snow, films, and chocolate

it snowed again today (and yesterday) and today the snow came down like rain. i would most closely compare it to hail, but it was not hail. the peices were soft and snowy, but dense and bouncy. and almost looked like giant fat snowflakes. they still had their points and bounced off of bodies like hail. i didnt know berlin weather was so exotic.

Kathryn arrived today, and she took me to a new area that I hadn´t been before. I could live here for 2 years, and I think new visitors would still be able to take me to new places. She came with her friend Kari, who she knows from the Paris program. We went to Fassbinder und Rausch Chocolatier, another place I hadn´t been, and they had a chocolate Brandenburg Tor, among other large sculptures made aus chocolate. There was a case full of tiny Trüffelen, which were so cute fun to look at! I tried a wasabe and ginger truffle. It was good.

So after the chocolate, we went to the Hamburger Bahnhof, the contemporary art museum of Berlin (free on thursdays). I went to find out about another residency in Mitte the other day and learned of a film night that they were having tonight. Keep in mind, this is a tiny, 3 year-old, non-profit gallery in the north. I told Kathryn and Kari about this and invited them to go. As it turns out, a friend of Kathryn´s who works for a gallery in New York had coincidently invited Kathryn to watch one of the very films that was in the screening a short while ago, so she was familiar with it and had heard of the screening. Also, a friend of Kari´s had told her about the screening because a friend of the friend´s was organizing the night. So needless to say, we went, and it was a nice collection of films from all types of artists. The theme was "FLOAT," a concept that the artist and organizer, Caitlin Berrigan, was also working with. The films were for the most part beautiful, and they made me want to make a film. Many of the films had natural bodies of water playing a large role. The films also brought to my attention that professional looking films take a whole staff of people to make.

I just sneezed in this internet cafe, and a guy said, "gesundheit." I said, "danke."