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Time to advertise my photo-blog and here you can see what parts of my art look like;-)

Quote-corner:

“I love abstract art because when it is good, it can put the viewer in touch with who they are beyond their culture, psychology, history or personality.”
David Jones


“Are we to paint what's on the face, what's inside the face, or what's behind it?”
Pablo Picasso


"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Walt Disney´s flower

Funny anecdote in between-
2 very young second language learners tried to remember the English name for a special flower- a daisy. They have always combined that vocabulary with a comic figure- Daisy Duck. Seeing the picture of a daisy they called out, "That´s a duck!"
Laughter.
After recognizing their mistake they discussed a bit and finally found their solution.
"We know the word!" one of the kids said very proud.
"It´s Donald!"
:-)

Ash-books

Books, books, books! Just a look into my library;-) that´s why I don´t have a guestroom anylonger-
just kidding, again!
It´s a bookstore in Salem; impressive, isn´t it?
I don´t need so many books at the moment; I´m very modest- I just need 3 new ones. Not a big deal you might think.
Wrong.
You have no idea how Iceland´s volcano has effect on the whole transportation system! Today I found out that I´ll get my books at the end of June!! They aren´t in stock nearly in whole Europe.
I just hope that I don´t have to read too much before the course´ll start. Normally I can pick up my books within a few days,´cause Amazon delivers quicker than all the bookstores around. Never mind.
Perhaps some kind pilots´ll fly faster than allowed, so I´ll get my books sooner:-) Ok, I don´t want to bring them into troubles, I promise to be patient and watch the sky- for planes and ash-clouds;-) And honestly, what else could I do?

Did I mention that I miss NYC´s bookstores? Strand´s, Barnes and Noble,....Alas! Hope I´ll be back this summer! The Lincoln Center Festival will take place
http://new.lincolncenter.org/live/index.php/lcf-10-cal-genre

and Shakespeare in the Park would be interesting.
http://www.publictheater.org/content/view/126/219/

But too far away- like my books;-) ...and hopefully a new ash-cloud!

Success!

Finally I found a solution for my "writing-problem" today. I mean the one with the 2 tenses.
Writing in 1 or in 2 tenses, that was the question.
I decided to write just in the past tense form -it was the easiest way to avoid disappointment.
Well, and I´m a rational person- often. Risking something will make sense if you are sure to do the right thing. Without this inner confidence it´s not clever to try something -especially when you know that your writing will be graded.

Solution found, risk avoided, thrill deleted:-( Too bad!

Have to find another kick, maybe I should change something in my other draft - the tenses, the main characters, the whole plot,...just kidding;-) what else? But maybe.... you´ll see after my first revision- just ask me in 30 years or so:-) lol

Today seems to be my funny one maybe because I´m so happy that I finished 2 assignments out of 6 (for the last and the next block- my personal deadline is no later than the end of June, so I´ll have one week of before starting the 4. block. Hope , I´ll be ready sooner. This week I´ll finish the next 2 pieces. Quickly? No. I´ve just written a lot on different pieces this month....
and finally success!

Tomorrow, tomorrow,...

Tandelion-photos, taken today.

It was again a beautiful and finally warm day in spring. I couldn´t resist going out although I had to finish a lot of work at home; but it´s hard to work indoors when the sun is shining outside. But tomorrow! Reminds me of the musical Annie (See music-corner below).

With most of my work I´m right in time. I have set myself deadlines otherwise I won´t have holidays this year. Today I got stuck in writing another assignment -that was another reason for leaving the flat. Had to get some inspiration - without success. But maybe tomorrow...

Still I´m wondering if it makes sense to risk something in life. I mean in my "writing life". I discussed this theme in an earlier post (called Clouds).I wrote a story in the past tense form and my readers found it ok. Later I revised my final draft again and I switched to the present tense form to create more tension -and I found this version fitting, too. Well, I´m the writer. It´s my job, no, I want to write in a way that pleases me (and my readers, hopefully;-)But I didn´t confer about my final changes... so, what next?Submit the discussed version or risk submitting the other story?

Have to find a solution for that- tomorrow.

I hope my day tomorrow will have more than 24 hours-

will see it tomorrow...

Music-corner: Annie´s song "Tomorrow"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnjkb4q6FKU&feature=related

Happy birthday,

dear Hubble! As a fan of that great telescope I have to announce its 20th birthday. Time flies!
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2010/13/full/

It´s one day before Astronomy Day. To celebrate this day many events´ll take place tomorrow. I hope the weather will get better tomorrow, I don´t like clouds during star- observations.

So enjoy the starlit sky, if it´s possible;-) And if you see a falling star, make a wish (well, I´m not superstitious, but I have some romantic tendencies;-)- sometimes.

Eyjafjallajokull

More from Eyjafjallajokull

As ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano continued to keep
European airspace shut down over the weekend, affecting millions of travelers
around the world, some government agencies and airlines clashed over the flight
bans. Some restricted airspace is now beginning to open up and some limited
flights are being allowed now as airlines are pushing for the ability to judge
safety conditions for themselves. The volcano continues to rumble and hurl ash
skyward, if at a slightly diminished rate now, as the dispersing ash plume has
dropped closer to the ground, and the World Health Organization has issued a
health warning to Europeans with respiratory conditions. Collected here are some
images from Iceland over the past few
days.(Source-www.boston.com/bigpicture)

Great breathtaking photos from Iceland--

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html

Spring- and dance;-)

Some impressions from my trip to Vienna. There´s a lot going on in April. Celebrating and presenting Styria ( a province) by dancing the "Schuhplattler" in

knickerbockers;-)

Newly renovated St. Stephan´s cathedral

Preparations for tomorrow´s City Marathon- many runnners can´t come due to the ash cloud.

I love horses- these are Lippizaners.

Clouds

Again partial airport closures in Europe- Switzerland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia and

Austria´s airports will be closed in one hour. That hasn´t happened before in the European aviation history.

Why I´m writing about all these closures? Well, I have been interested in aviation and geophysics since my youth. After my school leaving examination in physics I wanted to study geophysics. But you have be aware that math plays the main part in this field of study and math wasn´t my favourite subject.

But my interest in these subjects is unbroken and for the first time aviation and geophysics are combined in a unexpected way.( And BTW some friends of mine travel a lot and they keep me updated)

Besides the volcanic ash clouds that cover my mind, I have to find a topic for my own studies, write a reflexion and finish my last draft. Too many clouds around, hope the sun will come

soon;-)

I have to decide whether to write the final piece in one tense or split it - and use 2 different tenses. I´m not sure if I´m bold enough to use 2 tenses. (Have never used 2 before)

But that´s not all about courage- about reasonableness as well.

Back to writing now! Nice weekend!

Transportation

My job demands driving a car.
Today I got my car back- from the garage. Finally!
It´s horrible to garage a large sedan (my rental-car) if you don´t have a big parking-lot.
But now it´s over; and honestly this wasn´t a big problem.
I´m focused on another traffic theme.

A friend´s job demands flying to Scandinavia every week.
I´m not sure when he can fly back home from Arlanda- Stockholm.
Due to Iceland´s volcano ash many European countries have closed their airports and airspaces.
Besides Sweden also Belgium, Ireland, Britain, Norway, Netherlands, Finnland, France and Germany have closed some or all airports.
Hope, he´ll come home safe soon.

Nature can´t be controlled. That´s for sure.

Check out http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/icelands_disruptive_volcano.html

Illusion

I just finished reading "Egypt´s Sun King, Amenophis III" by J. Fletcher which was an interesting book about Egyptian History. Then I got interested in reading about Neferiti, or Nefertiti or Nofretete. Just wondering why this queen of Egypt has so many different names.


Reading the next lines I just had to laugh-
"CT scan uncovers hidden face of Nefertiti
Beauty of the Nile may have had facelift from skilled artist"


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2009/03/31/nefertiti-face.html#ixzz0kiW5yltq

Well, every human being is growing older. And many people like to use this quote `noone wants to get older but dying young isn´t a good alternative`. In today´s society a good look often is more important than `inner values´- we could start a new discussion on this topic. About the importance of beauty surgeries, the importance of being human, the importance of growing old gracefully,....
In Nefertiti´s times using photoshop was off the cards. But creating an illusion of reality is and was a topic nowadays as well as in the past days. Why do some people prefer the illusion of reality instead living the real life? Do we all need that illusion?
Ok, I must confess that I love illusion, too. Because I love reading and writing. And that´s mostly about creating illusion as well.


Quote- corner:
Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. ~Mark Twain
I love that quote, so true!

Trip to a lake

The last 2 days I was out of order- just ill. I didn´t have the energy to write, read or even think of doing this. Being ill is boring, frustrating,..but reminds me of one of the important things in life or simply the most important thing -health.
But back again here are my promised photos from my trip to Lake Neusiedl, the second largest steppe lake in Europe- near the Austrian- Hungarian border.
Was a lovely day sunny without clouds, I could see and smell spring everywhere.












The first time I saw cut reed -used for roofs and baskets.Quite interesting.



Rust, a small village near the lake, is famous for its storks , too. You find them on nearly every roof there.














See the nests on the chimneys?

How I missed writing, but now I´m ready for revising my course-draft. Think it´s the 8th version... Now I ´ll try to create more tension- with the help of using different times in my writing. Have to do it to see if it really works.

Jet lag

My world right now- a bit upside down. After my course I feel like having a jet lag, tired,...

A friend of mine asked me to revise something. I did it as good as possible, but

I didn´t save the whole corrected version!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-(((((((

I´m so angry about that mistake that I have to calm me. Horrible! The work of one hour deleted- no, just not saved. Have to do it again--------------

How could it happen!!!!???!!! To unconcentrated....

Wanted to post something about my wonderful trip to a lake, will do it tomorrow, now I´m not in the right mood to write about something beautiful.

So never ever forget saving a file!

Different ideologies

Today I got involved in a religious- philosophical discussion.
Eastertime- in some religions the highlight of the religious year.
Participants:
2 very religious people, 1 atheist and I.
I ´d call myself a religious person, part of a church and open for various religions and themes.
Whether you believe in God, in Buddha, in the Spirits of Ancestors or in Mother Nature or not,
I think it´s helpful to have any kind of belief.
I think I can be a religious person without attending mass every Sunday. Very religious people deny that fact and the atheist as well. That could be another discussion.
We talked about religion and philosophy, especially about Nietsche´s nihilism and the "Simpsons"- yes, there is philosophy in that cartoon. (But we avoided to discuss the Art of drawing, whether Lisa is drawn in a beautiful way or not, the color Yellow...)
we shared our opinion about the problems in the Catholic churches,....and religious education. What a topic! Especially when parents don´t share an opinion on religion.
An atheist, a father and a religious woman, the mother. But they decided to raise their kid without any kind of religious education.
They want the kid to decide about whether to become a religious person or not some day.
I love philosophical discussions but it´s hard to stay neutral sometimes.
And I couldn´t stay neutral. Should I have to?
I didn´t want the parents to argue about that theme.

How can a kid choose between different ideologies

without having opportunities to experience any kind of religious life?

Can a kid choose? Or just an adult?

Earth laughs in flowers

My special flower. Blooming again!


Quote - corner:
"Earth laughs in flowers." R.W. Emerson

Spring everywhere!

After searching for eggs with the family I had to take some flower pictures.

Garden- Impressions

It was such a beautiful day and there aren´t any muffins left.

Muffins

Today I tried this Chocolate-Chip Muffins Recipe

from http://www.muffinrecipes.net/chocolate-chip-muffins.html
I added the rasped half of an apple and changed some ingredients. But watch the heat; you might easily burn yourself
;-( Ouch!
But take a risk and try it! It´s delicious!

Ingredients list:

¾ lb chocolate chips.
1/3 lb of soft butter.
4 medium eggs.
2 ½ cups of flour. 1 cup of sugar. (I just took the half)
¼ cup of milk.
1 tablespoon of baking powder.
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. (Doesn´t matter if you don´t use it, try some cinnamon instead- I love cinnamon:-)
½ teaspoon of salt.

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) and butter your muffin pan.

Beat the butter and the vanilla extract together to form a light, airy mixture.

One at a time, add the eggs, and beat gently.

Add ¼ cup of the sugar after each egg and mix thorougly.

Put the baking powder and salt in the milk, then add to the mixture.

Fold in the flour and the chocolate chips.

Pour the mix into your buttered muffin pan, filling each cup two-thirds full.

Bake for 25 minutes or until muffins turn golden brown

Enjoy!

Happy easter...

Today our course ended;-(
I got so used to these mini- lessons, the reading and writing-workshop, to all the people in this class,.... it´s really hard to let everything go.
But I´ll organize the next meeting in May again. So we´ll see each other in some weeks.

Although I´m done and so tired I can´t stop working on my draft. Try to revise it as good as possible. Today we prepared our lessons focused on paragraphing and direct speech. Interesting topic; have to revise a lot more. I want to provide more tension for the story.
But I think I´ve done enough for today, can´t concentrate any longer.


So, happy Easter!

Addiction

Think, I am getting more and more addicted to writing. I love revising my First Person Narrative, love to put learned theory into practice but sometimes I have to remind myself of doing other things as well.
Revising is really hard work and at the moment I change my writing every day. But I enjoy having time for working on the draft. I was so focused on writing that I got lost in time yesterday.
But today is Wednesday, right? Or Thursday?;-)lol .
I know it´s April Fools´ Day. What a day! We´re a great and funny group of people and it was an amusing day as well. Like in the old days, back at school;-)
And after course E. and I decided to go to an ice cream parlor to get the first icecream this year. On the way to the Metro station we wondered about the huge bunch of nicely dressed people in front of the Opera. We got curious went back to the building and there we read about the reason for that crowd of people- Wagner´s Parsifal was played today! My friend had worked in the Opera for some time and knew some people there. We decided to visit them and as quickly as we went inside we could watch Parsifal from the standing places. That was so comical and surreal, the whole situation.We both dressed in Jeans (I´ve never thought to attend the opera like this!!!!! I used to be dressed up for these events:-) + Wagner. But we just stayed there for more than 40 minutes, that was enough, ´cause Wagner is neither my friend´s favorite musician nor mine and it was a modern version, too. Simply too modern but it was worth attending the opera. What a cool day! I´m ready for the next! Can´t stop smiling at the moment so have a funny day, too!