giovedì 30 luglio 2009
All beautiful moments..
..will pass eventually. It's in their nature. So don't worry about where they came from or how long they will last, but feel them, live them fully as long as they are there. This way, instead of leaving a gap, they will add to your life.
martedì 28 luglio 2009
classifying strengths and weaknesses...
Your friends have voted on your strengths and weaknesses:
STRENGTHS:
best listener
prettiest
most desired for marriage
WEAKNESSES:
most absentee
most adventurous
STRENGTHS:
best listener
prettiest
most desired for marriage
WEAKNESSES:
most absentee
most adventurous
domenica 26 luglio 2009
Your mistakes are your friends
Yesterday in a completely crammed tram I witnessed an impressive interpretation of this phrase.
Next to me a woman was sitting, listening to some music (not exactly my style, but never mind ;). Opposite was another woman, which suddenly turned towards my neighbour, asking: "Sorry for disturbing, but where did you get this nice player? It's so cool and small, just to clip it to the jacket!" - The other one was a bit startled but told her this was the ipod shuffle and the shop where she got it from.
The woman took out some really colourful book and a calligraphy pen (with violet ink!), wrote down "ipod schaffel, saturn", looked a bit doubtful and showed it to the other one - "Like this?" When the other woman corrected her, I expected her to cross out her 'silly' writing, as i would have done. But instead she smiled to herself, chuckled, and drew a heart shape around it!
Sounds very trivial, but the moment was so impressive that the woman next to me and myself exchanged surprised glances. It's just not so common to deal with these kind of mistakes in that way, even though some wise people keep advising it very convincingly.
Next to me a woman was sitting, listening to some music (not exactly my style, but never mind ;). Opposite was another woman, which suddenly turned towards my neighbour, asking: "Sorry for disturbing, but where did you get this nice player? It's so cool and small, just to clip it to the jacket!" - The other one was a bit startled but told her this was the ipod shuffle and the shop where she got it from.
The woman took out some really colourful book and a calligraphy pen (with violet ink!), wrote down "ipod schaffel, saturn", looked a bit doubtful and showed it to the other one - "Like this?" When the other woman corrected her, I expected her to cross out her 'silly' writing, as i would have done. But instead she smiled to herself, chuckled, and drew a heart shape around it!
Sounds very trivial, but the moment was so impressive that the woman next to me and myself exchanged surprised glances. It's just not so common to deal with these kind of mistakes in that way, even though some wise people keep advising it very convincingly.
sabato 25 luglio 2009
venerdì 24 luglio 2009
don't worry?
I wonder if it is any use in life to worry about small things (and maybe even big ones?). I mean, there are certain things that might happen and that won't be nice. But if they need to happen, they will if we worried or not. (Actually, sometimes i guess they might happen even faster..)
So if things happen anyway, the difference lies in our own attitude: do we enjoy the good things we have and the possibilities in life, or do we spend all this time with worrying?
Actually, i wonder if it is about what one believes in; if one is generally optimistic and seeing chances at every corner, or if one is afraid of new things, trying to keep the familiar as unchanged as possible?
So if things happen anyway, the difference lies in our own attitude: do we enjoy the good things we have and the possibilities in life, or do we spend all this time with worrying?
Actually, i wonder if it is about what one believes in; if one is generally optimistic and seeing chances at every corner, or if one is afraid of new things, trying to keep the familiar as unchanged as possible?
giovedì 23 luglio 2009
looking for amoeba
it should be some multicomputer operating system... but as i found on wikipedia, it's also the name of a water device with the curious name Advanced Multiple Organized Experimental Basin with which you can write letters in a water basin...
For further information check out this article.
off track
sittng in the underground or train these days i get funny thoughts about life. i don't know why, but somehow at times the world just seems to pass me by. it is as if everything is moving in a certain way, just i don't know the rules so i stay where i am. very strange feeling (but then very much the feeling of being in transit in a train for example. you stay still but still everything around you is moving on..). i wonder though if this effect is coming through in the rest of my life? maybe being on the train is deeply influencing my subconscious?
maybe i should stop breaking routines all the time. it just causes confusion, because nothing can be relied on. but then, going accross all the time could also be a way of getting along - just always as a stranger.
maybe i should stop breaking routines all the time. it just causes confusion, because nothing can be relied on. but then, going accross all the time could also be a way of getting along - just always as a stranger.
martedì 21 luglio 2009
linux is perfect - but
i had a nice linux moment today - finally getting my university login for printing my scripts for my exam preparation. the computer rooms are great; somebody thought quite far ahead, putting 2 screens at each pc. and also linux for working is reasonable - until one has to print a pdf with 4 slides per page rotated in the correct way and duplex print.
hmmm..
the admin told me cups won't like to turn the pages for me (nor did it scale them properly...) so what should i do?
the answer is trivial: if you can't rotate the paper, rotate the whole document! luckily adobe reader has the functionality for this. So what's left after is to set the orientation of the printer to "horizontal - inverse" and you're done!
easy as pie :P
hmmm..
the admin told me cups won't like to turn the pages for me (nor did it scale them properly...) so what should i do?
the answer is trivial: if you can't rotate the paper, rotate the whole document! luckily adobe reader has the functionality for this. So what's left after is to set the orientation of the printer to "horizontal - inverse" and you're done!
easy as pie :P
lunedì 20 luglio 2009
living at home
there's some funny things about me living at home again.
there are some people that still ask me for how long i am staying and when i will come back.. they look very surprised (even scared) if the answer is 'since october'
also i had a nice moment recently, when i was asked by my sister if i couldnt rehearse in some other universe at 1 in the morning :P
there are some people that still ask me for how long i am staying and when i will come back.. they look very surprised (even scared) if the answer is 'since october'
also i had a nice moment recently, when i was asked by my sister if i couldnt rehearse in some other universe at 1 in the morning :P
domenica 12 luglio 2009
parallelization
seems it's not possible for win to install more than one app simultaneously.. :P could have thought of it before
venerdì 3 luglio 2009
beauty in transit
Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.
45 minutes:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ….
How many other things are we missing?
For the full report check Washington Post online. I read the text on http://blog.coldewey.com/allgemein/2009/07/03/einfach-zum-nachdenken/
4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.
45 minutes:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ….
How many other things are we missing?
For the full report check Washington Post online. I read the text on http://blog.coldewey.com/allgemein/2009/07/03/einfach-zum-nachdenken/
how to detect a hypocrite
seeing that so many people complain about hypocrites i was wondering how to detect them..
the first obvious step to me seemed to look up what the word itself actually means. here are my findings:
so, if i understood correctly, hypocrites are people whose behaviour seems to diverge quite noticeably from their stated opinions about how one should behave. of course this seems to be bad - especially in situations when a person is expecting things of others, which they are not willing to provide for themselves. so i understand people, who get very annoyed or frustrated by this behaviour.
On the other hand, i felt occasionally, as if people complaining most about hypocrites fail to understand that it can be very difficult to live up even to one's own expectations of a good life. even people having very high ideals in life and trying very hard to fulfill them might not be able to close the gap and perfectly practice what they preach. so i wonder if it is really possible for anyone to judge them for it?
i guess we are never really in the position of finding out how much someone is putting into being sincere in their behaviour, so i find it very hard to just hate so-called hypocrites so much.. especially as this hate could quickly turn the hater in a hypocrite as well (except in the presence of very low expectations to behaviour ;) and this really isn't helping. probably exactly the opposite - non-judging - behaviour could improve the situation: if somebody aware of failing his own standards still feels accepted by another person, they will much easier admit that they are not perfect, and maybe even reflect what is causing this gap. quite a chance for improvement, i'd reckon.
the first obvious step to me seemed to look up what the word itself actually means. here are my findings:
so, if i understood correctly, hypocrites are people whose behaviour seems to diverge quite noticeably from their stated opinions about how one should behave. of course this seems to be bad - especially in situations when a person is expecting things of others, which they are not willing to provide for themselves. so i understand people, who get very annoyed or frustrated by this behaviour.
On the other hand, i felt occasionally, as if people complaining most about hypocrites fail to understand that it can be very difficult to live up even to one's own expectations of a good life. even people having very high ideals in life and trying very hard to fulfill them might not be able to close the gap and perfectly practice what they preach. so i wonder if it is really possible for anyone to judge them for it?
i guess we are never really in the position of finding out how much someone is putting into being sincere in their behaviour, so i find it very hard to just hate so-called hypocrites so much.. especially as this hate could quickly turn the hater in a hypocrite as well (except in the presence of very low expectations to behaviour ;) and this really isn't helping. probably exactly the opposite - non-judging - behaviour could improve the situation: if somebody aware of failing his own standards still feels accepted by another person, they will much easier admit that they are not perfect, and maybe even reflect what is causing this gap. quite a chance for improvement, i'd reckon.
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