20th of April to the 23rd of April

Hello fellow readers! I love you all. Inspired by my colleague I am trying to fast from tomorrow until Friday with just water and loads of tea. I don’t know. It might be fun. Wish me luck! Other than that things are great. I am reading a Shadowrun book and am currently diving deeper into the Sandman universe and listening to a lot of podcasts. I am proud to announce that I have gained back a lot of reading routine. Also, I am pumped because there was a comedy show right by my house on Friday and I was able to jump on stage and everyone including myself rocked that night. Was great fun. Here we go with stories produced from prompts from a book.

20th of April: “A childhood memory from a picture”

There is a picture of me next to my workstation. A picture with me probably 4 years old and looking like my daughter but dressed in cool pants with shoulder straps and they are possibly black. I can’t tell because the picture is in black and white. We didn’t have colored photos back in Eastern Germany. My grandma is with me in the picture. She is sitting on an old-school swing set. I was probably gathering stones and pine cones and stuff like that. I look proud and my grandma looks even prouder. I spent almost every weekend at her house and loved every minute of it. She always fed me with tons of pancakes and made sure that I can watch X-Men, The Hulk, Power Rangers, and all that (obviously that is after the German reunification). I miss her and it is an accurate picture. I don’t know what happened that day but every time I look at the picture it makes me feel whole and welcomed.

21st of April: “Your best friend has a superpower”

I think I wish to have my best friend would have the power of flight. I hope he would be able to carry me. So we can be like two human drones that fly around and explore. I hope he would be able to carry me and maybe a beer or two for both of us. We would hang with the cool birds and enjoy aerial views that would make Google envious. He could fly to work and back and do whatever he pleases, I just hope he gives me a flight once in a while. I just believe that flight is an incredible superpower. Now I think super speed might be even better, but I am not sure. Better than immortality, as I am not sure if he would want that. Who wants to live forever? Flying though? Is fucking awesome!

22nd of April: “A story I was dying to write started in the middle”

…and there I was. In China. In Shanghai. In a gay bar and working as a topless waiter. I had hiking boots on. Short shorts, suspenders, cufflinks, and a bowtie. I would pass as a bear, I believe. This job happened because I sat with my friends outside on Yongkang Road and a Russian dude came by just telling us that he started a new job. As a topless waiter. My friend was quick to point out that I would be suited as well. They were looking for “straight” guys just to not mix business and pleasure - I guess. So there I was. Talking to amazing people, listening to their stories, swallowing every compliment, and handing out finger food. This all happened while working as a PR manager in a sex toy company. Life was great and this was a part of it…

23rd of April: “You don’t belong here.”

This sentence has haunted me for the longest time. I really enjoyed the rural hood I grew up in. But I have been a misfit all along. I was escaping with books, reading with wrestling and superheroes and people around me maybe had one crossover but never more than two. My world grew. I moved out at 16. Having my own flat in the city I was studying in. I grew dreadlocks. I didn’t belong in a city where nazis were all around. The 90s in Eastern Germany are called baseball-bat-years and I got pushed around for my hair and outfit. I didn’t belong. I went to the military in Germany and clearly didn’t belong there. I wouldn’t have stayed an hour longer than I would have had to. I then started to be an insurance salesman and I didn’t belong there either. I got told that my haircuts were unfitting and they tried to mold me into a drone for sales. I was good. I then thought of my roots. The nights spent with Jackie Chan movies and again while studying Chinese and Business Administration I felt like I didn’t belong. I was older. I came from a family where no one before me got a university degree. Then I moved to Munich and again I didn’t belong there. It felt like the insurance job again. I was made to fit in but my roots were grounds for jokes. I was good but didn’t call enough. I quit and went to China and there I somehow fit in. I stayed for 8 years and no, I never felt there like I didn’t belong. Not like foreign people coming to Germany. They hear that way more than a white male dude that has some odd hobbies. They need a voice and I try to help a bit. I can take care of myself and now in Leipzig, I feel like I belong too.