Yesterday evening I accidentally were in heaven. I gave a lift to a friend who wanted to pick up some free books from an old lady (ok, she got divorced and we suspect it were husband's books...). While I bored myself the lady offered me to take some books as well. In the end I had two big bags full of books as well. Some are quite interesting. This was really great. Im looking forward to read them. It was lovely to browse through the bookshelves and take whatever I wanted. My paradise looks a bit like this... A very nice evening and yet another nice end of a lovely day.
A friend of mine showed me his liking of the Clash. The only Clash song I knew so far was Should I stay or should i go. Reminds me of my a-level celebration...
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Sunday, 14 October 2007
Hola, esta dias festiwo!
alrite, my spanish is crap. i admit. it should translate as today is your (female) birthday. every spanish speaking person, please have a proper laugh now! mi casa es su casa! it was a bloody attempt to learn spanish from a dictionary more than 12 years ago. and it defo failed. i did a spanish course a few years after but i forgot everything again. i could introduce myself and ask some very simple questions. i could even understand a bit (but more due to my blessed knowledged of latin). but, really, i dont know any spanish.
however, its not what im talking about here. i had dinner with friends yesterday again, which was really good. only two of them and i did the cooking. it was rather spontaneous. really nice. these kind of occasions are really nice to top up my social balance. it means that this is one thing i learned during the last year. doing a phd involves a lot of working and thinking alone. a hell of a lot. at the end, there is no one who know as much about your topic as you know. it is a bit loophole and more than tempting to stick to this pattern and try to work it all out on your own. but it doesnt work, nor is it healthy. you need something else. no matter what it is. either you talk about your topic with someone to get another opinion or just go out and drunk. it helps quite a lot. you ll see that there is a life beyond the desk and you can recharge the battery for just another round of papers and proposals. one of the main objectives for me now is to go out on a regular basis and/or to visit friends. and get things working.
however, there was a somehow festive day for me. for the first time in my life i got stopped by police in the night to have a breath test. im not proud of it and it showed me that i should stop this immoral behaviour. i had more drinks than allowed, i wasnt drunk tho. tipsy, yes, but not drunk. i took the test and stated that i had half a pint, I didnt say the whole truth to be really honest. i think i never lied this much before. the test was positive and showed a warning. the officer allowed me to finished my journey and recommended to have at least a one day's rest. nothing happened, except that i somehow changed my mind regarding driving. this was really a warning and nothing less.
dunno what to say. i have been driving tipsy or otherwise intoxicated (i can recall a trip back home from a gig where we had a few bits of weed, this is all i say) before but this was the first time i was stopped. and further from that, i think im defo too old to prove my manliness by driving toxicated. bloody hell, i should be a grown up by now.
p.s. and on tv there is stansted airport, my main hub to the world (something with nicole kidman)
however, its not what im talking about here. i had dinner with friends yesterday again, which was really good. only two of them and i did the cooking. it was rather spontaneous. really nice. these kind of occasions are really nice to top up my social balance. it means that this is one thing i learned during the last year. doing a phd involves a lot of working and thinking alone. a hell of a lot. at the end, there is no one who know as much about your topic as you know. it is a bit loophole and more than tempting to stick to this pattern and try to work it all out on your own. but it doesnt work, nor is it healthy. you need something else. no matter what it is. either you talk about your topic with someone to get another opinion or just go out and drunk. it helps quite a lot. you ll see that there is a life beyond the desk and you can recharge the battery for just another round of papers and proposals. one of the main objectives for me now is to go out on a regular basis and/or to visit friends. and get things working.
however, there was a somehow festive day for me. for the first time in my life i got stopped by police in the night to have a breath test. im not proud of it and it showed me that i should stop this immoral behaviour. i had more drinks than allowed, i wasnt drunk tho. tipsy, yes, but not drunk. i took the test and stated that i had half a pint, I didnt say the whole truth to be really honest. i think i never lied this much before. the test was positive and showed a warning. the officer allowed me to finished my journey and recommended to have at least a one day's rest. nothing happened, except that i somehow changed my mind regarding driving. this was really a warning and nothing less.
dunno what to say. i have been driving tipsy or otherwise intoxicated (i can recall a trip back home from a gig where we had a few bits of weed, this is all i say) before but this was the first time i was stopped. and further from that, i think im defo too old to prove my manliness by driving toxicated. bloody hell, i should be a grown up by now.
p.s. and on tv there is stansted airport, my main hub to the world (something with nicole kidman)
Germany
Well, then, with a two month delay, here is a post on my germany stay during the summer. there are several reasons for this trip. first, there is nothing else to do really during the summer. essex uni dies shortly after the exames, meaning that there is no one around really after mid june and it is kind of boring to stay in essex during late july and august. second, i had a job in my old university and i had to be present a couple of days a week. third, catching up with my german friends. fourth, getting some vacation... there are probably more reason why to go back to germany.
i already wrote that i went to berlin with a friend and here are some pics from it. it is quite nice to see berlin more from a side of a foreign tourist than of a german going to his or her capital. it is different. as a german, i would say, berlin is arrogant and all berliners are ignorant people. i feel a bit strange there. every time i went there before i always got the feeling of "feel inferior, you are just a bloke from the country site". anyhow, this time it was quite fun. we had sushi and went to see some museums (apart from generally hanging around and feeling like "city slackers"). i enjoyed it and changed my mind a bit (tho, i still wouldnt see berlin on top of my places-to-live-list). We went to the german history museum which was very interesting. i have never been there before, partially because i took history in a-level and studied history. but it was really interesting to fill my book-knowledge with some real pictures. for my company it was interesting to see this as well as the knowledge only comes from books or films otherwise.
soon after berlin i re-started my uni job. it was interesting in the end. there were some boring times and things to do (entering 2000 numbers on a few days each, repetitive tasks....etc.). but i learned a lot of things: more things on social network analysis, how the german uni systems really works (or rather, confirmation), i even were invited to giving a paper next year. i really enjoyed doing the work. after finishing it i felt like as i have done something very important. it also showed me, that this is the thing i will do for the next years...
apart from that i tried to have a vacation. i went out with friends and were drunk more than once. i went to potsdam to see sanssouci where i havent been for ages. i went to krefeld to see my godchild whom i havent seen for ages either, etc. i met friend i havent seen for ages, even quite sad encounters (on of them has HIV but he's alright, quite strange to meet him tho, depressive a bit). One got married in september (congrats!), others managed to get the break even in business or music. i really cant put it in words. this summer was like a journey back and forth in time at the same time. it was the final realisation that lifes go on, mine and others, and that at some points you have to more on somehow. ypu can read into it what you want. but there is no need for nostaligia. i think the most important lesson of life is to enjoy it every second and if you can't then enjoyed it afterwards and be happy. it is defo too short to miserable and depressive all the time. when i look back on my post a few weeks ago i kind of start to laugh. of course, i felt really pissed off then, but at the end of the day i have to look forward and now i enjoy it again. i made my peace, no hard feelings. but most of all, i had a really good time overall in germany. i dont and cant live there anymore. but it is always nice to go back and have a time off. to know, that there is a place where i feel at home and which is not just my laptop.
omg, quite sentimentel here. this is not really how i feel. there was one incident where i was moved and happy at the same time. on a church's wall directly on the german border were inscription, dating back to the 1920s. and from the time of the berlin wall. it was impossible to get to this church during that time but the soldiers serving at the wall wrote things on it. the church as such was pretty much boring and normal but those writings were like a book full of stories. i loved reading the inscriptions and think about those people who have written "i love you marta, K.R. 1934" or "4.35 o'clock 1984, EK 4.6.1985", referring to the time of patrol and the date of discharge of a border soldier. This was really interesting and i would love to have pics here. or invite you over to read them yourselves. It's not only my history being an east german but also the history of the cold war where the leaders might have followed a hard stand but the people at the bottom where just ordinary beings, happy with their family and pissed off with being on guard 24/7 for the respective other enemy and freezing their bums in a cold winter night. especially if the "enemy" was just across the lake.
however, here are some pics. im not really in the mood to write anything more. it was nice in germany and it did me good and i really enjoyed it (in the retroperspective), even tho i dont wanny go back. love it. first there are some pics from berlin and potsdam and then from the area near my hometown.
Sushi 4 4 4 2
Bit of physical exercise here and there
Well, short trip to England in between
If the arrow goes up, It just can get upwards
i already wrote that i went to berlin with a friend and here are some pics from it. it is quite nice to see berlin more from a side of a foreign tourist than of a german going to his or her capital. it is different. as a german, i would say, berlin is arrogant and all berliners are ignorant people. i feel a bit strange there. every time i went there before i always got the feeling of "feel inferior, you are just a bloke from the country site". anyhow, this time it was quite fun. we had sushi and went to see some museums (apart from generally hanging around and feeling like "city slackers"). i enjoyed it and changed my mind a bit (tho, i still wouldnt see berlin on top of my places-to-live-list). We went to the german history museum which was very interesting. i have never been there before, partially because i took history in a-level and studied history. but it was really interesting to fill my book-knowledge with some real pictures. for my company it was interesting to see this as well as the knowledge only comes from books or films otherwise.
soon after berlin i re-started my uni job. it was interesting in the end. there were some boring times and things to do (entering 2000 numbers on a few days each, repetitive tasks....etc.). but i learned a lot of things: more things on social network analysis, how the german uni systems really works (or rather, confirmation), i even were invited to giving a paper next year. i really enjoyed doing the work. after finishing it i felt like as i have done something very important. it also showed me, that this is the thing i will do for the next years...
apart from that i tried to have a vacation. i went out with friends and were drunk more than once. i went to potsdam to see sanssouci where i havent been for ages. i went to krefeld to see my godchild whom i havent seen for ages either, etc. i met friend i havent seen for ages, even quite sad encounters (on of them has HIV but he's alright, quite strange to meet him tho, depressive a bit). One got married in september (congrats!), others managed to get the break even in business or music. i really cant put it in words. this summer was like a journey back and forth in time at the same time. it was the final realisation that lifes go on, mine and others, and that at some points you have to more on somehow. ypu can read into it what you want. but there is no need for nostaligia. i think the most important lesson of life is to enjoy it every second and if you can't then enjoyed it afterwards and be happy. it is defo too short to miserable and depressive all the time. when i look back on my post a few weeks ago i kind of start to laugh. of course, i felt really pissed off then, but at the end of the day i have to look forward and now i enjoy it again. i made my peace, no hard feelings. but most of all, i had a really good time overall in germany. i dont and cant live there anymore. but it is always nice to go back and have a time off. to know, that there is a place where i feel at home and which is not just my laptop.
omg, quite sentimentel here. this is not really how i feel. there was one incident where i was moved and happy at the same time. on a church's wall directly on the german border were inscription, dating back to the 1920s. and from the time of the berlin wall. it was impossible to get to this church during that time but the soldiers serving at the wall wrote things on it. the church as such was pretty much boring and normal but those writings were like a book full of stories. i loved reading the inscriptions and think about those people who have written "i love you marta, K.R. 1934" or "4.35 o'clock 1984, EK 4.6.1985", referring to the time of patrol and the date of discharge of a border soldier. This was really interesting and i would love to have pics here. or invite you over to read them yourselves. It's not only my history being an east german but also the history of the cold war where the leaders might have followed a hard stand but the people at the bottom where just ordinary beings, happy with their family and pissed off with being on guard 24/7 for the respective other enemy and freezing their bums in a cold winter night. especially if the "enemy" was just across the lake.
however, here are some pics. im not really in the mood to write anything more. it was nice in germany and it did me good and i really enjoyed it (in the retroperspective), even tho i dont wanny go back. love it. first there are some pics from berlin and potsdam and then from the area near my hometown.
Sushi 4 4 4 2
Bit of physical exercise here and there
Well, short trip to England in between
If the arrow goes up, It just can get upwards
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Rain all over the place
Today was one of those days where you are glad when you have a car... it was raining the whole day until 5 o'clock sharp. my office moved and the new one is more or less at the other end of the campus in a portacabin. really nice. as there is no proper internet connection i have to go to a computerlab to check and write emails. this wouldnt be a problem as such but today it took about 50mtrs until i was drown by the pouring rain. hence i had quite a lot of showers today and i was thinking why the hell did i had one in the morning..? anyway, i read a few pages today and got some things done. actually quite successful. i didnt go by car to uni tho. it wasnt that hard raining in the morning and from my experience as a proper ex-germany-now-living-in-england-german i was expecting the rain to stop after a few minutes. it didnt. anyhow. i had nice dinner in the eve and met some very nice known and unknown people. i just got in and probably will go to bed soonish, excited about what tomorrow will bring me! happiness all over the place. the thoughts are free (i aint sure if this translation of Die Gedanken sind frei is actually right... my english is crap)
Proper '90s music. For me one of the best clips ever made. And, of course, the title - No Rain - fits perfectly the agenda of today. Maybe not the lyrics as such, but the title. I did a few sun dances today...
Proper '90s music. For me one of the best clips ever made. And, of course, the title - No Rain - fits perfectly the agenda of today. Maybe not the lyrics as such, but the title. I did a few sun dances today...
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
Sunday, 7 October 2007
Saturday, 6 October 2007
Softer than a shandy drinking Southener...
The title of this post was an advert i saw quite often in scotland. i liked it for three reasons: soft, shandy and south. Im from the south of england (something which has become clearer during my germany stay. i cant convincingly say im german anymore. i feel more english now...). i liked and like shandy, especially in the summer. sitting in a beergarden, under trees, sun on my mind, friends,... great. well, yep. im kind of a schattenparker. i like warm showers. so what?! get over it.
so, i was in scotland recently. i have been there before with friends, but it was more camping and driving around the west, north coast. this time i was invited to give a paper at the work employment society conference of the bsa at aberdeen university. its a triennal event and internationally recognised (even tho i didnt got into their journal because of my bad english writing. one of the papers i submitted while in germany...maybe because nobody really can make sense of my confusing things. who knows. if these are my only worries, great...!?!). my papers was due on thursday, the 13th of september, and i went to aberdeen on the wednesday before. the train journey was already a highlight. it was along the coast and long enough to get some work done. it reminded me of my trip through america a few years ago. it was almost like going up the no 1 highway alongside the pacific again. there was supposed to come someone with me but it didnt happen. i wish i could have shared this with someone. it was some of these moments where you think, great this is why im here. it just makes you happy, no matter what else happens. aberdeen was great. i stayed a bit outside, near a mcdonalds and a lidl. still fun. aberdeen looks a bit like iceland. the town is somehow cuddling itself to the mountains. it ducks into the valley and its greyness is really attractive. its not the prettiest town in the world, for sure, but it is quite attractive. i really am in love with it. i want to go there as soon as possible. the presentation went fine. i saw some familiar faces around ( i guess at some point, you always meet the same persons at conferences...and they will be your only friends...;) )but rather false than no friends. i had a serious discussion about my paper with someone from finland. there were quite valuable comments on my paper. on that eve, i went to the conference dinner where there was nice scottish music and talks. not like the usual stuff, where you only get tuna mayonaise and chicken sweetcorn sandwiches at conferences. it was really worth the money. of course, i did some sightseeing around the conf. aberdeen is the port for many oil and gas rigs in the north sea. the coast is europanised, meaning that a lot of funding has gone into recultivating old ship yeards. it is quite nice out there and i even managed to nick a golf ball from a golf range. no one caught me. meanwhile i was preparing to become the next king of scotland, but without that head off part. it worked well and we even had a dinner to praise royalty... but im distractive now. back to scotland. i love aberdeen. its a strange city and somehow dismissive on a first sight. but behind its face, its attractive and one of the most beautiful cities of the world. one should defo go there once in a lifetime. I love it.
on the following friday i went to edinburgh to have a bit more of a holiday. i cant say anything coz im still speechless. i have been to edinburgh before but only to the princess street part. this time i had much, much, much more. i saw holy road park. the quays, high street, leith,... it was breathtaking. im really serious now. it was breathtaking. i could have sit down and died there, with a broad smile on my face. the sun was setting down, mirroring in the new scottsih parliament and holy road park, from which you could overlook the whole city. it was more than amazing. i didnt thought it would be like that before. i didnt really do. i was surprised and overwhelmend. at that moment something changed in me. i dont know yet what, but something did. it was amazing. this is really all what i can say. im really in debt to the conference organisers for inviting me. for the people giving me such a great time over there. i cant express my graditute enough. now its going sentimental: i would like to thank michel hall for her laughing, lara for her caring, my parents for saying its a state of emergency, bsa for considering my already known paper worthwile, john for his unexpressed comments, gnrail for taking the traditional route, the dancing queen for texting back, the orange something for being in my life, my brother for being my brother, my friends here and there, for the mentioning of "you cant buy really shoes before you try them", the soul who needs to let catch up the soul, dave the punk, frau t., emss, yvonne, ms fagin. its strange. there are so many people in my life i would like to thank and still there would be only one who i would mention. anyhow. im not starving for going sentimentel now. its not the time and place right now. scotland was really nice and i defo want to got there again. it attracted me and made me falling into love with it. i never thought so before but aberdeen and edingburgh are a few of the cities i could live in immedialy. like vancouver. seattle. hamburg. flagstaff. chicago. st jordi. wustrow. frisco. quebec. freyburg.
im crying now deep inside my heart. i really do.. scotland was really moving, more than i could ever express in a post in my blog... if i could be able to stop the time it would have been there... i cant go into detail anymore, have a look at the pictures. it was certaintly one of the best times of my life. there are defo others, but this was great as well.
Not even a queen on those ones
In an academic world you sometimes have to turn your head to find the truth... Aberdeen University (and I right in the middle)
Big smile there
Scottish Parliament, Rebus would have been amazed and Queen Mary anayway
Nice one, a bit like Amsterdan
Inspector Rebus would be attentive there
p.s. im a bit lazy now, tho i have quite a lot to write here. maybe not sophisticated, high-flying stuff. but yet. i try to do a post on my germany stay (pics are already uploaded, for weeks) and the stats thing soon. i have very nice graphs for the stats of which im very, very proud of and happy about. they really make me smile.
so, i was in scotland recently. i have been there before with friends, but it was more camping and driving around the west, north coast. this time i was invited to give a paper at the work employment society conference of the bsa at aberdeen university. its a triennal event and internationally recognised (even tho i didnt got into their journal because of my bad english writing. one of the papers i submitted while in germany...maybe because nobody really can make sense of my confusing things. who knows. if these are my only worries, great...!?!). my papers was due on thursday, the 13th of september, and i went to aberdeen on the wednesday before. the train journey was already a highlight. it was along the coast and long enough to get some work done. it reminded me of my trip through america a few years ago. it was almost like going up the no 1 highway alongside the pacific again. there was supposed to come someone with me but it didnt happen. i wish i could have shared this with someone. it was some of these moments where you think, great this is why im here. it just makes you happy, no matter what else happens. aberdeen was great. i stayed a bit outside, near a mcdonalds and a lidl. still fun. aberdeen looks a bit like iceland. the town is somehow cuddling itself to the mountains. it ducks into the valley and its greyness is really attractive. its not the prettiest town in the world, for sure, but it is quite attractive. i really am in love with it. i want to go there as soon as possible. the presentation went fine. i saw some familiar faces around ( i guess at some point, you always meet the same persons at conferences...and they will be your only friends...;) )but rather false than no friends. i had a serious discussion about my paper with someone from finland. there were quite valuable comments on my paper. on that eve, i went to the conference dinner where there was nice scottish music and talks. not like the usual stuff, where you only get tuna mayonaise and chicken sweetcorn sandwiches at conferences. it was really worth the money. of course, i did some sightseeing around the conf. aberdeen is the port for many oil and gas rigs in the north sea. the coast is europanised, meaning that a lot of funding has gone into recultivating old ship yeards. it is quite nice out there and i even managed to nick a golf ball from a golf range. no one caught me. meanwhile i was preparing to become the next king of scotland, but without that head off part. it worked well and we even had a dinner to praise royalty... but im distractive now. back to scotland. i love aberdeen. its a strange city and somehow dismissive on a first sight. but behind its face, its attractive and one of the most beautiful cities of the world. one should defo go there once in a lifetime. I love it.
on the following friday i went to edinburgh to have a bit more of a holiday. i cant say anything coz im still speechless. i have been to edinburgh before but only to the princess street part. this time i had much, much, much more. i saw holy road park. the quays, high street, leith,... it was breathtaking. im really serious now. it was breathtaking. i could have sit down and died there, with a broad smile on my face. the sun was setting down, mirroring in the new scottsih parliament and holy road park, from which you could overlook the whole city. it was more than amazing. i didnt thought it would be like that before. i didnt really do. i was surprised and overwhelmend. at that moment something changed in me. i dont know yet what, but something did. it was amazing. this is really all what i can say. im really in debt to the conference organisers for inviting me. for the people giving me such a great time over there. i cant express my graditute enough. now its going sentimental: i would like to thank michel hall for her laughing, lara for her caring, my parents for saying its a state of emergency, bsa for considering my already known paper worthwile, john for his unexpressed comments, gnrail for taking the traditional route, the dancing queen for texting back, the orange something for being in my life, my brother for being my brother, my friends here and there, for the mentioning of "you cant buy really shoes before you try them", the soul who needs to let catch up the soul, dave the punk, frau t., emss, yvonne, ms fagin. its strange. there are so many people in my life i would like to thank and still there would be only one who i would mention. anyhow. im not starving for going sentimentel now. its not the time and place right now. scotland was really nice and i defo want to got there again. it attracted me and made me falling into love with it. i never thought so before but aberdeen and edingburgh are a few of the cities i could live in immedialy. like vancouver. seattle. hamburg. flagstaff. chicago. st jordi. wustrow. frisco. quebec. freyburg.
im crying now deep inside my heart. i really do.. scotland was really moving, more than i could ever express in a post in my blog... if i could be able to stop the time it would have been there... i cant go into detail anymore, have a look at the pictures. it was certaintly one of the best times of my life. there are defo others, but this was great as well.
Not even a queen on those ones
In an academic world you sometimes have to turn your head to find the truth... Aberdeen University (and I right in the middle)
Big smile there
Scottish Parliament, Rebus would have been amazed and Queen Mary anayway
Nice one, a bit like Amsterdan
Inspector Rebus would be attentive there
p.s. im a bit lazy now, tho i have quite a lot to write here. maybe not sophisticated, high-flying stuff. but yet. i try to do a post on my germany stay (pics are already uploaded, for weeks) and the stats thing soon. i have very nice graphs for the stats of which im very, very proud of and happy about. they really make me smile.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)