Australia

It all started as a crazy idea in the beginning of 2008 - one Mathias actually came up with - and now it is becoming reality: Next month Mathias and I are off to Australia. I can´t tell you how excited I am!

The last two years I have spent getting Australian residency and work permit: After all I want to work there as a freelance software developer, just like I do here. And the end of this trip: open. We might never come back from Australia. That´s the plan.

It is one of those things too crazy to be true, and that´s why it is totally in line with my life. God has led me onto big adventures before:

• Went to the US alone at age 16; stayed there for six years
• Had a kid at a young age, while I was still at university
• Became my own boss right out of university, and was successful with it
• Drove to Africa and through the Sahara with a beat-up old Volkswagen
• ...

It comes as no surprise - at least to me - that I am off on a new adventure. And this time Mathias is joining me: Father-son power. We both have never been to Australia, but I decided to save the money spent on a vacation: Everybody says it is a lovely country. Sounds like enough info to me.

But I have moved to countries that I hadn´t even visited before. It works. Nothing new there. So to make this a real adventure we will not fly over there: We will drive. Six months. Fifteen countries. Through Iran and Pakistan. With an 20-year old Volkswagen campervan. Does this sound like adventure?

I think Mark Twain would be proud of us. He supposedly said

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

I am a bit worried that I am going too far, though. After all I am taking my favorite son Mathias with me, and sure don´t want anything bad happen to him. But it just sounds too good to miss out on this. Sure will give a nice story to tell, So stay tuned ...

Stages of a photographer <- clicken Sie here ...

I found this beautiful diagram of a photographer´s life on Robert Benson´s Blog. It is very funny but also very true.

That "dammit I suck" dip is awesome. I first got aware of this magical moment in the development of any skill - photography or otherwise - when I read "Pragmatic Thinking and Learning", a book aimed at professional software developers. One chapter is about the the five stages in the journey from novice to expert, and how to recognize which stage you are in. The model described there is also universal, not just for professional software developers. Interesting enough it mirrors the graph shown above.

One clear sign that you are in stage 2 - advanced beginner - is that you think you are an expert in your field. Once you figure out "dammit I suck": Congratulations!  You are not an advanced beginner anymore. Beware, though:  The journey to expert is still long.

The book states that most people never leave the advanced beginner stage in their profession, or any other skill for that matter. Makes sense: To them the journey is over because they already are experts! I just love that insight. Been there ...

Beware: Just saying "I suck" just to feel you are in the next stage does not count. It has to be a revelation!

My 40th birthday BBQ

This weekend I had a BBQ party for my 40th birthday. Excellent party! I am very happy for all the nice people who came a celebrated with me: I had a great time.

Thanks for everyone for coming, and thanks for your contributions for our trip: They went straight to our savings account for Australia!!

5. Aachener Kickercup

You are invited!

Where Cursors Come From <- clicken Sie here ...

Aaaaww, how cute!! Check out the guy who came up with that: Nathan W. Pyle

Trouble with the blog

Because Blogger does not allow publishing blog on your own server anymore, I had to move this blog to another server. This leads to temporary trouble with the images. This should be solved soon. Hang in there!

The right decision

I think it was the right decision to remove George Bush from power...

Barcelona Marathon

This year will be my 40th birthday. I´d like to think that I have never been fitter than this year. That´s why I decided to run two marathons this year, the first one being Barcelona on March 7.
Did it! My time was 4:42:58, which is an improvement over the Paris marathon last year, albeit not that much. My preparations were off, because the marathon was so early in the year. Go figure.
Now I gotta motivate myself for a second marathon ... to tell you the truth I am not that excited. We´ll see ...

Playing with the Camera

The pic is out of focus, but besides that I like it.

Rock Star

I had a wonderful foto session with DAS MATHIASTM. He is such a great artist.

Golf

Golf afficionado Mathias getting ready for the driving range.

Fashionistas

Last weekend Mathias and I went on a Fashion spree to the hip Cologne. Because we didn´t want to spend any money we just ended up trying all kinds of cool clothes (hence the price tags in the pics ;-)

My new baby

Sexy bitch, huh?

4th Aachen Foosball Championship <- clicken Sie here ...

Did it again, and had great fun! This time the Moonwalkers - Simon and Alex - won the cup, and even performed a moon walk in honour of the late Michaael Jackson, who had inspired the two to play foosball together in the first place. Click on the champions to have a look at the pics ...

Thanks for pointing this out <- clicken Sie here ...

Priceless

One black/white picture poster	EU 20,00
Nine liters of wallpaper paste	EU 4,99
One stolen ladder	EU 0,00
Two hot banditos in a bathtub	Priceless!!

Bad Town Boys done it again

Revelation <- clicken Sie here ...

My good photographer friend Frank created a very inspiring series of pictures with the title EPIPHANY. Mathias and I were awestruck by the idea and decided to create our own hommage to the series called REVELATION. Kudos to Frank, you are the best!!

P.S.: Anyone interested in collaborating in REVELATION please contact me.

Bad Town Boys

Dried Lemons

Flickr stuff from Cookie Rebel

Color Flash

US vs Canada

[Via ~teehee~]

Floating through the hands of God - Schweben in Aachen

Cultural enlightenment in Paris

While in Paris Mathias and I soaked up some culture in the Louvre.

Paris Marathon

Three years ago I ran my first 10 km race, two years ago my first half-marathon, and now I finished my first marathon!! I ran with Carrie and Iain from Florida, and we crossed the finishline together at 4:56.

I have heard that we now belong to the select group of 2% of the world´s population who has ever finished a marathon. Great, but I have the feeling that the other 98% of the population think it is stupid to run that far in the first place.

3. Aachener Kickerturnier - Yes we can! <- clicken Sie here ...

The 3rd round of the Aachen Foosball championship - drawn out in Mathias room - was a great success: 14 highly motivated and well-trained teams from Germany and Great Britain competed to win the Aachen Kickercup. It was loads of fun and some hot competition, and in the end team Dadson - Mathias and I - just said to each other "yes we can", and won the tournament for the first time.

Have a look at the pictures!

Malta

This weekend I was able to take a short trip to the island of Malta, located in the Mediterranean sea just between Sicily and Tunesia. Very nice, especially the current capital Valetta, and the old captial Mdina. Many beautiful buildings and lots of history. The public transportation busses are also quite a looker. Perfect for a short vacation. The whole reason I came is to run the Malta half-marathon. This is one of the few running events in Europe where you don´t freeze your ass off this time of year. It took me 2:04.39 to run the 21.1 km right across the island. Good enough for me :-)

My first Leica

Buying this Leica camera was all emotions, no prudence at all: The camera is much more expensive than comparable models, but Leica is style, Leica is sexy, and Leica makes arguably some of the best cameras in the world.

Now I am the proud owner of a Leica D-Lux 4. My first Leica! I just had to have her, even at the enormous price, but let me tell you: She is all worth it. You can take a picture of the sidewalk, and that goddam boring sidewalk will look mysterious, warm, and gorgeous all at the same time with this camera.

Here are some of the pictures I have taken with my D-Lux in the last few days:

BTW: I didn´t post-process any of these pics: no cropping, no color enhancement, nothing.

Finally...

I can introduce Vika to the world: She´s our new nanny. She helps me take care of my crazy son, and helps Mathias take care of his crazy father. She is from Latvia and - as the picture proves - is a great addition to the Fasel clan. The picture was taken while we were in Paris, some guy had his bachelor part dressed as a Penis. Tres bon!

Thank you Santa Claus!

It´s a miracle: Santa Claus heard the tears I cried each night because I didn´t have the iPhone yet, and now he has made my dream come true early: I am iPhoned! Merry Christmas!!

2. Aachener Kickercup <- clicken Sie here ...

Last weekend was the 2nd round of Fasel´s litte foosball tournament: The Aachen Kickercup. We had a blast, and this time team "die Pokalholer" - my brother Olli and his friend Bernd - were able to take the cup home. I uploaded the pics, so have a look Cheers

I´m alive!!

This is just a shout out to the people who read my blog from time to time: YEEHAAW! The reason I have not been posting was trouble with my provider. I now moved the page to a different provider, so expect more from me to come flying at you!

There are still some open issues regarding the move of the website, like currently I cannot post any pictures. Stay tuned to this channel, because I´ll be coming at you full force soon...

Cheerio

Marc

Mathias got a brand new bike

Appalling!

Knittler

I am all for picking up political issues through handcrafting, but a book with knitting designs of world famous dictators? I think that´s going too far. Are you going to knit cuddly dolls of Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, or Pol Pot, and place them on your couch for decoration? Or have your children play with them? Things that make you go hmmmm.

Interesting enough the book does not contain a design for George Bush jun. I think that´s fascist ...