sombrero galaxy

I like this foto!

Sombrero Galaxy - foto taken from the Hubble

Christmas

Ah, what fun! Three days of hanging out in Heidelberg, tons of food, cooking, talking, snowfights, four languages and many nationalities, ahhhhh!

Kudos to the host, the daughter and Max the cat!
Fue genial, chiquis!

Un beso,
B

what do you think about this?

Maryann Williamson
our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate
our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure
it is our light, not our darkness that most freightens us
we ask ourselves "who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, happy, talented, fabulous"

actually, who are you not to be

you are a child of God
and playing small does not serve the world
there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won´t feel insecure around you

we are all meant to shine a children do
we were born to make manifest of the glory of Gid that is within us
and it´s not just in some of us, it´s in everyone

and as we let our own light shine, we unconciously give other people permission to do the same

as we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others

Miscellaneous

I am saying little prayers on a daily basis to all of you out there these days, let me start with that.

Even though I have not been able to blog for a couple of days, here are the things on my mind:

My vacation was awesome, there were so many great people involved and I am thinking of you guys!
- There was the concert already mentioned
- Lorena and husband whom I had a great day in Amsterdam with, you guys are awesome
- Bea and Co. was great!!! There were planetariums and museums involved, this lovely kid who really kicked the adults derierres playing memory, a house humming its own tune when it thinks nobody listens, Berlin in its scintillating ways, a birthday party (they know how to warm one up for birthdays which is not an easy thing to do when it comes to me!), an awesome brunch. Feeling like being home.

Thank you guys so much for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The last days have been filled with:
- the big bang (I feel literally a little less clueless about the world)
- Jonathan Franzen (hugs to my best friend :) )
- work
- LOTS of house arrangements:
I am working on my appartment for years now, and every feng shui-sorting/throwing-out-things session makes it nicer. For the rest, I wouldn´t bother re Feng Shui, even though it might make sense, what do you guys out there think? One thing not in order is the symmetrie in the rooms, I have a small tick about this, and my furniture does not always agree. There revolting consists of a couple of toom many or few centimetres to adjust things properly:)
- babysitting and devouring the story of Karlson on the roof by Astrid Lindgren myself after the kids were asleep
- Emiliaaaaaaa, yey! I am encouraging myself to take less breaks, and I am slowly getting in the piano mood AND start to have the patience to be there and only there
- an experimenting on not using facebook, no signs of withdrawals so far but it feels a little bit strange. I will hopefully stay strong and not go there before New Year
- advocating for peace, silence, something wild, something funny and lots of sleep, less internet, more books instead and most of all a lot of you guys around as much as possible.
- breathe in and out
- cook something healthy if possible
- stay in the moment

I like this moment right now. It´s here to be savoured, in other cases maybe hated. It´s all that there is. The rest is fiction or memory. I like this concept.

A huge hug.
B

Gracias a la vida

I am not supposed to sing in the office.
Before I can start writing about my marvelous vacation, just enjoy this. If you have a copy of Mercedes Sosa singing this, all the better.

A huge hug to all of you.
B

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me dio dos luceros que, cuando los abro,
perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco,
y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado
y en las multitudes el hombre que yo amo.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado el oído que, en todo su ancho,
graba noche y día grillos y canarios;
martillos, turbinas, ladridos, chubascos,
y la voz tan tierna de mi bien amado.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado el sonido y el abecedario,
con él las palabras que pienso y declaro:
madre, amigo, hermano, y luz alumbrando
la ruta del alma del que estoy amando.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la marcha de mis pies cansados;
con ellos anduve ciudades y charcos,
playas y desiertos, montañas y llanos,
y la casa tuya, tu calle y tu patio.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me dio el corazón que agita su marco
cuando miro el fruto del cerebro humano;
cuando miro el bueno tan lejos del malo,
cuando miro el fondo de tus ojos claros.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la risa y me ha dado el llanto.
Así yo distingo dicha de quebranto,
los dos materiales que forman mi canto,
y el canto de ustedes que es el mismo canto
y el canto de todos, que es mi propio canto.

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.


(1964-1965)

http://www.cancioneros.com/nc/685/0/gracias-a-la-vida-violeta-parra

Beady Belle

Beate and I one hour ago

Yeyyy, I saw them live!

Beady Belle. In my mind they are always next to a Fjord in Norway far far north. A couple of weeks ago, finally the alert that they will give a concert. First action in course: call my dear friend Hille, make sure no work plans screw up the evening and GO:

A small studio, not more than 100 people. A whisper and shout and all fabulous nuances in between wrapped in this awesome voice and groove.

A lot of their songs have accompanied me throughout the last years. "irony", "one and only", "bella"... if you have a chance to listen to them: GO :) I will try to join :)

Apparently, Youtube or the band is strict with publishing on youtube, I found two tracks for you guys out there.

hindsight

Ghosts

that 70´s show

Nice. Will enjoy a couple of episodes of this show and simply hang.

must publish cow :)

you guys, just took a quick foto on cell phone from the original India fotos...

4.30 am - India

as promised, here are some stories related to the fotos I am putting into paper albums.

Yesterday, it was India´s turn. Every foto going into that album is full of colour, life, poverty, contradictions and opposites, joy, sorrow, you name it.

My trip to India took place in 1994. I was prepared for everything:
-hunger
-illness
-beggars
-insane circumstances
-clashes of any kind from a religious, ethnics and political perspective.

my journey took me from New Delhi to Agra, Jaipur, Darjeeling (some hiking), Calcutta, Goa and Bombay.

I will never forget the moment of setting foot into India by arriving in Bombay I think, where we took a flight to our first destination Delhi. The humidity in the air, the heat. The first rupies in Delhi, the almost violent smell that overran my processing capabilities in conjunction with masses of people, colours, language.

It is hard to describe this. But what surprised me personally the most: It felt familiar even though I knew the enormous amount of experiences to be had until the brain can even start to follow that intuition. Let alone the political situation, religious war paths and the worries about personal health. Mosquitos to the day terrify me since then, for a second only, but still...

Somebody in the Himalayas put a bindi on my forehead whilst blessing me. Such a touching gesture, that red dot left me with the sensation of a cold coloured circle on my skin. I left it on out of respect for the blessing that came with it, but it felt strange to have it in the first place. Back in the day I did not sufficiently about hinduism and it made me focus too much on its pure significance instead of enjoying the blessing. cold mass on skin.

We saw so many temples, forts, modern architecture, british influences, the Taj Mahal and yet there are thousands of miles to walk on indian grounds.

I mostly felt safer than in some areas in my world. And even though the colours, smell and (I forgot to mention the ever present) music was there, it had something clarifying about it. I do remember looking in people´s eyes and sometimes seeing a depth that might have been the result of their darkness. But put in combination with some people´s composure, and the fact that a greater part of these people did not know if they would have something to eat on that specific day, it simply - and still - humbles me.

I am a child of materialism. I am used to having the basics of life, and so much more than that. I do like dressing up, looking nice, I have a nice life style. But I have to admit that less choice would make things easier.

If anybody ever saw "before sunset", you will hear Julie Delpy´s character say something like: "I went to a communistic country, and after a few days, I had the clarity I have been missing for such a long time. I realized that I felt so focussed i could write again. and all of this beecause there were simply no distractions. No advertising, no bombardement with information you don´t want in the first place."

That´s what I am talking about.

Bea might remember my reaction when I came back to Germany. I got the cultural shock here. People with everything seemed in part so joyless to me. Frankfurt airport with the shiny floors, almost sterile. And up to the current day I don´t like those shops with too much nic-nac and bling bling.

Don´t get me wrong, there ARE shops I like, and I do have a hand for quality. It might be about clarity, and something missing a greater appreciation for what I have. I think I am aware of it sometimes.

Going to India has been the most rewarding trip I ever went on. I am being told that it has been changing a lot and I hope to go back to see the change.

I am sure that today is a special day where I will dedicate the dreams I will fall into within the next 30 minutes to remember and relive what I remember and like about life. And some images from that specific trip: The Himalayas, Nepal, Monsoon time, people we encountered and talked to.

I feel blessed for have seen India.
And for having seen and talked to some of you yesterday. i do miss you guys so you are spread all over the place.

I feel blessed for knowing all of you and so many more adventures to come.

A big hug,
B

David Sedaris

I like his way of writing.

somewhere this week, his writing triggered my head with:

"what was Jesus like in puberty"

here´s what this triggers in the good old soonissimo tradition

-why do some people don´t like to have too much space in a plane
-what must it be like to be Sam
-does a tree make a noise when it falls even though nobody is around to hear it
-why do the most mundane things like saucisson en brochette au feu sound so nice in french
-why do many habitants of nations have the same tick like italian people adding an "e" to every consonante ine the ende ofe a worde.

Good Lord, I think I need help :D

impressions

business travelling is weird. overrated at some point. impressive in the sense of the word. it can make you smile from the inside of a taxi in Milano. I like buying stuff like tooth paste or make-up remover from wherever I am. Whenever I come back home, those things make me wonder, that some women in Paris might have bought this special thing. Her bathroom smelling of lavender and perfume. or the hand-sanitizer for a family. Or the toothbrush that might have landed in a yuppie´s household.
It is so random whom buys what and carries it with them.

One of the worst things are hotels. One can have really bad luck with them. Fortunately, for myself best western upwards already shields me from this. Or the moment you realize you have to stay sometimes which wasn´t planned, like yesterday evening somewhere in Europe. And hours after that realization, I was starving, needed a simple t-shirt and a few other items and the guy in the shop wouldn´t let me in, even though I was begging him to allow me two minutes only (it was 21:55 and they would close at 22:00). I should not be talking to people when I am hungry, seriously.

One of the things I like most is taxi driving. And getting to meet customers living in a different town, a different country. Their language, their approach on business that can be so challengingly different from mine.

The languages. An overseas colleague whose joke reminds me of a joke a friend told me on this side of the pond. Sharing the power supply in the train. Realizing that the train from time to time does not supply electricity.

the moment I come home and it feels I have been away for ages. but by the order of things I remember what I thought when I put them where they are. Sam, elephant-the-gift and candystick sitting on the floor.

both sides of the medal

*


I have been told that putting a grin on and sticking to it is a good thing to do. And no matter what mood you are in, it is impossible to be annoyed whilst grinning.
This is quite known. We are all rockstars. And if we stick to that we will be treated as such, now won´t we.

Here´s what not only bugs me, it makes me positively mad:

- having to take care of a complete household and all logistics related to it considering a lot of travelling (especially mobbing the floor, using the broom - no problem, almost every day, but the mobbing part creeps me out).

- routine work and boring stuff like T&L, comparing lists

- planning the logistics for a complex trip (x factor of colleagues, destinations, hotels, whatever). The funny thing is: make me prepare an IT certification and I will be there in no time. It´s weird

- people talking non-stop for more then 20 minutes when there is no end in sight and a lot of repetition. especially when they think they can walk on water

- a spice called Kümmel in german, yikes

- a confcall at home, a cell phone ringing while in that exact same moment my
landlord knocks himself out on my door (pun unintended)

- choleric behaviour

I am sure the list is much longer than this.
So, all that helps is the rock star attitude and that anything happening is fine. It takes me some disclipine but it´s much easier to live with a grin once it is back.

Which begs the question:

How do you deal with stuff and what is it that makes you mad?




*

how good will you allow your life to be or....

here you go with something from MarieForleo.com
have a great one, B

Do You Have An “Upper Limit” Problem?
August 26, 2010

Last week was the first time I’ve ever left a yoga workshop, in my life.
Let’s be clear – the teachers were fantastic.

But after my fourth downward dog, I started breaking into a cold sweat, got nauseous and my head felt like it was about to explode.

“Oh great,” I thought.

“Not only do I have to walk out of this yoga workshop, but we’re right at the end of my b-school launch and about to open RHH Live! I can’t get a 24 hour stomach bug now! There’s too much good stuff going on!”

Well, that 24-hour stomach bug turned into a week of being completely out of commission.

And I do I mean completely. For the past six days, I’ve been a hot, sick mess.

Skull crushing headaches. Stomach pain so severe it had me doubled over for 70% of the day. And whatever tiny amounts of food I managed to get down came out faster than a rocket ship.

Not cute.

After the first 3 days with no signs of improvement, I started to get concerned.

I’m “strong like bull” and rarely, if ever, get sick. When I do, it’s pretty minor stuff and I’m back in action within a day or so.

In the moments between bathroom runs, I scoured the web looking for what could possibly be wrong with me.


“Is it salmonella? Hmmm…there was just that big egg recall. Some kind of nastyass 10 foot long parasite or tapeworm? Maybe, but highly unlikely. A life-threatening stomach disease? Boy, would that suck.”

It’s important to note that during the first half of my sick week, Josh was in LA shooting an NBC show so I was flying solo in the Hamptons.

Thank God, I had a crew of awesome girlfriends staying in a house not far down the road to help keep an eye on me.

“You’re pregnant!” was the first thought they all had.

No shot it hell. I didn’t need to pee on a stick to know that wasn’t it.

Then my friend Kate, who knows me well, made a very astute observation. “I think you’re having an upper limit problem Marie.”

Interesting . . .

Cut to day four. I’m pale and emaciated.

Josh is back from LA and it’s clear whatever I had was not going away on it’s own. We headed straight to the doctor so he could run tests.

Later that same evening, I wanted to get out of the house so we stopped by the girls’ house for tea. One by one, everyone took bets on what was causing my mystery illness.

Then Rachel, Kate’s uber intuitive cousin said,

“Marie, I really think those test results will come back negative. It’s definitely an upper limit problem. You’re going through some major growth right now and I’ll bet this is just part of you busting through your upper limits and increasing your capacity for success.”

Kate giggled and nodded in agreement.

Josh smiled, gently squeezed my hand and said “Yeah, that and you really need a break. You’ve been going non-stop. Since you weren’t about to take one willingly, your body decided for you.”

(Damn him for always being right )

So in case you’ve never heard of an “upper limit problem”, what Kate and Rachel are referring to comes from Gay Hendrick’s incredible book called The Big Leap.

Here’s the basic idea.

Each of has an internal thermometer for how much success, wealth, happiness, love, and intimacy we’ll let ourselves experience. That’s our upper limit setting. Kind of like our success comfort zone.

When we exceed our internal thermostat setting and life gets super duper OMG good (we have an influx of money, get healthy and thin, find a great relationship) – we unconsciously do things to sabotage ourselves, so we can drop back to the old, familiar place where we feel in control.

Upper limit problems can manifest like this.

You’ve just had a huge win and then you… get in an accident, break a limb, fry your computer, over-drink, over-eat, over-spend, start a fight with your significant other, get really sick, etc.

You know, fun self-sabotaging stuff like that.

The truth is I was so ridonkulously excited about the success of b-school AND the miracles aligning for my RHH Live event this fall (partnering with Donna Karan’s Urban Zen; securing all of my dream speakers…more on that soon )

That I didn’t just bump into my upper limit…I demolished that sucker with a sledge hammer.

So, yeah. I guess I was bound to have a little re-adjustment time.

Cut to Sunday morning. I’m reading Breaking Dawn in bed when the phone rings.

Test results time.

“Hi Marie. It’s Dr. Mott. We got the results back from the lab – really good news. There’s nothing wrong with you. No bacteria, no parasites or anything we need to worry about. You got a regular old stomach virus. Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll be just fine.”

SUU-WEET!

The girls and Josh, were right on. Upper limit problems – I can handle that. Alien-like intestinal parasites eating their way through my stomach . . . not so much.

So here’s what I did:

I gave myself total permission to chillax. Zero computer time. I told everyone in my world not to expect anything work related from me for a few days.

I rescheduled appointments. Released myself from guilt and totally indulged in healing, coziness and every guilty pleasure I could think of.

I emotionally and energetically celebrated by giving myself permission to relish in a series of non-productive, silly and frivolous things.


(Translation: a whole bunch of Edward, Bella and Jacob plus back-to-back episodes of Mad Men.)

Funny enough, the moment I stopped beating myself up for being sick, my body kicked into speed recovery mode.

Wild how that happens, right?

How To Dismantle Your Upper Limit Problem

Unless you understand this whole upper limit thing, you may mistakenly believe that you’re flawed or simply not “good enough” to handle a big jump in your success or happiness.

It may feel like you’re always on the verge of a life altering breakthrough, but you either can’t seem to ever get there or maintain it.

I can tell you first hand that everyone on the planet has varying degrees of “upper limit problems.” Thankfully, they’re a snap to overcome if you’ve got the right tools and an open, willing heart.

Step 1. Get that dealing with “upper limit problems” are a necessary part of the journey.

Look. No one escapes this shit. So don’t feel weak, bad or alone if any of this sounds familiar.

Thankfully, upper limit problems can be super easy to dissolve when you bring compassion and self-awareness to the table.

Which of course means checking both your ego, and your victimy “Why does this always happen to me?” BS at the door.

Important note: Moving through upper limit problems is not a one time event. If you’re committed to continually expanding your levels of wealth, love and happiness, strap in for the ride, baby.

Step 2. Increase your tolerance for how good you’re wiling to have your life be, starting right now.

What’s does this mean? For starters, it means treating exactly where you are and what you have with all the love, honor and respect you can muster. And this isn’t just a mental exercise, you need to act on it.

Tell your your family that you love and appreciate them; be truly grateful for whatever money you have in your bank account; take care of your physical environment and the roof over your head; thank your clients for their business, and nourish your body and soul in every way you can possibly imagine.

Step 3. Go on high ULP (upper limit problem) alert when loads of good stuff starts to come your way.

Pay special attention to your thoughts, behaviors and actions when things in your business and life start getting OMG good. Here’s a question to regularly ask yourself, “How much wealth, love and happiness am I r-e-a-l-l-y willing to have?”

If “A shit bunch!” is close to your answer, then make sure your behaviors and words line up with that answer.

Then keep a watchful, observant eye and open heart.

If you catch yourself about to start an argument, go into some manufactured mental drama or make a royally stupid and rash business decision – stop. Take a few deep breaths. Call your most grounded friend and have a chat.

Remember, any time you’re in the midst of busting through your own upper limits, it’s bound to be a little scary and uncomfortable. You may want to pull back and contract.

Don’t. Hang with the discomfort. It’s a good sign.

It means you’ve just increased your capacity to experience wealth, happiness and love – both for yourself and for us all.

Go thoughts on this one? Ever have an upper limit problem yourself? A story about how you’ve overcome it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts so leave a comment below.

OH yeah . . . if you’re interested in coming to NYC for the November RHH Live event, click here. It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing!

my brain is driving itself crazy or maybe this IS normal

Apparently my brain is warming up.

I think in English with a french accent. Playing with emilia the piano is making sense again.

Other than that: a lot of travelling, people, work, impressions, I would not even know where to start.

Oh, and I already mentioned that I am creating albums with paper fotos in them? It´s so nice to see my own life in it?

if you feel that this post is fast-paced, a little bit strange and not really what you are used to from me, then I concur. Let the weekend start in all of its glory and quiet.

A big hug to all of you,
B

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun

something is up

in the mood for something really stupid

I mean off-the-charts stupid

update:

one of you guys just went running through the Alps for a couple of days

the same did start her new job in huge company, international waters and scary structures

another one just moved back to her hometown to start working and feel at ease in known surroundings

Sam is still whispering with the elephant, I think they are making fun of me in a great way, I am sitting on the sofa, legs in a knot, hair in bad shape and a big grin on my face

I am puzzled about having to drive a HUGE car for the next three months. Bothered would be another expression for it, Köln is not made for such stuff. but I started thinking of what could fit into a Toureg:
- a baby pony for a short ride
- a desk
- 50 liter of Pudding times ten
- 80 popes?
- 200 Editions of Julia Childs Cook books (hopefully that is not too heavy)
- Sam´s worldwide family member, imagine the furry chaos

- any other suggestions... here is the space to indicate me if you need my services :)
Love you guys,
Birgit

what are you guys up to?

Hey, so much fuzz from my side, it´s your turn if you please.

What makes you smile these days.
What´s your favourite food at the moment.
Where´s your favourite person right now.
What haven´t you found yet?
Do you feel too that the star you were born under was smiling when it saw you?
What film would you like to watch right now?
When was the last time you
- sang under the shower?
- jumped into a lake?
- zapped through a season of your favourite tv show?
- Hugged an animal?
- hugged your neighbour?
- cursed until you had to laugh about it?

HUGS, B

Live rich, happy and hot

Marie Forleo is my personal heroe for years now.
- a major business woman
- happy
- bouncing on the sofa.

All she says is: live here, right now, every situation is exactly as it should be. Live it whilst being open to everything around you and see how the universe unfolds.

My apologies for the strange subject, forget about rich in the sense of dollars, even though she might refer to it!

It´s strange: every time I remember to apply it, it feels that the echo is awesome.

If you feel like shaking it a little along with Marie, Laura, and Jay-Z, scroll a little on

Marie´s website

Have fun out there. I know I will try to!!!!!

Mark, baby!

Hey, does anybody know where to get high resolution pictures from Mark Rothko?

I have been discussing with somebody that I would like to have a copy of one particular painting in original size on canvas and am not sure how to approach this, is there some kind of global archive for these things?

Dennis the gorilla

Please don´t tell Sam.

Close to my office, there is a supermarket I go to during breaks.
Right in the entrance, there is a gorilla, sitting all calm ont he top of that pyramid, and is so cute. I am convincing the staff to call him Dennis and it seems to be catching on.

For two or three weeks now, that peluche is doing a marvelous job:

- Showing off bananas, water melons.

- wearing a hat.

- making me greet him silently

If we tell Sam I will have to take him and I don´t think he is ready for the office or the supermarket yet! Even though I am getting a feeling that some of my colleagues would have a blast with him, let´s check it!

Smoothie´s toast incident

Italians have a saying for fancy things: this thing is so *chose an expression* it for sure can cook coffee...

After a rainy night, the sun came out. It was a Sunday morning. I arrived at my car which was half parked under balconies. On the hood (I mean the front part of the car with the motor), an entire slice of toast was sitting there, pristine, beautifully soaken, in the brightest white, perfectly complete, starting to get - that´s right - toasted on the edges because the sun was heating up the black paint-job.

I had to laugh so hard about poor Smoothie, its car friends for sure are giggling now guessing that this one might not be able to cook coffee, but for sure get some serious toasting done.

soonissimo 2.0

Man,
is has been such a long time since I was ready to communicate with you guys.

A lot of stuff has been going on. Apart from a new job, re-structuring a few things that made my life bumpy, good stuff is coming.

Sam is good. Sitting with his piggy-bank-the-elefant-and-soon-to-be-given-to-their-rightful-owner in the window sink and having fun about what is going on in the patio.

Work is good, I am slowly allowing to be as good as it can be. With interruptions, but things bother me less and less.

My grandmother finally found her peace, thanks to all of you for your condolences. Since she is in peace, I am too: The time before that was not easy, but I am happy I had a chance to see her a couple of times.

Found some treasured friends like Anisa and Laura from my time in Rome.

I am spending hour over hour creating copies on all of my favourite fotographies. Never had actual albums to put my past into the proper shape. I found the following:

- a picture of the cutest back EVER of a cow I depicted in Goa/India (the female ones do have horns, don´t they?)
- a typewriter with an actual typewriter in the midst of a munsoon in Mumbay around 4.30 in the afternoon, protected by an umbrella
- a picture of a blueish postcard on a yellow wall in my old appartment that makes me smile all the time
- dozens of black and white fotos from sessions with my friends throughout the years
- travelling, travelling, travelling fotos
- boyfriends! God Lord, so much fun!
- the preferred dog on the planet
- parties where the complete appartment had painted walls due to themes we had given out and a strict dress code

wow

I am really amazed at how full my life is. And since starting with those albums is from scratch, I am sure I will be able to tell you the one or other hilarious story about the encounter with a scots man in Hamburg who made me laugh all night last week, why my car sometimes makes me laugh or even why I feel sad for the one or other reason.

This is soonissimo 2.0 in gear. Get ready for the good stories.

A hug to all of you.
B

la mer

Most of you will know la mer from Debussy. Close your eyes and think of the waves, the wind, the horizon, the colours the smell right after a storm.

money...

For money you can have everything it is said. No, that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money.

- Arne Garborg, writer (1851-1924)

a little prayer for Martha

My grandmother is devastated, I saw her today. The place she is being taken care of is a nursing home, very nice, with so many nice professionals who take care of all the elderly. The place is quiet, too quiet, even when the readio is on. When I entered her room, I saw a shadow of what she used to be, sunken and in deep sorrow.

She is in tears, since she cannot express herself anymore in complete sentences and she wishes to go. She knows she doesn´t have much time left. I feel deeply sorry for her pain and am trying my best to tell her slowly what she has done for all of us and that I am proud of her, hopefully some of it gets to her, but her sadness and maybe fear is with her. My family is trying to convey that message, they visit her every day. If only we knew what she wants to say. We ended up in tears and with the little strength she had left, she got up and accompanied me to the door. What a woman.

The mundane world part II

two alarm clocks and both broken. I don´t have to get up in time any more :) Can I invent an alarm-clock that doesn´t mind sailing through the air from time to time? hey, with a bounce-back-mechanism, that´s fun and entertaining in the morning (how can I make it not hurtful - temperature sense)?

stupid new bulbs in Europe:
why does the bulb in the fridge burn brighter than the 60W bulb (!) in the actual lamp in the kitchen?

Went for a run and I looked down: those were the wrong shoes, but with the snow it was actually a good idea to wear hiking shoes (thank God not boots, I would hopefully have realized THAT).

Can´t imagine what thé world looks like after Wednesday, oh boy. Preparation almost finished, can´t believe it.

A big hug to all of you y un beso,
B

the mundane world

- it seems like I have new flatmate! It´s cute: post-its on the bathroom mirror, bathroom door... Tady, the contractor is redoing the bathroom and it the movement in the bathroom makes me laugh. Good times when I had flatmates!

- I am thinking about sending Sam to tell Tady stories, he has experience with help: the maids in a hotel had the biggest fun putting him in different positions. Once he ended up in the bathroom in front of the mirror :)

-last week, I had a very important meeting and couldn´t wear the dress that matches the suit-jacket since I had a huge hematoma on the shin (it´s stupid to fight against gravity) God, what a nice problem.

-the suit ratio in my closed is alarmingly high and I hope to get to wear them soon again. Beatrix, I already hear the protest but I like it. Is it snobby to like dressing up from time to time?

-I have a very important meeting which might mean end of a project, I will get into more details at a later stage. It´s a lot of work but I am focussing on the result. Last week I relearned something very important: Once I am prepared and relaxed the equasion ends up really well. So simple, where has that been?

-this morning I got my first sms from an New Zealand cell, thanks Ray! Happy to know you, girl, mua!

-Going for a run is not about feeling elastic. So additional Pilates. And today my walk was nothing short of Jurassic Park, I swear. Not fair.

-Hopefully the America´s Cup will be starting tomorrow, I can´t wait! Who wants to join to learn how to sail catamaran at lake Garda? It´s a good place to learn due to the fall-winds...
borrowed from http://www.globecartoon.com/

-Going to bed now, with a couple of nots in my hair, a slight cold and a good mood. Life is good, who knew.

Hugs to all of you,
B

the seven deadly sins - didn´t see that one coming

I am not sure how much you guys know about Karneval in Köln.


Yesterday went to an extensive cabaret/sessions of the other kind sessions of the other kindthat has been established in Köln in order to make fun of the established Karnevalssitzungen. And "bam!", tonight I am going out as one of the seven deadly sins,I think that the disguise might look a little slutty, but who cares :)

So: as much as you plan to escape from it, there is always something to it and it´s fun.

to my dear Grandmother

a couple of days ago, my grandmother got really ill and went to the hospital.

To be honest here, I tried to ignore it as far as I could but today it hit me. She might not be with us next year any more. I will have to find out somewhere around this weekend when and how to see her.

She is the kind of person that always goes through life with kind of stoic attitude, at the same time loving and caring. Willpower. Contenance. Discretion and common sense. She is my stepfathers mother and I do remember the moment I saw her for the very first time, where and how she sat, everything around in that room, even a certain smell and sounds in our old appartment in a very distant past, somewhere in the early 80s. She accompanied us for weeks in Spain, cooking, baking, knitting, watching all of us children grow and watching her sons become gentle like her husband who died far too young to see what they had become.

The pastries, she made tons of them for several occasions, my brother and I once ate them at once, which was sort of unbelievable due to the amount and based on a bet (the things you learn from your brother who is a couple of years older and capable of eating anything you are not quick enough to eat yourself). The trips to the german church in Barcelona, where once she got in the middle of a marathon and yet managed to arrive in church without knowing a word of Spanish. The time when she explained the maid in Tarragona how to properly wash a curtain (still with no clue about spanish). Again, the cooking...

I will go up to the North soon to see her once I know how and when.

Help Coffy, please

Haiti is closer than we all think. Keren´s daughters daycare friends are searching for their relatives in Haiti as we speak.

Please help.

http://helpcoffy.blogspot.com/

The Lab

Installation in St Peter´s church Köln*

If anybody has the chance to see this installation: go! In real life it is black, white elements, and red and white lights :)

* foto copied from http://www.sankt-peter-koeln.de/index.php?id=7

Achmed the dead terrorist in Nienburg and soonissimo 101

Yesterday, a journey started that seem to be ending in the outskirts of snowy nowhere in Northern Germany with horses on a side and a dog who seems to love opening fancy tea bags. In fact, a snow storm was all over the place, and the train was supposed to be arriving in Nienburg, but nothing, literally everything blank and not even houses for while. The landscape up there is flat and people from the area make the joke that you can see today who will be dropping by tomorrow by viewing them on the horizon. But I did arrive sound and safe and it was so much fun.

Btw: I forgot Sam at home and as a logical consequence it is my turn to do the honours here :)

We had a great party at Ray´s place, and for starters, so many cool people, coming from Berlin and Hannover. Ray´s cooking was excellent and the night, and yes, I was rolling home without any help in front of the train :) (no wonder: we started with datils in bacon, continued with guacamole and nachos, sushi, cous cous, etc).

I am lucky enough to know Ray for a couple of years now and the fun is endless. While I am writing this, youtube is playing Achmed the dead terrorist and I still can´t believe it, we were laughing so hard about it!

Other than that, I learned that there seems to be a habit in berlin to tell somebody to dance their name (tanz´Deinen Namen) aka "get lost" which I find hilarious, especially considering the it seems to be a part of the Waldorf-school educational system in a much nicer context.

And if anybody reading this finds a good idea for converting a property into a multi-family/multi-party (party in the sense of various parties living there, not crack-parties with a disco-light) house in Italy, Spain, France, Cologne area, Rügen or schwäbische Alp, they should get in touch with us. We are not crazy but weighing our options to put some ideas into the hat within a couple of years, until we have a good and feasible concept together. Right now the concept is rather blurry, but this idea has popped up so many times already we think we should look into it. The main idea is: quiet, peace, family if we wish to and none if we don´t in a nice environment. This is soonissimo 101, so please advice!!!!!

Ray, we all had so much fun, thank you very much. Psychedelic kisses as always :)
B