Spiders and Swans and other creatures

Hi Ghazal, my dear,

When I wrote you yesterday evening “Thanks for the wunderful summer” this was not a spelling mistake !! It was such a nice evening that on its own would give the whole summer 2010 a special glory. You have a very professional way to choose the right radio-program. I did not know that just a few fingertips away from the radiostations I usually hear there is still so nice music. I will try to find some of the titles among my records and bring them to you tomorrow.

Ghazal, you know that in Germany it is illegal to make photographs of somebody without asking his or her permission ? I don”t mean the white swan. First of all, swans are usually very vain, and like to be photographed as often as possible. And in addition to this, he received some cakes as a payment from us. But you forgot that there was also me on the picture, and I was not officially asked for approval. I mean I”m not so concerned that you will do something bad with the pictures (like putting them on facebook to make the entire world laugh about me). But, maybe as a compensation, you could finally agree to have a photograph made of you on the bike wearing the beige coat. It would be more than logical, especially since you said that lady with the bicycle on the french poster does not bear much similarity to yourself. I somehow agree with your opinion, I think you would look much more attractive.

I hope you enjoy the evening

see you tomorrow , take care (don”t kill the spiders, germans belief they can bring you luck).

Yours Michael
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hi michael,

im glad i could find a good radiostation that you like.
i did not know its illegal to take photos. only your arm is on the photo. so it doesnt count!:)

i havent seen more spiders and im glad.

see you tomorrow and good night.
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Ghazal, my dear.

How nice to read that you keep your sense of homour. About the photo, I”d like to keep the final decision open.

Take Care.

Michael

PS: Ghazal, I just want to tell you: In case of an emergency (candle setting your apartment on fire or a spiderman starting an attack on you), you also can call my mobile number instead of 112. I”ll be at your site for help probably faster than the police.

An evening at the beach

Hi Ghazal,

Thanks for this wunderful summer .

Michael

No tears about a failed PCR, Baby

Hello Ghazal,
I hope you are not in the lab anymore. You work a lot, maybe too much, my dear. I hope this is because you like the project, I hope it is not because life outside the lab does not bear any promises for you.
I did not checked the weather-forcast for tomorrow, but my superstition tells me that whenever one plans something nice, it will be sunny. Lets see.
In the worst case, we can quit the beach and go somewhere else, into town if you want to hear some music or to watch a movie (yesterday the movie-festival started here in Munich). But I would prefer to go to the lake.
I checked our collection of DVDs which can be played with english tone. Not many hollywood block-buster among them, unfortunately. Some Stanley Kubrik classics, “Cabaret” featuring Liza Minelli, “Hitchhikers Guide through the Universe“, “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Brazil“. You have probably never heard these titles, but if you like I can give them to you (none of them is really bad, none of them is adult-only. They are entertaining, I would say.)

How do you spend the evening ? Have you tried the Himalaya-rice already ? The chocolate you brought is delicious, but it is such a large box, it will last for month.

Relax, Take care, Don”t forget to put out the candle before you go to bed.

Michael

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Hi Michael,

I did a lot today in the lab, but I only got bad results. You will see the gel for the modified PCR tomorrow. And the other gel that I ran had really weak bands, so i run it on the PCR overnight again.

After lab I always get tired and just want to go back home to study and relax. But it is very kind of you to think about me, i appreciate that you care. but i prefer to just go home and relax.

i havent tried the rice yet, was too tired. but i will. maybe tomorrow.
good that you liked the chocolate. i bought one for claudia as well.

you were right , i have never heard of the movies you suggested. sounds like books? and you know what i think about books.

take care goodnight

/ghazal
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Hi Ghazal, my dear,

Sorry to hear that your evening yesterday was overshadowed by the frustrations about this unseccessful PCR. Don”t take it personel !!
I”m sure there was something wrong either with the new batch of the green master-mix (might be they gave me the last two packs and they were already old) or I made a mistake when setting-up the new PCR program. We will check today.
But it is also important during a project to experience that things don”t always run perfect, and pitfalls can happen everyday. But it is crucial trying to find out why it happened and consequently trying to eliminate the source.
Don”t worry, we will find the bug that made you so sad yesterday evening (or to speak with H.C.Anderson, we will find the “pea under the matress that did not let you sleep”).

No tears, please.

See you today

Michael

Day Dreams at a Summer Night

Hello Ghazal, my dear,

Sorry I came back to the office much later than planed and therefore did not met you any more to wish you a pleasant evening.
I hope you are alright and could enjoy these marvelous last hours of a summer day. I remember you once told me that you used to escape into day-dreams.
I”m wondering if a beautiful day like the one today might not be superiour to a dream? But who knows what your dreams are about?
I was making a short ride-out with the bike and our dog, through the wild nature around our village. There is a tiny river, but it is cristal-clear, and there are old stone-bridges (look like from roman times) that were in use maybe hundreds of years ago. Now they are abandoned and stay there on the plain fields without having a function. But they are build in such a solid way that they will be there for the next thousands of years. They are just beautiful, without having a function any more. And now people living here use them for a rest. At the first bridge I arrived, some teenagers were just preparing for a party (it is a quite hidden place and they probably wanted to smoke something illegaly). They wanted to invite me, but I am probably to serious to accept. At the next bridge, a young man was sitting and playing a bandoneon, very silently but you could imagine that he might soon perform at an tango concert. At the next bridge my dog forced me to stop for a while, since she likes to jump into the water and swim. While I was waiting for her, two girls arrived and started to make photographs from each other. Still being there to play with my dog and listening the silly chats of the two, a young man arrive also on a bike and prayed this paradise-like evening.
Ghazal, do you also have moments like this when in the light of the evening sun all problems and difficulties seem to disappear in nothing ? Is this what you call day-dreams ? Probably a very special type of them, which should be rather called end-of-day dreams.

wish you a good night Michael

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hi michael,

haha no the daydreams are just things that i have in my mind. things that i have to do or something. not really dreams.
i see that u had a nice and interesting day, thats good.

see u in the lab tomorrow! take care

regards
ghazal
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Hi Ghazal,

It was a pleasure to read your words. I think that with the ability to dream, every day, every evening can become a miracle, does not matter where you are or what you own. Somebody said that the beauty of a picture lays in the eye of the viewer. Maybe it is the same with how we see the entire world and our own life.
I”m talking silly things. I should better let you sleep, it is already late.

See you tomorrow

Michael

Self-reflecting letter and the potential of Woodoo

Hi Ghazal,

Do you enjoy the time at home ? What a question, of course you do.
Today is the first day that the rain stoped here in Munich. I think that there is just no water left in the atmosphere, it is probably dried out now and we might see the rest of the summer only dry earth and yellow gras. Hard to say, what is worse. Again, people were mainly watching football today in the coffee-room, somebody lost, somebody won, don”t ask me who and why and how. I think it all has to do with african Woodoo. Ghazal, I miss a lot the talks with you which are always inspiring and refreshing. How boring is football compared to this. Even writing just a few sentences to you gives me back the mental energy I loos when I hear the football noise.

Yesterday I went once again through the translation that you did from Gustafssons essay on Berlin, and I like it more and more. Do you mind, if I send it to Gustafsson to include it on his blog ? I would further translate from your english variant into a german text. There are always translations that readers of the blog did. I guess they have to be authorized by Gustafsson himself, in the worst case he might do some final corrections. Sorry, I forgot that you don”t care so much about books and written stuff, but I promise you, Ghazal, when Gustafsson will finally get the Nobel Prize in Stockholm at the Swedish Academy, your family and your friends will be extremely proud of you for beeing an approved translator. Come on, don”t tell me that you still don”t care. We are always seeking for fame, what is absolutely human, because we are social beeings to a larger or to lesser degree. Only an autistic person does not care about fame.

I”m afraid the longer messages I write you the less you are inspired to answer to them. I guess if you would say now “No e-mails any more, please. I just closed my Hotmail acount”, I would probably continue to write them just for my own reflections. It is the only moment during the day when I find some rest and can escape from the helter-skelter going on around me. I think everybody needs somebody to address its thoughts to. Some people probably still belief that they can talk to god, what is for me no option and I guess even the most religious people hardly can remember to have ever recieved an answer from god. You are sending an answer at least sometime, what is already much better. And sometimes you are even physically present to talk to.

Enjoy the evening

Yours Michael

Happy Birthday

Dear Ghazal,

I wish you a Happy Birthday full of joy and energy and a good start into the next year of your life. I put a piece of music on youtube. Either search for “Ghazals Birthday” or directly click here.

Hope it works.

Michael

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Hi!!
I saw it. thank you for the nice music.
have a nice day

/ghazal

Munich-Stockholm Chat

Hi Ghazal, did you arrived well in Stockholm ?
Take Care, Michael

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Hi Michael!
Yes I arrived well. Came home very late so I just slept.
Thank you for all the help yesterday.
Take care!
/Ghazal

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Dear Ghazal,
You don”t have to say “Thank you”, honestly, I did not felt doing something that I did not enjoyed myself. The few hours walking around town with you and chatting are always like a short holiday break for me. Therefore, If anybody has to say “thank you”, it would rather be me.
Take care, my dear
Michael

Max Speed Driving Home

Dear Ghazal,

Are you still awake ? It would be fair enough to escape this grey evening into morpheus empire (as an explanation for us and all other atheists : morpheus was the god of dreams and sleep in greek mythology).
I probably will watch a movie tonight in TV, therefor I stay up. Movie is called Brokeback Mountain, maybe you heard about it. It is about two gay cowboys and got very good critics and won several Oskars. I saw some other movies by the same director Ang Lee, which I liked.
Do you have some films to watch on your PC ? I will check next week if I find some DVDs in english language that I could give to you.

After I dropped you at the guesthouse tonight, I drove back along the completely empty Ingolstaedter Strasse. I tried maximum speed and for a couple of seconds reached 170 kmh. Thanks god, I did not fall asleep again. But this would have be extremely unlikely today, first because it is low altitute here, and second, but more relevant, because I always feel very inspired when we drove somewhere together and I ccould listen to your voice.

O, before I forget, here is something important for you (you see I first let you wait and make you read all this nonsense about a movie, my high-speed adventure and your voice before releasing the information that you asked me for):

There is indeed a shop called Adidas Original Munich. It is in Hohenzollernstrasse, near Munchener Freiheit. I”m sure you will find something suitable for your brother there. Lets go there tomorrow after work, and later I can bring you straight to your Airport Bus.

Hope you are fine

Good night

Michael

Swedish Guide through IKEA

Dear Ghazal,

You probably filled your apartment already with the vanilla smell coming from the scent candle. Be carefull you don”t fall asleep with the candle still burning !!!
Was Chrysi satisfied with the pillow ? I was really amazed when I saw you testing the quality of the different cushions at the IKEA store. It so much reminded me of the fairytale “Prinzess on the pea” by Anderson (I think in swedish it is call “Prinsessan på ärten”). Did your parents told you this story ? If not, remind me of it and I will tell you sometime.
Ghazal, I have to admit that I was lying to you today: I have never been to this IKEA befor. I guess you felt it already when I drove 20 km to far north. Thanks god you are such a polite person that you did not said anything. I hope you are not disappointed now. I promise you, in general I”m very thrustworthy. An in particular if it comes to finding a way through an unknown landscape.

I will send you the old e-mail with the pictures from Berlin to your Helmholtz-Address, cause the images are probably to large to be seen on your mobile.

Sleep well ,
Michael

PS: I rarely had such an entertaining ride on the motorway, through the rain and the traffic jam as today with you. And I”m very happy if I can make you laugh.

Night Mail

Hi Ghazal my dear,
Thanks for the messsage, it really enlightened this dark and grey evening for me. To be honest, if I read your words, no matter what they say, it seems I can hear your voice, and this is more than the pure exchange of information.
Also, when you write that music by Sade suits your taste best, I”m really happy knowing one thing more that you like (in addition to IKEAs Pizza and Hot Chocolate). But in general, I find it really difficult to guess what you dream of. I hope not of a royal marriage the kind we will soon see in Stockholm between a princess and a fitness-coach. You probably don”t have to worrie a lot about dreams, because you live in a quite safe situation, with parents caring for you, a boy-friend who loves you and your whole life being still open. Therefore, there is in fact no need to torture yourself with dreams, most of which will either never come true or take to long to become real, and you better think about what makes you happy today.
About the music: your guess who is the older and who the young of the two singers was not right, sorry. Sade had her big times in the 80s, her first record “Diamond Life” was released 1984, about the same time when Michael Jackson started his carrier. And this album was also sold in license in east-germany, and I was very lucky to get one and heard it day and night in my students appartment. The songs I put on the CD, however, are from her recent 2010 album “Soldier of Love”. If one compares songs from these two records, which are separated by about 25 years, they both sound very similar and still very appealing.

It is already late again, and I will stop now.

Have a good night, see you tomorrow

Michael

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