The rockpartment

See what I did there? Because it rocks. Yeaaaaah. Keep up.

First, about why I'm being a blog-snob rather than putting all this shit on facebook like a normal person.

Reason 1. I pretty much hate facebook. It is evil and sucks your soul when you least expect it.

Reason 2. I tend to go on at length when typing. If I do that on facebook, you can just click through the photos and totally ignore my witty commentary. On a blog, you at least have to scroll past the commentary to get to the photos. I mean sure, you could just not look at all, but one day there might be a picture of a naked gorgeous european girl. Willing to risk it? (Note: Girls reading this, if you like, please feel free to substitute a mental image of some really awesome shoes in place of the last, though I think if we're honest we can admit that everyone can appreciate a naked gorgeous european girl)

Reason 3. I've been thinking about photos, and what makes a photo more than a snapshot. Like, what do those smug bastard photo-journalists have that I don't that makes their photos captivating/compelling/where'smycreditcardI'mgivingsomemoneytotheredcross-ing/I'mgoingtocrybutit'sokforthesamereasonthatit'sokwhenaheroicdogdiestryingtosaveit'smaster-ing.
The first thing is (generally) war zones. Well I'm in Switzerland, so pretty much screwed there. The second is prodigious skill and natural talent. I'm out there as well, but maybe if I gave a damn about photos (i.e. stopped thinking of them as snapshots) it'd improve. The third (and this is where the blog comes in, so pay attention) is context. What used to be a home lying flattened and filled with silt - that's interesting and sort of compelling. But add even a brief story about how it's the flattened home of 3 children who are also now orphans because the same boxing day tsunami that took their home also took their parents and BAM - that's red cross material.
Naturally I'm hoping not to encounter too much tragedy along those lines, but I figure a picture of a tree will be a lot more interesting if there's the back story about how it's the tree that caught me when I was climbing along the cliff above it and fell off (safely fell off mum).

See what I meant about going on? Yeah. Though you all knew me anyway. There'll be some photos soon, promise.

Ok, so anyway, I'm now in Switzerland and look likely to be for a while. I'm also now out of the skanktel, and into the aforementioned rockpartment, so it's about time I gave an update. With photos. And context. High fiiiive.

The rockpartment is awesome. I have just finished eating tea out on the river terrace. Somewhere in the background, over the muted sound of the river, is the sound of someone playing an acoustic guitar. They're not Stevie Ray Vaughn, but they're not bad either. General mood - maxin the relaxin.

Because the river terrace is awesome, it gets a photo. This is looking down the river - the way I walk to work (note: though I could understand some of you thinking I walk there on the water this is not correct - there is a path along each side. Not to say I couldn't). At the point where the river fades out of sight there's a bridge, which is where I catch an awesome elevator (which I'll try to remember to take a photo of sometime) up to the level of all the shops. It comes out in a big outdoor cafe/bar/pizza place. Home to cafe/bar/pizza place - about 4 minutes gentle stroll... though I'm sure that I could do it in one if the elevator was well timed and there was urgency in the air.

You'll notice that the river looks very clear. That is because it's very clear, which is because it flows out of lake Zurich. Lake Zurich is very clear, because it surrounded by lots and lots and lots of money. Know what else has lots of money? Corrupt people. We can infer from this that money absorbs corruption, and corruption is like a contaminant/impurity; ergo the money surrounding lake Zurich is absorbing all the impurities from the water, leaving it clear. Ta-da! And I think in Switzerland if you even look like thinking about letting your dairy farm runoff anywhere near a waterway they shoot you - no questions asked. Mostly it's the money thing.

In the foreground of the photo is my dinner. It looked a lot less blurred in real life. It is bread that was still hot when I got it home, smeared with cream cheese, then covered in salmon, then normal cheese, then grilled. It was delicious, as was the wine (which cost me 5 francs for a bottle). Nom nom nom nom nom. Admittedly, it's not the healthiest dinner in the world, but it beat eight kinds of hell out the kebabs I've been eating for the last month (the skanktel was not equipped with any sort of cooking facility). I am now, however, quite worried about my cholesterol levels and early onset heart disease.

To the left you can see me worrying intensely about cholesterol levels and early onset heart disease. Worry worry worry I go. Mmmmm, winethatcost5francs. Worry worry.

Finally, before we abandon the river terrace, the magic of the interweb brings you

1) Me looking happy rather than pretentiously introspective.

2) Some whitewater kayakers playing around in the rapids just under the 300 year old bridge running along beside where I'm sitting.




Stay tuned for tomorrow, when I show you then INSIDE of the apartment! Or some other day - life's unpredictable, no sense getting all craaaaazyyyy with the whole planning thing.