Sterrige Nacht

Londen!!!

2010-08-03T05:16:00.000-07:00

I just ordered this little book and i am quite excited. Looking forward to spending 10 days in Londen next week!!!

asparagus, goat cheese and lemon pasta

2010-05-12T04:43:00.001-07:00

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/05/asparagus-goat-cheese-and-lemon-pasta/

Tried, Tested and LOVED it!

jep....

2009-10-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

Naar Almere...

2009-10-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

space...

2009-09-01T05:04:00.000-07:00

Clouds...

2009-08-24T23:55:00.000-07:00

Peter Zumthor...

2009-06-16T08:20:00.000-07:00

Today...

2009-06-16T00:22:00.001-07:00

Today...I could sit like this all day:

Today...This outfit is all i want:

And have been having thoughts like this:

And this:

Bye!

Hugs...

2009-06-08T09:22:00.001-07:00

Hugs make me happy!

Wanting......Tracy Feith...

2009-06-03T05:26:00.001-07:00

Paris...still...

2009-06-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

Paris week...Voor Serena

2009-05-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Paris...

2009-05-26T13:15:00.001-07:00

Les fenêtres à l'D'musée d'Orsay à Paris.

Photo Par S. Raphael

...

2009-05-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

courage doesn't always roar.
sometimes courage is the quiet voice
at the end of the day saying,
"i will try again tomorrow.”
- mary anne radmacher

Today...

2009-05-22T00:03:00.001-07:00

BLIJ: Eveline!

2009-05-13T04:22:00.001-07:00

Dit is het lijstje van Eveline. Ik ken Eveline van school en ze is fantastisch en heeft sinds kort een dochtertje.

1. als roosje schaterlacht wordt ik diepgelukkig!

2. warme choc met slagroom - jammie!!

3. een klein kolibrietje in de boom voor ons huis, fladder de fladder

4. een onverwachtse knuffel van Marinus

5. andere mensen op straat waar het geluk van af straalt, de straaltjes belanden zó op mij!

6. plantjes die blijven leven in ons huisje, dat is nu eindelijk het geval!

7. teenslipper-weer en mijn teenslippertjes

8. als ik Marinus met Roos zie knuffelen, zo wilt God ook met mij knuffelen, dubbelblijheid!

9. pas gewassen beddengoed, jammie! Vooral als ik een nieuw wasmiddel gebruik, dan ruik ik het nog goed!

10. als een nieuw recept gelukt is of als mensen complimentjes geven over mijn kookkunsten :)

Stars...

2009-05-07T09:26:00.001-07:00

Perhaps, they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy.-- eskimo legend

Happy: Mele!

2009-05-06T00:14:00.000-07:00

So, Mele send me her list of ten things that make her happy. I will always know her as sister Akaveka...my last companion on our mission in Ogden,Utah. I think she is great and beautifull...and she was such a hard worker!

Here is her list and HAPPY pictures:

1. my kids
2. my husband
3. my parents
4. my siblings
5. good friends
6. a clear blue sky once it stops raining
7. watching my kids while their sleeping and their fascination with life when their awake
8. applying gospel principles
9. ice cold otter pop on a super hot summer day
10. the idea that my family can be together forever!!

ps: you know what makes me happy about this....the t-shirts on the first picture...so cute.

BLIJ!!!

2009-05-05T04:18:00.000-07:00

Wat maakt mij blij? Wat maakt JOU blij? De bedoeling is dat ik verschillende mensen zal vragen om hun lijstje van 10 dingen waar zij blij van worden naar mij te mailen zo dat ik het hier kan plaatsen en iedereen er van kan me genieten!

Ik zal eerst gaan:

1. Chocolade milkshakes
2. Blaren-pleisters (bijvoorbeeld als iemand die heeeeeel toevallig in zijn tas heeft zitten als je er een nodig hebt...pleister erop en DAG GERED)
3. Heel hard fietsen in de regen wanneer iedereen zich naar binnen haast en het dus lekker rustig is buiten
4. onverwachte cadeautjes
5. Calvin & Hobbes
6. Rainer Maria Rilke
7. Heeeeel hard lachen met vrienden of familie
8. aan de grappige dingen denken die mijn vader altijd deed!
9. De zon, een boek,aardbeien, Ipod en een meer
10. de kleur ROZE...in alles! Vooral op mijn wangen als ik verliefd ben.....en je kan verliefd op van alles zijn.....dat gevoel wordt ik waarschijnlijk nog het meest blij van:-)

I wish...

2009-05-01T11:12:00.001-07:00

I wish i had a place like this...

I wish i had energy like this...

I wish i was in one of these...

I wish i had hair like this...

I wish i was in one of these right now...

And most...i wish i had more of an attitude like this... (but i don't feel like shooting any one)

I feel it all...

2009-04-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

"........Listen to the quiet message from your Higher Self, for there is usually an easier way to do things. You are meant to live a joyful life. You are here to create your dreams; you can create a heaven on earth for yourself. You deserve to have the best life you can imagine. Do what you love and follow your heart in every area of your life, for as you do, you are aligning with the Higher Will."

LOVE AFTER LOVE
The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
i beg you...to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. don't search for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live them. and the point is, to live everything. live the questions now. perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

2009-04-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

"Happiness is like a butterfly: The more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will com and sit softly on your shoulder"

~Henry David Thoreau

...

2009-04-27T01:57:00.000-07:00

Notebook doodles....

2009-04-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Ik moet ook creatiever met mijn dagboek omgaan......al deze plaatjes zijn gevonden op:

http://www.notebookdoodles.blogspot.com/

Vilette...

2009-04-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

Peril, loneliness, an uncertain future, are not oppressive evils, so long as the frame is healthy and the faculties are employed; so long, especially, as Liberty lends us her wings, and Hope guides us by her star. -Emily Bronte (Vilette)

Ze zeggen dat we niet alleen zijn. Dat er zoveel om ons heen is...dat er zoveel om mij geven. Sommigen van hun kan ik niet meer zien...want ze zijn aan de andere kant. Maar die liefde waait hier rond en zal dat altijd doen en door die wind moet ik me mee laten nemen......die vlucht door de lucht die HOOP heet.....die vertrouwen betekent....die vrede geeft.....die liefde is.....liefde die geneest. Me overgeven aan die wervelwind waar ik niet weet waar het mij heen brengt valt me zo zwaar...maar ik wil weer vliegen! :-)

Photo's: Ellen Rogers

Letting go...

2009-04-21T02:07:00.000-07:00

“There are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn’t the end of the world, it’s the beginning of a new life.”

I love this blog...

2009-04-21T01:57:00.001-07:00

http://daydreamlily.blogspot.com/

Roxanne.....

2009-04-20T07:30:00.001-07:00

Zaterdag was het zulk mooi weer. Hier gaat het zonnetje alweer een beetje naar beneden...maar het geeft een mooie kleur vindt ik........een mooie kleur op een mooi meisje, Roxanne, mijn nichtje!

" The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep."

2009-04-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

We do not boast the sovereignty to select the manner in which we will perish from this universe, but bestowed to us is the prevailing opportunity to live in the way that our heart pines for. - Girl meets NYC

(Title Quote: Robert Frost)

Good Friday....

2009-04-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

This friday was good because:

- The weather was beautiful

- No teaching

- My nephews are staying over

- I ate the most delicious bonbons with my mom

- I get to remember this precious gift and have hope.....or develop hope: (so beautifully explained by Elder Holland)

Now I speak very carefully, even reverently, of what may have been the most difficult moment in all of this solitary journey to Atonement. I speak of those final moments for which Jesus must have been prepared intellectually and physically but which He may not have fully anticipated emotionally and spiritually—that concluding descent into the paralyzing despair of divine withdrawal when He cries in ultimate loneliness, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

The loss of mortal support He had anticipated, but apparently He had not comprehended this. Had He not said to His disciples, “Behold, the hour . . . is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me” and “The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him”?

With all the conviction of my soul I testify that He did please His Father perfectly and that a perfect Father did not forsake His Son in that hour. Indeed, it is my personal belief that in all of Christ’s mortal ministry the Father may never have been closer to His Son than in these agonizing final moments of suffering. Nevertheless, that the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence. It was required; indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone.

But Jesus held on. He pressed on. The goodness in Him allowed faith to triumph even in a state of complete anguish. The trust He lived by told Him in spite of His feelings that divine compassion is never absent, that God is always faithful, that He never flees nor fails us. When the uttermost farthing had then been paid, when Christ’s determination to be faithful was as obvious as it was utterly invincible, finally and mercifully, it was “finished.” Against all odds and with none to help or uphold Him, Jesus of Nazareth, the living Son of the living God, restored physical life where death had held sway and brought joyful, spiritual redemption out of sin, hellish darkness and despair. With faith in the God He knew was there, He could say in triumph, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” - Elder Holland, G.C. April 2009

Wednesday Wisdom....

2009-04-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

"The best thing I have to offer anywhere is a happy person. Unhappy I have nothing to give; I become part of the problem instead of part of the answer." -Unknown

"You were born an original. Don't die a copy." - John Mason

Today...what about today?

2009-04-06T00:11:00.000-07:00

Today...I will not be standing here: (I am skipping class)

But will be doing this: I LOVE my bike

And..Yes: Books! I am almost an expert on the Russian Revolution:-)

...Maybe I should consider a tattoo.....like this or that?..

2009-04-04T04:02:00.000-07:00

So....Yesterday a friend told me he is thinking of growing his hair into dreads. I do not agree...not that I do not like dreads....i think they can be marvelous but i do like his hair like this. According to him i was not liberal enough....oh...well....again I do not agree....well maybe a little. But also dreads tend to become a bit dirty and it is not that easy to just run through someones hair when it is all scrunched up(I do have experience in this category of hairtype). Then as we were waiting for the tram this foreign person (i couldnt decide on his identity but he is probably related to Bob Marley himself) sat next to us with the most incredible hair. It looked like a beavers-tail was hanging from his head. I can respect that kind of devotion and patience to ones own hair....it was very pretty and well taken care of....as far as i could judge). Maybe he should take dreads....it is quite the process...and obviously a statement is wanting to be made...of that i am sure. And then of course the subject of tattoos came up and although i am not thinking of taking one......I do fantasize about it at times. What would i take and why. That what i would like to know when i see people with tattoos. For now...these two pictures really appeal to me. If ever in a extra dimension i would have a tattoo it would be on the inside of my arm. Not on my belly....I have seen some pretty interesting ones on the belly-area before and after a pregnancy:-)

But then..I am no expert in these things. I appreciate the things people are sharing through their bodies....it really makes me wonder what i would look like if i had the guts to try it all out.

"Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win."

2009-04-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for"

2009-04-02T06:38:00.000-07:00

"Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Title Quote: John Lubbock

Photo Credits: By photographer Camilla Åkrans

Oh..my lovely future dress...XOXO

2009-03-30T02:23:00.001-07:00

So.....I really don't fantasize about getting married...in fact I find it very hard to visualize myself ever been at that point in life...so, I don't even bother daydreaming about it. But then every once in a while you run into some photo's and well...the visualizing starts:-)

Sunshine...

2009-03-30T01:50:00.001-07:00

I long for days when the sunshine will start making people look like this again..especially when it's your niece and you start wishing you hair was blond like this again. I long for sunshine PERIOD. But THEY(the weatherpeople) promised that this week we will have the first official warm day aka 15 celsius.....wonderful...really...just absolutly GREAT!

Earth Hour...

2009-03-26T02:14:00.000-07:00

Doe het licht uit tegen klimaatverandering!

Op 28 maart 2009 om 20.30 uur gaat het licht uit. Over de hele wereld zullen steden, gebouwen, bedrijven en huishoudens een uur lang 'op zwart gaan': Earth Hour.

http://www.earthhour.org/home/

Wednesday Wisdom...

2009-03-25T05:58:00.001-07:00

Our lives improve only when we take chances -

and the first and most difficult risk we can take

is to be honest with ourselves.

- Walter Anderson

(p.s. I stole this idea from someone else.....you know...wednesday with a theme....wisdom)

Danny boy......:-)

2009-03-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

This is my baby brother...he turned 29 today! He makes a great dad and husband and is one of the hardest working and loyal people I know......and very funny. I respect and love him a lot.

Happy birthday, broertje......may nothing but happiness come your way.

Ephelis.....or freckles

2009-03-22T10:06:00.001-07:00

So.....this is me. I like this picture cause it shows a few freckles i have (there a really just a few and i should probably just refer to them as moles)) and i wished i had many more because i think they are beautiful on people. I like birthmarks as well....but i am keeping in mind that al though i think they are pretty sometimes there are health issues involved. So i am writing this with all due respect to all involved. Which also brings up another point: SUNSHINE and it's side effects.........yes, pigment issues. After having lived pretty close to the beach i developed the tendency to grow a pigment-moustache every summer. Sunblock factor 50 is the answer....so although i like discolorations(hope this word is right).....I prefer it more on my cheeks or shoulders then on my upper lip.

This down here is my dear and beautiful friend Serena...who is blessed with lots of freckles. I think it is gorgeous, especially with her skin and hair tone. She on the other hand is not so excited about her little friends as I am.
So I ask the following question:

The answer according to me: BEAUTY SPOTS!!! and here 2 pictures to prove that even more.

I do understand people not liking such obvious things about themselves but I love those little (maybe) imperfections that make a person unique and beautiful. True beauty of course comes from the inside....But Serena has that going as well. As she is one of the most true, original, strong, caring, honest, encouraging and understanding people i know. And her inside combined with her outside make her one of the prettiest people I know!

De Mok Muis.....

2009-03-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

Mirjam......speciaal voor jou! De wekelijkse muis. In andere woorden: Muis die een positieve boodschap wil overbrengen (lees wat er op zijn romper staat he) op de maatschappij. Deze week een beetje lastig onderwerp.

Mok of plastic beker...hier zijn de meningen over verdeeld. Trouwens er volgen details later...daar heb ik nu geen tijd voor aangezien de Russische revolutie mij roept...jaja..nog zo een vrolijk onderwerp. Maarrrrrr....muis wil graag het gebruik van mokken aanmoedigen. Misschien kan je met je team een keer leuk gaan team-builden en kan iedereen zijn eigen mok beschilderen...nou, als je dan niet manager van het jaar wordt weet ik het ook niet meer...waarschijnlijk heeft MUIS dan wel een oplossing. Nogmaals...dit bericht zal op een nader tijdstip nog onderbouwd worden met wetenschappelijke feiten. Tot die tijd: PIEP!

En Paul G. als je daar nog aan het jammen bent:näkemiin en hyvää iltaa!!!

2009-03-21T06:02:00.000-07:00

Eternity...

2009-03-19T15:42:00.001-07:00

Today was a very special day......my parents were sealed in the Swiss Temple 35 years ago.

I asked my mom today why we don't celebrate this day more.....it is after all a beautiful occassion. My mom didn't really have an answer.....but we will celebrate in the future. It is strange with my dad not being here anymore.....but it makes it even more joyeous to know that marriage goes on into eternity. My mom still sometimes waits for my dad to come home...it makes her sad but she is so strong. But one day the waiting is over......and this "little"family will be reunited again....Finally!

I made my mom a CD today. Ofcourse it had Edith Piaf, Eva Cassidy and..... Abba.....and I fell in love with these lines again for they say everything I feel right now:

I have a dream, a fantasy To help me through reality And my destination makes it worth the while Pushing through the darkness still another mile I believe in angels Something good in everything I see I believe in angels When I know the time is right for me I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

Pearl.....

2009-03-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

An ode to silence......

2009-03-17T03:56:00.001-07:00

(photos by Stefania Paparelli)

come what may.....and love it!

2009-03-16T12:52:00.001-07:00

Several things going through my head this evening:

1. i forgot elder Wirtlin passed away last year
2. i LOVE the simplicity of his last talk last conference in october

3. i think my bunny is pretty cute and so is my niece.....the combination......even better! Oh, and for the record: my guinea pig has its moments as well

4. i shared the wonders of youtube with my mom tonight, besides playing patience on the computer IT will be her new obsession
5. this saying: Never give up what you want most for what you want now! I have some serious priority issues going on

Most of all I think about the fact that I lack gratitude for the many blessings in my life. Even focussing on them for maybe 1% brings a little light in "my house". Gratitude adds attitude.......

This scripture found its way to me this weekend:

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

I love that part that we may stand still after exercising our power, after having done CHEERFULLY. Stillness, peace, quietness.......because we can trust in Him. Thats is why we can be happy. He loves us for the person that we are RIGHT now....right now. I want to feel that love....and i guess for that i have to change my attitude....more gratitude and open to receive with a smile on my face.

Hope you all have something to smile about:-)

Almost spring.....

2009-03-16T01:21:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air........it smells so nice. Just a little bit more sun...just a bit.

Keep breathing...

2009-03-14T00:44:00.001-07:00

The storm is coming but I don't mind

People are dying, I close my blinds

All that I know is I'm breathing now

I want to change the world

Instead I sleep

I want to believe in more than you and me

But all that I know is I'm breathing

All I can do is keep breathing

All we can do is keep breathing now

- Ingrid Michaelson

Improve,beautify,smile,cultivate,develop......

2009-03-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

Lucky...

2009-03-10T03:34:00.000-07:00

I found this interesting piece on luck on a blog i stumbled upon. It really appealed to me and feels like it makes so much sense. I haven't felt so lucky lately but then i haven't been that attentive either. I have been so focussed on what I not have, fixated on what I think I need and want, not open to the unexpected....fearing the unexpected and through that closing myself of from all the beauties life has to offer....i am just not seeing it at the moment...I want to...I really do...but I guess just wanting is not enough. Everything requires action, determination, patience,faith and love.......wanting without action is just mental, physical,and spiritual exhaustion...drainage. Here is to being attentive and to finding....finding that which lifts, energizes and refreshes...even if I don't know at this moment what will do that for me...the things you want are not always the things you need. Here is to welcoming the unexpected. Here is to LUCK!

By being more attentive, you are also luckier. How come some people always seem to be lucky, and all the coincidences go their way? Is it just chance, or is there another reason? An English psychologist, Richard Wiseman, discovered that lucky people were lucky because of personal characteristics rather than some mysterious fate. He found that it was their character. Through interviews and tests, Wiseman found among other things that lucky people are more relaxed, and that they tend to see not only what they are looking for, but also what then are not looking for. They are open to the unexpected, while others less lucky...are more closed--they look only for what they have in mind, and often do not find it. -Pierro Ferrucci

And here is to someday having a place like this:-)

Mormons?

2009-03-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

Heart...

2009-03-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

"If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme"

*When you wish upon a star*

Simplicity......

2009-03-06T02:19:00.001-08:00

“Learn to like what doesn’t cost too much.
Learn to like reading, conversation, music.
Learn to like plain food, plain service, plain cooking.
Learn to like fields, trees, brooks, hiking, rowing, climbing hills.
Learn to like people, even though some of them may be different…
different from you.
Learn to like to work and enjoy the satisfaction of doing your job as well
as it can be done.Learn to like the songs of birds, the companionship of dogs.
Learn to like gardening, puttering around the house, and fixing things.
Learn to like the sunrise and sunset, the beating of rain on the roof and
windows, and the gentle fall of snow on a winter day.
Learn to keep your wants simple, and refuse to be controlled
by the likes and dislikes of others.”

–Lowell B. Bennion

Friends...

2009-03-05T13:21:00.001-08:00

"A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

March 3rd

2009-03-03T02:26:00.000-08:00

Today is March 3rd. I decided that march is going to be a great month. Mostly because spring officially starts this month...thank the heavens and the spring-faires that will be going around changing the colours and making things bright again.

March started out pretty ok. Yesterday i finally build up the mental capacity to push the shuffle button on my sony-walkman and release myself from only listening to Lucia Micarelli, Joshua Radin ( i love him) and Tom Waits over and overrrrrrrrrrrr again. Now we are hearing this:

- Timbaland: Bounce (jep......and dance away)
- Mogwai: Punk Rock (jep ....and here we have nostalgia)

- Beck: where it's at (jep....you can always count on Beck)

- Hoonua: feel good island music (jep....and daydream away...and again nostalgia)

- Kelly Rowland: Like this (girlpower)

and last but not least: Tori Amos with Kissing in the rain and can i just mention that for me this is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever. And Loved the movie "great expectations"!

flower child...voor Serena

2009-03-03T02:21:00.000-08:00

2009-03-02T00:44:00.001-08:00

2009-02-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

2009-02-25T12:04:00.000-08:00

Soko

2009-02-23T10:35:00.000-08:00

Smile!!!

2009-02-22T12:12:00.000-08:00

These pictures bring such a smile to my face. Just a simple combination of two blonde nieces and two hyperactive brunette nephews, Mariokart and last but not least homemade Mariokart cupcakes...but ........they have to be blue in order to completely satisfy Ruben (big boy picture 1). If it's blue, it is true...at least to him:-) Smile!!!

I feel.........

2009-02-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

(all photos by annabel mehran)

Natasha and her horse

2009-02-18T11:19:00.000-08:00

(photo by annabel mehran)

VOILA!

2009-02-17T11:58:00.001-08:00

The nature within you

2009-02-17T09:02:00.001-08:00

Believe in yourself. Believe in your capacity to do great and good and worthwhile things. Believe in the nature within you, the divine nature, that you are in very deed a son or daughter of the living God. There is something of divinity within you, something that stands high and tall and noble. Get above the dirt and the filth of the earth and walk on a higher plane with your heads up, believing in yourselves and in your capacity to act for good in the world and make a difference. -President Gordon B. Hinckley

Eef!

2009-02-16T12:12:00.000-08:00

Eveline, dit bericht is speciaal voor jou...en ik zal hem daarom speciaal in het Nederlands schrijven:-) aangezien we toch wel Neder-landers zijn. Naar aanleiding van het pony-fiasco van afgelopen weekend ben ik toch tot de conclusie gekomen dat ik mijn haar weer eens helemaal choppity - chop wil doen. En na meer grondige bestudering van de plaatjes van vanmiddag en met het oog op het vermijden van uitgroei-problemen denk ik toch dat ik me er aan moet wagen. Wat denk jij? Of gewoon lekker lang laten worden??? Het is alleen maar haar toch. Of zoals op het plaatje met het langere haar en me pony gewoon laten aanpassen???

Hierbij nogmaals de verscheidene plaatjes en gaarne u mening:-)

Bij voorbaat dank.

Leap

2009-02-16T08:22:00.000-08:00

Excerpts from "Leap" by Brian Doyle

A couple leaped from the south tower, hand in hand.
They reached for each other and their hands met and they jumped.
Jennifer Brickhouse saw them falling, hand in hand.Many people jumped. Perhaps hundreds. No one knows. They struck the pavement with such force that there was a pink mist in the air.
The mayor reported the mist.
A kindergarten boy who saw people falling in flames told his teacher that the birds were on fire.
She ran with him on her shoulders out of the ashes. [...]Stuart DeHann saw one woman's dress billowing as she fell, and he saw a shirtless man falling end over end,
and he too saw the couple leaping hand in hand.Several pedestrians were killed by people falling from the sky. A fireman was killed by a body falling from the sky.

But he reached for her hand and she reached for his hand and they leaped out the windows holding hands. [...]Their hands reaching and joining is the most powerful prayer I can imagine, the most eloquent, the most graceful. It is everything we are capable of against horror and loss and death. It is what makes me believe that we are not craven fools and charlatans to believe in God, to believe that human beings have greatness and holiness within them like seeds that open only under great fires, to believe that some unimaginable essence of who we are persists past the dissolution of what we were, to believe against evil hourly evidence that love is why we are here.

[...]Maybe they didn't even reach for each other consciously, maybe it was instinctive, a reflex, as they both decided at the same time to take two running steps and jump out the shattered window, but they did reach for each other, and they held on tight, and leaped,and fell endlessly into the smoking canyon, at two hundred miles an hour, falling so far and so fast that they would have blacked out before they hit the pavement near LIberty Street so hard that there was a pink mist in the air.Jennifer Brickhouse saw them holding hands, and Stuart DeHann saw them holding hands, and I hold onto that.

2008-10-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

Infinite space

2008-10-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

I am standing in a crowd, the largest crowd I have ever seen. Is this what China is like? Billions and millions of people walking and passing . I am holding your hands, I do. But I need to let them go, I must. Why? Because you are attached to them. Your arms, your face and your heart. I feel so small and so weak, yet I am holding on with such strength. You seem all ready to leave and maybe you are already gone. My eyes are wide open and are staring straight at you with love and fear. It is up to me. Your hands are filling mine up, they are big and heavy, warm and cold. Let go, let go, let go, the more I say it the more I hold on. I am so scared to let go because you will disappear in this ocean, this crowd, this ........infinite space. What guarantee do I have that I will ever find you back? Can I just keep you here? I know I can’t. It is like the baby bunny you love so much and you squeeze it so tight that it stops breathing and then dies. I don’t want you to die and I love to see you breathe. Breath is life, life is light and light can not be hidden. I hope that in that sea of faces one day yours will pass me again. So, I let go and blow you a kiss and just hope it doesn’t miss. You disappear, you are gone. My hands are empty now. Empty but open.

Dream

2008-10-09T11:56:00.001-07:00

I was a little girl alone in my little world who dreamed of a little home for me.
I played pretend between the trees, and fed my houseguests bark and leaves, and laughed in my pretty bed of green.

I had a dreamThat I could fly from the highest swing.
I had a dream.Long walks in the dark through woods grown behind the park,
I asked God who I'm supposed to be. The stars smiled down on me, God answered in silent reverie. I said a prayer and fell asleep.

I had a dreamThat I could fly from the highest tree.I had a dream.Now I'm old and feeling grey. I don't know what's left to say about this life I'm willing to leave.I lived it full and I lived it well, there's many tales I've lived to tell. I'm ready now, I'm ready now, I'm ready now to fly from the highest wing.I had a dream
(Priscilla Ahn)

The future stands still, dear Mr. Kappus, but we move in infinite space

2008-10-08T02:41:00.000-07:00

Letter Eight Borgebygard, Fladie, Sweden August 12, 1904

I want to talk to you again for a little while, dear Mr. Kappus, although there is almost nothing I can say that will help you, and I can hardly find one useful word. You have had many sadnesses, large ones, which passed. And you say that even this passing was difficult and upsetting for you. But please, ask yourself whether these large sadnesses haven't rather gone right through you. Perhaps many things inside you have been transformed; perhaps somewhere, deep inside your being, you have undergone important changes while you were sad.

f only it were possible for us to see farther than our knowledge reaches, and even a little beyond the outworks of our presentiment, perhaps we would bear our sadnesses with greater trust than we have in our joys. For they are the moments when something new has entered us, something unknown; our feelings grow mute in shy embarrassment, everything in us withdraws, a silence arises, and the new experience, which no one knows, stands in the midst of it all and says nothing.

That is why the sadness passes: the new presence inside us, the presence that has been added, has entered our heart, has gone into its innermost chamber and is no longer even there, - is already in our bloodstream. And we don't know what it was. We could easily be made to believe that nothing happened, and yet we have changed, as a house that a guest has entered changes. We can't say who has come, perhaps we will never know, but many signs indicate that the future enters us in this way in order to be transformed in us, long before it happens.

The quieter we are, the more patient and open we are in our sadnesses, the more deeply and serenely the new presence can enter us, and the more we can make it our own, the more it becomes our fate; and later on, when it "happens" (that is, steps forth out of us to other people), we will feel related and close to it in our innermost being.

People have already had to rethink so many concepts of motion; and they ill also gradually come to realize that what we call fate does not come into us from the outside, but emerges from us.

Just as people for a long time had a wrong idea about the sun's motion, they are even now wrong about the motion of what is to come. The future stands still, dear Mr. Kappus, but we move in infinite space.

So you mustn't be frightened, dear Mr. Kappus, if a sadness rises in front of you, larger than any you have ever seen; if an anxiety, like light and cloud-shadows, moves over your hands and over everything you do. You must realize that something is happening to you, that life has not forgotten you, that it holds you in its hand and will not let you fall. Why do you want to shut out of your life any uneasiness, any misery, any depression, since after all you don't know what work these conditions are doing inside you? Why do you want to persecute yourself with the question of where all this is coming from and where it is going? Since you know, after all, that you are in the midst of transitions and you wished for nothing so much as to change. If there is anything unhealthy in your reactions, just bear in mind that sickness is the means by which an organism frees itself from what is alien; so one must simply help it to be sick, to have its whole sickness and to break out with it, since that is the way it gets better. -Rilke

For complete letter go here: http://www.sfgoth.com/~immanis/rilke/letter8.html

In Spirit

2008-09-28T11:20:00.001-07:00

James Jean

2008-09-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

Soundtrack of my life

2008-09-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here's how it works:
1. open your music library
2. put it on shuffle
3. press play
4. for every question, type the song that's playing
5. when you go to a new question, press the next button
6. don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.

opening credits: back to you-Coconut records
waking up:Splish Splash -Bobby darin
first day at school:night time intermission- Charlotte Gainsborough
in love: Let's get it on-Marvin Gaye
fight song:quelqu’un m’a- Carla bruni
breaking up: oxford comma-Vampire weekend
prom: 500(shake baby shake)-Lush
life's ok: tears flowing fast-kenneth cope
mental breakdown: walk all over you-Mark Kozelek
driving:This mess we’re in- PJ Harvey&Thom Yorke
flashback:these are the days -Van Morrisson
getting back together: Uninvited-Alanis Morisette
birth of child: superstition-Stevie Wonder
wedding:Way back into love-Hugh Grant &Haley Bennett…hahahhaha
final battle: punk rock-Mogwai
death scene: Down Down Down-Mumm Ra
funeral song: Tear in your hand-Tori Amos
end credits: Dakota-Stereophonics

Hair!

2008-09-18T00:28:00.001-07:00

So, a few days ago I was standing in the elevator at school. It had been a crappy day and I was just blank staring ahead of me...well more like frowning, far away in thoughts of frustration and hunger( I know I am not allowed to use that term here in western civilization but it was how it felt, with all due respect to those 220 million people that are really starving...i am looking for an answer..really,I am trying) when a lady got in. The first thing she said was "WOW, you've got great hair!" I got out of my coma and just looked at her. She said she was looking for a new hairdo and that she really liked mine. I said "Thanks". And then she got out.

Point of this story: It cheered me up for a bit, so people express your compliments to others and as for me...I know, I need to get a life.

For more info on hair go here:http://www.answers.com/topic/hair

For those who think: " hey, she should join a beatles cover band!" Let me just say that I prefer the Monkees. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol8aR_zhXpU&feature=related

These are your days

2008-09-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Societies, as well as individuals, can "sleep," cushioned an unawares, especially if sedated by materialism and ease. Those who remain sedated will fail to meet their rendezvous. Events can, however, constitute a wake up call.

Furthermore, in the last days you will hear of "wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, an men's hearts shall fail them" (D&C 45:26)
Such failing hearts suggest not cardiac arrests but a loss of will and hope. But again, such symptons need not characterize you, as young disciples, nor your responses to life. You will see such things, of course, but, if managed in a framework of faith, these need not weigh you down.

Remember,too, that your faith covers all portions of life's trail. You can have clear faith in the ultimate outcomes at the end of the trail but still find vexing uncertainties in the steps immediately ahead. The Lord knows the end from the beginning and everything in between. You, however, function in the muddled, mortal middle. the help and comfort of the Holy Ghost are thus much needed for the short run, too!

You young disciples are so privileged, and though the times in which you will live will be turbulent, there will be glorious accomplisments, too. Thus, I have desired to place some perspective on these, your days, and I salute you for what your generation and its generational cohorts represent and the divine compliment God has given you by placing you here-now.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Images of War

2008-09-10T03:53:00.000-07:00

Ben Shahn: Death on the beach (1945, New York)

Some people say that war and art don't go easy together. Art supposedly is better created in times of peace where the civilized human mind can be occupied by the virtues of contemplating and reflecting. Yes, maybe a storm is better observed and analyzed when you are not in the middle trying to survive but how can you reflect on something you haven't really experienced?

It doesn't happen that often that an entire group of artists get's involved in a war like it happened in 1870 to the impressionists. We are talking about Monet, Pisarrio, Boudin,Duran,Tissot and Manet. Manet was the only one keeping a journal and although he never transformed his experiences into a painting,his litho's speak for themselves.

Also photographs and television programms have contributed in a change of attitude among people. A shift from patriottic euphoria to accepting the reality of cruelties and the price that is being paid. Photographs have shown us more on what soldiers for example go through. A sober black and white image can be quite schocking, touching and disturbing.

When we see these images what do we look for, what do we see and what do we do?

Following are a few Images of war that I am using in the classroom right now:

Albrecht Altdorfer: The battle of Alexander (1529, Munich, Alte Pinakothek)

Paolo Uccello: the battle of San Romano (1456-1469, London, National Gallery)

Peter Paul Rubens: the battle at Anghiari (1505, Paris, Louvre)

John Singleton Copley: death of Major Peirson ( 1784, London, Tate Gallery)

James Gillray: Fear of the French invasion (1769, London, British Museum)

Roger Fenton (1819-1869: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/251_fen_ima.html

http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/251_fen.html

Pablo Picasso: Guernica (New York)

Ben Shahn: This is Nazi brutality (1942, Washington, Library of congress)

Roy Lichtenstein: Whaam! (1963, London, Tate Gallery)

Firenze, Florence or Renaissance?

2008-09-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Florence or Firenze, such a beautiful city. It’s churches, domes and art. The city is often considered the birthplace of the Italian renaissance. Nowhere else in Italy can you find this many buildings and artworks dating from this period. Here we find Botticelli, da Vinci, Giambologna and Machiavelli. It’s bridges and gothic buildings are a sight for sore eye. A city that takes you back many centuries ago. Have you ever been there? I haven’t.

"Florentia", the florid, was the name given by the Romans to this small settlement located at the foot of the ancient Etruscan Fiesole and founded in the first century BC. The Etruscans, an ancient and mysterious race, of whom we know very little, but who left numerous testimonies around about Florence, had settled on the hills surrounding the plain of the river Arno as far back as the VII-VI centuries BC. At first erected as a Roman "castrum", Florentia soon assumed the appearance of a real town with a Forum,thermal baths , and amphitheater.

Then the period of the decline of the Empire arrived, with the political fragmentation from which the feudal system sprang up. The town, began to expand until it spread over half of Arno valley and surrounding hillsides.Despite the internal struggles, first between rival families and then between the Guelfs (loyal to the Pope) and the Ghibellines (loyal to the Emperor), from the thirteenth century onwards it began to flourish as a city of art, culture and international trading, reaching its zenith in the fifteenth century under the Signoria of Cosimo and Lorenzo de’ Medici.

No what to see then: (I was instructed to put together a tour as an assignment for school…which I think is a great idea but since I have not been there as a person and only in my dreams I am open to suggestions and alterations, thanks)

- Ofcourse the Ponte Vecchio, this bridge is one of the most important symbols for the city
- Palazzo degli Uffizi is a palace in Florence, in here we find one of the most important art museums in the world: Galleria degli Uffizi. Here you can wonder yourself over painters like: Duccio, Giotto, Simone Martini, Cimabue, Fra Angelico, Masaccio, Filippo Lippi and his son Filippino Lippi, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafaël, Titiaan, Rubens, Caravaggio en Rembrandt.

- The Loggia (dei lanzi): this is a gallery of statues on the Piazza della Signoria. The gallery was build between 1376 and 1382. A famous statue that you can find here is Cellini’s Perseus and Medusa
- The Baptistry: the Baptistry is one of the oldest buildings in the city. Some say it was built in the eleventh century; some even say it dates to the fifth century, the site of a Romanesque building. The precious bronze doors are famous. The East Door, called "of Paradise" because Michelangelo referred to it in this way, is Ghiberti's most famous work, completed with the help of Michelozzo, Gozzoli and others (1424-52).

- Basilica of Santa Croce: The gothic basilica of Santa Croce, built between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries according to the plans of Arnolfo di Cambio, has a grandious and austere appearance.It is well known because some of the most famous Italians in history like Machiavelli, Michelangelo and Galilei are buried here.

- And don’t forget the Duomo (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore). The grandious structure of the dome, 114 meters high, shows a magnificent architectural plasticity that greatly surpasses the limits of the gothic. The dome was finished in 1436 according to Brunelleschi's plans.

This city is so on my travel wish-list for next year!

La Famille de Vincent van Gogh

2008-09-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

To just continue a bit on Vincent van Gogh. I will not give a full account of his life here but just a few facts or what people claim to be facts.

Vincent was born in Zundert in the province of Brabant, the Netherlands (close to the border of Belgium). He is the oldest child and so the first picture in the line of children is the one of him. He was born in 1853. Four years after that his brother Theo is born. He plays a very important role in Vincent's life. As a young men he works for an art company on different locations as Den Haag, London and Paris. Apparently it was due to mental problems that he was fired by his uncle in 1876. After this he becomes a teacher and preacher in England but returns to the swampy lands a year later. After a year of trying to study theology and working as a preacher a fire inside of him seems to get bigger and bigger and he starts to draw and sketch in a very expressive way. He is inspired by masters like Rembrandt and Millet. He also starts receiving money from his brother Theo and his explosive yet dramatic oddysee starts.

After this we see a period where he lives with his parents, moves to Den haag and his failed relationship. But also we see him getting in contact with famous painters like Maris, Weissenbruch, Mesdag en Israëls. But Vincent is getting in a lot of problems in these days: lots of fighting with his parents, his father dying in 1885 and him becoming more and more dependent on his brother Theo. But his work is progressing a lot. Also in 1885 we see him move to Antwerp where he gets into artschool...but it doesnt seem to be a succes and after 3 months of being a workaholic he leaves the academy by advice of one of his teachers.....that same teacher apparently freaked out another important artist,Eugeen van Mieghem, ten years later. Very sneaky if I may say so myself.

In Antwerp he became very ill and loses a few teeth and is also diagnosed with syphilis and some say this disease caused his mental breakdowns years later.

Now he moves to Paris (wouldn't we all like to do this) where he has an artistic breakthrough but soon Paris is to cold and crowded for him and he moves to Arles where to his dissapointment at the time of his arrival it snows. But the sun is near and under this French bundle of sunshine he is able to make a few of his most remarkeable paintings. Although he is getting weaker and weaker he works in an amazing speed. During this time he keeps corresponding with his brother and sees him every now and then.

On july 27th 1890 he shoots himself in the chest hoping to shoot right through his heart but makes the classic mistake of thinking by thinking his heart is at the same place as his leftnipple(don't like that word at all). So, he misses but unfortunatly dies 2 days later with his brother on his side. That same brother dies 6 months later himself. He left a son, Vincent Willem, who we now know as the grandfather of Theo van Gogh. Yes, the Theo van Gogh who was brutally murdered in 2004.

Now, this was just a mere reproduction of already existing facts but it is a start! I am happy to say though that Vincent is part of the Dutch canon. Meaning he is one of the 50 subjects they find important enough over here to educate children on. Talking about children (but also adults) there is this great Vincent doll...yes with detachable ear and all:

Sterrige nacht or Starry night

2008-09-05T02:34:00.000-07:00

So, I decided to continue my blog but in a different way.

Since it seems like that about a year ago Sylar(yes, I am in the middle of a "Heroes" obsession) has stolen my brain it has felt like I have been asleep. I kind of feel like Charly Andrews, the girl with the eiditic memory....Not that I am saying I have the best brain in the world but I have always been a bit proud of the fact that I seemed to have a good and visual memory. For more info on this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory
Haha...Don't even think that I dare to put myself on the list with people like Nikola Tesla or Sandra Schimmel Gold: http://www.schimmelart.com/

But since my brain hasn't been stolen I thought I should probably just find a way to activate it again and maybe this will help. After viewing some inspiring blogs i became quite excited. I have posted some things before which you are free to look through but keep in mind that it is all a bit scattered and some may seem a bit dramatic. So, now it is time for something new...or better said: Something old! First of all let me apologize for any spelling errors...ofcourse i could do this in Dutch but I don't want to seclude people.

Sterrige nacht or Starry night. This ofcourse is the title of a painting of a great Dutch post-impressionistic hero. Yes, ofcourse the great Vincent van Gogh himself.

After visiting the Kröller-Muller museum in Otterlo I was so schocked to find myself knowing so little about him. I was looking at his paintings (there are many of them over there) and was just amazed by it and wondering what could have been going on inside of his head and wondering if I could find anything that would show his mental or physical condition(which ofcourse again is very cliché and really not that important). Ofcourse I am to ignorant for that because many have tried as you can read here:(yes straight from wikipedia)

Van Gogh cut off the lobe of his left ear during some sort of seizure on 24 December 1888.Mental problems afflicted him, particularly in the last few years of his life. During some of these periods he did not paint or was not allowed to. There has been much debate over the years as to the source of Van Gogh's mental illness and its effect on his work. Over 150 psychiatrists have attempted to label his illness, and some 30 different diagnoses have been suggested.
Diagnoses which have been put forward include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, syphilis, poisoning from swallowed paints, temporal lobe epilepsy and acute intermittent porphyria. Any of these could have been the culprit and been aggravated by malnutrition, overwork, insomnia, and a fondness for alcohol, and absinthe in particular.

But I am fascinated by what he has done and the impact he still has today. It is in the past but really What is old? So, this blog is mainly for me to shine some light on subjects I havent seen enough of and i would like to understand better. Like a star gives light in the dark. I know, starry night, cheezy:-) But hey whatever works right!

PS: I know "sterrige nacht"is such a lousy translation but it was the only one they would let me pick. I guess starry night was taken (since ofcourse it is not extremly original...I sure take pride in daring to be so cliché), I just have to check out the competition.

Horseboy

2008-05-06T02:47:00.001-07:00

2008-05-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

De zomertijd hebben we te danken aan een oorlog. Namelijk de Eerste Wereldoorlog die van 1914 tot 1918 duurde. Duitsland was genoodzaakt om zuinig met energie om te gaan. Daarom verzetten ze de klok 1 uur vooruit. Mensen hoeven dan 's avonds pas een uur later hun lampen aan te doen en als miljoenen mensen dat doen, scheelt dat een heleboel energie. Op 30 april 1916 ging deze regeling in Duitsland in en niet veel later volgden ook de andere landen van Europa.

Hope for the Hopeless

2008-04-27T03:06:00.001-07:00

Let's make peace with beautiful

2008-04-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

Ga naar de Filmgallerie:

http://www.tijdvoorechteschoonheid.nl/dsef07/t5.aspx?id=8878

En deze:

http://www.dove.ca/doveselfesteemfund/tv_ad_video_high

En als laatste een echte AANRADER:

De nieuwe lijn van Dove voor de EXTRA droge huid.....erg prettig!

2008-04-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

Happy 24 Sneddo!!!

2008-04-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

One day it will happen one day,

one day it will all come true

one day when you're ready

one day, one day

when you're up to it

the atmosphere will get lighter

and two suns ready

to shine just for you

I can feel it one day

it will happen one day.

one day it will all make sense

one day, one day you will blossom

one day, one day

when you're ready

an aeroplane will curve gracefully

around the volcano with the eruption

that never lets you down i can feel it

And the beautifullest

fireworks are burning

in the sky just for you

2008-04-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

2008-04-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Light From A Dead Star

2008-04-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

If you walked in now

I wouldn't start I wouldn't frown

And if you just appeared

I woudn't cry or think it weird

'Cause you are still around

You're in the air, you're in the ground

She says she heard your voice

Of course she does, she has no choice

I was hours ahead

When they removed you from your bed

I don't look up, I don't look down

I look ahead and make no sound

My love was there,I only stare

Healthy in my dreams

Is what you are, is what is seems

What does it all mean?

You're only hiding behind a screen

Banish all the pain'Cause when I die,

I'll see you again.

Bat For Lashes

2008-04-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

2008-04-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

You kiss on me, tug on me, rub on me, jump on me, you bang on me, beat on me, hit on me, let go of me - R.E.M

2008-04-17T04:28:00.000-07:00

2008-04-15T01:37:00.000-07:00

Bring it on!!! You ain't got nothing on me..........

2008-04-14T02:52:00.000-07:00

At a single strain of music, the scent of a flower, or even one glimpse of a path of moonlight lying fair upon a Summer sea, the barriers crumble and fall. Through the long corridors the ghosts of the past walk unforbidden, hindered only by broken promises, dead hopes, and dream-dust. - Myrtle Reed

2008-04-14T02:38:00.000-07:00

She had secluded herself from a thousand natural and healing influences; that, her mind, brooding solitary, had grown diseased, as all minds do and must and will that reverse the appointed order of their Maker . . . -Charles Dickens, Great expectations

Me like it

2008-04-10T02:40:00.000-07:00

O.K...Deze voelde ik dus he! En goed ook....

2008-04-10T02:37:00.000-07:00

Winter 2007

2008-04-08T07:45:00.000-07:00

Zomer 2006

2008-04-08T07:29:00.001-07:00