Comic Tuesday: Trying something new!

Look what I found (#10)

Here is one I prepared earlier. Enjoy!

Sometimes you come across the weirdest stuff, like Pepsi-Ice-Cucumber for instance. You might not have seen it in your local supermarket, but it was introduced in Japan last June. I wonder what it tastes like, but since it is only sold in Japan, I guess I’ll never know. Apparently the Japanese have a thing for weird and wonderful drinks, check out this list.

If you have kids or like to fool around with paper and build stuff, this might be a site you enjoy: Readymech. Here you find box-like colourful robots that are on there in PDF format. All you have to do is print them out, cut and fold on the dotted lines. You can either use glue or tape to stick them together. If you stick the paper on a piece of cardboard before you cut and fold them, you could also create nice funny gift boxes.

For those of you who like to multitask. You can give praise and do a workout at the same time because this is gospel dance aerobics and it is full of fun and energy with moves that anyone can do!



If you are in need of a bit of Zen time, watch this short computer graphic movie called Falling Water featuring the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece. You can find more information about the house here and here


Always looking for new not so mainstream music? Take a look at Mashable. Mashable has created a music news toolbox which consists of 50+ links for discovering new music.

And finally: Don’t make fun of death…….that’s not funny!
Warning: probably not for everybody

Encounter with the paracetamol pusher.

First of all, I know I've already mentioned it in the comment section yesterday, but for those of you who've missed it, thanks for all the well wishes everyone! I am not jumping around yet, but I do feel a lot better (and I hate staying in bed) so, here is a little update.

Yesterday I went to see my doctor and that’s always a lot of fun (or a waste of time, whatever you like to call it), because most of the time you already know what he's going to say and what he's going to give you……that magical drug called paracetamol and it almost always comes with this advice: 3 times a day, for 7 days, and if that doesn’t make things better, make another appointment. So, let’s say you have done that and there is no improvement, on the 8th day you call his assistant to make a new appointment, which is always a pain in itself. She will reluctantly grant you a new appointment for the following week and tells you to keep taking the paracetamol (miraculously they always give you enough for 2 weeks). It’s almost as if they are thinking 'Hey, if it didn’t kill you the first week, it’s not going to do so in the second.' BTW, I always believe that the whole paracetamol run is some sort of test to see if you are seriously sick. But that’s how it usually goes. Yesterday was a bit of a different story.

I was lucky to get an appointment so soon, but that was probably because I’d thrown in a bit of chest pain. Nervously I awaited my turn. Not really sure why though, because I already had a vague idea what I had….a virus and heartburn and I actually did want him to give me something for the latter because the over-the-counter stuff wasn't working. I already knew you had to see a doc for the really good (or should that be bad) stuff.
Last June I had a bad case of heartburn too, at the time I actually thought I was going to die and that thought brought on a panic attack and I ended up in the emergency doctor’s office. Not nice, but quite an experience. Last week I had a milder episode, but last Monday it was back in full swing, pain in the breastbone area included, and the worst part….it wasn’t going away. Add to this all flu-like symptoms and there you have it ladies and gentleman….. a fine mess!

But back to the doctor’s office. Of course he wanted to send me away with just the paracetamol but I told him I was going nowhere until he gave me something else for the acids too, because it was haunting me like a terrible nightmare (or the bad Chinese food I had last Sunday). And strangely enough, it was almost as if someone flicked a switch, I had his full attention all of a sudden. OMG….how scary!
He asked me to tell him the full story and so I did. When I finished, he looked at his computer, typed a few things and stared at the screen for a very long time. All I could think was ‘is he writing me a prescription or is he just googling my symptoms?’ Because come on…..you never know these days! But, he actually was printing out some nice (not!) instructions and a diet list because he thinks I have some form of GERD. Oh jolly!

So here are some of the things I am not allowed to have over the next two weeks: coffee, tea, (oh, no coffee and tea….how on earth am I going to survive that…the horror!)
milk, alcohol, orange juice, sodas. There’s only one thing I can drink safely and that is……water! I can’t have chocolate, ice cream, salad dressings, cheese, anything with tomato (so no soup, pasta sauce, or pizza for instance), mint (he even suggested a mint free toothpaste), onions, garlic, pepper, (hot)spices, cabbage and cauliflower, milk, vinegar, fat.
Actually the list goes on and on, but I am not going to bore you with that. If I want to be safe, it’s best to stick to water and bread. Oh and let's not forget, I am allowed to swallow my prescribed drugs. Hooray!
Nah, it's not all doom and gloom, there are still a few things I can eat and drink; I just have to figure out which ones. And it’s not a life sentence (at least not yet) it’s just two weeks (I have to see him again).

Wish me luck, because I think I am going to need it.

Service announcement.

I've been feeling a bit off-colour for a few days, varying from being just fine when I sat around, to crap if I did anything at all. I had no further symptoms until last night. So, I guess it’s official…..I am sick and off to bed! See you in a couple of days. Have fun everyone!

Words of Wisdom

Things you can do with Lego

Very nice, but is it art? Then again, what is art anyway? What is the definition of art? At what point does something go from being created to being art? Does art become art when its creator calls it art, or when someone else calls it art? Hmmz…. way too many question this early in the day ;-)

Comic Tuesday: Comfort over fashion

Look what I found (#9)

Aaahh Freak out!
Freaking news has an interesting Photoshop contest. In this contest people are asked to perform partial face transplants on politicians and celebrities. The right half of a face has to be from one celebrity and the left half from another. The results are very weird and wonderful at the same time.

Slippery when wet
Maybe not as weird and wonderful, but somehow still interesting, is this next site called Damp Cats. Damp Cats is the ultimate collection of wet, soggy, un-dry and generally damp cats on the web.
Want to see more wet pets? Wet dogs and wet pets just might your thing.

Ice is slippery too!
So, why not continue with the animal fun. This time it comes in the form of a game: Pingus. Pingus is a free Lemmings-like game. Don't know good ol'Lemmings? Well, Lemmings is puzzle game in which the player takes command of a bunch of small animals and has to guide them around levels. The animals walk on their own and the player can only influence them by giving them commands, like build a bridge, dig a hole or redirect all animals in the other direction. The goal of each level is to reach the exit.
Pingus is very similar but does have some nice new features like a world map and secret levels.
The game is free, but of course if you think the it is worth some money you can donate via Paypal.

Oh, and since we are on the subject of retro games, do you remember that simple (uhum) puzzle game called BoxWorld? If you don't know it, or have never played it, you can download it here


For those of you who can never get enough of watching animals….even more animal fun….Mirror, mirror on the wall!

Okay, enough of that, let’s move on to some serious business, or business cards in this case. Some of them are just horrible, or way too old fashioned, but others are just brilliant. Check out this amazing collection.

That’s all folks!

Why do they strike that pose?

Last weekend I visited, like I mentioned earlier, an itsy, bitsy, tiny, small, local festival and some fun was had, but for the most part it was just another failed attempt. Not on my part though, I tried to have fun, but the ambience wasn’t festival-like and the line-up wasn’t either. Such a shame, after 15 years it’s not getting better, it is actually getting worse! You’d think they might have got the hang of it by now…..but no! And again the organisation is raving about their success, according to them everyone had a brilliant time……guess they haven’t read the inquiry forms yet. But, enough of that, because I was going to write about something completely different.

While I was visiting some of the concerts, I did notice something and that’s what this silly entry (for lack of anything better) is about. So, come on, what did you see, I can almost hear you say. Well, I did notice the large quantity of folded arms and bored faces. Now, you could think that it was to be expected because of the line-up and lack of ambience, but I’ve seen this pose all over the country (wow, for once Holland sounds big!) whilst visiting all sorts of events.
Men, especially single men (or solo-goers), seem to favour this pose. Now my question is, why? It is almost as if they are saying leave me alone, stay away from me, maybe they are feeling insecure, or maybe they just don’t want to express any joy. Or could it be that they wished they stayed home and watched boring telly like they always do? Whatever the reason might be, I, for one, don’t think it’s really helping the festivities. But it also made me wonder, is this some sort of typical male behaviour or is it just typical Dutch male behaviour? Answers on a postcard please……or just use the comment section :-)

Oh, and here is one little tip: never ever ask a folded arms/bored face–guy a simple question, like: wasn’t it supposed to begin at 10? Because, they either bite your head off or think you are coming on to them…….Yeah, as if!

Ehmm......................(again!)

Because what else can I say.......

From Holland with love ;-)

Comic Tuesday: Ehmm...................

Mind, Body & Soul Session (#43)

Today is a glorious day! Funny, you would almost think it was summer ;-) So, no long post this Sunday, I have better things to do….like visiting a little local festival :-) Anyway, here is my short MBSS-tip for today.

When in doubt, ASK!
It can happen to the best of us. Someone says something to you; you digest it, get on with the conversation, but later on the spoken words pop back into your head and get stuck there. No matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to get rid of them. Why? Because you are not exactly sure that you fully understood the thing that was said, or because you feel there might have been an alternative meaning or an alternative motive to the words spoken, or maybe something was said jokingly but now you are wondering if the person was being serious. Whatever the case might be, stop thinking about it right now! Filling your head up with alternative scenarios or fictitious insinuations isn’t going to help you, it will only make thing worse. Ignoring the problem, or forgetting it was ever said, isn’t going to fix things either. Staying silent solves nothing.

Instead, visit, call, text or e-mail the other person and ask them what they really meant, if you understood them correctly, or if there was a hidden agenda, an alternative motive. Whatever you ask, start talking and talk, talk, talk until you are both clear about the subject at hand. Whenever you have doubts about something, ASK!

Forget about keeping your mouth shut, when in doubt, communicate!