Juli? Wir haben schon Juli? Unglaublich.

Einer der Vorteile bei gerupften Urlaubsplänen ist auch die verschobene Aufmerksamkeit: plötzlich möchte ich wissen, was es denn im Sommer in Karlsruher Gegend zu genießen gibt…

Das ist nicht wenig. Heute, zum Beispiel, gibt es die Opern- und Operetten-Gala „Schloss in Flammen“, wo wir hingehen wollten, wenn mein Schatz noch rechtzeitig von seiner Dienstreise zurückkehrt.
Zum  Hörvergnügen auf dem grünen „Picknickplatz“ soll man in eleganter Kleidung erscheinen, man darf eigene Stühle, Tische, Essen und Getränke mitbringen und es gibt Schwanensee und Synchron-Feuerwerk. Klingt doch gut, oder? Leider sind meine Hochzeitsschuhe (dunkelroter Lack) zu eng geworden (Wieso eigentlich?), ich hätte sie allzu gern wieder getragen.

Der nächste Höhepunkt wäre die Lange Nacht der Mathematik, die von der Dualen Hochschule Baden Württemberg Karlsruhe veranstaltet wird. Es handelt sich dabei um eine 9 Stunden andauernde Reihe von meistens total interessanten Vorträgen, bei denen nicht so 100 % wichtig ist, dass man auch wirklich alles verstanden hat.

Wir hatten schon voriges Jahr das Vergnügen und auch dieses Jahr will ich unbedingt hin. Unbedingt.

Tja, und dann wäre da noch der 2. Ettlinger Halbmarathon… Der ist erst am 22. August, aber ich mache mir schon jetzt ein wenig Sorgen, ob denn mein verletztes Bein und mein Dünnbrettbohrer-Training reichen würden, um die 21,1 km mit Nordic-Walking-Stöcken zu besiegen. Laufen? Dazu brauche ich noch ein paar Jahre Vorbereitung.

Heiß dieses Wetter ist.

Any new idea [...] is asked two questions. The first is asked when its weak: WHAT KIND OF AN IDEA ARE YOU? Are you the kind that compromises, does deals, accommodates itself to society, aims to find a niche, to survive; or are you the cussed, bloody-minded, ramrod-backed type of damnfool notion that would rather break than sway with the breeze? The kind that will almost certainly, ninety-nine times out of hundred, be smashed to bits; but, the 100th time, will change the world. (Rushdie 335)

Any new idea is asked two questions… [...] [T]ime for the second question: How do you behave when you win? When your enemies are at your mercy and your power has become absolute: what then? (Rushdie 369)

Vsaki novi zamisli [...] zastavijo dve vprašanji. Prvo zastavijo, ko je šibka: KAKŠNA ZAMISEL SI? Si take vrste, ki sklepa kompromise, sklepa sporazume, se prilagaja družbi, skuša najti nišo, preživeti; ali pa si zakrknjen, krvoločen, tog tip z bedasto predstavo, da se raje zlomi kot niha v vetru? – Tiste vrste, ki bo skoraj zagotovo, v devetindevetdesetih primerih od sto, razbita na koščke; ampak stotič bo spremenila svet. (Rushdie, J. Potokar, 305)

[V]saki novi zamisli postavijo dve vprašanji. [...] [Čas je] za drugo vprašanje: Kako se vedeš, ko zmagaš? Ko so sovražniki prepuščeni tvoji milosti, tvoja moč pa postane absolutna: kaj potem? (Rushdie, J. Potokar, 336)

Well? What kind of idea are you?

Torej? Kakšna vrsta zamisli ste?

Click for more.

Leanne Cooper from To Knit Is Divine created it and tried it out, Elemmaciltur made it, too, and I couldn’t resist either, though I preferred cotton to kid mohair.

I still haven’t decided though, whether to give it to my friend who’s going to have a baby soon. You know, so that she feels … beautified.

I don’t need it for myself since I already have one

(true colors)

May Bug

These are not the Rivers of Babilon.

And your eggs have nothing to do in my Vileda, either.

But it is good to know the environment is clean enough round here for you to occur in such great numbers…

Spet pofočkana, razmišljaje sklanjam glavo.

Pajki predejo prelestne pajčevine, peščena ura prehitro prepušča pesek, po polknih počasi polzijo popoldanske padavine.

Pihljajoč piš pomaga poljskim pridelkom pri priklanjanju pred …

Sedem najljubših.

Številka Ena je nedvoumno moj eden in edini.

Vendar ta želi ostati blogerska skrivnost, zato bodo skrivnost ostali tudi razlogi za njegovo enost in edinost. On že ve.

Številka Dve je Beseda.

Od Besede sem obsedena, kar pomnim, zame predstavlja najpomembnejšo izrazno obliko človeškega duha, najpomembnejšo vsakodnevno manifestacijo njegovega obstoja, najpomembnejšo pričo preteklosti in sedanjosti. Čeprav se poklicno ukvarjam z jeziki, me moje lastno jezikovno udejstvovanje ne zanima tako zelo, kot to, kar dobim pred oči. Seveda se zmeraj potrudim, da je moje izražanje pravilno, toda moja največja strast je požiranje Besede. Vsak dan. Tudi na WC-ju in med pranjem zob.

Številka Tri je gibanje.

V kakršnem koli smislu: živahno razmišljanje, branje dinamične knjige, pogovor, ki skače od kamna do kamna, googlanje, hribolazenje, kolesarjenje, veslanje, vožnja. Trenutno sem hormonsko odvisna od teka in moje noge lepo trpijo. Edini horoskop za strelce, ki sem ga kdaj obrajtala, lepo pravi, da moram paziti na svoje okončine. Tja. Povej to mornarjem.

Številka štiri je narava. Od ptic, plazilcev, losov do vode, dreves in gora. Mene vse zadene.

Številka pet je postelja.

Postelja je najpomembnejši kraj v mojem stanovanju, najpomembnejši cilj ne glede na potek dneva, skrita želja na potovanjih, sladka obljuba po večernem teku ali po dolgem delovnem dnevu. Za tiste bolj moderne: moja postelja je lahko tudi neke vrste maternica, v katero se vračam.

Številka šest je glasba, pri čemer pa se ne morem ravno pohvaliti z izbranim okusom, z vsem ostalim vas ne bom mučila. Glasba je fajn, pika. Aja, nič ne igram ali pojem, samo konzumiram.

Številka sedem…  Vse ostalo, kar je fajn. Umetnost, moda, hrana, blogi, fotografije, prijatelji, male sladke stvari, ki se jih sploh ne da strniti v eno točko, pa so vseeno nujne. Pesek med kamni, kot je navedla Slovonka.

Torej, dragi moji! Vaših sedem najljubših stvari? Katarina, Tina, Lili, Tadej, Sparkica, Dr. Onyx?

I did wait for a few seconds before answering: „Oh, great. So I can spend Saturday in Karlsruhe and see the second part of the Art Noveau exhibition then. And work on Sunday. Not bad.”

I have no idea what my Beloved thought of this answer, but I meant it the way I said it. Plus, I didn’t want him to suffer from too much bad conscience for leaving me alone at the weekend.

I’m a big girl, I always have been, so.

Saturday starts with cold weather and upon arrival in Karlsruhe I decide I need a T-shirt to wear it under the light tunic I have unwisely chosen that morning.

Good. Let’s go to Karstadt then, who knows how long my favorite department store is going to stay there. Let’s help keep some workplaces, I decide, not unsentimentally.

It is just like they write in major newspapers: many customers everywhere, a young shop assistant telling her colleague she could not imagine her life after the next week, yes, she has sent some job applications, still.

I buy a T-shirt quickly, put it on in the toilet and walk away, feeling pity for them.

A quick stop at the bank and then nothing to keep me from buying some much needed wool.
There are no customers in the tiny, well-stocked shop and none arrive while I am choosing meticulously. Suddenly it feels as if I had no right to buy wool during recession, a luxury that it is, while no one else seems to have money for it. Luckily, my soul is saved by a sudden insight: “You really are stupid,” I think, “who’s going to buy wool at the height of the summer?” Before blushing I quickly pay for a lovely cotton yarn I found and leave.

Knitting is good, at any time. And since I haven’t found out yet how many scarves a grown-up woman may need, I can still knit some more. Though my husband has already started making fun at the size of my collection. Given the fact that I work at home, it is ridiculous, yes. But I love every one of those overlong pieces. My husband-

OK, high time for the museum. I skip the paper models exhibition, though I do stop at the Chartres Cathedral, wondering whether I should really tackle it, now that I know how complicated it really is. A much desired birthday present it was, years ago. I am still afraid of destroying it, though, so I haven’t started yet.

Ahhhh… Art Noveau! Lovely, nice. I am not at all surprised the two ladies behind me share my sentiments, I am only stunned by the fact that they should think everyone else yearns to take part in their pristine, resounding enthusiasm. “I want a dining room like this! And will you look at that! Ohhh…”

I walk away and come back later, when they are gone. In the mean time, I do Art Deco and some other art periods and objects.

Some time later, I return to the bustling streets of Karlsruhe again and tell myself I need to see some more art exhibitions soon. And I should definitely do the Majolica!

Hungry. Back to Karstadt. We always eat in their restaurant, its most important features being lovely food and self-service. My husband always tries to eat as many different cakes as possible and still hasn’t tried all of them. My husband-

I go for a mix of vegetable side-dishes and beer with grapefruit. Delicious as always.

What now? H-und-M, of course.

While waiting to pay for another tunic, my ears get pierced by a baby cry and I smile at it spontaneously. But the baby won’t stop and other customers must feel quite irritated since they start making deprecatory noises and are looking somewhat disapprovingly at the little drama king.

I think of my friend I., who’s going to have her first baby some time soon. Well. Maybe she knows.

Outside, the sun is heating it up and I warm to the excellent idea of… going home.

Yes, I know, I haven’t had a Tussi Tag for ages, but surely I have done enough? Art, Food and Shopping, what more do I need?

The Red Army Choir and Band banging in my ears I take the next train home. Home, at the time being, is where my balcony is.

Und ich dachte, ich fliege. Schwimme durch die Luft, schwebe über den Planeten, während der Rest der Welt so kleinlich an ihm klebt.

Keine Ahnung, wie man sowas nennt. Eine von diesen bedeutungsadipösen Aussagen wird es schon beschreiben.

Du bist eben kein Profi.
Du bist zu alt – was hast du denn erwartet?
Sport ist halt Mord. In deinem Alter.
Du hast wohl keine Kinder, die dich auslasten würden.

Melde gehorsamst, dass ich am Mittwoch Abend nach dem obligatorischen Lauf Lust auf Sprint bekam und meiner Neigung prompt frönte. Schütze eben.

Ich rechne aber schon damit, nächste Woche nicht mehr humpeln zu müssen und jegliche Berührung der Wade zu meiden. Immerhin will ich nächste Woche unverkrüppelt sein und wieder laufen. Rennen.

Dis Iz Ze Trut.

ALAS, my Best Shoes Ever are no more.

Let us all keep quiet for a minute and think about them. About our most beloved shoes Which Are No More and which kept our lives more … bounciful. Walkable. Showable.

…

…

…

I wanted my life to be Fun Again, despite this sad demise, so I bought a new pair of Potentially Nice Shoes.

I chose a pair of high-heel black beauties, not made of a skin pulled off a dead animal. Meaning their lifetime might be shorter than usually, but then: I do hope I won’t get too attached to them.

We’ve seen this exhibition on art noveau in Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, though only briefly, because they closed the museum at 9 to proceed with the concerts and other interesting features of the fabulous museum night.

Brief or not, I thought I’d let you know it is a rather splendid exhibition and more than well worth seeing.

The only fly in the ointment were the smothering quantities of garlic particles in the air – who knows what they were doing in the nearby restaurant. Preparing for an All-Night Vampire Hunt?