Tribute and Congratulations to my fellow Masteroni

The year ended. With anxiety, stress, overwhleming joy and too many familiar faces in the corridors of Monastero di San Nicolò, Venezia Lido.

It ended with a bang - a shocking decision by the Executive Committee, a bang that could barely be heard in the clutter of future masteroni and yet overpowering the sounds of relief in many of those emotional Venice moments.

It ended with a sigh, passing slowly over our heads in the fish market that night, a sigh ending in tears signalling the end, the now, the beginning of all things, the presence of all loves.

It ended the way it started. With overwhelming experiences meeting people, with nervousness and unease, with excitement and promise.

It might have ended differently had I not been me, you not been you - and all others not been exactly the ones they are...

I wish to thank all of you for cotributing to this incredible year,
I wish to thank you for making up an amazing group of individuals who do not need to be anyone but who they are...

Peace out...

Nemesis and hubris

Today I passed two 6-year-olds on the street on my way home from the university.

"Did your dad never tell you what nemesis is?"

"Uhm, no..."

"It's like when you think you can do everything and you can't do nothing at all... Like if I said I could beat you up like four times and then started and found out that I couldn't, and then you beat me up like five times first - then I was being nemesis and then, you beating me up was like the punishment, my hubris it's called. When you think you can do everything and you forget that you are just a person. Then you get beat up..."

Priceless...

Tribute to a friend

Phenomenal woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my steps,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's in the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing of my waist,
And the joy of my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me

Maya Angelou

Rendez-vous with a drunk

Yesterday, as I was biking home from downtown Aarhus, I decided to stop by my favourite spot in the forest. It has benches and a great view of the beach below, the beach to the south (Moesgaard, my childhood wilderness), the marina and the incomparable container port or whatever those things are called. I sat down and stared into space.

A man walked up and sat next to me. He told me he was born in Italy and moved to Aarhus when he was 1. He said "I know this forest better than my own pocket, if I had any pockets". He told me he was a drunk and had made a complete mess of himself the night before. He told me he was 52, double my age and proceeded to ask what kind of person I was. I told him I was the kind of person who enjoys a spot like this one. He talked about studying philosophy, learning martial arts and drinking all your money away. He said he had no cigarettes left and that he once climbed to the top of the crane at the nearby construction site. When he came down he called the company that owned it and asked how high it was. 50 meters.

An older man came by and said that if he - the drunk - was considering to take the giant leap from a crane, he should let his hair grow first so that he would be landing on something soft. And maybe bring a pillow. Then he looked at my bike and said he wanted to steal it. His family standing a few steps away frowned on the whole thing. The old man said that they should put different screws on bikes even if it's more expensive. He said he liked its colour (it's bright and fancy green). The old man and his family walked off. The drunk told me he had written a personal add for the local newspaper.

"Ice cold psychopath with no sense of humour seeks woman for mutual blaming"

We laughed. He told me he had studied communication for 13 years. He used to study philosophy in university but got annoyed with the never-ending reading. Later, it turned out he had been involved with Scientology and that's where he learned about communication. In his opinion, a new dictionary for academics - called Blue Language as in blue collar/white collar distinctions - was the saviour of all the snot-nosed kids at the universities. He said that his soldier friend tried to communicate in wars. That wars begin when communication stops.

He told me I was a nice person and that on top of that I even look nice. He asked me to check out his window when passing by as it has a skull with a crystal inside - and when he turns on the light in the room (lamp made out of posters), the eyes of the skull light up. Next to the skull, he said, is a statue of Lenin. It looks weird, he said.

On my way home I wondered why I never met such people before...

Portugal and stuff

Fled from the safety of home for a while, visited friends in different places. I realised that my future is not here but out there. I realised that the year in Venice and Thessaloniki was merely the start of my 'foreign affairs'. Gotta go. Gotta see. Gotta do. And I'm better at it somewhere else. Plan now is to rush through this study business at 'home' and get my lazy butt out of here... Anyone wants a visit?!