After many attempts to write a post I have decided to share with you the joys of spring in London. The other day when it was summer weather ( tomorrow its going to snow the newspaper says) I decided to go to Kew Gardens and ponder around staring at trees and flowers , as one does in botanical gardens. It was magical and inspiring. Here are some pictures.
And thanks to S1 busy weekend visit I am now a runner. Yes , sister love made me get out of bed at 8 a.m. on a saturday morning and join a local 5 km marathon. I will spare you the details of me thinking i was going to have a stroke at one point but I made it ! I came 5Oth out of 57 participants , just after granny muscle legs and just before the obese man. I'm proud. Then our programme was super full and we managed to do everything we said we would which is also a great feeling. My sister love was again proven when on sunday morning we decided to get up at 7 a.m and join a yoga lesson. Apparently we are all bubbles floating on the ocean of Love , which I must admit is a good feeling too. We went to celebrate this feeling on the top of Primrose Hill park. Bliss. Oh yes , flapjack from heaven joined the party. Some flashbacks from the weekend ; lemon mascarpone pie , orange scone , bacon buttie and scrambled eggs. ;::::: Do you think i Love food ? Yes , I do . And I love spring ! Let me leave you with my new favourite song. its new ethopian dance music. puts me in a good mood.
In stark contrast to the general gloomy mood over the news from Switzerland, the Belgian coach drama which killed 28 people, most of them children, that seems to touch everyone in all its tragedy. Today the bells rang at eleven, after one minute's silence held in Parliament, at all train stations where trains paused on their tracks, truckdrivers flashed their lights on the motorway and people got out of their cars to observe the moment of silence. For one day advertising is removed from various commercial television channels and the newspapers open up again for literature and poetry.
It is hard to know what to say, to add in reflection to these events; whenever a disaster strikes and people give comment, I usually think: of course. We all feel that. So I don't have anything more to add except perhaps to report to you, who are abroad, what it is like being here, in Belgium that -as always with such events- remembers it is a country. For a moment it seems as if everyone thinks and feels the same, and the ramshackle country forever in doubt over its identity finds a rare unison in grief.
I do not agree with the rational commentator on the radio, a psychiatrist or psychologist of some sort, who spent half an hour claiming that all this response is merely superficial. I find it comforting to know that people cannot remain unmoved.
I spent monday racing through a book called "The Psychopath Test". It is a good read, I recommend it. It is certainly no literary masterpiece, and the author puts in a little too many repetitions (as if written for this attention-deficited generation), and I think he takes advantage of the novelty of a lot of Louis Theroux-style, disarmingly British charm when paying attention to freaks in an American context, but, like such gripping phenomena as "The Killing" (which can take you out of your usual routine in life for weeks), it can hook you with every chapter and leave you eager and curious to read on...
That is what I did earlier this week. I think the book is important because it says something about the way things go in society, labelling wise, as well as elucidating the fact that one percent of the population does not feel human empathy, one of the twenty or so identifying personality traits on the list of criteria that constitutes the Psychopath Test. Here is a little film about it, promoting the book. It gives you an idea of what the book is about but I think what the author achieves is far more interesting than this little marketing film suggests. Beyond the scariness of psychopathic behaviour itself, it shows something about the sheer power psychologists and the pharmaceutical industry wield in our society, far more than we can imagine; some of the sheer randomness that apparently went into devising diagnoses of mental disorders of any kind in the first place, that then fans out all over the world to influence psychological practice the world over; how the media deal with madness, and so on.
It is hard to put your finger on what exactly the book achieves. It does something very well, in all its chaos, and with it the author does a deft mea culpa as well. I suggest you read it, maybe you will succeed.
So I am relieved to know that so many people are capable of feeling empathy as this week's events have shown.
Back to our evening: we ended up in a pizzeria that my friend would never go into because it is a tourist joint - still I dragged him in because I wanted pizza instead of friet, as you do late at night when wandering in town. I have recently picked up learning Italian again and I wanted to practice with the waiters. I said: "Your shirt is very elegant" just as my audiobook had taught me. Upon which the three waiters standing by our table burst out laughing. "Yes", they said. "It is just like the table cloth". (in fact the squares on the shirts are indeed vichy style but with smaller squares). My friend explained that I had possibly offended the gentlemen in question. And suddenly I could see that my comment may have made them feel slightly ridiculous. Was I showing a lack of empathy? Should I check myself against the other criteria on the list?
I do hope, S3, that your new friend managed to hold his drink. Hot tea can be risky for some. Here, in Antwerp, all snow has melted. The veil of cold that dropped itself upon us has lifted, and we are back to more recognisably Belgian bleary days of rain and even some warm, wintery sun. I enjoyed the cold and my new Irish mittens. I dropped one in the snow and even then you can see the quality of the warm wool. The raspberry coloured folding bicycle that is my new companion, combined with the train, takes me almost everywhere (although I'd put a cycling limit of one hour in terms of comfort); it is a true revolution in speed; I'd recommend it for everyone.
The cat (not pictured here) that is one of my companions has had his evening runaround and is now staring at me intently. Now and then he bows his head slightly, and closes his eyes a little. He likes to listen to the sound of my fingers typing on the keys, or so it seems. Every now and then he lifts his head, looks around, a bit to the left, then to the right, changing position slightly, only to return to immobility again. I have always suspected cats of being part of the fluxus movement.
Sunday woke up and all was covered in a fluffy white blanket.
Finsbury park , have never seen so many snowmen and giant snowballs being rolled down hills , I even saw an igloo. So many sledges with bundles of kids on them. It was a beautiful sight of a sea of white with blobs of happy colour.
And then a new friend appeared magically sitting on a bench. I have invited him for a coffee next week , lets see if he shows up. This could be the beginning of a great friendship. By the way here is a little educational video of How to build an igloo, Im learning so much in this amazing city, do you like my new winter coat ? IGLOO Lots of Love , Sister 3
It has been long time and I have no excuse I can think of, so writing to you on a more regular basis on this forum is a good resolution for the coming year; that with book completion, a new home, a dog and a marathon in New York. And less focus on clothes-shopping this year; just to see what that’s like. And more open communication with my husband; just to see what that’s like.
So, you see, 2012 is not going to be the end of the world, but yet another grand beginning, although I seem to work better in academic years, starting in September, which means we are halfway through one or not yet at the other. January is a very difficult month to start all the above, due to its messiness; school holidays and the overeating.
I thought I would get back into the groove by rambling a bit on how we are doing in the Venice of the north, where the wind whips around corners, making us cycle backwards.
In between, I will present some holiday snaps to give you the necessary breathing space. Here is one of my new camera that is so advanced you can change the focus after taking the picture. My husband gave me that for Christmas.
Here is a picture of me and my husband, in the meadows of South Bohemia. We spent New Year in your country, S3, while you were not there, which is a shame.
The day after this picture was taken it snowed and looked like this amazing, isn’t it?
Jip wants to grow his hair long like Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2 and 3. I told him: “you realize they are extensions”. This did not go down well and, it appears, is not true. “Alright”, I said, “Fine by me, as long as you keep it light on top.”
We are buying Jip a new guitar as he had a ¾ one and it seems to be difficult to get his fingers around all the cords. Both Jip and his teacher seem to think the next one should be electric, which I fear is taking us down a whole new road of sound experimentation. Jip is very excited. “I love the eighties and nineties music”, he says. His favorite pants are his black tight cords and he likes his black skimpy vests because to him they symbolize rock music and his own personal freedom (I added that last bit myself). He said he wouldn’t mind a couple of white skimpy vests either.
Rosie also thinks skinny pants are the ultimate in style. She however has none. She has declared her love for Q, a certain classmate, and when she thought there was a chance she might have a play date with Q one day, she made great effort to dig out her tightest pants, which are more treggings than pants, added her favorite T-shirt with shiny bits and was ready. The play date did not come about unfortunately, but she was ready.
At the dinner table Rosie asked us whether we thought she should just go ahead and tell Q she was in love with him, giggling, adding she wouldn’t dare to, anyway. She has competition, so she tells me, as J and E are in love with Q too.
We saw this London lass in concert and both my husband and I agree she is very good.
Here she is playing for Jools.
My new hobby is making books on blurb.com, which is rather an expensive hobby. But after I had to pay many Euros to retrieve data on a damaged external hard disk, I believe strongly the pictures should be fished out of the computer as quickly as possible, just in case it happens again. So far, I am still having difficulty making ultra sharp editing decisions, which entails killing my darlings, meaning the books are still rather fat, but I am sure as time passes it will become easier. I seem take the same pictures over and over again. Look, another window with lacy curtains. Look another empty road leading to nowhere.
Allard is waiting for his electric car and goes to the gym before work.
In the next episode I will talk about the plans for our new house. Will we be able to squeeze it all into the budget? I might also talk about how I am resisting the sales. It feels like stopping smoking. If you wait a while, the urge disappears.
The last picture of today, shows a still life of our mother's natural air freshener at Christmas.
Dear sisters , what is this ? Am I the only scattered one left out there ? Have you both become "unscattered" ? I must admit I am still definately scattered and I hope you are too.
Here is a little post christmas / pre new year Quiz on the origin of words : ( from a book lying around that had been under the tree )
Quiz a)Latin for "who is?" b)Hindi for "unclaimed property" c)Chinese for "escape"
Clue a)A ball of yarn b)A skeleton key c)A love letter
Karaoke a)Japanese for "singing under water" b)Japanese for "howling" c)Japanese for "empty orchestra"
Slogan a)An Algonquian prayer b)A Celtic war-cry c)Russian for "repetition"
Boudoir a)French for "sulking room" b)French for "gun room" c) French for Peeping Tom"
Theasaurus a)A riddling lizard from Greek mythology b)A treasure chest c)The book of Theseus
Aardvark a)Swahili for "grandmother" b)Dutch for "earth pig" c)Croatian for "Jesus"
Thats it for now , you can send your answers now if you please and they will be posted in the new year . I am sure that you can not wait. Be strong.
And now for a series of Happy Birthday images for the scattered sister number one ! ( Yes, one day late , I am sorry but I have lost track of dates due to christmas indulgences ,home made carrot cake and 15 episodes of the Killing) But my instinct did not let me down , I knew that your birthday was a few days after christmas :)
Here is my birthday present to you , a postmodernist dress from London, I hope you like it.
And here is a lucky coloured sneeuw vlok blob for the new year :
And to peacefully and gracefully end all my brabbles I present both sisters and compagnons and family and friends with a song in appreciation of a lovely christmas , it was great.
( Thankyou Sister Two for introducing this amazing singer to us :)
Lots of Love Happy New year and what are your new years resolutions ? Mine are to do a tap dancing course and to be healthy and happy and to keep to my resolutions!
S3
P.S. Let the wise Owl look over us and protect us all :)
We are three sisters strewn across the globe (well, Europe, presently).One in Amsterdam, one in Antwerp and one in Prague. A photographer, a painter and a puppeteer. Sometimes we do something else for a living.
