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alexander kandiloros

31 August 2010

#238 Take a class

Alexander Kandiloros has previously spoken about being tongue-tied in front of Regina Spektor, couch surfing and all the jeans that litter his house. Now for something completely different:

One of the things I like best is learning new things. Pattern recognition. Being able to keep up with conversations with very different people. There are those who know everything there is to know about a single subject, but as for myself, I've never been able to choose one area. I want to know everything! About everything! Which at best leads to me to know a little about a lot.

Introduction to Greek mythology, Biology of philosophers, argumentation analysis for beginners, Aesthetic History of Ideas, and Modern Hebrew are examples of evening courses taught at the University of Gothenburg. One evening a week; we can all fit that into our schedules. We will never be fully taught, we will never be finished. The brain is a muscle that needs to be exercised to become big and strong.

But you don’t even need to apply for a course to go to a lecture. All lectures are public - and free, and with one phone call or by Googling, you can find out where those interesting lectures are taking place. Get what an amazing country we live in!

At ABF, you can learn to bind books, paint with watercolors, cook, or why not accounting? There simply is something for everyone. Their courses often cost a bit but not much really. There are skills to develop and nurture, and there is money to be saved by repairing our own clothes, books and furniture, people to impress people by knowing a little about a lot.

Required time: 
1 week or more
Cost: 
Less than €50
Cons: 
You have one less night a week to waste watching TV.
Pros: 
You learn new things. Meet like-minded people. Understand more. Develop yourself. Learn to see things from other perspectives.
Taggar: university, tv, slötittande, read a course, knowledge, Hebrew, flaunt, alexander kandiloros, Adult Learning, 365 things
13 August 2010

#225 Get rid of unnecessary things

What was I thinking?

What was I thinking?

Alexander Kandiloros is the 365-editor with the fastest mouth. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of film and is the author of the book Movie Quotes II: With a Vengeance, that came out last fall.

You know that feeling when you’re moving, and critically go through everything you have to pack, and garbage bag after garbage bag is filled with things you don’t need; that feeling when you throw the bags away? Relief. Freedom.

It’s an approach that doesn’t have to and shouldn’t be used only when moving.

Clean your home as you would during a move, even if you’re not going anywhere. Look around at things; clothes and paper work. Ask yourself, when did I last use this? Will I use it again? Really? Put the things someone else might have use for in the staircase or in front of the house if you live in a house with "Go ahead!" written next to it. Or hide the things around town in true 365-spirit with a friendly post-it note on them. The rest you give to charity, but some of it you have to throw away. And shortly afterwards, it’ll burn up in a purifying garbage fire somewhere.

Required time: 
1 day or less.
Cost: 
Free.
Cons: 
None.
Pros: 
Less to pack the next time you move. Easier to find what you're looking for. Order.
Taggar: unnecessary things, move, hide gifts, clean, alexander kandiloros, 365 things
29 July 2010

#210 Give yourself a trip for chump change

There is one drawback to # 210 And it is quite big... A course in self-defense may be worth it before you start courchsurfing

There is one drawback to # 210 And it is quite big... A course in self-defense may be worth it before you start courchsurfing

Alexander Kandiloros continues his posts on the 365 things you can do. After telling us about Jianzi it’s time to learn how travel almost for free. And next week there’s his Regina Spektor story.

I was planning my 25th birthday party and needed obscene amounts of alcohol for the party. All the people with cars bailed, so I ended up taking the bus to Germany with two empty suitcases. Had a friend in Berlin so I took the opportunity to visit her instead of going straight back. How lucky I was for staying. A completely crazy, unexpected weekend of abandoned U.S. bases, reconnaissance and gay bars in the old factories followed. I got a much-needed slap in the back of the head that opened my eyes to that there is much more out there than what I saw every day. You need that kind of knock sometimes. Otherwise, you forget.

Book the cheapest Ryanair-weekend trip as far ahead as possible. Choose a place you've never been to. Preferably book really late at night so it’s half forgotten the day after. Once the date is approaching and the trip reminds you of its existence via SMS it’ll be like receiving a gift from yourself, using some type of time travel. Bratislava in August 2011, Wroclaw, one spring weekend April 2012, or perhaps a bit of Frankfurt, Glasgow, or London in the autumn. These flights are a penny each plus tax.

Bonus1 - Cheap hostels http://www.hostels.com/

Bonus2 - Free and more exciting homes http://www.couchsurfing.com/

Required time: 
1 week or more
Cost: 
More than €50
Cons: 
You can end up in the home of a weirdo. You could end up enjoying the place so much that you don’t like Sweden in the same way anymore.
Pros: 
You experience something new. You get perspective. Despite booking far ahead, it’s still rad and spontaneous. You could meet new wonderful people, or maybe find a new place to settle down in.
Taggar: Ryan Air, pittance, frankfurt, couch surfing, cheap, Bratislava, berlin, alexander kandiloros, 365 things
10 April 2010

#101 Trade knowledge with a friend

Required time: 
Anything from a minute to three months. Depends on what your friend wants to teach you.
Cost: 
Nothing, unless your friend is a cheap ass.
Cons: 
You might feel stupid and clumpsy when you can't walk on your hands while your friend does it with such ease. The Tom & Jerry-toy might break if you drop it on the ground.
Pros: 
You get nice arm muscles from walking on your hands. You and your friend become closer.
Taggar: sharing is caring, learning new skills, juggling, hand walking, alexander kandiloros
18 February 2010

#49 Make a piggy bank

Required time: 
A minute.
Cost: 
Use an old PET-bottle that's laying around or steal one from your Coke-drinking WOW-playing litte brother. Use a knife from the kitchen.
Cons: 
None.
Pros: 
You'll save up money without thinking about it. A crown here and and a crown there and all of a sudden you've got a €100 saved up and can buy lots of candy or a cheap digital camera.
Taggar: saving, piggy bank, alexander kandiloros
8 February 2010

#39 Listen to music you hate

Required time: 
Five minutes. One minute of listening. Four minutes of thinking about wether you hate it or not.
Cost: 
None if you stream the music or borrow a CD from a friend.
Cons: 
You can end up angrier than before at emos, metalkids, folknerds or pop idiots.
Pros: 
You might discover you love folk musik. Or you'll discover you don't hate metal. Or you can say that you hate emos because now you've studied it and given it a chance.
Taggar: unlearning, open mind, music, håkan hellström, alexander kandiloros
4 February 2010

#35 Try a new sport

Required time: 
Kind of depends on the sport. Squash took us 45 minutes, then another 10 minutes to change, 20 minutes to shower and such. So 75 minutes all in all.
Cost: 
About €10 for the squash but surely other sports can be cheaper or more expensive. At this place they had a jacuzzi in the changing room. That probably isn't standard.
Cons: 
Muscle ache in muscles you didn't know you had.
Pros: 
It's fun to try something you've never tried before. Squash is something we had just seen on TV before. Now we know what an effort it is. And we'll definitely do it again.
Taggar: squash, sport, alexander kandiloros