.

    I enjoyed the song!

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    1. Could you "get" the lyrics, Graham? They really are rather funny, I think :-)

      Hiking all day makes me happy, too, but on a different, deeper-down level I think. Hard to explain but you probably know what I mean.

      I started long distance running (some people would laugh at my definition of "long distance") rather late, when I was 41 years old. Up until then, I had enjoyed sprint, high jump, wide jump and some other stuff, but not since my school days. So, after a gap of more than 20 years (with just some Badminton thrown in for entertainment), I took up regular exercise again in 2009, and am really glad I did. With a desk job, one really needs to give one's body something to do.

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    2. I think I got most of the lyrics Meike. I certainly got the main point of it. However it took me a while to work out the significance of Mundstuhl ie that it's the name of the singers and not to be taken literally!

      I think I do know what you mean. I enjoyed anything which involved short bursts of energy and was good at the 100 yards (now metres!) etc. I tried ball games like tennis and even badminton and I could bowl but not bat or field at cricket. It wasn't until later in life I realised that only having one usable eye makes it impossible to play anything where hitting or catching a moving object is involved.

      Like you I had a desk job but most of my exercise came from gardening: I built my current garden from bare croftland builders rubble and moved hundreds of tons stone and then soil in the process. That keeps one reasonably fit (and puts one to sleep at night!).

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    3. PS I've just realised why I've only just seen this comment. I forgot to tick the Notify me box. I was scrolling back just now because I've not been in Blogland much and wondered how much I'd missed. Now my lunch break is over so the next two posts will have to wait until tonight.

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    4. Mundstuhl are a duo of comedians, they don't sing all that much but mostly do comedy "as such". Something silly: It was only about a year ago that I realized they had used Bob Marley's "Jammin'" for their song "Germans"... up until then I simply had assumed they'd come up with their own Reggae tune.

      I've only ever been good at badminton because I can move really fast when necessary - my bad hand-eye-coordination makes sure I have difficulties with fast moving objects, too.

      Gardening is what keeps my Dad going! I shudder to think where he would be (if he would still "be" at all) without the allotment.

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  11. Nice post. Reacting in reverse order - I'm impressed that that author at least had the bravery to respond to you. And I'm also impressed at the running - I used to do a lot of that; good running is beautiful to watch. Football - we watch the big games, but, like you, normally don't bother. I thought Germany deserved to win, if only because Italy committed so many fouls! Now that England has been booted out (my wife was supporting Iceland!), we are both hoping Wales will do well on Wednesday. But I don't understand why people get so hung up about it; it's a game and the violence disgusts me. Re patriotism - personally, I think everyone should be proud of their country, and origins; but I don't think patriotism needs to shout. And it's a different thing from nationalism, which often ends in tears.

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    1. Iceland seems to have been people's hearts' favourite team - some of my friends were cheering for them, too.
      If patriotism is loving the place one calls home and/or where one grew up, then I definitely classify as a patriot myself. I like my country (generally speaking), I love my hometown and very much enjoy living where I do, the way I do. I know it's not to be taken for granted that I have such a good life, largely free to decide for myself what I want to do where, when and who with; in many other countries, women (and some men) can't do that. I am indeed very lucky.

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  12. I always tried to get into running, but I think it's something to do with the shape of my joints, or something, even as a kid I always felt as if I was trying to get a collection of bones and muscles to work together inside my skin, hoping that somehow I'd get them to move easily and in rhythm. But they never would! It must be lovely to be able to do it, and to enjoy it.

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    1. The way our bodies have evolved from using four legs to two is perfect for walking and long-distance running. Our ancestors roaming the savannahs often outran their prey (provided it wasn't the fastest kind of antilope).
      But just like not everybody enjoys dancing, running is not everybody's kind of sport; good job there are so many different forms of exercise to choose from! I know you cycle a lot, and probably do plenty of walking - all your wonderful pictures and descriptions on your blog would not be possible otherwise!

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