random impressions

       die wetter-prognose hat doch gestimmt: wir sind eingeschneit!

       holen jetzt den tannenbaum wieder rein; sonntag gibts bescherung statt eier suchen…

i cleaned my fridge today and had to throw away some things that had passed their sell-by dates. whenever this happens i remember the guy i saw in poland rummaging my garbage can. hard times. and the gap between rich and poor growing wider and wider.

not just in poland - but also in germany, the states and probably pretty much every country in the world. weird that some things never seem to change, no matter how much time passes.

“‘…our queen reigns over the greatest nation that ever existed.’
‘which nation?’ asked the younger stranger, ‘for she reigns over two. (…) two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws.’
‘you speak of—’ said Egremont, hesitatingly.
‘the rich and the poor.’”
                                                                                            benjamin disraeli: sybil

except for the queen-part all this still accounts for today, doesn’t it!? except: this was written in 1845…

i’ve been reading some pretty 18th century dramas lately. and there’s a lot of talk about french dresses and style, about german musicians like händel (although he lived in london for most of his life) and italian terms like ‘conversazione’ or ‘caro’. people travel abroad, get to know different countries, different lifestyles and labelled everything according to its origin.

today we live in so-called multicultural societies. it’s supposed to be a life of mixing and sharing but this - or so it seems to me - doesn’t bring us any closer to each other. it doesn’t seem people are as curious about other countries, lifestyles, phrases, habits or people anymore.

and i’m wondering: were people in the 18th century somehow more ”open” than they are today, in this all-knowing age?

“i am smart. and i am pretty. and i can stand on my own two feet.
i am a homerun.”

Marin in ‘Men in Trees’, 1×12

think i could say that about myself too. but not now. right now i’m mostly and simply afraid. have to apply for a job. well not one but many; hoping i’ll get one of these.
and i know that i’m smart. and i know that i can do it.

but what if those staff managers don’t see it (let alone know it)?

“I am, in both my physical and my mental activity, like the dromedary which it is very hard to get going and very hard, once it is going, to stop. Continuity is what I need, whether of rest or of motion.”

Julian Barnes: Flaubert’s Parrot