It is going around again. If you'd like me to ask you 5 questions, leave a comment. These questions provided by the lovely and talented tanyahp

1. What is your greatest challenge when writing?
Generally (and I think this goes for a lot of writers), making myself do it. Starting, finishing what I've started, coming back to rewrite after a rejection, or critique. It's hard to sit down and do it. Once I start, I'm okay. I get into a writing zone, and that's cool. But starting is a challenge every time.

Specifically, right at the moment, plot. I am having some real struggles with constructing solid and compelling plots. Characters, settings, and emotions come easily, and often I'll get great ides for part of a plot, but putting it all together into one story that makes the reader want to keep reading... well, I'm working on it.

2. If you could interview any current celebrity, who would it be and why?
Gosh, this is a really hard one. I'm tempted to say Bette Midler because my 13-year-old self would totally freak out, but I don't actually have any idea what I'd ask her. I don't spend a lot of time really thinking about Celebrities. Maybe George Takei? He just got married, so we could talk a little about that.

3. What is your favorite thing about the place you now live?
I really love the place I live, but I guess my favorite thing is being geographically close to friends. I love being able to see friends at the drop of a hat. In Northern California, the land was beautiful, and the food was awesome, but I felt very lonely a lot of the time because I had no friends in walking distance and I had to try really hard to socialize. Here, I feel like I get plenty of satisfying socialization without trying very hard at all.

4. Where would you recommend one go when visiting France for the first time?
Well, I'm going to guess that the first place one would naturally go would be Paris, because lots of flights land there, and it's the capital. There's a lot of really good stuff to see there, too. I guess my recommendations would really depend on the person, though (don't want to recommend fondue to a vegan, for instance). There's still a lot of France that I haven't seen, actually, so for myself, I would recommend going to see the lavender fields in Provence. I'm sad that I never got to do that when I lived in France. I love the smell and the color of lavender.

5. Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year and if so, any idea what it will be about?
I think so? I've done it enough now that it's sort of a comfortable habit (plus, I rely on it to supply me with t-shirts). I'm still thinking of what to write, though.

Uri Borechka would like you to know that we are in Germany!

They have these phallic snackfoods here, which have a bit of round wafer below a column of chocolate covered marshmallow cream. There are little ones, which come in three colors (white, brown and black), and then there are big ones, which only come in black. The little ones are called Mini Dickmann's. The big ones: Super Dickmann's ("Who doesn't know the slogan, 'Man, they are Dickmann'?"). We are thinking of bringing some with us to the cinema tonight. When we go to see Deep Throat.

Last weekend we went to Nancy (France -- I lived there for two years), where we saw a woman feeding brioche to her dog at the table in an upscale cafe. We also ran into one of my old French professors from Indiana, which was odd and unexpected. (He asked after you, lillornyn).

Sunday we came back to Germany and discovered that there is a teen magazine here called Yam! This was especially funny since I made "Christmas Dinner" for a bunch of Germans on Monday, including my Grandmother's sweet potato casserole, which was a big hit and naturally led to a discussion of yams(!).

At a party last night we learned about a strange series of commercials for Bifi, which is the German equivalent of a Slim Jim. In the commercials, which have apprently been running since like the eighties, these three guys work in a factory called Zomtec. In the factory sometimes you see them standing in front of conveyor belts full of coconuts or parasols. No one is really sure what Zomtec does. Anyway of the three apparently one is Japanese and one has a mullet and handlebar moustache. No one told us what the other one looked like. According to our sources each 30 second commercial has a little plot, so that the collection as a whole is like a mini soap opera. It sounds fantastically strange, and I think you can actually watch a commercial at the Bifi site (if you click tv spot). I can't in this internet cafe, but you should try it and report back.

Going now to visit the Nuremburg Christmas Market where we plan to drink mulled wine out of plastic boots. Perhaps sometime I will write an entry about all the high culture we've been exposed to like catherdrals and such, but for now I'm afraid I'm keepin' it juvenile, yo.

P.S. As we were driving back from France, we saw a billboard advertising Jameson's: L'Irish Spirit. This is one of those things that may not seem that amusing at first, but gets more amusing as you think about it. (Hint: in French the way one might properly say this is l'Esprit irlandais). Say it out loud a few times. L'Irish Spirit.