Day 50

Well, this is no longer a quarantine but cinquantine.

I've been home for exactly 50 days now with only a few short walks to the river in between.

The problem is that I have so many ideas what could/should be done, what I would want to do and what I would want to be done...

... and yet so little time!

Isn't it ironic :-)

Seriously?!?

Just look at this:

And then at this:

They are both size 39-42.

They were bought in the same store and have not yet been washed.

Ahhh, Nick!

I've been a huge fan of Nick Cave for ... almost 30 years.

So I was thrilled to find out that he started his Red Right Rand Files.

My favourite one so far, about creativity and ideas.

Perfection.

Not that I was expecting anything else, really ;-)

PS. In case the Files ever get deleted, here's a copy:

"Creativity is not something that can disappear. The creative impulse is simply the strategy used to catch ideas. Ideas are everywhere and forever available, provided you are prepared to accept them. This takes a certain responsibility to the artistic process. There is discipline and rigour and preparation involved. You must prove yourself worthy of the idea.

I have rarely sat down at my desk with something to say, other than I am ready. The sitting comes first, turning up with a certain alertness to possibility. Only then does the idea feel free to settle. It settles small and very tentatively, then, through your active attention, it can grow into something much bigger. Sitting in a readied state can sometimes last a long and anxious time. But you must not despair! I have never found a situation where the idea refuses to come to the prepared mind.

While you are in this prepared state, be the thing you want to be. If it is a writer, then write. Initially, stream of consciousness is fine. Write without judgement and self-condemnation. Write playfully and recklessly. Even if this initial writing appears of little value, keep going, for the beautiful idea has awakened and is moving toward you, as it responds to your display of intent.

The idea is especially designed for you in your uniqueness. If you are not there to receive it, or indeed you are not yourself when it arrives or, heaven forbid, disguised as someone else, the idea may scare and vanish away and be lost forever. It is you that it is searching for and you alone. Be yourself. The idea is moving closer.

Ideas are timid things, in my experience. They come as whispers and you need to hold them in honest regard in order to receive them. Perhaps the idea is as scared as you. Perhaps the idea is as invisible as you may sometimes feel. It may be that the idea is simply mirroring your internal self and is reluctant to settle in a mind that is heavy with uncertainty, and that is repeating ancient mantras of self-doubt. These voices can best be banished by a spirited disobedience, a playful defiance. Disobey the voices by continuing to write. They are a lot less robust than they appear. The idea is closing in.

So, Jo, here are some suggestions as to what to do:
Sit down. Be yourself. Be prepared. Be attentive. Defy the voices. Be the thing you want to be. Write. Be playful. Be reckless. Remember that you are uniquely designed for the idea that is moving toward you. You are good enough. The idea is about to arrive.

Love, Nick

"New" Music

Since I started regular Body-balance classes, I learned about so many great new bands/singers/songs, most of them fairly unknown in (this part of) Europe. So I filled up my MP3 player with obscure NZ bands and am loving it! However ... all of them are some sort of ambient, pop, indie ...

So I wanted to see if there is some new music more on the rocky side. And just out of curiosity I switched to MTV Rocks to see what's new.

And I got (in no particular order) Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Offspring, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, Good Charlotte, Coldplay, Oasis, Kings of Leon, Linkin Park ...

All legendary bands and great music, but I mean, really?!?

The only new band to me is Biffy Clyro, formed in 1995!

Whoa..

How many times in a winter can weather change from +12 to -5 C in a day and a couple of days later change from -8 to +12 degrees C in a day only to change back a few days later?

Update: here are the official data. Not for my hometown, but it's similarly crazy here. Notice the timescale!

Picture stolen from ARSO

I mean, I love crazy and windy and cold weather but come on...

On a different note, ultraviolet is the colour of the year!

When I first heard it, I was amused, perplexed and really wondered how one can make something invisible the colour of the year.

Well, it turned out this was just a name. The colour is a plain normal violet. Nothing ultra about it. I'm not yet sure I like it, but I surely don't dislike it as that millennial pink that still lingers around.

Oooh, but I really do like the Desert Sunset combination!

Insane!

Remember how I was complaining about Easter Bunnies in February, almost two months before Easter?

Well, today (OCTOBER 3rd!) I received a save-the-date-email with a list of Christmas parties.

Now I know the dates of three of around 7 or 8 Christmas parties I will probably be invited to. Starting December 7th.

Insane!

PS.  I'm spending all my time rebuilding-renovating a balcony with nothing exciting to show. Just yet.

Random thoughts

1. I saw a billboard today announcing the premiere of Bridget Jones's Baby. And I was wondering why they put the ad so soon as the film won't open till September, several months from now ... wait ... ooops!

2. Within one hour and all within a couple of hundred yards from my home I spoke to one of the national best gymnasts (multiple world champion), sat in a meeting with the singer of the nationally most famous rock band, and met probably the most (nationally) known TV presenter. A funny place, my hometown.

3. I decided to follow this year's Bake Off and started with the famous Jaffa cakes. Well, they tasted really delicious.  Their appearance, however, well ... let's not talk about it.

4. Somehow I stumbled upon Glee radio where they only play Glee covers.  24 hours a day. I mean... Seriously? 

5. Reading Kobo Abe, Herman Hesse, Nick Hornby and John C. Parkin. How many books can one read at a time?

Hmmm...

Just watching The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

And reading Green's Paper Towns.

And there I go and buy a book on houseplants.

Must. Do. Something. About. It.

Just for Q's and old time's sake some photos from Everglades.

Everglades, about 10 years ago

An alligator we accidentally ran into

PS. Paper towns are very (too?) similar to Finding Alaska, but since I liked Alaska, I also liked Paper Towns. Even more so.

A month sans sucre

I've made it!

I've made it through all of May without eating any (added) sugar.

Or stevia.
Or sweeterns.
Or dextrose.
Or added fructose.
Or whatever food industry adds to make everything taste better.

I did have difficulties finding food with ZERO added sugars, because things like ham, salami, cornichons, mustard, crisps ... all contain (added) sugar. I won't even mention sweets like fruit yogurt, corn flakes, baked beans ...

But I've made it.

And how do I feel after a month?

Relieved.
Hungry.
Grumpy.
Miserable.
And I've lost 7 pounds.

Looking forward to tomorrow :-P

Responsibility

A quote from the second Harry Hole novel, Cockroaches:

"You can't run away from responsibility [...] That's how civilisations crumble."

So, so true.

Things

This is going to be an extraordinary post. A post not about my actions or creations but a post about my thoughts. And things. Lots of things. All sorts of things. Things. Things that we own. Things that own us.

In the past weeks, months, even years, I've been going through ... things. My things, my parents' things, my great-grandparents' things, my great-aunt's things... lots of things! I've literally been enslaved by them. I needed to sort them, to decide what to do with them, whether to keep them, and where to put them. And I've thought a lot ... about things.

And I've come to the conclusion that we live in a way too material world. We work hard so that we can buy things and then we buy large houses to keep all the things and we have room for more so we buy more ... We feel bad throwing them away because someone obviously paid for them and we keep it just because maybe one day someone might need them...

I really want to break this cycle.

So I've decided to sort the things by three criteria:
1) do I need the thing?
2) do I want the thing?
3) it is valuable (material or emotional value)?

If a thing fails the test, I get rid of it. Sell it, donate it or throw it away. But I do not keep it - why would I keep something I neither need nor want?!?

I must say it really clicked in my head when I came to this conclusion. I feel like I own things and not vice versa. I feel liberated.

Now I just have to raise my kids in the same manner :-)