Dawn Ideas

To some, always looking for better, for progress, for a way forward, may seem like a good attitude. I find it so. But this kind of attitude is what seems to be the source of problems in relationships. It is, I think, what makes us look for that “perfect” someone, because we know it’s generally not accepted to be looking for better once you’re in a couple. So, if in the beginning we are not sure of our choice on all its facets, it’s not going to become easier in time, not if we are perfectionists, not if we are constantly looking to improve.

David Roduit, tattoo artist, originally uploaded by negora.

Went out and photographed a local tattoo artist, for no other reason than a boot in the bum from the Strobist BootCamp3!

David has a two story tattoo shop in the middle of the Roman Quarters in Martigny. I had passed his shop several times in the past, and saw him a few times, and I must confess, he wasn’t the guy that popped into my mind when I thought "ok, who’s my subject, and why?". But then, passing by this week and seeing him outside, I thought why not? If I’m not the only one who thinks he’s scary, maybe other people will benefit from knowing him too Reminds me a bit of the joke…ok never mind.

Bottom line, David is a nice guy, and I might just go back and try something less traditional for his portrait.

On being old, originally uploaded by negora.

But young at heart. Gian speaks romansch, but writes in french. Ran into him
at a wine tasting event, had a quick chat, and as I only had my phone, I had
to bend over backwards to get a properly exposed photo. Which I didn’t.

On being little, originally uploaded by negora.

Have you ever wandered how come when we grow up we don’t notice the counter is not that high anymore?

I know what you’re thinking. What spring? What update?

It’s been so long since the last post (6 weeks, can you believe it), and lots of things happened in the meanwhile. The most noteworthy hasn’t yet happened really, and that’s the exam next monday. We’ll see how that goes.

Seeing how I “had” to spend some of my remaining holidays before the end of march, I took to the mountains for alltogether 8 days. First time around was at the Brunet hut, at about 2100m.

I didn’t quite like the interaction with the keeper, so I took off and went to the Grand St. Bernard Hospice, where I should have went from the beginning. Amazing silence, and amazing atmosphere.

I hope to be able to retreat there at least a few days per year.

Hey hey, guess what? Switzerland has universities, and a table tennis championship for their students. And this past weekend 6 teams from 5 universities (rather poor participation, to be honest) got together in Lausanne to fight it out. Geneva came in first, with EPFL in second, and Basel in third. Yours truly played very well, only losing 3 matches out of 14. And the form didn’t leave me after just one day, so guess who’s the new individual champion?? >:)

1. Geneva 2. EPFL 3. Basel

Individual title podium ... yeah baby!

Solitary hike & bike just above Martigny on a sunny Sunday. Unfortunately you need to go much higher than I did to be able to escape the sound pollution, it was like being in the living room with a party next door …

One of the benefits of doing a PhD, apart from a flexible schedule and the continuous exposure to the new, is work related travel. ACM Multimedia was taking place this year in Florence, or Firenze, as Ciro il Napoletano says. You don’t know who Ciro is, but that’s quite OK.

Italy, by its close similarity with Romania, is not a place I find particularly attractive, but exceptions can be made. In the train to Firenze I came across the first romanian from a long series, a girl who happened to sit on my place. Coincidence, huh. Later in the week, while walking around the busy market street, or into a 99cents shop, I found other romanians, well integrated into the italian business landscape.

We had lunch the first day in a little restaurant, or so we thought. What looked like a couple of tables from the door proved to be an endless cavern, except better lit. The main attraction: a tree right in the middle of the restaurant. That day I promised myself I’d get a photo of the restaurant from above.

Met a load of interesting people, both from my own domain as well as others. The conference ending at 6pm each day, I explored Florence mostly by night, except for Saturday and Sunday when, together with “track-me-if-you-can” Elisa, we roamed the streets of the old center as well as the hills offering a good view of the city.

Things that impressed me: the number of restaurants and trattorias, the quality of the food, the wine, and the amount of tourists. Being refused entry in a restaurant because smart-ass Elisa decided to tell them we only wanted desert was also impressive, in a bad sense. Typical woman Elisa, didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut.

On Sunday I ended up alone, and the weather reflected my mood, pouring rain. So I took advantage of that and slipped into a building that I thought would look down on my tree-restaurant, and guess what. It did. I’m quite proud of my patience and cunningness, cause I had to wait for half an hour until someone came out of the building. But I got my photo!

Firenze - Ristorante Al Legno