bd revisited
bad duerrenberg (we reported earlier) on wikipedia! i do not value this font of half-knowledge too highly, but am still impressed by the comprehensive introduction to my little hometown. including the mention of keuschberg and the 30km tram line that connects bd all the way with halle on a 90min ride. however, due to current construction work you have to take a shuttle bus to leuna, then change to tram line 5. i also found out on wikipedia that bd has just over 11,000 inhabitants left, down from 17,000 in the 1980s. average age of the population is not mentioned, but my omi told me they are building yet another old people's home.
precariat
my word of the day. actually, of the month. makes my hairs stand up.we are, according to everyone with a sociology degree and a left-wing attitude, living in times of a growing precarisation of society. the official definition, and definition means it's now an official buzzword, is *a growing transformation from guaranteed, permanent employment to less well paid and more insecure jobs*. hang on, does that not mean that we all live in a precarious situation unless we are civil servants or millionaires? which job is ever *secure*? who ever does not feel *underpaid* and *overworked* at some point in their work life? we can finally group together and develop some class conscience as a precariat. to keep with the marxist jargon. let's just be aware that we, the precariat, are part of a very large majority on this planet. most earthlings have been in precarious jobs most of their lives. in fact, it is the job guarantee that's the odd modern day phenomenon in welfare states such as germany or sweden. or italy, where an employee is practically unsackable once he has made it into permanent employment. we should be ever grateful for our ancestors to have fought for the working conditions we had, say, 15 years ago, when the dream of secure workplaces began to fall apart. the precariat's weapon in class struggle is on the field of consumption, as our way of being exploited and funnily also our escapist drug is... shopping! no money to invest into our future, but enough to put back into the economy at the point of sale. therefore i cry: precarians of all nations, renounce!
karel gott fussballgott
im spiegel schreibt die goldene stimme aus prag ueber seinen flug in einer alten tupolew nach stansted. um das tschechische team gegen deutschland spielen zu sehen. genial.
wer hat su doku gesehen?
dringend gesucht wird su doku. su ist logisch aber raetselhaft, manchmal kompliziert, wird oft auf zugfahrten und bei laengeren klositzungen gesichtet. auf jeden fall aber: su doku macht suechtig! hier ein fahndungsfoto:
sachdienliche hinweise bitte an schnuckelchen!
east west
culture shock.
that's how i feel every time i go to east germany and back to london. every time. i felt relaxed in berlin this week not because everyone i met was so nice, but because everyone and everything was so organised. i did not have to feel like ms super bully simply to get things done, but we were all on the same wave length and actually worked with each other: the taxi driver checked via txt service what my flight gate was, the hotel concierge helped me to build up our little exhibition stand just because he could, i lent my laptop to my boss just because mine was fully charged. the waitress in a bread shop asked me if i wanted the top or bottom half of the bread roll for my open sandwich. when was i last asked that question! a smooth 3 days. i aimed to impress my boss by taking him to borchardt's, the posh place and celeb hangout of the moment near gendarmenmarkt. celebs spotted: marius mueller westernhagen!!! mit 2 ladies im schlepptau. cherno dingsbums, moderiert so halbwegs das morgenmagazin, und beate wedekind, vormals elle-chefredakteurin, die mich dauernd angestarrt hat. doch!my fototour took me from brandenburg gate to oranienburger strasse, alex, prenzlauer berg and potsdamer platz.
hairy house
der fussball geht auf!
neue synagoge, but it's just the fassade
börlin börlin!
habe ich doch das glueck, in der hauptstadt der deutschen auf einer konferenz zu weilen, der worldtelemedia. die maennlichen konferenzteilnehmer tragen zuweilen zopf, und sie tragen oft schilder mit hollaendischen namen und firma: satinclub.com drauf. es geht also um mobile services, die man mit einer hand bedienen kann. aus diesem grund und weil das wetter so schoen ist, war ich gestern abend bummeln in berlin. hatte meinem chef schon am montag den reichstag gezeigt und das b-tor, und ihn gezwungen, eine bratwurst mit broetchen und viel senf zu essen. er behauptete glaubhaft, die wurst habe ihm geschmeckt!
die konferenz findet uebrigens gegenueber von verteidigungsministerium statt. sehe vom saal aus staendig bundeswehr und marinesoldaten ein- und ausmarschieren. immer im gleichschritt und mit gleichschnitt (was die haare betrifft). das schild koennte ja mal wieder geputzt werden. in england waer das nicht so dreckig, da gibts schliesslich butler, die den ganzen tag nur mit politur bewaffnet unterwegs sind.
in mein hotelzimmer an der friedrichstrasse hat jemand gemeinerweise eine waage gestellt. seit wann sponsort weight watchers das maritim?? waage landete mit schwung im kleiderschrank. der traumhafte blick aus dem 11. stock des maritim ueber ostberlin und seine balkons, der einzige blick ohne fernsehturm!:
wer wird millionaer
ich will da hin! wie komme ich als kandidatin in die show? klar ist, dass ich als kandidatin reingehen und als millionaerin rauskommen wuerde. unbedingt. auf dem normalen weg, bewerbung einschicken, simsen, mailen, scheint nichts zu klappen. wer hat einen tip?
the quiet after the storm
i woke up this morning after a bad bad night, and the sun exploded into my bedroom. it's summer in london! just wrote a final email to someone ending a situation that has gone on for too long. feeling very calm now that a decision has been made. this should be a learning experience for me, but i fear that procrastinating and the thinking that *everything will sort itself out* will stay with me for a while yet. people don't change their personalities, rather, they learn and adapt. i'm the eternal intern in the school of life. o well, it's a beautiful sunny day...
hau den prof!
an alle leipziger ex-kommilitonen: schaut euch die professorenabstimmung im web an! interessant, was da so an zustimmung oder vielmehr noch ablehnung des geschundenen studentenvolkes sichtbar wird. verstehe allerdings nicht, warum prof voss ein so schlechtes ergebnis hat. wo er mir doch in meiner soziologiepruefung eine 2 gab, obwohl ich wenig zu karl marx und noch weniger zu max weber sagen konnte. andere muessen noch viel bloeder als ich gewesen sein! geradezu unbegreiflich scheint, dass sich ueber prof de toro noch nicht literweise die kuebel der gerechten entruestung ergossen haben. sollte er sich von arroganz und ignoranz losgesagt haben? ist ja schon eine weile her, dass ich in leibzsch studiert habe. da gabs den beststudenten noch... gehe jetzt abstimmen und gebe mich dann ein wenig der nostalgie hin.
parih - parce que je le vaux bien
bad is beautiful
dear o dear! swamped by requests from all corners of this globe for more web info on BD, here the official festival site for bad duerrenberg's annual *brunnenfest*. let this town finally have all the attention it deserves!hab uebrigens gerade 2 dinge bemerkt: erstens - ich bin in google nicht mehr unter den top 10 fuer das suchwort *schnuckelchen*. auweia. aber das ist nicht deine schuld, denn du hast schnuckelchen.me.uk ja netterweise oder neugierigerweise angeklickt. zweitens - ich bin noch im buero, und das in parih.
parih - parce que je le vaux bien
bon soir my darlings. from bad duerrenberg to paris with a stopover in london. what a real eurovisionary i am! will get my light-brown heels on v soon and explore the parisien nightlife. anyone want to meet up ce soir? watch this space for pics on parih.
BD discount paradise
bad duerrenberg is a retail phenomenon: in a town of around 14,000 people, there used to be 17,000 before 1989, you can find all the discount supermarkets that have ever done business in germany. from aldi to norma, they are all there. and a new one called pfennigpfeiffer, which is like a 1-pound shop, therefore even cheaper than aldi! 14,000 people can choose to spend their pension money or their benefits or even their salaries in one or more of 10 supermarkets. favourite pastime is not shopping, but comparing offers between norma, lidl and co. and discussing the bargains while relaxing on a park bench.have some more views of BD:
welcome to bad duerrenberg!
more airport
so instead of 9AM i got on the plane at 6.30PM. that was after the evacuation of stansted airport due to a fire alarm. no it was not me! i made it to my omi just after midnight. but how else would i have seen bitterfeld by night. a little voice on the little slow train informed us all of the landesgartenschau in wernigerode. alle hingehen bitte! here some pics of stansted for you my darlings. i did have some hours to kill!
stars and planes
hello from stansted airport, centre of my current universe. i'm embarrassed to say that i did not make my flight as i was not allowed on the plane. because i was 5 minutes late for a ryanair flight!!? dear o dear - the irony of it. i subtly complained and am now booked on an evening flight to berlin. it is crystal clear though i will never make it to leipzig and to OMI before the end of this unfortunate day. so how do you beat the tedious wait at the airport if you are not into sudoku? called my friend evelyn, who is not having coffee with me in leipzig today. she called this a typical situation for me. does she know me so well? apparently she does, because i actually did manage to miss a flight before when i was invited to a job interview by the leipzig olympic committee. i did not get the job, and leipzig did not get the olympics. deal. london did get the games in 2012, but then i never miss a flight TO london. it's all in the stars!airports are horrible microcosms when you are not in fact going anywhere. you are supposed to pass throughmore or less smoothly, lingering upsets the system. not that the system at stansted was very sophisticated, but still. i feel like tom hanks in that film where the eastern european man is stuck at an airport for years. i have been a good worker bee and just checked me emails. looks like i will be flying to serbia soon. goodness gracious me. this has not been my week. stars! please rearrange in my favour!
omi
today is my omi's birthday. she's 84 now and fit enough to cut me off when i called her this morning because her girl friends were at the door! but i'll give her my little present tomorrow in person. now doing the dishes, packing my bag, wrapping granny's pressie and off to an early night. up up and away bright and early tomorrow. ryanair! enjoy the easter egg race.
song of the day: mein kleiner gruener kaktus
for my granny who taught me to read, to add and to cycle. though i still cannot stay on a pushbike for long...
vorsprung durch technik
my dear non-teutonic kameraden!ever thought of visiting the land of h-milk and sauerkraut? think you know all about my country, like the seven-years-of-bad-sex rule? can you appreciate the engineering genius of a flachspueler platform toilet? put on your lederhosen and take the test! or take a german class with klaus and his friends. you know you want to.
book of the day: fear of flying
das bild zum tag
die neugierige tulpe auf meinem fensterbrett. will halt auch mal was sehen von der welt.
open marriage
just thought i'd share this find with you. fascinating. i agree with the concept: don't hide behind phrases like *responsibility* to or for someone else, sort out your own mess or learn to feel happy with it. what's wrong with an open marriage? it's not have your cake and eat it. it's catering (to stay in the picture) for different needs within one being. one is comfort and belonging within your family, the other is sex. after all, no system is completely closed, sealed, without any interaction with the outside world. doesn't work like that. the one prerequisite to success for an open relationship is that all players know where they stand. they will try and quit when they start feeling uncomfortable with their role, but you cannot always avoid pain.song of the day: call me
