What I’m listening to…
A Swedish audio book: Människohamn by John Lindqvist
(translates to “The Man Harbor”…roughly)
A Swedish audio book: Människohamn by John Lindqvist
(translates to “The Man Harbor”…roughly)
…in a small town if:
- A gnarly postman checks you out.
- The local alcoholics come into the library for books on the mafia.
I was invited to sit down with my new colleagues yesterday at a local cafe. Innocuous and friendly, the meeting prompted some thoughts within me as they discussed, rapidly, things in Swedish that I mostly understood.
“You have to learn Java to make an App.”
“What?”
“Yeah, it’s a big book!”
“Nah, no, I’m sure it’s not as hard as that. There has to be some point-and-click software out there.”
This is what people want: software that simplifies life. People want everything to be straightforward and simple. Instead of doing things for yourself from scratch, we want it ready-made. Ready-made patterns for sewing, pre-mixed pancake batter, microwavable meals, downloadable themes and templates. We don’t want to do it ourselves or learn how to do it. Just gives us a box to open and three-step directions.
I don’t know how such a simple statement at a friendly cafe meeting could upset me so. Except I see it as a sign that people, average people, don’t have the skills they need. We rely so much on others and distrust our own abilities to do things. Our time is precious - why should we spend it on such things? But, I want to ask, what are we spending our time on in the meantime?
I want to be self-reliant. (But I have no idea how to program an app)
Beloved, by Toni Morrison.
Almost finished reading after just two or three days (hard to be determinate with jetlag on the brain). I am enjoying the novel - perhaps I should clarify that I am enjoying the literary style rather than the gruesome, provocative content. (Although both the latter can be deemed enjoyable in its’ own right.)
My new addiction from the land of TV is called CASTLE. Besides the overly cheesy line, the series is golden. I am biased; Nathan Fillion will always be my space cowboy hero (and valiant Captain Hammer).
I made a Spotify playlist from the show’s tunes: http://open.spotify.com/user/dreams4ever25/playlist/3ZaRapSU89Us686dT9U1eQ
I’m remembering spring today. The clouds are moving in and it’s starting to feel like Fall.
The best taste in the world is the first strawberries of the season. I remember the color and the flavor. My heart looks back with fondness, as if before a great journey. Winter is coming!
On a lighter note, I handed in my thesis today. 50 pages of mad mad mediocrity!
I went to my first Kräftskiva this weekend at a friend’s house in the country. What fun!
Today I spotted a hedgehog rooting around the flowerbed below our apartment window. Emil wanted to see if he was hungry. He didn’t like carrots or ham, much to our disappointment. But he was cute and prompted us on a research adventure regarding hedgehogs and their dietary habits. Then we found ourselves watching the “Transformer Owl” on Youtube. Good times!
Tomorrow I must return to my thesis work. It was nice taking a day off, watching Dr. Who and eating pizza. Very nice.
I’m in the library working on my thesis. I’m starting to recognize visitors and the habitual sounds they make while studying.
There are also quite a few tourists who come by with pamphlets in hand. I feel like a ship in a bottle, some sort of novel oddity. “Look, they even study in summer!”
