Quiet Days in Styria in Foreign

Sometimes it takes simple models to better understand complex behaviour

2005-07-06T05:32:00.000-07:00

There are usually two possibilities in life:
- To cope.
- Not to cope.

There is also a "third way", most of the times:
- To cheat.

But a decision has to be made, for the sake of one's mental health.

I am here.

2005-07-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

Back to Graz

2005-07-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

2005-07-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

2005-07-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

B.

2005-07-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

B.

2005-07-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Some only get to see back

2005-07-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

bratislava city

2005-07-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Comming out...

2005-07-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

On the right track to Bratislava

2005-07-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

traveling by train in Austria

2005-06-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite things in Austria is the train trip Vienna/Graz, Graz/Vienna. The train runs amazingly slowly, taking almost three hours to make 200 Kilometers, through a landscape of persistent and unchangeable green. The landscape has the effect of "environment music"* to the eyes. It adds absolutely nothing to whatever haunts one's spirit. Perfect opportunity to deal with ones ghosts.

* Literal translation from the Portuguese expression; the kind of music that is there but no one listens to; new trend in public transportation, quite annoying to say the least.
We appretiate if anybody can elucidate us on the English correct translation.

Les Coristes

2005-06-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ne jamais dire jamais. Il y a toujours quelque chose a tenter.

Photos from Graz

2005-06-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry. Don't have the pacience to upload these photos all over again.

untitled

2005-06-26T03:36:00.000-07:00

Though of the day

2005-06-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

‘Be it my will that my justice be ruled by my mercy.’ That is a
prayer which we all need to utter at times when the demon of
formalism tempts the intellect with the lure of scientific order.

BENJAMIN CARDOZO, The Nature of the Judicial Process 66 (1921).

How this quiet chick is feeling today

2005-06-25T03:16:00.000-07:00

Really?!

Lets do it my way

2005-06-24T03:03:00.000-07:00

Brazil has an excellent anti-AIDS programme. It makes copycat versions of expensive brand-name drugs, making the treatments available for the majority of the population at an affordable cost. Grounding this measure are actually the rules of the WTO itself. This
“terrible”, “human rights-violator”, organisation… who would have though. The responsibility of WTO in terms of human rights is not the issue of this small statement. My point is just that the law is not so bad after all. I am more and more convinced that the law "in the books" is close to being meaningless in itself. Law in action is where the best solutions can be found. Particularly in a system where “constructive ambiguity” and indeterminate concepts rule, countries have the means to use it in a human rights friendly way, and they have the legal obligation to do so. The principles of WTO on patents are important in economic terms (and this is not a dirty word!). However, Brazil show us how the flexibilities in the intellectual property rules can be used to promote access to medicine for all. Maybe the common resistance of other countries, intimidated by the American giant, to follow this example is not even justified most of the times. It is to be seen if the US would be willing to pay the political price of retaliating in a situation such as this one that happened in Brazil. I seriously doubt it.

Colina

2005-06-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

Graz worships a small but arrogant hill. The whole city develops around this green pedestal that invites the visitor to climb on it and enjoy its creation.
Schloβberg owns the city.

untitled

2005-06-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life seems so hard in the faces of other people. For no particular reason. Sadness and dissatisfaction are terribly contagious. They invade one soul and spread around like the plague through defenseless selves.
Five people in a similar situation. One asks herself if, should she be given the chance to chose once again, she would still go through it. A negative is of course implicit. Three persons agree. The fourth just looks sad. She cannot make herself cope with defeat but discomfort penetrates her instantaneously. Hence, in the end she agrees. Without saying it or even admitting it to herself.

"You can always see something in the clouds."

2005-06-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

True. But sometimes clouds are just clouds.

Moments (2) - Kleines Cafe

2005-06-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

It might strike some as "nothing special", but there is definitely something about this place.

Catch-22 (3)

2005-06-18T03:46:00.000-07:00

“He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt.”

Catch-22 (2)

2005-06-18T03:45:00.000-07:00

“Men went mad and were rewarded with medals.”

Award Best Definition of "War"
In Catch-22, Joseph Heller

Catch-22

2005-06-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

A situation or predicament characterized by absurdity or senselessness.

in: www.dictionary.com

Venice

2005-06-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

Venice meant to me as I guess a beautiful woman must mean to a guy.
First it was scary. I come from a city that hesitates between the river and sea and in the end chooses the last one but still, such an amount of water overwhelmed me. It was too close, invading the city and imposing itself in every aspects of the day-to-day life.
Then I realised its intense beauty but, for some strange reason, was unable to connect. Just like a beautiful woman Venice seems to be out of your reach. It is no place to live. You might be lucky and fall on her lap at a certain point in your life but you are surely not staying for too long.

Moments

2005-06-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

wishful thinking

2005-06-15T04:48:00.000-07:00

relevant piece of information

2005-06-15T03:23:00.000-07:00

I live in an old building in the center of Graz. It has large double windows.
In this moment a bee as come between one glass and the other (the interior window was quickly closed by me at the sight of the monster) and is making the most terrible noise. She (it is a she in portuguese) is so stupid that hasn't realise yet (after ten minutes nocking on the glass) that the window from the outside is open, offering a way to freedom. I am certainly not the one who is going to explain the fact to her.
The noise is killing me.
Just wanted to share this information with somebody.

untitled

2005-06-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

He feared transformation. She feared she wouldn't have one.

Mysteries of Human Chemistry

2005-06-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

Some people, as far as our senses are concerned, just feel like home.

High Fidelity (The Movie. The book's good. Even better if you imagine John Cusack in the leading role)

How this quiet chick is feeling today

2005-06-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

It's hard to go back to work after an extensive break...

Searching for a Conclusion

2005-06-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well, this is it. The moment of truth.
What can we conclude of the verbal diarrhea that fulfils this 66 pages?

1. My last chapter is probably the best, but appears out of the blue, and even I fail to see the connection with the preceding chapters. Hope nobody notices, or that I can invent a connection meanwhile.
2. The whole thesis does not make any sense.
3. Maybe a bit, but not a lot.
4. No clue... What is my thesis all about again?
5. No, it does... I am a genius. This is a pearl!
6. Then again, no. It sucks.

Do I need to grow a distance here?

Ode

2005-06-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

Into bed, I must go.
Early, tomorrow I will wake up.
Star Wars, you must not see.
'Cause sense, it makes no.

To S.

2005-06-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

"All men are jerks, all women are psycho"

The problem with us women is that we think that men are like us. If they don't call, we think they are confused, afraid of commitment, didn't get the signs... whatever, but we never think the simplest and most probable and obvious truth, which is that they just might not be interested enough. Because it's a difficult truth to handle. But why? Are we so insecure that we have to make up excuses for rejection? Is it such a big deal? Doesn't it happen to us all the time? How many guys have we not dumped in the cruelest ways?
Face it. He's not calling because he's not in to you. He's not interested. Of course he got the signs if you sent them. They might see them even when they are not there, but they don't miss them if they are. Men are jerks, but they are also simple. They are not psycho. We are.

How do you know you have an economist for a supervisor?

2005-06-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

He never says your work is bad, or incorrect, or inaccurate. He says it is "not optimal".

tip to finish the thesis earlier

2005-06-02T11:20:00.000-07:00

Suppress some parts in the table of contents

Puff

2005-06-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Free Free... Set them free... Ohooh

(sigh)

Sting!

untitled

2005-05-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

She was disturbed by the fact that people who were about to get marry seemed to have the strangest feelings about it. She used to hear everything! The eagerness to have babies, the fear of getting tired of the partner, the details of the party, the weeding dress... She would even bear talks about natural contraceptive methods coming out of the mouth of her catholic friends.
Things were confused sometimes, but some things, she had them clear.
Marriage could very well be the most ephemeral of contracts, but it should be worth it if you go for it with the eagerness to have the time of your life. How can it go wrong if you can spend hours enjoying each other without saying a word, if you cannot take your hands out of one another, if the same things make you laugh...? Forget babies for a while, forget the fears (do not forget the contraceptives, though).
Enjoy the moments alone. Look, smile and understand without putting it into words. Scream while making love. Talk serious, talk bullshit, do not talk. Make love once again. Smile and say I love you more than what is necessary and in a million different ways.
This is it.
It cannot be that hard.

M.

2005-05-31T08:40:00.000-07:00

It is today 23 years since someone special was born.
I wanted to pay some kind of homage to her, but I do not really know where to start.
I have a huge admiration for those of whom it is so easy to say something good about, and so hard to criticize. Flaws? A bunch of them. She doesn’t even try to disguise them. But the ability she has to give everything of herself to the rest of the world turns them into ridiculous details. Flaws become funny details about her character. They no longer disturb and become somehow pleasant.
Some people embody the good, I cannot put in better terms. They always have something positive to say and therefore there is always something positive to say about them as well.
Some people have it all. They gather plain beauty, kindness, intelligence, wisdom..., all in one being.
Those who can accompany you in any way should consider themselves happy.
Lucky me.

Viagra in exchange of electoral participation

2005-05-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

Now we know why the "Non" won in France. Some lessons to be learnt with Monsieur Mubarak...

From our correspondent in Egypt

Before this I was thinking about the marketplace for ideas...

2005-05-30T03:13:00.000-07:00

It is really magic the way there are millions of little white flakes from some kind of tree or plant that float in the air permanently these days. It is like snowing in the Spring, but without the shortcomings since nothing is wet and we can still enjoy the wonderful green mantle that has covered the city. Magic.

Well, magic or a pain in the ass if you happen to have allergies. I guess magic can be pretty boring and Graz reminds us of this fact constantly.

Second Though of the Day

2005-05-30T03:12:00.000-07:00

I wish... Ok, I will drop it now.

Thought of the Day

2005-05-30T03:11:00.000-07:00

I wish I was half of the "such a hot stuff" that people tend to think I think I am.

Second Though of the day

2005-05-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

I wish I thought I was the half of "such a hot stuff" that people tend to think I think I am.

Though of the day

2005-05-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

I wonder why Mom and Dad in portuguese are simply Mãe and Pai, which means Mother and Father? It seems too formal, but no other choice is given to us. If you call your mother Mamã and your father Papá, surely there is something wrong with you because it is ridiculous to say the least. But Mother and Father, reminds me too much a Von Trapp family scene or an already famous line from the lattest Star Wars, which I haven’t seen yet, “My father, the King, will help us”.

still untitled

2005-05-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

“I would have recognized the opportunity for a world-class joke but would never allow myself to be funny at the cost of making somebody else feel like something the cat drug in.” (in Timequake)

I read this today (in the park, sunbathing ;) there’s more to life than this perverse thesis) and immediately thought about my father. During my childhood he used to say all the time, “do not lose a good friend on the account of a good joke”. I admit that he repeated it more often to me, whom he tended to consider a bit too sarcastic for his taste. But I am glad that he did not just laugh when the joke was at the expenses of somebody else, so to speak. Well, he laughed sometimes, I was a funny kid, what can I say, but I always got to hear this line and this certainly had an effect.

Now, everytime I witness someone being funny without caring for the other person that feels “like something the cat drug in”, I immediately think that the joke wasn’t that good.

untitled

2005-05-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

When people ask me if I enjoyed being an Erasmus in Paris I guess that my eyes shine. They must, otherwise some information in lost during the process of leaving the brain and reaching the eye-ball. However, when asked to explain why, I freeze. I feel lost. What was it?
I feel that it was a million small things that no one in its right mind would find slightly amusing.
It was the sun in the parks, the complicity with recent acquaintances, the silence in Hotel de Sully in the middle of the noisy Rue de Rivoli, the romance that invades any soul that arrives in Place des Voges... It was finding love in unexpected places, it was the late afternoon kisses by the Seine. It was finding beauty in every small detail. Because real beauty is there, so I keep hearing from a loved one.
To come back and find out that life did not stop. It follows its course as if pursuing a fatal destiny over which I have little control.

“Life would be so much easier if everything just happened. Perhaps it does, more or less. The wind of circumstance so strong against the flickering of your will.”
(White City Blue)

Pau

2005-05-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

I miss the empty days when to go for a walk in the Boulevard des Pyrénées was (almost) everything there was to do...

Funny Things About Graz

2005-05-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

- You will be asked "with water?" everytime you order any kind of juice. Why would I want water on it? I want juice!

- Everybody seems to switch to bikinis and bathing suits the moment it gets a bit warmer. Somebody should warn them that the sea is still some 300 km away.

- "It's much nicer than Vienna" is necessarily the first answer you get if you ask them how is the life in Graz.

- Don't try to change your order in the library. The books can be right in front of you, but if you ordered them to be sent home, you will get them at home by regular post. And that's the end of it.

- The bar on the corner is full of fat guys eating sausages and drinking beer, even if it's nine o'clock in the morning.

- You always have to go at least to three different places to get anything in the University. i.e. To get a copycard. You realise you need it while researching in the Library. Go down to Schubertstrasse to the OA and get a rechargeable card. Then return to the library to make your copies. If you have them covered by the E.MA programme, go all the way to the ETC and present the receit (remind to keep it!) to a lady whose name I forgot (the accountant) and she will give you your money back. Repeat the procedure after you have run out of copies.

Opening

2005-05-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

Due to the numerous requests we have received, Quiet Days in Styria has now a version in foreign for those who find the wonderful Portuguese language too hard to follow.