MAFUKA

what a nice weekend i had in gothenburg!

(a roadtrip in good company, vegitarian gourmetmoments, fantastic fikas, sunshine, a good going-out-time, new friends, old friends, friend surprises, a smile on my lips and probably a bit of dopamin in my vains as well ... mmmmh!)

In just a few moments I'll be on the road to GOTHENBURG :D

The Swedish health care sent me Vårdguiden, a magazine with clever articles about important medical issues ... and the truth about falling in love:

Considered as a phenomenon falling in love can be compared to a psychosis like state. The one who is affected by love has a limited reality perception, sets new priorities and changes the focus. [...]

Falling in love is a big balancing act between necessary development and complete craziness. [...]

Hormonally, falling in love involves a great stimulation of luck feelings, among others due to the hormone Dopamin. Dopamin is just a part of the brain's awarding system and as such very effectively working at person with [drug?] abuse. Even for the fresh couple in love who keep on being together the Dopamin level and other signalsubstances decrease little by litte until they reach a normal level. Love did its purpose, made people doing the steps that they otherwise wouldn't do, and saying the things that they otherwise would never dare to say. There are of course those who aren't satisfied by that. Luck junkies who always search for the top points in life.
(my stand-in translation from the article titled "Vårförälskelse" [Spring Love])

So, are you on Dopamin, my friends?

I owe you something! Yes. Really. Namely some words about my week so far.

Actually I can sum it up by dropping some keywords ...

... like Python and Ruby
Last week my new university course started. It's titled "Dynamic Programming Languages" so within the next couple of weeks I'll turn into a real nerd running the interpreter all the time in the Linux terminal and play around with weird commandos like
def to_s
"KaraokeSong: #@name--#@artist (#@duration) [#@lyrics]"
end
Gonna be fun ... Somehow I guess :)

... like spring time
The sun has been showing up again in Stockholm. FINALLY! 12°C here!! And everyone is paralyzed. In the first weeks after the winter Swedish people often remind of a bunch of sect believers - walking slowly around, facing the sun with closed eyes and an enlighted smile on their lips. Well, to be honest I'm also one of them.

... like fencing and pain
It's not good to exagerate the fencing training. My body is covered with bruises and I'm sore muscles from Tuesday night. But at least I was fighting like a champ and damn, it was fun! :)

... like pleasant anticipation
Tomorrow I'm going to Gothenburg. Actually I wanted to drive there together with good-old Robin BUT he left me down yesterday becasue he has to work :( Anyway, I found two other friends who head there as well and who saved me from big disappointment. I mean, it can be quite exciting there as I'm hoping for a bit of spring luck there .... mmmmmmh!

... like moles

"Who is the mole?"
Well, WE all know it ... but most other people obviously don't. So they need a new TV show about our family secret on Channel 5.

I got up at 6 a.m. (WTF?!)
But I got into a very good mood, when I opened the door and saw the sun shining brightly on this beautiful Tuesday morning. Listening to Modest Mouse's "Good News For People Who Love Bad News", my present favourite CD, in public transport put a permanent smile on my face.
My class about "Regie und Schauspielkunst" (Directing & Acting) was quite funny as it took us almost 1 1/2 hours to get the groups for speeches fixed. I got to know a guy called Dominik (he sat next to me and - baaam! - now were in the same group), who isn't spectacularly good-looking but has wonderful brown eyes ;)
Then I had to wait for one hour. I sat down on the stairs opposite the Germanistik library and read some free newspapers (Heute & Österreich), while drinking coffee out of my thermos bottle. I thought about which Austrian buildings Osama Bin Laden's guys might want to attack. As I don't think they want to kill the students in first place, I'm not so worried about the university ...
Then I had a class about Carl Michael Bellman, that Swedish alcoholic poet. It was really interesting, but sometimes I nearly cried because I had to think of wonderful Stockholm and - yes, you my dear brother Donnie.
By the way, I think he wrote something about a Glöckner in Solna. We should definately check that out!
When the class ended, I felt free because today I don't have any classes in the afternoon. When I arrived downstairs, I met my colleague and friend from Japanese classes Katharina, who gave me a book called "Geständnis einer Maske" by Mishima Yukio, a gay Japanese writer, who committed publicly announced Harakiri in 1970. He might be one of the most famous Japanese authors in Western countries. It took me some time to realise that we even talked about him in one of my classes last term: "Die wilden 60er Jahre in Japan" by our dear Roland Domenig!
Anyway, Katharina had to go to her class and I had to go home. But - who did I see when leaving the building? That good-looking guy from another class last term, who lives in Herklotzgasse (one street next to mine) ;)
I would really like to know him ...

BUT... the day is still young and as Rilke said (thinking of Bellman) "wir sterben in Liebe und leben in Wein!"
Have a nice day!

Donnie a.k.a Janis, the wild party chick DJ, is now also a membre at LastFM. Check out my profile here! (And add me if you are also registered there!)

From Wednesday to Friday I was in Ronneby, the so-called "heart of the garden of Sweden" and a town Blekinge in South East of Sweden, and attended the SIDeR 07 conference. I had a fantastic time there. Not only that the other participants seemed to have liked my presentation but also it was great to get to know all those gorgeous and interesting people like Willem, Johannes, Sebastian, Jokke, Fredrik and Morten.


Willem and Sebastian (funny and clever guys from Holland and Germany who study in Denmark)


Johannes (the Norwegian studying in Holland who had the best presentation)

We had a good party time after the delicious conference dinner (which made me forget about the vegetarian disappointment at lunch time). In fact, it was party (#2) at the student pub (with ceap beer, a little bit of pool and dancing) and 2 afterparties (one at a student corridor where we were introduced to the Ronneby drinking culture ... Donk! ... and a small one in my room where Willem, Fredrik and I listened to a bit German music).

Well, don't think i went there only for partying. Because that's not the case at all! It was a pleasure to listen to some very good leactures and the others' presentation and getting a hell lot of new ideas and perspectives. I guess I also learned a lot abot the field of interaction design itself. The first time in my life I have the feeling that I found something that could be the perfect study program for me as it is the perfect combinition of knowledge and creativity. Just a pity that I got to know it so late.
Too late I'm afraid :(
But thinking of my new friends I think I'll survive :)

Just as my beloved "brother" Sergio, I'm also busy these days. After a very sunny, relaxing and lovely Sunday I'm back into my weekday worcaholism.

On Monday I had a little meeting for a big project and my new course at university startet. It is about dynamic programming languages such as Python and Ruby and even though it might sound quite cliché nerdy I already like it because Tobias, the teacher, wants us to have fun. Let's see if he succeeds in his goal ;)

Today I read a scientific article about an awareness frame work that I have to use for an individual assignment which is the last bit to do for my previous university course. Actually I also wanted to write it today but I didn't get to it as the laundry and my hunger were on higher priority. In the evening I went to Alcazar and saw another goddarn great concert by Torpedo. Skitbra!

Tomorrow (well, actually today) I'm going to Blekinge (in the South of Sweden) in order to attend the SIDeR conference. I just finished the work on the presentation ... Looks fair enough I think.

And now it's time for a little bit of sleep ...

... but before that let me tell you something:
EVERYTHING IS EASIER IF YOU DO IT WITH A SMILE :)

So much homework after only 2 (!!!!) days of university ...
How can it be?
What can I do?
Looks like I have some biiiiig problems ...
*cough* *cough*
(And why do I feel so sick? I just can't be sick now! I can't!!!)

I had a looooooooooooong walk this afternoon when the sun was shining so nicely and explored a bit the forrest next to my "beton shoe box".



After a while I arrived at the castle (Ulrikdals Slottet) and there is this weird bridge that you see there in the picture. I don't know how a peace of racist decoration can actually survive so long here in the otherwisely so politically correct country of Sweden ...



During walking around for 1 1/2 hours I was listening to the gorgeous Klaxons album and let my thoughts fly around a little bit. Yup, Sundays are nice! Even though I'm normally hung-over and tired in my head. But it's good to have this day and not do anything ... except maybe summing up what had happened during the weekend, think about situations, reactions and feelings and clean up the mind. The Swedish life-style-pendulum between the extreme behaviours on weekdays and on weekends makes a day like that really important actually ...



Actually this weekend was very short as I was staying home on Friday night. After having finished the modul modal show for March, I had to learn for the Collaborative Computing test that I had on Saturday from 10 to 14 o'clock. And then I prepared the DJ session at Club King Kong - burning mix CDs, styling well and so on. It was just then when I arrived at Restaurang Sjöhästen that I finally could start the weekend ...

OK, I was still "working". But DJing is also a lot of fun and it's great that so many of my friends showed up yesterday as well as that I also got to know some very nice new people! A very charming young man from Gothenburg for example ... Anyway, in the end I only played records for one hour I think because the club had to close earlier than planned (No permission to be opened until 3 am) but even though I was mixing a lot of German music with some Swedish indie hits the people seemed to have enjoyed it. At least every one that I asked told me so and the nice King Kog crew asked me to play again there some time ... Hopefully even next time. Would be great!!!

And how will I end this week now? Well, with some Indiana Jones and a bit of Francois's famous chocolate cake! Mjamjam! :)

How was your weekend, my MAFUKA-brothers?

Yesterday's modul modal is online now!
Listen to it here!!