Food For Thoughts

I just spent a most wonderful afternoon and evening. Me and my lovely friend Toril took some well deserved time off, abandoned our books and computers, and philosophized over a nice Thai meal accompanied with a bottle of red wine. (Yeah, I know what you want to say, but I don't care that much about wine "rules", if I want red wine, I drink red wine.)

Allthough our histories have a lot of similarities, and we do discuss them too, I think we both agree that what's going on right now and the future are far more rewarding topics. Not only our personal future, but in general, and on the bus on my way home I had all these ingenious ideas I wanted to blog later. I thought I had a brilliant strain coming about reader/writer and identity, and another one about the concept of evilness. But what happened when I got home? I just hit the couch, watched a very interesting program on National Geographic together with my children, and did virtually nothing. And it felt great! Great because I was relaxed for the first time in a very long time.

I can always write another day...

Being Nice

I'm not a religious person, but since this post isn't about personal beliefs,I'm not going to explore that point now. But I do believe the basics in most religions hold some value, and to put it simple: BE NICE! I know a lot of people have said it before, but it can't be said enough.

Even though some research shows that it is the more aggressive types that will survive, what's the point passing your genes on, if the offspring has nothing but violence and cruelty to look forward to? So be nice. To yourself and to the people close to you. Instead of trying to save the world while you at the same time have a silly argument with your neighbour about his overgrown hedge, why not be nice? If everyone did their best to treat the people they actually meet the best way they could, and left the rest in peace, I think the World would look much better.

I have for long now tried to live by the simple law of Cardamom Town:
"You shall never bother others, you shall be both fair and kind, and whatever else you do I shall not mind."

Simple, right?

I've also tried to be nice to myself, and that is actually quite hard. Today I treated myself with the latest copy of Computer Arts Project. (Hopefully I'll find some time for it.) And tomorrow I'll meet Toril for some Wining&Dining. On a Wednesday! That's a students life...

Dear Anonymous!

I hope I didn't offend you! As I said, your comments have been nothing but positive, and my decision to enable comment moderations has not that much to do with myself as with someone else. A dear friend of mine has been very unfortunate, and I will do anything to protect her. Your location indicated that you in some way could possibly be connected to that, therefore my words about "coincidenses". I will still communicate with anonymous people on my blog though, I just wanted to be able to inspect and approve comments before publishing. Does this sound fair to you?

Also I've realized that things usually works my way sooner or later, and my worst fears have so far rarely proven to be true. I think I'll stay positive from now on, hopefully I won't loose my writingskills because of it.

Locomotion

Have you ever been on a train, when suddenly it stops in the middle of nowhere, and you have no clue where you are or why the train stopped? Well, obviously you're somewhere on the line between the stations, but the stop was totally unexpected. There's no information given on the PA system, and you just sit there, waiting for the bloody train to get moving again. While you wait there's plenty of time to wonder about why you're stuck in the desolation. Has anything happened to the locomotive? Engine problems, maybe? Or is it something further down the track? Another train coming? Or maybe some poor soul is lying on the rails? You look out the window and perhaps the scenery is breathtaking, but you really don't perceive because all you can think of is The Train. What happened? How long are we supposed to stay here? Hello? Is it ever going to move on again? Still no answer. And then, as sudden as The Train stopped; a barely noticable movement, almost nothing but a faint tremble. You realize The Train has come alive again, slowly the engine is building up power. And you're on your way.

A Spanish Fox

Hola!
I'm stunned. I can write in Spanish! And I didn't know before. Just kidding, but what I didn't know is that Google has a translation tool, and someone used it to have my page translated. It made me giggle.



So many things I don't know, every day is exciting: what will I learn today?

("time elapsed, about 5 min...")

I'm back after checking out Googles tools, and it turns out that I can write in a lot of languages including Korean and French. Excellent! It's also evident that I never before really have taken any time in exploring Google. Sorry about that, folks! I'm sure I will find many uses for Googles Help Central in times to come. But that's also kind of typical, the most obvious things can take forever to discover, even if they're right in front of your nose.

We Need Water

Nature has its own way of beeing ironic. I live in a city which is widely known as one of the wettest places on earth. All we have here is rain, rain and even more rain. But if there's one time of the year when we could appreciate the downpour it must be the winter, because then it would come down as snow. Not this year, though. This winter has turned out to be very sunny with almost no snow at all, with the result that they officially tell us to be very careful with our water usage and start saving water. Well, at least it means I can be excused for not washing the car.

Home Sweet Home

I've been thinking about this for a long time; should I go back home? Why and when should I go? Temporarily or permanently? And where is home anyway? I won't attempt answering any of those questions now, but if I go back to Sweden this might be one of the reasons: In my hometown we have an excellent university, and searching their website I found something that could inspire me to put an effort in to my present studying. Here I found the masterprogram "Human - Computer Interaction. Interactiondesign." (Swedish page, sorry) Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Could most certainly be right up my alley.

But if that's my plan I better stop blogging and get on with my Java. Compulsory exercise, due next Wednesday, and I don't have a clue...

Crackin' Up

I noticed the crack in my coffeecup a little while ago. A very fine line only noticeble from the inside. This cup was already my favourite, a quite rough colorful outside surface, contrasted with a shiny white inside glaze. The shape was perfectly rounded and the handle comfortable to hold.

At first I really wouldn't belive it, I always tried to be so careful when handling the cup, always made sure it was on top after washing up. I held the cup and cautiously tapped it with my finger, and the dull sound told me the truth; this cup would eventually split into pieces and it was nothing I could do about it.

After this I've treasured the cup even more, it's still my favourite despite its flaw, and I try the best I can to prolong its life. It's kind of sad really, there's no hope for this cup, but I cling to it desperately. Each coffee I pour into the cup makes the crack more visible, darker for every day. The question I keep asking myself is: did I do something wrong? Perhaps not, I'm also told that sometimes the reason for this kind of defect can be traced much further back. There might have been a tension already from beginning, within the cup itself, that made it crack. We'll never know.



This picture is "stolen" from Shiro Otani

Grey Sky

The picture in last post was pretty ugly, I'm sure you agree. I won't brag and say this one is pretty, but it looks a little better than the previous at least. So here goes, another PhotoShop experiment:

Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention

I think last post might have come out a bit too serious, so to make up for that I'll share with you a photo my brother e-mailed me this morning. I present to you:

The Polish Waterheater

and why not start mass production?

Breathin'

Breath in - breath oooouuut. Through your nose - through your mooouuth. I don't know if I did a good job at it when I gave birth to my children, or if the image of a panting woman is from a Hollywood flick, but the technique sure is useful for all kinds of pain and contractions. Every time it hurts I just try to slow down my breathing and take control of the situation. Try to think of something else, and it seems like it's working. It did last night anyway, but come to think of it, that might have beeen thanks to sharing a bottle of wine with a friend, and Cointreau in our coffees.

Speaking of alcohol; I have realised something there (too!). These days I don't drink that much, not that I ever "was drinking", but some of you know what I'm talking about and for those of you who don't - let's just say that there are too many ghosts walking around here. But all I wanted to say, without excusing anyone, is that I on some level can understand why they drink. I never did before, but I see it now. In my "other life" alcohol was just nice and fun, and I never liked to have too much of it (even if I sometimes did). The reason to drink as means to subdue some pain or make you forget something was a total enigma for me. It isn't anymore, 'cause it actually does "help". Suddenly, after a couple of glasses, everythings gets a little hazy, and you feel beautiful and invincible. Luckily for me I'm sober enough to merely reflect upon it, I'm more than positive that I'll never going to "drown my sorrows" in Shiraz. But I do understand now.

Never forgive, though.

Breath in - breath oooouuut

Brrr - It's Cold In Here

Went shopping today for some groceries. Among other things a large bottle of Italian Pure Grapeseed Oil. I read the label. "Keep in a cool place. Away from light and heat." Yeah. Might have a problem there. No space left in the fridge. Yeah. Think I just keep it in my bed.

French (Music)

A couple of weeks ago I found a very interesting radiostation, a French one called Divergence FM 93.9 (wich coincidentally is from Montpellier, a place I have planned to visit for a while now). I must come clear here and admit that I don't speak French, not a single word! (I chose German in highschool) But I wish I did, and I think I might like to learn French eventually. But just listening to that language is like music. I almost feel like Jamie Lee Curtis in "A Fish Called Wanda"...;)

Anyhow, one day listening to this station, something sort of came through to me. There was this man, more talking than singing, and you could tell he had been living his life to the full. His rusty voice was filled with emotions. I actually caught the name (!) and only the same afternoon I had ordered a CD. Amazing Amazon did a splendid job as usual and the CD arrived today. Tomorrows busride to the University will be a pleasure.

The name? Ah, pardon! - Philippe Léotard

He was, as I found out, an actor and a quite famous one as well. Sometimes I feel so inadequate, there are so much I want to know, and all I do is sitting here writing in my blog...

Concentration

"In the fourteenth century Pope Benedictus XII was selecting artists to work for the Vatican, requesting from each applicant a sample of his ability. Although the Florentines painter Giotto (1266-1337) was known as a master of design and composition, he submitted only a circle drawn freehand, the famous "0 of Giotto." Yet he was awarded the commission. Why? What's so impressive about a simple circle?"
[...]
"Our deepest awareness, the power that motivates all awareness, which we can call the "Power to Be Conscious," of which we are not ordinarily cognizant, recognizes its own transcendental nature in the geometry of the circle. For this reason the circle has been a universal symbol of an ideal perfection and divine state that always exists around and within us whether we acknowledge it or not. Religious art has traditionally turned to the circle to symbolize this state of divinity as "heaven," "paradise," "eternity," and"enlightenment."

Giotto's perfectly drawn circle communicated this universal ideal."

(Excerpt from chapter one in Michael S. Schneiders book A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe - The Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art and Science)


It's a more or less wellknown fact that it's very hard to draw a perfect circle freehand, but just the other day it occured to me that I really hadn't tried. Not really I mean. I think sometimes you just accept certain thing as prevailing facts, without trying to prove them otherwise.

It started with a line, that's quite hard too. Everytime I sit at a lecture I write a heading or some suitable description on top of the paper, and then I try to underline it. And everytime it strikes me how ridiculously imperfect it is, wobbly and unruly. Until the day I realized it could have something to do with the actual approach. I guess I previously only delegated the job to the hand, and if the hand couldn't do it, it meant I couldn't either. The new approach would be to keep thinking, keep concentrating, never disconnect the brain from the drawingprocess, and 'Voilà!' - there it was! An almost perfect line.

But why stop at lines? Why couldn't I try a circle now? I did, and that worked too. The circle was of course not as perfect as the great masters Da Vinci and Raphael could do, but at least I managed to get the ends to meet quite nicely. It didn't look like a cracked egg anymore, so to speak.

Is there a point or moral to this story as well? Maybe a few even. Investigate. Don't settle for others truths. You could do anything if you set your mind to it. If you're delegating jobs - make sure they have the brains for it. And most important, please concentrate!

Good Friends In Bad Times

Nothin' is like having a good friend to lean against when the wind blows. A friend who knows what I'm going through, cause' she's been there too. A friend I can trust. Thanks!

(I look forward to that Irish Coffee after sailing...)

Why Not Have It All?

Pick your firefighter, dressed in uniform, and soak him in brandy.
Then -

Set him on fire!
(You know how...)

Peel off the crust, ripple with chocolate sauce and indulge in the perfect treat, icecream on the side. A womans Kinderegg?