Fui guade Zeit!

Da hamma mal wieder einiges erlebt und nüscht geschrieben. ;-) Dafür aber jetzt…

Continue...

The ladies are at it again...

... but more importantly than that: yesterday was my dad's birthday and I just want to wish him (again) all the best, happiness, good health and, most of all, to continue being such a great, inspiring and confident person! And at that one, who has not lost his humor over the obstacles life has been throwing at him. Love you! ;-)

Continue...

Viva Chile!

For my friends in Chile - fortunately, none of them was harmed by the earthquake, but they will need our support when rebuilding their country. Let's do it, then!

Für meine chilenischen Freunde - glücklicherweise haben alle das Erdbeben heil überstanden, doch beim Wiederaufbau können sie jegliche Hilfe gebrauchen. Packen wir es an!

Hanna

Keep them in your thoughts...

Chile. I have traveled there, seen the cities that were rebuilt after big earthquakes.

Continue...

Eggspertise

This morning was once again that beloved laid-back mode of sundays that I wish for so often, but only get to enjoy in homeopathic dosages. Which might be just fine in itself, I guess. Anyways, following a lengthy discussion as to the physics of water getting into boiled eggs (causing them to spill said fluids the moment you crack them open), we took our time to decorate said eggs before crushing them to death peeling and slicing them to assemble heavenly egg sandwiches. Besides, we had other delicacies as well, among them fresh croissants from the day before but rejuvenated by a minute on the toaster, fresh coffee with frothed milk, fresh bread rolls (this time for real) and even tomatoes-cum-mozzarella. Mhhhh. And oh, the best part - chattering, laughter and a merry start into the day. Thanx girls! We have to keep that up! I mean it.

Other than that? Uhm, not that much. Just had another lifeguard competition last week, and, well, how to put it? The mixed team I was competing in scored 2nd place. Yay! The competition was here in Jena, so that was nice for a change. Coming to think of it, the next bigger competition will also take place right here - the Thuringian Lifeguard Championships. If I make it onto the mixed team again and if we do well, we might also compete in the German Championships, which will take place in Thuringia as well this year (thanks to the fantastic success of the Thuringian ladies (and men's) teams at last years German Championships).So the ground has been all set up... keep your fingers crossed (and I'll keep you updated in the meantime), come April it's all going to get serious. ;-)
Plans till then? Get/stay in shape (swimming- and otherwise), submit my last paper, start writing the dissertation, travel to Montréal (yay, all for work reasons! Gotta love big, international conferences!), travel to almost-Montréal-ic Saarbrücken (yay, another conference), get Meltonish-ly hyped up with the newbies ;-), try to figure out the meaning/interpretation of the results of my students' experiment, experiment with the Lensbaby, cross-processing slide film and photography in general (in combination of these as well as separately).

Schon wieder eine Woche rum und nur Mist gemacht das Wochenende mit einem Mädelsfrühstück gekrönt. War lustig, insbesondere da einige unter uns, nach langwieriger und unverständlicher ausführlicher Erklärung der Gründe für die Ansammlung von Wasser in hartgekochten Eiern, ebenjene mit Bildnissen verzierten, die es fast erfordern, eine neue Kunstgattung zu erschaffen.. Kubistisch? Nee. Abstrakt? Mh, nein. Primitiv? Eventuell, aber das trifft es nicht ganz. Wir schufen Hybriden aus Malerei und Plastik, da auch die mitunter defekte Oberfläche (Druckausdehnung bei starken Temperaturschwankungen; auch dies Thema unserer physikalischen Erörterungen) in das Gesamtkunstwerk einbezogen wurde - entweder thematisch (Frankenstein's Osterei) oder als Designelement. Wie ihr seht, also ein toller Morgen. Danke Mädels, das dürfen wir nicht einschlafen lassen! ;-)
Und was war sonst los?

Mh, nicht viel... abgesehen von einer lustigen Familienfeier, bei der anscheinend ein fieser Magen-Darm-Virus rumging (mittlerweile aber von den Betroffenen überstanden), stand vor allem ein Wettkampf am letzten Wochenende im Vordergrund, bei dem die gemischte Mannschaft, der ich angehörte, den 2. Platz erkämpfen konnte - ganz nach dem Vorbild der (wieder mal) siegreichen Damen. Wenn's gut läuft, werde ich im April wieder mal für Jena starten - dann bei den Thüringer Meisterschaften im Rettungsschwimmen, die dieses Jahr sogar in Jena stattfinden werden. Und wenn es dann nicht nur für die Damen, sondern auch für die Mannschaft gut läuft, in der evtl. ich starten darf, geht's weiter zu den Deutschen Meisterschaften - die aufgrund toller Leistungen im letzten Jahr auch in Thüringen stattfinden werden. Uiuiuiui, das wird aufregend! ;-)
Und bis dahin? Werde ich weiterhin fleißig trainieren, (hoffentlich sobald wie möglich) ein letztes Manuskript einreichen, anfangen an der Dissertation zu basteln, nach Montréal reisen (yippie, internationale Konferenzen sind TOLL), nach nicht-ganz-Montréal-Saarbrücken fahren (japp, auch hier aus Arbeitsgründen), die neuen Trainees der Melton Foundation aufmischen (oder die mich?), und photographischerweise mit dem Lensbaby und der Crossentwicklung von Diafilmen experimentieren.

Hanna

iBlog. And iLove it.

Ahem, is it time again? I daresay it might be...
So this time I wanted to insert an honorary mention of this and this gal into the post. That about does it, doesn't it? ;-)
To be honest, those two were somewhat influential on me to take up blogging in the first place And whereas Jule - being the one that wrote and wrote about her adventures in such faraway lands as Norway - was the one to get me hooked on, Franzi on the other hand inspired me to take it more seriously. Although I have to admit, I'm not taking it as seriously as trying to recap week after week the new things that I took up (or in my case, possibly re-remembered). Seriously though, c'mon, I don't need a Smart Ass Saturday to list that up. I can have the WHOLE WEEK!!! In fact, I would have a very hard time not sharing my wise wits with my environment all. the. time. At least I hope that I'm not being too much of a pest. I can't help it. Really. I think.

Anyways, to be honest - I love blogging. I might not be the most avid, thorough, continuous blogger the world has ever seen (and hell no, I wouldn't want to be that, either), but I really enjoy being a bit creative here and there and having a little outlet of sorts for my rambling thoughts, things I enjoyed or just random things. Oh, that and showing some of my photography. Sorry, couldn't do without that one. ;-) Some people keep a journal to jut down a note or two, sometimes even an account of the full day. I did that years ago when I lived abroad and when everything was just so exciting and new and wooooooow. And I certainly did that when I was travelling, cuz I just like to be able to recap what I did on those trips. But for the average day? No way, I just won't take the time to sit down and write something just for me. If it's impressive, why not share it? If it was hilarious (either in a self-deprecating fashion or any other way), why not have others have a laugh, too? If I discover something beautiful, why not give others joy in it as well? And if I feel not-so-well, why not let others know? Apart from that, it's just so much easier to kind of keep in touch with friends who might live just around the next ocean. I think I have a few of those as well. Besides the ones, that I like spending my time with over here. So there you have it - I'm a sharer. Oh my... but as a good friend of mine once suggested: "Sharing is caring". And that's about the care I got to give for today.
Take CARE my friends and have a great day ahead (oh yeah, it's already the next day over here!).

Hanna

A sparkling start into 2010!!!

Hope you all had a great start into the new year, enjoyed the odd glass of sparkling stuff and took some realistic resolutions with you. Or well, maybe not (the last point). I think that whenever you really want to change something in your life, it's odd to wait for a new year just to get the change started. Why then?
Anyways, I celebrated with some friends and it was a really nice and relaxed night. An hour before midnight, the sleet and rain turned into snow again and it was a white start into the new year! And a splendid one at that! I played a bit with the camera, so here are some of the impressions from midnight and the time afterwards. Enjoy! Btw, anyone guessing the content of the first picture will win an honorary blogpost dedicated to him. Form and content of that will be announced later. ;-)

Frohes Neues allerseits! Ich hoffe, ihr seid alle gut ins Neue Jahr gekommen, habt das eine oder andere Gläschen darauf erhoben und vielleicht einige gute Vorsätze gefasst. Wobei... den letzten Teil vergesst einfach mal. Gute Vorsätze sind ja nicht unbedingt wirkungsvoller, nur weil sie zu Silvester verabschiedet wurden! Im Gegenteil... die Erfolgsrate ist an allen 364 anderen Tagen im Jahr wohl um einiges höher. Daher: viel Erfolg im nächsten Jahr und am besten lassen sich gute Vorsätze umsetzen, wenn man sie sofort angeht. ;-)
Soviel zur vorfristigen Sonntagspredigt von mir. Euch allen noch ein schönes Wochenende und viel Spaß mit den Impressionen, die ich beim Spielen mit Wunderkerzen, Kamera und Stativ einfangen konnte. Wer entdeckt, was im ersten Bild enthalten ist, wird beim nächsten Blogpost geehrt... wie, verrate ich dann! ;-)

Hanna

The old year can keep this one...

Some days are the kind where you know right away that it would've been a better bet to stay in bed than trying to wrench anything good out of it. Other times, you only find out piece by piece that these 24 hours were simply not meant for you. Granted, most days are quite ok, if not even splendid. Still, from time to time it's your turn to suck it up and go with it. And so did I...

Continue...

The Christmas spirits...

... come in all shapes and sizes.
Here's an overview, gained by means of empirical research in the present metropolis.
1) the spirited spirit
Can often be encountered in the later hours of the day, this time of the year usually around the 10th-12th hour. (I'm talking old times, so don't you look at me like that and exclaim "10 o'clock!!! Ohmahgawd!") In high season (NOW) this specimen is especially easy to spot in and around christmas markets. Don't ask me how I got to know, I just know. So how to tell them apart from, say, talkative spirits (see below)? For once, the spirited spirit almost always exhibits a distinctly colored nose, mainly in the longer-wavelength color spectrum. Also, many individuals appear to be undergoing gravity enhancement, specifically in the chin area, which causes speech to slur (in a continuum from imperceptible to hard-to-miss). However, such spirited spirits may display all sorts of temper, from mildly affectionate to die-hard aggressive. I had the pleasure to encounter one of the affectionate kind yesterday. He was kind enough to even give away one of his three cups of mulled wine that he just got for his daughter, her boyfriend and himself (turned out, that he later gave away his own cup). Nice chap, although communication was a bit hindered by above mentioned gravity boost.
2) the talkative spirit
May come in combination with 1) and is usually quite easy to tolerate and get along with - as long as you have an email address to deal out (never mind that that email account might be full pretty soon again). Btw, that was NOT my account or my initiative (the email thing).
3) the spirit that appears out of nowhere
Not to be mistaken with 1) or 2), this spirit is the kind that you don't even in your wildest dreams anticipate. Nay, even when facing you they don't trigger the slightest premonition of what is about to come. So imagine my surprise, when (while sitting in a café and talking animatedly with two good friends) this guy turns around, faces us and suddenly asks us whether we know about "women soccer". - Well, y...e....ssss. Turns out spirit no.3 is a die-hard fan of the local women's soccer team (which, coincidentally, is really good and plays in the first national league - in women soccer, of course) and he.just.witnessed.them.playing.the.best.game.of.the.season.yet. Duh. And when you compare the men's team with that - they're nothing, those eggheads. (his verdict). So, yeah, you're right. And I'm still wondering how we qualified to be his talking partners in a full café. Maybe we looked so inviting? Or maybe my facial expression of sincere understanding was just too good to be faked? Turns out that my expression code for "sincere understanding" closely resembles the one for "what the heck? I don't get this!".
All in all, I wonder if we were holding an invisible sign yesterday that said "Yeah, please talk to us - all of you have 2 hours to try your luck! First come, first serve. Oh yeah, and don't forget to bring a good any story. Mulled wine appreciated."

Anyways, how are the spirits in your corner of the world? Alas, I'm still waiting for the real Christmas spirit to arrive, but I have an inkling that I felt some of it swish by today. Gotta go and look out for it now... lest I miss it!

Hanna

What I love these days...

... coming home from the cold and warming up with a hot cup of excellent black tea, sweetened with amaretto-infused rock sugar and topped off with some milk.
... waking up to a muffled, somewhat somber world.

... doing handicrafts in the evening, assisting the creative process with the occasional cup of mulled wine.
... receiving trashy gifts in an white-elephant gift exchange.
... laughing till I can't move anymore when witnessing the trash OTHER people got to take home. ;-)
... eating christmas cookies and sugar roasted almonds.
... ice skating in the middle of Jena.

... drinking a mulled wine before, after and in between ice skating (ok, I bluffed... there was no mulled wine in the middle of ice skating). ;-)
... holding an advent-session with my students
... lighting the Advent wreath.

... spending comfy evenings with friends.
... eating hearty food and enjoying time just as it is.
... throwing snow balls.
... lighting an incense smokerman and enjoying the fragrant fumes.

... taking snow pictures.
... listening to the snow crunching underneath my feet (did you know that this is not due to traction, but because the air in the powdery snow is forcefully compressed?)
... watching snow fall and fall and fall.
... taking a pensive look at the powdered mountains all around Jena.


What I do not love these days...
... running around from Xmas-event to Xmas-event.
... numb legs, cheeks and noses due to the harsh cold.
... frozen hair.
... the craze for gifts AT THIS VERY MOMENT. And the ruthlessness that some people exhibit then.

... snow flakes in my eyes.
... drippy noses.
... wet shoes inside the flat.
... frost on the INSIDE of my window which I left open overnight.
... ice cold hands that take 15 minutes to defrost after entering the house.
... cold walls that emanate the icy temperatures from the outside.
... depleted wine and tea stocks.
... being hit by an icy snow ball.
... slithering around on icy roads and slippery cobblestone streets (of which there are MANY around).
... cracked lips just half a minute after leaving the warmth of home.

And what is it that touches you these days?

BTW, a blessed 4th Advent to y'all!

Hanna

It's the Melton gang, again.

Has it been that long already? Apparently it has, since the next Melton weekend is just about to start.
The location will be an all-time favourite, profoundly tested out half a decade ago (oh my, is it really half a decade? Am I really becoming one of the older SFs now? Mh, time is a funny concept...). So today's destination is... Hütten! If I remember correctly, we've been there at least 3 times - twice for campus weekends and once for the first-ever "alumni" conference. For the young 'uns out there: "alumni" used to be the term for Senior Fellows. You might've guessed it, but it's outdated by now (telling you just to be on the safe side, right?).

Continue...

Once again... just like every year

Ja, es ist wieder einmal soweit... freut euch, Kinder, es ist Feuerzangenbowle-Zeit! ;-)
 

Momentan ist Halbzeit und der Saal füllt sich langsam wieder mit Cineasten, die eifrigst bestrebt sind, ihren Flüssigkeitshaushalt ausgewogen zu halten. Sprich, im Foyer vor dem Hörsaal gibt es leckere Feuerzangenbowle (passend zum Film, nech?) käuflich zu erwerben und die Veranstalter können sich wahrlich nicht über zu geringe Nachfrage beschweren. ;-)

In dem Sinne: Prosit!

Hanna

That's the way the cookie crumbles... not.

So a friend came over for a visit yesterday and we all thought: well, let's celebrate the moment aptly. And we went off and...

Continue...

Germanic regression

To be honest, I never thought that I might like the Oktoberfest. Too much stereotypical has been reported about it before, too much to make me think (forgive me) that it is ONLY about drinking and eating and pulling the money out of people's pockets. And to a certain extent, that is VERY true. There IS a lot of drinking and you can fill your stomach with all kinds of delectable foods to the point of bursting and all of this comes with a hefty price tag.

Continue...

The German's catharsis

Welcome to a very atypical, yet quite stereotypical German festivity - the Oktoberfest. Imagine an annual beer craze, hordes of men and women in more or less whimsical traditional costumes, food and drinks in abundance and a huge fairground complete with rollercoasters, carusels and party tents in which music and the smell of spirits form an atmosphere bearable only in a not-so-sober state. Well then, I'm off to get a Mass of a cool blonde one. Prosit!

Hanna

Keep on rolling

Whew... last weekend was all about sports and training for an upcoming first aid competition - the German round of FACE (First Aid Competition in Europe). It was a fun and productive weekend, topped off with me participating in a 10-k-skating sprint at the middel German marathon in Halle. I came in 2nd - though only in my age group. But still, that was quite good considering that it was my first skating race ever and 10 km is quite a lot for a "sprint". I made it through quite well, but boy, did that hurt my back! Swimming is definitely not as helpful for a skater-back I might have needed. ;-) Anyways, what's the best way to finish off an already over-full weekend???
Yeah, you got it - moving, or rather helping someone move a looooot of stuff out of one flat, into a sizable moving van, drive it through half of this state, unpack it, get a bite to eat and then get back home - before midnight, cuz there's a new week starting in a couple hours time, isn't it?
Well, the next weekend should be less packed and leave more room for relaxation... I think.

Hanna

Summer must-haves

Continue...

Whoever thought of that...

...coincidentally, we (a group of lifeguards from the Red Cross association in Jena) parked in front of a Dresden Red Cross building. Good karma?

... clearly must be a genius!

Continue...

In case I haven't mentioned it yet...

Me loves summer!

Especially, when - despite a lack of "real" traveling and adventure this year - I get to do all kinds of fun outdoor activities and at that, a lot of "firsts". So let me recount...

Continue...

Sh*t happens - offline, too!

Ever happened to check the electrical current at home? Well, my dad found out today that we indeed do have electricity. And managed to blow a fuse with another (and hitherto functioning) appliance just minutes after that. Just so you know, I was the bystander and made sure everything was witnessed and to be reported for your entertainment. ;-)

Continue...