Greetings from...

In our September holiday we had some nice trips. I haven't been photographing as much as I wished (crappy snapshot camera takes part of the fun away, hopefully I can go for a new one in December...), but of course I took a few pics as an impression.

These ones were taken in Den Bosch/'s-Hertogenbosch, I think it was on Sept 25. Had a lovely day!

Ballycumber ill?

BookCrossing's mascot ill?

On wednesday, Oct 14, Dutch BookCrosser X discovers something weird. On one of the paper sheets her husband brought home from the course he took that day, she spots, next to the info about the educational organisation, a logo. A well known logo for her: a running book, which BookCrossers refer to as 'Ballycumber'. This runnning book is the official mascot of BookCrossing.com, an initiative for and by enthusiastic readers from all over the world. They leave books at the strangest places and often stick to the book the logo plus a text that encourages the finder to take the book home.

On the sheet where BookCrosser X has spotted Ballycumber, she can't find any references to BookCrossing. That's odd, she thinks, 'cause the logo is copyrighted. And even stranger: Ballycumber has turned from bright yellow to green!

Lots of questions pop up in BookCrosser X's mind. How did Ballycumber end up on this piece of paper? Is it a secret clue from a fellow BookCrosser who happens to work for this organisation? Would the person who decided to add Ballycumber have found a BookCrossing book once and did (s)he like the clever lay-out of the design?

Deliberation with other BookCrossers follows. They react concerned, especially because of the green looks of Ballycumber. Would their mascot have gotten ill? After all, the organisation behind the course works a lot with health care education...

Time for action, BookCrosser X decides. Of course she takes action the BookCrossing way: from her collection she picks a small but interesting book, puts it in an envelope, together with some promotional flyers and bookmarks and mails it to the educational organisation.

At this moment, the green Ballycumber is still a mystery. Therefore we ask anyone who knows more about this case to contact the Dutch BookCrossing community. The easiest way to get in touch is to read the label inside the book and just follow the instructions. You will be show where this book came from and you'll notice there's room for your comments. We hope you will use it to help us solve the Case of the Green Ballycumber!

Noticing a Ballycumber on the paperwork Albert brought home inspired me to write this little text and send it, together with a book and some promo stuff, to that organisation. Just a friendly way of saying that our little buddy Ballycumber doesn't like to be green.

I wonder if they'll answer...

Blogging in Dutch again

The past few months have been such a weird experience: for the first time in ages I feel my feet touching  Earth again and this time it's not rock bottom ;)

I don't know how, I don't know why, but I feel so grateful for this change!

Hard to describe as well. Gave it a try to write about it in English, but it didn't satisfy, the search for words was too frustrating. I feel the need to write in Dutch again, at least writing about my emotions in Dutch. This Light blog will stay just as it was before: not too heavy and written in English. I know my English isn't perfect but I don't give a crap about that, it's enough to express the things I want to share :)

But next to this blog, there's a new one. In Dutch. I started it a while ago, hesitated to share it with the world and made a deal with myself: if these feelings last for at least a month, I'll put my blog online and we'll see if that will be a private one or public.

Well, here it is, it's public and you're welcome to read it:

Zelfgezocht (click to read the 1st entry) (click here to read the full blog!)

I hope my non-Dutch readers won't feel left out, I really tried to do it otherwise!

NaNoWriMo, take 2

In 2008, I first heard about NaNoWriMo. Via BookCrossing of course ;)

Got all excited and decided to join, but my NaNoWri month came & went and I didn't write a single word for my novel-to-be. Scared to fail, I ended up blocked.

What I'm talking about?

NaNoWriMo is about writing. A novel. In one month. 50.000 words.

This is what nanowrimo.org says:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.


Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.


Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.


As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.


In 2008, we had over 120,000 participants. More than 20,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

Well, my BookCrossing friends did it again: talking about NaNoWriMo made me want to join and try it again. My account turned out to be still active and now it's updated. I'm in!

Let's see if those writing juices will flow in November...

BikeCrossing?

I'm rather sure we did *not* stick a note like this to Albert's bike yesterday!

Sigh...why do our bikes get stolen so often?

All Pigs, More Equal

Check out the animations on this site: (click here!)

(click on one of these words: Disabled / Sex / Sexual preference / Religion / Race / )

Kathelijne & the Greens rule!

Magic Release

Brat!

Mail from Portugal!

Oh, what a joy to open the mail when you find something as gorgeous as this inside!

Remember the Summer Gift Giving? One of my wishes was a long shot: a biker/rock style shirt or something hand made for Noah. Now look at these! Marcenda managed to combine those two qualities in this design! *me, impressed*

Not just a pretty print, the cute brats were hand stitched (is that the right word?) onto the shirt. And the hairdo is just the same as Noah's current punky red hair, like it's made for him. Haha, actually it *is* made for him! Thank you so much, Marcenda!

For more work by Marcenda, take a look at her In The Bag blog...inspiring!

A day at the zoo

Last week we visited Burger's Zoo in Arnhem, a zoo we both hadn't been to in ages. Had a great day! We were amazed by the new aquarium and the Desert was lovely. Over all the animals have lots of space and their habitats look wonderful. I felt kinda cripple without my old camera so I didn't focus very much on shooting pics. But here are a few:

Autobiography in 5 short chapters

In her letter, my BC friend hakkalina, mentioned this poem. With the help of Google, I traced the original text and I just háve to share it, it's so beautiful and SO true. I think I've managed to reach chapter IV and it feels like chapter V is almost within reach...


by Portia Nelson

I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost ... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.

II
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place
but, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit.
my eyes are open
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

V
I walk down another street.

Autumn!

Hooray, Autumn is coming closer!
I know most people hate it when the days shorten and Summer is fading away, but yours truly can't wait for Summer to be over. I really enjoy this time of year. Feels like I can finally breathe again. Yep, I'm weird, but if you've read my blog before, that's old news to you :p
Maybe it's got to do with being born in September? Who knows?


Today it's rainy and I'm thankful I can stay indoors. Maybe I sound a bit more normal if I tell you that most of the time I prefer curling up on the sofa to getting soaked in the rain?
Anyway, the mailman transformed a plain rainy morning to one with a smile: delivery from a fellow BookCrosser! Familiar handwriting and the stamp is from Hungary...yippee, hakkalina mail! She surprised & spoiled me before with a wonderful Summer Gift Giving parcel full of joy, so noticing this mail came from her was already good for a smile on my face.

Opening the package, a wonderful scent filled the room: this is definately the scent of Autumn! Cinnamon, oranges...hmmm, me like!

The biggest surprise: 2 Puschkin books!!! One in Russian (easy reading, with lots of pictures, but I can't understand a word of the text^^) and one in Hungarian. How wonderful!! My collection grows and grows, I'll take a picture of that special shelf in the living room soon.

But it wasn't until exploring the rest of the package to figure out *why* hakkalina sent me this (besides her being a very nice person^^): Autumn RABCK exchange, I must have been her secret pal! What a lucky match :)
Stickers, soap, address labels, another book, chocolate, a puzzle, tea, apple snack (ooh, she must have seen me buying dried apples last week, such a delicacy!), a wooden decoration leaf and another wonderful letter...wow, I'm overwhelmed...

THANK YOU HAKKALINA!

:)

Turned 32 today and I'm happier than I've been in a long, long time. Some say life starts at 40, but it feels like mine is starting right here, at 32!
Finally, one of the theme songs in my life doesn't only match the sad parts; I can finally sing along the whole song without skipping the refrain :)



I kept the right ones out
And let the wrong ones in
Had an angel of mercy
to see me through all my sins

There were times in my life
When I was goin' insane
Tryin' to walk through
The pain

When I lost my grip
And I hit the floor
Yeah, I thought I could leave
but couldn't get out the door
I was so sick and tired
Of a livin' a lie
I was wishin' that I
Would die

It's Amazing
With the blink of an eye
you finally see the light
It's Amazing
When the moment arrives
that you know you'll be alright

It's Amazing
And I'm sayin' a prayer
for the desperate hearts tonight

That one last shot's a
Permanent Vacation
And how high can you fly with broken wings?
Life's a journey not a destination A
nd I just can't tell just what tomorrow brings

You have to learn to crawl
Before you learn to walk
But I just couldn't liten to all that righteous talk
I was out on the street,
Just a tryin' to survive

It's Amazing
With the blink of an eye
you finally see the light
It's Amazing
When the moment arrives that you know
you'll be alright
It's Amazing
And I'm sayin' a prayer
for the desperate hearts tonight

Rest In Peace, Old Buddy...

No, no, no, it's not one of our cats that has died and it's not one of my human friends either.

This is about a friend who came into my life about 4 years ago.

Can't believe it's *that* short, feels like we've been together for so much longer.

It was love at first sight.

I had an idea of what he had to look like:
he had to be different
and I didn't want him to be too skinny or small;
a larger body feels so much better.
And there had to be a click, definately.
That spark of magic.

I went to the city by myself that day.
No company; this was a step I had to make on my own.

Would he be there?
Would I recognize him
while other temptations were surrounding us?

I browsed.
Looked at every single candidate.
Eye contact, even some touching & feeling.

I must admit,
some were better,
but far out of my league.
They flirted with me
and I flirted back,
but at both sides it was obvious:
that wasn't the match I was going for.

I had expected him to be black.
Black is my colour.
(or non-colour)
I must admit his looks made me hesitate,
but only for a minute.

Some would consider him ugly,
or at least kinda weird.
And since weird is my middle name,
it was clear when our eyes met:
this guy was going home with me!

How many moments fit
in only 4 years?
So, so many.
My hard drive is stuffed with all those moments.

My buddy, my Dimage Z10,
our ways are parting.

Last weekend you were at my side, we were going to make some great shots of little Noah. You made me feel insecure; was there something wrong with the focus?
Nah, probably my lenses made your screen look blurry, I thought.
But when I came home, not a single shot turned out to be sharp. It wasn't to blame on my eyes.

It's not me, buddy, it's you this time.
You've lost it.

I took you to the river side yesterday, we made a long stroll in the burning hot sun. This was the place where we took out best shots.
And now it is the place where we shot the worst.
Everything is out of focus,
except the macro shots, the one thing you've always excelled in. We may make some macro repo's in the future together, but I'm gonna need to replace you when it comes to other tasks.

I can't believe how fast it went!
When we met, you were the very best within my budget and the size of your frames was very well. Now even my mobile phone has a higher standard than you.
I knew for a while you were getting old-fashioned, but I still loved you.
When someone laughed at your looks, I didn't care. I knew what we had done together in the past and I trusted you to prove them wrong.

This is the last portrait you made of me:

Goobye, old buddy.
Thanks for the good times.
The memories will be preserved.
And I haven't got a clue how to replace you :(

Stupid Nature

This afternoon, Molotov came in all axcited, proud of the large bird he caught (or found, he's always making a lot of noises when he watches birds). I HATE it when cats do that!

Yes, I know, I know, it's nature and instinct. I wasn't mad at Mol, but I always get a little sad when I see their kills. :(

Usually I ask Albert to pick up whatever the cats brought home, but let's be a grown up and pick it up myself (with a glove on, couldn't do it otherwise). Grabbed one of the legs and was near the recycling bin when I saw the eyes blink. OMG! This poor little thing was all dead-looking, but that eye was opening and closing like crazy. Last spasms or still alive?

I couldn't throw it in the bin without being sure if it was still alive, so I did what I had to do: I broke its neck.

My god, I'm horrified by myself now. I killed an animal.

*shivers*

Dear cats, please don't bring those preys home anymore. I know you're hunters and I don't mind feeding you canned meat, but if you do hunt, please keep it to yourself.

If I hadn't been a vegetarian already, I would have become one today.

Nature just sucks!

Life of Pi

Earlier this year I read the book "Life of Pi", by Yann Martel.

Had no clue what to expect of it, but since someone I know counts it as her favourite book I thought it was worth a try.

OMG, it was SO worth trying!

The story is about a boy.

And a tiger.

And some other animals.

"After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific.

The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger.

The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and best-loved works of fiction in recent years."

When I started reading, my rational mind was in the way of enjoying the book.

Too often I heard myself thinking: "this could never happen".

But when I got deeper into the book, the story caught me.

Letting go of all kinds of judgements and just opening up to the story told, is probably the nicest way to read Life of Pi.

So, there I was, sitting on this lifeboat with Pi, the tiger and the other animals. Oh, how cute the orangutan with her big sad eyes was!

And that poor zebra...

But the hyena gave me the creeps.

The tiger is not just a big kitty, it's a fierce and graceful carnivore.

Beautiful but oh so unpredictable and dangerous...

I didn't wanna stop reading, was só curious what would happen next and how things would work out. The story made me want more, more, more!

I won't spoil what happens in the book, but I can tell you there's a twist in it that made my jaw drop and my eyes teary...

After finishing the book, I thought it would be great to read it in its original language, English.
Was planning to buy it when someone on the BookCrossing forum was offering it as a RABCK (Random Act of BookCrossing Kindness, which usually means sending someone a book from your collection). There was a raffle and of course I entered. And I won! Yippeee!

The book arrived here a few weeks ago.

To my surprise, Danielle23 had enclosed a postcard that told me about a world wide readalong, starting in August.

Of course I joined that project immediately and now I'm re-reading Life of Pi, together with hundreds of others.

We're getting tips for even more intense reading, questions that challenge you to think over some of the parts.

You can read all about the project here:

http://www.lifeofpi.co.uk/

Do take a few minutes to watch the clip.

It's gonna be a movie as well!

A last thought about this story before I'm off to read some more:

it raised such a puzzling question for me: if I would be in Pi's position, would I be able to give up vegetarism to survive? Could I kill an animal and eat it? Or rather die?

Hmm, let's stick to the conclusion Anne and I came to: never make a boat trip across an ocean, so you won't be in that position! ;)

BookCrossing Generosity

The Summer Gift Giving project is still on and I'd like to show the sweet surprises I received!
Not all gifts were part of that project; I received 2 RABCK's (Random Acts of BookCrossing Kindness) from Dutch BookCrossers and one from abroad (won it in a raffle and will write more about that book).
I've sent out many surprises myself and secretly giving (and getting response!) is even better. Tried to fulfill some wishes and it's great to be able to send people bookplates in their own language! Two more languages are online now: Chinese and Malaysian, thanks to Starbytes!

But the best thing of this whole project is that I 'met' some BookCrossers I'd never been in touch with. I said it before, but I keep repeating it: BookCrossing is such an amazing community and there's something really special about the people who are part of it. BookCrossing is my prozac!!!

Roof Mole

As some of you might know, our cats have weird names: Puschkin, Munchkin, Sacharov, Pavlov and Molotov. The names Sacharov and Molotov have too many syllables for daily use, so we use nicknames most of the time (well, actually we have nicks for all 5). Sacharov is mostly called Sachie, but we discovered he also looks up when we call him Mimi. Maybe his previous owners called him that way?

Molotov also goes by the names Molly, Molo and Mol. And when we talk about him, we often say "de mol" ("the mole"). No idea why, but we do so.

Sometimes that leads to funny misunderstandings.

We were visiting my sister and told about how "Mol" likes to be on the roof. She was flabbergasted. "A mole? Climbing in a tree onto the roof?! How is that possible?!" Haha, try to visualise an actual mole, leaving its underground home, using those digging claws to climb a tree :)

Our little "mole" has 2 tv shows 'named after' him: Who Is The Mole? and Where Is The Mole?

My sister's cat goes by the name of Elvis and now he's got his own show as well: Where Is Elvis? A question that shouldn't be so hard to answer, because it's obvious why Elvis' previous owners called him "the Yeti" :)

Here are some pics of Mol in action. He's the first of ours cats that figured out how to get on the roof and hopefully the last as well. Besides that it's scary to us, it's also very annoying to the neighbours, especially when it's real early in the morning. Every time he's so excited about the adventure that he can't stop meowing, really loud. And since our house is at the corner of a block, he can walk all the way to the other side of the block, waking up everyone who has their windows open...

I.M.

Can't believe it's 8 years ago already.

Forever in my heart.

Mannaz.

Book On Shirt: Please Vote!

The latest design my brother made is really awesome. I would love to have this on a shirt! If you like it as well, please click on the picture & check "I'd buy it"...

Perfect Day