unfortunate cookies

a few weeks ago i went to eat chinese and with the bill i picked a fortune cookie with the above illustrated message in it. how encouraging! two weeks later i entered my bank only to find out i went minus on my account. this due to an accumulation of bills and credit costs happening all at once.

it was quite fascinating to see how i reacted. my ego was very hurt. i am usually very responsible and i have never been a big spender. so i kept feeling like a looser. in fact, the feeling of failure was stronger than any worries about how to manage without a cent.

getting around without spending money actually became like a challenging game. no more ‘oh i feel like goats cheese tonight, lets buy some’ but the first rule of the game of being broke was: only eat what is in the house. be creative.

and man, i can be creative if i have to! i haven’t been this broke since….i was a student? and i am not proud to say it. but hell, you guys don’t mind me telling the truth, do you? you will still like me a bit, won’t you?

soon enough it is december, which means a new paycheck and a tougher pirate. amen.

update 16.37: the ants have occupied my box or cereals. i draw two conclusions from this, 1. never buy sweetened cereals if you live in an ant infested area 2. no cereals until the new paycheck.

happy…

 advent!

i baked some  ginger breads. and almost overdosed on them already. homemade mulled wine and that will do the job. enjoy your sunday.

wed+thu

 

friends. i have mine nicely spread all over the world its seems. this week i had a few days off and went to my old workplace&home to visit. how great it is to spend time with people you love, and haven’t seen for long. we spent hours talking talking talking. and eating. just like in the good old days. and my brain was on fire, jumping between dutch, english and hebrew.

right now i am listening to christmas music while burning candles. how cheesy. i can’t help it. all day i long for winter. and outside the sun is burning hot.

so please do try to enjoy the snow, and think of me while doing so…

pulling my hair

to cut it or not? waking up at sunrise or sleeping in? having another piece of cake or just ignoring the sugar rush? taking a vacation or working to earn some cash? staying the night or going? before or after? up or down? black or white?

if you want to, most things can turn into a tiny little dilemma. i decided, that since i don’t feel like that today, i will just go with the flow. flowflowflow.

fantastic dreams to all of you. i dreamt of mini-gorillas in a hospital bed last night. nightynighty.

p.s does this song count like happy?

inspiration/wangechi mutu

 

while trying to cut down on sugar *again* this will be my blast of energy for the evening. wangechi mutu’s images from ‘my dirty little heaven’, the title is great and her work is even better.

with some licorice it would be a tiny bit of utopia.

three nice things from the weekend

 

the little pony in the city *however, i doubt it is a very nice thing being a pony in the city* 

the morning fog on saturday. for a few hours it seemed like i was in europe.

this song. still not so happy, but it sure fits the fog.

streetfindings

when i lived in the netherlands, most of my furniture and other funny stuff where found on the street. the streets are usually like a treasure hunt to me, so many presents laying around. even better if you are broke. or when you move a lot and still won’t consider investing too much money in your home.

like this week i found:

a little coffee cup. perfect size for a candle.  

 

a half-used ‘hello kitty’ coloring book. i think i will pass this one on however…

a funky poster with a naked lady on it. something very 70’s about it.

and last night i found a strange cupboard/shelf thingie. which is very handy since my clothes have been piled on the floor and on this mini-shelf i constructed out of bricks and panels. i pimped it up a bit with some wrapping paper and a curtain.

 

i think it used to be a counter. it even has a hook on it. not sure what i will hang there? a plant?

sara♥dumpster-diving

one more

 

we ended another week and i must say that it has been a good week at work. i enjoyed some great sessions of dancing this week. with amazing partners. there is a lot to be learned when dancing with someone else, listening to their bodies. how do they feel, what do they want and desire, are they confident or not, dominant or passive, flexible or stubborn. and all of those questions can be boomeranged right back at yourself.

i decided i want to take more pictures of people. especially people i don’t know, people i see on the streets, in cafés, on the bus etc. i need to find the courage to do it more often, combined with a certain sensitivity not to offend or force myself upon people.

except of that, it has been a weird week. many thoughts and unfinished ideas in my mind. and a screaming empty wallet. i will tell you more about that another time. now, i am going to begin my weekend. hugs and love to all of you who read, i am happy you drop by.

halfway through

 

i decided to enjoy the city and it is so much easier once i made my mind up. it is also much more fun when there are dogs around. happy, joyful creatures.

everybody seems to have their birthday in november, i bake cakes and blow balloons whenever i am not working.

halfway through november and still no rain in sight, am i being obsessive about this issue?

i think i need a haircut. and i keep practicing my telepathic talents.

russian cacao and bo’s lost friend

 

sometimes you judge the book by it’s cover and you buy cacao for the pretty, russian packaging.

sometimes you make an early cup of tea and it becomes a fuzzy image for the collection.

some days you find an abandoned doll which made me think of bo, or what do you say lilli, perhaps a lost friend of the happy bunch? with lipstick and all.

and some days is the day which starts the week again and i wonder how come time flies so fast? here we go again, dive in and swim along.

4

 

the fabulous 4 above, mrs plant, mr yam, miss basil and mr parsley on my windowsill. excuse me, but i do not have a scanner…

4xTVseries i got rid of my TV about nine years ago. i still recommend people to do the same. but i used to love party of five when i was a teenie and keep waiting for the right time to watch true blood.

4xthings done today *baked a cake*had an important conversation*sang a song*photographed*

4xthings to long for *sweden*my family*the netherlands*breakfast*

4xthings on the wishlist *a hug*rain*that my landlord will allow me to build my own compost*peace&harmony in israel*

4xdislikes *fishy tastes*a messy kitchen*inequality*disharmony*

here you go, evelina and fru a. wish you all a 4midable weekend!

today@work

today i am being reminded of how often i enjoy my work. and that i am doing what i dreamt of doing. what a happy scenario, it could be so much worse!

each morning however, i fear to wake up to find my leg dislocated from my hip joint. just hanging loosely inside the skin. but even that would be a relatively happy scenario.

in my neighborhood

 

these are my hoods right now. living here, my collection of windows keep growing. and this dream is becoming reality. so far, i have an avocado pit, a sweet potato, basil and some parsley growing on my windowsill.

the good news is that i started collecting compost here. i am hoping to convince the landlord that i can build one in the ‘garden’ that belongs to the building. and if not, i decided to bring it to a community garden not too far from here. small projects that keep me busy in a good way…

tonight it finally felt chilly and i needed to put on a long sleeved shirt. 100 grams of chocolate became a daily dose. those are the closest winter signs so far.

saturday blue

 

i am reading about sad things on the internet and all i can do is post a burst of colors from this saturday blue.

mr yam and miss basil on my windowsill and i wish all the sadness out there would go away.

tigertails

 

the other day i was taking pictures in the supermarket when the security guard came up to me. a tiny bit irritated, he explained to me that i am not allowed to do so, and he asked me why i do it?

-‘because i enjoy it!’ was my honest answer. he should have seen my harmless collection of tiger tails and twinkies to understand just how threatening my pictures could be….

and then there is the girl working at the café at the train station: ‘i know you, you are the girl with the special cup’, and she actually makes my long espresso with some milk in my foldacup without arguing and i am forever thankful. it became like my little challenge, to convince people to do it. (sounds easy perhaps, but with all those laws&regulations about hygiene, and the total conviction that throw-away cups is the shit, i meet quite some resistance)

that’s about it for now. 3.48 and i am way past my bedtime.