Bad Day

Friedrich Jo

In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide.
Today you saw a dead cat by the roadside.
Has anybody ever wondered why suicide notes never rhyme?

Stupidity

Friedrich Jo

Stupidity, n.

Pronunciation: /stjuːˈpɪdɪtɪ/
Etymology: < Latin stupiditās, n. < Latin stupidus, adj.

A noun commonly believed to denote the rather abstract concept of a stark lack of intelligence, learning and quick-wittedness. However, researchers’ focus has begun to shift increasingly towards older writings which describe stupidity not as a mere concept, but a very real and substantial creature of the dragon family.

Some Student’s Winter Break 2013 II – The Day of the Fire

Friedrich Jo

Now that you know who I am – namely a person who harbours an obvious talent for failing rather verbosely at any attempt of describing the complexities of the human self – it seems more than appropriate for me to tell you some more about the things a student of English might actually be up to during their winter break 2013. Here it now seems inevitable to inform you of how little is usually going on around where I come from. It is dark, dry, cold and dusty on that part of the moon which only once each year gets very briefly touched by the warming rays of our star sol. Darkness, cold, and dusty aridity constitute a rather solid base for the absence of pretty much anything that could be called eventful or exciting.

Some Student’s Winter Break 2013 – Getting to Know Each Other

Friedrich Jo

As the Zurich English Student has a tendency to get rather deserted during break times, I thought that there should perhaps be some more or less regular feature for those who still follow our blog and maybe also to show you that ES students don’t just go into hibernation mode over the break. So, here it is, gloriously arising, a landmark amongst dust and tumbleweed, some sort of student holiday column. However, be warned that this will be a more than semi-fictional account of some student’s term break (mis)adventures. Thus, the events, places and living entities mentioned in this column are very likely to never have existed in exactly the way you will find them depicted in this column. So, don’t worry and make sure you take more of it as a borderline insane mind’s fiction or some great and almost painfully unfunny joke than you’d have originally felt inclined to. With these words of warning I will leave you to the strange account of some student’s winter break 2013.

Generic Music Column without Catchy Title – 13.12.2012: Christmas Music

Friedrich Jo

I am not a big fan of Christmas music. Comparing my attitude towards Christmas music to the one I display towards things I could be called an actual fan of, it becomes obvious rather quickly how little of a Christmas music fan I really am. Christmas music does not evoke in me the sensation of being very suddenly submerged in warm water. It does not flood me with illogically strong feelings. It most certainly does not make me want to lie down in a field on top of a hill and stare into the sky,

Of Nerds and Birds

Friedich Jo

So, there is a thing that really annoys me about today’s society. It is the fact that a lot of newspaper articles and blog entries seem to begin with more or less exactly those words. No, despite this being rather noticeable and my post being just one of many, I actually wanted to write about something completely different and I will do that in, what I believe could be referred to as, a simpsonesque fashion.

Generic Music Column without Catchy Title – 09.11.2012: Musical Storytelling (II)

The Shins, Port of Morrow

Friedrich Jo

Great music tells stories and great stories are being told by music. This is where we left off last time, right? I know that you will not agree with me, because there has been no last time. There is no Musical Storytelling (I). Well, actually there is, but while reading through it again last night, I could not resist but rearrange things a little bit and jump right in.

Dana’s Freedom

Friedrich Jo

She sits up with a start and looks around the twilit flat. There it is, right in the corner of the room. In the early hours of a beautiful November’s day, she can see its hideously distorted body pressed up against the wall. The Demon. Lurking in the corner of the dark, damp room and Dana cannot escape. She opens a window. All she had wanted was to be free.

Generic Music Column without Catchy Title – 24.10.2012: Deaf or Blind?

Friedrich Jo

“What would you prefer, being deaf or being blind?” – I do not get what seems to be the appeal of that question, but there has to be something that draws people to it and has them come up with it over and over again in often weirdly random situations. The first time I remember having been asked the question was on a fairly hot summer’s day when I was maybe eight years old and we were playing a made up game of cowboys, magic and Indians in which I had the ability to heal people, despite my character himself being blind, deaf and dumb. At some point my playmate turned to me rather abruptly and asked: “Would you rather be blind or rather be deaf?” I looked at her in utter bewilderment, as I already was blind, deaf and dumb and thought that her question did not make any sense at all. “Come on! Would you rather be blind or rather be deaf?” She repeated, this time in Swiss German, which, I realised, was not our play-language. That was when I finally understood that we had left fantasy-land behind and things had got unexpectedly serious.

In the Mind of the Insomniac

Friedrich Jo

I cannot sleep. This is a thing that happens from time to time; more often at some times than others. There is usually no particular need for any in-depth discussions of the reasons behind this sudden accumulation of waking hours. We don’t talk about these things, right? It just happens and it is often fairly easy to tell when it is going to become more noticeable again. This is one of the things people might think about when not being able to sleep. At least I know that I do. Yet, I try not to. There are more entertaining things to do at night other than staring at the ceiling and musing about your inability to sleep. Also, it gets fairly warm – uncomfortably warm – when you lie awake in bed. The same thing probably happens when you are asleep. You just don’t notice it, because you are, well, asleep.