Posted by
Marianne on
September 20, 2010 – 23:24
Took a lighting quick trip to Jylland this weekend to visit my gran before we take off for a couple of months. We had some really nice hours with her each day, and heard some new-old stories about where she worked as a girl and her childhood through the recession years. I sometimes wonder whether my cousins know how lucky they’ve been all these years to have grandparents/family close by. We didn’t – and I always really envied them that. I wish they’d take more advantage of the proximity, as much for their own sake as hers. She can be pretty damn funny sometimes, our gran, and there’s so much about her we only hear in bits and pieces -by spending time with her.
On our way home, before visiting a childhood friend of Jan’s, we stopped by Himmelbjerget (Heaven Mountain) and hiked all 12 steps to the top. Ok I exaggerate, but not by much. I remember a family trip here as a kid, my sister and I were way excited – a hike up an actual Danish mountain… that turned out to be um… 147 meters high – which technically makes it a hill. Our grandmothers hiked up too, without needing to catch their breath at the top. We laughed and laughed, I remember that. We picniced (as you do here whenever you travel more than 25kms) and had a good family day of it that summer vacation. Being up there over the weekend though – the view was spectacular and considering the history of the place (as one of the early democratic start points) – it was a completely different experience.
Been back to any places from your childhood lately?
Posted by
Marianne on
September 20, 2010 – 22:28
There’ve been a lot of evenings out the last week and a half – not all planned, but we’ve definitely had some good visits in. Among them – a spontanious meet-up at Plan B on a Saturday turned into one of the best nights in ages – Mark, Cristina and Rasmus were heaps of fun and in great spirits – so good to see them.
One of my best friends from 8th grade and her boyfriend had a quick stop through Copenhagen last week on their UK/DK/Paris trip – and despite the fact that we haven’t really been in touch since 9th grade (here’s where Facebook comes in), it was awesome to catch up with her and hear a little bit about where life has taken them over the years. Funny though – the way you still want to place old friends in some kind of context, which pre-deems them to be exactly the way they were way back then. I wonder if she did the same with me..
Last week Jan & I held our monthly celebration at a new place (for us) on Store Kongensgade – great great food, briliant service (which is saying a LOT in Copenhagen) and cozy surroundings. Check check check. We’ll definitely go back (it was called Madklubben). But first some weeks of salad and plenty of mineral water… there is call for a cleanse after these last couple of weeks of too much of the good stuff. Know the feeling?
Posted by
Marianne on
September 10, 2010 – 19:05
This is one of my favourite pages in a book called Where Will You Be Five Years From Today? by Dan Zadra. I bought it last year in Seattle at the Space Needle gift shop of all places, and while it’s loaded with all kinds of corny inspirational statements, there are the odd kernels that fit nicely at the end of a big decisions kind of week.
There’s an idea as well, from Paul Arden (ok ok -I’m in a kernel statements kind of way today) – that I keep coming back to, especially when I work with new teams. “Do not covet your ideas. Give away everything you know, and more will come back to you.” … it’s the same at work as it was at school…”people are secretive with ideas. ‘Don’t tell them that, they’ll take credit for it.’ The problem with hoarding is you end up living off your reserves. Eventually you’ll become stale. If you give away everything you have, you are left with nothing. This forces you to look, to be aware, to replenish. Somehow the more you give away the more comes back to you. Ideas are open knowledge. Don’t claim ownership.” (from It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be by Paul Arden)
It fits doesn’t it – for a couple of reasons: Is there ever truly an original idea? Probably not. We are always influenced by something or someone else in some way, shape or form. And an idea we’ve passed on, heard through someone else’s mouth as their own - can sound rather sweet if we let it (like a little compliment… it was worth claiming after all). And letting go of some ideas (rather than campaigning incessantly for them because they were OUR ideas – a bit egoistic isn’t it) opens us up to new ones. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not always very good at that, and I’m probably not a fraction as original as I’d like to be – but when I give away what I have got – what comes afterwards is always 10 times better. ALWAYS.
What are some of your favourite kernel quotes?
Posted by
Marianne on
September 9, 2010 – 08:39
Funny how (so often) a change in season brings on a shift in circumstance (and all the decisions related to that shift). I set up shop for myself about a year ago, going back to freelance and the extremes of enormous joy at the one end (controlling one’s own work day, autonomy, all those things that I hold in such high regard) and the other end – stress over too much work some weeks and zero the others.
And then comes an offer that has great potential – the projects are interesting (the client roster is to drool over), and there is plenty of space for both contributing and learning, but… Giving up the autonomy – I’m struggling with that one, BIG TIME. Corporate culture (in my world) usually also leaves a lot to be desired…
The security is tempting – not worrying about whether there’ll be enough to get back to Vancouver for Christmas or breathing space enough to explore some new places next year, or boring but necessary – pay into the annual pension investment – that would be a weight lifted. If there was ever a question about my (non-work related) priorities – travel tops the list (no surprise there) – and somehow the pennies get scraped together for that (and rent) no matter what. But it would be nice to not worry about it for a little while.
That great potential is something my head says is there – the bricks line up for the most part, but my stomach isn’t feeling it yet. So what do you listen to – your head or your gut? And maybe it doesn’t have to be so black and white – maybe something in between would work – with an eye to giving that potential a chance..?
Posted by
Marianne on
September 3, 2010 – 18:21
Big breath out – it’s friday. I’ve been working in-house (very 9-5ish) the last couple of months for a new client – interesting projects, fast pace, nice colleagues – and while I miss my flexible work day, I am for the first time in ages feeling the relief of friday 5pm – and the joy of time off at the weekends.
Scratch that last bit – looks like I’m working through the weekend after all (they’re swamped and I’ve agreed to take some project work home with me) which I’ll add to the UX review I have pending for another client. Plus all kinds of trip details. I think it’ll be a little bit hectic the next couple of weeks – nevermind – it’s a good chance to scrape some last kroners together before our 2 months off…