Good idea?

While waiting for a teacher to say if my idea for a master's thesis topic is good enough, some thoughts are occurring..

Gone for good

Final preparations, closing some deals, packing the bags.. aaaand going home. :)

It's over

My five-day exam is over!
If I did well, it means that my last exam ever is over.
What I've got to say about that?
Yeyeyeyeye-yeyeye-yeyeye ho-ho-ho-ho-hoooo!

Graduation

Today's cartoon by Doug Savage is dedicated to a very joyful moment of every person's life.
In addition to it I am uploading yet another positive message for the fresh graduates.

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

(Reversed) countdown: 12

Exam - Danish style: 2

Today is the fourth day of my last exam in the MSc program. Yes, you read correctly, 4th.

This is a 5-day take home assignment and it basically works like that.. They upload a case, (usually) describing a company and important relevant information about it, plus the exam questions. Then you have a certain amount of time (I have had from 12 hours to 5 days) to write your solution and upload it back on the website.

Meanwhile you can use any source of information you can think of (including your classmates), but trust me, even this does not make it easier than the ordinary exam.

Well, now the end is near... but, please, keep your fingers crossed for it to be a happy ending! :)

Shake it!

2 a.m. and I'm still awake, writing..

I'm sitting in my room, trying to get some work done while fighting with sleepiness.
Music is soothingly flowing from the (online) radio.
I have just noticed that it is 02:00 a.m., when this song starts to play:

So, I start singing to myself: "breeeeeathe, just breeeeeeeathe" and hope for some writing inspiration.

Comfort taken to a new level

This is a bus stop in Aarhus.
No, no, they don't normally look this way.
That's just a great symbiosis between a Scandinavian practice (to leave your old furniture on the street, where it gets collected either by furnitureless students, or by a garbage company - whichever finds it first) and some lazy genius' mind.
Hooray for creativity born by laziness!

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

Sunny afternoon..

..after a sunny morning.. after four sunny days in a row..
 Am I dreaming? :)

Exam - Danish style: 1

This is how an average open-book 4-hour exam looks like in Denmark.

You are allowed to use any source of information that you find appropriate.. including the internet. You can also write on your laptop, instead of paper. Then you upload your file on a USB stick (which they give you on your way into the exam room).

I suppose that's not something that one can experience in Denmark only.. but I never heard of such a practice in Bulgaria. Also, for my open-book exam in Belgium I was forced to print some 1000 pages, because: "if you are reading from your laptop, I can never be sure whether you're not on the internet"..

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

_______________
* Roberta, thank you for making this (though blurry ;)) photo for me! :)

Be happy

The Danes are once again the happiest in the world. Norway, Sweden and Finland are also in the top 10...
The more I think about it.. the more I get convinced that I've got to be missing something in the picture..

 * I found the photo by searching "happiest people ever" on Google.
 

Time to sunbathe

Black coffee is bitter

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

Insomnia

Decoration

The "interactive decoration"* of the school's back yard started to move under the sun rays.

_________________
* A citation

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

(Reversed) countdown: 11

Multifunctional

I watched the weather forecast last night and today my clock seems to agree with the "predictions" the weatherman made. It is expected to be 20° C with SUN. Woohoo! :)

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

Weekend Tribune, issue: 19 May '12

This Saturday's Weekend Tribune presents you the Anti monkey butt powder, The beauty lift high nose and several other must-have products for your next shopping list.

You are welcome, dear reader!

You may also want to check:
* Talking friend watch or the Boyfriend Arm Pillow - to fight loneliness
* Giant inflatable cockroach - to make your kids love those little buddies that live with you anyway
* Spycam Video/MP3/Camera Sunglasses - to finally get the topless beach girls on video - all that without getting slapped!
* Baggy Winecoat - so that you can keep drinking cheap wine-in-a-box... but now with style
* Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure - to teach your little girl some values other than the old-school vicious find-Mr.-Right-guy Barbie lessons
* Swine Flu fluffy toy - not really sure why you need that

Who's got the sunshine?

Placebo

You sure have heard that "if you think positively, good things happen".

I'm sure you have also heard that a placebo effect is when someone takes a "faux" drug with no active ingredients, but starts to feel better anyway.

A while ago I was actually told that some patients part of clinical trials, who were given a placebo instead of the actual medicine that is being researched, had stunning improvements in their medical condition.

Today I came to think about that again, read a little on the internet, and I felt the need to share a thought with you.. If a person is actually able to positively influence a disease by just believing a fake pill is a real pill,.. it must be possible to make your day happier by believing it's all up to you. Right?

Why not try today?

Wake me up

The whole day I needed someone to do that for me so that I can get some work done.

Tomorrow is (always) the day

You know how sometimes in the evening you make a big plan for the next day?
With all those things you are sure you will start doing from the second you wake up..
And, of course, you are planning to wake up early...

A tank of coffee for me, please

I am going to spend the day at the library, so I thought I might need some coffee.

A joke!

A girl is packing her bags for a 3-month stay in Denmark. She is thinking: "I will be there in spring and probably the beginning of summer. I should take more light clothes.. and sandals too."
So she takes more light clothes and sandals.

Ha-ha-ha!

Morning yearning

The bed is calling you

Birds, sun and other words

(Useless) Facts #3

(Reversed) countdown: 10

Ten weeks are gone. Better days are soon to come.

Coffee greetings

Dog years

Here is a Saturday afternoon short movie for you.

Weekend Tribune, issue: 12 May '12

Today Weekend Tribune is offering you to spend some of your internet-browsing time on the page of Trash Lovers Crew.

They are Bulgarian guys who have decided to use trash on the streets as a base for their art. Click on the link above and see how they are "Making it pretty for garbage men since 2009".

 

Love message

I think that my breakfast is trying to tell me something.. These two hearts were right on top of the muesli pile in my bowl.

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

Happy!

This is the message that was coming from a cushion, left on the sidewalk of a gloomy Sunday.

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

It's a lovely day inside

Rain and greyness in Aarhus..

Lullaby

Unexpected Turns

Woohooo

My (hopefully) last (normal*) exam is over! YAY!

_________________
* By "normal" I mean an exam for which you go to school and sit in a room with 100 other students for several hours.
I still have my (hopefully) veryvery last exam ever in the end of the month, but it is a 5-day thing.. which is another story.

What would MacDaner do? s01e03

Here's the plot to another episode** of the action-adventure television series "MacDaner".

Anders MacDaner is an average* Dane, living  his average* Danish life in an average* Danish city.

~~~~~*~~~~~ 

The buses in MacDaner's city have ticket machines inside. One can either travel with a monthly card, a 10-trip ticket, or pay for the trip through the machines on the bus. As a rule, if the "billetautomat" is broken, the traveler is supposed to tell the bus driver about it (he already knows). Then the citizen can calmly continue his ride.

MacDaner gets on the bus for 2 stops. He needs a ticket from the machine. He pays for the trip once with his credit card and once with a 20 DKK coin - both times getting no ticket in return.

What would MacDaner do?

Get worried he has no ticket. Ask the ones around if they knew the machine was broken. Realize that everyone knows. Go to the driver and tell him about it. Receive an answer "I know, you can continue your ride without the ticket". Smile to the driver, and get off on the first stop. He will get on a bus where he can buy a ticket.

________________
* MacDaner is just a unit, representing the central tendency of all data items. It must be stressed that there are many units which deviate from the observed values, attributed to MacDaner.
** Click on  "What would MacDaner do" from the labels below to find more episodes.

Fuel

(Reversed) countdown: 9

The weeks are 9 less already, but I'm still half the world away.

Music and passion

If you could ever relate yourself to music in any way, click here and watch Benjamin Zander's TED talk*. What he has to show you is fascinating.

Open your heart and enjoy.

_______________
* subtitles are available in 39 languages. If you can't hear or understand something well, click this button and pick the language of your choice from the drop-down menu:

Weekend Tribune, issue: 06 May '12

At Weekend Tribune we care about you and your finances. That is why we are offering you to check the ultimate website for ordering just anything you can think of: cheap, with free shipping. Click here for DealExtreme.

Attention! You may lose hours browsing.

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

Gods

What would MacDaner do? s01e02

Here's the plot to another episode** of the action-adventure television series "MacDaner".

Anders MacDaner is an average* Dane, living  his average* Danish life in an average* Danish city.

~~~~~*~~~~~ 

A foreigner is obviously lost in an average Danish city, looking at a map. MacDaner sees him and heads straight to him with a smile and readiness to help. The foreigner says: "I want to get to Vestre Ringgade".

What would MacDaner do?

Say: "Where?!" with the most confused expression a human face can get. Look at what the tourist's finger is showing on the map, then smile and say the exact same way the foreigner (thought) he pronounced it: "Aaaah, you mean Vestre Ringgade".

________________
* MacDaner is just a unit, representing the central tendency of all data items. It must be stressed that there are many units which deviate from the observed values, attributed to MacDaner.
** Click on  "What would MacDaner do" from the labels below to find more episodes.

Smell good

Weekend Tribune, issue: 05 May '12

The cooking section of today's Weekend Tribune is offering you a recipe for fast spaghetti.

Check the video of Fabio Viviani preparing a real Italian dish while explaining everything with his awesome Italian accent. He once said: "My accent will not get better by the end of the day, your knowledge [of lasagna] will". We proved this right.

Check more of his recipes on Chow Ciao.

Let's help each other

Here and here you can read, and watch about an interesting initiative. "Death row" cats are given to prisoners.
Both sides need each other, both sides need to behave.
Am I the only one who finds this a brilliant idea?

_______________
* picture from ctpost.com's article.

What would MacDaner do? s01e01

Here's the plot to another episode** of the action-adventure television series "MacDaner".

Anders MacDaner is an average* Dane, living  his average* Danish life in an average* Danish city.

~~~~~*~~~~~ 

It is raining. It is raining so heavily that a citizen of any other country in the world would just stay home until it stops.

What would MacDaner do?

Get on his bike and ride for 10 km to meet a friend for lunch.

________________
* MacDaner is just a unit, representing the central tendency of all data items. It must be stressed that there are many units which deviate from the observed values, attributed to MacDaner.
** Click on  "What would MacDaner do" from the labels below to find more episodes.

Cloudy games

What would MacDaner do?

Here's the plot to the pilot episode of the action-adventure television series "MacDaner".

Anders MacDaner is an average* Dane, living  his average* Danish life in an average* Danish city.

~~~~~*~~~~~

It is late spring. MacDaner is watching the weather forecast in the morning news. They are saying the temperature is going to rise up to 12° C this day.

What would MacDaner do?

Get excited. Put on shorts, a sleeveless shirt, and flip-flops. Then he would arrange a barbecue event in his garden.

________________
* MacDaner is just a unit, representing the central tendency of all data items. It must be stressed that there are many units which deviate from the observed values, attributed to MacDaner.

Nerdy monster

I never thought I would be upset and protesting that the library does not have a book that I need (just like about 100 other students attending a course with me).

I never thought that I would hide a book in another section of the library just because I'm afraid someone might take it before me tomorrow morning.

God..., school has turned me into a monster..

Coffee attraction

That's the window of a shop for secondhand books in Aarhus.
It seems that it knew I was gonna pass, because it had this coffee book staring at me from between the others.

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

Riding in colors

(click on the picture to view it bigger)

Need for conformity

Here you will get an explanation and a curious demonstration of "the Asch experiments", aiming at researching the power of conformity in groups.