Monarchy

I've decided I'm a monarchist. I have no principle for this, nothing utilitarian or legal, I just like the connection to the past that monarchy offers.

I'm mostly German, with a touch of British, so although I'd like to get behind Queen Elizabeth, I believe I have to, as a monarchist, be a German one. My great great grandfather lived in the Black Forest; he fought in Bismarck's army before coming to the United States. I don't know why he made the journey, but he did.

As far as I can tell, German monarchists are a ridiculously minuscule percentage of the population. As a libertarian, I'm used to political positions that are attractive to a ridiculously minuscule percentage of the population.

One of the many many people who aren't German monarchists is the pretender to the German throne himself, Prince George Friedrich Ferdinand. Irrelevant.

So I support the return of George Friedrich Ferdinand to the kingship. I don't want him to have any power--German monarchs have a tendency to start World Wars.

There is no chance of such a coronation. But nothing prevents a person from personally recognizing a King.

And I do. Long live the Kaiser.

Milestone!

I just had my first real Russian conversation. There were a few old babushkas on a bench outside the retirement home next door, and I, knowing that some of the residents there are Russian, tried a Здравствуйте, and followed up with a Добрый вечер. Conversation was stilted of course, but between the three of us and their basic English and my even more basic Russian we had a fine chat. I'm pretty sure I unleashed every noun I know, though working in Пуловер was tough, esp. given the balmy weather. And I'm pretty sure, though who knows, they invited me to come back and chat with them again.

Maybe when I knew some more verbs. Also, thinking back, I may have slipped into the familiar second person once or twice.

It's nice living in an international city. In the last hour I've also met people from Palestine and Bangladesh. An Afghani runs the 7-11, there's an Ethiopian in the local candy store, a Honduran at the pizza place, and last week I met an Eritrean downtown.