I have this nasty (but quite common) tendency to tense up under stress in my neck and shoulders, and it can get really bad sometimes. And recently, somehow tension has built up again, sort of without me really noticing - so yesterday was high time for a therapeutic hot bath, some hot packs and before that quite a bit of stretching and relaxing exercises.

Even though working at the computer is not the best thing to do with tense muscles, it can sort of help relax with some really brilliant do-as-you-watch videos on youtube. So just in case you have the same tensioning tendencies, here is one exercise vid that I really liked yesterday.

Prague was wonderful - it is a delightful city, and it was absolutely bustling. There were interesting-looking christmas markets too, but I had no time for them (unfortunately), since I spent almost all the time not needed to get back to the station with visiting my colleague. I didn't even manage to eat one of the typical sausages-in-a-bun that they sell there. Now I will need to go back there some day not too far in the future, to remedy that. What a pity.

Prague is not so large that you can't walk most of its interesting bits - it takes about one hour from the inner city to the main station - and it is full of tall, imposing houses with lots and lots of Art Deco. The food is ridiculously cheap from a German point of view, and public transport is extremely affordable as well. There's a wealth of museums (including a Mucha museum), cafes, shops, and so on, and I'm sure it would be easy to spend a week or so just doing the typical city-visit sightseeing stuff.

It was the first time for me to travel by express bus (which leaves from Nuremberg and goes directly to Prague, non-stop) and I was quite taken - it is a comfy way to travel, especially if the seat next to yours is free, and it is also nearly ridiculously cheap if you manage to get one of the super-saver-book-in-advance tickets. I can definitely recommend both - the bus and the city!

Last week, a friend sent me a link to a blog that I had never heard of before - with an article about why Indiana Jones is not getting tenured. Which he discovers when he comes back from yet another globetrotting adventure and checks his mail.

I can recommend reading it if you like weird archaeologists, Indiana Jones, non-weird archaeologists (do they even exist) or are involved in academia and tenure stuff. Or if you are feeling bored. Or if you are sure that you like the kind of humor I like. Or... oh, go and think of your own reasons. Or not.

And that is guarantee for an exciting spectacle of frost rims on spiderwebs. Like on this bit of spire sage...


... which is all of the blog post you will be getting for now, since I am fresh out of inspiration and need some more coffee before I tackle today's stack of things to do...

Yesterday was a deliciously work-free day, since I went to my parents' house to help celebrate my Gran's 90th birthday. So instead of shuttling back and forth the bits and bytes on my computer, I was shuttling cakes and coffee and having way too many bites of my own.

Milestone birthdays (we in Germany call full decade birthdays "runder Geburtstag", literally "round birthday) are always something else - but now I can tell you: once you turn 90, you can really get a party on! More people stopped by or came for the birthday than I can remember for the last ones, and my Gran thoroughly enjoyed herself. And I did, too - plus I can now have lovely leftovers for breakfast...

I own a camera - a pretty good one, as I feel - and I like to use it. Which is good, since my line of work is made easier by being able to take photographs of stuff (including small stuff in bad lighting behind glass, also known as museum exhibits).

This, however, always means "no flash". Self-evident, right? Which in turn means that although my camera has a flash, I am never using it, and I don't own a real large flash (yet). Plus I only have a very rough idea on what to do with a flash. This is no problem for my work photography - but can be awkward for the other kind of pictures I like to take: portraits.

And yesterday, I stumbled across a photographer's blog who does have an idea of how to use a flash for good, soft, nice lighting to shoot portraits. And just in case you are interested in that, here's the link to the Tangents blog pages about flash lighting.

All the leaves are turning red and yellow outside, we have greyish foggy weather, and the small birds are already checking out possible nesting places for next spring - it's clearly autumn.

Now is the time of beautiful golden light and roasted chestnuts and hot chocolate and tea with spices in it.

And the best time to make autumny photographs - this picture was taken in Bamberg during the long weekend.