Timbuktu

"What struck me most powerfully when I got to Timbuktu was that the streets were of sand. I suddenly realized that sand is very different from dirt. Every town starts with dirt streets that eventually get paved as the inhabitants prosper and subdue their environment. But sand represents defeat. A city with streets of sand is a city at the edge.

That, of course, is why I was there: Timbuktu is the ultimate destination for edge-seekers. Of the half-dozen places that have always lured travelers with the mere sound of their name—Bali and Tahiti, Samarkand and Fez, Mombasa and Macao—none can match Timbuktu for the remoteness it conveys. I was surprised by how many people, hearing of my trip, didn't think Timbuktu was a real place, or, if it was, couldn't think where in the world it might be. They knew it well as a word—the most vivid of all synonyms for the almost unreachable, a God-given toy for songwriters stuck for an "oo" rhyme and a metaphor for how far a lovestruck boy would go to win the unwinnable girl. But as an actual place—surely Timbuktu was one of those "long-lost" African kingdoms like King Solomon's Mines that turned out not to exist when the Victorian explorers went looking for them."
(On Writing Well, William Zinsser)

Holly

Don't really know what to say about this film. Watch it and tell me how this human world has come into being? Define human? Define sanity? Reason? If this is really happening and there is basically nothing to do about it then we better hope that doomsday would come sooner.

With birds

With a head full of people, places, words, dreams, thoughts and hopes, I wrapped myself in my warmest clothes and set off to climb the nearest hill. On my own in the knee-deep snow cover unseen on this island, I marched towards the white peaks. Sat on the cliffs, watched the city and the mountains on the horizon. In an instant, people, places, words, dreams, thoughts and hopes dissolved in the sunset. Sometime solitude is healing.
With birds I shared this lonely view.

Merry Christmas to all of you who for one or another reason stick to this blog.

Castles in the sky

Taylor Steele's unusual and beautiful documentary Castles in the Sky is an inspiring stir of culture and surfing. The 45 minute film follows A-class surfers on a spiritual and scenic journey around the coasts of Iceland, Peru, Vietnam, India and Africa. But caution - Castles in Sky is not really a film about surfing but a film about traveling “one step further”. A journey that starts in one's own psyche and awareness of the world and its rhythm. What's more moving than the photography and the music is the story told by each traveler in the beginning of each section. It's mind-bending, this conscious search for simplicity and freedom, this “unstuck” state of mind. As sincere as it sounds, this film's visual and visionary poetry gets you, makes you dreamy and initiates mental journeys to your own peaceful and drifting destinations. To your own "unstuckness".

I took the liberty to write down the stories. Had to omit number 3 in Vietnam cause I couldn't really understand what the guy is saying.

There was once a man who became unstuck in
the world. He realized that it was not his car.
He realized that it was not his job. It was not his phone,
his desk or his shoes. Like a boat cut from the tanker,
he began to drift.

There was once a man who became unstuck in
the world. He took the wind for a map.
He took the sky for a clock and he set off with no
destination.
He was never lost.

There was once a man who became unstuck in
the world. With a polaroyd camera he made pictures of
all the people he met. And then he gave all the pictures away.
He would never forget their faces.

There was once a man who became unstuck in
the world. And each person he met became a little less
stuck themselves. He traveled only with himself.
And he was never alone.

There was once a man who'd become unstuck in the world
and he traveled around like a leaf on the wind
until he reached the place where he's started out
His car, his job, his phone, his shoes.
Everything was right where he'd left it.
Nothing had changed.
And yet he felt excited to have arrived here
as if this was the place he'd been going to all along.

21 December

21 December 2009 (Koh Phi Phi, Thailand)

21 December 2010 (St. Andrews, Scotland)

Today was the shortest day of the year. From now on, days will be in bloom again.
People say on this day in two years something of great proportions may/will/should happen.

180° South

A ken of inspiration in days of tedious indolence.

Times like these

There are times when I want to dig a hole in the soil, cuddle up there and just stop being for a while.
There are moments when I wanna scoop up all this beautiful madness and swallow it, immerse in it, be it.
And there are times like now, when I just sit at home, with a second bottle of wine and listen to music on my own.

Bliss

Bliss has many faces. Might be just around the corner. Could be lurking in your back yard. But we tend to look for beauty, peace and inspiration in far-away destinations. It might be just in front of your door. 30 steps away from my house I found bliss and felt grateful.

Winter sun

Xavier Rudd and Ben Howard brought some Earthy warmth to this snow-covered city last night. Outside the sun is shining bright again.

Snowboom

Home

Arthur's seat before and ...

... Arthur's seat after...

... the snow explosion that canceled flights, lectures, exams, concerts, public transport. Sometimes you wonder, if the UK is really a developed country.