It is sunday and as I don't think I can make jam (like Hindeja apparently did today - cool!!) I decided to still take a bit of the day off and pack culture and adventure into it - however, as that meant doing a bit of biking to see whether I am even carved out for my rügen plans, I figured I need to first install my years ago free received bike computer during my bike-tourist-guide-passau-to-budapest-summer - of course the battery was empty so after I had managed to strap it to my bike (and yes, as with almost every piece of furniture in my apartment, also in this endeavor I got initially defeated by a pictogram in my 'I am smarter than that' attitude... but returning to my flat (3 flights of stairs) and with proper equipment and luck managed to get the mismatched parts apart again and had it all installed). Then to the station at Südkreuz for a new battery and finally around 2 off into the wild wild city. However, due to the time and the amount of action at Brandenburger Tor I decided to skip the exhibition at the Akademie der Künste which I had planned as a first stop and biked on through Unter den Linden and the south to Treptower Park to see the really impressive Sowjet Monument! From there through the park and passing by the defunct amusement park Spreewald which I had just read about this morning and thus biked around the areal because that is a truly cool sight - with the rotting joy-rides.... and then off to my actual destination: Müggelsee. It has a really great bikeroute around large parts of the lake, but unfortunately only tiny bits of shore or places where to actually access the lake most is woods and reeds. But still very nice. Spent about an hour on a runway for ships reading and relaxing my knees ... and then back through all of Sonnenallee and along the also defunct airport Tempelhof. Great tour but given my knee and exhaustion issues (and by tomorrow likely sore muscles and the inability to sit on my bike for days to come) ... I might have to reconsider Rügen... let's see.
If you want to check out the really cool route (though not absolutely accurate) - I tried to reconstruct it on google-maps (which hardly allows for through-park-biking... thus only approximately true.
Oh and my bike computer developed some funny attitudes after our little break at the lake, though without having had any contact with either water or sun ... because on the ride back I apparently oscillated between speeds of 43 to 79 ... I mean I admit that I am a ruthless and quick biker and can hardly accept anyone taking the lead or overtaking me ... but even in my best shape and with slight downhill conditions I will hardly even reach the 43 :) So maybe the 2 hours and 2,35 euros invested in getting it set up may have been wasted...
8/09/2009
8/05/2009
Don't Freudian psychologize my laughing dreams!
This is less a sharing than a form of note-to-self-diary entry... once again really establishing my status as 'bilkul pagal' (i.e. total weirdo) - because - as I did post on facebook, today I woke up too early (at 6.34) due to imagined stomach cramps (I was actually clasping my middle in my sleep-wake-up transition) which resulted from a very intense dreamed fit of laughter. What I did not share there was the dream that led to it ... that one I did write to Mika, because she totally gets me - but as she really appreciated the many-leveled humor, I might as well put it out there:
The dream was really (quite along the lines of Katharina's statement) postmodern in the 3-4 dimension remoteness from the 'fact'. Because I dreamed to be in a seminar (with people I do not know in real life but knew quite well there) where we analyzed (1. level) the presentation of the 2008 excursion to Western Canada (2. level and an event I could not possibly know as I could not attend) where the people recounted an event during said excursion at a library at a university before Vancouver (but not one we visited - btw 3. level - excursion itself), where we saw a movie of the funeral of Princess Diana and Dodi (together in one funeral - and, of course, a fact that never happened during said excursion and 4. level if you will). So weirdness galore already. But multilayeredness seems natural in dreams and my life so thats not where the giggles come from.
However on the screen (in screen) we saw the coffins being rolled in, and they were covered in flowers, red roses mostly, his coffin was decidedly darker than hers. But amidst all the flowers on both coffins were large yummy commemoration cakes - his was a sinfully looking dark chocolate covered one with exquisite designs, hers was absurdly enough in an 'open-book' shape and covered in creme-colored marzipan and with a large 50 on top (for whatever reasons). And a priest started circling the coffins spreading incense and sprinkling holy water - and my friend with whom I shared the last row in said seminar room muttered: 'Great, now who is gonna want to eat them!' And despite, the of course, very sober ambiance we looked at each other and started to uncontrollably giggle (because whenever we thought we mastered it, the cakes just reappeared in close ups on the screens) ... until it shook me awake. (and due to the fun we had I also was very reluctant to let go and really open my eyes, only my tummy really started to hurt - in the dream).
You see - the weirdo award of the day was justly earned by me and that too, before most of you were even awake :)
In addition, of course, I just love the idea of strapping commemoration cakes to coffins and should maybe communicate this to my brother (who just took over our undertaker's business - nice wordplay btw) as a new marketing thing.
The dream was really (quite along the lines of Katharina's statement) postmodern in the 3-4 dimension remoteness from the 'fact'. Because I dreamed to be in a seminar (with people I do not know in real life but knew quite well there) where we analyzed (1. level) the presentation of the 2008 excursion to Western Canada (2. level and an event I could not possibly know as I could not attend) where the people recounted an event during said excursion at a library at a university before Vancouver (but not one we visited - btw 3. level - excursion itself), where we saw a movie of the funeral of Princess Diana and Dodi (together in one funeral - and, of course, a fact that never happened during said excursion and 4. level if you will). So weirdness galore already. But multilayeredness seems natural in dreams and my life so thats not where the giggles come from.
However on the screen (in screen) we saw the coffins being rolled in, and they were covered in flowers, red roses mostly, his coffin was decidedly darker than hers. But amidst all the flowers on both coffins were large yummy commemoration cakes - his was a sinfully looking dark chocolate covered one with exquisite designs, hers was absurdly enough in an 'open-book' shape and covered in creme-colored marzipan and with a large 50 on top (for whatever reasons). And a priest started circling the coffins spreading incense and sprinkling holy water - and my friend with whom I shared the last row in said seminar room muttered: 'Great, now who is gonna want to eat them!' And despite, the of course, very sober ambiance we looked at each other and started to uncontrollably giggle (because whenever we thought we mastered it, the cakes just reappeared in close ups on the screens) ... until it shook me awake. (and due to the fun we had I also was very reluctant to let go and really open my eyes, only my tummy really started to hurt - in the dream).
You see - the weirdo award of the day was justly earned by me and that too, before most of you were even awake :)
In addition, of course, I just love the idea of strapping commemoration cakes to coffins and should maybe communicate this to my brother (who just took over our undertaker's business - nice wordplay btw) as a new marketing thing.
8/04/2009
devising rewards for deeds far from accomplished...
sometimes being future oriented and forward looking might just be a way of avoiding work - which gets even more absurd if the time not spent on work is spent on planning the ultimate reward one is going to gift oneself once the work not-in-progress will be accomplished ... the actions of a really twisted character...
so yes, I have not written a word today (as of yet, the night is young *hüstel*) but came up with the perfect reward and hopefully affordable holiday: mit dem rad nach rügen! a mere 300 km north of Berlin means two days of biking to reach the beach - 1-2 days there and then depending on how hard the biking up there proved to be home either by train (if exhausted) or via a detour along the sea and home closer to the Polish border, if it proves to be rather nice (3 days of biking). The challenges (aside of cost) will be how to limit luggage (i.e. not take the laptop and still be able to recharge my ipod) and to get cheap bike-bags so I do not have to carry an overweight backpack... and, of course, the weather and the wind which is said to possibly be fierce due to the countryside's flatness... but at the same time: adventures galore! (I hope) ... oh and get the bike into shape (while same is, naturally, not necessary for the body, as there is shape in abundance already...). Anything I forgot? Ah, yes, get a google-maps printout or maybe even a real street map ;)
so yes, I have not written a word today (as of yet, the night is young *hüstel*) but came up with the perfect reward and hopefully affordable holiday: mit dem rad nach rügen! a mere 300 km north of Berlin means two days of biking to reach the beach - 1-2 days there and then depending on how hard the biking up there proved to be home either by train (if exhausted) or via a detour along the sea and home closer to the Polish border, if it proves to be rather nice (3 days of biking). The challenges (aside of cost) will be how to limit luggage (i.e. not take the laptop and still be able to recharge my ipod) and to get cheap bike-bags so I do not have to carry an overweight backpack... and, of course, the weather and the wind which is said to possibly be fierce due to the countryside's flatness... but at the same time: adventures galore! (I hope) ... oh and get the bike into shape (while same is, naturally, not necessary for the body, as there is shape in abundance already...). Anything I forgot? Ah, yes, get a google-maps printout or maybe even a real street map ;)
die wunderbare welt der tiere...
sitting at my desk (no, don't worry, not working, of course, not!) I am all amazement at a not so little lady bug - because he is struggling to get outside, being trapped between my two windows. A sad matter as such - the amazing thing, however is, that I never ever opened either one side of these windows - not only because they are painted shut (thanks to my maintenance guy who closed them before the paint had dried) but also because the position and hight of my desk does not allow it - and the balcony door right beside it offers enough of fresh-air-inlets - so until now this fact had not seemed to be at the disadvantage of anything or anyone .... until the lady bug .... but not only am I in no position to rescue it - the more interesting aspect would be: how the .... did that creature get there in the first place?!?? I mean I know of other tiny insectuous creatures who apparently live in walls and make their way into human living areas especially if they find them cleaned on only irregular basis.... but a ladybug - honestly? and although my windows are old, last winter I did not have the feeling that they were that utterly untight .... and to close on a note on relativity and perspective: while a ladybug may seem to be quite small - seeing it trapped between closed windows that appear tight all around, it looks huge in comparison to possibly gaps there might be to crawl in or out ...
and as we are on small animals already: I made a host of ants experience a storm on a cloudless sunny day yesterday - because upon exiting the library they had made a second cover to the frame of my bike (which is always parked underneath trees that continue to drip sweet stuff I have to swipe from my seat every morning) - and as they were too many to rescue and i am not particularly given to pity towards creatures of less than 10 cm body length (or plants of any size) I just biked off at my usual speed and miraculously must have lost them all on the way, as the frame was clear of creatures when put into park position at home ...
and as we are on small animals already: I made a host of ants experience a storm on a cloudless sunny day yesterday - because upon exiting the library they had made a second cover to the frame of my bike (which is always parked underneath trees that continue to drip sweet stuff I have to swipe from my seat every morning) - and as they were too many to rescue and i am not particularly given to pity towards creatures of less than 10 cm body length (or plants of any size) I just biked off at my usual speed and miraculously must have lost them all on the way, as the frame was clear of creatures when put into park position at home ...
7/31/2009
on redefinitions - or concept displacement
ich glaub ich hab so vor mehreren Monaten - sagen wir mal Mitte Jänner etwa - glücklichst, erschöpft und durchaus überzeugt verkündet dass ich nicht nur mit arbeit fertig wäre sondern so bald nix mehr reparieren würd und schon gar nicht in dieser meiner wohnung?!?
nun ja ... wie immer wenn ich von plänen meinerseits absolut überzeugt bin ...
jedenfalls hab ich heute den eigentlich eher meteorischen bestimmten Begriff der Föhnwand neu zu definieren begonnen, und hab, nachdem ich zuerst (bisher nur teilweise *stöhn*stöhn*ächz*) die so schön und mühsam und vor allem in MENGEN eingefüllten Silikonabdeckungen rausgekratzt hab meine schöne rote Wand geföhnt und dies dürfte sich für die nächsten Wochen neben dem schon langweiligen Jammergegenstand 'chapter' zu einem neuen lustigen Hobby entwickeln.... bevor ich dann nach Anleitung meiner alten guten Freunde aus dem Bauhaus auf ein neues versuche nicht das Wasser mit dem Wein, aber in ähnlicher Alliteration die Wand mit der Wanne zu verbinden... und mit etwas Glück finden sich dazwischen (also zwischen Trocknung und Verklebung) Reste von weißer und roter Farbe um das ganze auch wieder gebührlich zu behübschen...
nun ja ... wie immer wenn ich von plänen meinerseits absolut überzeugt bin ...
jedenfalls hab ich heute den eigentlich eher meteorischen bestimmten Begriff der Föhnwand neu zu definieren begonnen, und hab, nachdem ich zuerst (bisher nur teilweise *stöhn*stöhn*ächz*) die so schön und mühsam und vor allem in MENGEN eingefüllten Silikonabdeckungen rausgekratzt hab meine schöne rote Wand geföhnt und dies dürfte sich für die nächsten Wochen neben dem schon langweiligen Jammergegenstand 'chapter' zu einem neuen lustigen Hobby entwickeln.... bevor ich dann nach Anleitung meiner alten guten Freunde aus dem Bauhaus auf ein neues versuche nicht das Wasser mit dem Wein, aber in ähnlicher Alliteration die Wand mit der Wanne zu verbinden... und mit etwas Glück finden sich dazwischen (also zwischen Trocknung und Verklebung) Reste von weißer und roter Farbe um das ganze auch wieder gebührlich zu behübschen...
7/30/2009
afraid of having crossed the fine line....
It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am a lucky bastard, always have been and always got by with it ... still I cannot help but - from an academic point of view - be afraid that I am crossing the fine line between lucky picks in my reading choice and merely reading into books what is currently convenient for my research .... because, honestly, how lucky can one be ... twice in a row in the search for bed-time and airplane and in-case-of-boredom-in-Austria and tanning-in-the-doorway-of-my-balcony read to pick novels which EXACTLY support a) my general thesis and b) perfectly fit the still in progress chapter writing to add easy lit-analysis pages to lengthen the written text in no time to an acceptable amount?!?
The two books in questions are Siri Hustvedt's The Sorrows of an American which is just as cosmopolitan, ordinary life focused, ethnic characters without being about ethnicity predominantly and dealing with the role of America in globalization or the effects of the latter on the first. Thus, if necessary - and has been suggested by one of my supervisors - providing perfect material to argue that although I research a case study of authors from so-defined ethnic heritage, my argument that this grouping is no longer relevant has already literary proof, in case I go for that line of argument. Because, Hustvedt, despite name and ancestors, I suspect is hardly considered an ethnic author, not least due to her marriage to Auster.
The other book I picked up after having for myself decided that due to prolonged stays of the author in the US and his cosmopolitan transmigrant biography as well as - most of all actually - that the book was published in North America and mostly reviewed there and even the pre-published short story the novel evolved from originally appeared in The Paris Review was North American enough to be included, even though the author currently relocated back to his native Lahore (Pakistan). I am talking about Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist. My current focus on globalization effects on individuals as reflected in literature has several examples for the precariousness of lives and experiences of lacking agency, but all these are kind of subchapters. Now, while Hamid's novel (no surprise with that title) will also figure in the fundamentalism-subchapter - though as both fitting the category and ironically subverting it - it is the one text perfect to enter the chapter in its criticism of American Imperialism and the (by its agents) hardly critically reflected financial markets' takeover of world power.
Of course I have conveniently found reviews of both books to substantiate my arguments .... yet given my selective reading of academic texts in general not for what they really are about but mostly for what I can use them - a trap I much too repeatedly find myself in - I figure that my readings of reviews is likely just as biased as my approach to the texts might be .... thus, while I of course will exploit both texts as outlined, I continue to hear the weary voice at the back of my head muttering that it wonders what this books would be about if anyone else read them.... so in case you have read any of them, talk to the voice! (for the thesis-writing-mind might not be listening)
The two books in questions are Siri Hustvedt's The Sorrows of an American which is just as cosmopolitan, ordinary life focused, ethnic characters without being about ethnicity predominantly and dealing with the role of America in globalization or the effects of the latter on the first. Thus, if necessary - and has been suggested by one of my supervisors - providing perfect material to argue that although I research a case study of authors from so-defined ethnic heritage, my argument that this grouping is no longer relevant has already literary proof, in case I go for that line of argument. Because, Hustvedt, despite name and ancestors, I suspect is hardly considered an ethnic author, not least due to her marriage to Auster.
The other book I picked up after having for myself decided that due to prolonged stays of the author in the US and his cosmopolitan transmigrant biography as well as - most of all actually - that the book was published in North America and mostly reviewed there and even the pre-published short story the novel evolved from originally appeared in The Paris Review was North American enough to be included, even though the author currently relocated back to his native Lahore (Pakistan). I am talking about Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist. My current focus on globalization effects on individuals as reflected in literature has several examples for the precariousness of lives and experiences of lacking agency, but all these are kind of subchapters. Now, while Hamid's novel (no surprise with that title) will also figure in the fundamentalism-subchapter - though as both fitting the category and ironically subverting it - it is the one text perfect to enter the chapter in its criticism of American Imperialism and the (by its agents) hardly critically reflected financial markets' takeover of world power.
Of course I have conveniently found reviews of both books to substantiate my arguments .... yet given my selective reading of academic texts in general not for what they really are about but mostly for what I can use them - a trap I much too repeatedly find myself in - I figure that my readings of reviews is likely just as biased as my approach to the texts might be .... thus, while I of course will exploit both texts as outlined, I continue to hear the weary voice at the back of my head muttering that it wonders what this books would be about if anyone else read them.... so in case you have read any of them, talk to the voice! (for the thesis-writing-mind might not be listening)
7/15/2009
seriously now! ...
Even co-organizing a small (but great) graduate conference with 14 colleagues can only serve as an excuse for imaginary much deserved / needed / (fill in the blanks) rest and procrastinating recreation ... even if each one of these lost days saw me pretending to be just about to start working on 5 fronts at once ...
though, I did spend some time indulging in 'beauty-stuff' and did make a quite eatable bananenschnitte yesterday for a barbecue party at a professor's house ... but there being already considerably less than 4 weeks to D-Chapter-Day today is the day - seriously now!! today I am heading off to the library and will only leave there when kicked out AND at least 3 pages of said chapter are written!
So got to get going, but will keep complaining and contemplating the possible lack of success and progress here, too...
For today I plan a rereading of some Appadurai and Butler and the analysis of a short story by Saleema Nawaz. (Oh, come on, to get into projects you have to start with picking raisins from the cake (- as a metaphor intended for raisin-likers!!))
though, I did spend some time indulging in 'beauty-stuff' and did make a quite eatable bananenschnitte yesterday for a barbecue party at a professor's house ... but there being already considerably less than 4 weeks to D-Chapter-Day today is the day - seriously now!! today I am heading off to the library and will only leave there when kicked out AND at least 3 pages of said chapter are written!
So got to get going, but will keep complaining and contemplating the possible lack of success and progress here, too...
For today I plan a rereading of some Appadurai and Butler and the analysis of a short story by Saleema Nawaz. (Oh, come on, to get into projects you have to start with picking raisins from the cake (- as a metaphor intended for raisin-likers!!))
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)