harlekins spirit

It doesn’t always have to be goose

What do you have to eat on Christmas Eve? In some German families, sausages with potato salad are a tradition. Or carp with potato salad. When I was a child, there was a lot of excitement at first because we children were not allowed in the living room because the tree had been decorated by our parents and was supposed to be a surprise (it looked the same every year). Then came the giving of the presents, followed by a 3-course meal, a sinful gluttony. Because at 11 pm we all staggered into Christmas mass, drowsy and our bellies full. That was the “family tradition” for many years. Today I experience it quite differently. Let me describe how we will probably celebrate Christmas Eve.

Oh come all ye faithful…

…to the Christmas market

When it comes to Christmas markets, there is not only the group of fans (“Finally, a Christmas market without Corona restrictions!”) and the group of the uninterested (“What am I supposed to do there? There are only crowds, unhealthy food and presents that nobody needs!”) but also people in the “Yes, but only if…” category. The “yes, but” can come from different directions: “Yes, but only if it’s free.” or “Yes, but only if it’s not too crowded.” (Which in turn amounts to “Yes, but only if it’s not free.”)

How to ruin Christmas Eve

Christmas at last. Every year at the same time, 12 whole months to prepare for the next attempt and reflect on the last one, yet the same things happen each year. Let’s look at it from a different perspective today. Let’s approach it from an IT professional‘s point of view….

Drugs party

According to a status report on drugs 2021 (national REITOX (Réseau Européen d’Information sur les Drogues et les Toxicomanies) node to EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction), in 2018, 8.3% of 12-64 year-olds had used drugs (especially cannabis) within the previous 12 months, of those more men than women. Bavaria in particular is well above the average, especially noticeable among 14-17 year olds.

Learn to love silence

After I had recently done a one-minute (!) focussing exercise at the beginning of a retrospective, one participant remarked that he could never get used to these “esoteric” exercises. We then had a minor altercation about silence and how difficult many people find it to endure silence. Loving silence has nothing to do with the esoteric.

In my role as a facilitator, I have become a friend of silence. And my route there was not easy. I like to talk and passionately, when I do. I am sometimes impulsive and too quick for others. Through experience I have learned to keep quiet and to listen very carefully, especially when someone else is speaking. If you were to ask some of my colleagues how much progress I have made, they will probably say she is still practising. That’s how I see it too, it’s an ongoing exercise to become quiet and stay quiet. I am happy about every step I take towards stillness away from the deluge of noise.

A lifelong companion

The 70s cast long shadows

My colleague PUE has written about lifelong learning at Harlekin.blog from time to time – I will now follow suit and comment on “lifelong furniture”. It’s about the magnificent exhibit pictured above, which was brought back from the attic to the light of day.

In the first Corona summer (how that sounds…) a major renovation campaign took place at our house with all kinds of measures to make our 60s terraced house fit for the future. Corona rules made some preparations necessary. Routes were marked in the house, etc., in order to allow the 3 – 6 builders who were working in and around the house at the same time and ourselves to take coffee breaks “at a distance” – including pleasant chats over coffee, of course.

Can Botox save the car?

Where did the good cars go?

Car design has always been emotive. There are fashions just as there are for clothes. Hollywood glamour influenced lines in the 30s,…

The Reading

This post is by our guest author Susanne Bröer. Susanne lives in Berlin, is a graduate in business management, has been passionately sewing quilts for 30 years and writes short stories, so-called five-liners.

Thursday, 8 pm! There aren’t many people sitting in the auditorium, maybe a dozen – mostly of the older generation, literature lovers, so to speak. Some are armed with writing material to take notes, others wait in curiosity for the literary spectacle that is about to follow. A woman enters the stage, dressed in black, accompanied by an almost ash-blond small boy, presumably her son. A large book with a red cloth cover lies open on the table in front of her.

A Ray of Hope

Some time ago we published various articles on digitisation and its sometimes grotesque excesses – e.g. Digital Na(t)ive or Digital Punk. I found myself at this point again when I was on my way to and back from my summer holiday. This time, however, I can report on positive examples – but you can only appreciate them if you have also experienced the disasters.

Why do I actually do this?

What keeps me sitting down and writing articles? What’s the point? I could play golf, take the dog out, cook or take a spin on my motorbike instead. I deliberately chose only activities that I enjoy for the comparison. Not things like cleaning windows, chasing clients on the phone or arguing with insurance companies. So why? Okay, there’s a bunch of nice people I’ve known for ages that it’s fun to “work”with. You also develop your personal writing style, your own way of expressing yourself, your precision and so on (we’re talking about the punchlines here, not the approach shots). Is that all? Hey – the alternatives are mentioned above and they are really good ones. So why? Probably it has been obvious to everyone except me. I can already hear the chorus of heartfelt compassion at the next Harlequin meeting.