Austin, Texas

waiting for a café latte,
originally uploaded by _bernd_.

A conference trip to Austin, Texas gave me a chance to escape the winter in Melbourne and to catch up with friends from Europe.
I can't help but feel strangely fascinated by the confidence and pride that Texas displays. After only a week I got to like the omnipresent lone star flag, but also fashion items like cowboy boots and hats.

Christmas in Austria

Family,
originally uploaded by _bernd_.

Lisa and I spent a few wonderful weeks over Christmas in Austria. We spent some time at home near Feldbach, and we also travelled to Graz, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna, and Linz to catch up with friends and family. Needless to say that we never had enough time, but I treasure these moments as I go through my photos and reminisce.

Netball grand final

I didn't make it to finals with my volleyball team this year, but for the last few weeks I've tried to help out with Lisa's netball team. Until a few years ago I didn't even know netball existed, and until a few months ago I had no idea how to play it, but I'm slowly getting into it. We've got a great team and it's quite a pleasant game (not as much fun as volleyball though ;)
We made it into the grand final and we fought hard. We played not just 1, not just 2, but 3 overtimes. Unfortunately we lost. At least we received little trophy, and it gives us room to improve for the next season.

Graduation

graduation 2,
originally uploaded by _bernd_.

It was a very special day thanks to my family, friends, and colleagues, who joined the ceremony and (Austrian) dinner afterwards. Thank you for all the messages from back home in Europe, and a big THANKS to Lisa, who organised everything in between moving to a new place and playing tour guide.

In case you are wondering what my thesis is all about (or if you want to look at photos of bodybuilders, or just to check whether I did not forget you in my acknowledgements)—you can download the whole thing on http://repository.unimelb.edu.au/10187/9798

Moving from Brunswick East to South Yarra

Moving from Brunswick East to South Yarra 2/2,
originally uploaded by _bernd_.

With the great support of of friends, volleyball team-mates, and Lisa's family, we moved to a lovely apartment in the heart of South Yarra.

These two suburbs couldn't be any more different—a post-industrial, cheap, multicultural, student, elderly, hipster, graffiti, .... place (Brunswick) vs. a ueber-posh suburb of private schools, SUVs, Mercedes, Ferraris, endless shopping opportunities and bars for young business people (South Yarra), at least that's my first impression.

It may take me a while to get used to the new environment, but at least the coffee seems good so far. We are well connected to public transport, and the apartment is spacious and bright. Despite the mess, Lisa and I feel very homely already.

My first roll of film developed at home

impression from the garage,
originally uploaded by _bernd_.

I love photos produced on film. So far I've invested in old cameras and film, but I always got my pictures developed by a professional lab.
Yesterday I finally took the time to develop film at home. I spent quite a few hours taking pictures, preparing myself, and going through all the steps of developing in my kitchen. I think I developed them for too long or I agitated the film too much because the images are rather high in contrast. I also messed up the last step a bit and put the wetting agent in too early, but that didn't seem to have any effect.
I was pretty excited this morning when I got up and looked at the dry film :)
Big thanks to Ross Holmberg for his detailed instructions.

new job

4.52,
originally uploaded by _bernd_.

Since April 2011 I am a Research Fellow with the Department of Information Systems at the University of Melbourne. For the next 2.5 years I will work with the Cancer Council to explore the potentials of social network sites to help people give up smoking. Wish me good luck!