When the sun goes down over St. Augustine Municipal Marina...

... the noise of the construction work from the Bridge of Lions slowly dies off. But honestly – we don't care about traffic sounds or cranes moving giant pieces of metal three feet from our boat, we finally made it into Florida and we! really! enjoy! the warm weather! Being so close to a major building site is a little bizarre but also pretty interesting. I even found a website that shows the progress of the bridge work with photos from different angles: www.fdotbridgeoflions.com/progress.html 

The site also gives information on the operating hours of the temporary bridge. From 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. it opens every half hour, except it does not open at 8:00 a.m., noon, or 5:00 p.m. After 6:00 p.m., the Bridge of Lions temporary bridge opens on demand until 7:00 a.m. So while you're waiting to get through, just enjoy the picturesque view of the city and the Castillo de San Marcos and try not to run aground!

Somebody is humming a lonely tune on the bottom of Factory Creek in Beaufort, SC.

Isn't it a sad thought that there is a lonely cell phone on the bottom of Factory River whistling a love song somebody wrote for his girlfriend? 

Interview with Philip Roth, seen through a cutout of himself.

The discovery of a parallel universe in my living room today actually didn't change much.

Yeah, sure, the supernatural is really something - but, you know, you have to be in the mood for it. When I turned away from my laptop screen this afternoon, I discovered a parallel universe right on the other side of my living room. Not only could I watch myself folding t-shirts, but I was also sitting on the sofa reading a book at the same time. Wow, isn't that special. Wormholes, time travel and all that? Give me a break. If folding underwear and reading is all I can do in parallel universes, I can as well stay home and watch tv. 

Now is the time to get ready for Valentine's Day!

With less than a week's time until Valentine's Day you better get going if you want to surprise your sweetheart with something special! I'm glad I have found a romantic way of expressing my innermost feelings with this little ladybug I drew. You can print it, cut it out and place it on a flower you are giving to your loved one, or you can just send the postcard. Don't be shy! Say how you feel! And make this Valentine's Day a day to remember.

If I don't change my life today, I won't make it to my grandson's wedding reception.

Random portrait of another person I didn't meet on the train today: Derek.

Introducing the Honorable Mr Quan Dary

Damaged collaterals

When I did the advertising for a big German company producing household appliances like washing machines a couple of years ago, they came up with the idea of cooperating with a maker of fine lingerie. We designed a brochure that approached the quite unsexy subject of washing one's dirty underwear from a very feminine, delicate and sensual side: with lace patterns and poems. The client first loved it, but then decided that the tone of the copy was too personal, too sexy and too masculine and that they wouldn't do it. What a pity, but what a great compliment! Here's one of the poems I just found in the depths of my "killed by client" file.

If I went to watch the movie "Valkyrie", I would probably see this scene.

While das Volk is still cheering for Hitler, Graf von Stauffenberg is working on his plan to assassinate the Führer. 

But actually I think I'm not going to see the movie. So all I have is my imagination. Looks quite realistic to me though.   

Why go out to meet new people?

Weekends are great for tidying up, especially when it's cold and dark out. I started on Saturday with cleaning the bathroom, then I went through the box full of old photos and letters, rearranged my closet, threw the thrash out, ironed some shirts and finally I tidied up my brain. Look whom I found there: Paul, the fox! He was sitting in his rocking chair on the back porch of my head smoking his pipe. He is a very laid-back guy, intelligent but kind, and though he doesn't talk much he has a good sense of humor. I'm not sure about his age, I know he's been around for a while but he is so good-natured - just like somebody who has never experienced anything bad in his life. But maybe he has. Anyway, I'm happy to know him and I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time with him. 

Today my camera passed on. And off. And on.

Now that I finally own a new flash card and a waterproof aquapac case, my camera died. Bad timing, little Canon Digital Ixus, very bad timing. I was hoping to take some cool underwater pictures on my next trip to... let's say: the Bahamas, dreaming of colorful fish and corals, white sand and shipwrecks – and now it's just "E18". When I push the "on" button the camera really tries hard to extend the lens, but to no avail. At least I'm not alone in my grief. www.fixya.com/support/t102982-e_18_problem for example gives detailed pictures showing how to fix the problem yourself. But I'm not sure: Do I really want to do this and fight for its life or is it just time to let go? What's the most loving decision here?

What if we don't buy into The Crisis?

What if we don’t invest any thought in feeling poor, helpless and threatened? What if we believe in the fact that we are indeed powerful, wonderful and significant? What if we stop being at war with ourselves? What if we stop believing we have to be better? What if we accept the fact that we are perfect already? What if we believe we are not separate from the world? That we are not alone? What if we just decide to be happy? Wouldn’t that cure The Depression?

When the candle started dripping, Mary-Lou didn't quite know how to react.

Give me more Moors with walls

Sometimes I wonder about words. (Which actually is not my job. People pay me to find the right words and forge them into genius headlines. Or copies. Or tv commercials. So please don’t tell anybody.) Where was I? Ah, yes. The wonder of words. Sometimes I stumble upon a word, it gets me thinking and I can’t stop until I have found out where it came from, what it means in Urdu and how people used to spell it in the 16th century. My last wonder word was „more“ (which - by the way - sometimes is „nose“ when you type it into your cell phone). More. The funny thing about „more“ is, that it means „sea“ in Russian. (As in „Cornoje More“ – Black Sea for example.) Now: the English „sea“ in German is „Meer“, in French it is „mer“, which sounds a lot like „mehr“, which means „more“ in German. And then „more“ has a pronunciation very similar to the German „Moor“ which means marsh or swamp. Of course „Moor“ also is the old name for people from Mauretania („maurus“), who had a darker skin than most Europeans and were therefore called blacks („mauros“). Maurus reminds me of the German „Mauer“ which means „wall“ in English. But: If you use the German word „Wall“ nowadays, it rather means „rampart“ than „wall“. And then there is another word for „wall“ in German. It’s „Wand“. Do you understand what I mean? It’s so hard to stop this!