At Apple it’s “Think different”. And Apple-Boss Steve Jobs says:  “Think different is what we are about. It touches the soul of this company”. At Adidas it’s “Impossible is nothing”. And Adidas chairman Erich Stamminger says: “It is our legacy, our mission and our challenge”. At Pedigree it’s “We love dogs”. And the Mars-CEO Paul Michaels says: “We express our love for dogs in everything we do. Not just in our products, but in our activities, beliefs and causes we … Weiterlesen

When the internet is yet again broken in the Lobenstein household, or other digital hiccups happen, my friend and IT specialist Markus helps. I “liked” Markus and added him to my “community” because for a while he kept his horse in the stable next to my daughter’s. And because, when we were drinking a beer together in the riders’ bar, we discovered that we got on well. What I didn’t know back then was that Markus installs and repairs the … Weiterlesen

I like country music. My immediate social circle is not entirely overjoyed about this fact. “Can we listen to some normal music for once” is one of the more harmless remarks made about it. But whether at night in the car, whilst running in the mornings or at breakfast with the family on Sunday – I like country music. I like the simple lyrics, the sound of country guitars and the singing of the Dixie-Chicks. My taste in music is … Weiterlesen

The nuclear fuel rods in Japan had barely started to glow in when, here in Germany, Facebook and Twitter began to glow with messages of solidarity: the pages were called “a million voices for withdrawal from the nuclear program” or “get rid of nuclear power – Now!!!” Profile pictures were changed to “Nuclear Power – No Thank You” badges and even fairly passive consumers of the social networks moved vociferously into the battle for the most indignant, steeliest, most stirred-up … Weiterlesen

Too much stress, too much bad food, too little sport, too little sleep – my own personal four horsemen of the apocalypse, who constantly follow me around. At some point my stomach always registers a warning shot with a healthy portion of heartburn. There are two possible ways to react to this: 1, less stress, a better diet, more sport and getting more sleep. So working on the causes. Or 2, taking an antacid pill like Antra. So combating the … Weiterlesen

Whether at parents’ evening or at dinner among friends and fellow parents, it feels a bit like groundhog day these days: huge lamentations about the pressure to perform in G12 (the recently abbreviated high school program), about two age groups of high school leavers hitting the university at once, compounded by all the young men, who don´t have to go to the army anymore, the loss of childhood too early on, the character development too late, the fact that the … Weiterlesen

Gertrude Stein, famous art collector, publisher and writer, wrote in her “Composition as Explanation”: “No one is ahead of his time, it is only that the particular variety of creating his time is the one that his contemporaries who also are creating their own time refuse to accept [...] and it is very much too bad, it is so very much more exciting and satisfactory for everybody if one can have contemporaries, if all one’s contemporaries could be one’s contemporaries”. … Weiterlesen

“Food first, then morality!” Berthold Brecht once hurled this phrase at a member of the bourgeoisie to great effect, who wanted to preach morals to the lower classes from their high horse of material comfort. This sentence hasn’t left my head all week, if in a different context. Last Friday I posted “my new table leaders in the Social Media Abuse League”, completely outraged,  and added the following Tweet.   The background: Kenneth Cole, the founder of the fashion label … Weiterlesen

Every time you watch “I’m a Celebrity(Dschungelcamp)”, and don’t admit it, you are shaping your truth.  Every time you wear a push–up bra, you are shaping your truth. Every time that you tell your wife that 18 holes of golf is in fact a business meeting, you are shaping your truth. Every time you order diet coke just because others are watching you, you are shaping your truth. Every time you give your child glowing praise in front of their … Weiterlesen

Every time you watch “I’m a Celebrity(Dschungelcamp)”, and don’t admit it, you are shaping your truth.  Every time you wear a push–up bra, you are shaping your truth. Every time that you tell your wife that 18 holes of golf is in fact a business meeting, you are shaping your truth. Every time you order diet coke just because others are watching you, you are shaping your truth. Every time you give your child glowing praise in front of their … Weiterlesen