maha’s blog

Four things I like about the USA: shops that are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week (and have employees who pack up what you have bought), the ] effect (you see things that you will notice in Europe about two months later), the importance of ] in higher education and research, the independence of ...

Four things I like about the USA:

• shops that are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week (and have employees who pack up what you have bought),
• the time-machine effect (you see things that you will notice in Europe about two months later),
• the importance of linguistics in higher education and research,
• the independence of universities from lousy reforms by even lousier politicians.

Four things I dislike:

• waiters that do not stop talking to you when you want to eat (a bit as in a famous Loriot sketch),
• highway police controls (which really happen quite often on a US interstate highway, esp. if you have a broken headlight and a beard),
• straight cowboys, esp. you-know-who…,
• the collection of biometric data (and other fruitless homeland security measures).

] used to be a radio program I sometimes listened to on the ] when I was much younger. Since I'm currently in the U.S. I'll write my own letters from America on my blog and perhaps I'll even manage to add a ], if everything works out right. (And ...

Letter from America used to be a radio program I sometimes listened to on the BBC World Service when I was much younger. Since I’m currently in the U.S. I’ll write my own letters from America on my blog and perhaps I’ll even manage to add a podcast, if everything works out right. (And if I find out where I can host the podcast.) But I don’t want to promise too much…

I had booked a Lufthansa flight, because that was the only convenient direct flight to Houston, and I didn’t want to stop over in the U.S., because then you have to get your baggage and carry it around before you can get to the connecting flight. I used to think that Lufthansa is one of the safest and more comfortable airlines, but the old Airbus 340 looked as if Lufthansa was based in the Second World, or perhaps that is just a sign of the economic crisis in Germany. On-board food, wine and entertaining were likewise second-worldish. After goulash for lunch and chopped beef for supper even a stubborn carnivore will consider vegetarianism.

The US immigration procedure took less time than I thought and was quite unproblematic, although I don’t really like the idea that they took my fingerprints and a picture. Chris, my host from Houston, wanted to pick me up at the “passenger & baggage pick-up point” in front of the airport. That is some sort of tunnel where car-drivers drive through looking for the people they want to meet. You are only allowed to stop in order to pick someone up, so all the cars are constantly moving around and everybody has to inhale the exhaust fumes. A nice place to be! Afterwards we went to a really good Japanese restaurant with the unsurprising name Nippon. I really liked the food and I was hungry enough.

We spent the evening at home (I was tired enough due to my jet lag) and saw some television series classics: Sex and the City (“Attack of the 5’10″ Woman”), Will and Grace (which I hadn’t seen before, episode: “Women and children first”) and Seinfeld. The last one was particularly funny: The episode called “The Betrayal” is shown backwards, i.e. it starts with the ending and then goes back scene after scene until the beginning of the story.

Last week somebody draw my attention to an initiative that has been existing for more than three years without my noticing it (although mentioned in the ] article on Wikipedia): The Euro-bill tracker. You can register the euro bills that you carry with you and it gives you all the details about them (where ...

Last week somebody draw my attention to an initiative that has been existing for more than three years without my noticing it (although mentioned in the Euro article on Wikipedia): The Euro-bill tracker. You can register the euro bills that you carry with you and it gives you all the details about them (where they come from, where they have been printed, if they have been sighted before) and what is more: as soon as somebody else comes across your notes and registers them with the system, you’ll get an email and can follow your bills around.
Of course, it is quite a nuisance to register your notes. Although the initiative is very interesting, I fear that I won’t have the time to take part in an efficient way.

Although I had lots of other things to do today, I lost some time finding out what the symbols of craftmanship are, because some days ago I had posted a picture on Flickr with a lot of such signs and I wanted to know what they meant. I started on my own, but then ...

Although I had lots of other things to do today, I lost some time finding out what the symbols of craftmanship are, because some days ago I had posted a picture on Flickr with a lot of such signs and I wanted to know what they meant. I started on my own, but then I needed help. Fortunately, the German Wikipedia contained a not very informative entry on Zunftzeichen which had some helpful links. In the meantime I have annotated my photo.

I have just finished ]' ] The Ice House. I can recommend the book, because contrary to many works of crime fiction, it is well written: the plot is complicated, intriguing, yet convincing, and what is best: language and style are good! The book may even be too complicated for bedside reading. ...

I have just finished Minette Walters’ crime novel The Ice House. I can recommend the book, because contrary to many works of crime fiction, it is well written: the plot is complicated, intriguing, yet convincing, and what is best: language and style are good! The book may even be too complicated for bedside reading.
The book was recommended to me as “queer writing”, which it is not! Although some of the characters are presumed to be lesbians, the book is definitely written from a straight perspective. It may be too British for me to understand certain undertones, though. Be it as it may… it’s fun reading!