in Belgrade

Probably light blogging traffic while here.

Im all set up in a nice studio apartment in the very center of Belgrade, after a fairly easy drive from Zagreb. Special thanks are due to Belgrade native Ksenija for setting this situation up for me, as well as for her generally polite and erudite pointers about the city. Even just entering the capital, I saw half of what I wanted to see through the car windows thanks to her expertise. Now I have most of the next week to look around more.

By the way, there are some obvious geographical parallels between Belgrade and Pittsburgh, which only sounds odd if you havent seen both places.

a reminder

Surround yourself with people who have projects.

Avoid trolls and grey vampires. You cannot change them. No need to pity them with your company; they will find others. Life is short and your energy level is not infinite. Do not squander your energy on trolls and grey vampires. How to know who they are? Just pay close attention to your personal energy meter and see who makes it dip. Avoid those people.

first Ive heard of

Prof. Michael Flower, Portland, becomes the first known person to read something written by me on a Kindle. I would like to try that.

Zagreb sound files already online

DAY ONE OF 21ST CENTURY MATERIALISM, ZAGREB, NOW ON LINE

The mama people in Zagreb are so efficient that the first day is already posted. This includes recordings of the Bozovic talk, my talk, and the day one roundtable with the two of us, Peter Hallward, Martin Hagglund (misspelled just as Bozovic is misspelled, due to my inability to find diacritical marks on the Croat keyboard) and the ever on-the-ball moderator Nathan Brown.

Mild dripping rain now and then today. Also, quite chilly in Zagreb. And it is a holiday too, some sort of anti-fascist holiday.

Leaving for Belgrade pretty soon.

a strange hotel quirk

This hotel is on a fairly typical sort of Balkan city looking street. But right outside the window of my room, which is not too far from the street, is a FOREST.

I was thinking the setup reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, but someone last night came up with the more apt analogy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

When I go back to the room in a few minutes, perhaps I will see a beach out the window, or an Antarctic landscape.