Freud exported

One thing that I have been noticing lately is how little Germans talk about psychology in everyday conversation. It seems to me that the typical American loves to throw around pop psychology terms here and there, claiming that someone may be passive-aggressive, have an ego that is either too weak or overly inflated, be anal retentive, voyeuristic, or any number of other things all of which revolve around the inner working of the mind. Maybe I have just been hanging around in the intelligentsia crowd for too long, because these everyday analyses seem commonplace in American culture, but practically non-existent here.

Every culture centers on some things, because, in my opinion, the culture is naturally drawn to some themes and not others. For instance, amongst the many fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, some are popular here, and some are popular in the United States. If one were to compare the lists from each country, one would find only some corresponding stories. The same is true of Greek legends. The same is true for Biblical stories. So many people in America know that Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came a-tumbling down. I have yet to meet a German who is familiar with the story. And, sometimes, a German mentions a story from the Bible that I am not familiar with. Somewhere down the line particular stories have been cited by German society as being worthy of teaching their children. (I wish I could think of an example off the cuff, but that will have to come later.)

Maybe this accounts for why I am so funny in America, but so lame here. When I make a joke about someone seeming androgynous, no one gets it here, because that is not a concept that is familiar to them. And, when I make fun of someone because of their latent Oedipal desires it just flies over their heads.

People can dog on Americans all they want, but, from my living here in Germany, and from having lived in Belgium and France, I think that Americans are some of the most educated people in the world. Yes, we are sometimes backwards and provincial. Yes, we have our fair share of stupid people. But, over all, the American actually has a better education and overall, well-rounded knowledge than a European. Surprising, isn’t it? It is only surprising to us because of our inferiority complex, especially when confronted with the constant onslaught of the übereducated European elite that visits the US, Of course, their superiority complex helps to fuel this fire, of course.

What a friggin' brilliant man!

I am so sorry to the Washington Post for having stolen this from their website. That being said, I cannot imagine that anyone truly owns this letter issued by Jimmy Carter. I put it here because, after having read it, my understanding of the recent election of Hamas is quite different. I highly recommend that you read it, too:

Don't Punish the Palestinians

By Jimmy Carter
Monday, February 20, 2006; Page A21

As the results of the recent Palestinian elections are implemented, it's important to understand how the transition process works and also how important to it are actions by Israel and the United States.

Although Hamas won 74 of the 132 parliamentary seats, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas retains the right to propose and veto legislation, with 88 votes required to override his veto. With nine of its elected members remaining in prison, Hamas has only 65 votes, plus whatever third-party support it can attract. Abbas also has the power to select and remove the prime minister, to issue decrees with the force of law when parliament is not in session, and to declare a state of emergency. As commander in chief, he also retains ultimate influence over the National Security Force and Palestinian intelligence.

After the first session of the new legislature, which was Saturday, the members will elect a speaker, two deputies and a secretary. These legislative officials are not permitted to hold any position in the executive branch, so top Hamas leaders may choose to concentrate their influence in the parliament and propose moderates or technocrats for prime minister and cabinet posts. Three weeks are allotted for the prime minister to form the cabinet, and a majority vote of the parliament is required for final approval.

The role of the prime minister was greatly strengthened while Abbas and Ahmed Qureia served in that position under Yasser Arafat, and Abbas has announced that he will not choose a prime minister who does not recognize Israel or adhere to the basic principles of the "road map." This could result in a stalemated process, but my conversations with representatives of both sides indicate that they wish to avoid such an imbroglio. The spokesman for Hamas claimed, "We want a peaceful unity government." If this is a truthful statement, it needs to be given a chance.

During this time of fluidity in the formation of the new government, it is important that Israel and the United States play positive roles. Any tacit or formal collusion between the two powers to disrupt the process by punishing the Palestinian people could be counterproductive and have devastating consequences.

Unfortunately, these steps are already underway and are well known throughout the Palestinian territories and the world. Israel moved yesterday to withhold funds (about $50 million per month) that the Palestinians earn from customs and tax revenue. Perhaps a greater aggravation by the Israelis is their decision to hinder movement of elected Hamas Palestinian Legislative Council members through any of more than a hundred Israeli checkpoints around and throughout the Palestinian territories. This will present significant obstacles to a government's functioning effectively. Abbas informed me after the election that the Palestinian Authority was $900 million in debt and that he would be unable to meet payrolls during February. Knowing that Hamas would inherit a bankrupt government, U.S. officials have announced that all funding for the new government will be withheld, including what is needed to pay salaries for schoolteachers, nurses, social workers, police and maintenance personnel. So far they have not agreed to bypass the Hamas-led government and let humanitarian funds be channeled to Palestinians through United Nations agencies responsible for refugees, health and other human services.
This common commitment to eviscerate the government of elected Hamas officials by punishing private citizens may accomplish this narrow purpose, but the likely results will be to alienate the already oppressed and innocent Palestinians, to incite violence, and to increase the domestic influence and international esteem of Hamas. It will certainly not be an inducement to Hamas or other militants to moderate their policies.

The election of Hamas candidates cannot adversely affect genuine peace talks, since such talks have been nonexistent for over five years. A negotiated agreement is the only path to a permanent two-state solution, providing peace for Israel and justice for the Palestinians. In fact, if Israel is willing to include the Palestinians in the process, Abbas can still play this unique negotiating role as the unchallenged leader of the PLO (not the government that includes Hamas).

It was under this umbrella and not the Palestinian Authority that Arafat negotiated with Israeli leaders to conclude the Oslo peace agreement. Abbas has sought peace talks with Israel since his election a year ago, and there is nothing to prevent direct talks with him, even if Hamas does not soon take the ultimately inevitable steps of renouncing violence and recognizing Israel's right to exist.

It would not violate any political principles to at least give the Palestinians their own money; let humanitarian assistance continue through U.N. and private agencies; encourage Russia, Egypt and other nations to exert maximum influence on Hamas to moderate its negative policies; and support President Abbas in his efforts to ease tension, avoid violence and explore steps toward a lasting peace.

Former president Carter led a team from the Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute that observed last month's Palestinian elections.

A star? I feel more like one about to go super nova on your ass.

I did my afternoon concert yesterday. I sang two solos and two duets with one of our house sopranos. When the woman announced who we are, she raved about Saskia, saying that she was in this and that and then mentioned as an aside that I am from the Opera Chorus and that one could hear me as a soloist in Fidelio. She made a nice big pause in her speech for Saskia’s applause. Then, she completely skipped over me like some kind of footnote, not even pausing to allow my many loyal fans to applaud me. Just kidding. She could have at least skipped a beat after mentioning my name to give people a chance to see me as a person and not as a fixture. That was kind of embarrassing.

Anyway, the concert went well. I wish I had been better prepared with some of the stuff, because Saskia (she is German so this stuff is sort of in her blood—German Operetta, that is) had everything memorized and I was standing there for some of it glued to my music. Won’t make that mistake again. She is such a wonderful performer and develops an instant connection with the audience when she sings...a real joy to sing with, needless to say. But, she certainly does raise the bar. After one of her solos where she walks into the audience and flirts with all the men (one of Adele’s arias from Die Fledermaus), the audience clapped and cheered. How nice that my one aria came next. “Tough act to follow” became a living, even if cliché, idiom for me in that moment.

Before I went up, I made a pact to remain concentrated and to pay attention that I was doing at least a minimum of technique that I have learned. I also thought about Chris as this is a love song (“Dein ist mein ganzes Herz”) and I am so in love with him. And, I thought about that discussion that I had recently with Monica, that my job was to present the material as best I could, but that, in the end, the audience would be the ultimate judge of the work. I felt that I sang the aria ok. It could definitely have been better. I was absolutely scared out of my wits, as it has been forever since I had to do anything soloistically to this extent.

The audience loved it. They just clapped and clapped, forcing me to come back and take another bow. I was, quite frankly, very, very surprised. But, even today, I am thinking about that applause. I felt like little Sally Field making her unforgettable social faux pas after she won that Oscar...”You love me! You really love me!” But, mine was more like “You love me. Huh... You love me?”

Jyllands-Posten

I just can’t believe that I have waited this long to say something about the Muhammad Cartoons. This has been a major issue here in Europe for quite a while now, but has, except for a bit of coverage in some major newspapers in the US, been relatively ignored in the Mother country.

Normally, I think it would be an issue that simply died away, as most hot-button issues are. But, because the Muslim world continues to protest over them, the issue continues to stay in the forefront of our minds here.

The most informing article I have yet seen is the one on Wikipedia.org under “Muhammad Cartoons”. I find particularly interesting the fact that the cartoons gained practically no recognition at all until a group of Danish Imams traveled to the Middle East in order, basically, to incite anger and backlash against their host country. They compiled a dossier which included the original 12 cartoons, and then added, on the sly, without mentioning that they actually weren’t published in Jyllands-Posten, several other, even more inflammatory cartoons (notably one where Muhammad is sodomized by a dog during evening prayers and another implying that Mohammed was a pedophile.) So, in other words, these Islamic leaders from Denmark were complaining that they were not fully accepted by the Danes because of their religion. They then thought a good solution to this problem would be to go to the Middle East and incite violence against their host country. They have succeeded. Several people have now died, Danish products are being boycotted across the Middle East, and embassies have been torched.

I just think that people should be reminded of the facts. The cartoons were published in September of 2005. It was not until after the mission by the Danish Imams that the protests started. Some Middle Eastern papers have actually reprinted the cartoons, condemning them, of course. But isn’t it a conflict to reprint any of them, since the printing of them is the real problem? The protests against the cartoons is supposedly a protest against the publication of any image, negative or positive, of Muhammad. How can the papers in the Middle East then reprint the images themselves?

These facts speak to a much larger, macrocosmic issue. The entire issue is not about cartoons. It is about conflicting cultures. I wonder:

1. If Islam is a non-violent religion, then why has it fostered such violent cultures? I know, I know. Christianity was also violent. I think the operative word in that sentence, though, is “WAS”! How can we compare the Christianity of 1250 with Islam of 2006? That makes no sense. Islam is also quite an old religion, which begs the next question:
2. Christianity became suddenly milder and more humane after the Reformation. The Reformation occurred at the beginning of the 16th Century. Why has Islam had no Reformation? Also greatly influential upon Christianity was the Scientific Revolution. Why did this revolution of science and humanism have no effect upon the Middle Eastern cultures.
3. Just about every Muslim leader has made a public speech protesting the Danish cartoons as an insult to Islam. Where were these people when images of innocent people being beheaded were running wild across the Internet? Is not the beheading of someone solely because of their nationality even more of an insult to a, supposedly, non-violent religion?

I think that people in the West think that it is simply not possible to have a Holy War. They think this because they would never go to war in the name of Christianity. What people don’t understand, though, is that a Holy War could be fought even if only one side thinks it is about religion. Wars such as this start over long periods of time, and because of a long list of circumstances. The Danish cartoons could be the igniting factor that will be seen in retrospect as the spark that started the Great War. Every student of history knows that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked World War I. But, the war didn’t break out in a day. It took time for the lines of war to be drawn and crossed (see the Willy and Nicky communiqués between Kaiser Wilhelm and Czar Nicholas.)

What is the possible scenario of the great Holy War? The lines are being drawn in the sand right now. Europe and the Middle East are pushing each other to see what they can get away with. Europe, feeling emasculated by its own high-minded philosophies on how to combat terrorism, is losing patience with the Muslim world and its constant violence. The Middle East feels condescended to by Europe and has seen that it is able to get what it wants by instilling fear in its victims with acts of terrorism. Eventually, Europe is going to get its back pushed up to the proverbial wall and will strike back. This creates a problem, though, in that Europe has not prepared itself for any military response worth noting. This means that, in the end, Europe will require, unwillingly, the help of its big brother across the sea.

Of course, none of this may happen. It only needs certain circumstances in order to happen, though. To think that World War I could have been avoided had Germany and Russia not miscommunicated their intentions to each other is the perfect example. Couldn’t you imagine that if Czar Nicholas and Kaiser Wilhelm had been able to see in an instant what would occur because of their choices, they may have reconsidered? I would hope that the Danish Imams now understand that their tour of the Middle East, dossier in hand, was a huge mistake.

Not Knots for Naught

Chris made homemade scones this morning, and, as we were waiting for them to come out of the oven, Chris and I were practicing different knots that we can use for our ties. (He found a book in the library on the subject.) Chris is a graphic designer for the sort of German version of Macy’s. So, being around all of these fashion people on a daily basis, he has learned that different knots are for different outfits, ties, colors, etc. (I had no idea...) He has often gone to work, only to be stopped in the halls by some window dresser who just looks over his/her glasses at his dress, and says in disgust “Oh, Herr Herpel.”, reaching her arms out, as though to strangle him for his abhorrent fashion faux pas. She then zip, zip, zip robotically reties his tie. From these experiences, he has taken an interest in why, after his reoccurring invasions of personal space, he invariably looks better after having been redressed. So, we were practicing like gay boy scouts wanting that coveted badge, frustrated at the slip knot cleverly eluding us (except that this story involves neckties, see?) Ok, I can’t make it sound any less gay... I digress. As usual.

Chris and I are sitting here, talking about how there are basically two types of people in Germany: those that have a dreamvision of France as the ultimate vacation destination, and those who view Italy as thus. Those who love Italy tend to be a little lower class and those who love France are the intellectuals and the rich. Then, Chris becomes suddenly excited and tells a little anecdote about a family outing to Rome when he was young and how he had eaten one of his life’s most wonderful meals there. Anyway, we’re sitting here in the living room, me with my coffee cup in my had, in my robe (perhaps I should say dressing gown?), with a beautifully tied necktie around my neck, him in the same approximate attire but with scone in hand, and he’s talking about how delightful, simply delightful this meal was that he had 15 years ago somewhere in Rome.

It was then that I realized how wonderfully affected my life has become.

Zinka hums

I’m so happy today. I, several months ago, decided to go out on a limb and ask the General Music Director (the big boss) if I could do a “study contract” of the solo parts of the Mozart Requiem that we are doing in conjunction with the ballet. He said yes, meaning that, if the soloist becomes sick and can’t do the show, I get to sing the solo parts—a big opportunity for me. I have done small roles for the theater up until now, but doing the solo role for an oratorio would be just a great step forward. I had a private rehearsal with the director for the piece both yesterday and today. And, after the rehearsal today, the director said “You know, I am so impressed with what you are doing with this piece that I am going to go to the General Music Director and request that you be allowed to sing the last 2 performances of the piece.” Wow. This means that I won’t have to wait for the other guy to get sick, but, rather, that I will definitely get to sing the part and put it on my résumé. I guess I can take back that poison to the witch that lives down by the river under the bridge.

This week, as well, one of the orchestra’s cellists called asking me to do a gig that one of the house’s tenors (a tenor that I greatly respect vocally) could not do. So, I get to sing an aria, a song and a duet with one of our house sopranos at a brunch. It’s cool because it is a kind of an official affair that the theater had to sign off on, meaning that they signed off on me doing some pretty important solo stuff representing the theater.

I know that a lot of this must seem like pretty small potatoes, but, to me, it’s pretty damn cool in my little realm of Pforzheim.

Listened last night to the Verdi Requiem with my headphones before going to bed. It is such a cool recording from 1940--Toscanini conducting Jussi Bjorling Bruna Castagna, Zinka Milanov (my God, this woman has a gargantuanly large voice) and Nicola Moscona with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. It is especially cool because the choir really sings with great strength—Westminster Choir back from the old days when Westminster Choir College really pumped out some amazing voices. This is really one of the world’s great recordings of that piece, especially impressive because it’s live. I highly recommend it! Besides, you can pretty clearly hear the Zinka humming with the orchestra in the instrumental prelude to “Domine Jesu” trying to warm up without being noticed. How funny. I think most people would be surprised what kind of stuff we get away with on stage without the audience noticing. Thank you, orchestra, for covering up our sometimes-needed conversations (and jokes.)

The Pyramids

I would just like to re-iterate the innate divinity of the breakfast meal. Croissants with my own homemade marmalade and pain au chocolat have got me feeling like I could just conquer the world!

I am so jealous of my friend Betsy. She just booked a week’s vacation in Egypt for 7 days. Can you believe that something like that only costs 600 or 700€? Maybe you can all understand, then why I don’t plan on going back to America in August. I want to go somewhere more exotic. I finally have the financial stability to do it, and, because i live in Europe, it is totally financially possible. I am thinking Iceland, Norway, or some little town in England somewhere. Actually, because I have 6-7 weeks of paid vacation, I think I might do 2 different vacations—one somewhere exotic like Nepal and then 10 days in England or something. We’ll see. I’m just busy dreaming at the moment.

I had always envisioned being in a relationship with someone as independent as I am. For the first 2 years of our relationship, though, I think that I was too insecure to really do without Chris. I was “clingy”, I guess one would say. I had always hoped that I would meet someone with whom I could be in love, yet be able to take separate vacations at times. I need a lot of personal space to let my ideas grow. So, maybe I’ll go to Tibet without Chris, but spend the time in England together.

Freedom!!!