First Real Rays of Sun

What an awesome sunny day today was! I spent 3 hours working in the castle garden in the afternoon. The cats are loving the milder weather, too. Charly posed for about 100 shots. Here is just one:

Making it all Work – With a good conscience

David Allen's new book arrived today. So now I can go from „Getting Things Done“ to actually „Making It All Work“.

The paperback book I hold in my hands bears an environmental seal. „Papers used by Piatkus Books are natural, renewable and recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests and certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council“. Boy, doesn't that take a load of guilt from my heart. Still, I'd rather read it on a new kindle. Too bad Amazon is still not selling that nifty little device here in Germany. We'll have to keep on killing trees – albeit using humane methods „from well-managed forests and other controlled sources“.

Just Us Chickens

Walks in the village aren't so much fun in the drizzle. Not even the chickens were out today. But I got a good shot of them yesterday.

Facebook Games - things I've done

I have this policy of ignoring facebook app requests. I got one today that I thought might be fun to do but didn't want to post it back onto facebook (not because of the new and since revoked TOS but in general). Also because the "game" requires you to tag another 25 people who are to take the same "test". That's something I just wouldn't do. I consider that spam. But anyway, here I am with this "things I've done" questionnaire and here I go:

Things you have done during your lifetime:
() Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
() Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada
(X) Been to Mexico
() Been to Florida
() Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane
(X) Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost
(X) Gone to Washington, DC
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Sang Karaoke
(X) Paid for a meal with coins only
() Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't.
(X) Made prank phone calls
(X) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose & elsewhere
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Danced in the rain-naked
() Written a letter to Santa Claus
() Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
(X) Been deep sea fishing
(X) Driven across the United States
() Been in a hot air balloon
(X) Been sky diving
() Gone snowmobiling
(X) Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
() Enjoyed the beauty of the Grand Canyon (from a plane)
() Seen the Statue of Liberty
(X) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
(X) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
(X) Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
(X) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR
() Been to Disneyland
() Been to Disney World
() Truly believe in the power of prayer
(X) Been in a rain forest
(X) Seen whales in the ocean
() Been to Niagara Falls
(X) Ridden on an elephant
() Swam with dolphins
() Been to the Olympics
() Walked on the Great Wall of China
() Saw and heard a glacier calf
() Been spinnaker flying
(X) Been water-skiing
(X) Been snow-skiing
() Been to Westminster Abbey
() Been to the Louvre
() Snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef
(X) Been to a Major League Baseball game
() Been to a National Football League game
(X) Been canoeing
(X) Been sailboating
(X) Watched the birth of a baby
(X) Learned to play an instrument
() Earned a graduate degree
(X) Bungee jumped
() Traveled on a mission trip to a third-world country
(X) Learned to speak a second language fluently
(X) Published an article, book or poem
() Painted a mural
(X) Taught a child to ride a bike without training wheels
(X) Learned to juggle
(X) Had a butterfly land on you
(X) Witnessed a child's first steps
(X) Saw a tornado funnel cloud
(X) Saw lava flowing from a volcano
(X) Rescued an animal
(X) Saved a life
(X) Completed a marathon, triathalon or 5K race
() Volunteered at a soup kitchen/homeless shelter
(X) Sung in a choir with an orchestra
(X) Walked barefoot on the beach with someone you love
() Searched for the end of a rainbow
() Been on a safari
() Learned how to tango
(X) Tried sushi
(X) Milked a cow
(X) Skinny dipped
(X) Planted a vegetable garden
(X) Built something
(X) Seen the Northern Lights
(X) Invented something

Okay, so don't ask me about some of these...

Thrown offline again

It happens all the time in this one-horse town: net connectivity dies for hours on end. I suppose it's always at peak times when everybody and their grandmother are just coming home from work and getting online or on Sundays when the teenagers are finally rolling out of bed in the late morning or early afternoon.

Not having any net connectivity really ticks me off; just for the record.

But it has an upside, as well: this is when I usually actually get around to writing blog posts or working on my book because there aren't any distractions through email, twitter and such. I get to hammer away at my apple keyboard and upload it all later.

If I ever move again (and I've moved many, many times in my life) on of the main priorities in choosing where to live will be whether there is affordable broadband internet access. There is so much promise in the possible uses of the net. Just think of semantic seraches, for example.

CNN published something on the semantic web yesterday or today. I'd post it here, but I'm writing offline, now. I twittered it earlier today, though.

Another thing I've been interested in for a while is Deepa Mehta's semantic antics. No access to my delicious bookmark on that right now, either. But the gist of it all is in my head and I'll gladly post a link for your benefit later. Along with the CNN article on the semantic web.

Oh, wait: I'm back online! Quick:

CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/12/17/db.semanticweb/index.html
DeepaMehta: http://www.deepamehta.de/

I don't have much time left, anyway. Kati is bathing the kids and I'm about to be handed one of them (probably Isa).