chaosworks.org

17 November 2025

TFW when the biggest achievement of your life becomes your biggest curse

Conversations with recruiters usually tend to go more or less like this: “Are you looking for data scientists?” “Indeed we are! Do you have a degree in data science?” “I have an equivalent degree and over 8 years of experience in data science.” “So what kind of degree do you have?” “I have a PhD in English linguistics, but methodically I worked with data during that time.” [at this point the recruiter’s face usually assumes a puzzled look] “…That… doesn’t really sound like what we need… we’re not looking for humanities scholars.” “While linguistics is indeed often grouped among the […]

7 November 2025

Chief of War: An Accomplishment for Pacific Islanders

I love to watch historical TV shows, especially those that are a bit gritty and not stereotypical period dramas. Vikings is one such examples that comes to mind. This year a new show in the same spirit was released, but focusing on a completely different culture from the other side of the world: Chief of War, a TV show about late 18th century Hawai’i. So Chief of War, with Jason Momoa in the lead role? Sounds cool! I knew him only from GoT and the first Aquaman, both of which I wasn’t much of a fan, and he didn’t blow […]

2 November 2025

Subscribe to this blog

I added an option that lets you subscribe to this blog via e-mail, meaning you will get an e-mail whenever a new post is published. If you’re interested in subscribing, head to the page Subscribe. It also lists the other two options to subscribe, namely by following the blog in the fediverse, or by subscribing to the RSS feed. I’m sure this might be of interest for about 2 of the about 10 people who regularly read my humble blog 😅

28 October 2025

10 years of attending SPIEL, the biggest board game fair in the world

I have the privilege of living not too far from the biggest annual board game fair in the world – SPIEL in Essen, Germany, which happens every October from Thursday to Sunday, and which has been around since 1983. As a board gamer, this is obviously a dream come true! I’ve been a casual board gamer for about 20 years, and a very serious board gamer for about 10-12 years. During my study abroad semester in Australia in 2013, I started to attend a weekly board game club, and once I was back home in Germany, I tried to find […]

13 October 2025

New York Nostalgia

Eight times I’ve been to New York in my life so far, and I feel the relationship that I have (or had) with this city has taught me a lot about life. Today when I think about New York, I get mildly overwhelmed at the thought of so many people and so much noise, but back when I visited, I really enjoyed this city. But let’s start at the beginning. My first visit to New York was in 1997 together with my mother. I was probably 12 or 13 years old, barely a teenager, and I definitely didn’t speak much […]

25 September 2025

Resurrecting Dexter

Just when I thought I was done blogging about Dexter… they released another new show. Yes, another one! I couldn’t quite believe it myself when I saw Dexter: Resurrection popping up a couple of months ago. Skeptical, I read a few opinions about it, and people say it’s actually really good? Well, guess I’ll have to watch it then. The first episode definitely required a bit of suspension of disbelief if you know what happened at the end of New Blood, but they tried their best to make it believable. Regardless of that, the show pulls you right in with […]

18 September 2025

The rise of the local TTRPG community (and how I built it in absentia)

About 2 years ago, I had the idea to start an English-language roleplaying event here in Düsseldorf, where people can try out RPGs, get to know other roleplayers, or find like-minded people. Previously to that, I had already been managing the Düsselgamers community for several years, which originated as the Düsseldorf Boardgamers Meetup group. I used to co-host public weekly board game nights through meetup, until I got a bit tired of random people and now that’s mainly a closed WhatsApp thing. However, since I manage the discord and continue to always have an eye on the community, I saw […]

10 September 2025

In and out of the reading slump

I’ve been having a terrible book hangover ever since I finished reading the Realm of the Elderlings series, about which I extensively blogged. It was such a great series and a deeply emotional reading experience, that I struggled really hard with most books I’ve tried to read ever since. I’ve probably had the worst reading slump I ever had in my time of actively reading books. My first attempt was The Immortal Investigation by Michael Cronk – a very lighthearted, humorous book, and debut novel of an indie author. I realized pretty fast that this is neither my style nor […]

15 July 2025

Death of the Author: Life after Gaiman

I’ve been a fan of the works of Neil Gaiman since roughly 2003, when I read American Gods. During the 00s, I read most of his published works, including Neverwhere, Anansi Boys, The Sandman, and various short story collections. I even went to book readings by him, first in 2007 in Cologne (weirdly, it took place inside a car dealership), and then again in 2014, also in Cologne (but in some more author-appropriate location). I always loved how dreamy and philosophical Gaiman’s works were, and how they weave something magical into something utterly ordinary. Especially their concepts of religion and […]