The life and times of a pop-culture junkie and music addict living in Arlington, Virginia
My wordpress install got owned *again.* Less than two days after I re-added the ‘Faster Image Insert’ plugin, so I’m pretty sure that was the entrance vector.
Same as before- random javascript, redirection, base64 obfuscated code in my templates and php files, and the reappearing .logs directory.
I’ve had it with this; I’m going to look into hosting my blog on wordpress.com so that I don’t have to spend one night every month or so cleaning the infection out of my site.
About ten minutes from my office, in the hills of Donaustauf overlooking the Donau (Danube) river, is a monument called Walhalla. (In German, this is pronounced just like Valhalla in English.) Walhalla is modeled after the Parthenon in Athens. It was built in the 1800s by King Ludwig I of Bavaria. (Well, it was built by people who built things on the orders of King Ludwig I, but I think he still gets credit.)
Whereas the Valhalla of legend is the home to deceased warriors only, this Walhalla also has busts of royalty, musicians, artists, scientists, and philosophers. Here’s a short list of people memorialized in Walhalla that you might have heard of:
…and that’s just eight of the nearly two hundred plaques and busts within the main hall.
Best of all, though, is the view. Walhalla has an amazing perch. This is a place where amazing photographs can be taken. I’m told that in the warmer months, it’s not uncommon to find people sitting on the steps, having picnics, and generally enjoying the hell out of overlooking the Donau. I took a few pictures on a recent visit there, and despite the small amounts of restorative construction going on, it’s still amazing. I look forward to going back there after we’re in proper springtime and there’s more sunlight and greenery. Here’s a brief look at the place.
I’ve done several posts on how the food and grocery shopping experiences here are different than what I’m used to, but I’m still constantly finding more. For example, frozen spinach!
In the US, frozen spinach is typically in a pouch that can either be boiled or microwaved. Here, the frozen spinach is actually in frozen cube form. Pictured here is a sleeve with two cubes of frozen spinach. There were four in the box.
This spinach is also microwaveable, but in this case, you just spoon five or six spoonfuls of water over the spinach cube before you microwave, and then cook it for the specified amount of time. The end result is spinach that only requires a little bit of fork-on-greens action to change out of a cube form into something that is more recognizable as a leafy green vegetable. Here they are in their cooked but still cubed state:
Best of all, however- this spinach was absolutely delicious, and it couldn’t possibly be easier to prepare. I feel healthier already.
Four months ago today, I boarded a plane in Miami to move to Germany. One third of an entire year has passed. It’s kind of mind boggling to me- the time has passed very quickly. I feel like I’ve been here no time at all. And I simultaneously feel like I’ve been here for so much longer than four months.
Since I arrived, I have:
…and most importantly:
Things that are still very much on my to-do list:
While walking to the bus stop this morning, I couldn’t help but notice a very large group of people with flags, banners, and signs walking up the street. The signs all said, “Wir Sind Es Wert,” which I now know means “We are worth it.”
The group, as it turns out, is a union called Ver.Di. I’m not entirely sure what they’re demonstrating about, but it was interesting and somewhat random, and I hope that the demonstration doesn’t mean they’re striking, because a union strike would affect the bus that I take every day in frustrating ways.
Whimsy. Tacos. The DMV. 