Finally I got the incentive I needed to unpack those last boxes left from the move, and get the apartment in shape. Still have pictures to hang (although I won't be doing all due to the stupid regulations here...), and some curtains to sew for the living room. Funny how the prospect of receiving guests can wake you up from hibernation! And even if the travel plans won't work, my flat will at least be more like a home.
Today I've been swirling around like the Minuano finishing various tasks, like would you believe it - carry away two large bags full of autumn leaves! It was so strange; when I came back from Sweden last month I noticed that my entrance was piled up with dry brown leaves, and also that mine was the only one. All of the neighbors' looked clear to me, but I figured it had something to with winds and location. For a second though I suspected someone to have played a trick on me... I've been walking in and out of this for weeks now, but today I cleaned it up. Looks so much better. And I also went back to the old flat and picked up my bike, the garden table and some odd things that I left behind.
Then the two oldest came over with Chinese Take-Away. Nice treat for a mother's day I think. And my daughter had made this beautiful bouquet with white, pink and red roses which she gave to me on behalf of all three, along with a card saying "World's Best Mum". Today I actually feel quite alright; even important, as someone just told me I am.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Winter Murmuring
Seriously - how am I supposed to be doing any reading when I've got a head that's killing me? I usually don't get headaches like this, but it's probably due to the antibiotics. I'll just have to live with it I guess, and in the meantime do other things that don't require as much concentration. Like baking Macadamia Shortbread and sewing pot holders. And writing blogposts as you can see. All these activities are relaxing, things I know how to do. Maybe I should just do that? Stick to things I know?
The snow is falling now, it's all white, and I wish I was elsewhere. But very soon I need to make this draft for tomorrow, no way out. It won't be as substantial as I would have liked it to be, but this is no news for you. You've heard it all before. After that meeting with my lecturer I have a whole weekend in front of me, and no plans. Not that I usually have that many plans, but now I'm itchy. Really need to do something. Like making snow angels perhaps? I wish I had wings now myself; then I'd fly away. Maybe someone remembered to put out food out on the veranda? Angels too need feeding in winter times.
The snow is falling now, it's all white, and I wish I was elsewhere. But very soon I need to make this draft for tomorrow, no way out. It won't be as substantial as I would have liked it to be, but this is no news for you. You've heard it all before. After that meeting with my lecturer I have a whole weekend in front of me, and no plans. Not that I usually have that many plans, but now I'm itchy. Really need to do something. Like making snow angels perhaps? I wish I had wings now myself; then I'd fly away. Maybe someone remembered to put out food out on the veranda? Angels too need feeding in winter times.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Sharpen Up
Luxurious or just quality-conscious? I've been invited to this party which got me thinking. There will be a jacuzzi and plenty of champagne, and I presume a lot of people with fat wallets. Somehow I don't see myself in that kind of setting, so I think I'll pass. But what exactly am I rejecting here? Let's isolate the entities.Take the hot tub for instance: I wouldn't mind that. Not at all... Not the champagne either, even in combination with the previous. Money? Is that the problem then? Not really; I'd love to have some. So what's left is the setting then. A bunch of strangers talking about fast cars and ski resorts... (It could also have something to do with prospect of being in a swimsuit together with women looking like they stepped out of Vogue. But let's not go down that road...)
What is luxury? I guess most people think of luxury as the first explanation in dictionary.com; as "a material object, service, etc., conducive to sumptuous living, usually a delicacy, elegance, or refinement of living rather than a necessity", like a Breitling. We can agree that luxury cost money, and it seems like a lot of people enjoy luxury simply because it shows the world they're rich. In a way I also love luxury, but more due to the qualities that usually goes with it. I am a snob sometimes, I can admit that, but not for the sake of it. I just love things that work, and a my old IKEA knives can't be compared to the Wüsthofs I want...
But talking about those dull knives, I have now at least bought me a new sharpener. Since the live one (cook/knife expert) isn't always around when I need him, I have to equip myself with tools that do the work for me. Like a Chef'sChoice Model 460 - the MultiEdge™ manual knife sharpener. Not sure if those IKEA things ever will be OK, but they're better than before anyway.
There are more tools I need as replacement for strong hands, and I was also promised company to the hardware store. If that doesn't happen, I'll go by myself - just saw on TV that there's a 20% discount on selected brands.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Dr Feelgood
Yay, I was right - he definitely wanted to see me. (By the way, he could almost be on my list as well, had he been someone else's G.P.! He's got the brains and looks, and very gentle hands.) That he managed to fit me into his schedule unfortunately means I'm on antibiotics for a week... Not sick really, but a nasty skin infection which I couldn't treat by myself. But it won't scar and I'll be as beautiful as before... ha, ha. The pills will kick in almost immediately, so I see no reason for not being social this coming weekend. Clean and germfree...
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Book Of Faces
I'm not afraid to spend time on my own, I rather enjoy it in fact. From time to time at least. As tonight I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to construct my days in order to be a more efficient student, and my only company is a glass of wine and the TV. The movie that's on isn't particularly good, but with Sean Bean as a flight captain I'm not complaining...
One thing I'm lacking is focus, I get so easily distracted. Procrastination has been almost a hype word, but there's definitely something to it. I'm an expert at "delaying tasks with counterproductive, needless behavior". Like writing blogposts instead of reading up on my literature. Walter Ong with his Orality and Literacy is waiting and so is a brick of a book on Philosophy and Computer Science.
One way is to use the blog more consciously, and turn it more academic. Probably won't though, but at least tonight I'd like to say something about Facebook. With over 150 million active users, and blessed by the pope this is a site "everyone" is familiar with in some way or another. What might surprise you though, is that I haven't been much of a regular user, in spite of being very much into digital culture in general. I'm actually quite skeptic. I did join Facebook about 2 years ago, but only because a few of the students at a course I attended thought that would be a good way of keeping us together; sharing ideas and stay updated although we were spread around town doing our practice. I already had my blog back than, and wasn't that keen on putting too much effort into yet another application. And I also noticed that the girls who suggested it in the first place already were regular users, and everything sort got mixed up. I wasn't particularly interested in which party they were going to that or this weekend. Bottom line - I didn't feel like I needed Facebook.
Two years later Facebook is like I said, something almost everyone is using, or so it seems. The user interface of any online paper lets us tie whatever we're reading to our Facebook wall, if that's what we want to. I also have friends who use the site very constructively, building networks related to their field of work or studies. And in two years the possibilities within the application itself has obviously improved, making it a lot easier to manage your content and restrict access to your profile. That last point is still the main reason I'm not a huge fan of the site, and I'll tell you why.
(This is not Saturday evening anymore; I lost the internet connection and had to continue tonight, which is Sunday...) OK, I logged on to Facebook, a friend of mine had posted on my "Wall", asking if it was a long movie. Ha, she was just being funny, but I saw her point. Newbie as I am I didn't think of updating frequently, and my last word on "What are you doing right now?" said "Karin is going to the movies" which was posted like 26 hours earlier. Anyway, I removed that statement and withdrew. But as long as I was there I could do so searching, couldn't I? First I searched for an old friend I haven't seen for a while now. She's married to my ex husband's best friend, and we used to hang out a lot. But you know how it is, it's not easy to maintain relationships like that after a divorce. The reason for searching for though, was that she'd ran into my daughter a couple of weeks ago, and told her she's been looking for me on Facebook but couldn't find me. I realized she must have searched with my married name, and I'm not known by that anymore...
What I find a little bit disturbing is that so many people display so much on their profile; personal history, family pictures, group memberships, and so on. And everything is fully accessible to anyone! I know, 'cause curious as I am (had I been a cat I'd be dead all 9 times over), I did a little more searching on various names from my past (and present). If I ever knew any Johnson or Svensson those wouldn't be easy to find, but the ones with rare names... I felt a little uneasy I must admit as I was looking into the private lives of people I merely share a connection with. I know him, he knows her, and she knows someone else... The thing is that these people won't know I've seen their profiles and pictures of their kids. I almost feel like a stalker, and I don't like it.
Digital cultures and media is my field of studies; nevertheless - I too fall into the pits sometimes, being too naive, so I can't help but wonder how easy it is for the majority of these 150 million users to ignore the "risks". You might say I'm being just as exposed with my blog, but at least you can't find that one by simply Googling my name!
Late - again- and I need to get some sleep. Have to see my doctor tomorrow, hopefully he'll let me in even if I don't have an appointment. My bet is that he will... can tell you more another day. Good night, my friends.
One thing I'm lacking is focus, I get so easily distracted. Procrastination has been almost a hype word, but there's definitely something to it. I'm an expert at "delaying tasks with counterproductive, needless behavior". Like writing blogposts instead of reading up on my literature. Walter Ong with his Orality and Literacy is waiting and so is a brick of a book on Philosophy and Computer Science.
One way is to use the blog more consciously, and turn it more academic. Probably won't though, but at least tonight I'd like to say something about Facebook. With over 150 million active users, and blessed by the pope this is a site "everyone" is familiar with in some way or another. What might surprise you though, is that I haven't been much of a regular user, in spite of being very much into digital culture in general. I'm actually quite skeptic. I did join Facebook about 2 years ago, but only because a few of the students at a course I attended thought that would be a good way of keeping us together; sharing ideas and stay updated although we were spread around town doing our practice. I already had my blog back than, and wasn't that keen on putting too much effort into yet another application. And I also noticed that the girls who suggested it in the first place already were regular users, and everything sort got mixed up. I wasn't particularly interested in which party they were going to that or this weekend. Bottom line - I didn't feel like I needed Facebook.
Two years later Facebook is like I said, something almost everyone is using, or so it seems. The user interface of any online paper lets us tie whatever we're reading to our Facebook wall, if that's what we want to. I also have friends who use the site very constructively, building networks related to their field of work or studies. And in two years the possibilities within the application itself has obviously improved, making it a lot easier to manage your content and restrict access to your profile. That last point is still the main reason I'm not a huge fan of the site, and I'll tell you why.
(This is not Saturday evening anymore; I lost the internet connection and had to continue tonight, which is Sunday...) OK, I logged on to Facebook, a friend of mine had posted on my "Wall", asking if it was a long movie. Ha, she was just being funny, but I saw her point. Newbie as I am I didn't think of updating frequently, and my last word on "What are you doing right now?" said "Karin is going to the movies" which was posted like 26 hours earlier. Anyway, I removed that statement and withdrew. But as long as I was there I could do so searching, couldn't I? First I searched for an old friend I haven't seen for a while now. She's married to my ex husband's best friend, and we used to hang out a lot. But you know how it is, it's not easy to maintain relationships like that after a divorce. The reason for searching for though, was that she'd ran into my daughter a couple of weeks ago, and told her she's been looking for me on Facebook but couldn't find me. I realized she must have searched with my married name, and I'm not known by that anymore...
What I find a little bit disturbing is that so many people display so much on their profile; personal history, family pictures, group memberships, and so on. And everything is fully accessible to anyone! I know, 'cause curious as I am (had I been a cat I'd be dead all 9 times over), I did a little more searching on various names from my past (and present). If I ever knew any Johnson or Svensson those wouldn't be easy to find, but the ones with rare names... I felt a little uneasy I must admit as I was looking into the private lives of people I merely share a connection with. I know him, he knows her, and she knows someone else... The thing is that these people won't know I've seen their profiles and pictures of their kids. I almost feel like a stalker, and I don't like it.
Digital cultures and media is my field of studies; nevertheless - I too fall into the pits sometimes, being too naive, so I can't help but wonder how easy it is for the majority of these 150 million users to ignore the "risks". You might say I'm being just as exposed with my blog, but at least you can't find that one by simply Googling my name!
Late - again- and I need to get some sleep. Have to see my doctor tomorrow, hopefully he'll let me in even if I don't have an appointment. My bet is that he will... can tell you more another day. Good night, my friends.
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