Just when you think you've seen it all, Internet suprises you

I had an uncle who worked for an american company for a while. Every year he got a huge frozen turkey as a gift for thanksgiving and every year he passed it to my family. My mother kept it frozen until Christmas and then made something wonderful stuffing it with a delicious blood-sausage-bread-maroon filling (only way I ever ate blood-sausage).
We kept this turkey eating tradition still after my uncle had changed his job buying our turkey by ourselves.
I remember, particularly, a Christmas several years ago. My mother had send me to a huge supermarket, that has a ridiculous big food section (the kind of big, where you have never seen before half of the fruits they sell) and everywhere I turned I couldn't find turkey. Turkey was out. Funk, what now? It was the pre-cellphone era, it was too far to go back and ask and time was running out. I was sweating. What would my large family eat if I wouldn't bring home a turkey? Could my mother make something else?? Like, what? I had a blank mind.
Then my eye fell on goose...
Oh! Turkey - goose - what is the difference anyway? It's a bird, right? It looks the same (in the frozen version), it probably tastes the same.. so, hey, I just take a goose!
It was a problem to get a goose as huge as my mother asked me the turkey should be, but I came close.
All happy by myself I carried the goose to the cashier like a mother would hold her newborn. Then I noticed the first difference between turkey and goose: goose costs three times more. Argh! But I paid it willingly, thinking how my mother would call me "so clever" by finding such a smart solution.
Oh, that was the second difference.. "mum, there was no turkey anymore. I took a goose." "You. Did. What????"
To make it short. She never made a goose before. Goose is completely different to turkey (seems as if) and anyway it would never be enough for four fully grown men which were my father, my brother and my brothers-in-law.
"I will just eat the filling.." I offered.
"That bloody goose will not have a turkey filling!"

After all I was not so clever. BUT, my mother made a super job and the goose was great. All family members wanted more (but there wasn't) and year after year my mother and I remember this story laughing about the funny parts. I am so grateful for this goose.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
— John Fitzgerald Kennedy

A part from the obvious things to be grateful for, remember "the best things in life aren't things."


Aw! wonderful type-job. Great!

To come back to my mother: she is great in nearly every situation you can think of and every time I hear her she says something encouraging. When she writes, it's always a lovin'letter, filled with little treasures. So, it is not the category of Postcards from Yo Momma... but sometimes she comes near to this.

If you don’t respond to Gma about what you want for Christmas, she’s going to get a tshirt made for you that says “Shit Happens.”

Aw! The loving family! It's always a pleasure to come back - I cannot wait!


Welcome Back from ImprovEverywhere on Vimeo.

So, to come to the surprising, stupendous part: I want this lamp. I mean, if I could lay my hands on it, I would totally buy it.



You can program it so that it slowly opens and lights up when you need to get up... wow, that is what I call a good morning!



Have a good Friday and a better weekend, Belle

Update: I love how the Japanese face/solve problems. Funnily I will have sushi tonight..

Happy things

In my hemisphere winter is coming nearer and nearer, days get darker and darker. And with this, inevitably, my mood gets cold and dark,too. But ALT! Stopp! There are some simple things I do, to escape this winter-melancholic-trap:

First, do what your doc just said so: eat a lot of greens and fruits. Second, get some green around you. Go to your local plant nursery and get some new green friends.
If you are like me, you have grown up with a family to which "green thumps" is a joke: they have green blood! Unfortunately, I have red blood, and most plants to me are exactly this: a plant (except edibles). So, I love buying plants, but sooner or later they die, which is tragic. I changed tactics and made my research in an environment, which I think is the hardest for plants: the office! There they get cold and heat, too less or too much water, too less or too much light and no one really "loves" them. What can survive there, will survive anywhere!

Here is a good list for plants that have exactly this spirit of "survival of the fittest".

I got myself a Spathiphyllum which is a though little friend!



So then, after taking care for our personal happiness, let's start thinking global.
There is this nice global event which takes place once a year around winter Solstice Day: the global orgasm! The darkest day, or to say, the longest night of the year, offers plenty of time to just join the party. The smart organizers of this event list three good reasons to do so: Peace, Gender&Social Justice and Global Warming - I could list some other good reasons, but I guess you get the picture ;)
Next dateline is 21st December 2008, 12.04 UT/GMT - I tell you in advance, so you can plan ahead...

Have good Friday and a better weekend, Belle
p.s. if you are still in a dark mood, you might try counting chimneys.

Aw, it's still November

Yes and it is still raining. Again.
I think November and February are the worst months in a year, I just cannot stand them.

Okay folks, let's have some fun! When I am in a bad mood I tend to be overly judgmental, which means I could be the wrong person to ask for an opinion. (Better not.. hehe)
Get your inner judge out on these book covers: awesome thing and a good way to waste some time.



Just don't forget, "never judge a book by its movie!"

Isn’t it very funny, that I never wrote about the “casual Friday”? The casual Friday was never so important to me, because working in small biz and/or young/creative environment practically everybody dressed casual every day. Even now, working for a bigger, international company I am not bound to a dress code, but there are departments in the company which are and they have the “casual Friday”. Which is kind of funny. I can image that it is a huge relief to take off the tie for a day (even if it is such a great and easy fashion accessory for men, I wished I could wear ties!), be more comfortable and blend in, but – I prefer my boss in suit and tie! I remember the first Fridays I saw the management department walk around in Jeans. Which already were at least 15 years old. Please! No! You want to dress casual? Here you are!

But I tell you, women love ties!



You insist? Okay, get some real Friday wear or if you must, then please sport your inner Tom Selleck! ;-)

For myself I decided to contrast authority (as always) by doing the contrary: they have their casual Friday, I have my "Fashion Friday" - they dress down, I dress up, haha! It's stronger than me, must be some second-middle-child-thing.


Anyway, the weekend is near and you might want to get out of the office for good.



Have a wild ride!

Have a good Friday and a better weekend, Belle

Does your computer reach its full potential?

Probably not. Do you switch your pc off when you are in meetings? At lunch? No? Do you have any idea what your pc is doing with all its free time and energy?
You don’t? You should! We all know that if you don’t monitor the free time of these little, easily to impress machines, they can turn bad and mean. Can you be sure that your pc isn’t secretly planning to take over the world?
You think you know your pc and it would never do such thing?

Rethink!



Fiction is full of what is called the cybernetic revolt, the first which comes into my mind is the 2001 Hal 9000, but even recently with “I, robot” or “matrix” the theme has been discussed widely.

Anyway, I am writing this little introduction to remember you that you can use your pc for the good.



So, instead of letting your pc waste energy and contribute to global warming and the ozone hole you can join the World Community Grid and do something without actually doing nothing. That’s a deal, isn’t it!? ;-) And you can be sure that your pc is too occupied to take over the world… keep it busy, keep it good!

Now, to happier things: Finally it’s Friday turns 1! Yay!



A year of making your Fridays better! Thank you my precious readers who come from all over the world, Europe, the Americas, Middle East, thanks for being here and share your Friday with me! Have some cake this weekend (I prefer chocolate).

Some music to celebrate! (Actually I am listening to this in endless loop this week, it’s just beautiful, even if I don’t understand a word.)


Have a great Friday and an even better weekend, Belle