Life is like a plane taking off down a runway. As you get older, there's more runway behind you than in front of you. It's inescapable. You see it when celebrities you admire, who are your own age, die. Like David Bowie or Johan Cruyff.
When you see a picture of Harald Schmidt and he looks old, but happy -- and when you're writing about it you pause because you can't remember the name of his funny partner. There's not so much time left. That's so true. What's also true is the great song that The Supremes sang in the sixties. You can't hurry love. It's a game of give and take, somehow between the two forces, life happens. And then you take off for the skies.
Greece is becoming a “human skip” into which the EU is happy to dump countless refugees. It is like a giant Gaza Strip, teeming with people who want to move, but are not allowed to. And what is the cause of Greece’s problems? German policy over which the Greeks and the rest of the EU have no influence. Germany wants the rest of the EU to take it's “fair share” of what many EU countries see as Germany’s migrants. Germany invited them in, so many European countries are saying: “You deal with them, they’re your problem.” This division is particularly stark between the central European, former communist countries and Germany. Immigrants, by definition, compete with the poorest local people in the job market, in the housing market and for access to health and schools. This is a fact. Economists tend to miss the central point. While the economy might get workers, society gets people. But for the relatively wealthy, immigration is a boon. There are more taxi drivers, more cleaners, more shop assistants, more nannies; in short, the service economy, the one that services the relative wealthy, booms. The relatively wealthy don’t have to worry about immigrants pushing up rents because the immigrants can’t afford to live in posh areas, so they compete for housing not with the relatively wealthy, but with the relatively poor. Immigration is a class issue, and the richer you are, the greater the luxury you have to pontificate about immigration because either you are not affected; or if you are, you are affected positively. It is completely unclear how the experiment will end that the German chancellor has forced upon the European Continent.
I thought I was retired. I thought retired people were bored. I recall being bored for half an hour once, in (I think) 1967. Whatever the opposite of bored is, I am. Bootstrap isn't going to help with that.
Here I am in the Augenklinik in Tuttlungen 20 minutes after my successfull eye operation last Tuesday. Thanks to the team that took such great care of me, especially to Dr. Mathey for his steady hands and June for the ambulance service. It's nice to have it over and done with.
The official term for what took place is "pars plana vitrectomy with membrane peeling". Sometimes, as a result of immune system response to protect the retina, cells converge in the macular area as the vitreous ages and pulls away in posterior vitreous detachment (PVD). Usually it occurs in one eye first, and may cause double vision if the image from one eye is too different from the image of the other eye. The distortions can make objects look different in size (usually larger = macropsia), especially in the central portion of the visual field, creating a localized or field dependent aniseikonia that cannot be fully corrected optically with glasses. Partial correction often improves the binocular vision considerably though. In the young (under 50 years of age), these cells occasionally pull free and disintegrate on their own; but in the majority of sufferers (over 60 years of age) the condition is permanent. The underlying photoreceptor cells, rod cells and cone cells, are usually not damaged unless the membrane becomes quite thick and hard; so usually there is no macular degeneration. Surgeons can remove or peel the membrane through the sclera and improve vision by 2 or more Snellen lines. Usually the vitreous is replaced at the same time with clear (BSS) fluid, in a vitrectomy. There is no good evidence for any preventive actions, since it appears this is a natural response to aging changes in the vitreous
So make sure you have your eyes tested before you're 60 so that you can still climb trees with your grandchildren, right Joyce?
David Frost makes the introduction, Paul looks soulfully into the camera. You think, what a ham. Then he opens his mouth and out comes Hey Jude. A beautiful memory, for this old child of the sixties at least.
Starting to work on a new Website for Gerhard Messner raises the old question of how much influence the customer should have on the design. There are few illustrators who have a more recognizable look (and a longer productive career) than Milton Glaser. Here's the thing: When he started out, he wasn't THE Milton Glaser. He was some guy hoping for work. The best design rule, then, is that you can't give the client what he thinks he wants.
You have to give the client work that you want your name on. Work that reflects your vision, your contribution and your hand.That makes it really difficult at first. Almost impossible sometimes. But if I ignore this rule because the pressure is on, it will never get easier. So, Bootstrap it is!
