Oh, I could have ended up a statistics

Yesterday I was reading a really interesting article in a popular science magazine about dying and what happens to the body before and afterwards. A bit morbid maybe, but nonetheless interesting. I’ll spare you all the details, but there was an interesting section called the “causes of death statistics” by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

In 2005:

136,402 people died in the Netherlands.
Main cause of death: cardiovascular diseases/diseases of the heart - 43,350 people died
Second place goes to: cancer – claming 40,373 people
Third place: respiratory diseases, pneumonia and influenza – killed 14,315 people.
After that, there is a whole lot of nothing, followed by psychical problems (including Alzheimer’s) – take 6,436 lives
Problems with digestive organs – 5,384 victims
5,343 people die unnatural or unintentional, think accidents
Interesting fact: People are least likely to die when they have eye problems, only 5 victims a year.

174 people get murdered, 1,572 commit suicide and 1,961 die when they fall.* (Hopefully they didn’t slip on the sidewalk).
Strange, I never realised so many people lost their lives by falling. Did you?

Anyway, I didn’t end up a statistic this time around, but I probably will in the future. After all, everyone dies in the end!

* Leaves 17,489 people who probably died of old age a.k.a natural causes. They aren’t mentioned.

Interesting question!

If you came with a warning label, what would it say?

Today, mine would look like this:

Cartoon Tuesday: One of those?

Ouch! No Mind, Body & Soul session this week.

Yesterday I had a bit of a freak accident. Ouch!! No blood was spilled, no body parts were broken, but the right side of my body is bruised. I am okay, it just hurts! So, I am taking a couple days off to let my body heal! BBL :)

Think Fast Survey

Nicked from Stu (or was it Aoj)

Think Fast Survey- answer with the first thing that pops into your head DONT CHEAT!!!

1. My ex is still…
a very good friend.

2. I am listening to…
music (Ozark Henry – Weekenders)

3. Maybe I should…
stop blogging

4. I love…
old Dutch traditions like Sinterklaas

5. My best friend(s)….
have a lot on their minds right now

6. I don’t understand…
men who think it's okay to harass women

7. I lost …..
myself once. That’s never going to happen again (I hope)

8. People say…
I am weird. Luckily I never listen to people

9. The meaning of my screen name is…
No meaning actually, just a nickname a friend gave me after hearing the Dakota song.

10. Love is…
a mysterious thing.

11. Somewhere, someone is…
actually smiling :)

12. I will always…
be here, there, everywhere

13. Forever seems…
a very long time!

14. I never ever want to …
lose hope!

15. My mobile phone is…
lying on the coffee table….far, far away from me!

16. When I woke up this morning…
I turned the radio on and stayed in bed all warm and comfy for 30 minutes so I could catch the news.

17. I get annoyed at…
UPC

18. Parties are..
fun, fun, fun! Well, most are!

19. My pets…
I don’t have pets. O hold on, I have a timeshare cat called Mies! She is my neighbour’s cat

20. Kisses are…..
priceless

This is un*beeeeeeeeeeeping*believable!

Today I received this little letter addressed to the residents at my address. Since most of you can’t understand Dutch I will translate some of it:

Dear Mrs, Mr,

Currently we are delivering Radio and TV channels via our cable to your door, but according to our administration you are not paying for any of it. Because we like you to pay, we now call your attention to the next few point.

You want to keep receiving all our fabulous Radio and TV Channels. Fine, pay us € 9.53 a month and return the enclosed form to us with all your details.

You are already one of our customers. Please return the enclosed form to us with all your details.

You don’t want to use our great cable service. Fine, we will disconnect you on December 22.

And then they go on about how great they are, blablabla!

Of course this isn’t a literal translation, but you get the meaning. Now, here is the thing ….. they disconnected me without a reason or a warning 2 years ago!! I tried everything to get reconnected again, but every attempt failed. In the end I just gave up. Asked them politely to stick their cable in a place where the sun never shines and happily opted for Digital TV from another company. And now they are telling me I had cable the whole time?

Grrrrrr……

Freakishly weird or just magnificently interesting.

The other day there was a really interesting item in the news. Okay, they usually show interesting topics but this was something different. They had a piece about an exhibition and that’s something we rarely see on the news. ‘It must be something special’ I thought, and I was right.


The BODIES Exhibition, a phenomenal look at the phenomenon we call the human body, is hitting Amsterdam from November 25^th, 2006 till March 15^th, 2007 – Beurs van Berlage.

Some people think it’s tasteless and bizarre, others find it very interesting and wonderful. I admit at first I was a bit grossed out, but after seeing the video’s (About the exhibition – video) I changed my mind and I am rather intrigued by the exhibition.

So, what do you think?

Cartoon Tuesday: Politics ……..

Tomorrow is Election Day, elections for The Tweede Kamer ("second chamber"). Another chance to make my voice heard, another chance to change the political agenda (as if I could do that) for the next four years (if the new cabinet will last that long). Usually I have a fairly good idea which party is going to get my vote, but this year I really don’t know. I am what they call a “hovering voter”.

This year we can chose from 20 political parties and I don’t think that number makes it any easier. 5 of those are the real big ones, 5 are sort of medium size and the rest are new or really small or almost non existent. Two of them don’t even have a name; some of the others have (IMO) nasty names like Party for freedom (or Freedom Party – apparently we are at war and I missed it or something), One NL, Party for the Netherlands. They aren’t going to get my vote. So that still leaves 17 parties to choose from. Okay, the nameless ones aren’t going to get my vote so that is another two gone. If they can’t even come up with a name, I am not sure they could come up with an interesting political program. I am not going to vote on a party with a religious background so that means another 3 gone….still 12 left. Let’s see what left: Party for animals (hmmmz… if they were called “Party Animals” I would consider them ;)), Netherlands transparent, Ad Bos Collective (sounds like a band name), United Senior Party, Fortuyn, Liberal Democratic Party, Continued Direct Democratic Party and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy. Wow, that’s another 8 gone…..still left with 4:
- Labour Party (PVDA)
- Socialist Party (SP)
- Green Left (Groen Links)
- Democrats 66 (D66)
Kind of an odd selection, but at least it’s a lot less then the 20 I started out with :) Earlier this afternoon I took a little test to see which party has opinions closest to mine and funnily enough these were all in the top5.

I still have some reading to do before I can decide, I guess. In the meantime I’ll keep hovering around, happily :)

I wonder….do these people have any kids?

Last week the UN-climate summit in Nairobi ended with, what they called, a result. Hooray, they are going to cut the emissions, I thought, but that wasn’t it. No, they are going to help Africa so that they can start working with clean technology. Makes sense doesn’t it, because after all Africa has a lot of industrial countries on its continent. Hmmz… when you think about it, it doesn’t make that much sense at all. It would have made more sense if the 35 industrial countries had agreed on using more clean technology themselves, but they didn’t. Instead they tried to agree on a timetable for the completion of discussions on global binding emissions cuts beyond the existing Kyoto Protocol, which means they actually talked about a timetable, a plan, for the past week and a half. And did they actually come up with such a timetable….nope! No clear timetable emerged, so there will probably not be enough time to get new targets into place before 2012, when the Kyoto agreement expires. And because they were so busy talking about the schedule, there wasn’t any time left to talk about another round of mandatory cuts in emissions……obviously!

I had high hopes after reading the Stern Review. I thought that this would open the world’s eyes, but it apparently had not much impact. It's very clear from the Stern Review that we need very rapid cuts in carbon emissions and that it will cost far less to cut emissions now than to deal with the consequences later, so why wait? I don’t know what they are waiting for. If we acted internationally now, things could still be changed around. The world could still be a nice place a hundred years from now, but instead politician and ministers like this option better:

• Floods from rising sea levels (displacing up to 100 million people)
• Melting glaciers which could cause water shortages for 1 in 6 of the worlds population.
• Wildlife will be harmed; at worst up to 40 % of species could become extinct
• Droughts may create tens or even hundreds of millions of “climate refugees”

Prosperity today, is much more important then a healthy liveable planet earth in the future.

I wonder….do these people have any kids?

Mind, Body & Soulsession (#23)

Visualizations for insomniacs

Last week we did a bit of exploring into the world of meditation and visualization and today we are going to explore some more. I am going to introduce you to some visualization techniques for insomniacs (or for people who find it very hard to fall a sleep from time to time). Visualizations are very useful for treating insomnia because they help you relax and will reduce stress levels, both very helpful if you want to fall asleep.
Below I will introduce you to two visualizations (or call them exercises, if you want) you can try. You can choose the one that suits you best, or you can make up your own. No matter which one you choose, they both start off in the same way.

To start:
When it is time for bed, get into bed and prepare yourself for a good and relaxing night.
Lie down in a comfortable position, on your back, stomach or side, every position is okay, and try to relax. You can place your hands on your tummy, rest them by your side or put them under your pillow, whatever feels best. Keep your eyes open for now.
Now are you ready, lets go….

Take a deep slow breath through your nose and release it slowly through your slightly opened mouth, like blowing a kiss or blowing out smoke. Exhale fully!
Take another deep slow breath, deeper this time, count up to 8 and fill your lungs all the way. Release it again, very slowly and gently through the mouth, counting up to 8 again.
Close your eyes relax and feel the stress disappear while you’re breathing out.
Take another, deep breath just like the one before. In through the nose, count up to 8, hold it for a second and breath out through the mouth again.
As you exhale, try to relax your muscles, not just one, but every muscle in your body.
If this feels good already you can keep doing this until you fall asleep, but you can also go to the visualizations. Just pick the one you like best and continue. Eyes closed....start visualizing!

Visualization 1
Forget about the bed; imagine yourself lying on a warm, peaceful exotic beach.
Activate all your senses. Feel the sun on your face, hear the waves gently lapping on the shore and try to breathe slow and deep, in time with the waves. You can just lie there or you can even lie in a hammock if you want (feel the gentle sway of the hammock). Whatever you choose, just lie there and relax. After a while walk up to water and feel the warm sand between your toes. You can go for a walk, if you feel like it, or you can go for a swim, the water isn’t going to be cold, it’s your visualization remember, you can make it as hot or cold as you want. Feel the water caressing your body. When you are done walking or swimming it’s time for some additional relaxation. Visualize an air mattress, no you won’t have to inflate it, that’s already done. Place it on the waves and get on it. Lie in a comfy position and float. Smell the sea, taste the salt on your lips, smell the sun lotion (or leave this part out….you can’t get sunburned in a visualization anyway), hear the birds. Listen, smell and experience everything around you. Now slowly let yourself drift, float on the warm waves, drift, drift, feel the breeze on your skin, hear the wave and the splashing of water, experience your tranquil surroundings….. drift, drift of to sleep.
Sweet dreams!!

(I like to use this visualization when I go to the dentist too, only I’ll stay awake then. In that case I just float around on my air mattress enjoying the scenery, forgetting about the horror that’s going on inside my mouth).

Visualization 2.
Imagine yourself leaving a party. The party was in a penthouse on the hundredth floor. You had an amazing night, which you’ve spent with family, friends, celebrities or your boy-/girlfriend, whatever you pick will do. You are the last to go. One more time you glance outside and watch all the light of the city. Next you’ll get your coat and kiss the host(ess) goodbye and you will leave. Outside the door is a corridor, visualize it. At the end of the corridor you will find the elevator which will take you down. Walk toward (create your surroundings whilst walking over) the elevator and push the button. Ping! The elevator is there. Create the inside of the elevator while the doors open. Listen, is there any music playing, does it smell nice, what are the walls like, and how about the floor? Now get in and look for the elevator panel, study it. Give it the look you like. Done? Now press the button for the ground floor, no fooling around here……you are not allowed to hit every button there is ;)
The doors close as you get a last glimpse of the corridor you just created. Feel the elevator move; you are going down in a nice gentle motion. Look for the light that indicates which floor you are on and start counting backwards accordingly. Here we go, that’s floor 99…(breath in)…, floor 98…(exhale slowly)..zzzzz floor 97…… (breath in slowly and deeply)…….floor 96…..(exhale slowly) and so on. While you feel yourself going down, go with the flow, feel the motion. Continue counting, keep visualizing and breathing deeply and slowly. When you are ready just let yourself drift off.
Sleep well!

Just stir …..and that’s it!

I think I’ve to visit Belgium soon. Why? Because! Kidding…. I’ve found a very interesting, new product online the other day which I, of course, would like to sample. Who knows, you might want to do the same after you have read the rest :)

Do you love dark milk chocolate, based on bitter chocolate? Or milk chocolate with just a hint of sweetness? Or are you more likely to choose a marriage between nuts and chocolate? No, still not a thing you would fancy? Well, how about this one then: Cointreau…..a novel combination of orange liqueur and bitter chocolate? What am I talking about? I am talking about Choc-o-lait here, the new way to make hot chocolate in an instant.
The concept is new and original. They have created something that looks like a chocolate lollypop. It’s a wooden stick with a Belgian chocolate on one end, which rapidly melts in a cup of hot milk. Man, that must result in the best hot-chocolate ever!

Hmmz… not willing to travel to Belgium? Well, you could always make your own hot cocoa. Just put some cocoa in a cup, add some lukewarm milk (not too much) and stir until you have a smooth mix. Add some sugar and steaming hot milk. Of course you can add some whipped cream on top or some marshmallows. You could also use chocolate sauce or syrup. But you probably knew that already, so here is an alternative hot chocolate…..which is very yummy too!

Cocos – Cocoa

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes.
Ingredients:
500 ml ready made/store bought chocolate milk
100 ml coconut milk
25 gr. Dark (bitter) chocolate
4 table spoons Malibu Coconut liqueur
Whipped cream
½ table spoon of grated coconut.

Also needed: 4 mugs and a grater

How to:
Put the chocolate milk and coconut milk in a saucepan
Bring it almost to a boil
In the meantime grate the chocolate
Put a spoon full of Malibu in each mug
Pour the hot chocolate/coconut milk on top of that
Add the whipped cream and garnish with the grated coconut and chocolate.

Enjoy!!

What's next?

I am having a bit of a lousy week. It all started last Sunday. One of my friends was willing to lend me his camera so I could take some "real" photos (most of my pics are taken with my cell phone). I had planned to go to the oldest cemetery in the area. Call me weird, but I like old cemeteries, especially in autumn. There was a time I visited cemeteries every time I went on holiday just to see how other people and cultures honoured their dead.
Sunday, I thought, was the perfect day to visit the old cemetery I had never visited before. The threatening clouds looked just perfect for moody pictures and the fallen leaves would hopefully give the photos just a little bit extra appeal.

Well, I am never going to find out if I was right. When I got to the cemetery the gate was locked. As it turned out, you can only visit these dead folks during office-hours. I was quite flabbergasted because I always assumed that cemeteries only closed between sunset and sunup. And, come on, a lot of people go to the cemetery during the weekends, don’t they?
I wanted to photograph the signs on the gate with the gravestones in the back, but I wasn’t even able to do that. The dead must have had a strange effect on the camera because it went dead right there and then. Of course I panicked. ‘Oh, my got, I’ve ruined the camera. I am going to end up here in the next few days because my friend is going to kill me! OMG just imagine, me lying here and people can only visit me during office-hours. So, no one is ever going to come and visit me…’ I thought to myself.

With my head hanging down I returned to my friend’s home. ‘Back so soon?’ he asked. ‘Yes, because I’ve broken your camera’ I blurted out. ‘No way’ he said ‘did you drop it?’ ‘No, of course not, it just isn’t working!’ ‘Did you check the batteries, before you went’ I had and they were full when I left home. He tried to turn the camera on, but it still wasn’t working. He opened the battery compartment and started to laugh. I can almost hear you thinking ‘oh, the compartment was empty………’ Nooooo, it was NOT!! As it turned out he had given me his old rechargeable batteries. You can recharge them all you want, but they just stay almost empty. You can turn the camera on once and after that they are empty again. *sigh* But at least the camera was all right.

On Monday my cell phone died, or sort of died. I was able to turn it on but the display wasn’t working right. I had to reset the thing, download new software, of course I had to install that and I had it working again after a couple of hours.

Yesterday, my PC went on strike, whatever I tried it just wasn’t willing to start up. When I finally got it working again Photoshop was acting really weird. Luckily I was able to straighten that out again. Hooray!! Sorry about that, I just can’t live without Photoshop (or any other graphic design software, for that matter) ;)

And today, after enjoying just 4 hours of sleep last night, I really messed up an application form I needed to fill in for a temporary job in December. I spilled my tea all over it. Luckily I was able to save most of it and restore the rest, but it took me most of the afternoon.

So, now I am wondering, what’s next? Hopefully nothing….fingers crossed, hey. It almost feels like I am cursed or something. Maybe I shouldn't have gone to the cemetery.*sigh*
Ah, forget it, let’s just be positive, because after all this....

Things can only get better!!! :)

Cartoon Tuesday: Ouch! (not for sensitive people)

Just a little poem

Mind, Body & Soul Sessions (#22)

Take a breather and visualize!

The average person has approximately 60,000 thoughts a day. The thoughts we have may vary. They can be positive, negative, we can control and be aware of them but many of these thoughts are uncontrollable simply because we are not aware of them. They just do their own thing in the back of your head.

Next to that we have the tendency to imagine different worst-case scenarios. How many times have you thought about what would happen if you lost your partner, your child, or parents? Or what would happen if you lost your job, or got sick? I am sure you have spent a lot of time and some of the 60,000 thoughts on worst case scenarios. Well written scenarios, in full colour, with all the doom and gloom that goes with it.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could spend the same amount of time and energy imagining something positive and satisfying? Well, here is the good news, all of us, with a little help, can change our way of thinking around. They say that the body follows where the mind goes, so why not lead the mind in the right direction (no GPS needed for this exercise!). When you change your way of thinking, you will feel happier, better and healthier. So, today it’s time for an alternative route. We’re going to concentrate on using the power of our minds to guide us to places where we actually want to be and we are going to accomplish this through meditation and visualisation. Visualisation allows us to see other possibilities and meditations allows us to slow down our thoughts so we can really see what is going on in ourselves and where we want to go.

Meditation means deliberately choosing to concentrate on something other than the thoughts which keep running in your head. Its most basic form involves following your breath. Sounds simple, but it’s actually quite difficult. This exercise starts with 5 minutes of meditation, followed by 10 min of visualisation and ends with a couple of minutes of meditating. Of course you can change the amount of time if you want too. If you have a timer, set it so you won’t have to watch the clock.

Find a quiet, private and comfortable place with minimal distractions. If you want, you can use your sanctuary . You can do this exercise sitting or lying down, but you can also do it whilst walking, just in case you prefer multitasking.
If you want, sit cross legged (don’t worry you don’t have to do the full lotus position if you can’t) on the floor with a pillow, cushion or blanket under you. If you can’t do the cross legged position, stretch your legs out in front of you. Keep your spine tall and lifted, sitting with your back against the wall or a straight backed chair might help. Place your hands in a restful position on your thighs. You can close your eyes when your mind is racing a million miles a minute, but you can also keep your eyes open when you are tired. When you chose to meditate with your eyes open, focus your gaze on a spot on the floor (about ½ meters in front of you) or on the wall.

Now spend 5 minutes focussing on your breathing. As you inhale, say silently ‘inhale’, as you exhale say ‘exhale’ to yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself, when your mind starts to wander, which will almost certainly happen, just return to where you left off ‘inhale’ in and ‘exhale’ out again!

After (about) 5 minutes stop focussing on your breath and start visualizing something positive, for example:

• Imagine yourself going on a dream trip,
• See yourself working through a difficult problem,
• Imagine yourself getting the dream job your after,
• See yourself healthier if you are experiencing health problems,
• Envision someone who infuriates you finding happiness,
• Envision yourself finding happiness,
• Imagine yourself up when you are down,
• See yourself finding solutions for an unsolvable dilemma,
• Imagine a difficult conversation going well.

Oh, and if you have no difficulties or problems, just visualize yourself lying on a tropical beach, on top of a mountain, or with your feet in a gentle stream (whatever you fancy, will do)
Think of visualisation as a magical mini mental vacation. You can go anywhere you like within your mind and you can look differently at existing problems.

Anyway, this is your party so you decide which scenario you want to visualize. See the details of a situation, explore options, you might even want to explore options you wouldn’t normally take and watch yourself work through it or just enjoy the ride if you have chosen the relaxing visualisation.

When time is up, focus on the breathing again. Say ‘inhale’ and ‘exhale’ a couple of minutes more and when you are done, open your eyes (if closed) or divert your eyes elsewhere (if you focused on a spot) and gently stretch your legs and arms and when you are ready, carefully stand up……and go on with the rest of your day.

From Dakota's book of fairy tales - The sequel

Inside she offered him some refreshments and a place to sit and all of a sudden she realised that it had been a while since she had company. ‘Yes, it has been while’ the messenger said. ‘Did I just say that out loud’ the lady asked whilst thinking ‘I must be losing my marbles’. ‘No’ the messenger said ‘I just know things!’ enjoying his little pie she had given him.
In the mean time the lady wasn’t able to enjoy any of it. She was eagerly awaiting his important message. At one point she just couldn’t stand it anymore, so she straightforward asked him ‘you said you had an important message for me, so what is it?’ ‘Oh’ the man said, while swallowing the last bit of pie ‘I’m here to tell you about this great invention called the internet!’ The lady looked at him rather puzzled. ‘What about it?’ ‘Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s out there and I love it’ ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’ the lady said ‘that’s has been out there for ages now, how can that be so important. That’s nothing new!’ By the time she finished her last words she had turned quite red in the face and was feeling a bit frustrated. She had actually trusted this messenger; let him into her house, offered him refreshments and now he was telling her something this ridiculous…grrrr..how annoying! The messenger looked at her with a pleased grin on his face. Oh, she just couldn’t stand it anymore. ‘Well, if that’s all you have to say, I think it’s is time you left. I would rather be alone now’. The messenger just nodded and said ‘I know you want me to leave and I also know that you would rather be alone.’

‘Actually, now that we are on the subject, your loneliness is, in fact, the reasons why I’m here. I came here today to warn you, so listen very carefully! ‘For the last couple of years, you’ve been living here all by yourself, all safe and neatly tucked away from the outside world.
Unfortunately you haven’t been living at all, you just merely existed’.
The woman started to utter some objections, but the man just shushed her. ‘Don’t object, just listen’ he said and continued ‘in order to live life and exist you can’t shut yourself away from the outside world. When you do that, you are missing out on too many things. Can you even remember the last time you laughed so hard you thought you were going to pee your pants? Can you remember the last time you had diner with a friend? Or how about, a simple nice chat? According to my information it has been a while!’ The lady’s face had turned from red to a light shade of white by now. It all sounded so right, so she nodded slowly. ‘You are right’ she said ‘but there is a reason for that. Every time I go out, every time I open the door and let somebody in, every time I’ve trust someone, I’m the one who’s getting hurt. And quite frankly, I’m getting sick and tired of getting hurt, sick of all the distrust, all the arguments and sorrow.’ ‘Oh, you have a point there’ the messenger said ‘that’s all out there in the great evil outside world! But don’t you miss all the fun stuff? Your friends, other people, the laughs, the chats, the smiles, the companionship, hugs & kisses, or how about touching another human being?’ The lady slowly nodded again. She had been missing all that stuff for some time now. ‘Can’t I have one without the other?’ she asked, ‘Isn’t it possible to only have the fun bits?’ ‘No’, the messenger said ‘because that won’t be living life either’. ‘Man, this is complicated’ she said and she sighed.

They sat quietly for a while. Then she asked ‘Is that the important message you have for me? That I can’t have one without the other?’ ‘No, my message to you is this, you have to start living again, take some chances, get out there or else you are going to die a lonely old lady one day’ he said. ‘Life is out there, waiting for you to join in and I can tell you this…..everything out there is so much better than everything in here. Even the air is fresher outside’ he said while he sniffed. She sighed again, wondering what to do with this information. Then she said ‘but I can’t just go out there, I’ve been indoors too long. I probably will get sick and if I won’t get sick there will be other problems…..I don’t know anyone out there. People here, don’t know me, I haven’t spoken to my friends in ages. I can’t just walk out there and say Hello world, I am the lady of the house, now can I?’ ‘Yes, you can! All that is needed is a bit of guts’ he said while he handed her some nuts. ‘Have the guts, to go nuts’ he added with a big smile on his face. ‘You know, you have started a war against life and that is something you can do all by yourself. For peace you need two parties and that’s why I am here. I am here to represent life in this case. Together we are going to make peace’. The lady still looked at him in disbelief and sighed ‘maybe in the morning. I don’t think I can do that today. ’ ‘No, not tomorrow, you have to start working on this today. You’ve been waiting too long…..just believe in yourself and get out there. The world and life is waiting for you.’ ‘Hmm, maybe life is but I am not so sure about the world….’ she said. ‘Of course, you’ll see, just grab your coat and lets go’ the messenger said. She hesitated a bit longer and asked herself ‘do I really want to go out there again? Do I really need all that? Who needs to live life anyway? But if I don’t live I might as well be dead right now! And besides, didn’t this guy just show me I can just as easily be hurt and disappointed in my own house too. What do I have to lose?’

‘Right’ the messenger said ‘let’s go!’ He helped her in her coat, handed her a scarf and some gloves while they walked in the direction of the door. ‘Oh, wait a moment, there is something else you need to know before we go. The people outside think you are living in a castle.’ ‘Huh, as you can see, I live in a normal house! My home is my castle, but that’s all. Like I said, and as you can see, this place has no castle characteristics at all. Why would they think such a thing?’ ‘Well, they think you are unapproachable and that’s why they can only see the castle now. You are known as the lady of the castle. When you look down from your bedroom window, they see you looking down on them from a tower.’ ‘How odd’ she said. ‘Yeah, I know! I even had to pretend a bit when I came here. When I asked for directions, people kept directing me towards a castle and I have been searching for a castle ever since, but wasn’t able to find it until it finally became clear to me that they saw a castle that didn’t existed. So, I prepared a whole song and dance to get in here’ ‘Aha, that’s what all the racket was about?’ ‘Yup, now let’s go…..I’ve some other stuff that’s need to be done today as well’.

They walked towards the door, the lady just a couple of steps behind the messenger. It really looked like she was pretty unsure about the whole thing. The messenger reached for the doorknob but then she stopped him while his hand was nearly there. The lady obviously had caught up with him when she did that ;). ‘You know, maybe this isn’t such a good idea’ ‘Now hold on, you can’t back out now! You’re nearly there’ ‘Oh’ she laughed ‘I’m not changing my mind. I just think that this is a big step and if anybody has to take it, it’s gotta be me!’ Her hand reached for the knob and she turned it. Slowly she opened the squeaking door and looked outside. ‘Oh, that looks nice” she said surprised and ‘smell that fresh air. I want to go out right now’ ‘Well, go on then, what are you waiting for’ the man said. And with a hop, a skip and a jump the lady was outside, breathing in as much of the fresh air as she possibly could right that instant. The people outside looked at it in wonder. Who was that lady? They had never seen her before. Was it possible that that was the lady of the castle? No!! It couldn’t be her! In unison they looked up at the castle and stood there in awe. Where once had stood a castle there now was an ordinary house. Could that be? One person passed the lady and touched the house in disbelieve. ‘Ehmm’ he stuttered ‘arrrre you the lady of the castle?’ ‘No, I am the lady of the house’ she replied with a big grin on her face. ‘See, there is no castle, just a house and oh, by the way, my name is Caithleen, what’s yours?’ ‘Martin! Nice to meet you Caithleen’ he said. The other people came closer and they all started to introduce themselves.
It didn’t take long, after a short period of time people were chatting happily but then Caithleen realised that she hadn’t seen the man anymore. She looked around, ‘where is he?’ she thought. ‘Maybe he’s still inside the house?’ She excused herself and walked towards the door. She didn’t had to enter the house though, because right there on the doormat, exactly where she had last seen him, was a note and all it said was:
“Don’t ever lock yourself away again; don’t ever throw away the key,
They say “If you love someone, set them free”;
I would like to change that into: If you love yourself, set yourself free.
Love life and live to love.
Enjoy the great outdoors!!

I'll be seeing you”

*THE END*

From Dakota's book of Fairy Tales.

Once upon a time there was this lovely lady who lived, like others, in a house. It was no ordinary house, some people suggested it was more like a manor, others would say it looked more like a castle, but to the lady of the house it was just a house, her home! She wasn’t aware of the fact that others thought she lived in a castle. To the outside world her property was surrounded by a big thick wall with towers, a moat and when you wanted to knock on her front door, you had a bit of a problem when the drawbridge was up. When the lady had just move in the neighbours just ignored all that, they were a friendly bunch, willing to welcome the lady to their neighbourhood with open arms. They persistently knocked on the ladies door, or yelled out to get her attention when the drawbridge was up, but after a while they just gave up. At first the lady of the house didn’t noticed it, she was happily protected in her own home, but after a while she started to wonder: ‘what was going on out there, why was there no one knocking on her door anymore? Was everybody gone?’ She just couldn’t understand it. So one day she went up to her bedroom and glanced outside. She discovered the people were still there, nothing had changed, they just didn’t come knocking anymore. Strange, she thought to herself. The outside world however, saw the lady, standing on top of one of her towers, looking down and they thought ‘what is she looking at; she made it perfectly clear she wants to be on her own’. So, they just ignored her and life went on!

Some time had passed and one day people saw a man walking up to the moat, as always the drawbridge was up. The people talked among themselves. Maybe they should warn this man. His life wasn’t in any grave danger or anything, but everybody knew that he wasn’t going to be welcome. They decided not to bother him, it’s wasn’t any of their business anyway. So, they got on with their day-to-day lives.
The man heard all the whispers but just ignored them. He walked up to the moat and stood there for a second wondering what to do next. First he thought about swimming across the moat but he soon discovered there wouldn’t be any point to that. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find an opening to get into the castle. One other point that made him decide against swimming was the water temperature. ‘Way to cold this time of year!’ he thought. He decided to call out to the lady of the house; after all, he had a pretty important message to convey. So he called out once which resulted in no response. He tried again; a bit louder this time, but still there was no answer. One lady, passing him by, suggested yelling. And he yelled! And he yelled again, a bit louder this time, but still nothing. ‘Is the lady deaf or something’ he wondered out loud. ‘No’ a man, walking his dog, assured him ‘she just isn’t paying any attention to the outside world’. ‘How peculiar’ the messenger thought to himself. A good thing he was known to be stubborn. He looked around, maybe there was something lying around, anything would be nice just as long as it could help him. A noisy horn, a sound van, a big rock or even fireworks would be welcomed with wide open arms by now. Alas, nothing! The only thing lying around was a long pole. ‘Hmm… maybe that will do’ he thought. At first he considered using the pole as a vaulting pole, but he quickly decided against it. With today’s luck, he would probably go splat against the thick wall. No, he opted for another strategy; he would use the pole as a battering ram/or a very noisy doorknocker. He walked away from the castle and then started running towards the moat, pole at the ready. Success depended merely on letting go at the right moment. His luck must have been changing while he was running, because just moments after he had let go he heard a loud, and not easy to ignore, noise. Just after the big bang, he saw a little hatch open up. ‘What’s going on out there’ the lady asked. ‘Oh, please don’t shoot the messenger’ the man said ‘I do apologize but I have an important message for you, the lady of the house’! She looked flabbergasted, so much racket just to deliver a message.'That must be some message' she thought. She just stood there for a while but eventually decided, after careful consideration, to lower the drawbridge and the messenger happily crossed it, leaving the other people, who had also heard the commotion, in awe.

*To Be Continued*

Dance4Life - Start Dancing, Stop AIDS!

Dance4Life is a growing, worldwide project to fight back HIV and AIDS by dancing. Yesterday I saw their new commercial and I love it!!


You too can become actively involved in Dance4Life. How?
Just visit Dance4Life for information.

Cartoon Tuesday: How to handle criticism ;)

Old style romance and a lovely house.

When the days get shorter and the evenings longer, the temperatures drop and the heating is on, it’s time for some cosy candlelight and a little bit of romance. Alas, there is no one to cuddle up to at the moment, so I tried some artificial romance…….I watched the movie “The Lake House” this weekend. It is a very cute and romantic movie which reminded me of those old b/w movies I used to watch with my Mum. Remember those movies, when a kiss was nothing more then the touching of lips :). Anyway, in “The Lake House” the lips touch too (just a few times), but in a more convincing way. I am not going to write a review here, there are other people out there who are much better at it. I just wanted you to know that I liked the movie a lot and that it warmed my soul and my heart :). By the way, I like this comment I found about this movie, because it actually says it all “Like all good romantic movies there's a man and a woman, a beautiful house on the lake and a cuddly dog. Good dialogue, great direction, sweet cinematography and good acting -- even by Keanu.”

What I absolutely loved about this movie was the lake house itself.

As you can see, it’s no ordinary house; it’s an unusual beautiful house! A beautiful refuge of light and glass suspended over the water and totally in touch with the lake and its surroundings. The center bit of the roof can slide open and directly under that is a lovely living tree. Although it's not really big, I could actually see myself living in such a place. Can you imaging yourself sitting there, having breakfast while the sun comes up or eating diner, while the sun goes down. You would have your own private swimming pool/skating rink right outside your door. In my opinion it’s an amazing place and it has an extraordinary design, but not the kind of design everyone would fall for I guess. Some people might think it’s a bit too industrial and too cold, but I think the building still has enough charm to give it a warm feel (must be the colour they used on the outside and the old ornaments that are used on the inside which reminded me of old English greenhouse).

Well, after watching the movie I was curious: Does this house actually exist and if so, who designed it. Luckily the internet provided me with some, although somewhat disappointing, answers. The house did exist …. for the duration of filming. When filming wrapped, nothing was left behind. Such a shame!!

The house stood along the serene, 55-acre man-made Maple Lake in Cook County, Illinois and was designed by production designer Nathan Crowley. He was the 2005 BAFTA and Art Directors Guild Award nominee and the third generation of men in his family to hold a degree in architecture. The roots of the design lie in the 1960s glass box style, but they also drew inspiration from the Regency Period, a style popular in England in the early to mid-1800s, to add romance and elegance to the overall look.

They built the house in just seven weeks and it measured more than 2,000 square feet and sat atop steel beams ten feet above the waterline. The massive project used 35 tons of steel and employed a near 100 member crew of carpenters, welders and painters. For the build they collaborated with veteran Chicago construction coordinator Troy Osman.

Oh and in case you are wondering….. they didn’t drove piles into the lake bed to support the structure, no they did not, they opted for concrete pads. They created a temporary dam and they actually built the house next to the lake. When all building work was done, they broke the dam and flooded the underside of the house. And like I said earlier it was all removed as soon filming wrapped…..nothing was left behind. It’s a crying shame!

Mind, Body & Soul Session (#21)

Take a walk on the wild side ….outside!

The wind is blowing, trees are swaying, leaves change colour and fall to the ground. When you think about it, autumn actually is the most beautiful season of the year. So, why stay indoors when there is so much to see outside. Go for a walk, ride a bike and let the fresh air fill your lungs!

Nature is good for you, especially this time of year when it gets colder and darker outside. I know it’s very tempting to stay indoors where it’s warm and comfy, but please don’t! Get your butt outside :). All the colours, fresh air and daylight will do you a world of good.

So, today go for a breath of fresh air, even if you don’t have to go out at all. Go for a walk on the beach and let the wind blow all your worries away. Take a walk in the forest, be a kid again and kick leaves to your heart’s content. Observe wildlife, look for wild and edible mushroom (only eat them if you are sure they are safe), collect leaves in all shapes and colours, look for “owl pellets” or how about chestnuts. Take your camera out and shoot anything you fancy. Just a few things you can do outdoors this autumn.

Spending at least 30 minutes outside will improve your mood considerably, you will feel a lot better, you will feel healthier and you will also burn a few calories in the process. What more could you want?

Hmmz… what’s that I hear calling your name? Oh, hold on, it’s the great outdoors calling……..

Have a great Sunday!

Robbie’s Rudebox became Dakota’s trip down memory lane.

Not sure about this title because according to the urban dictionary a rudebox means a dog’s ass….but hey, that’s besides the point! Ehmm….point, that reminds me of a round shape, which reminds me of a ball and oh, a game! So, if you are not interested in music, skip to the end of this post….there is a game waiting for you!

The other day one of my friends left a couple of CD’s behind for me to listen to and one of them was “Rudebox” by Robbie Williams. Hmmz….not exactly my cup of tea, I thought.
I am not a huge Robbie fan (I guess I’m too old for that) and I didn’t like the single “Rudebox” all that much, so the CD stayed in the same spot as it was dropped in the first place.

Yesterday however, the same friend came by to collect the CD’s again and asked if I’d listened to them all and if so, what did I think of them (for some reason my opinion seem to matter ;)). We talked about most of the CD’s but I meticulously left Robbie out of the discussion. My friend is no fool and quickly discovered that I hadn’t listened to it and reprimanded me. Bad Dakota….shame on you!! (Foei!…as we would say in Dutch).
After a while my friend had to go, I made sure he had all his CD’s (check!) and then waved goodbye.

I was quite astonished to find Rudebox near my PC with a post-it on it saying “Listen to it…..now!”. I, the ever docile Dakota, thought “Okay, if you insist”. I skipped the first song, which is “Rudebox” btw and then was pleasantly surprised by the rest of the CD. Okay, the first few tracks are a bit lame, but when you get to track 4 you are in for a surprise, a cover of Manu Chao’s Bongo Bong. Remember that one? The song is pretty much the same as the original, but I do like the added vocals of Lily Allen (ever listened to Alright still? Great CD!)

The fifth song reminded me of the 80’s electronic music era and is called “She’s Madonna” and is a song about……well, Madonna! (or Madge! as some of us like to call her). From there on it’s a lot of 80’s and 90’s music and you can’t help but thinking “Hey, I know this!”. Remember “Hotel, Motel, Holiday inn”, a line used in “Rappers delight” by the Sugarhill Gang? Do you remember the Human League? Philip Oakey’s hair (which is gone now)? I hate to admit it, but I actually liked the Human League way back then. Anyway, their song “Louise” is on this album. Or how about Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy's "Kiss Me (with your mouth)"? “What have I done to deserve this” by the Pet Shop Boys? Man, they say you are getting old when you can remember the original songs…...well, I guess I am pretty ancient! :)
Oh, almost forgot, there are two other songs I kind of like too "the 80s" and "90s” in which Robbie looks back on his life!

Like I said, I was pleasantly surprised by the CD. I’ve listened to it a couple of times now and I actually like it. Why,? Because it’s different, he is even rapping (or should I say..attempting to rap) on this album! No “Angel” or “Feel” clones, Robbie chose the road less travelled, a big step but I think he should explore this road further.

Oh…. Almost forgot about the game! Want to do a little bit exploring of your own? Try this annoying little came. It’s a simple game, just keep two balls in the air ;)

<-- Click the Pic to play! Good luck ;)
(You can change the language on the left)

Cue autumn!!

Only 7 days ago I was wondering if the summer was ever going to end…….Well, it did two days ago and quite abruptly too. It’s almost as if turning back the clock to winter time (standard time) had something to do with it. One week ago, we still had a lovely 22 degrees and today’s high is 8ºC. Brrrr! I am freezing! This abrupt weather change is a shock to the (/my) system. I am cold…..oh, I already said that!....And the last couple of days I’ve been feeling a bit lousy, a bit like you feel when you are going to get sick or something. I rarely get sick, so apparently my body is just trying to adjust to these new temperatures. I secretly asked it if it was done yet, but as it turns out, the answer is NO! It’s chilly!! Oh….. I already mentioned that too. Man, this post is going absolutely nowhere. So I won’t bore you any longer. You are welcome to sit by the fire

while I put my summer clothing in storages and get out the warm wool sweaters, shawls, winter coats, gloves, boots, warm pants and long johns. After that I’ll go to shop to get some cocoa and some candles and then I think it’s time to finally say……AUTUMN is here!!

Stay warm!!

Show me your shopping trolley and I tell you who you are!

I don’t know if I could actually do that, but I think the content of a shopping trolley can convey a lot about a person. You can tell if they receive a big pay check every month or are shopping on a budget. Do people lead a busy life, or not! You can find out if people cook, or not – the members of the microwave posse! You can tell if people eat healthy, or are more into snacks. And you can tell if people are on a diet or not. Oh, and of course you can tell if people are single or part of a (large) family.
Strangely enough I’d never noticed or thought about that before. I just recently discovered the pleasure of examening other peoples shopping carts…..call me weird ;)

On Saturday’s a lot of people do their weekly shopping (guess you already knew that), which automaticly results in long queues at the supermarket checkout (bet you already knew that too). So, if it’s at all possible I don’t go to the supermarket on Saturday, but most of the time I need to go and get something so, I will end up in the long queues :( In the past this could really ruin my day, but not anymore! First I changed the whole shopping experience by taking my iPod along (tip: make sure you have inspiring and uplifting music on there). I know it’s not very social, but this way I don’t have to listen to the screaming kids, arguing couples and sighing husbands. One note of caution though….make sure you don’t sing along and don’t, I repeat DON’T dance in the aisles, people will look at you funny. Oh, and don’t put Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake on it, it makes you walk like a catwalk model.

As soon as I enter the queue, I strike a relaxing pose (No, not a Vogue one ;)) and start people watching, still with the ipod on of course…..I don’t want to listen to all the sighing and complaining that’s going on! You wouldn’t expect it but the supermarket is a great place for people watching. When I get bored with that, I turn to examening shopping trolleys and it is astonishing what you can find there. So many carts, so many different items, and still so many trolleys that look the same. A lot of people seem to feel guilty when grocery shopping. On the one end of their trolley they have a lot of unhealthy food like: crisps, cookies, cakes, food that needs to be deep-fried, chocolate, pastries, ice-cream, softdrinks, candy bars, desserts, coffee and so on and so on. In the middle there is the stuff that everyone needs like: toiletpaper, dertergent, shampoo, bread, milk etc. Almost ¾ of most carts are already filled now, but there is a little bit of space left for the stuff that I like to call “make up for” food. The food that reduces the guilty feeling. In that section you are most likely to find some fruit, 1 or 2 kinds of (fresh) vegetables, cholesterol-lowering products (yoghurts, margarine, cheese etc.), artificial sweeteners, the light version of soft drinks, decaf coffee and bottled water. In my opinion people would not need so much of this stuff if they would only buy half (or less) of the bad stuff. But hey, I am not with the food police ……

Anyway, all this made me wonder about my own groceries. What do they tell about me? Hmmz… I don’t use a trolley but a basket so that would probably tell that I don’t buy a lot of groceries and that would probably mean that I am not part of a large family. My basket is usually filled with healthy food and necessities (store brands only), in small amounts, this most likely tells people that I am single, shop on a budget and don’t like junk food. Oh, and it would probably say that I do like coffee and tea because I buy coffee and tea a lot. So, I am curious, what does your shopping trolley (/basket) say about you?