Another year

I've never been much a fan of announcing or making new year resolutions at all. Not even the popular one to finally stop smoking...but wait...I've never smoked...not a single one ;-)
And it won't be different for this year, cause I've got no decisions or goals that would be considered s.m.a.r.t.. It's more a character trait I'd like to get back, though I'm not sure if it's possible at all to lose features of your personality, they might get buried because of other things, that look more important - at first glance.

I want to be better organized and more focused, put my own needs first and get things done instead of putting them off for no reason. Blame it on technology but my organizational chaos started when I had to trade in the customer's equipment for my company's equipment, I felt myself set back to beginning of the century. No included chat-tool to keep track people who were not at the same location, no official synchronizing tool for my mobile phone, no unofficial synchronizing tool available for my mobile phone because of the outdated software we are still using (upgrade in spring). I tried to keep track of tasks, appointment and projects using a filofax, which was way too much hassle.
Already my first job was with a computer company and I'm definitely not the type to sit down and transcribe from computer to paper and from paper to computer; I'm also not the one to print out these things, count on me - I'll never have the up-to-date version of my calendar with me. I love my gadgets, the only things I never leave home without are my mobile phone and mp3-player - I only remember to take keys and money when I take the car. But I've been working on a solution, lucky me who didn't have to work for almost two weeks now; I got a lot of things done :)
Throughout the last months I've become a big fan of google, everything I need is accessible from everywhere. Even the calendar can by synchronized with outlook; I'll probably buy a tool to manage multiple ones, unless google includes this feature until February.
I even set up a site a couple of day ago, where I maintain lists of tasks, projects and wishes;-) I opened an account with Picasa and finally put pictures of the 2007 vacation online.
I found out how to make a playlist with last.fm and Itunes, remembered some long forgotten html-code, and my Myspace-Profile is finally presentable, even made one for my girlfriend.
Today I fetched the package with our new telephone system, and while we still don't a voip-solution with our isp, this system offers the possibility to use other internet-voip accounts.
Guess what I'll be doing on Sunday? ;-)
Now the only things I need to get done are deciding if I want an Atome Notebook or a Moleskine Notebook, I'm a bit wary of Moleskines, I don't really like how they feel.
And the last thing left is to finally start twittering, I even haven't done the obligatory "test-post" *g

My "no particular reason" crush

Naw, I won't start another series of "current crush" post, there are already so many out there, and they do it all better than me.
I'd still like to let you know of whom I've been thinking a lot lately, and that is Annette Gerlach. IMO she is *the* face of Arte.


She started out as newscaster for Arte Info and has been responsible for and hosting herself Arte Culture. She is German but speaks French fluently and she masters both languages equally and that on a very high level. Whenever I see her on tv it's only moments later that I realize in which language she is communicating. And it's been only a couple of weeks that I learned that she is German, I'd always assumed her being French.

I don't really know much about her, but it's that kind of mystery that's attracting ;-) Isn't it? And we're going to get some quality time with her, because she will be hosting the Teddy Awards on Feb 13th (aired on the 14th on Arte). If you're curious and can't wait until then, have a look at some videos from last year, with host...yes...Annette Gerlach.
The opening scene in that video shows Claudia Roth, one of my favorite politicians.

Happy New Year!

Hach...endlich ist es da, das neue Jahr.:-) Wie üblich, haben wir es so grade mit Müh und Not geschafft es zu begrüssen. Dank an die Nachbarn, die es zwar rechtzeitig angekündigt haben, aber sich dieses Jahr doch irgendwie mit der Böllerei zurückgenommen haben. Denn obwohl, wie jedes Jahr, das Wetter schlecht war, war es doch erheblich besser als letztes Jahr, nur war es halt a....glatt ;-)
Kurz vorm Einschlafen war ich doch nochmal hellwach, Ina's Nacht wurde irgendwo wiederholt. Und das ist einer der Riesenausblicke für's neue Jahr, die Sendung kommt nämlich dieses Jahr in der ARD. :-) Hoffentlich wird sie nicht zensiert, das wäre echt schade ;-)
Und dann gibt's natürlich viele Wahlen inkl. der Europawahlen. Da der Vertrag von Lissabon auch irgendwann in Kraft treten soll (obwohl die Iren mit nein gestimmt haben, und auch die Deutschen haben ihre Unterschrift noch nicht hinterlegt, obwohl die notwendige Gesetzesänderung unterschrieben wurde), wird es 4 neue, hohe Ämter in der EU geben. Die einzige Dame, die bisher für einen Posten im Gespräch ist, ist Angela Merkel, die ist aber nun mal schwer in Deutschland beschäftigt. Auch wenn ich kein Fan der CDU bin, aber bei der aktuellen Lage, besonders wie sich die Politiker der SPD selbst zerfleischen und demontieren, sehe ich schwarz für einen Regierungswechsel im Herbst. Was allerdings die Zusammensetzung der Koalition betrifft, möchte ich keine Voraussagen treffen.
Wer aber etwas an der Zusammensetzung des 4-er EU-Gespanns etwas ändern möchte, sollte sich die Seite Females in Front anschauen. Hierbei handelt es sich um eine Initiative, die verlangt, dass die EU ihre Gleichstellungsgesetze auf sich selber anwendet, wozu gehört, dass die Posten gerechter verteilt werden, dass also mehr Frauen wichtige Posten bekommen. Damit dies eingefordert werden kann, müssen 1 Millionen Unterschriften gesammelt werden, wovon man aktuell allerdings noch weit entfernt ist.
Was gibt's noch im 2009? Europride in Zürich, Ich&Ich treten beim Stimmenfestival auf, Katharina Franck hat im Dezember ein neues Album veröffentlicht, vielleicht kommt sie mal wieder in unsere Gegend.
Es wäre toll, wenn die vielen Open-Airs und Musik-Festivals ihre Programme etwas früher veröffentlichen könnten, damit ich dann nicht grad am anderen Ende von Europa bin *g