Various

The past weeks haven been quite busy. Last weekend my best friend and her husband stayed with me. They arrived friday, I picked them up from the airport, we had breakfast together, then I let them go on their own quest while I headed to work. I had prepared a day guide for them, so they wouldn't get lost around town. After work we met for dinner.
Saturday I took them to the usual tourist spots which turned out to be quite exhausting. I could barely keep up with their speed. They were walking in another world, I felt so lost. I would walk a few steps, stop for a photo and I took like a dozen before they arrived. They were slower than slow. The list of things we were going to see got shorter and shorter and in the end we were too late for the afternoon flea market. They went to bed early. Well, she is pregnant, so I guess that is an excuse!?
Sunday was similar. Monday I sent the three of them to the botanical garden alone and went to work myself. In the afternoon I returned them to the airport which was close to disaster because we were only about one hour early and trains were like ten minutes late due to technical issues. :| Of course they were in time - more than one hour before their flight left and there were like 15 people on that flight.

It was good to be on my own again. However, I did enjoy the company! Despite their speed and lack of trust in public transport they were fun. :)

Yesterday I saved the day for a friend of mine and her own best friend. I haunted down tickets for the Robbie Williams concert in town. The funny thing is that I got the tickets some time in the afternoon when most people apparently had already given up. It did take me a couple of hours and I hit the ticket links countless times. But I was at home, it was warm, I had a shower and breakfast inbetween and watched TV. It was a pretty relaxed task. And I'm going to see Robbie Williams in August. :D

A few weeks ago my mp3 player broke. It still works fine except for the USB connection. I figured that it's not worth repairing. So I've been stuck with the same 256MB of music for over a month now. Fortunately they're not the worst: Wallflowers, Coldplay, Robbie Williams and some Foofighters. Last week I bought a new player. The 40GB Creative Zen Touch. It's currently waiting to be picked up at the hub in Birmingham (according to the Parcel Tracking Information).

Some time ago I set up my own photo blog. I tried several providers, but none was satisfiying. The other day I stumbled upon folderblog.org and downloaded their free php script which I have set up on my freefronthost.com account. I'm still experimenting with the settings. So far I haven't had the time to create a nice template, but I'm already posting a photo every day. I'm going to share it here once I'm satisfied with the design and everything.

Desktop

My adorable Desktop. 

46

Happy Birthday Bryan.

You once told me to get a life. A few years later I was there to congratulate you to your 40th. I haven't grown up since. However, my life has been straight forward.

Today I woke up from a dream hearing music. In my dream I had written the song and was singing it when I woke up. I still remember the lyrics, but the melody is gone.
It's not the first time this has happened to me. It's always the same. I wake up hearing a wonderful melody I've never heard before. When I realize that I'm awake the music slowly fades away. It's a powerful illusion. An imagination of the brain.

"My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it."
Ursula K. LeGuin

Song: no artist - get me over it

Positive

Mark this day!
At work I got a ton of things done and gathered some very interesting results.
Well, to be honest in my business "very interesting" can mean anything from extremely good to extremely bad. And the truth is that only about half of the data I produced today are truly interesting and "good news".
The other half is a surprise and very controversial regarding some already published data. That alone doesn't make it bad. But the fact that the controversial data were published by our lab creates a rather serious issue.
Let's hope that there's a simple explanation. Let's be positive (in a non-negative way).

Song: Coldplay - The Scientist

ISTJ

Introverted (I) 64.52% Extroverted (E) 35.48%
Sensing (S) 52.5% Intuitive (N) 47.5%
Thinking (T) 50% Feeling (F) 50%
Judging (J) 62.16% Perceiving (P) 37.84%

ISTJ - "Trustee". Decisiveness in practical affairs. Guardian of time- honored institutions. Dependable. 11.6% of total population.

Dead not Gone

Impressions from a past world below. Remains of the cold war.

Desktop

My adorable Desktop. 

East-West

East-West 

Make me Pure

In the cafeteria today there were two guys sitting next to our little lunch group. One of them smelled just like the canadian guy. After feeling sweaty hot (fever?) due to a minor cold all day, that was just the kind of olfactory input I needed.

However, I feel better tonight. I think I'm over it. :)

Song: Robbie Williams - Make Me Pure

Tell a joke
Tell it twice
If no one else is laughing
Then why am I
I split my sides both times
And laugh untill I crie
Oh Lord
Please, make me pure
But not yet

Have I mentioned yet that the new Robbie Williams album (Intensive Care) kicks ass? One word: A W E S O M E ! ! !