Zürich, 29 December 2015: “Zürich´s relationship to the world is not of the spirit, but of commerce.” (Carl Jung) “Not so long ago, Zürich was famed chiefly for being the cleanest, most efficient city in Europe – prim, but devoid of soul.” (Rough Guide to Switzerland) There is the city everyone assumes Zürich to be:… Continue reading Canada Slim and the City of Spirits
Category: Literature
The road not taken
Wienachtsdorf am Bellevue, Zürich, 23 December 2015: The book I bought today, among other books I spoiled myself buying in Zürich before meeting my wife and enjoying the splendor that is Zürich´s Christmas market, is mentally burning a hole in my backpack. The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Science Fiction ponders the question: What happens… Continue reading The road not taken
Working for a giant
As regular followers of this blog know, I have two jobs: freelance teacher and part-time barista. I work as a humble part-time barista for the largest coffeehouse company in the world, Starbucks. And I can´t deny that this results in mixed feelings. I am older than this upstart of a company. In fact, I am… Continue reading Working for a giant
Jason: a phenomenon
I have a friend. To precisely define Jason is not easy, for he is quite unlike anyone I have ever hung around with before. I have known him since the beginning of this millennium and whenever I am in Freiburg im Breisgau I always ring him up and we will briefly get together for one… Continue reading Jason: a phenomenon
Saints and monsters
It was with the greatest pleasure that I spent most of the first two days of December in my favourite European City, Freiburg im Breisgau, the “capital” of southwestern Germany´s Black Forest. I have in two previous posts briefly touched upon my last visit to Freiburg (Sign of the Times / Victims of the Machine)… Continue reading Saints and monsters
The past and other foreign countries
Much to my wife´s endless despair and frustration my personal library of books, DVDs and music keeps growing and expanding in our apartment, but this is one issue between us that I have difficulty apologizing for! I know that books, films and music can be easily downloaded onto our electronic gadgets, (what Ute would prefer… Continue reading The past and other foreign countries
Pedestrian on the Information Highway
There is a powerful short story, referred to in Fahrenheit 451, called The Pedestrian, by the late great sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury. A man regularly goes for a stroll through the empty streets of a big futuristic metropolis to observe and absorb the world outside his door. One night a robotic patrol car stops him… Continue reading Pedestrian on the Information Highway
Hope for the Hopeless: Fighting the Feelings
In one of the last posts I recently wrote I began to discuss job-hunting and quoted extensively from one of my favourite books: Richard N. Bolles’ What Color Is Your Parachute?. (See Hope for the Hopeless: Brave New World of this blog.) I have begun doing this in the hope that what I am experiencing… Continue reading Hope for the Hopeless: Fighting the Feelings
Hope for the hopeless: Brave new world
It has been suggested that when one writes a blog and hopes to attract attention to it, one should show how reading that blog will benefit the reader and not just the writer. I have, for one person without a fortune, a fairly large library, that has expanded from what I could carry on my… Continue reading Hope for the hopeless: Brave new world
Confessions of the Batman
A fortnight ago, before the breeze off Lake Constance turned brisk, Ute and I were visited by a denizen of the dark, a creature of the night. A bat had somehow found its way into our apartment. It was an hours-long struggle to get the helplessly lost and confused little fellow out. His visit (I… Continue reading Confessions of the Batman