James

Get Mnemosyne.

My vocabulary needs improving. Very often I find myself asking: ‘I know that word. What does it mean?’ Vocabulary, like many things, is simply about exposure and repetition.

Many people make flash cards. I, however, am lazy. There’s a program called Mnemosyne, which is the digital equivalent. Admittedly, it’s a pain in the proverbials to enter in your entire book of vocabulary, but arguably that is also an exercise in repetition and familiarity. You won’t learn many words by opening up a dictionary randomly, there’s no context to link the word to.

(again)

I already have a violin at home. Hand-made by an Irish luthier, quite expensive, but I never really tried to learn or play it.

Now I live with a violinist, so when I go home for Xmas, I will return with it, and he will teach me. :)

By my reckoning, I’ve taken over 188 Polaroid since last January, an average of one per two days. I have 17 boxes of Impossible Project and Fuji packfilm (170 shots) in storage. My equipment has expanded in include a flashgun, tripod, time, and a zoom lens. And, I have two full photo albums.

I think it is safe to say this has been accomplished. :)

... do I get back to here?

The last time I felt at home was by the Atlantic. I miss the wind, how can I catch it in a jar and bring it with me wherever I go?

There it is. Out there. Focus. Draw back the curtains, open the blinds, stop in the middle of the street and look upwards.

It’s there.

Every day, above you head, waiting, un-noticed by the masses. People never notice what’s under (or above) their noses.

Purchase a chalk-marker and repeat after me on your window: “The sky is beautiful.” Now if only I could find my way back to the Atlantic…

So it’s been 10 months later and I’ve shot my way through at least 20 boxes of Polaroid film. Impossible Project, Fuji, and original Polaroid brand. I’ve fixed and used the M3 flash unit, obtained a zoom lens, and a mechanical timer.

I’m getting there. One frame at a time.

So I achieved this properly for the first time in my life. I learnt to let go, that one little piece of myself that I had never given to anybody. I loved her more than I have ever loved a woman, and I got crushed for it six months later.

Worth doing?

Probably.

Normally if I come across a word that seems like an odd translation, I break it down into its parts and build it back up again. For example: “überlegen”, which is ‘to consider’ or ‘to think’.

Breaking it down it becomes ‘über’‘legen’, ‘over’‘to lie’, which I can make sense of poetically. I lay over the thought/issue, sat on it for a while, [until it hatched].

But today I stumbled across “erfahren”. To experience, or to come to know.

Breaking it down I’m not sure how this comes about. Fahren is clearly ‘to travel’ or ‘to journey’, but “er” by itself is nothing. Perhaps it was “überfahren”, which became ”’erfahren”, and then dropped the ’. I can kind of uunderstand it like this, an experience that happened over a journey. But am I correct?

This seems like something that would be really fun, interesting, artistic, creative, adventurous and new. There is a minefield of issues, however.

Where does one find a model? Location? Time? Starting off? How to maintain sexuality without sexualizing the situation? Staying somewhat professional, that is. If you’re male, how do you come across as not being a creepy pervert?

It seems like a catch-22, how do build a portfolio without a portfolio?

Edit: and then there’s the reaction of your partner. I guess it is much like an actor kissing somebody else on stage.

I now own enough that what I NEED can fit in two bags, and what I don’t fits in four boxes in my mother’s attics.

I’m free.

Wow, it’s been a while since my last update.

Night classes collapsed so I had to keep teaching myself and bludgeoning meine Freundin with my terrible linguistics. Then life got in the way, and it fell by the wayside.

I’m living in Berlin as of the last four days, survived the culture shock, and now I’m learning whether I like it or not!

Want to learn a language? Go live there.

I recently went to a photo exhibition in Berlin, of Nan Goldin. After losing her sister, Nan documented her life, and the lives of those around her through photographs.

Having also found a 1960s Polaroid camera, I plan to take pictures of everything. I’m waiting on the film in the post. I also have my digital on hand too.

All those moments, lost in time. Nevermore!

I recently got back from a week in Germany with my German girlfriend.

I learned more in that week than I did in the month beforehand of half-arsed casual learning. And I want to learn more. For me. I’m going to night classes from Feb. 9th onwards.

Sprachen sie Deutsch? Nein, aber ich learne.

After about a year of training. Running three-to-five times a week, increasing my distances, pushing, and pushing, and breaking, and pushing. I did it.

300~ out of 900. I 1h53. Beat my goal of 2h. Very happy, very worth doing.

I’ve been wanting to do this since I went bungee jumping in 2007. It’s the next logical progression.

So it costs about 350e to go skydiving in Ireland. I’ve been saving up 5e a week since last summer, so I should have 260e by this summer. But when and where are two future problems. And by myself? Solo? Tandem?

I’ve had my ‘00 Honda CB250 Nighthawk for nine months or so. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The miles melt away under the tires. Tomorrow, weather permitting, I’m going to drive west along the coast.

This is a “24 hours left to live”-thing.

I did it. I’d forgotten my list, my seven things. Only for playing a game with my college friends: “You have 24 hours to live, as such, your actions have no consequences. What do you do?” and making a list of outlandish and not-so-outlandish things that I remembered my list.

I’d accomplished a thing without even thinking about it. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. No regrets.