23 Aug
On the way to burning man
I am on my way to burning man. Driving cross country in a car with two friends. Let’s see how this goes 
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the problem about having a blog is that sometimes there is so much happening, you just don’t have the time to update and post.
so there has been a couple of really nice things lately, some of them quite life changing.
My trip to maryland for the gallery opening
Fabulous S had her first show, hosted in maryland. and I was delighted to be able to be there!
check out those absolutely rad paintings:
second, did you know if you live in washington dc, you pay taxes but are not allowed to vote since it it isn’t considered a state (and the put this on each license plate! oh, and the Washington DC flag looks VERY similar to the austrian one. which was kinda … strange).
Washington DC license plate
I also made a small hiking tour next to the Potomac river, was incredible. Saw a real praying mantis for the first time in my life. and it was HUGE! first I couldn’t see it at all, just a grasshopper that was twitching funny midair. and as my eye adjusted to the scene, the mantis suddenly appeared right in front of my eyes. pretty eery. and took its time eating the grasshopper alive.
its pretty hard to find in this picture:
Praying Mantis
but even harder to see it in the video:
the hiking trail was pretty extreme, for some of it I really had to be on all my fours. Probably the most dangerous thing I have ever done in the US without having to sign a weaver first! 
Highly recommended!
New Job!
I started at my new job. my own department in a huge advertising agency! yeah! everyone is super friendly and nice.
Finally my own place! Searching for a flat in NY is … eery
I really really like my room mates, but your own space is just a hard to beat thoguth. I got approved today for my new place directly at St. Marks, hottest block in the east village. This will be fun! (and unfortunately expensive, too).
Finding a new place in NY is a nightmare. All the listings are only accessible to brokers, and they charge a 15% fee of the years rent. e.g. Studio for $2350, broker fee equals to $4230. and that basically for browsing on their computer for 5 minutes and turning a key. makes me wonder if I work in the wrong business sometimes.
of course you can try to find a no-fee flat, but those listings are … questionable. those were probably the worst and most expensive places of all the flats I have seen. Sometimes I felt like being in a movie, having a landlord in front of me, guy in his fifties, wearing an undershirt, chewing a toothpick and trying to press me into a ridiculously bad deal (that one was directly across the street from the hells angels headquarters).
“so you want something with more space, hmm … [chew chew] … I can give you the appartment on the fifth floor, [chew chew] has super high ceilings [chew chew], I have a contractor who can convert it to a duplex for you, of course you have to pay for the conversion [chew chew], but this will give you space. I cant show it to you right now, because I dont have the keys. [chew chew] so do you want it or not? [chew chew] … [chew chew]“
The “big space” he was referring to would have been equal to probably 300sqft (roughly 25m2), and that for $2500 a month! crazy! the sad thing is, people go for it. I saw a mother in one of his “flats”, planing to convert the tiny room into a two bedroom (were one room wouldn’t even fit a small bed and a dresser. do they want to sleep while standing??), so her daughter who obviously just went to college can share the rent with someone else.
01 Aug
Driving license - check
So I finally has my road test. Super early in the morning (met at 6:45). Then only thing I was afraid of was parallel parking. And oh well,it almost failed me. Got minus 30 points out of possible minus 30 just because of that.
But I have to admit there was a big difference between this one and when I took mine more than 10 years ago.
This time everything was electronic with barcodes and a small computer where the examiner keyed in all my faults. After the tests I immediatly got a small printout with my score and written explanation of all my faults. And now comes the most intriguing part,this small paper slip is also my preliminary driving license after the real one arrives in the mail. Total cost for this whole thing to get a driving license from scratch including office fees, lessons and the test was just $250.
