My Weblog

has finally gotten a real index! I thougt it was time to get rid of the list of story links on the left (which grew longer and longer) and put them on their own page. While I was at it, I tried to categorize my stories and sorted them by language: Take a look at the index!

And while I was busy with this stuff, I also made a few changes to my style sheet. Let me know if you’ve got problems with my font size.

Endlich habe ich es mal geschafft, einen Index für meine Site zu erstellen. Langsam habe ich nämlich selbst den Überblick verloren, was für Berichte, Fotos etc. sich angesammelt haben, also habe ich mal gründlich aufgeräumt. die Liste mit den Story-Links, die bisher links unter den ‘Local Links’ zu finden war, hat jetzt eine eigene Seite bekommen, und bei der Gelegenheit habe ich sie gleich in Kategorien einsortiert und nach Sprachen getrennt: Hier ist der Index!

Und wo ich schon am Basteln war, habe ich auch noch ein paar Änderungen an meinem Stylesheet vorgenommen. Laßt es mich wissen, wenn ihr z.B. Probleme mit der Schriftgröße habt.

Halloween

Yes, I know, Halloween was yesterday. But I just got an interesting comment from David Singer (owner of Defenestration Corner):

“It sure looked as though the marketeers in Germany are interested in pushing Halloween; I did see a couple of Halloween-themed street ads in Stuttgart (mostly from candy companies, if I recall correctly). As a comparision, I didn’t see any Halloween advertising on October trips to England five years ago; now, there’s quite a lot […], and there was a significant push for trick-or-treat candy in the supermarkets I visited.”

Yes, I think you’re right about Germany, David. My impression is that marketeers in Germany will copy almost anything from the US. I heard that Mother’s Day was invented by US florists – we have had that for quite a long while now. I think Valentine’s Day was next, which is not as commercial yet as it is in the US. And now it’s Halloween.

I wonder what will be next. Thanksgiving? It’s still unheard of in Germany, I think. Or am I wrong? Scott, have you heard of any Germans celebrating Thanksgiving?

André just told me what Thanksgiving is all about. (I thought it was basically the same as the German Erntedankfest, the harvest festival.) So okay, it is an American thing. The question is, do the German marketeers know, and do they care about the reason? I mean, wouldn’t they try to market it in Germany if it makes money?

Good old Europe

Mira has more thoughs about changes in Europe.

Expo 2000

Yesterday was the last day of the World Exposition in Hanover, Germany. Since June 1, about 18 million people visited the Expo, less than half of the 40 million expected visitors. I wonder how and why they expected 40 million to come, but I know the Expo would have been much too crowded if there really had been that many visitors. When André and I went to the Expo for the first time, in June, it was much less crowded than on my second visit in September.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ.com): Praise for Expo As Gates Close For Last Time.

Yet another interesting article about weblogs

Guardian Unlimited: It’s as easy as falling off a weblog, by Chris Alden.

“The Guardian’s own blogger Chris Alden recommends his surefire method for introducing a novice to the net. […]

I believe there is one unmarketed, relatively unknown type of site that, executed right, will help to introduce the newcomer to the internet and keep them coming back. It is called a weblog.”

Link via Schockwellenreiter – who posted the link almost a month ago. Whoops!

November

So it’s November. It’s getting dark at 5 p.m., it’s raining, and it’s still pretty windy here in Bonn.

I don’t like fall. Not really. I guess I should think about moving to California or the Caribbean or something…

Oh yeah, I didn’t mention Halloween at all yesterday. That’s because we don’t have any trick-or-treaters here – or so I thought. Scott says there were quite a few over where he (or his wife’s brother) lives. Maybe it will become more common over the next years.

So I hope you all had a scary day yesterday!