30
April
2004
I released three books into the wilds of Basel tonight. Regina, who I met for hot chocolate and a chat, thought I was pretty weird to deposit books in phone cabins and cafés - but I really hope that not all of them get trashed, and that maybe someone even leaves a note on the site… A pretty cool way of sharing books that you don’t want to keep, in my opinion.
And this week’s Unconscious Mutterings:
- Elastic:: band
- Intervention:: of friends and family
- Risk:: of heartfailure
- Junk food:: McDonalds - annoyingly yum!
- Arrogance:: something I really can’t stand.
- Responsibility:: something I really treasure.
- X:: Files
- Marshall:: McLuhan (was that his name? some important communications guy)
- Kill:: Bill
- Brother:: Bear
Which shows us that I watch too many movie trailers.
Posted: Memes, Resources
29
April
2004
Been tweaking some more on The Bookshelf, my rec project. But I still haven’t found a way around my main problem - how to display the subcategories on the main category pages, in a way that’s not hard-coded, so that I don’t have to change it by hand every time a new subcategory is added. I simply don’t understand WP well enough - and I asked in the Support forum and was told something like this did not exist yet, but I should feel free to learn php and write it. Umm, okay…
But really, WordPress kicks some serious ass, I must say. Not to say anything against MT (which I understand more or less by now), but for the rec project the new subcategory feature (available only in the nightly alpha versions - but it works, that’s the main thing) was essential.
The youth magazine launch this morning went well - we wore t-shirts with the name on it and stood around in front of a couple of schools, pushing it at the unsuspecting students. A local TV station had send two girls to cover it, which led to some very amusing reactions when people saw the camera. I’ve got a couple of mags to send to people, but those of you who speak German and are interested, feel free to check out the website or the pdf file. Just know that I don’t agree with the way the blog article sounds - that was my ‘boss’, who wants to be cool and provocative. But still, the whole thing looks very good and pretty professional - most people thought they’d have to pay for it!
Posted: Life, Resources
26
April
2004
On my way home from uni (where the Online Journalism teacher turned out to be Cyberwriter from my blogroll - global village, anyone? *g*) it just hit me what a beautiful, beautiful evening it was.
Although already 8pm, the air was still warm and the setting sun was tinting everything in warm gold tones. People were sitting on the grass in the park, their bikes lying next to them, just enjoying what almost felt like a summer evening. But the best part was the air, heavy with fragrance, so sweet it was almost cloying. Simply breathtaking, in the best sense of the word, it more than made up for what had been quite a bad day, both because of my shoulder and my mental state.
This is my (sadly failed) attempt to catch the atmosphere from out kitchen balcony. Click the thumb to get the big one.
Posted: Moments, Photos
24
April
2004
Well, I’m back from the island in one piece. There’s a lot to tell, naturally, but for now just the important stuff, because I just went through my emails (about 100, plus the same amount spam in my junk folder) and am pretty beat…
Texel is beautiful, and Märrie and I explored the island by car, on foot, by bike - and on horses. The last thing turned out not to be such a good idea, because I fell and hurt my right shoulder quite badly. Luckily nothing is broken, and it was the last day anyway, but I’m in pain and at times quite woozy.
That put a bit of a damper on an otherwise fantastically relaxing week, of which I’ll tell more in the travel log later. For now I really just wanted to check in here - I hope you’ve all had a good week!
My neck hurts, so I’ll get off the computer for the moment, although there’s so much left to do that I’m itching to catch up with on my websites… But I’m trying to be a good girl in order to be more or less fit for real life and uni on Monday.
Just need to mention one last thing - among the mostly website-related emails, the one that made me smile most was from a teacher from the university of Dortmund (Germany). She had found my site after a student of hers plagiarized my Anthropology paper on Annette Weiner’s study of the Trobriand islanders. She said that at least her student had copied something good… Didn’t someone say that imitation is a form of flattery? It sure feels that way! *g*
Okay, off to bed for real now. Here’s to a night without waking up from pain too often… It’s good to be back, though.
Posted: Life
15
April
2004
Not even email until at least Saturday, if not Sunday, next week… Will feel very weird, especially because I do take my laptop with me as a DVD player. Really should go to bed and try to sleep, because I have to catch my train at the ungodly hour of 7.14am tomorrow.
Märrie made this for us - isn’t it cute? Hope everyone who reads this will have a good week! *hugs*
Posted: Life
14
April
2004
Currently I’m thinking of starting a new website - a rec page, where a team of readers rec good books (as well as fanfiction). It’s just something I’d love to do and I’ve been gathering volunteers to make it something really great. I’ve already got help with the script and someone willing to host the new domain (because I’m more or less out of bandwidth again), but I’m still looking for people willing to be reccers - book recs for any and all genres are welcome!
Also, I’m trying to decide on a domain name, so I appreciate opinions on that, too.
- thebookshelf.org (my own favorite)
- readingrecs.net
- reclibrary.net
- thereclibrary.net
- recthis.net
Other ideas? I wanted something like thereadingroom.net or thelibrary.net, but those are all already taken - but I really like thebookshelf.org, so I’m leaning strongly in that direction.
I’m leaving for my week-long retreat to Texel (island in the North Sea, part of the Netherlands) with Märrie on Friday, but afterwards I’d really like to get this off the ground!
Posted: Site
11
April
2004
To anyone who celebrates the resurrection of Jesus a blessed Easter holiday! I for my part just returned from an Easter service, which was very good and thought-provoking. Balm for my soul, so to speak.
But on to more prosaic things:
Unconscious Mutterings
- Boxing:: my brother getting up at 5am to watch it on TV…
- Lewis:: and Clark
- Bodyguard:: Whitney Huston
- Burnout:: mental
- Cruising:: the Mediterrenean (in my dreams)
- Easter:: holiday
- AA:: Anonyme Alkoholiker
- Research:: necessary for papers and such
- Redemption:: of my soul
- Snickers:: yucky, allergy-inducing peanuts!
Also of interest might be to go and have a look at the entrance page of this domain — I exchanged the picture with a similar one. Only this one is of me, taken by Sibylle on Friday. You like? 
Posted: Memes, Site
9
April
2004
For a change I’ve been able to sit in front of the computer for more than five minutes. Used this opportunity to add a lot of good quotes on friendship and life to my list (a random quote can always be found on the left), all of them thanks to Baisleac, who posts some every day.
It’s a long weekend for me - almost a week, because I don’t have uni on Thursdays and next Tuesday both classes have been cancelled. This is this semester’s schedule, if you’re interested - I’m taking it easy, because I don’t want to frustrate myself by taking on too much and then failing to fulfill my expectations…
Monday: 14-16 - Shoah literature seminary (German Lit)
16.30-17.30 - weekly appointment with my shrink
18-20 - Online Journalism (Medias)
Tuesday: 10-12 - Literature and Religion lecture (German Lit)
14-16 - Youth Literature of the South seminary (Anthro)
Wednesday: 10-12 - Culture, Health and Illness seminary (Anthro)
Thursday: free
Friday: 10-12 - Anthropology of Experience seminary (Anthro)
Only one lecture - they just don’t offer them anymore except in German Lit, which is a great pity, because some of my favorite classes have been lectures, where you just go because you’re interested, not to get credits or something… And German Lit lectures are always so boring (too many pretentious people in that subject!) that I really prefer seminaries a lot of the time, although they require more work.
Posted: Life, Site
6
April
2004
First, this week’s Unconscious Mutterings:
- Condemn:: prejudiced
- Promiscuous:: men
- Pro-life:: pro-choice
- Mona Lisa:: too many damn people staring at a painting
- Crown:: jewels (in the Louvre again)
- Mumble:: please speak up, sir!
- Hack:: this (username of a friend of mine)
- Diet:: Coke
- Introduction:: I always forget names…
- Latin America:: Would love to visit one day!
Paris was lovely. We had the best weather (which unfortunately also meant that I had the hayfever from hell) and walked all over the city, seeing all the sights. Just such a beautiful city - I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of doing the touristy stuff there, because it’s simply so gorgeous… Only the Parisians are sometimes quite rude. And my feet hurt like crazy after the second day already. Poor Sandra was in even worse shape, because she had the flu - worst timing imaginable!
Still, we had the best time! More Paris to follow when I’ve got the time to upload some photos and post them in the travel log…
I’ve been quite busy since returning home - I worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then went to Zurich with Sibylle to see Bryan Adams live in concert again - our third time together, my Christmas present to her. We didn’t see as well as the last two times, but it was still awesome - the man is simply the bomb live! I called about seven people to have them listen in… Not all of them appreciated it, though. Ungrateful rubble! *g*
For now I finally managed to copy all the header.php code into the separate index files, so MT is running smoothly again. A pity that I can’t use header files, though, would have been so very handy for layout changes…
Uni started again yesterday, and I should start to get ready. It’s strange, it doesn’t feel like it’s really started, because the long Easter weekend is coming up and already Friday next week I’ll go on my North Sea island retreat with Märrie…
Posted: Life, Memes, Site
