Fish with Whiskey

What a simply delicious surprise.

That only makes sense if were also obsessed with the rather magnificent ‘Jolly Postman’ series as a young ‘un. Anybody?

So this is a sort of ‘self interview’ post and is a bit wordy, but I’ve included some photos of the gathering Spring for those of you who are more visually inclined and are really only here for the piccies.

I was tagged by the lovely Claire, but because I’m not so good at being a social bloggerfly, I can only tag on Ash, Becky and Joram.

Joram is probably too hipster to do it though (see what I did there Joram?)

1. What am I working on now?

Hmm. I guess this is a ‘writing specific’ question? I’m going to ignore that part.

Well you might know that I’m doing a Phd right now. And there could (should) be writing involved in that, but alas- I am not so much in the ‘non fiction’ mood. Well, actually all my writing on this here blog is kind of ‘non-fiction’, but I like to think that the characters (that’s you beloved one) are exaggerated enough to make it seem like fiction anyway.

Science is crazy un-creative at times. To spice it up I’m ‘Participating’ at work. Actively. Trying to volunteer for things, get into stuff. Which sounds crazy because doing a Phd is stress enough, and doing it in another country adds to that and then…. I guess it’s going to get out of control, but I don’t feel like just existing through this thing. I could have done that in Perth.

And the ‘Participating’ is also for outside of work. You know, doing all the things that you really should do to take advantage of the awesomeness of being in a strange country but you end up not doing because that strange country is first scary, and then so banal in its everydayness that you ‘never quite get around to it’. So I’m working on being ‘active’, and also being creative. I learnt to knit over Christmas, but only go so far as straight lines (scarves) before summer came again. I’m trying to learn to sew. My lovely mother-in-law sent me some patterns and I’ve been measuring, tracing, cutting- but haven’t got so much to the ‘making it whole again’ part.

So that’s what I’m working on. Something like work-life balance. But something like science-art balance.

2. How does my work differ from others in its genre?
I’m not really sure. What genre am I in? What is a genre even when it comes to blogging?



3. Why do I write what I do?
The obvious reason is ‘for the folks back home’. I especially like the idea that my grandfather can see what I’m up to- but also for all the other friends and the extended mob.

The second reason is ‘as above’. The blog is my creative outlet. It’s good to have a balance.

And the third reason is ‘for the memories’. Because my own ability to recall which art museum in Paris we visited or where the best fish and chips in Copenhagen can be found is absolutely lacking. My parents made us keep a travel journal when we were very young, and I really treasure that I have these words from my 5-year-old self who visited Tasmania . When I went on exchange in Japan I went crazy with buying things to remember all the aspects of the trip. By the time I went to Europe 5 years later, I had realised that there was more value for me in keeping a travel log with pictures and momentos and even better- reflections and feelings about sites visited.

4. What is my writing process?
I’m not really a writer. My sister can spin stories and spend ten years fabricating a Great Work. I could never keep diaries about day to day life and have never developed either a character or plot far enough to make more than a haiku.

I’m also not really a photographer. I love taking pictures and I enjoy the creative process but I’m probably never going to be an Artiste in that field. I’m a snap-happy tourist.

So that’s my process. Blogging is the logical whole that can be made of two broken halves: a not-quite writer and a not-quite photographer.

The process is so: I go somewhere, do something, eat something. I take way too many photos. I spend hours culling them for your viewing pleasure, and I build up the story around them.

A couple of weekends ago, right before we went to stuff our faces with dumplings, we headed to Martin-Gropius Bau in the city to check out the photography of Barbara Klemm.

Klemm worked for a large German newspaper for nearly 50 years, and in that time managed to get a wide range of photographs from both Deutschland and the world at large.

If you’ve been to Berlin, you’ve probably visited the East Side Gallery, and seen either there, or on one of the thousands of postcards in the tourist shops around the city, this:

To be honest, I never knew that that was originally from a photograph, or that that photograph was taken by Klem.

*As a very important aside, all the photographs from here on out, and the one at the top, are taken from Barbara Klemm. Obviously, we weren’t allowed to take photos of the photos in the exhibition, so these are from various sources on the interwebs.
Among the collection were many photos of famous people (although often the people were famous only in Germany, and even then only if you were into German politicians). These shots, like the ones below, were my least favourite of the group- mostly because they feel so stiff, and obviously posed in contrast with her other, very street-y photography,

Some of the pictures lend their magnificence in part to the events of the time- she had several shots of riots, protests, and hugely spectacular events like the fall of the wall. But it can’t be denied that these shots show an amazing understanding and mastery of the art.

Mostly, her photographs involved subjects who seem – and I’m guessing usually are- unaware that they are being shot.

What is clear already from above is what I’m going to call ‘Klemms extreme love of love of exaggerated juxtaposition.’ Here are some more on that theme:

Both also show her pretty magical ability to capture so much ‘colour’ using only black and white photography, which I believe she shot almost exclusively in- there was a film at the end of the exhibition called ‘Black and White is colour enough’ or some such- but it was in Deutsch and dumplings were calling, so we didn’t stay to watch.

Here’s another ‘famous people’ one, that I nonetheless love because of the way the photo is setup, plus the fact that this here man is clearly catapulting (the act of sitting so as to accentuate one’s dominance and masculinity).

And one of Andy’s favourites, from Mongolia:

The exhibition was really marvelous, and some of the most interesting photography I’ve seen so far. It’s well an truly over in Berlin (we went on the last weekend when it had already been extended beyond its initial run). But! If Klemm’s work comes to your city- Go and See It!!

One of our friends went to see the exhibition before us, and mentioned how every photos seemed to have something more to see then at first meets the eye. Which not only makes the exhibition well worth seeing, but also means you need a bit of time to get a good viewing. Check it Out!

Earlier this week I was talking about how spring seemed to have been a little more underway in Dresden than in Potsdam.
But something is definitely happening up our way.

Last week I planted some seeds- and though I admittedly ‘cheated’ by babying them in the warmth of the apartment, there’s nonetheless some sort of knowing satisfaction that things springing from the ground equal a true beginning to the warmer months.

The big ones are sunflowers, but the others are a crazy wild mix of herbs, fruit and veg, and wild flowers. I guess we’ll have to see.

But what’s the true German way of knowing that spring has started??

SPARGEL SEASON HAS BEGUN!