A Clear Blue Sky - Latest Comments

Re: What would Baudolino do with social media

Arjan Tupan — Sat, 20 Sep 2014 10:02:56 -0000

Thanks for your comment, Ana. Did you mean the post? That's great feedback. Apparently I need to work on my first lines.
Glad you liked it though, and thanks for re-reading.

Re: What would Baudolino do with social media

Ana Isabel Canhoto — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 12:46:02 -0000

Ah! Great post. When I first read it, I thought - it would be too difficult. Not worth it. But, re-reading it, I changed my mind: you can buy followers and likes, you can edit wikipedia... The technology serving the human needs, which reminded me of the book "Writing on the Wall: Social Media - The First 2,000 Years". A great read.

Re: Challenge the status quo: we need a new image of success and dads

Arjan Tupan — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 01:25:31 -0000

Hi Ana, yes, indeed, I felt increasingly uncomfortable during the talk. But that is not because of the lack of choice. It was not about that. I really despise the lack of equality of choice. And headlines such as you refer to have been printed in the UK recently. But the talk was more about women wanting men to give them the opportunities men had, without changing or addressing the real issues. It's like putting a band aid on a wound when your kids falls off his bike, and has broken his arm. It's a good way to stop the bleeding, but you don't fix the broken bone. I would like both moms and dads to have the same opportunities when they become parent, to be part of their child's life, and have a nice career. But to do so, we need to step away from the image that being good at your work means being present for many hours. It's an outdated metric. We also have to stop perpetuating the image of a dad who doesn't do any housework. Really, dads doing more dishes is only perpetuating the problem. It's exactly attitudes like this, that when dads do more of the housework and child caring, they are frowned upon. A phrase like that basically says: there's nothing wrong with our stereotypes of what families should look like, the man just has to do a bit more of the housework to alleviate a bit of the pressure on the mom. I'm very sorry, but that's nonsense. That pressure should be equally carried by both of them from the start. Just as career opportunities should be shared equal. And for that to happen, it means that we must look at real output and productivity, not hours spent in the office, to assess whether someone is good enough in a job to deserve promotions. The issue is really bigger than those dishes.

Thank you for reading and replying, Ana!

Re: Challenge the status quo: we need a new image of success and dads

Ana Isabel Canhoto — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 18:40:58 -0000

We had a very recent example of this double standard, this week, in the UK. A leading newspaper, here, reported the appointment of a new chair to the BBC Trust with the headline "Mother of three poised to lead the BBC". This sort of headline would be completely unthinkable had a man been appointed.
http://www.newstatesman.com...

Re: Challenge the status quo: we need a new image of success and dads

Ana Isabel Canhoto — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 18:34:03 -0000

My! This talk must have really annoyed you.

I did not hear the talk but I wonder if the issue at stake was the lack of choice. I.e., that the problem is not so much whether the woman wins or looses by staying with the kids but that, in many (most?) societies, it is assumed that the woman will give up her career ambitions (and, by the same token, that the man will give up parenting).

Whether we like it or not, there are still double standards in society when it comes to balancing careers and parenthood. When a woman changes a work commitment because of childcare problems (e.g., school is closed or child is ill), this is usually met with some annoyance (e.g., is this person committed to her job and/or able to do her job properly?). But if it is man, the news is more likely to be met with some sympathy or even a bit of admiration (e.g., he must be a very caring father). Now, these reactions may be very subtle, never voiced and maybe not even acknowledged by the person in question - but they are there and reveal a lack of choice.

Like you, I feel privileged to spend time with my children, go to their school performances and cuddle them when they are ill. But I also value my career, and I would be upset if I had had to give it up after I had children. In this day and age, and in a modern country like the UK, I still know first hand about women being passed up for promotions or even getting a job because their line managers worry about their eventual commitment or their availability to the job vs. parenting. And that, I think, is a loss for everybody.

Re: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo – a book review in 5 tweets

Arjan Tupan — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 15:19:12 -0000

Wonderful. I read it because it was treated in a MOOC on historical fiction, and there was a filmed Q&A session with the author. I loved how she talked about her book and the writing process, so I gave it a try. It opened up a world for me, with some faint familiarities, as my father is from the region. Even though we did not get an Asian upbringing, it felt close to home.

Re: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo – a book review in 5 tweets

Lil — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 15:02:38 -0000

I read this last year and absolutely love it. It reflects so much of the old customs and believes of my family, and the images evoked of nostalgic Malaysia makes it even more vivid to me.

Re: Want to change the world? Here’s how to start

green sky — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 06:52:00 -0000

this simple post is a good example of everything you explain ! ang gives wing to reader :)

Re: This is where my parents went 39 years ago

Frances Huijsing — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 12:15:30 -0000

Hello

I was born in this clinic in 1969 - kraamkliniek de volharding, Nieuwe Duinweg 24 Den Haag. Unfortunatelly there is almost nothing for me to find on the internet about the history of this clinic, nor pictures etc. But I put a link for you here, that you might find interesting or amusing to see. It is a partially directed film, but you can get a good impression how it was back than. Here is the link: http://www.haagsefilmbank.n... , I hope you will enjoy it!

Best regards, Frances

Re: Don’t let your new blog topic run into a dead end: spin it off

Arjan Tupan — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 01:57:02 -0000

It's a bit of a Catch 22. I remember we discussed something similar on your blog a while back. I fully agree with the 'personality of a blog' and the risk of dwindling blogs. I guess the main driver to spin off for me is that threshold of 15% (or 10, 20, whatever). In this case, I had so many ideas for posts, that I foresee at least a few months of active blogging, and crossing that threshold quite quickly.
Great point, too, about the abandoned blogs. Good reminder for me to go through some things I've started and see if they're still appropriate to keep, or if I should permanently archive them somewhere.

Re: Don’t let your new blog topic run into a dead end: spin it off

Ana Isabel Canhoto — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 18:04:54 -0000

I think that you are right that we should keep things separately. It is the fairest and least confusing option for readers. But... it is also very time consuming for the blogger and I, for one, worry that if I keep 2, 3 or more blogs, I will end up spreading myself too thin and not be very good at any of them. And tastes evolve - something that may consume all my attention now, will not be so interesting a few months down the line and the new blog will dwindle. Plus, I also like to see a bit of the personal coming through in the blogs that I read (the person's interests or main life events).

So, for all these reasons, I think that it is OK that posts in your main blog deviate here and there to accommodate other themes and interests. But if the 'extra' posts represent, say, more than 15% of your content, then you should consider writing about that interest in a dedicated space. However, before starting a new stand-alone blog you may want to consider writing guest posts for an existing blog that discusses that topic, already. You get the pleasure of writing about that topic, and the reader gets more value (I think) and a better reading experience. Plus, there are way too many 'abandoned' blogs, already.

Re: Where can I find an Omni-Sack?

Arjan Tupan — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 04:05:56 -0000

Great advice, thanks, Ana! The changing mat you advice also looks very interesting. Mom-to-be also found the one from Skip-Hop ( www.skiphop.com/ ). It seems like these are great options, because you can also use them by themselves.

Re: Where can I find an Omni-Sack?

Ana Isabel Canhoto — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 17:27:46 -0000

I know you will not believe this, and you will still want to go ahead a buy a big bag for the baby stuff but they are just too big and impractical. And it isn't just the feminine design. Very, very soon, you will be dying to use something that is more compact, looks more adult-like and is more versatile than those bags targeted at new parents.

For changing mats, this kind was my absolute favourite: http://www.kiddicare.com/we...

For the milk: there are some small coolers that you can take with you. But, really, if you plan to breastfeed, doing it 'directly' is the best way. And if you go for formula, you just keep the water and the powder separately, mixing only when you are going to feed the baby - that's the safest and the most practical option.

Just go for a large-ish backpack that sits very comfortably on your shoulders... and that is super easy to clean because babies are messy!!!

Re: Cooking for Mom-to-be: a nutrient bomb with trout

Arjan Tupan — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 15:11:04 -0000

Ah, good one. Thanks for the tip. We have 3 of those I think. I'm just not too comfortable in using them, somehow. I guess I should practice a bit in the next weeks :).

Re: Cooking for Mom-to-be: a nutrient bomb with trout

Jacqueline — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 14:24:07 -0000

Looks delicious, also from a non-pregnant point of view ;-). Small comment on the food processor, do you already own a 'staafmixer'? That is probably the most handy tool to make baby fruit dishes and small dinner plates the first year. You will use it several times a day and it is very practical and easy to clean when you compare it to a serious big food processor ;-).

Re: Heralding spring, and more…

Frank — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 12:21:41 -0000

VAN HARTE (do you hear my poetically screaming!?) for the three of you obviously...;)

Re: Park your car in Düsseldorf, pay with your mobile. Or not.

Ana Isabel Canhoto — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 08:54:06 -0000

Ah - I had forgotten about Germany's data protection laws and practice. So, there is no driver there to incentivise the use of the SMS payment system...

Re: Park your car in Düsseldorf, pay with your mobile. Or not.

Arjan Tupan — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 01:13:38 -0000

Hi Ana, thanks for your comment. The added data is indeed a huge benefit. You could do so much with that. Then again, this is Germany, so there are a lot of privacy-related boundaries of what you can do with that data, but still. About the switching on and off: in my experience as a heavy user of the Dutch system: this is ideal. There are some safeguards in that system, to prevent you from paying forever if you forget, for instance that it automatically shuts off at the end of the day. But it's something you get used to quickly. As for a dead battery: I always have a charger in my car :).

Re: Park your car in Düsseldorf, pay with your mobile. Or not.

Ana Isabel Canhoto — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 17:35:40 -0000

The service charge does seem excessive, specially as there are so many benefits of not having those coins sitting around on the machines. Another one is the intelligence you can get - by having your registration, etc they can quickly see whether they have repeat customers, how often, when, from where...

Your idea of switching the app on & off would give you more flexibility and, presumably, be more fair re: time used. But could have downsides, too: for instance, what if you forgot to 'switch off', or you ran out of battery in the meantime? Also, you probably pay less this way: don't you find yourself finishing things quickly and running back to your car because the parking permit is about to expire?

Re: Size matters for Deutsche Post

Ana Isabel Canhoto — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:09:45 -0000

Yes, probably there was a very good reason a long time ago...

Re: Size matters for Deutsche Post

Arjan Tupan — Fri, 24 May 2013 00:23:21 -0000

Yes, I thought about something like that being the reason, but then I saw that the postage for the larger envelop was the same up to 500 grams (and then it's actually a reasonable price, the same I paid for sending my poetry book to you, for example). And, on the website of Deutsche Post, the prices are indicated for all sorts of standard dimensions of envelops. I thought that sorting machines should be able to handle all these standard dimensions (A5, B4, C6 etcetera), shouldn't they??

I checked postage in three other countries (The Netherlands, France and UK), and there it was all about weight and one maximum dimension. There might be something cultural in it. It makes me very curious.

Thanks for your comment, Ana!

Re: Size matters for Deutsche Post

Ana Isabel Canhoto — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:48:50 -0000

I wonder if it has anything to do with the cost of sorting. Maybe some sizes may be automatically sorted and the address read by a machine, whereas others require manual sorting?!

Re: Brown, grey, yellow and blue: the story of the four müll tonnen

Arjan Tupan — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:21:58 -0000

Thanks for that, Ju_les. I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling. I think I saw a sticker on one of the yellow containers the other day which made sense: anything with a green point indication goes in this one. With the green point being that recycle-logo you can find on packaging (see http://www.gruener-punkt.de/). I found that helpful.

Re: Brown, grey, yellow and blue: the story of the four müll tonnen

ju_les — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:53:26 -0000

Haha, yeah, German recycling is really a science for itself. Myself being German, I still have to stop and think which goes where. ;) Especially the yellow bin is not that easy.

Re: Learning languages with @Duolingo – a review

Arjan Tupan — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 06:06:03 -0000

Interesting. I'm not over confident that my last sentence is 100% correct, but fairly sure. It probably is 'Grüße', but about the 'freundlichen' could be some debate. I see too many different version. But your last options seems to be (also?) correct.