Out of Office

RE:Out of Office AutoReply: Guardian Jobs - ... Coordinator (JS/HQ00012345) - new application from Guardian Jobs

Dear AV,

I have now left ... to pursue my lifelong dream of travelling the world.

From now on, please contact my colleague Alison on ... or ...@... .

Kind regards,

Johannes

Those Big Blue Eyes

SU Your mother had those big blue eyes.

AV No, my Mom has brown eyes.

SU So, perhaps Grandma had blue eyes?

AV I don't know, I have never met her.

SU So, then it must have been my mother who had those big blue eyes. Yes, that's it. No. I don't know. Somebody had really, really big, blue eyes.

Grownups

Find more here

Walking times

Gosport

Visiting friends in Gosport. The youngest is Teddy, almost 5 months old. It's nice to be here again.
We will soon eat beef stew. It's funny how much Hungarian food I have in the UK.


View Larger Map

Déjà vu

Nostalgia

Met a few ex-colleagues for coffee today. We laughed a lot and decided to meet again once a month. Hope that works out.

Saw the Lovers of Ancona (Anconai Szerelmesek) on dvd today. I am glad I was part of that company once.

Plate 2.

Plate 1.

Birthday

He got back from Amsterdam yesterday. Missed him. We had a fun birthday celebration last night, with good friends and good food, lots of laughs. Gifts: home-made marmalade, nougat (find it here, and only here) and Douglas Coupland books. Mozzarella and tomatoes, goose liver with truffles as starters, layered potatoes (rakott krumpli = putted potatoes :-) and salad as the main course, home-made túró rudi (made by Rebus), brownies, choc tiffins, vanilla ice cream... Yum!

Peruvian

Saw the Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada) at the BFI 53rd London Film Festival today. Beautiful 2009 film by Peruvian director Claudia Llosa.

Pre-smoked

Penny Escher: And I suppose you smoked all these cigarettes?
Kay Eiffel: No, they all came pre-smoked.

No Smiley Portrait For Today

Unable to take a decent photo of myself. In which I smile. Not grimace. So I'll stick to taking photos of things that smile at me.

Beard White, Hair Falling

MAN (in his early 80s): You just need to believe in omens, alright? You need to see the signs life sends you, alright? You just cannot live without them. I mean, how would you? Life gives you so many signs, you just need to see them. Once you see them, you can follow them. Don't be so damn ignorant, alright? Everyone has their own destiny. But if you don’t follow it, you are a dead man.

Okay, if you heard all this from a woman in her twenties or thirties, you would say, nah, she just wants to be trendy, got all her wisdom from some crappy women's magazine, trying to get through her miserable, single forever, careerist cunt life, am I correct? But here I am, beard white, hair falling, having most of my years behind me.

So, watch the patterns in life and see how they grow, alright?

Posts

Sometimes two blog posts, sometimes none. Here a photo, there a photo.

Conversation at a London Museum

This happened a few years ago, but hard to forget.

MAN (about 65, dressed in a suit, smiles when he speaks): Where are you from?

ME (working at the museum at the time): Budapest. But I learned English in the States.

MAN: You don't learn English in the States. There you learn American.

ME (short pause): Well, they taught me enough English to be able to communicate with people in Britain.

MAN: (long pause)

Remember

Last night should be remembered.

"Jó!"

Away We Go

Sandwiches, Breadcrumbs

Dreamt that my Dad is going to the States for a year. So what did I do? Made him some sandwiches. Ham and cheese.

Cut lots of curly hair today, and to my greatest surprise, it turned out alright.

Had a good cooking moment (few hours) with Rebus: jacket potatoes, steak, chicken breasts in breadcrumbs, cooked vegetables in creme fraiche.

What a life!

Feel Sorry For

Got back to London this morning. Did 2 things:

1. slept

2. posted my status on Facebook:

"Back in London"

A friend commented:

"there is no 'feel sorry for' button on Facebook..."

Parents (to be)

Tiredness. Got up at 4:30, that was tough. But the ride to the airport was great. The goodbye was moving and sweet.

I met two of my pregnant friends today. One in the morning, the other in the afternoon. Both looked beautiful. Although sometimes troubled, they have an incredible calmness in them.

We talked some about my parents, your parents, their parents. Had great many laughs.

Witch Craft or Good Thinking

I decided to rearrange today's event at the ELTE, after the "great" success at the Academy. I asked Elliot and Carol if they would deliver a lecture instead of taking part in a so-called roundtable discussion which appearantly in Hungary means that people read their notes out loud, or speak on their own for several minutes as if nobody else were there. They are unable to engage in an actual conversation. Maybe they are simply not interested in others. And neither are the moderators or Hungarian audience ready to ask any questions.
Elliot and Carol were more than happy to oblige. So the two of them spoke 95% percent of the time, with a mighty short introduction at the beginning and a few questions from students at the end. It was a complete success and the audience was content, lively and fulfilled.
Afterwards, I thought my little backstage, organisational witch craft (or good thinking) made a huge difference. So a pat on the back for me, virtually. I have written this blogpost to commemorate this, as I have a tendency to forget my accomplishments and only remember whatever was troublesome.

Sticking Feathers Up Your Butt

Incredible. Some people. Should know Better. Are supposed to be clever. But quite the contrary.

The fact that one has learned to speak does not mean that one can speak in front of a packed room. Even if you are a politician, a doctor of the Academy, or any famous representative of the intelligentsia.
If you are asked to do an introduction, that means you've got 2 minutes. If you speak for more than 10, what you are giving is called a lecture. Nobody asked you to give a lecture.
And sitting next to you, what a suprise, is renowned social psychologist, Elliot Aronson. Someone who not only has something much more interesting to say than you do, but can also engage an audience without any effort whatsoever. And not read his speech from a piece of paper like you do.
Oh, and he also has a sense of humor. Yes, humor. Just look it up if you don't know.


Or simply put (from Fight Club):
"Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken."

Advanced Technology

When You Fall in Love with Your Own Voice

When you get hold of a microphone, you don't necessarily have to talk for long.

You don't necessarily need to deliver a speech.

Look around, pay attention, breathe normally.

Come out of your pity little world and see who the hell you are talking to. And what the purpose was in the first place.

Grrrtyrhcb%^&*ndxgrrrjdjgfucbrr**xy%tydfhd!!hdgggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Sunshine

Long days, but damn good ones.

Shadows

Mistakes Were Made

Elliot Aronson and Carol Tavris in Budapest

Photo: Vera Aronson


The great master of social psychology has arrived to Budapest! Here he is with co-author and fellow social psychologist, Carol Tavris.

Everybody should read Aronson's books, whoever you are or whatever you do!

Brand New

In Budapest. Smooth flight. It is a whole other world travelling with a brand new laptop. Small, comfortable. Enough said, now gotta get some sleep.

There are times when...