Funnily enough, one starts to think that spring is coming when you leave the office after five and there’s still some light (even if the weather’s not that great). That’s what a dark winter does to you.
Monthly Archives: February 2008
Friendship
There were a few events today that reminded me of the importance of friendship in life (not that I ever forget).
- I spent a day and a half in Tampere with some very dear friends. Even though they're not people I see very often, they are very dear to me, since they've been with me since my arrival in Finland and we've had quite some history together. That they laugh at my stupid jokes is just a plus.
- I agreed to meet a friend in Barcelona whom I haven't seen in 5 years or so.
- My ex-girlfriend, with whom I am still in very good terms, found me again as we had lost touch for quite some time. I'm glad to hear she's fine.
- On a sadder note, I received a contact request from a person I have never met simply because, as her profile reads, she moved to a new city and is feeling rather lonely. I'm really sorry I can't be of no use, as I don't add contacts I don't actually know (the Myspace approach is so out of vogue…).
Macho a bordo
Cuando me subí al avión a Londres Heathrow, me encontré con una mujer que estaba teniendo problemas para abordar, ya que tenía tanto un bebé como la carreola de éste y no se daba abasto. Lo que me enervó bastante es que el esposo, que estaba viajando con ella, no se dió por enterado y simplemente se subió al avión dejándola "morir sola". Como estaban viajando a México, le pregunté a la mujer a dónde iban y ella me respondió que a Veracruz, de donde es el esposo.
La actitud del hombre me pareció espantosa, ya que si fué lo suficientemente machito para traer un bebé al mundo, tendría que también ponerse las pilas para hacerse responsable al respecto. Qué pena.
It’s sunny in London!
Back here. But at least there's good weather.
Recommended Book: Convergence Culture
An interesting book I read in the December holiday period, it details how audiences relate to different properties accross media, and what are the new behaviours we are finding as a result. Even though some of the cases and examples shown are already a couple of years old, if you are trying to understand what are the ways people are actually using, dissecting and mashing content this is definitely the book for you.
A previous review on Slashdot here.
Proper winter missing
Even though the sea is starting to get frozen, the fact is that proper winter as known in this latitudes has been lacking. Snow has been rather sporadic and not permanent, and we’ve been hovering between +3 & -3°C for a month now.
When the flight was delayed, everyone queued at the nearest bar…
When the flight was delayed, everyone queued at the nearest bar…
Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado
On the way back to Helsinki. Yes, Finns have a “special relationship” with alcohol.
London again
And Heathrow is still not that great.
Recommended book: Empires of the Word
I picked up this book on Amazon and also read it during January. I have to admit that, given that it touches on two of my favourite subjects: history and languages, I absolutely loved it. The insight it gave on the history of the speakers of languages such as Chinese, Dutch or Akkadian was totally riveting, and it was written in such an amenable way I couldn't put it down. The text examples of each language in the beginning of the appropriate chapter was a great technique for introducing them and the author shows he definitely knows what he's writing about.
The only thing that put me off a little bit was its slight English-language bias, which is anyway not unexpected given that the writer is a native English speaker, and the book is written in English. Regardless, one of the best books I've read in a long, long time.
Special report on migration by the Economist
I found this special report in the Economist last month, and was meaning to comment on it here. I am not surprised by the general optimistic tone of the report, and being an immigrant myself I'm probably not the most impartial person to comment on its benefits for the immigrant, the origin and host countries.
One thing that I would like to bring to the fore, is however, the backlash against immigration and immigrants currently going on in many places around the world. Given that many people don't see the benefits for them, they strongly oppose it, with sometimes rather ugly attitudes showing up.