The BerlinChronicles

PerVersGeil

I still remember the first day, picked up from Tegal, navigating though the maze of Alex, and rolling down to Boxhagener Strße 21. The Cafe Box heralding our address warmly reminded me of the florescent red heart the signaled the way back home after nocturnal galactic tours at BurningMan. My Hang playing compadre, Shayna aka Shae had led me softly, like a child, to my new home that she herself had procured. Her WG-mate Laura’s boyfriend lived in a WG with 2  other guys, one of which was doing a semester abroad in Istanbul. I had walked into a sublet with two Germans who taught me abgefarhen as my first Berlin slang term.

Last night was the Liebig14 demonstration against the eviction of this post-wall squat that has, like many other ‘squats’ here in Berlin, taken derelict buildings and abandoned factories, made them in to thriving counter-culture and arts centers, only to have the government and corporate land speculators reclaim forgotten property once the Berliners have revived the local urban landscape. Truly an important asset for autonomous movements everywhere, Liebig 14 and the other cooperatives that have transformed abandoned property into sources of civic participation and communal gathering are under attack by gentrifying corporations and the governments who have failed to foster the very community these cooperatives provide.

Yet, sadly, instead of success or diplomatic resolution, or real power, instead, we have the same old farce of the police demanding people leave, deploying helicopters, protests against the state abuse of power, and petty riots that mostly comprise of punky-looking anti-fatis (Germany’s version of anarchists: anti-fascists) clad in black drinking cheap Berliner beer in front of Spätis (A Späti, or a spätkauf is literally a ‘late night store,’ the German equivalent of a 7-11).

July 24

Writing an essay in German on the Attack of the Blob, aka Hannah Arendt’s social. It is always humorous translating german philosophy from english into german… what a crazy translation circle, especially with the neverending german sentences – in english or german. i think my writing style suffered in my formation from reading too many german philosophers in translation; leading to sentence structures going on for pages, like literature of the absurd, either beckett or the wonderful magic realists from latin america. they know how to drag out a sentence, too. the german’s don’t have a monopoly on this craft.

Anyhow, out in Pankow, enjoying a moment’s rest and respite from crazy berlin, even though neukoln was pretty mellow this morning, with the shitty weather and everything. It’s funny how our kiez, hipsters arabs and turks, is loud directly proportional to the warmth of the weather. when it’s cold, it’s quite. even more peaceful when it’s raining. but the moment the sun comes out, boom! everyone is throwing a party, making a feast, getting drunk.

this summer with all of the climate change, the arctic has been super hot while it has been raining here every week, sometimes for days on ends. its more rainy here in berlin this summer than in every other jahrzeit combined. a little freaky. but just a sign of the times. the end times, according to the most recent harry potter flick werbung.