A man walks onto the stage of America’s Got Talent. He does not dance, sing or explain himself. He simply stands there, completely expressionless, while Tequila begins to play. Then, at exactly the right moment, he says one word: “Tequila.” That is almost the entire performance, and yet the audience cannot look away. They are…
I opened a glowing portal behind the washing machine and took the Mayor into a world of revolutions, holy socks, suspicious ducks and laundry-basket racing. Somewhere along the way, I remembered how good it feels to simply have fun. “I thought about the theme of the month,” I announced. “Curiosity.” The Mayor immediately prepared himself…
Sometimes rest isn’t about doing nothing. Sometimes it’s baking bread before work, laughing at a child’s unexpected song, and looking forward to a camping weekend with a slightly questionable slushy in your hand. For a long time, I thought rest meant stopping. Lying on the sofa. Sleeping longer. Doing absolutely nothing. But if I’m honest,…
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…
What Counts as Rest? Rest sounds simple until people begin talking about it. We imagine silence, sleep, an empty calendar and perhaps a comfortable chair positioned somewhere far away from responsibility. Then real life interferes. One person rests beside a race. Another needs a house full of noise. Somebody else finishes the work, cleans the…
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…
