Obamania

On Top of the World

About the picture: Unintentionally, the pattern this week seems to be pictures from my phone camera. The one above is a picture of a team building activity we had this morning. The objective was to draw a picture that represents one characteristic of each person in the break out group. Each little group consisted of 3 people. The one unifying trait for all of us was that we like to travel, hence the globe. Guess which stick figure I am?

About other events: For his first trip abroad in the role of US President, I think Obama did a pretty good job. Thus far, he seems to be a rock star wherever he goes. At least he hasn't done anything to seriously embarrass the country. I still shudder at the thought of Bush giving German chancellor Merkel an unwanted neck massage.

Instead, it seems like the clown at the G20 summit this year was Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi who hammed it up for the camera when he posed for a picture with Obama and Medvedev. Berlusconi must be seen as a joke within his own country. If you look at it positively, you can call him lively, fun-loving and spontaneous. If you see it negatively, you would call Berlusconi cheesy and unprofessional. Too bad about the earthquake in Italy though. Some of those structures were centuries old and irreplaceable, not to mention the human toll. I hope someone smart invents an earthquake predictor tool soon!

Escape

Volare

The Italian prime minister Berlusconi is such a funny character. Not sure if I'd want him to lead my country, but he sure keeps everyone entertained. Read this article here and you'll see why.

When I think that I've covered every inch of the Embarcadero, I discover new little corners that are nice. Today I stumbled upon the boat called "Escape". What if we could just escape from responsibilities and worries of every kind? What a thought! I like the reflections of the water on the boat as well as the angle of the picture.

I realized that tomorrow is a holiday in Germany called Fronleichnam or Corpus Christi because all the Germans on my instant messaging list were inactive. Usually when I start work in the morning, it is late in the afternoon in Germany and I see some old colleagues burning the midnight oil. I had to look up what Fronleichnam meant in English because there are so many religious holidays in Germany in May that I can't keep track of what each one celebrates.

According to Wikipedia, which is omniscient, Corpus Christi celebrates the Eucharist, or body of Christ and the communion thingy. Although I did go to a Catholic middle school, I'm not a baptized Catholic, so I only have a vague idea what specialized Catholic terminology means. At least I'm familiar with most Bible stories if nothing else. It helps when you're looking at European art because every other painting in any given museum has a religious theme to it. I can't count the times that I've seen a picture of a Madonna with Child or a painting of Judith beheading some guy called Holofernes.

Lucky Germans for having so many religious holidays! :-I

Random thought of the day: If I had to see a movie in the theaters, it would be Indiana Jones 4 because I enjoy the archaeology theme and the adventure. What could beat that?