Laziness

Looking back at the previous posting there - glad I wrote it down.

It's all a bit in flux with me internally at present. Unsettled. I'm back in London now and after an initial buzz of being back in the bosom of familiarity, I think I've become somewhat lazy.

I think this is the biggest challenge I face right now - laziness. I could have all the opportunity in the world presented to me - the job of my dreams, a great place to live, friends, money, emotional security, but without the internal motivation to build upon this then it all means nothing. I was thinking about this today. Living with Tom has really brought this home. He seems to me like someone who sees things through. When there's something to be done, he does it. In my case, when the effort becomes too much, too uncomfortable I take the easy option and relax, even when there are still things to be done.

My dreams

It's not as hard for me to think about what my dreams are. It's actually fairly present in my awareness. Languages. I can get obsessive about learning new things. In fact, I'm pretty certain that much of the work I've done with computers has to do with this love of learning syntax etc. So, push come to shove, I would say that learning languages is a passion of mine. I've always known this, I guess I just had to say it out loud.

Another things that I still could be fun is making interactive applications - thinking back to the map exhibition I saw in Potsdammer Platz. I don't know if I'll be any good at it, but with the job starting in London I'll get paid to learn about ActionScript and Flex, whilst earning a salary doing what I do best, ColdFusion.

This is an utterly fantastic position to be in. A realisation though - it's sometimes not a case of not knowing what to do next: more often than not it can be a case of not knowing how to take the next steps, or being lazy and not following through, or just simply settling into old habits and not recognising that dreams should be followed. I have to deal with all three of these issues.

Venison roasting nicely. Slug of red and a handful of shallots. Drool.

using ping.fm to gather together this mess of web2.0 sites. Nice :)

It's the little things

The thought struck me again in Hamburg last weekend as I was looking at a plug socket.

I'll expand a little - I've been out of the UK now for over six months. Two months in Patagonia and four here in Berlin. And in all that time I don't really think I've really suffered from culture shock. Well, there was one point about two months ago when I was in Germany but seemed to be spending all my time looking for job adverts in Britain. Until Tina pointed out that I really should try and give this country a bit of a chance. Well said that woman. Now I'm much more immersed in life here - I'm working here in a bilingual English/German firm. Still, it doesn't seem to be the big things that trigger off heimweh in me: language, culture etc.: it's the little things. Like plug sockets: they're different. I've spent my entire life not even seeing these things until now - the mundane has become glowingly present, and this then forces me to see everything in a new light. It feels like such a gift.

Beer & Python

A somewhat cryptic title - I'll expand a bit on it.

I'm sat behind my trusty laptop doing some coding work at the moment using the Python programming language. I managed to finally secure a permanent job here in Berlin and I'll be using the language in my day-to-day role as a developer. Seeing as it's waaaay past home time though it seems as if a bottle of Becks is order of the day. I can only wait and see what transpires in the hour ahead...

Google maps - going by foot

Got an invite to a dance performance on Saturday - Silvia is a dancer from Sardinia. Being sat behind my laptop (as ever) I thought I'd have a look where we needed to get to - pulled up Google Maps. I was very happy to see that they now have a "walking" option when you specify an origin and destination. Then I saw this disclaimer.

Walking directions are in beta.
Use caution when walking in unfamiliar areas.

This really does bring home to me more than just how dependent people are on cars (I've always found it odd that this was never an option before). The thing I find sad though is the thought that not using anything other than a car to get anywhere is some kind of exotic, dangerous act. I should state that I'm making this statement from the perspective of a someone who's lived in Berlin for three months now and who has also spent the last three years living in London - keeping a car in either city is expensive and pretty unnecessary. I would love it if Google would integrate its map functionality with local transport companies and cycle routes.