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It has been a very good week all-told. Tuesday was the definite highlight, with the Wild Hearts anthology being released. I was expecting this in two weeks' time, but with it coming out early, I was able to promote my latest story. On the very same day, I signed the contract for another story that will be published later this year, while on Friday, I finally received my complementary copy of Work "Fur" Hire, where I have three stories. Quite a few books were published this week, largely ahead of Anthrocon this weekend, so it was great to promote other people's work too.
Tuesday and Wednesday were the hottest days of the year so far, and annoyingly, my air conditioner wasn't due to arrive until Thursday. This made the aforementioned two days quite difficult, particularly the Wednesday, which reached 38C. I worked when I can, while we decided to avoid cooking and get takeout instead on both days. Tuesday in particular was quite nice as we picked up some standard fizzy beers from Edeka (as they had run out of refrigerated craft beer) and a pizza from a local takeaway before sitting on the grass. We weren't 100% sure whether we could do this, but a few other families had done, so we assumed it would be fine. Alas, the sun moved behind the trees quite quickly, but it was still good sitting outside. On Wednesday, it was too hot to do even that, so we had sushi before I went to Netto, just to take advantage of their air conditioning.
The heat has meant I have managed to do a lot of reading, which has taken the edge off of not really being able to write. The air conditioner may change that - it did arrive on Friday in the end - but it is quite loud so I am not so sure. Fortunately, the weather is cooling down next week, so I am hoping I can get some more writing in.
Professionally, I have picked up a second client, with the work hopefully starting this week. It has been delayed slightly due to a few contractual reasons, but these have been sorted now. This may be just a short-term thing, but it will be good to get some extra money. I am still looking to pivot in my career though and I am hoping to hear back from a professional job coach friend, to whom I've sent my CV and job applications, looking for advice. I really would like to move into something new, as my current work is starting to depress me somewhat, but we shall see. I see this new client as being a tiny step in the right direction, so we shall see how it goes.
Today I headed up to Bernau bei Berlin, a small medieval town in the north-east of Berlin. I had hoped to go to Ludwigslust to see the castle there, but Wolfie has bust his knee and I think he wants to go there with me. This was one of the main reasons, along with the heat, why we didn't go to the BDSM Stammi yesterday (despite Seebass sweetly asking us if we are there). Bernau is one of the places I had wanted to go to when I was unemployed, but I never got round to it. On arrival, I was delighted to see loads of Pride flags having in the square opposite the station, while walking around, I noticed adverts for CSD Bernau, which is taking place next week.
Bernau is a rather pleasant town, not too dissimilar to Neubrandenburg. It has a wall that skirts around most of the town, with some impressive towers dotted around. In one of them, the Stone Gate, there is a small museum detailing the various trades of the town (it was a big beer brewing place in the 19th century) as well as some of the armour, guns and weapons that were used to defend it. You also got the opportunity to climb onto the watchtower (it's actually the Hungerturm and contains a dungeon eight metres underground) for panoramic views of the town. This was quite windy with little protection from falling. Up there, my German failed when a man asked me to close the keep door behind me and I had to ask him to explain in English. I really wish my German were better, but ironically, finding anyone who is willing to persevere with me is proving hard. The Stone Gate itself is the last remaining city gate of Bernau and was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Behind this is the main conference centre and City Crest Clock. This eight-metre clock was constructed in 2021 and is based on the city crest of Bernau. I didn't see this, but apparently from 11am to 3pm every day in summer, the bear stands up on its hind legs, gives the oak four taps with his paws, and then bows to the audience while the eagle flaps its wings in the background. I regret not seeing this now. The pleasant if small Kulz Park is here too, where I saw a young boy banging a bin for some reason.
Leaving the main station, the centre was easy to find and I was soon following the wall around the city. In places, this was quite a nice countryside walk, with a decent looking moat. It spat me out at a rather nice park, where there was a man who seemed to be singing only to his laptop. Here, there's a statue to Konrad Wolf, who became Bernau bei Berlin's first Soviet commandant. He was a major film maker in the GDR. There is also a small museum to artist Wolf Kahlen here too, but I assumed it would be in German. Certainly the aforementioned previous museum was, and that was hard enough to understand. Unsurprisingly, therefore, I stuck to the main architectural sights except for going into St Mary's Church. This four-nave brick building is impressive and reminds me a little of the churches in the Hanseatic towns. The illustrated alter is the most breathtaking part of this building but I did enjoy the cool arched interior, painted in white with red framing.
There are a few other interesting memorials in the city, including the Memorial to Deserters. This is quite a haunting bronze relief, and was dedicated in 1998 on International Conscientious Objectors' Day (15 May). Nearby there is also the town's main war memorial, featuring a statue of Victoria, the goddess of victory standing atop a column. It is dedicated to the soldiers who died in the wars of German unification from 1864 to 1871, with the four sides depicting a different ruler from this time. Over the road from here is the Red Army Cemetery of Honour. It's very much of the Soviet style, with everything in Russian, its centerpiece being a six-foot obelisk topped by a cannonball and Soviet star.
I spent a good hour or so just wandering around the centre too, spotting various churches and municipal buildings. The market square is pretty with the old Rathaus off to one side, while there is a newer more modern concrete one off a square nearby. The new one was completed in October 2020. In the main square there is a fountain with bronze statues of lots of animals in it, where bears are quite prominent. The family of three bears with one of its paws in the air was my favourite. The bears represent Bernau itself while the other animals represent the surrounding districts. There is a sheep, a peacock, a hare and a tree with birds. The roaming cat links the districts together.
The odd-looking blue water tower is near here, which was one of the last places I stopped at. I then headed back to the station taking in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, whose spire is currently undergoing complete renovation. The church looks older than it is, what with it being build in 1907/08. There are some glass paintings to see apparently, but I couldn't get in. Before going back to the station, I decided to check out the neo-Gothic brick local court, which looked very much like the type of thing you'd see in somewhere like Lubeck or Wismar. Its turrets and whitewashed colouring in contrast to the red brick is very much in that style. This was pretty much the last thing I was apart from the Kulturhof arts centre, as I noticed if i jumped on the 16:41 S2, I could pick up the RB21 from Gesundbrunnen easily. This would take me back to Spandau within 50 minutes, which is what I did. Still, it was a fun day and I really enjoyed the afternoon out.
Tuesday and Wednesday were the hottest days of the year so far, and annoyingly, my air conditioner wasn't due to arrive until Thursday. This made the aforementioned two days quite difficult, particularly the Wednesday, which reached 38C. I worked when I can, while we decided to avoid cooking and get takeout instead on both days. Tuesday in particular was quite nice as we picked up some standard fizzy beers from Edeka (as they had run out of refrigerated craft beer) and a pizza from a local takeaway before sitting on the grass. We weren't 100% sure whether we could do this, but a few other families had done, so we assumed it would be fine. Alas, the sun moved behind the trees quite quickly, but it was still good sitting outside. On Wednesday, it was too hot to do even that, so we had sushi before I went to Netto, just to take advantage of their air conditioning.
The heat has meant I have managed to do a lot of reading, which has taken the edge off of not really being able to write. The air conditioner may change that - it did arrive on Friday in the end - but it is quite loud so I am not so sure. Fortunately, the weather is cooling down next week, so I am hoping I can get some more writing in.
Professionally, I have picked up a second client, with the work hopefully starting this week. It has been delayed slightly due to a few contractual reasons, but these have been sorted now. This may be just a short-term thing, but it will be good to get some extra money. I am still looking to pivot in my career though and I am hoping to hear back from a professional job coach friend, to whom I've sent my CV and job applications, looking for advice. I really would like to move into something new, as my current work is starting to depress me somewhat, but we shall see. I see this new client as being a tiny step in the right direction, so we shall see how it goes.
Today I headed up to Bernau bei Berlin, a small medieval town in the north-east of Berlin. I had hoped to go to Ludwigslust to see the castle there, but Wolfie has bust his knee and I think he wants to go there with me. This was one of the main reasons, along with the heat, why we didn't go to the BDSM Stammi yesterday (despite Seebass sweetly asking us if we are there). Bernau is one of the places I had wanted to go to when I was unemployed, but I never got round to it. On arrival, I was delighted to see loads of Pride flags having in the square opposite the station, while walking around, I noticed adverts for CSD Bernau, which is taking place next week.
Bernau is a rather pleasant town, not too dissimilar to Neubrandenburg. It has a wall that skirts around most of the town, with some impressive towers dotted around. In one of them, the Stone Gate, there is a small museum detailing the various trades of the town (it was a big beer brewing place in the 19th century) as well as some of the armour, guns and weapons that were used to defend it. You also got the opportunity to climb onto the watchtower (it's actually the Hungerturm and contains a dungeon eight metres underground) for panoramic views of the town. This was quite windy with little protection from falling. Up there, my German failed when a man asked me to close the keep door behind me and I had to ask him to explain in English. I really wish my German were better, but ironically, finding anyone who is willing to persevere with me is proving hard. The Stone Gate itself is the last remaining city gate of Bernau and was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Behind this is the main conference centre and City Crest Clock. This eight-metre clock was constructed in 2021 and is based on the city crest of Bernau. I didn't see this, but apparently from 11am to 3pm every day in summer, the bear stands up on its hind legs, gives the oak four taps with his paws, and then bows to the audience while the eagle flaps its wings in the background. I regret not seeing this now. The pleasant if small Kulz Park is here too, where I saw a young boy banging a bin for some reason.
Leaving the main station, the centre was easy to find and I was soon following the wall around the city. In places, this was quite a nice countryside walk, with a decent looking moat. It spat me out at a rather nice park, where there was a man who seemed to be singing only to his laptop. Here, there's a statue to Konrad Wolf, who became Bernau bei Berlin's first Soviet commandant. He was a major film maker in the GDR. There is also a small museum to artist Wolf Kahlen here too, but I assumed it would be in German. Certainly the aforementioned previous museum was, and that was hard enough to understand. Unsurprisingly, therefore, I stuck to the main architectural sights except for going into St Mary's Church. This four-nave brick building is impressive and reminds me a little of the churches in the Hanseatic towns. The illustrated alter is the most breathtaking part of this building but I did enjoy the cool arched interior, painted in white with red framing.
There are a few other interesting memorials in the city, including the Memorial to Deserters. This is quite a haunting bronze relief, and was dedicated in 1998 on International Conscientious Objectors' Day (15 May). Nearby there is also the town's main war memorial, featuring a statue of Victoria, the goddess of victory standing atop a column. It is dedicated to the soldiers who died in the wars of German unification from 1864 to 1871, with the four sides depicting a different ruler from this time. Over the road from here is the Red Army Cemetery of Honour. It's very much of the Soviet style, with everything in Russian, its centerpiece being a six-foot obelisk topped by a cannonball and Soviet star.
I spent a good hour or so just wandering around the centre too, spotting various churches and municipal buildings. The market square is pretty with the old Rathaus off to one side, while there is a newer more modern concrete one off a square nearby. The new one was completed in October 2020. In the main square there is a fountain with bronze statues of lots of animals in it, where bears are quite prominent. The family of three bears with one of its paws in the air was my favourite. The bears represent Bernau itself while the other animals represent the surrounding districts. There is a sheep, a peacock, a hare and a tree with birds. The roaming cat links the districts together.
The odd-looking blue water tower is near here, which was one of the last places I stopped at. I then headed back to the station taking in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, whose spire is currently undergoing complete renovation. The church looks older than it is, what with it being build in 1907/08. There are some glass paintings to see apparently, but I couldn't get in. Before going back to the station, I decided to check out the neo-Gothic brick local court, which looked very much like the type of thing you'd see in somewhere like Lubeck or Wismar. Its turrets and whitewashed colouring in contrast to the red brick is very much in that style. This was pretty much the last thing I was apart from the Kulturhof arts centre, as I noticed if i jumped on the 16:41 S2, I could pick up the RB21 from Gesundbrunnen easily. This would take me back to Spandau within 50 minutes, which is what I did. Still, it was a fun day and I really enjoyed the afternoon out.
