Blacking out

A few days ago I was perusing the sporting section of the Guardian when I came across the following photo:

Photograph: PacificCoastNews/Kaffee/Monier via the Guardian

I paused aghast. A David Beckham fan is metres away from her idol for perhaps the only time in her life decides to turn her back so that she can better capture this special moment with a self-portrait.

At least that’s the narrative that I attached to the photo. It prompted me to reflect upon my behaviour on similar occasions. I reached the guilt-edged conclusion I’ve experienced portions my special moments vicariously via an LCD screen.

I’d like to think that this realisation will shame me into placing (more of) my faith in organic, rather, than digital memory… However, this is unlikely. Every significant (and many trivial) moment of my recent years has been documented by a digital media and when I reconnect with friends & family, I show, inside of describe what I have done. I think it’s a shame that an emotive and subjective description is so often replaced by a photograph.

A warm (dis)comforting blanket of mild dissatisfaction envelopes many an adult mind. Despite having achieved, or surpassed, the goals which we set for ourselves we continually have to remind ourselves that we should be content (read: happy). We have everything that we want, at least within reason. Yet a deep sense of satisfaction and fulfilment is lacking.

"Growing-up" is synonymous with allowing our dreams to be eroded, reshaped or replaced with more realistic alternatives. By the time we've reached adulthood we haven't moved closer to our dreams, we've moved our dreams closer to where we are or where we think we ought to be.

English: A dog

Swedish: What

English: The dog

English: Two dogs

Swedish:

Swedish:

Swedish: En hund, hunden

Swedish: Två hundar, hundarna

German:

English: No, go away

Swedish: No one invited you

German: Der Hund

English: I said go away

German: Ein Hund, zwei Hunde

Swedish: Stop it

German: Den Hund, einen Hund, dem Hund, einem Hund, des Hundes, eines Hundes, den Hunden, der Hunden

Finnish: Sup

English: NO

Swedish: NO

German: NO

Finnish:

English:

German:

Swedish:

Finnish: Koira, koiran, koiraa, koiran again, koirassa, koirasta, koiraan, koiralla, koiralta, koiralle, koirana, koiraksi, koiratta, koirineen, koirin

German:

Swedish:

Finnish:

English:

Finnish: Aaaand... koirasi, koirani, koiransa, koiramme, koiranne, koiraani, koiraasi, koiraansa, koiraamme, koiraanne, koirassani, koirassasi, koirassansa, koirassamme, koirassanne, koirastani, koirastasi, koirastansa, koirastamme, koirastanne, koirallani, koirallasi, koirallansa, koirallamme, koirallanne, koiranani, koiranasi, koiranansa, koiranamme, koirananne, koirakseni, koiraksesi, koiraksensa, koiraksemme, koiraksenne, koirattani, koirattasi, koirattansa, koirattamme, koirattanne, koirineni, koirinesi, koirinensa, koirinemme, koirinenne

English:

Swedish:

German:

Finnish: Wait! then theres koirakaan, koirankaan, koiraakaan, koirassakaan, koirastakaan, koiraankaan, koirallakaan, koiraltakaan, koirallekaan, koiranakaan, koiraksikaan, koirattakaan, koirineenkaan, koirinkaan, koirako, koiranko, koiraako, koirassako, koirastako, koiraanko, koirallako, koiraltako, koiralleko, koiranako, koiraksiko, koirattako, koirineenko, koirinko, koirasikaan, koiranikaan, koiransakaan, koirammekaan, koirannekaan, koiraanikaan, koiraasikaan, koiraansakaan, koiraammekaan, koiraannekaan, koirassanikaan, koirassasikaan, koirassansakaan, koirassammekaan, koirassannekaan, koirastanikaan, koirastasikaan, koirastansakaan, koirastammekaan, koirastannekaan, koirallanikaan, koirallasikaan, koirallansakaan, koirallammekaan, koirallannekaan, koirananikaan, koiranasikaan, koiranansakaan, koiranammekaan, koiranannekaan, koiraksenikaan, koiraksesikaan, koiraksensakaan, koiraksemmekaan, koiraksennekaan, koirattanikaan, koirattasikaan, koirattansakaan, koirattammekaan, koirattannekaan, koirinenikaan, koirinesikaan, koirinensakaan, koirinemmekaan, koirinennekaan, koirasiko, koiraniko, koiransako, koirammeko, koiranneko, koiraaniko, koiraasiko, koiraansako, koiraammeko, koiraanneko, koirassaniko, koirassasiko, koirassansako, koirassammeko, koirassanneko, koirastaniko, koirastasiko, koirastansako, koirastammeko, koirastanneko, koirallaniko, koirallasiko, koirallansako, koirallammeko, koirallanneko, koirananiko, koiranasiko, koiranansako, koiranammeko, koirananneko, koirakseniko, koiraksesiko, koiraksensako, koiraksemmeko, koiraksenneko, koirattaniko, koirattasiko, koirattansako, koirattammeko, koirattanneko, koirineniko, koirinesiko, koirinensako, koirinemmeko, koirinenneko, koirasikaanko, koiranikaanko, koiransakaanko, koirammekaanko, koirannekaanko, koiraanikaanko, koiraasikaanko, koiraansakaanko, koiraammekaanko, koiraannekaanko, koirassanikaanko, koirassasikaanko, koirassansakaanko, koirassammekaanko, koirassannekaanko, koirastanikaanko, koirastasikaanko, koirastansakaanko, koirastammekaanko, koirastannekaanko, koirallanikaanko, koirallasikaanko, koirallansakaanko, koirallammekaanko, koirallannekaanko, koirananikaanko, koiranasikaanko, koiranansakaanko, koiranammekaanko, koiranannekaanko, koiraksenikaanko, koiraksesikaanko, koiraksensakaanko, koiraksemmekaanko, koiraksennekaanko, koirattanikaanko, koirattasikaanko, koirattansakaanko, koirattammekaanko, koirattannekaanko, koirinenikaanko, koirinesikaanko, koirinensakaanko, koirinemmekaanko, koirinennekaanko, koirasikokaan, koiranikokaan, koiransakokaan, koirammekokaan, koirannekokaan, koiraanikokaan, koiraasikokaan, koiraansakokaan, koiraammekokaan, koiraannekokaan, koirassanikokaan, koirassasikokaan, koirassansakokaan, koirassammekokaan, koirassannekokaan, koirastanikokaan, koirastasikokaan, koirastansakokaan, koirastammekokaan, koirastannekokaan, koirallanikokaan, koirallasikokaan, koirallansakokaan, koirallammekokaan, koirallannekokaan, koirananikokaan, koiranasikokaan, koiranansakokaan, koiranammekokaan, koiranannekokaan, koiraksenikokaan, koiraksesikokaan, koiraksensakokaan, koiraksemmekokaan, koiraksennekokaan, koirattanikokaan, koirattasikokaan, koirattansakokaan, koirattammekokaan, koirattannekokaan, koirinenikokaan, koirinesikokaan, koirinensakokaan, koirinemmekokaan, koirinennekokaan

Swedish:

German:

English: Okay, now you're just making things up!

Finnish:

Finnish: And now the plural forms...

Recently Youtube decided to make a small but important change to its website. A simple '+' was added to the view counter when it stops at 301*.

With this small change Youtube will save internet n00bs an immeasurable amount of angst and in turn prevent slightly-more-experienced internet n00bs from having an aneurism from fielding questions such as

"How can this video have 301 views but 1,903 likes?"

There's a world of difference between "301" and "301+", I can't believe that the change wasn't made earlier (granted that the thought of simply adding a plus symbol never crossed my mind).

This just goes to show that a single character can make a world of difference- choose your words, and characters, carefully.

AMERICA'S National Public Radio has just started a new blog on race, and the title is a term from linguistics: Code-Switch. We've touched on code-switching before....

Code-switching is something that I always find interesting especially given my background. It's always fascinated me because despite is being something that we can and do do intentionally, more often than not it happens completely subconsciously depending on situation i.e. the people you're interacting with or the activity you're carrying out.

"The dear sweet sweet puppy but felt no need something, if it was called a dear good tasty dog." Thanks Google Translate for letting me know that I'm not the only one who can't understand German.

Armed with a rudimentary knowledge of German grammar, multiple online dictionaries and Google Translate, a children's book will still produce seemingly undecipherable sentences to a native speaker of a language which is apparently Germanic in origin. Strange that the Romantic languages don't provide such stern resistance to the revelation of their secrets...

My conclusion is not that one morning a Latin milkman slithered into bed with a Germanic housewife for a bit of 'how's your Mother?', but rather that this Latin philanderer went whole-hog and performed a baby swap. That's right, dressed up his bastard Franco-Greco hybrid in the thinnest of German veils and left it with Mrs. Germanic before drawing the beefcurtains and slinking off into the shadows.

Background: Having recently gone through a deep and traumatic life change, namely, being effectively separated from chicken. I found myself absent-mindedly writing what I've dubbed 'Chicken Poetry' (a literary sub-genre exclusively concerned with chicken) to fill the chicken-shaped void in my stomach, and more importantly, my heart.

Here's an example:

                  Not Forgetten..

You knew me before I even knew myself,

You nourished and fed me, safeguarded my health,

Through dark days, cold nights, when hope was bleak,

You filled my mouth, made bulge my cheeks,

And now these days when we are apart,

This afternoon I'm sharing music. Not to a mass of anonymous IP addresses, but with one individual. It's been quite some time since I last made a CD or playlist for somebody and I must say I'd forgotten how therapeutic an activity it is.

A musical conveyor belt of nostalgia, each track bringing a new memory into sight. Memories of what I was doing, my thoughts and feelings from that time. A glimpse through a one-way mirror at myself from days gone by.

I'm listening to each track, remembering, rediscovering and thinking about why I like it. Wondering if the person I'm making this CD for will enjoy the track as much as I do. I'm thinking about the track's position in the playlist, will it slip in seamlessly or will it disrupt the listener's mood?

I've probably already had my last meeting with the person for whom I'm making this CD, I'll be leaving it in an agreed location for the listener-to-be to collect, and hopefully, enjoy.

Though the listener-to-be and I were hardly very well acquainted. I'm sure that we either of us listen to the tracks on this playlist we'll both remember each other and also ourselves from this period in our lives- the joy of sharing music.