The bath!

Just click on the cartoon to view the larger image!

Dead normal!

Warning: This is little post about death. I know a lot of people don’t want to think about it or want to read about it, so if you are one of these people…stop reading.

"When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries." ~Kabir

Ever since I was a little kid I’ve been sort of fascinated with death. I know it’s a bit morbid, but pretty early in life I learned that dying is just part of life or to be more precise the end of it. My parents never were secretive about that. It doesn’t matter if you old, young, sick, healthy, rich or poor, one thing is for sure: 1 day you die! And another thing that is certain is that you have to do this by yourself. Of course you can be surrounded by people, but the actual thing itself you have to do all on your own (as if you have a choice). That is actually a bit strange because all other things in life you can share, if you want too. You can share your bed with someone, enjoy a meal together, share thoughts, make love to someone and do all the things you want to do with someone, but dying you can’t share.

Last week I was reading an article about death and how it was part of life. Of course the article had nothing new to report. What can you really say about dying? You just stop functioning. It would be much more interesting to know what happens to people after death, but that is a question that has never been answered with certainty. Is there such a thing as an afterlife or does reincarnation exists? Or is the end, definitely the end? Does all consciousness ceases to exist at death, is death itself ultimately the exact same experience as prior to conception? I think it al depends on your background, your religion or lifestyle.

It would be nice if there was something after this. Not because I want it, but for the sake of all those religious people. It would be a bit of a bummer to find nothing on the other side, isn’t it? Do I believe there is something? No, not really! Does a soul evaporate? I’m still not sure about that one. I think (or believe) I’ve been visited by spirits several times (oh, a revelation!) Does reincarnation exist? It would be nice natural way of recycling!

As you can see, I’m still not sure about the issue. There is still a lot to think about, but that’s okay. At the end of my journey (a.k.a. life) all will be revealed.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it SNOW!

I was reading some blogs earlier and I really like the snow stories and pictures. Why? Well, I just love snow! I love the way the world sounds when it has snowed, I love the way it looks and feels and I even love the sound it makes when you walk. There is a downside to snow however and that is the cold that comes with it.

Unfortunately I live in one of the coastal provinces surround by petrochemical industries so the changes of snow are very slim. Most of the time when they predict snow, it means rain in my neighbourhood. Last weekend for instance, it snowed in the east, south and in the middle of the Netherlands. In the north the sun was shining and I had rain, rain and again rain. Oh and of course there was a storm…. A big storm! Conclusion: it’s definitely Autumn!.

But does that mean that I never enjoy the pleasures of snow. No of course not….sometimes nature makes a mistake and then I wake up to find that my corner of the world is covered in snow.

Here is one I made earlier….March, 2005

Sometimes you hear things that you don’t want to hear.

Saturday I was doing some shopping and while I was putting my groceries away there was this guy looking at me. Or at least I thought he was looking at me. Silly me, why on earth would he be looking at me ;) Actually he was looking at the people standing next to me. As it turned out they knew each other. After said their cheery hello’s, the woman couldn’t restrain herself. She just had to get one or two things of her chest or she would burst. So out came the gossip.

She was talking about a couple who had recently split-up. This other guy seemed to know that couple too, so he was really shocked to hear the news. According to him they were a cute couple, they looked like they belonged together. Evidently they did not, they were no longer together. The gossip continued. As it turned out the guy was still living in the house which they once had occupied together with their kids. The woman had left with the kids. Conclusion from the gossipers: The wife had done the dirty and was forced to leave.

The gossip continued (I will spare you the gory details :þ) and during this gossip rally the names of this unfortunate couple were mentioned. Shock, horror, amazement! I know these people they were talking about. How weird is that? And what’s even weirder… the story they were telling was totally untrue. I sort of know why they have split-up and that has nothing to do with the things they were talking about. I really had to restrain myself now; I was almost on the verge of saying things I probably shouldn’t say. So I gathered my things together and left the store, feeling weird and confused. This was actually the first time ever that I heard people unknown to me gossip about people I know and that was something I didn’t wanted to hear. And I’m not that naïve, I know this sort of thing has been around for ages, but that doesn’t mean I want to hear it.

Funny card!

From the Newspaper

Norwegian sleepyhead misses destination.

It’s not unusual for airplane passengers to sleep during the flight. But Tor Martin Johansen must be a record holder. He fell asleep on his flight to Namsos. While he was in the land of Nod the plane landed in Namsos and later returned to Trondheim. Tor Martin Johansen woke up suddenly when he heard the stewardess say: ‘Welcome to Trondheim!’
He travelled for hours and now he was back…… at his point of origin.

The Date!

Just click on the cartoon for a larger image!

Its ‘I've learned’ – Friday again!

I’ve learned – That I don’t have an all time favourite song.

Is that important? No, its not! So, why blog about it then? I don’t know, I have to blog about something, don’t I? It’s just something I’ve been thinking about this past few days.

I listen to a Dutch Radio show (Working Vitamins) every morning. They play a mixture of music I like, mostly ’80s, ’90s and recent hits. During the last hour there is always a famous guest in the studio. They have a chat about their latest single, movie, book or whatever and at the end of every chat there is always the same question ‘what is your all time favourite song?’ Most guests have really brilliant favourites. So earlier this week I started to think about this, what if someone would ask me that question, what would be my answer? And I honestly don’t know and that is pretty silly isn’t it.

I listen to music a lot and I have a lot of favourite band and songs, but what makes a song an absolute favourite. Is it measured by the amount of goose bumps, memories, recognition or is it just the sing-along factor. I just don’t know. Do you?

But as I said earlier, I do have favourite songs and here are just 10 songs (in random order) I really love:

Be my number Two – Joe Jackson
I can’t make you love me – Bonnie Raitt
Michel – Anouk
Let it Be – Kane
Leave the light on – Beth Hart
Till Kingdom come - Coldplay
See you when you’re 40 – Dido
Snowflakes – Angie Stone
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for – U2
Photograph – Jamie Cullum

I could go on and on, but I won’t bore you with that. But I’m curious; do you have an absolute favourite song of all time? And why is it your favourite song? If you’re willing to share, you can leave a message in the comment section (Duh!). And…….Yes, I’m nosy, I know! :)

A modem with an attitude.

A while back a friend gave me a new ADSL modem as a gift. Since I got the thing I’ve been trying to install it, but it just won’t work and it’s driving me crazy. After every attempt I need a lot of Zen therapy and meditation to calm down again. *Zennnnn* :) No, it’s not that bad, it’s just a bit annoying. I’m not used to the fact that I can’t get this thing to work. I follow all the instructions, I even got a new manual from the internet…… and still no luck!

Argghh! But it’s okay; my old faithful modem still works, so I can do my thing on the net. And btw I think I got the other one all figured out now. It’s a modem with an attitude, a ‘talk to the hand’ kind of a thing. My PC can say what ever she wants; the modem is just not listening. How rude!

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money can’t buy

New experiences contribute more to your happiness then new possessions.

‘Don’t think that money makes you happy’. That in itself is not a sensational statement, but it becomes a sensational statement if it’s said by a prominent investment adviser. It was one of the 10 rules for a happy life, drawn up in a memo that was released last year. To pursue wealth, fame and a good image supplies you with less happiness then personal growth, good relationships and public spirit. As it turns out materialistic orientated people suffer more from mental disorders.

During an experiment, students were asked to state their life goals. They also had to express their feelings and had to tell how happy they were at that exact moment. Two months later they were asked about their happiness again, the progress towards their goals was also checked. The students who had materialistic goals like making more money, getting a better job, buy designer clothes, didn’t feel any better. Their standard of wellbeing hadn’t improved. Their progress made them happier but the student who also had personal goals felt better. They gained more confidence and dared to stand up for themselves.

So what’s the solution? Should you throw away all your stuff and live happily ever after?
No of course not, that’s overdoing it a bit! But a lot of people should invest more into experiences and not in possessions. Don’t buy that expensive new trendy watch, that luxury car or a bigger house. Instead, go on holiday, go to a concert, an art exhibition, go mountain climbing or paddle around in canoe or something. Now you’re probably wondering: Why? Well, there are four reasons for this. First of all: Possessions doesn’t signify a thing. Stop comparing yourself with richer people, don’t sell yourself short. Second reason: memories of experiences improve over time. For example: You went for a walk in the woods the other day. Your feet got wet and cold, you felt tired and on the way home there was a big traffic-jam. By the time you came home you were really pissed off. Never again! But after a few days you forgot all about that, you’ll only remember the lovely colours of the leaves and the walk. This is just a neat trick of your brain. It can do this with experiences but not with possessions. Third reason: experiences become part of the person you are. Possessions won’t change your identity. If you can look back at a lot of different experiences it will give your life an enriched feel. And finally the fourth reason: you will come in contact with a lot of interesting and fun people.

So don’t buy that new gadget, go out, enjoy yourself, meet new people….gain new experiences :)

Video!

This one is really wild, but make sure you read the info below before you view the video and turn up the volume if you can.

This is a car advertisement from Great Britain. When they finished filming the ad, the film editor noticed something moving along the side of the car, like a ghostly white mist. They found out that a person had been killed a year earlier in that exact same spot. The ad was never put on TV because of the unexplained ghostly phenomenon. Watch the front end of the car closely as it clears the trees in the middle of the screen and you'll see the white mist crossing in front of the car then following it along the road....Spooky! Is it a ghost, or is it simply mist? You decide. If you listen to the ad, you'll even hear the cameraman whispering in the background about it near the end of the commercial. A little creepy but it seems to be authentic! Is the volume up, are you completely focused.....okay, play the video!

Keep the fire burning II

Last month I wrote a little piece called Keep the fire burning! Today I realised that it might also be helpful if you could recognise things that will extinguish your inner flame.

Your inner flame will die if you:

associate with people who criticize you all the time,

associate with people who can’t see your inner beauty,

only think in terms like ‘I need, I must, it must be done’,

gossip,

try to be nice all the time,

can only see obligations or alleged obligations,

lie to yourself,

eat too much all day, every day,

spend too much money (on things you don’t need)

waste time,

want to be somebody you are not,

fake it,

live in fear,

judge others,

are late for meetings, dates and appointment,

look for approval and confirmation,

don’t communicate,

judge yourself,

not consider other peoples feelings,

don’t take the time to appreciate the things you have,

depend on others to make you happy,

believe that others are better then you,

ignore your innermost desires,

are to accommodating,

set no boundaries,

don’t take enough you time.

Free yourself of (some of) the things mentioned above and life will be a lot brighter, lighter and warmer. Let the blazing fire grow!

The scarf sage - THE END!

The finished scarf!

Beady eyes

Last night I was visiting the land of lovely dreams again and I was snoring away happily. But all of a sudden I was awake. I don’t know why, I don’t know how but it happened and that is very rare. Most of the time you can fire a canon right next to my bed and I still will sleep happily until morning.

Last night was different. I had the funny feeling that someone was watching me. Funny feeling indeed because

I was alone,

My bedroom is not on the ground floor

Ghosts usually don’t wake me up in the middle of the night.

It took me a while to regain full consciousness and while I was struggling to do that my eye landed on the alarm. Oh my God, it wasn’t even 4 yet! Grrrmph! I wanted to go back to sleep…. This was not the time to become fully awake…..grrrmph again! I turned on my left side, plumped my head back on my pillow, looked around the room once more and then I was fully prepared to enter the land of dreams once more. NOT! Because then it hit me! There was something looking at me! Very carefully I opened one eye and there it was, or should I say there they were……two beady eyes looking at me. Was I just imagining it or was this real? I closed my eye, reopened it and…. they were still there. This was real! F**k! (excuses for the strong language!)

I always sleep with my window open and now there was an animal watching me through the gap. Dear me, good heavens, oooooh. I tried to scare it away by making strange sounds but it wouldn’t move. It just kept looking at me with those eyes. After a few seconds I knew there was only one thing left to do, I had to get out of bed and shut the window. A lot of what ifs entered my mind while I was making my way to window. What if the animal would enter my room, what if the animal attacked me, what if……I didn’t dare to close the window…….ooooooow! Before I could really answer all these questions and before I could even give them a second thought I grabbed hold of the handle and closed the window. *sigh* I had done it! No more beady eyes!

Slowly my heartbeat returned to normal while I walked back to my bed. Oh my God, what was that? Yes indeed, what was that? I returned to the window but of course the animal was long gone. Was it a mouse, a rat, a ferret, cat? I didn’t and don’t know! But do I really want to know? Nope! There is only one thing I would like to know or two things actually.

Will the beast return?

Will I ever feel secure enough to sleep with the window open again?

The answers I prefer would be No, the beast will not return and yes I can sleep with my window open again because I really hate to sleep with all the windows closed. I like a bit of fresh air, the cold in the morning but not tonight! Tonight my bedroom is going to be like Fort Knox.

Marionette action-comedy

Yesterday, over dinner, I was telling my friends about my strange marionette puppet dream. Of course they couldn’t stop joking about it. We made up whole scenarios about how everyone would look as a marionette and what would happen if we actually were marionettes. Who would be the puppeteers? Who would be pulling the strings? Would puppets just control puppets? Questions, questions, questions. It was actually quite funny to brainstorm about all the answers. When we answered one question, another one automatically arose. Fun, fun, fun.

While I was getting ready to leave, one of my friends handed me a DVD. According to him, it was the movie to watch before going to bed…..it would guarantee sweet dreams. I just put the DVD in bag and went home. It was still early so I decided to watch the DVD. Only a few minutes into this movie, I was up in stitches. Man, this guy had handed me a marionette puppet movie ….. very funny guy that friend, great sense of humour!

DVD: Team America – World Police (Uncensored and unrated) and this is what Amazon had to say about it:

'An elite U.S. counter-terrorism squad loses a member while decimating half of Paris in the reckless pursuit of Middle Eastern maniacs; a Broadway actor with a traumatic childhood secret is naturally hired to replace him. Oh--and they're all marionettes. South Park maestros Trey Parker and Matt Stone (along with co-writer Pam Brady) came up with this shameless satire of pea-brained Hollywood action flicks and even smaller-minded global politics, so don't expect subtlety or even a hint of good taste. Team America is soon on the trail of North Korea's evil Kim Jong Il, who treats us to a tender song about his loneliness before ensnaring Alec Baldwin and the rest of the oblivious Film Actors Guild (F.A.G. for short) in a plot to blow up every major city on the planet. Just as the mindless squad cheerfully demolishes everything in sight, so do director Parker and company. Throwing punches Left, Right, and in-between, the movie's politics leave no turn un-stoned; there's even time to bludgeon the musical Rent. It's offensive, irresponsible comic anarchy seemingly made by sniggering little boys. Painfully funny sniggering little boys.--Steve Wiecking’

Not exactly a movie I would rent or buy myself, but I really laughed my head off. I can’t help it; I love the South Park sense of humour. I went to bed feeling totally relaxed and did I dream about marionettes again?……..NOPE! I had a dream about raking autumn leaves! And that was just my subconscious mind telling me that it’s that time again, time to get the rake out of the shed and start raking.

Another Saturday.

Last week it was SuperSaturday today I can only call it Saturday and it’s a bit of a strange one. It all started last night. First of all I could not sleep and that is a thing that rarely happens. After a lot of tossing and turning I finally managed to fall asleep and I wish I hadn’t! Man, the dream I had. Nearly every person I know was turned into a marionette with strings and all. And now they were after me. Why? Because I allegedly stole a marzipan pig?!?! and I don’t even like marzipan all that much. But now they wanted to assimilate me and they were all chasing me with pieces of string, screws and god knows what. It was actually quite scary so I decided it was time to wake up. Luckily I am a bit of a lucid dreamer so I can wake up if I really want to. The only drawback is that the same dream continues if I go back to sleep again. So, the coffee was percolating around 7.

At 11 I went to the library. I picked out a few new books and went to the counter to let them be scanned by the librarian. As it turned out, 3 of the 4 books where reserved by other member so I had to find a couple of other books to take home with me. Bummer!

On my way to the shop I noticed that Sinterklaas had arrived. That is nothing new this time of year, but this was just a bad Sinterklaas. Way too much hair and with that I mean beard and moustache. There was a big waterfall of white hair hanging from his nose/upper lip and to make thing even worse it almost looked like it was growing out of his nose. Yuk! You couldn’t even see his mouth. Okay he was dressed like Sinterklaas, but he didn’t have the grace of the “real” Sinterklaas. I guess you could compare it with a really bad Santa.

When I returned home I discovered that the washing machine had been hungry again. He has these strange moods from time to time. This time around he decided to devour a bra and a piece of t-shirt. Hmmz.. I wonder should I throw my t-shirt away or is punk back in fashion next year? You never know, do you?!

It’s a bit like turning on my monitor these days. I’ll never know if it’s going to work or not. Today it went for the NOT option. The fuse had blown again. Fortunately I bought new ones this morning so I could replace it again, but it has become clear to me that there is something completely wrong. It’s not exactly normal that I need to change the fuse weekly basis. I’ll have to keep my eye out for another monitor. Bummer again!

But things are not all bad. The weather is extremely nice. According to the forecast it should have been really cold today, but it was not. I feel great and tonight I am going to have dinner with some of my favorite friends. So who is complaining…….I’m not!

Have a great Saturday :)

Its ‘I've learned’ – Friday again!

I've learned - That age is only a number, a cipher for the records.

“How old would you be if you did not know how old you are?” You would probably not be the age you are today.

There are different ways to look at age.
First there is: Chronological Age
This is the most common way to look at age. This is the one that everyone is familiar with. It is simply the time that has passed since your date of birth to today. People who view age only from the chronological perspective are somewhere between dumb and dumber.

Second: True Age
True Age is another and better way to look at your age. True age is basically what a measurement of all the biomarkers of aging would reveal about you.

Third: Appearance Age
Appearance Age is the age you appear to be to others. It no doubt has some relationship to both chronological age and true age. Yet it is different. We all know people that appear to be quite a bit younger or older than their chronological age.

But wouldn’t it be nice if we could just forget about the numbers? Does it really matter if someone is 30 or 45? I don’t think so. People are very interesting at any age. It’s all about the person and not about the number that governments and insurance companies require of you and that your Doctor knows, even if your boy friend doesn’t.

Spooky and fascinating thriller…..Spider’s House by Sarah Diamond

Book Description
When Anna's husband Carl tells her that he's been offered a job in a different part of the country, she's as happy to move as he is. While she enjoys city life, her second career as a novelist is going nowhere, and she hopes that in the small Dorset village of Abbots Newton, inspiration might return. After the move, however, she finds it's quite a different story. With few ideas for her new novel and little else to do, life in the country isn't quite what she'd imagined. But all that is set to change when Anna discovers something unexpected: Rebecca Fisher, the notorious child murderess of the 1960s, was the previous owner of their cottage. At first, Anna is simply curious and reads up on the case that shocked the nation decades ago. Yet the more she learns about Fisher, the more determined she becomes to reveal the truth, a truth which has remained unexplored for over thirty years. But someone else has other ideas. As an unseen enemy threatens her marriage, her safety and ultimately her life, Anna finds herself unable to turn back. By understanding Rebecca Fisher, she might just be able to save herself...

Great read but you will need some time for it….it’s not exactly a fast-paced read.

The ongoing scarf-saga.

Earlier I wrote this little story about my sudden urge to knit a scarf. Shortly after I added that entry I started knitting enthusiastically. In just a few days I knitted, what looked liked the perfect scarf. I tried it on immediately. Hmmz… something was wrong. The scarf didn’t fit snug around my neck and when I persuaded it to fit snug I couldn’t move my head. Bummer, this wasn’t going to work. I decided to unpick the thing and start all over again.

Just a few days later I was really pleased with the new and improved result. I couldn’t wait to try it on, so I flung the thing around my neck and……. was shocked! The result was the same! Still no snugness! Arghhh. I had to unpick the thing again.

So…. Yesterday I started my third attempt. This time it’s not the fancy design I was going for, this time around I’m going for a plain and simple scarf. If the result is not to my liking I’m not going to unpick it again, I’m just going to donate it to charity or something.

Serious comedy

This week it is serious comedy week on one of the Dutch radio stations. If you can tell a good joke you can win tickets to go to the Serious Comedy Night, a night were famous Dutch Comedians will perform. Man, I have heard some really bad jokes this week and here are just two examples for your amusement.

A guy goes to the doctor for a routine check-up. As it turns out things are not that good. They are talking about the result and the doctor says ‘I have some very bad news for you; you are going to die soon!’ The guy is shocked and asks the doctor ‘Doctor, How much time do I have?’ The doctor answers ‘just 10’. The guy looks puzzled and asks ’10 what? 10 years, 10 months, 10 days?’ The doctor just replies ‘9, 8, 7, 6, 5……..’

A husband and wife are married for 50 years. To celebrate this happy occasion they return to the hotel where they spend their wedding night. The night is just as steamy and hot as the first time. At the breakfast table the wife is absolutely glowing and with a big grin on her face she says to her husband ‘I feel just as hot as 50 years ago’ Husband ‘that’s no surprise, one of your boobs is hanging in your oatmeal porridge.

Oops… that didn't work

I’m getting sick and tired of getting this message everytime I try to log in at 43things/43places/43people. I have to try over and over again and when I’m finally in, I can’t post anything because that same annoying message pops up. Grrrrr!! Maybe one off my goals should be… quit the whole 43crap. So…now I’ve got that of my chest I can post about something completely different.

I was reading this article about success and achievement earlier today and there was a bit of a strange list at the bottom of the article. Well, at first I thought it was a strange list, later I had to change my opinion. First of all the article states: you have to understand that success is a state of mind. Success is not just the result or the outcome. If you can understand this, every moment can be a victory. Okay, I agree with them on that. Then I came to the list. They ask: How many of these achievements can you call successes:

Staying focused

Being optimistic, no matter what

Raising confident kids

Earning more than you ever dreamed

Hanging in, regardless

Passing on what you know

Finding work you love

Telling the truth, always

Paying off debts

Finding the good in being fired

Winning a tough case

Celebrating a milestone birthday

Exceeding your parents' expectations

Bouncing back after a failure

Delivering a healthy baby

Mastering the impossible—Mt. Everest, golf, the fuse box

Losing the last ten pounds

Meditating every morning

Accepting your looks hair and all

Learning to forgive your worst enemy

As you can see, even 20 “normal” things count as achievements. Hmmz… maybe 21 should be: Accepting that websites are not always available. I’m chanting this as I am writing this, so maybe later today I can call this an achievement too :)

Kill some time….. squash a fly (or 10) !

Don’t you just hate noisy flies? Get out your fly swatter and go for the kill!

The hunt for thick creamy chicken soup.

The other day I was in the library looking for a new cookbook. While I was standing there, I suddenly remembered the best soup ever…. Thick luscious creamy chicken soup! Just thinking about it made my mouth water. I could picture the bowl of steamy soup in my head. Funny how you can crave certain foods the moment temperature drops a few degrees. According to some people this has to do with instinct and fattening up for winter, but back to the soup.

Since I was standing in the cookbook isle I immediately checked all the table of contents of the American cookbooks. Oh, I forgot to mention that I ate this delicious soup on one of my visits to America. Unfortunately none of the books offered the recipe I was looking for.

A few other books offered more or less broth-like recipes. You sort of hold a chicken over a pan of water add some herbs and you have chicken broth. Hmmz… that is sooo not the thing I was looking for. Later, at the supermarket I looked at all the soups in the soup isle. No luck there either. Bummer!

Well, I guess I have to go through thousands of recipes online. Or is there, by any chance, somebody with a nice thick creamy chicken soup recipe?

Lost Rhapsody

A new video clip to go with the old Queen hit.

Add sense or AdSense?

Every time I log in at blogger I am confronted with the nice offer of AdSense. Just use AdSense to earn money with your blog. Here is the new and easy sign up! You only need to click the link and bob’s your uncle.

I could use some extra cash but does this really works? Does it pay, to put ads on your blog? Should I add AdSense or should I just add more sense to my blog?

*sigh* questions, questions, questions!

Feedback is much appreciated :)

There is something wrong with this picture!

Can you spot what’s wrong? And no, it’s not the gruesome green color.

Yesterday I spotted this ad in a magazine. It’s an ad for digital TV and the people gathered to watch this new and improved picture quality. Their set-top box (receiver/decoder) is placed on top of the TV. And now look close, you are looking at the back of the receiver and there aren’t any cables connected. OK this might be very high-tech but it is still not wireless.
So what are those people looking at……. Absolutely nothing! Or is it just a beautiful TV?

Blown a fuse.

No I didn’t blow a fuse. But my monitor did. Yesterday night it died on me. Panic! I didn’t want to spend my good money on buying a new monitor; I need so many other things. But with a little help from a friend, I figured it out. The fuse was blown. I had to search the whole house to find a replacement and I actually found one in an old stored monitor from the dark ages. I placed it in the monitor and it is up and running again. I am soooo happy.

All I need to do now is buy an extra fuse, just in case my monitor decides to die again.

Let’s go to church!

Thanks for the nice sign, Phil

A Super Saturday.

I’m having a fantastic Saturday. Around noon Sinterklaas arrived and as always that was broadcasted on TV. It's always a joy to watch. It sure brings back a lot of fun childhood memories.

I found 3 #43 for my photo project: Photograph 43 things with the number 43 on them. I have 39 photographs now, so I only need 4 more.

When I came back from my shopping trip I found a strange envelope in the mailbox. I never receive such big envelopes so my curiosity was growing with the minute. I opened it and WOO HOO as it turned out I had won a DVD in a competition.

There were not only surprises in my real mailbox; there was also couple of nice emails in my other mailbox. Thanks everyone!

This afternoon I tried to install a new modem and router. That did not work. Usually this will get me down, but not today. Today is just superb, nothing can destroy that.

Update Sunday November, 13:
Unfortunately Saturday ended not so great. Last night my monitor died. I hope I can resuscitate it or else I need to buy I new one :(

The old fart has returned.

Well, that’s not totally true. The guy has returned and he is old but he most certainly is not a fart. That is way to disrespectful. He is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. Who am I talking about? SINTERKLAAS (Saint Nicholas) of course, who else. He arrived today, by steamboat, in Sneek and he will stay in the Netherlands until December, 6^th. On that day he will travel back to his summer residence in Spain. You are probably wondering what I’m talking about, but I’m talking about one of the nicest Dutch traditions. There is a great article on Wikipedia about this tradition and the celebration.
If you are interested, you can find it here.

Welcome back Sinterklaas, I hope your stay will be pleasant!
See you soon!

Send a message in a barrel.

A few days ago I bought a funny card to send to a message in a barrel. I wrote something nice on it today, wrote the address on the envelope and tomorrow I am going to drop it off at the post office. I wonder if the card will ever reach its destination. But hey, it’s just a fun thing; even if the card never arrives. When you throw a message-in-a-bottle in the sea, there is also no guaranty that it will end up on a nice beach or something.

For more information: Send a message in a barrel.

Its ‘I've learned’ – Friday again!

I’ve learned that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing at all and still have the best time.

And that feels great! We can talk for hours and hours, have tons of fun, laugh and cry, go shopping, enjoy a night out, travel and so much more. But we can also enjoy the silence and just enjoy each others company. There is no pressure to do anything; there is no need for words. Just being there is enough. We can sit on the beach just watching the sea or we can lie on the grass watching the clouds go by and still have the best time. I’m so grateful for having a best friend. Friends are great but a best friend is even better.

Hi Honey, I’m back!

Woo Hoo! I’ve done it and to my own amazement everything works, even the things I added myself. Well, the Blogger-people told the truth. Changing your template is easy….way too easy!

I’m back and I really like this new look

It is time to say my goodbyes.

So Goodbye!! It was nice meeting you all :) Hugs!

Huh? But why? Are you immigrating to a place with no internet service or something? Nope!! What then? Oh, nothing that drastic and I hope to be back soon, preferably this afternoon. :), but I it’s better to be safe then sorry. I was taught never to leave without saying a proper goodbye, so at least I did that.

Okay enough with the suspense. I’m not going anywhere, at least not intentionally. This afternoon I want to attempt to change the outlook of my blog. According to the instructions, that is easy…..too easy even. But I don’t trust instructions all that much. Who knows maybe my blog will disappear in a black hole or something and will it be lost in internet space for ever. I hope not, but if that happens I want to use Arnold’s famous line: I’ll be back!!

Well, I said my goodbyes, gave an explanation, I guess it is time to try this :)

See you soon!

A pointy story about needles.

A few days ago, I suddenly felt the urge to knit. At first I was very confused; knitting is such an old people’s thing, isn’t it? Then I felt a little worried, was the Change sneaking up on me? Was I definitely getting ready for the dustbin, the old peoples home? Noooooo! My worst nightmare was not going to become a reality! Not yet anyway! I know for a fact that knitting is very popular worldwide, even famous people took up knitting, so why shouldn’t I knit.

It al started the other day when I saw a nice scarf in a shop. I looked at the pricetag and I was plain and simply, shocked. How dare they ask that price just for a machine made scarf. So a plan formed in my head. All I needed was some yarn and a couple of needles and I could make that scarf myself.

I found the yarn pretty quick, but the knitting needles were a bigger problem. I knew I had needles in my house somewhere. When I found them, it turned out that I did not possess the needles I needed. Stubborn as I am, I tried the ones I had and surprise, surprise that did not work. I did not end up with a scarf but with a plank. That might come in handy if you need an extra bookshelf, but not if you want a scarf. Conclusion: I need some new needles.

After my shop fiasco last Saturday, I went a bit reluctantly to the shops. My mind was all clouded with dark thoughts. Probably I would end up with yarn and no needles. Just my luck! While I was walking to shops the dark clouds disappeared, well in my head at least. I couldn’t say the same thing about the sky. There, they seemed to multiply, but that is autumn in Holland. Luckily I had reached the shopping centre when it started to rain.

Okay needles, here I am, come to mamma! I went in the first shop: no knitting needles. Second, third, fourth and fifth shop: same result. The dark clouds in my head came back! Oh no, this was not happing to me…. again! Time for coffee and a quick think. How weird was this, all the shop I visited sold yarn but no needles. Why? What else can you do with yarn? I just didn’t understand it. But back to the knitting needles-story. Someone must have been cunning enough to fill this needle void, so there just had to be a shop. While I was sipping my coffee, I suddenly realised that there was one shop I had not tried yet. In one of the backstreets there is this shop which sells all sort of sewing supplies. Maybe, just maybe they were cunning enough to supply the knitting junkies. And they were clever enough. They had my needles….. woohoo!

I told the shoplady enthusiastically that she just made my day! We had a fun chat and as I left the shop she told me that I just made her day, too. Fun and happiness can be found in the smallest of things.

And now I’m off…… knitting :)

Warning! Don’t let this spoil your appetite.

I watched a Dutch consumer program on TV the other day and I was really grossed out. They had inspected the buffets of nine first-class all-inclusive hotels at the Turkish Riviera and the results were staggering. The food in 8 of the hotels is evidently a health hazard.

In 5 food samples they found fecal bacteria. These should not be in, and can not exist in properly cooked food. Are you grossed out yet? Yes, stop reading then. The lab who tested these samples tried to copy the results but it was impossible. It was just too disgusting, even for them. To imitate the results they would need to have poop on their hands and who would want that…. Well, I guess Turkish kitchen staff certainly doesn’t have a problem with that. Never heard of washing their hands, I guess.

Further testing showed that 4 of the 9 hotels also served decayed/rotten/bad food. Food is considered rotten if there are more then 10 million bacteria’s per gram. In the Netherlands a restaurant is closed down if there are 1 million bacteria per gram.

They tested the buffets at the following hotels :

Joy Long beach,

Ardisia,

Riva Diva,

Lares Park,

Lara Falcon,

Hillside Su,

Cesar’s,

Club Nena,

Delphin Park.
None of these came out of the test with flying colors but the last two are certainly the best choice if you want to stay healthy and not want to spend your whole holiday in the bathroom.

My sky!

Reinventing Disco?

I just listened to some tracks of the new Madonna album and I am in a bit of a shock. She can’t be serious, can she? Don’t get me wrong, I think she is a remarkable woman. The way she keeps reinventing herself, her music, the way she perseveres, does all the things she is interested in, her looks and the shape she is in at 47…. She is just a phenomenal woman. But do we really need the reinvention of disco? It feels a bit like been there, done that. Or is that just my age talking?.

When I watched the MTV European music awards last week I was a bit surprised by Madonna’s new look. This was definitely back to the ‘70s, the Farah Fawcett (who?) hairstyle, the aerobic suit and big sunglasses. Oh my god, what’s happening? I don’t want to relive that era again. But now that I’m thinking about it, the new look shouldn’t be such a big surprise. The sample from the 70’s/80’s ABBA’s hit Gimme gimme gimme sort of gave it away. Listening to the tracks I also discovered a background loop that sounds a lot like ‘I feel love’ by Donna Summer. Donna who? Uhmm…. Donna Summer, if you are that young and you don’t know who she is, you should probably ask your parents about her. Some tracks even remind me of Italodisco (that’s what we called it back then), so not my cup of tea. On one track there is a bit of Dutch and my only question is why? Other tracks reminds me of the Ray of light album, which I loved btw.

But all in all I think the album is going to be great and certainly not boring with all the different styles on it. I’m willing to accept this from Madonna, who has been around for 21 years or so, but not from just everybody. My only fear is that wannabee stars think they can pull this off too. If that happens I guess I have to quote a ‘70’s hit by Gruppo Sportivo ‘Disco really made it, it’s empty and I hate it’

Simmered Pears

After an afternoon of garden work yesterday, I felt I was in for a real treat. So for dinner I made Simmered pears with roasted potatoes and a nice piece of grilled chicken. While I was preparing my pears I wondered: Do they eat this in other countries too or is this a typical Dutch side dish? I don’t know the answer to this, so if there is anyone out there in blogland who can answer this question, it will be much appreciated.

How do you make Simmered pears? You peal the skin of 8 cooking pears (this serves 2) don’t remove the stem, don’t cut them. You empty a bottle of red wine in a pan, add approximately 10 dessertspoons (or as much as you like) sugar, a cinnamonstick, some rind of a lemon and bring this to the boil. When the sugar is dissolved, you turn down the heat, add the pears and let this simmer for about 1½ - 2 hours or until the pears are deep red. You can eat them hot and cold.

As said, you can eat this as a side dish but you can also make a nice dessert out of it with some mascarpone or vanilla ice-cream and Port-wine.

Chance stipulates our destiny and frees us.

The Art of living suggest that everyone of us can change his/her life into a masterpiece. But who is really the artist of this masterpiece? Nowadays the popular answer to this question is the artist himself. Everyone of us is the blacksmith of our own luck and everyone needs to make the most of our own life. This popular answer however, is a bit haughty. Everyone of us is also at the mercy of chance. Nobody can select his own parents; nobody can choose the country were he is born. And the first person who selected his own genes still needs to be born. Still, all these factors are very determinative for who we are. We are a sum of contingencies afloat on a sea of time.

Even when we are adults and we are trying to make conscious choices, fate is still out there. The Greek philosopher Aristotle said: One digs a hole to bury a treasure and another one digs a hole to plant a tree and finds the treasure. How things will turn out in our lives is not in our own hands, we don’t have total control. Is this a bad thing? No! Knowing that you are not responsible for all the things that happen in your life can be very liberating. Knowing that fate sometimes deals you a bad card, can spare you a lot of unnecessary fretting. You did nothing wrong, it was fate. Just shrug your shoulders and be kind to yourself. Sure you could have done things differently and maybe even better, but there is no guarantee that the outcome would have been any better.

There is one big downside to believing in destiny. If you give fate a (large) role in your life, it can make you really passive. Who thinks that he can’t influence his life, can’t change his future, will not undertake steps to make something of his life. Knowing that your life partly lies in the hands of fate does not mean that you can’t change it; you can still influence the events. There are so many unforeseen events, just keep your eyes open and you will see the ones that can work in your advantage.

Outside

It still doesn’t feel like autumn over here. The temperatures are still too high for this time of year and on the one hand that’s great but on the other it’s not. Nature is confused. Normally weeds will begin to die by now, the grass stops growing and most garden work will consist of raking leaves. This year however it is completely different. The grass is still growing, weeds flourish and even trees come into bud. This afternoon I need to mow the lawn, rake leaves and remove weeds. But I don’t mind, somehow working in the garden always relaxes me and it’s great to be outside on this sunny day.

Have a great Sunday!

Life

How come? Why? Does this ever happen to you?

Today was the day. I was going to give myself a present for my (quit smoking) achievement. I woke up really early, all excited, so after my shower and breakfast it was time to get in to town and shop. I wasn’t sure what I would get myself so I went to almost every shop I like. It turned out to be a huge success …Not!!

Somehow every perfume made me sneeze, clothes didn’t fit comfortable, books all looked boring, there where no brown leather boots obtainable, I couldn’t find a bag I loved etcetera etcetera. Bummer! :(

And I wouldn’t mind that at all, but this sort of thing always happens to me when I really want or need something. When my favourite pair of shoes needs to be replaced, I actually need a new winter coat or something. When I have some extra money to spend, it will just stay in my purse for ages or I will spend it on other things I can use but not necessarily need. On the other hand, when I have spent all that money or when I am almost broke I see fantastic and lovely things in every shop. At that exact moment I finally stumble on the winter coat I always wanted to have, I smell the perfect perfume, find all sorts of great books I want to have.

It almost feels like a conspiracy :) But maybe I’m just a bad shopper, or maybe I just want or need things at the wrong moment. I guess I never find the answer to this.

It's always the Sun!

You are the Sun card. The light of the Sun reveals
all. The Sun is joyful and bright, without fear
or reservation. The childish nature of the Sun
allows you to play and feel free. Exploration
can truly take place in the light of day when
nothing is hidden. The Sun's rays fill you with
energy so that you may live life to its
fullest, milking pleasure out of each day. Such
joy and energy can bring wealth and physical
pleasure. To shine in the light of day is to
have confidence, to soak up its rays is to feel
the freedom of a child. Image from: Stevee
Postman. http://www.stevee.com/


Which Tarot Card Are You?
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I’ve learned -

That I lose the inspiration to write on Friday.

Every Friday it is the same story over and over again. I start-up my computer, check for new email and do the things I usually do and then it is that time again, I have to figure out what to write about that day. Every other day of the week I have no problem with that, but Friday is somehow different and I can’t figure out why. Even now I am staring at my screen. Man, how annoying is this! I know there is no one standing behind me with a whip, ordering me to write, and I know that my posts will not be missed if I skipped a day, but this is just something I want to do (at least for now).

I think I have the solution for my Friday writersblock. Every Friday I am going to write about something I’ve learned. Maybe someone else will benefit from my lessons learned. Or maybe no one will, but that’s okay too, I never said I was a teacher. Oh and there is one other advantage, if you are not interested in learned things you can skip my Friday posts :þ

And how funny is this, while I’m writing this little piece about writersblock I get all sorts of post-ideas, well I have this post now so you will just have to wait on all the other ones. :)

Time to stop counting!

I have been quit for 1 Month, 4 Weeks, 1 Day, 17 hours, 22 minutes and 32 seconds (60 days). I have saved € 76,50 by not smoking 1.093 cigarettes. I have saved 3 Days, 19 hours and 5 minutes of my life. So I’ve been quit for 2 months and I’m proud of that.

A lot of people ask me if I feel different and healthier now and to be totally honest I don’t feel all that different. Sure, breathing is a lot easier, food taste better, I can smell more but it is not significantly improved. Oh and I have more money to spend.

There are downsides to; because foods taste better I eat more, so I had to cook less food because I can eat a horse nowadays. To keep my metabolism at the same rate I need to exercise more. Oh and I’ve all sort of health problems I never had before.

But looking back I can honestly say it was worth the struggle. Tomorrow I am going to hit the shops and buy myself a congratulation present and then it’s time to get on with my life… the life of a non smoker!

How smart is your right foot?

Here is a little something to tease your brain with. Some of you will try this over and over again, and it might sound weird, but you can’t outsmart your right foot.

1. Sit down and lift your right foot from the floor. Rotate your foot clockwise.
2. Keep rotating your foot and lift your right arm (ow that’s looks sooo funny :þ)
3. Now draw a 6 in the air (keep rotating your foot)

Watch your foot…. Is it turning the other way around? Do you lose control over your foot? Stop trying to correct this… there is not that much you can do about this.

The brain is a bizarre thing

Playing the observation game.

Sometimes when I’m, for example, on a train, plane or other form of public transport for hours, I get bored out of my mind. By then I’ve read all my magazines/ the paper, listened to the music I like most and watched the world go by. What to do next? Let me think...aha got it.... It is time to observe the people around me. Certainly there must be someone interesting? And there always is! The next step is to strike up a conversation…..NOT, because that will ruin the game. The less you know about the other person, the better! I just observe them, look at their bodylanguage, and notice what they are doing, watch their behavior, make a mental note of their clothes, eavesdrop a little and then it's time; let the game begin!

When the picture in my mind is complete, I close my eyes and make up a whole story about them. I fantasize about who they are, where they are going and why. And the fun thing is, you can make the story as complicated and long as you want. It’s cool!

Most of the time, you never know if the things you dream up are correct, but that is part of the charm. And sometimes you get the rest of the story totally by accident. I was on a train one day and there was a girl who looked head over heals in love but also pretty worried. I noticed her because she radiated a really weird vibe. So I dreamed up a story about how she met this guy and fell in love with him, but she was still in a relationship with another guy. She was now on her way to break up with the last guy and then she would take the train back to see the new guy. Of course this is the short story; in my head it was much longer. I had even dreamed up how the guys looked. Much to my surprise she got off the train at the same stop as me.

I was meeting someone at the station and so I sat down on a bench. The girl sat down on the bench opposite mine, she was waiting too. The longer I sat there, the more curious I became. Suddenly a guy turned up, he tried to kiss her but she just turned her head away and hugged him instead. He picked up her bag and wanted to leave the station, but instead of leaving she sat down again. The guy had no other choice then to sit down beside her and they started talking. Much to my surprise, she was really breaking-up with this guy. And I was not eavesdropping, they were talking very loud :). She gave him all sorts of reasons for the break-up, but they sounded not very convincing, at least not to my ears. A few minutes later the guy had heard enough, he threw the bag in her lap and exited the building the same moment my friend entered. We hugged, talked for a while and turned around to walk out. At that precise moment a guy entered, he ran past us and as I looked over my shoulder he hugged the girl and kissed her. They were absolutely glowing. Man, I was right this time, even the guys looked like I thought they would. Okay I was wrong about her taking the train back. But all in all, how weird was this?

But I hope I’m not always right, and most of the time I don’t know the outcome and that is fine by me. Just making up absurd stories is much more fun. And you can play this game everywhere, in the bus, in a waiting room, at a restaurant when you see two people together who shouldn’t be together. And you can play this game alone but also with friends. Just try it sometimes, maybe you like it. Need some practice; make up a story about the guy in the picture :)

Oh, one tip! If you play this game in a restaurant, please don't close your eyes when you are making up the story. Who knows, maybe someone will find that weird and makes up a whole story about you.

Lost something?

Faking it!

Fool yourself for a change!

It is probably one of the most hilarious movie scenes from the last century. Meg Ryan shows a disturbed Billy Christal how easy women can fake an orgasm. People are not always sincere and that is usually judged. One of the challenges in life after all, is being loyal to your own believes. Still, you can shoot yourself in the foot when you are just way too honest.

When you have a bad day you can obviously stay in bed all day with the curtains closed and your head under a pillow. Or if things don’t go your way, you can snap at your co-workers or you can sulk around your family and ruin everyone’s mood. Okay, you are your authentic self at that moment and you show your feelings, but does that improve your mood? Probably not, you only feel worse.

Reason for this is that cause and effect run uncontrollable through the human mind. We not only grumble because we are mad but we also get annoyed because we are so grumpy. Watch a funny movie on TV with a pen clenched between your teeth and later with the pen between your lips. In the first case your face starts to smile and you like the movie more then in the second case, were your face would automatically turn into a wry face.

Turn around cause and effect and it will work in your advantage. Ask someone to do you a small favor and he will think he likes you more, because he did something for you. When you have a bad day, you can stay under the covers, but you can also pick yourself up and drag yourself out of the black hole. Meet up with friends, exercise or prepare a nice meal. Act if you are happy and your mood will change.

Of course this does not imply that a fake orgasm is just as good as a real one. Researcher Gert Holstege proved through brain scans that there is a big difference between fake and real orgasms. With a real one the brain stops for a short while and you don’t experience things like fear. With a fake one, your brain is working overtime because you not only have to fake the orgasm you also need to fake the facial expressions.

So if you want to fake it….just fool yourself out of your bad mood and let the rest be the real thing.