Posts Tagged ‘cherry tree’

Spring-life.

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

our balcony at breakfast time during full spring cherry blossom timeThis is how life in spring should be. (Luckily, pollen do not transfer via the internet.) With a breakfast on the balcony on a gently warm spring day, life is unfolding like it should. See the cherry blossom tree in full flower? I am so grateful that is exists at exactly this spot on the earth’s surface. I really am. I made some more pictures for my future research project on the perception of nature in the city, thinking it should definitely encompass a visit to Japan during the time of cherry blossom. Ah! The ephemerality of aesthetics… :)

Die schöne Brache.

Saturday, October 21st, 2006

Foto Baustelle Choriner Straße 32a 21. Oktober 2006Mit einem Seufzer im Herzen habe ich heute noch mal ein Bild von der früheren Brache auf dem Gelände Choriner Straße 32a gegenüber von unserem Balkon gemacht. Vor kurzem hat Olli da noch in der Sonne gesessen und meine Dissertation Korrektur gelesen. Aber nun wird die verführend verfallende Fläche von der Härte des Immobiliengeschäfts ereilt. Ich habe bisher noch keine Tafel erspäht, die ankündigen würde was auf dem ehemaligen Gelände der KiTa eigentlich gebaut wird. Eine große Erleichterung ist nur, dass der wundervolle Kirschbaum (im Bild unten rechts) anscheinend erhalten bleibt. Es wäre wirklich grausam gewesen, wenn der hätte fallen müssen…

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Thursday, October 19th, 2006

So, who’s who? First, there are the people from Darmstadt. They sent me a letter today. If you were listening to the sounds of the rumor mill you might have already guessed what is inside… Yes! It did work out as I hoped. 11 a.m. September 22nd I handed in my Dissertation. Two hours later I had my job interview for a postdoc position in the new post-graduate college Topology of Technology. Today I received the written approval of the college. Yay! Beginning sometime in November or December, I will not be dependent on the totally incompetent and not-so-subtly cruel social workfare system. That, I can tell you, is a relief in itself. However, it is of course much better than that because I really wanted to work exactly in that position: a post-doc in a Graduiertenkolleg, and even better, a post-doc in a Graduiertenkolleg that consists of people that are intellectually brilliant, socially competent and personally likeable. More about all of this in later posts.
But – as the title of this post hints – this is not all the news that I got. The above was, quite easily guessed, the good part. Now comes the bad. Last week, construction work has begun right across on the other side of the street. Yes, that is also right in front of our beloved balcony. Meow. We’ll see how the construction site develops but it appears as if the greatest and most marvellous part of the whole Choriner Straße will be left standing: the huge Cherry tree that astounds everyone when it becomes a world of blossoms in the spring. It would have been a grievous loss indeed. This was the bad.
Now comes the ugly. As usual, it has something to do with our Landlord. The property management firm Kirchner & Freund, which manages the building we live in, is not exactly shining in the bright light of competence. This in itself could be bearable. However, their letters also hint at a certain vice that is fostered by what one may quite righteously call capitalism. Thus they raised the rent by about ten percent a few years ago. We complied grudgingly. This year, they again wanted to raise the rent by roughly nine percent. We did not agree and sent them the necessary objections. They did not accept. (No surprise there.) We agreed to a partial raise by a bit more than one percent and paid the respective sum. To this partial agreement they never replied. Instead, I found a letter in our letterbox yesterday. It was utterly official and sent from the local court. They actually sued us! Sadly this is a joke but the ugly truth. We’ll see how things go. Since all the prior steps had been made in accordance with the Berliner Mieterverein, we will be financially supported by the renter’s association. I already contacted a lawyer and sent all the documents to his office. Ugly business. But better have the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly than ride with the trio of the apocalypse…
*starts playing the harmonica*

Jawoll.

Tuesday, April 20th, 2004

Nun bin ich wieder ein ordentlicher Staatsbürger. Nachdem ich vor längerer Zeit meinen Perso verschlust habe, bin ich nun wieder im Besitz eines solchen staatsbürgerlichen Dokuments. Selbiges weist auch einige neue Kopierschutzmechanismen (komische Hologramme und so) auf, mit denen mein alter Perso nicht hätte mithalten können. Also alles viel besser jetzt? Mitnichten. Nun komme ich nämlich in die missliche Lage, mir für die beiden um die Ecke liegenden Videotheken einen Leihausweis besorgen zu können. Bisher ging das nicht, weshalb Kerstin und Olli den lästigen Gang zur Videothek absolvieren mussten, während meine Anwesenheit eher fakultativer Natur war. Früher war alles besser.
Morgen fahr ich übrigens das erste Mal wieder nach Darmstadt. Da sollte doch schon diese eine Jahreszeit ihr blaues Band feist am flattern haben. (Wobei ich mich ja nicht beschweren möchte: unser Kirschbaum verwandelt sich derzeit in eine riesige rosa Wolke, was ja ein kaum zu übertreffender, erhabender Anblick ist, der auch dem gelangweiltesten Prenzelberger einen unschick offenen Mund verpasst und die Maske der Desinteressiertheit für einen Moment abblättern lässt.) So, jetzt wird Wäsche aufgehangen und weiter artikelt.