Saturday, April 28, 2007

Strange people in the park

Thanks to the marvelous weather I'm spending as much time as possible in the park. Today I sat again on the place as yesterday. And again most people were drinking alcohol there - at 4 pm.
But today I also had some funny experiences. A girl sat down on the bench next to me and said: "Excuse me, is my nose bleeding?" First I didn't even understand the question because it was so out of context. But it seems like she has that problem very often and of course had no mirror.
She went away shortly after and after a few more minutes an older guy walked by every bench and tried to sell self-made candles for EUR 1.50 each. Well... I don't think he'll sell many candles in the direct sunshine. Maybe he should have tried a few hours later.

Where is our youth going?

Yesterday I was reading in the city park of my town. Even though it was still afternoon many young people sitting on the other benches were already drinking beer. Too bad there is no ban on drinking in public places in Austria.
But compared to what I have seen later in the evening, this was nothing. I came across the park again in the late evening. It was filled with hundreds of young people, many of them below the age of 16. But everyone was drunk. I wish drinking would have been the only drug consume there.
In addition to that the paths were littered with empty or full beer bottles and other things. Compared to afternoon, this place looked completely different. And nobody is gonna do anything against it. The police was driving by but didn't even bother to get out of the car. Like society lets down our youth on purpose.
We must not forget that our children will be the ones who will be the adults in the future. They will have children of their own. Where is this all going? Maybe their parents are already drunk on some evenings, too. A great example for them.
But instead of seeking a better life, the children embrace alcohol and drugs in ever increasing numbers. Looks like there is nothing else to do for them. Or if there is, they all have only one thing in common: getting drunk on a regular basis. What more do they need. It's fun, it's probably cheaper than going to the movies and you have lots and lots of people who do the same.
There are some ad campaigns against alcohol. But instead of telling them that it's bad, we should show our youth how to have fun without it. And we should do it fast before those who know how die out.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Life on Mars

In yesterday's Philosophy lecture the professor somehow mentioned a possible trip to Mars in 20 years time. The interesting thing was how the crew might change during the trip - which will take 2 years for each way and possibly includes a 2 year long stay on Mars.

Well, during this long time time some crew members may die but also there is a chance that a baby will be born. Don't ask me about ethics for an inspace-pregnancy, but I like the idea. The child might get born on Mars and not see earth before being 4 years old. And when it does, it's a natural born alien.

A very funny question that will arise is: what city of birth do you write into the child's passport?

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Being more friendly to strangers

About a week ago I was walking my dogs in the morning. Many people pass by every time. But this time was different. A girl passed me. Well, there's nothing special about that - but shortly after she said "Hello" and went on. I turned around. No one else was there but she kept on walking in the opposite direction. It got me all a little confused.

Having seen the movie Waking Life I remembered the ant scene where the narrator passes a woman and she starts talking to him:

I mean, it’s like we go through life with our antennas bouncing off one another, continuously on ant auto-pilot with nothing really human required of us.
I've thought about it after seeing the movie and I'm thinking about it again: why do we ignore most people on the streets? Can't we all be a little bit more friendly or at least notice the people we pass?

In the future I want to be more friendly to strangers. For example, today a girl wanted to cross the streets and was unsure whether I'd stop my bike. Instead of going on, I stopped and gave her a smile to let her know it's safe to cross. She smiled back.

It doesn't take much - but when everyone does it, life can be a lot more enjoyable.

Welcome to my blog

Hello everyone!

I've been wondering... do I need a blog, do I want to write one and most of all, do I have time to write one? I've decided to give it a try.

What is my motivation for blogging? I'm thinking about many things from my every day life. Some times these thoughts are so interesting that I share them with friends and other people. But in the end they will be forgotten sooner or later. This blog will therefore be a collection of my thought about life, a journey through it and it will give you an insight who I am.

I hope I can make this an interesting blog, so keep coming back!