Early Moring Surprise

Typically, Sunday mornings are a time when we sleep in. A dear and loyal friend shows up at 11 o'clock with freshly baked bread rolls and the Sunday paper. (Yes, we are very spoilt.) This means that somewhere around ten to eleven one family member has to be awake enough to make the coffee and set the table. The rest of breakfast preparations is done once our friend arrives.

This morning I decided to get up early and go for a walk before breakfast. There was fog blanketing the streets and I wrongly presumed I'd be the only person wandering around. There were signs of life everywhere: people walking their dogs, fathers pushing baby carriages, couples walking arm-in-arm, tourists getting their last look of the city before flying home. I completely forgot that I was also once a member of early Sunday society.

I think I will become a member again.

Dudley Dursley Double

Sighted this afternoon, a Dudley double at the table across from us at a local restaurant. The same pug nose, body shape, rounded cheeks, greedy eyes, and sloppy table manners... I was tempted to look and see if he had a pig's tale.

The question is, is whether the Dudleys of this world become ugly through by being spoilt and over indulged by their parents, or did they become greedy and mean on their own?

A Tired Mother's Revenge

Just heard a hilarious story of a student party gone wild. Berlin. Student co-op. Facebook invite. 200 people show up. The night is long. And loud. Some fellows take to peeing in the inner courtyard. Disgruntled neighbour revenge herself by bombarding the peeing guests with dirty diapers out out her baby's diaper bin.

Obviously, desperate behaviour from a sleep deprived mother. Who of us hasn't been there sometime in our lives?

Lone Slipper

Mystery of the day: I woke up this morning with cold feet and went to put on my slippers. The problems was, there was only one lone slipper there. It was really strange. Obviously, I took off my slippers at the same time. Why wasn't there two slippers there?

Mystery solved: the slipper got caught in my trousers and went through the wash and was spit out this evening in the dryer.

Suitcase: mixed message

Friend here (from Slovenia). Friend on her way from down south. Daughter in bed with a fever. Son far away but close in heart. Days flying by. To-Do list only getting longer. Soooo much to tell and yet, I fear I will forget so much. Still, you are also in my thoughts. This roller coaster ride will probably not stop before its over, but it will eventually reach gentler slopes. Promise.

The Colour White

I have a friend whose favourite colour is white. I've never known, or been conscious of knowing, anyone who favourite colour is white. Mint green, China blue, even antique rosa... but white. That is new. Now this dear friend is moving into a new home in the next days and I'd like to create a collage for her (she hinted she wanted one). It turns out not to be an easy task.

Even though white is more or less the presence of all colour when thinking about prisms of light. When creating collages though it has very little to do with white, but the absence of colour. The above collage is the first attempt at series of collages called, "The Colour White".

Of Gods and Men

There was a time when stories were told simply,
With heart and soul, and even laughter.
With actions restrained, facial gestures
Naked and vulnerable, yet understated.
Never forgeting the understatement.

That time might be of the past,
But, I witnessed it today sitting
Almost alone in a darkened cinema
Watching a masterful movie
Told so touchingly, that hours later
I write this while tears still stream
Down my face. Remarkable.

Olden Days in Saint Tropez

To the woman standing next to me at the bus stop today...

Going down south
Over the Christmas holidays
Spending all your waking hours
Baking in the hot sun,
So much so
That your resemble  the
Old Ladies in Saint Tropez
In the 70s
With their bbq-ed charcoal ash skin
That cracked like elephant hide...
Is just plain crazy.

I swear, her skin was the colour that I had not seen in over 30 years: since the correlation between sun and skin cancer became known.

2011- taking something good and improving upon it

Time for New Year's resolutions. In the past, I have taken a year to contemplate a word or study upon a topic I wished to know more about. This year, I am at a bit of a loss about what I should do. Then I received a delightful long letter from a dear and wise friend.

In her letter she talked about the possibility of New Year's reslolution being a journey of,

"finding "kalapurna," a word that means a sense of the rich fullness of the present moment that contains all the history that has brought us to this moment and the potential of the future, about resting in the past while also turning toward the future, knowing that you are full and complete and have everything you need to reach your own potential."

Now I can't say that I really understand physically or intellectually what kalapurna is, but the concept made me realise two things. First, I have never made a New Year's resolution to do something that I do well and just choose to do it better. Secondly, nor have I ever chosen a word for the year that is already an integral part of my day-to-day life and just embrace it more deeply.

Granted there have been and probably there always will be so many aspects of my being that need improvement. Can't get around that. Still, why is it necessary to start with some aspect that we fail so miserably at all the time. Wouldn't it be smarter to chose something we do right most of the time and then try to improve upon it?