Sometimes rest isn’t a holiday, a spa day, or a weekend away. Sometimes it’s taking off your makeup, drinking coffee in silence, watching birds gather in a winter tree, or finally making time for the thing you’ve been meaning to do. There is something wonderfully revealing about asking a simple question: What is your rest…
Bruce began with a poem and several AI systems. I began with almost no knowledge of Philip Larkin. What followed was not a lesson delivered by a machine, but a journey into curiosity, memory and the things people still need from one another. Bruce triggered the whole thing. He had taken Philip Larkin’s poem This…
The new department heads have not yet arrived. Important decisions are waiting for them. The people needed for meetings are scattered, and the components needed for production have become scarce and extraordinarily expensive. Everybody is still working. Progress is another matter. I recently spoke with somebody working in the electronics industry. The office was unusually…
Curiosity Begins Here Curiosity rarely announces itself with a trumpet. More often, it begins with a small question that refuses to go away. This August, Curiosity becomes Brida’s new Theme of the Month, and next week’s tables open the door from several directions. Ralf begins with the questions that changed something. The Atlantic Corridor and…
My warning light glows politely, my gramophone refuses to optimise me, and sometimes the best way to recharge is to travel hundreds of kilometres to a concert. During our Wednesday Swimming Club conversation, we tried to understand what rest actually looks like. This immediately created a problem: the moment people begin explaining how to rest…
More photos from my holiday in the Netherlands. Julianadorp lies just south of Den Helder, between bulb fields, dunes and the North Sea. Named after Princess Juliana, the village combines its polder history with a strong seaside character. This summer, that story has been recreated in sand, with sculptures appearing at several locations around the…
After two weeks in the desert, drinking warm water and sleeping in a tent, an ordinary cold Kronenbourg became one of the best beers of my life. An ordinary beer becomes a very good beer after 100 kilometres. To be honest, after 100 kilometres, every liquid is good. Water is good. Coffee is good. But…
We talk about language as a skill, a product and, increasingly, something a machine can produce. But language began somewhere simpler: with one person trying to reach another. When we forget the person, communication may continue, but something essential disappears. A sentence can now be produced without a human being typing it. We know this….
They say the bigger the storm, the brighter the rainbow. And maybe that’s true. The dark, heavy clouds don’t mean everything is ruined—they’re usually just clearing out the noise so something better can take its place. A rainbow only looks that bright because of the dark sky sitting right behind it, and maybe these messy,…
Ralf’s lasagne replaces the white sauce with more slow-cooked Bolognese, a serious amount of garlic and enough cheese to make even a reheated portion feel like a highlight. The Mayor was slightly disappointed with me. After a busy Sunday, there had been no new culinary adventure in our house. No barbecue, no special restaurant and…
