Here's a funny little story I laughed at which probably none of you will: A Romanian tabloid printed a story that a couple named their baby "Yahoo" because they had met at a Yahoo dating service web page. It turned out this was just a prank.
What I laughed at was the East European directness of the editor-in-chief:

"It was the reporter's child's birth certificate, which he modified," said Simona Ionescu, Libertatea's deputy editor-in-chief. "We fired him."

:-) Yeah, I know, I have weird humor. I just love the care-free sound of "We fired him".
She then goes on to say: "If it were real, it would have been a good story indeed".

But it wasn't...so [Russian accent]we fired him[/Russian accent]. :D

Here's a short transcript from Bush's inaugural speech yesterday:

There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment and expose the pretensions of tyrants and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant. And that is the force of human freedom.

[...] The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

Awww...inspiring isn't it? Well, it's wrong, too.
The only force of history that can do that is the love of Jesus Christ. Sorry, but human freedom is NOT the fix-it-all. Humans, given freedom, will NOT automatically go to peace together. That'd be nice, but it just won't happen. The problem is that Bush is apparently assuming humans are actually peaceful by nature, and so just give them enough freedom, and there'll be peace.
Don't get me wrong, freedom is definetly necessary for peace, but that's not what Bush is saying - he's going beyond that, putting human political freedom up as salvation for mankind. And that's what's wrong.

Woohoo!!!
I just found out that I got a 1.0 on my Bachelor
thesis!!! That's definetly better than I had expected!
All in all, that puts me at an end grade of 2.0, which is awesome! Thanks for all your prayers and support! Gotta get back to work now... :)
P.S. On Friday, February 11th is my official graduation, where I get my degree and all of that good stuff - as many of you out there as can make it, I'd love to have you there!
----------------

Juhuuu!!!
Hab gerade rausgefunden, dass ich eine 1,0 für meine Bachelor-Arbeit bekommen habe!!! Weit besser, als ich erwartet hatte!
Alles in allem habe ich also eine Abschlussnote von 2,0, was klasse ist! Danke für eure Gebete und für eure Unterstützung! So, jetzt sollte ich mal wieder an die Arbeit... :)
P.S. Am Freitag, dem 11. Februar findet während der Semesterabschlussfeier die offizielle Zeugnisübergabe statt - wer auch immer von euch da sein kann, ich würd mich echt freuen euch dabei zu haben!

Watched "The Incredibles" yesterday. That is one awesome movie I definetly want on DVD. Once again, Pixar (makers of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, etc.) blows away everybody.
I know you'll laugh at me for this, but whatever: Something I found very thought-provoking was the line Dash (the little boy) says some time early in the movie: "Yeah, I know: Everyone's special - which is just another way of saying noone is."
That, ladies and gentlemen, has got to be one of the deepest lines ever spoken in a cartoon. Check out this article in the New York Times for a deeper look at that thought.
I'll leave it at that, my thoughts go a lot further (think "predestination"), but would take too long (and could be misunderstood too easily) to go into them. ;)
Anyways, the movie gets a 9.50 from me - in fact, I'd be up for watching it again at the theaters, I'll have to see if I can get Stephi to do that (she loved it, too, BTW)...

Here are some lyrics that have really challenged me lately - it's so easy to lose this mentality...and to become OK with "OK".

"More than fine" by Switchfoot

When I wake in the morning

I want to blow into pieces

I want more than just okay, more than just okay



When I'm up with the sunshine

I want more than just a good time

I want more than just okay, more than just okay



I'm not givin' up, givin' up now

I'm not givin' up, not backing down



More than fine, more than bent on getting by

More than fine, more than just okay



When I'm lit with sunrise

I want more than just the blue skies

I want more than just okay, more than okay



More than oceans away from the dawn

More than oceans away from who we are

More than oceans, more than oceans,

More than fine

I...can...hardly believe this story.
Check this out.

This has got to be the FUNNIEST picture I have seen in a long time. Although it will only be funny for Half Life players - to all you non-players out there: This guy is like this really creepy, scary guy in Half-Life, always very mysterious and stuff, so that's why this pic made me laugh VERY hard... enjoy:
Click

Sick... :(
Off work till Thursday... :)

Well, I got some yuck stomach virus thing, so I have to stay home and eat nothing but Zwieback, quark and bananas. *BLECH*
But at least I'm getting a bit of a breather from the major stress of the last few weeks, maybe it's just my body saying "SLOW DOWN!!!!" :)

BTW, found a really cool tool for any gamer out there: Xfire. See the bar at the bottom of this page? XFire keeps track of which game I play how often and when and also allows anyone to chat with me, even while I'm playing a game! If I'm playing multiplayer, you can join me on the server I'm on and other really neat stuff. Any gamers out there - get XFire and I'll see you online! :)

Looks like we got an apartment!! 84 sq.m, nice and renovated - right close to Rock Berlin neighbourhood (Prenzlauer Berg, the suburb with the highest child rate in Europe :), not a bad price for the size, either.
We'll probably be signing the contract within the next few weeks and moving into the place (just two blocks from Gene and Kathy Shafer) either January 1st or 15th.

BTW....Half-Life 2 is by FAR the BEST game I have ever played - not just best computer game. Best game. More later...when I find the time.

First Stephi and I are Thanksgiving'ing in Dortmund - just a quick shoot-in, shoot-out - we come in tonight late, have the Thanksgiving thing tomorrow, leave Sunday morning. Sorry, all you Dortmund non-family people, we'll probably not see you this time round. :(

The Final Hours of Half-Life 2

Tomorrow at 9 am, the most revolutionary PC game ever is going to be released. Half-Life 2. Check out the article for a really interesting behind-the-scenes look at its making - which included roughly a half year of 90-100 hour work weeks for some of those guys - the company does its own laundry, that should tell you enough. <:-O

Time for bed...c ya.