naja, jetzt ist Laufsaison, wenn es so was gibt und bald brauche ich mehr hörbücher für die längeren Läufen. Habt Euch irgendwelche Vorschläge? Unten gibt’s ein paar Vorliebe von mir…

Reading right now / Jetzt auf dem Nachttisch:
Jhereg by Steven Brust (have read this before, just going through the Taltos series again)

Last book read / Gerade vorher:
American Gods by Neil Gaiman (again, i’ve read this before)

Last audio book / voriges Hörbuch:
Collapse by Jared Diamond

I’ll read almost anything by these people / ich lese fast jedes Buch von…:
Bill Bryson
Connie Willis
Neil Gaiman
Terry Pratchett
Michael Pollan
Steven Brust
Jasper Fforde
Jostein Gaarder
Phillip Pullman

I will not read / ich lese niemals:
Romance (yes this includes that so-called fantasy series of the lady that time travels in scotland. a lot of people like it, i know, but it is just not for me).

Any ideas would be appreciated!

Wir haben eine herrliche Wintersonnenwende, wundervolle Heiligabend und Weihnachstag – meistens im Schnee verbracht – gehabt. Ich hoffe Ihr habt in dieser Jahreszeit auch irgendwas das Ihr wirklich genößet getan.

Heiliger Abend 2007

christmas eve 2007

Last night we finally watched “The Lives of Others”. What an amazing film. I was completely drawn in right from the beginning. Ulrich Mühe reminded me quite a bit of Ben Kingsley, especially in his role in “The House of Sand and Fog” (a movie in which I didn’t really like the characters as people, but loved them as characters). I don’t know if this similarity for me is due to a feeling, or his looks, but he played a quiet, strong, thoughtful person; the kind of person one would like to know. I was sad to learn that he has since died. I know nothing of him as a real person, but may he have enjoyed life.

Last weekend salt lake city was introduced to the 48 Hour Film Project. The object of the project is to write, construct, shoot and edit a 4-7 minute film in 48 hours. A friend produced it and, somehow, SOP and I volunteered to take still shots. Pretty wild. The teams draw a genre and are told a character, line, and prop they have to use in their film Friday night at 7:00 p.m. and then have until Sunday at 7:30 p.m. to turn the films in. I shot at Friday’s and Sunday’s events and trust me that people were looking just a bit worse for wear Sunday night.

Tuesday night we got to go see the screenings for one of the groups. What a great time! Such a great variety of work. I walked out of the screening just gushing over many of the films. Such a very cool thing and people really pulled it off well! Tonight is the wrap party and the awards. Can’t wait to see how my favorites did.

One of the teams shot at a space SOP is involved with, the 337 project. This project is centered at a soon-to-be demolished building. The owner has made the building available to local artists to do with as they wish, resulting in some really creative art. Unfortunately, early Saturday morning, the building was vandalized with some random scribbling over some intricate pieces. Fortunately, they know who did it and there may be enough time for the artists to repair most of the damage before the opening on May 18. (I am not exaggerating when i say these pieces are intricate, though. A lot of really amazing work happening in the space.)

Ich have das Glück einige extrem kreative FreundInnen and Bekannten zu haben.

Am Wochenende wurde Salt Lake City das 48-Hour Film Project bekannt gemacht. Der Zweck des Projekts ist ein Film von 4-7 Minuten Dauerzeit innerhalb 48 Stunden zu schreiben, schaffen, drehen und redigieren. Eine Freundin war die Produzentin und irgendwie haben SOP und ich uns freiwillig angemeldet um Fotos zu machen. Den Gruppen wurden ihre Genres; sowie ein Stück Dialogs, ein Requisit und eine Figur, Freitag-Abend um 1900 mitgeteilt. Dann ahtten sie bis 1930 Uhr Sonntags ihren Filmen einzureichen. Ich fotografierte Freitag und Sonntag und glaub mir, die leuten schienen ein bißchen hager am Sonntag.

Dienstag durften wir bei einer Vorführung gegenwartig sein. Was für ein Spaß! Es war wirklich bemerkenswert wie verschieden die Filme waren. Ich war einfach bezaubert. Heute Abend wird die Nachbereitungsfeier und die Preisverleihung. Ich kann kaum warten.

Eine der Gruppen hat bei einem Gebäude, mit dem SOP verbunden ist, gedreht: Das 337 Projekt. Das Gebäude wird bald zerstört und der Eigentümer hat es zu heimische Künsteler geöffnet um zu tun was sie mögen. Daraus kommt mache kreative Kunst! Leider ist das Gebäude Samstag früh beschädigt worden. Sie wissen aber wer es getan hat und es gibt vielleicht genug Zeit um die Beschädigung zu reparieren.

Luckily, SOP took me seriously on my christmas wish and now we (i) have these:

Haben wir noch Weihnachten?

Bei mir schon. Die lezte der Weihnachtsgeschenke die ich zu zeigen habe hat SOP mir gegeben. “Alles, was ich zu Weihnachten moechte, ist die Fertigung der Regale im Keller”. Wisst Ihr, wir haben das Buero / die Dunkelkammer im Herbst 2005 ‘beendet’, aber es gab immer noch keine Bretter in den Schraenken und auch noch keine Buecherregale. Die Dunkelkammer war brauchbar, aber die Meisten meiner Buecher waren noch in Kisten da ich keinen Platz fuer sie hatte. Zudem war meine Dunkelkammerausruestung in den Schraenken hoch gestapelt, aber das geht nur so weit ohne Bretter.

Gluecklicherweise hat SOP meine ausgedrueckten Wunsch ernst genommen und jetzt haben wir diese:

Choose your images, get them printed, share with friends*.

*well, that is the plan, at least. I need to upload some better-quality images of some of my favorites before i proceed with this.

spheres (i didn’t note the name) by Chris Coleman

Cradle of Life and Death by Shawn Porter

Custom Continental by B. Clark

Dream by Sylvia Davis
beautiful tones in the patina on this one

Fetal by Mark Degraffenried

Flame by Ryoichi Suzuki
i wish i could have had better light for this. The patina was fabulous. It looked like stone.

Gratitude by K. Miduch

Haute Coutre Torture by J. Lucius

Hybrid Seed by N. Johannsen

Jack Knife by D. Holz

La jeune Femme by J. Young

Michelle (something) by Dan Gerhart

Penguin by U. Brodauf

Gypsy Woman by P. Pobil

Recombinant Michelle by Dan Gerhart

The Standard Works by B. Fairbanks
Moses, St Peter, Nephi and Joseph Smith, Jr

Tree People by Greg Raglan
This is so beautiful in person.
The forms carry a real sense of the organic.
they turn their heads up to the sky,
their lips pursed,
waiting to kiss

The Better Man / Wrong End of a 45 by S. Rogers
some of the best western sculpture i’ve seen

If you happen to be in Utah before Aug. 24, 2006, try to check it out.

As of Saturday evening, the Utah MS150 ride had earned $1,060,000 to help fight MS and support those with MS.

I ended up riding 100 miles on day one and the remainder on day two. Let me just say, that i really should have put slicks on for the 100 miles. I have a touring bike and the tires are wider and more nobbly than a regular road bike which gives you more resistance and i was definitely feeling that at the end of day one. Luckily, i hooked up with my friend Carol’s team, which i have ridden with a couple of times, and got to do some drafting. Thank you Janet and Beth for pulling the last 15 miles!

Sunday had an open start, so i headed out at 7:15 and hooked up with two other brighton team members, Zita and Jay, to do the last loop. The volunteers on both days were fantastic. The route was beautiful and the people were great. How cool to be riding along with someone who was grateful to be the 6th top fund raiser last year. His wife has MS and both he and his son were riding the 150. She was hoping to join them for a few miles at the end.

Sunday, when we got back to camp at 10:00, sop was waiting for me (he had not been able to come up with me because we had Dogie) with beer and sandwiches. I finished breaking down my camp and we headed out to a reservoir on the bike route to hang out for a while. Perfect wrap-up to a fantastic weekend!

Oh, yes, pictures:

Team Brighton – Lifts for Life

Joanne and J

on the route

Carol and Hugh

Blakemore riders (saved my butt)

even hand-huts deserve a name

the only blurry picture i ended up with!