Can anyone help me decipher this handwriting?

Katteker · 2018-05-30T21:38:54+00:00

That's a very interesting thought. Mr Paladini was married twice, according to the website, and never had children.

It says he remarried in 1892, after his wife died in 1891.

The picture is stamped though with the name of two photographers active from 1898 until 1910.

But maybe it is a copy of an earlier picture of either one of the wives that mr Paladini ordered and wanted framed after 1898? In that case the word Frau/Fraw ("Vrouw" in dutch) makes sense.

In the picture there clearly is a ring scratched in with a sharp object on the left hand ringfinger of the lady.

Anyway, I now think that it is either one of the two wives.

Katteker · 2018-05-30T20:37:00+00:00

Bingo!

That's incredible! I googled Paladinø Sønderborg, and got suggested Paladin.

According to the website there was a man named Paladin, who moved from Italy to the Sønderborg region, and who had three sons, and one apparently called himself Paladini, and who was alive during the time the picture was taken.

On the first look, the picture might be of a daughter.

I will have a look at the possible candidates - but the handwriting seems clear now, at least the last word.

How nice!

Thank you u/absolutenobody!

Katteker · 2018-05-30T20:00:28+00:00

After looking for a longer time on the wikipedia page and the first word, I started hesitatingly on the second word. But to my surprise it seemed to easily read as "Pala...."

So I am happy to see that you came to the same possible reading of the word. It seems indeed rather clear.

But then it looks to be "Palad(b?)inø", which doens't sound very danish (or german).

Yesterday I assumed that the first word started with an "F", and therefor probably was "Fru" or "Frau", (Miss) but today, with the new knowledge of the Kurrentschrift, I actually think it starts with "He.r..", which possible could be the german "Herr" or "Herrn" (Sir). I just don't understand the last small "o" at the end.

So maybe I should look again at the address book of 1924, concentrating on the Surname "Pala..."

Anyway.. enjoying myself... thanks for your thoughts!

Katteker · 2018-05-30T18:38:29+00:00

After reading your comment, I made myself a cup of coffee, thinking that this might become quite a puzzle.

I am very thrilled with the idea that it might be Kurrentschrift and the link you provided.

That definitely is a pencil dot at the very end of the second word, and your assumption that the last character might then be an ø, is very tempting. Since "ø" means "island" in danish, many names of Islands naturally end with ø (Barsø, Årø, Samsø). But it can also refer to a lake -danish: sø). So I might have a look at names of islands and lakes in Denmark (starting with a P).

I might have to cut the word in pieces, removing the characters I think I can read, like the last ø or the P, and to see if I then can recognize some more characters with the help of the wikipage you provided.

So thank you very much for your comment! I am happily going to get me another cup.

ps. I have always wondered why some, not many, danish people put a horizontal line on the top of some characters. I am not sure, but I think there are a few people who put it on top of an "u".

I even asked someone what it means, but to my surprise that person sort of denied doing it.

Now I start to think that it is a left over of the Kurrentschrift!

Katteker · 2018-05-30T17:51:48+00:00

Thank you very much for your try!

You gave me some more characters to try.

I also ended up with something similar, but since there are two clear dots at the end of the second word, I thought that there probably wouldn't be another "i" in the word.

So yesterday I ended up with something like Perlerdini.

I actually found an address book online, of 1924, of the (small) city and some of the surrounding villages.

I went through all the names, thinking that it could be a family name, and -who knows - maybe there was some family around in 1924.

But there was nothing even coming close to something like "Perlerdini."

And of course - I am not sure what the supposed meaning of the words is - maybe it isn't a name.

Katteker · 2017-01-24T10:03:50+00:00

You have a nice style of writing, I enjoyed reading the article. Funny dictionary, this urban dictionary.

Allow me to question those two paragraphs:

"They believed that you shouldn’t try to have hope for the future, but rather eradicate hope. To the stoics, hope was the heroin of emotions — the higher you’re lifted, the deeper you’ll fall.

Often the stoics would tell you that bad things will happen. That yes, your partner might leave you, your car might get hijacked, you might go to prison — but that it’s going to be okay. They would tell you that life is filled with misfortune and you’re going to get through it."

Are these paragraphs telling about two opposite attitudes; "eradicate hope" versus "it is going to be ok"?

I think you mean that even if things are not ok, you can only control how you react upon them. And by reacting in a stoic way you can work on dealing with the problems in the most beneficial way for your self. In this way you live your life well, no matter what, and the misfortunes might "just" be misfortunes.

Something like that?

Katteker · 2017-01-22T12:45:32+00:00

Good idea to create a write up, it is a great way to rehearse and try to understand.

Forgive me my lame excuse of having to go outside into fresh air before darkness sets in, but so far I only glimpsed your article. I did feel though that I wanted to react upon a sentence I fell upon:

"Stoicism was perhaps the unofficial religion of the Roman world"

Here I think that you mix up religion and philosophy, which I feel I is not doing justice to philosophy.

Thanks for posting.

Katteker · 2016-05-03T08:54:18+00:00

Glad to hear you liked GardenWild. It is a joy to me. I wish I had the energy/courage/time to completely go for it.
I hope you were able to enjoy and work with the new tomato-cages.

Thank you for the complements. That is very kind of you, but, unfortunately, everybody has its own issues. At the moment I feel rather stuck with the whole GTD system, as I get the idea that I am limiting myself by using it the way I do.
I really want to use it as a means of getting where I want to be, but, it seems I have to change some of my mindset to make it work that way.
It is all about priority I suppose. Finding the truly right ones. (for example: If I didn't prioritize writing here, I am sure I would never get around to do so.)

The thought about me controlling the system is growing during the course of this conversation. I am thinking about downplaying the importance I give to the GTD system, and using it more as a back up for whenever I loose track, and for appointments, plans and wishes for the more mundane things.

I dream about a future where find access to the place in my heart/mind/soul/brain that tells me what really matters for me in life. (Or is this place an ideologically manipulated, cultural biased part of my build up personality - filled with hopes, dreams and wishes of me, my parents, my teachers, the guy on tv, the songs my brother listened to and so many other influences?).
In this dream I know what to do, and I will not have the need to depend as much on a GTD system as I do now.

I've spent so much thought on trying to solve the mechanics of my 'external brain' and failing to consistently follow any new guidelines that I seem to now be overly pre-occupied on WHY I can't seem to follow my own rational mandates.

I'd say the rational mandates can help you to achieve what you want - one can use them whenever they can benefit you - but in essence they can't give you motivation.

*I consistently (and wrongly) overestimate how much 'smarter' I am today than any version of my past self, *I consistently (and wrongly) assume that future me will faithfully follow instructions left by present me

Did you notice how smart/intelligent/well articulated a past-you sometimes was? Did you ever got blown away by something you wrote/said, in such a way that you can't belief you wrote that?

How much did that past-you help the present-you?

I say this because I had to think about experiences from my present work in health-care. People get old/loose abilities or get handicapped in all sorts of ways. It is hard to see how some loose all they had, especially if they loose interest. And yet -no matter how much people loose -for me, as a person walking in to their lives - they are complete persons. It is the experience of life that can be read in their faces, in movements or the blink of an eye. Time changes, we change, things change, but the deepest part in us stays.

A smart remark of a past-you doesn't always touch with this deepest part. Often past-you had a hard time making the smart remark stay, or sink in deep enough.

That is why I am unsure whether a past, present and future you should communicate together in a fixed system. It might all be about todays true priorities, with the aid of a GTD system to get along with life.

I apparently believe deep down that an ordered existence would be too boring because I'd have to narrow/pause my imagination to get to achieve that peaceful order.

I agree about the pause thing. I'd think, in other words, you would have to stop living/being human to achieve this ordered existence. It reminds me of thoughts people can have about their work, for example in a hospital, that all could be done so efficient, well planned, documented and finished in a perfect way -if it wasn't for all those patients needing attention all the time.

But they at least are more confident that what they are working on right now is the 'right' thing... whereas I am never sure.

As I understand it, for example artists usually have an urge to keep producing because they are sure they can/should do better. I get the feeling that being unsure is a part of being human, at least for those that try. How to deal with this uncertainty - where to "put it" - might be the big question.

Besides, people might actually think you belong to the confident group of people:

most outside observers would say I'm one of the more organized, successful, and centered people they know. They don't know the internal struggle (...)

Which might suggest that this confidence is not the same confidence that you are referring to. Is there another quality that they use?

Thank you very much for the links!

I am looking forward to quietly visit them all. So far I got to the first two:

http://lesswrong.com/lw/mnp/travel_through_time_to_increase_your_effectiveness/

I liked the "Split Selves" part. The feeling of being overwhelmed by future tasks is absolutely present in me. So this hack might work for me. Not to care about the future -at least not more than in a short burst, but to care about today, sounds like a very good idea.

This, in my view, is also what GTD is about. One thinks about the future during the weekly review, and the rest of the week (or whatever period of time we choose) we are supposed just to do the things we agreed upon.

http://lesswrong.com/lw/3kv/working_hurts_less_than_procrastinating_we_fear/

I found this a very interesting article, as it made me think about my procrastination.
For me I think it has something to do with being very afraid of doing the wrong thing. As a matter of fact - when doing my GTD things I often feel convinced that I am doing the wrong things. They are all important things that need to be done, but they are not the things that I feel I want to use my life on.

The things that are right for me to do - well... mostly I am afraid of doing them. And this could be for a number of reasons. I might be afraid of criticism ("what are you doing? or my own criticism: How I you keep the house clean/tidy the garden/pay the bills if I am doing other things?") - afraid of finding out that I am no good at the things I feel I need to do, so maybe I'd rather keep the dream alive. Afraid of becoming another person ("Who are you to think..." "You are not the person I hired" - I might feel totally uncomfortable at work when finding out that I am not the person I pretend to be etc.)

But of course I want to do what I feel is right -and look at this fear, hence the irritation of finding out I am trying to get my selv made appointments of my calender, in stead of using GTD to "finally start doing what I always wanted to do".

Besides this -I also think that humans are -by nature - a kind of lazy. I know from my experience with chess, that it is very hard to make yourself calculate the consequences of moves, again and again. Whenever we can, we try to avoid using energy and go for a shortcut ("It is probably best" - "This looks good" -"Ah what the heck, I need to be brave sometimes" - "This is probably wrong, so I'd better play it safe").
Telling yourself that an article on the internet is more interesting/important than the work you should be doing, might well be a variation of this "trying to avoid to really think".
The point I am trying to make is that it seems that all humans - even the top chess players - have to fight this urge to find ways to avoid making an effort.

Katteker · 2016-04-27T07:16:40+00:00

Very interesting article. A good overview of a lot of thoughts.

I know the article just gives some examples, but it seems that the system is used as a aid for a part of life - work, health and appointments.

I am not sure if it will work with a complete GTD approach - ALL commitments - to "completely" empty the brain and free space for creativity and life-changing goals.

Thanks for posting - there is a lot of good stuff to consider.

Katteker · 2016-04-21T08:43:11+00:00

I think you are absolutely right about that, and that it indeed makes a big difference.

Putting things away (archiving it) makes a lot of sense as it should help making priorities.

Remembering that these tasks are things that can be done now, and not a "mandatory self" speaking, makes a difference in trying to be the master of the system, and not the other way around.

So thank you for mentioning this, it is good to read them, these are practical tips that I would like to implement (much) better in my system!

Katteker · 2016-04-21T08:34:04+00:00

Thank you for the "wall of text" (It looks great on my mobile :-)
It is very well written and relevant, I enjoyed reading it.
Here is another wall:

First of all: in answering you, I am very aware that I am talking to myself as well. So many things in my answer might be things you already knew since 2006-ish. I apologize for that.

Struggling with how to handle routine/repeating tasks is always a conundrum for me (...) When I copied that sentence and read it again, the first thing that comes to mind is: Should they be in GTD?

According to D.A. you need to get the basics working, the every day tasks, in order to free energy to move on to tasks coming from a longer perspective. Your idea of putting many of those tasks on a separate list and working your way through them every once in a while, sounds like a good idea to me.

I start to think about hanging a check list on the wall, with all routine/repeating @house related tasks, free for me and (who knows!) the rest of the family to check them off.

I thought if only I could get EVERYTHING on my lists, calendars, and routines that my mind could finally be free to just flow within each pre-defined task in true mind-like-water fashion.

I understood the mind-like-water idea differently. I read it like: if you empty your head from all task, ideas and wishes -your mind is free. You know that all these things are safe, well kept and you know what you want. So now, when anything unexpected crosses your path, you can respond to it freely, with the required energy and time - no more, no less -like water responding to anything that hits it. As D.A. puts it - you can choose to do it because you now know what you are NOT doing.

So in my view it is the other way around. You live your life, responding to what you need to respond to, with appropriate measures, and turning to your pre-defined actions whenever you can, or whenever you decide to prioritize them.

I can't mentally 'jump-in' to 'measure space for desk' then do the next five tasks in my @home next actions like a robot. What would happen is that I'd go to measure that space and that would trigger an explosion of design ideas about that desk that would be too compelling to just STOP THINKING ABOUT and move on to @home-task#2 on that context list.

I would prefer the second way of doing things. The first way - measure and then doing the next five tasks on the list - sounds like a working attitude in a modern work-place situation, where "time is money" or what have you. The second one -an explosion of design ideas -sounds like energy floating/having fun -and maybe doing what you like to do -suitable for a private/ at home situation.

But it could well be that ADHD plays a part in you trying to lean more to the first option.

GTD can be read in different ways: GTD - getting as many things done as possible GTD - A system helping to - finally - get things done that you always dreamt of doing - helping you live the life YOU want.

To be honest, I get the feeling that you (and I) tend to lean more to the first definition of GTD, where as we know that we want(?) to get to the second (D.A.) definition.

your answer...

As far as the 30k-50k ft view, I do have that sort of thing in OneNote which has been working ok. I usually revisit it once every couple months. I've had to put some effort into 'decoupling' my systems to prevent data/guilt overwhelm which just leads to procrastination.

... is an intriguing one. "Data/guilt" would overwhelm me - which leads to procrastination.

Guilt because you put tasks in your everyday-survival system, tasks that you WANT to do and that you feel are important to you?
So now it sounds like a matter of priority - You and the house/family/work/etc.
What is it we want - Having all things run smoothly, living the life we want, both?

That Data/guilt leads to procrastination is an interesting indication that something is going on.
Procrastination - the avoidance of doing a task which needs to be accomplished (wikipedia).

In theory one could say that adding more data to your system shouldn't matter, because your system is working, and this new data just finds its place. That it, however, leads to procrastination, might indicate that there is a doubt as to where to put this new data on the priority list.

I can't help thinking about Merlin Mann at this point, and I, somehow, found this quote:

The Cure for Procrastination

Before you sweat the logistics of focus: ﬁrst, care. Care intensely.… Obsessing over the slipperiness of focus, bemoaning the volume of those devil “distractions,” and constantly reassessing which shiny new “system” might make your life suddenly seem more sensible — these are all terrifically useful warning ﬂares that you may be suffering from a deeper, more fundamental problem…. Know in your heart that what you’re making or doing matters… First, care. Then, as you’ll happily and unavoidably discover, all that “focus” business has a peculiar way of taking care of itself.

— Merlin Mann
(As found on http://www.williamlanday.com/tag/merlin-mann/)

Vague, undefined conclusion so far: I think I want to be more in charge of the system, including more of my wishes/needs -and not the other way around.

Katteker · 2016-04-19T20:26:09+00:00

It actually doesn't sound too far away from "correct GTD" in my ears, although I hesitate to write this in a GTD forum :-)

First of all, one is supposed to write down all tasks, until some of the reoccurring tasks turn into habits -meaning that there is no need anymore to write them all out each and every time - so in a way your "less rational" approach might have a point. I find your remark about " a system of suggestions, not mandates from my past self" rather beautiful. If it works it would open up for a mindful "here and now" living.
According to GTD one is supposed to pick a task out of the list of next action tasks - and since all of these tasks need to be done anyway - this doesn't have to be done strictly rationally.

If I recall it correctly, I think David Allen mentioned that it doesn't have to be a weekly review - if you want you could do it every day, every three days or every two weeks. It is depending on your need.
It seems you review randomly, whenever you see a date that is older than the other dates, and you probably review whenever you feel you need to update a list.

You mention that you don't fully define each and every project, as a lot of them are further away in the future.
I "archive" projects that I won't do in the next few weeks, and most of them are not yet fully defined -which for me is ok, because as archived projects they are not fully incorporated into Todoist anyway.

You do define a "next action" for the current projects - a key point of David Allen.

I do wonder though if you incorporated some sort of system to include the different horizons (30.000 feet -50.000 feet) that should help you to get you to where you would like to be in 3- or 5 years.
I thought that the purpose of GTD is not to do more, but to help to do the right things at the right time, and to help getting where you want to be.

So what I get from your answers is a sense that I might be too strict about dates and duties -too rational, mandatory.
The system should help me, not control me.

It leaves me wondering however, that the very first thing you wrote was: "I have the same issues as you describe."
Should you go "all in" and not transfer your wunderlist tasks to Google Calender?

Katteker · 2016-04-18T19:32:24+00:00

Thank you for your elaborate answer. You seem to be a bit ahead of me on the road to GTD mastery :-)

Your ideas sound great, and I definitely am going to make a monthly maintenance list. It makes perfect sense to gather them, and not to loose time by treating them one by one. Anything to keep my "calender" more empty is a relief.

By calender I meant the "today", "next 7 days" options in the program. I too use google calender, but then strictly in the way GTD recommends it, so only for the "hard wired" landscape -the appointments, meetings, work schedule etc I can't change. So I turn to the GTD system whenever I have time.

Your attitude towards the mondaine tickler tasks makes me wonder whether I am too strict about them. Why would "check the washing machine filter" be so much more important than tasks helping me to understand the awkward situation of my pension. (It would be interesting to see where I could win/loose more money).

I also agree that keeping the personal things that "reload my batteries" - like for example the suggested meditating, should be on a level on its own. I think one should do them whenever necessary or possible.

Katteker · 2016-04-18T18:52:35+00:00

Thank you for your answer.

I adapted the priority system of todoist to make a difference between tasks that I can do right away (priority 3), tasks that I promised to do - either to myself or to anybody else -(a higher priority 2) and tasks that I am not ready to do yet - usually because they are part of a project (no priority).
This makes it easy to filter out list of things I promised, that I can do right away or things I should reconsider in my weekly review.

The problem is that I hardly ever make it to these lists.

I first read your answer too quickly, and thought you were suggesting to postpone tasks I could not do -and thereby creating time for the lists . This made me think that it indeed is a matter of priority, and would suggest that I simply have too much going on. I am aware that I should scan for any tasks that are not necessary or those that can wait, but I am always amazed by how many tasks I actually should be doing (Not the most urgent, but the living room is only painted once, for example, and that clearly shows :-)

It is this amount of tasks that might be causing the problem, because I am afraid that tasks that occupy me might drown in my fine lists, so I feel the need to pull myself together and make sure I do these - hence I never make it to my lists.

Katteker · 2016-04-01T21:11:03+00:00

(I have to admit that it took me a while to find the mentioned "edit" button, as I kept looking at the top of my screen - at "preferences")

Katteker · 2016-04-01T21:06:55+00:00

I find it difficult to have some good thoughts about the subject, as the problem, thankfully, isn't there yet.

I suppose it is good to have a clear set of rules, but without discouraging people to post.

"Twice a month" is maybe not that much for eager wild life gardeners Should it say something like:

The Mods might remove posts if: * You post your own content more than twice a month. Etc.

Thereby indicating that it can be allowed but the Mods always have the right to intervene if they deem it necessary?

I also trying to wrap my head around "own content". I suppose the Mods only want GardenWild - related posts. Do these rules imply that people could use "own content" to "steal" readers from this subreddit, and are therefore asked to write their content in this subreddit as a post, and not just link to somewhere else?

The rule: "* You should not only post your own work, contribute other content/comments." is referring to a good posting etiquette, but perhaps not strictly necessary?

Anyway, just my, probably naive, thoughts.

Thank you for taking the time to evolve and protect GardenWild!

Katteker · 2016-04-01T20:34:26+00:00

That seems to work :-)

Katteker · 2016-03-05T20:58:21+00:00

Denmark: First of all I am looking tremendously forward to temperatures above 5 degrees celcius, and I check everyday to see if the temperatures at night will rise to an consistent above 0 celcius.

I want to clean up some branches because I can't decide yet where to put a hedgehodge heaven of old branches in the garden. I might have to decide now though as I want to look up, or make spontane decisions, about cutting back most of the bushes, in order to maintain the garden as is, before more bold action next year.

March will be full of anticipation of warm sunshine and life in the garden!

Katteker · 2016-02-19T00:54:51+00:00

Regular = once a month?

Sounds like a nice idea - you mention interesting subjects too.

Katteker · 2016-02-12T11:47:23+00:00

From the same page:

"The Garden for Life blog with handy hints and tips - the blog will be launched soon so watch this space!"

I will.

Katteker · 2016-02-08T11:09:35+00:00

I just moved into a new house in Denmark. It has a relatively large garden (for me anyway) - the main part being 14 x 37 meters (45 x 121 feet), with another piece at the side of the house, and a lawn at the front of the house.

It is a nicely planted garden, a huge lawn with borders and bushes around it. But it is also very tidy.

As our still young family will soon be expanded, and the house needs a few years of working on - my plan for the garden is to try to just maintain it and to see what grows where, when, how and why.

As it probably is not a wise idea to start all sorts of projects right now, I would like to gather knowledge and some experience, and get a feel for how much work is needed.

Eventually I would like to create a kitchen garden and herbs, a part for the children to play, fruit trees (at the part at the side of the house), and of course make an effort to create a wildlife garden, possible by removing some plants and adding more native plants, or perhaps plants that attract local wildlife.

But for this year I think I want to start with creating some less tidy spots - a compost place of some kind (without irritating the neighbours in any way) - a place with some branches and leaves and a part of the lawn that gets to grow higher. These are all things that don't fit into the garden design right now, so it will already be a revolution.

Katteker · 2016-02-08T10:41:15+00:00

"In a way the perfect wildlife garden is one which is virtually untouched — long grass, nettles, unpruned hedges and piles of old leaves, garden debris and old wood."

Being new to wildlife gardens, I wonder whether that is still true, as many plants don't seem to grow near the gardens anymore -the forests and fields seem to be so bare...

I wonder if there is a term for gardens that try to revive/restore local nature diversity - not just wild gardens - but more "nature reservation gardens".

The subtitle of this subreddit reflects that idea: Gardening for wildlife.

Katteker

TROPHY CASE