Angel Project

I believe in reincarnation and angels. Though when it comes to reincarnation, I don’t believe it is in our powers to know what lives we actually lived in the past. There just seems too many Cleopatras and Viking slaves out there to be true. Yet, I do think intuitively endless cycles of corporal/spiritual change and transformation makes more sense than purgatory, heaven and hell, or even Nothing.

(In my belief system, the jury is out whether it is possible for Tibetan monks to find the new and next Dali Lama years after the last one died. For the sake of world peace, I really do hope they know what they are doing. That is the one and only exception I am not willing to weigh in upon.)

It’s another thing with angels.

They are true. They might not all be as godly and good as esoteric literature would have us believe, but they are there in our hearts and dreams.

The following series of collages and poems is a flight of fancy and I apologise up front if I am stepping upon anyone’s religious toes. I also want to apologise to any angels out there who might feel I am taking the mickey out of them. That is not my intent.

The idea behind this project is to imagine what would happen if we were given complete free choice as to what form of angel we wished to be. The angels in these poems are real people I have loved and whose spirits stay close to me even after they died.

The following series of collages and poems are dedicated to my children. They may not remember their family relatives or, in some cases, even had the opportunity to meet them, but the legacy of these people live on in some of my children’s personality traits and physical attributes. How marvelous is that?

Angel in the Sea

Going off this week on a writing retreat. This is something I have dreamed about for the lsat few years. Going off with a dear friend. She's writing her second novel. I am writing family stories. In between, we will hopefully be walking on the beach talking about writing or sharing a good curry lentil soup also talking about writing.

The collage above is the first in an angel collage series. This one is for my father. Gazing into the vast surface of sea foam and seeing an angel appear.

Things you can never live down

Falling asleep in a workshop you are giving.

(Fortunately not me! And thankfully no one taking my trainings have either.)

Moscou Berlin Paris

No, I am not on this train. It is waiting on the track next to mine. Don't you love the visuals of the sign?

Plastic Palm Trees

Plastic palm trees, standing absurdly rigid at the corners of the café terrace. Who managed to convince the owners these monstrosities would add flair?

Beans Left

Do you remember way back when... when the idea of vblogs was new and crazy. That's when I discovered ZeFrank. I loved and was annoyed and sometimes I was even embarrassed watching his videos. There were times he was brilliant and other times he completely overstepped my inner boundary into the Land of the Tasteless. All these years later, he still has the ability to provoke and invoke.

Three of his statistics I found interesting:

• 1,099 days commuting to work (I am so glad I have always been able to ride my bicycle or walk to work)
• 3,202 days of work (which means the average person lives a ratio of 1 to 3 between commuting and working)
• 2,676 days watching television (talk about massive cognitive surplus!)

Beans for thought...

Are you in // or // out?

ARE YOU IN // OR // OUT ? from 2 FACTORY on Vimeo.
"Motion animation which presents with humour what's IN or OUT in our daily life."

Other than preferring to drink coffee in the street rather in a café, our lives here seem to be dipped deeply into the "IN" side of the popularity pool. What a lark.

Yum Yum Yuck

Some people find the even the idea of eating snakes abhorrent. Others don't can’t stomach the idea of rats. Yet, there are countries that consider these delicacies.

Then there is catfish, a delicacy where I live. The photo above was in the news today. The fisherman, Wolfgang Richter, says he is not goint to eat it, but put ito on display.

As a long time vegetarian… it doesn’t matter snake, rat, or catfish… it’s all yuck to me.

Adoption

I came long ago from another century speaking another language feeling another life rhythm. And then after a few years of much stumbling and stuttering with my marshmallow tongue and smattering of cultural understanding, my children were born out of my body, tied thinly and ever so precariously to their forefathers from lands farfar away. There was no one there reminding me or teaching them of the sounds and rhythm of our ancestors. So, I raise my children as best I could, but conspicuously of my displacement in the clicking of my tongue and the beating of my heart. They are the flesh of my flesh; even though the words they use to explore and express their world will never be those I would have used before I Came Away.

Sometimes the questions are complicated

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” ― Dr. Seuss

Life is sometimes complicated as well, though my methods of coping with the challenges is simple... baby steps. It has been two-and-half years since I started out as a freelance trainer and technical editor. There have been many ups-and-downs. Overall though, it has been a hugely rewarding journey so far.

I never wanted to be self-employed because essentially I like working in a team. I love being paid regularly at the end of the month. And, most importantly, the German social system is highly robust (medical, dental, unemployment, and pension) for employees of companies and not in the least for the self-employed. Being employed instead of self-employed is the path of least resistance: in a good way and not in the “lie back and think of England” way.

A friend of mine entered the corporate world after being self-employed at the same time as I did the opposite. I worked in large corporations for nearly 30 years. She worked successfully as a freelance writer for over ten. She is fifteen years younger than I am and still has a promising career ahead of her. It will be interesting to see what happens to us over the next 15 years. The rewards and challenges of our work are distinctly different.

What I notice the most in our talks is her clarity about her worth. She not only knows how to make herself useful in the company where she is working, but she know where it is she wants to go. This drive is fuelled by the healthy self-confidence of someone who has survived and succeeded on her own and not by pure ambition to climb the ladder for the sake of acquiring privilege.

Thirty years ago, when I finished my studies, most graduates stepped seamlessly into the corporate world. There were a wealth of opportunities. We could choose the field of our interests, in my case medical equipment, as well as the country we wished to work in. This is why I choose Germany, since they are strong leaders in manufacturing medical equipment. Other students in my graduating classes took a large variety of job positions all over the world.

This has changed. There is no guarantee a university graduate will find a job after graduation. Even though this is as an appalling situation, I think there are two aspects, which developed out of this hard reality that are worth considering. First, self-employment becomes far more attractive, even for persons with minimal professional experience. Secondly, if the system of building a sterling career at a major corporation is broken, than young people should be allowed to experiment, take risks, start again, and even mistakes in their job choices.

A former student I worked with asked me recently to meet, so we could talk about a job offer he had been given. We talked for an hour discussing all the various pros and cons of the job. “Should I take the job?” was a far more complicated question in his mind than it was in mine. I could have simply answered, “Yes!”, when he first asked the question, but then we wouldn’t have shared a cup of coffee and such an interesting conversation.

Enough said…

Finally found some time and redid the layout of this blog. Hope you like it. Also on the looonnnggg list of things to do, is returning to my once loved pastime of making collages. A wonderfully creative pursuit that has always brought me much joy.

Life of Contemplation

Summer has come. We are finally able to leave the home without fleece jackets and raincoats. Yet, here I am dreaming of frozen Siberean lakes and smokey cabins...

Tripping through inspirational works

"In 2005, author David Foster Wallace was asked to give the commencement address to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. However, the resulting speech didn't become widely known until 3 years later, after his tragic death. It is, without a doubt, some of the best life advice we've ever come across, and perhaps the most simple and elegant explanation of the real value of education."

It is a holiday today in Germany (and other countries no doubt). We are off work and back home. I have spent the morning tripping through inspirational works like the "This is Water" speech and other essays of David Foster Wallace.

It is such a good way to while away the day.

Regal Beauty

The young spring grass
Grows up through the brown grey
Remnants of the long dark winter.
On the corner wooden fence post
Rests a hawk. Standing guard...
Completely still, except for a few
Feathers lifting in the sweet breeze.

I heart DB

My daughter and I are going on a long train journey for a ridiculously short period of time. In my heart there is this happy trippy dip sitting in the first of three train we will be riding in today.

After living so many years here, the delight in the Bundesbahn doesn't diminish. My friends and family find this both silly and endearing.

Poetry of Observation

A homeless woman huddles
In a seat at the back of the bus
Bags, not many, her friends,
Her only worldly possessions,
Keeping her and the seats
Both left and right of her occupied.
She shifts her weight in the direction
Of leaving, exit here,  exit now...
Her warm winter coat slips open
Exposing a rag doll wrapped in a
Blanket who she coos over as if...
Her baby. Real. For one moment I

Choke on the rawness of her madness
As well as on the stench of unwashed 

Humanity she leaves behind on the bus. 

Making it hard to breathe deeply

For a long time after she is gone.

Times change

Times change and so does technology. Not only the fiber optic speedways, but also the low tech stuff as well.

I am on my way south on my favorite Bundesbahn and I noticed something. The railway tracks are built on cement pilings and not wood ones, as they once were. Gone are the days of my childhood in Canada when we would wander down railway tracks in the countryside, heading to the next village store.

I imagine the cement used now is some super duper bionic material that is completely impervious to weather conditions, all the while being amazingly strong and flexible at the same time. Strange to think of some engineer spending their time inventing such a material. Not media worthy news. Yet it is used over thousands of miles of tracks.

Another day, another cafe

One of the reasons I decided life in Germany is a fine thing, is its long standing tradition of cafes. In every town and city there are a wealth of cafes to explore.

The cafe in the photo is fantastic in its simplicity of decor, excellent lunch, and proximity to one of my favorite museums in Berlin, the Berggruen.

It is also the first place where I met with my new-found blogging friend, Charlotte, for the first time in person. So, if you are reading this, Char, in your home far away, greetings from Charlottenburg.

Grey day with sunny pursuits

The day rose grey and cold. We sat long over breakfast and got caught up with all those familiar topics friends talk about, who haven't seen each other in a year's time.

To outsiders it might appear we are serving ourselves to a smorgasbord of random thoughts and happenings, but to connoisseurs there is a method underlying our conversational meanderings. We taste certain sweet bits first and save the sadder, lovely bits for later. It doesn't matter what we are discussing, there is such a sense of good will, a fine tingling lightness lingers as I go and brush my teeth and get ready to go into the city.

We travel by bus, train, streetcar, bus, walk along long ugly streets whichwas once Eastern Germany. The endless uniform apartment blocks were built sixty years ago under the communist /socialist regime.

The last twenty, since the wall came down, there has been a lot of effort and money spent to create change. The only thing a stranger like I can see is in the diverse looks of the people' s faces populating the sidewalks and the fantastic organic food served in a nearby cafe.

The greyness permeates my outer winter self. The only warmth is in our laughter.

Underway

I am on my way to my favorite yearly outing to Berlin.

A long weekend of chatting over endless cups of tea, good food, lot's of laughter and exciting exhibits to see...

Will try and keep you updated. I'm trying to go mobile.

Guardian Goggles

Had a good laugh this morning. Don't know if you guys have been following the hype about augmented reality glasses. It started a year or so (maybe two!) when Google announced Google Glass.

And this is sort of where things are today...

When I was working at the local university a few years ago, I did some research in augmented reality application and pervasive gaming. It was a really interesting time in my life. The work showed there are some very silly, as well as very useful ways of using augmented information.

For instance, the ability for technicians to receive augmented information for the repair of machinery in dangerous and critical situations. This would allow someone in a seperate location to look at the present installation and then send relevant instructions to the technicians in exactly the form they need it.

Whether we, the normal folk, will ever need augmented reality glasses is doubtful. Our lives are often overloaded with information as it is!