First, I’m fully aware of the fact that my blog is public. I don’t mind people reading it, I even want people to read my blog — actually that’s mostly why I write it.
Why, then, is it so uncomfortable when people who sit right next to me are reading it? It’s not like I’d mind them reading it somewhere else, but them reading it when I’m nearby makes me feel really awkward.
I was thinking about this a lot, but couldn’t really come up with any reason. Maybe I’m scared of the possibility of immediate, real time confrontation? But there wasn’t anything much controversial on the front page at the time. Plus I’m generally not afraid of real time confrontation, as long as it’s either written or in person (I hate telephones).
So, to answer the question of how to read my blog: Please, don’t read my blog when I’m nearby. Go to the other room. Thank you.
Yay, I made it — one year without using Brno public transport. I walked, walked, walked and walked. Sometimes I used my bike when it was too far and when the weather was suitable. I only used car when it was because of someone else (such as driving my grandaunt to her home or similar occasions).
I had used public transport at Brno tournament one year ago, and now I had to do the same because the tournament site is too far to walk to and I couldn’t go by bike as I was going with my Polisz friends. The tournament was a minor disaster for me, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Especially the moments not spent playing go.
While I’m not planning to break any more records as far as public transport is concerned, I still plan on trying to actively avoid using it. Walking is good.
And yes, j’aime français, why are you asking?
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone that I used to watch (English) movies with Czech subtitles.
About two years ago I found out that it was a really bad idea. Apart from the subtitles stealing my time because I had to read them, they also stole my brain cycles as I couldn’t avoid comparing what I heard in the English original to the Czech translation, looking for what I missed and what I’d translate better. While this might have been a good exercise as far as translation skills are concerned, it made me tired rather quickly. Plus I usually had no idea what the movie was about.
So I switched to English subtitles. That was a great improvement. No more time spent translating everything both ways three times. I could finally enjoy movies again. But still, I couldn’t help but read the subtitles anyway, just because they were there.
And so it happened that I almost stopped using subtitles for English movies alltogether. I still occasionally use subtitles for special things such as Monty Python, where there are a lot of jokes and puns which would be difficult for me to catch otherwise.
