kvinna [²kv'in:a]

English translation: woman

Dear friend, and visitor:

Yes, I can finally announce these great news! Me and my Kvinna together, forever! Meine Kvinna und ich: endlich zusammen! Mi Kvinna y yo: finalmente encontrados!

And isn't she lovely in her D80 dress, no longer sporting the Nikon last name? Having this peculiar sense of humor, one of which you can see by clicking on this [link] . I love her 10 red, green and blue Megapixels, the way she holds my hand, her deep 18-135mm glare that I know will transport me back to all these wonderful places that we'll discover together in this world! And while I know that there might be others out there that get a lot more fame and recognition, my Kvinna was precisely there, at the right time, at the right place when a friend of mine introduced us. And while we still might discuss some issues about the remote (or a cable) for when we stay up all night to see and capture the stars, or paint the land with light, we are now happy to be found right here and sharing what we see with you!

Our best regards,
My Kvinna and I

If third is a charm, fourth can only be even more charming! So... after getting tagged, getackert, tagueleado or any other weird/wierd gramatical declination of the word "tagged" in another language... by my very good dA friends , , and my dA sister (okay, she's also that outside of dA , I'll gladly dig a little into finding six weird habits/things about myself.

i) I noticed this just recently, but, whenever I am photographing... and I am in the position to make the shot that I want to take, I hold my breath and don't breath until I click on the shutter! I was made aware of it by Manu when I was making the "Simplicita's"-shooting, in which it took me longer than usual to take the photo as I was trying to not only get the right angle, but also the right expression and thus, every shot was followed with a big burst of air flowing out of my mouth!

ii) This is kind of outdated, but when I was taking my oral examinations at the University here in Kaiserslautern in order to get my Masters Degree, before every single one, I went to this place in the university that holds a "gate" called the "Gate of Wisdom". Legend has it that whoever goes under it, gains wisdom. So, every time and exactly 10 Minutes before the start of the exam, I started my road to the place where the exam was held by going under the arch of the Gate, even making a sound as if I was being "charged" when going under it! Did it work? If I had to take one more exam, you'd see me there, 10 minutes before it!

iii) Even though I usually travel alone, I actually never do! Since 1998, wherever I go in the world, this roll of toilet paper that I precautionarily took from Hotel Expo in Barcelona travels with me. After it survived 1998 journey through Europe (about 6 countries) intact, I knew that it would have to go with me wherever I went. Kind of like a good luck charm. Not a very photogenic one, or one that I would put openly on display, but it do go everywhere! In 2001 it even survived the wrath of a mean cat we had at home, who decided he could play with it and left Toiletpaper with some very big scars and bruises. Still, he made it to Germany and has been in all my travels with me, even this year when we went back to his home city!

iv) While we are at it, I have this second travel companion: The Moose! It's been travelling with me also everywhere since mid 2004. The Moose is actually a plushie and he belongs to the usual travellers inside my backback whenever I am out with a backpag (along the tripod and the camera, a bottle of water and a roll of Maria-cookies and a packet of "Salzstangen"). Inspired by the movie "Amélie" and the garden-dwarf that travelled the world to inspire Amélie's dad to live life deeply, I take shots of him in front of famous or gorgeous places (he's a lot more photogenic than I am, plus: I'm the photographer of the two!) as a tribute to the moments in which I have really been able to get very far, with just my two feet and the help of some friendly people and opportunities seized!

v) I was just able to write passionately about two innanimate objects (don't tell them I just said that ). How's that for being weird!

vi) As I'm trying to cut down on the my quota of cups of chocolate that I drink at the Institute I am doing my PhD... I have started to take some sugar-cubes whenever I am in the need for some sugar! I don't really get cravings for sweets, chocolates (the cups of chocolate I take, only because they are for free and they are... well... there!), but they do well, whenever I'm stuck with something related to my studies!


Oki, I think I won't tag anyone, but I want to thank the four gals who tagged me! It was an honor!

P.S. And as I am having a hard time letting go of having the 20-things-about-me from the front page journal, here is the link to the first ten if you are interested [link]

I'm having a tough time doing it, because people actually wrote to me, for what I had written there!

know or wanna know! The risk is yours!

In the past months, I got the honor of being tagged by =070410 and ~BunsY. And no, I am not being ironic about it being an “honor”: I actually did and do appreciate it very much because it wasn’t a tag like “now, you: suffer!”, but more like “it would be nice to know something more about you!”. And such a thought is not to be taken lightly!

And as my journal entries have turned into fossils that not even the most experienced palentologist would know nowadays what to make out of them (other than my 2004 Boston Red Sox journal or the Everything middle about the south of course!), i thought it’d be great to update it with ten things you probably didn’t know about me. Wasn’t it 20 you’ll say? Well... I’ll put ten here and ten in my other account so that you people don’t forget the other me! And if you didn’t know i had another account... now you know and it doesn’t count as one of the ten!

1. I can’t swim and proud of it. State a thing that involves swimming and I dislike it, independently of knowing how to swim, so why bother! Beach? Too hot, too much sand. Swimming pool? no ball game in water is as fun as those played on solid ground. Cruise ships? I go on those: if a Titanic-like event should occur, swimming won’t really save my butt. Sport? I prefer jogging.

2. I hardly ever go to sleep before 2 a.m. Which leads to hardly ever waking up before 8 a.m. and hardly ever being at the study office before 10 a.m. I hardly leave that place before 6 p.m. Fortunately I have –up to this moment- flexible presence hours, so I’ll keep at it while I can! Besides, when you go there during rush hour, there is too much noise and work turns more into a social event. More or less.

3. I am not a very sociable person, but I am very sociable pairwise. I prefer a one-on-one talk over anything. Only that way, do you really get to both state your own things (like in group talks), but above all, you get to listen, understand and care about what the other person has to say. And so will the person you are talking with.

4. That said... if I only had a better memory... in case I don’t remember something, it is not you, nor it is that I don’t care... it is just 5.

5. I have a very good visual memory. So, if the only way I see you is through alphabetical characters, it makes it that much more difficult for me to remember things! This in turn leads to 7.

6. I am simply crazy about the femenine gender. Crazy in a good sense of course! If it weren’t for you, there would be no inspiration, no reaching for the impossible, no giving it all out just to see a smile, to receive a warm thought, to have the blessing of being cared about.

7. When talking on some sort of messaging program, I tend to get on your nerves asking for photos! Due to 6., most of my online friends are females. Due to 5. I ask for photos. And I am a firm believer that even if distance can’t be reduced physically through messaging technology, it does help to almost be there. To see some one face to face. After all, being face to face with someone is nothing more than a continuous set of 3-D photos... that, and that not only the visual sense is alert, but also the other four. But hey, it’s a start!

8. Due to 3., I have met a lot of people from the internet in real life. I have really lost count of the exact number, but it has to be somewhere around 30 or so. I remember each and every one of those meetings and they are very special in their own way. Oh, and they have taken place in all parts of the world: Europe, Asia, Oceania... oddly, none in America yet! (and as I still have not visited Africa... maybe in the future!).

9. A rather amazing thing is that I believe I have met more people from over the internet than from in real life. That means two things: one, I don’t believe that there is such a thing as an online-friend and an IRL-friend (someone is either a friend or isn’t. Period.). Two, it is easier to get to know the other person when you actually have to talk and get to hear and get to know the other. And not go by how someone looks or by how someone says things.

10. Inspite of all this, I am an absolute family person. My mother and my father are the two people in the world who have given me the most love and they have all of my love and everything that I can give them. My sisters are also in the same category. I’d do anything for them. And that is almost the entire short list, a list that has space for other openings... one in particular! (see 13.)


(continued here: [link] )

well, I just got the week-subscription on my other account and, yet again, I would like to ask for your kind punching and commenting for one of the two candidates! For that, please follow the next link: [link]

Other than that, I guess that a lot of things have happened since March, when the new Ringwraith was born... submitted my thesis and started my PhD here in K-Town, got the opportunity to go to Midsommar in Sweden and have a wonderful time in Scandinavia (Sweden - Aland - Finland - Sweden - Aland!! full story? toooo long to tell!), and yes... that included Karaoke singing, surviving the most dizzymaking experience in one ride at an amusement park in the finish capital, trying typical Swedish dishes (Fish!!!) and some absolutely weird non-nights in Stockholm and Mariehamn!

Slowly things are back to normal here, but with some good fortune, other destinations will be within reach for the second half of 2005!

Cheers and as always, your reading, viewing and commenting is so appreciated!

Actually it is a series of events taking place now... of which the trip to New Zealand was just like the falling of small stones that start an avalanche! For starters, I got myself a digital camera! It is a Fuji S5500 with which I will be able to adjust all lens and focus options manually (which I really wanted) and which I hope I can manage!

Next while looking at other peoples galleries, I realized how much of a Landscape photographer I really am.. and that I'd like to put a little more emphasis into detail and "see" things, where they aren't (more like where they are, but are not so obvious). And.. voilá, as lately I am totally in the mood of Lord of the Rings (and for quite some time now), I created a new account for these types of pictures. There is a direct access by clicking on the icon at the end of this paragraph and I would be more than honored if you could take a look at what I have added there and what I will add there!

The name of my new page there means "the seeing stone", which is more or less what I want to do with the camera or through the camera! And... fittingly I named the camera "Ringwraith" or "Nazgûl"... because it's black.. and nifty! And there is now also the addition of "Grond" to my repertoire, but about that, I will write some other time!

Cheers!