chaosworks.org

11 November 2014

I’ve been taking selfies since before it was (un)cool

Eight years, to be precise! On November 11th, 2006, I joined Michael‘s little daily photo project, which since then has flourished into a wonderful community. Some of my best friendships are a result of dailyfratze.de. Participating in this project has become an integral part of my life, one I can no longer imagine living without. And last year, the English language has even gained a word for what I’ve been doing all these years: selfies. I first became aware of this word in Australia, where I thought not much about it, except, “cool, a word for what I’ve been doing […]

8 November 2014

Ajar

It had been a long day and the sun had already set. A wave of tiredness came over me and I decided it was time to go to bed for the night. I called for Jeannie and she happily followed me. I went up the wooden stairs and reached the top floor. The burnt orange tiles were cold under my feet and echoed under Jeannie’s paws. Quickly, I scurried across the small gallery towards the door that separated the hallway from the gallery, and from there to the door that separated my apartment from the hallways and rest of the […]

30 September 2014

Ett liv som hund

Min familjen har alltid husdjur. De hade hundar före jag föddes – faktiskt, Purzel, hunden som de hade in året när jag föddes (1984) blev gravid och hade tre liten valpar en månad före jag föddes. Mina föräldrar behålls en av de som hetade Mopsy. Hon var min vän när jag var liten och vi spelade ofta på gårdet. När vi—Mopsy och jag—var sex år gammal, blev Mopsy gravid. Det var en olycka med grannes hund Terry… Nägra månade sen forsvann Mopsy plötsligt. Samtidigt blev jag sjuk och jag var tvungen att gå till sjukhuset, när läkare tog ut mina […]

17 February 2014

That Is Not My Name

When I went to Australia, I did something that I have wanted to do all my life, but always failed to take the chances I had: I changed my first name. Not legally or anything – I merely gave everyone I met in Australia my second name instead of my first name, thus they addressed me by my second name. Why would anyone do that, you ask? It’s simple: I have hated my first name ever since I became consciously aware of what an old-fashioned, stupid name it is. In German, it rhymes with a lot of bad things. Therefore, […]

27 January 2014

A Place In This World

I’ve been back in Germany from Australia for two weeks, or something along that line. Truth is, I have completely lost my feeling for time (hello, jetlag) and I usually can’t even tell which weekday it is. I was a bit shocked today when I realised that January is almost over. My first week here was very surreal. I had been away from this place for half a year. In this half a year, I have experienced how perfect and pleasant life can be. Suddenly, everything about this place is a shock, everything is making me feel incredibly unwelcome. People […]

31 December 2013

The Awesome Year of Twenty Thirteen

The year is over and it’s time for my annual tradition of “what I did this year” in form of a blog post. While I have already shared my TV show consumption of 2013, it’s now time for life, the universe and everything. January usually begins with a week of being far less productive than planned – I should have studied for exams, instead I probably watched some TV shows. But eventually the semester (my third) commenced after its Christmas break, and I started studying for those exams. Which I think was just one exam, and all of it was […]

12 December 2013

How to be Australian

Today I am sadly leaving Australia. During my time here, I assumed the role of observer and tried to gain as much knowledge about Australians and their culture as possible. I would like to share my observations here, even though I might risk angering my Australian friends by reinforcing some stereotypes! Oh dear… but wait, angry Australians? I don’t think such a thing exists… Please note: some observations might be exclusive to Queenslanders. Be nice and friendly! It’s true, Australians are nice and friendly (and they just can’t help it). They will always greet you with a smile and chat […]

7 December 2013

Statistics for the TV show addict

The year is coming to a close. It has been the most life-changing year of my life (I might post more on that on 31 Dec), but some things never really change: at heart, I am still a TV show addict. It remains my favourite format of consuming fiction (sometimes also non-fiction), and this is clearly reflected in not only the following statistics, but also the fact that I’m so much of a nerd, I actually have a database that allows me to create these statistics. I started tracking the movies I watch in 2006 as part of a blog […]

26 September 2013

The Glory of Spartacus

Let us break words on most glorious entertainment! When my ears first received tale of a television spectacle bearing the name of Spartacus, they did not stand to attention. “Meh”, was the only thought that sprang to mind, “gladiators, Romans, they have been so numerous on our screens in the past. Why bother…” The thought fell from mind and was not brought back to surface for many moons. But word from trusted friend left impression and action was taken. Familiar names among scribes accelerated process – Steven S. DeKnight and Jed Whedon of Whedonverse fame stand among them. Thus, shortly […]