Wednesday, October 31, 2012

SANDY

I will make it short, we have been hit by Sandy and it has been bad. Most of our neighbors, including ourselves, have had no power since Monday and we are permanently on the go to find a warm spot, warm food and /or internet access or outlets to power the phones.  The food in the fridge needed to be thrown away, the freezer still has some stuff I hope to safe. Hard to say, since there is basically no information when power will be reestablished in the neighborhood. Some rumors talk of the weekend, lets hope the truth lays somewhere before that!



A huge tree has hit our garage and parts of the roof where our addition to the house is located. We have been in touch with every possible place to get help to remove the tree, getting the insurance involved and now we have to wait and see how fast we can get back to normal.

But my heart goes out to those, who have lost so much more: Their homes, livelihoods and lives. It is scary to be exposed to the fierce powers of nature and to be so utterly helpless in the face of it. May we all be able to soon re-build and be safe. 
Again.



Image by V.Zlotkowski

Monday, October 29, 2012

CREATIVITY

There are so many ways to unlock one's creativity, not just one's own, but others too.  A wonderful way to get there is to offer a space, where playful explorations can be encouraged. A space literally or in your mind...It can be a meeting with like minded friends, a basement, where messes can be made, where art supplies are not locked up in a closet, but made easily accessible, lots of discussions, an open mind to the strangest subjects, sharing of dreams and thoughts, rather often unheard of....Walking the city or rambling odd sites....
Seeing things in a different light and really looking for a new prospective. All this makes life so much more interesting and unleashes at the best of times our wildest imaginations and creativity!

Found here


And maybe even these stormy days will blow away some of the road blocks in my creativity....
I keep my mind open.
And smile.



...
Image as indicated

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Sometimes

Sometimes, when the going gets tough for my children, when long school days stretch ahead without a break, daily sports bring sudden injuries, when test results go wrong, way off the hoped for mark, when student jobs are lost or hopes for them are shuttered, then they need a little extra tender care
Reminders that they are loved and cherished, no matter the grade, the mood, the loss.
An extra hug, a phone call, a little boost, a foot rub, a funny text message, a small gift: Something to cheer them up! We all need cheering up...
I find the mornings in our family the most relaxed time during the day. We get up early to sit down around the table for a real breakfast, cereal, coffee, smoothies, freshly baked rolls, eggs any style...(To be sure: I am not a super mom, I just plan ahead) We chat and joke. To get my children off to another day, happy, smiling, and most of all ready to tackle yet again the challenges of the day (which make them sometimes want to hide), this is my goal every day.
This morning was such and I cheered them up with this:


 Our son asked, can I really eat from this? (He is the mass cereal killer....)
And our daughter mentioned framing it.... It's a quote from one of her most beloved stories.

Engraved spoons from here

Laughter and relaxed happiness were the hoped for results. Off they went, smiling and energized!



Wishing you all a day to smile about!
(And you can spoil someone any time, no injury required....)









Images by V.Zlotkowski

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Nest

Autumn is for building a nest.... the temperatures drop, students are back into the groove, a cozy place beckons....



I love making a nest at this time of year!






Image via Houzz

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Nick Frank

The photographer Nick Frank and his Mira Series: The Germany based artist takes pictures in and around Munich.




via


How cheerful! Click on the link above to read more...





Image via Trendland

Friday, October 12, 2012

Happy weekend

Found this on Etsy, I thought it is a fun piece!


And you could style it like this....


via

Or this....


via

Or this...


via


Happy weekend!




Image via Etsy (1st) site and as indicated!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Casual Vacancy




The day, the latest book by J.K.Rowling,  The Casual Vacancy came out, I begun reading it. It has gotten critical reviews, but this has not stopped me in the least from being more then curious.  In a way it encouraged me....
I was pulled in from the first pages, with a strange power, which had less to do with the plot of the story at first, but more  with the language. 
The setting is a small English town, picturesque at the first glimpse. The death of a citizen and councilman evokes the feverish actions to secure the vacant seat in a power struggle, which leaves many townspeople in its wake. There is a war raging, not only around the council vacancy, but also between families, between teenagers without much outlook and across the society at large. We look into a mirror and the reflected image is powerful if not downright ugly.
With the clinical precision of a surgeon, Rowling dissects, she cuts open festering wounds, drains the pus, to make a healing process possible. These are wounds many would rather leave alone. I applaud her for this and admire her form. 
Her language is harsh, bordering on the vulgar, but that only adds in my opinion to the truthfulness of the novel. This is not the J.K.Rowling world of Harry Potter. It seems to be the opposite end of her story world spectrum. Where the Potter series shows us a magical world, a world where young people, filled with powers and determination reach their worthy goals, and good fights evil successfully, here we find a realistically drawn, egotistical society, often careless adults, with barely camouflaged ugliness, trying to realize their questionable intentions at any cost and lost teenagers, without much hope of a future worth living for. There is bullying, there is calculated 'love' and abuse of power. There is violence and many lies. Only in the end she shows, although not a happy ending, a possible way out. A redemption. 
Until the end I was not really interested in the Council seat squabbles of the townspeople, but in Rowling's masterful art of writing and her psychological insights. The story unfolds stronger and more interesting towards the middle and end, but her way with words kept me going from the start. I did not regret the time.
I was moved in the end and the book and it's message has not let me out of it's grip since I finished the last pages. I keep thinking about it.
True, the book is filled with a  language hard to stomach at times, but nevertheless a rich one and I could sometimes see the old, familiar Rowling spinning her tale and there were moments, when I instantaneously made a Potter parody out of some lines. There is her dark humor, Rowling writes with kindness about her fellow citizens. The book struck me with it's honesty, a clear vision of the state of our society and the setting, which, of course, can be anywhere, my own small American town included. It fits in, right here, right now, and if some descriptions seem overdrawn it's for the better.
I would strongly recommend this book, also for teens. It would be appropriate school reading from 10th grade on. It should encourage many discussions and food for thought. Perhaps more then this. A change.
Please, go on and read it!





Image through amazon.com
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