Flying from Sam Fuller on Vimeo.

I am off for some weeks! See you next year!
Hugs and have good holidays, Belle

The Holiday Cheer - com'on, you can do it!

Aw, let's face it. It is not such a good time around in the world and it seems as if all the Holiday cheer is out of place more than ever.
And as it looks as if everything around us is falling into pieces it is so easy to let ourselves go, drown and dress black (even if we might be spared yet - it's just the general trend).
I found myself in this situation just in these days, yes, one week before Christmas I found myself slowly slipping into sadness. But, wait! Just one minute before I let myself go a quote popped into my mind:

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.”
Thich Naht Hanh, Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk

So, I took a deep breath, decided to take it slowly (e.g. sleep over it) and just the next morning I was able to smile. Not that the situation got any better, but I was willing to fight it.

Fortunately, I am not in a bad situation, but others around me are. So, I think it is my job to cheer them up and spread optimism.
Since I am a sucker for "you can do it"-readings, here two of my favourite recent up-beat reads:
Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project is already an online-myth in Happiness and here are her kind words against this year's December blues.

Leonora Epstein writes on msn lifestyle How to Stay Positive at Work. It's nothing new under this sun, but it is good to remember the most simple tricks.

I am not an optimistic person by nature, so "boosting the moral" is one of my personal quests. Just to say the obvious: surrounding yourself with happy things/persons/situations/good vibrations is contagious. I commute 45mins to work, go and return and since my cd-player is broke, but the stereo is kick-butt-awesome, I listen to the radio, switching channel every 3-4 minutes.
The current song that lets me blast the neighbourhood is "shine" by Take That. Yes, I admit it. I didn't get the hype the first time in my teentime (I was way too cool for them), never bought an album, but "shine" makes me sing along and smile. Do I need to ask for more?



Gosh! This is Glam! Just let it shine!

I guess it is as well the Holiday Period that makes me look even harder for good vibrations. There are things that only Christmas can do.
Like bringing together two music icons/idols that couldn't be more opposite.


via Molly (I fancy Bowie's accent. How cute!)

Whatever makes you feel good in this moment, get as much of it as you can, January comes soon enough!

For the new year you'll need a calender, try the one from Mibo, for free download.
It's just beautiful!



So, please spread the cheer, have a good Friday and a better weekend! Belle


via swissmiss

"Help-I-am-single-and-hate-all-the-Holiday-cheer-I-cannot-wait-until-grey-january-is-here-and-EVERYBODY-feels-bad."-section.
Cutie, you are not alone! xox, B

Not yet last-minute shopping weekend is approaching

aaww, wonderful song. The Band is so generous to offer this song for free here.

So, back to seasonal talk: did you already make all your shopping? I have nearly finished; this year I have grrrreat gifts! Still two people are missing, but my money is out there in the economy now. Doing the contrary to the rest of Europe I spent more than the year before because thanks to my new job there's more money, yay!



Emily Webber likes shop fronts, London. I couldn't agree more. Someone should do this for every major city. (Some awesome lettering out there.) If you are from London or will go there for the Holidays.. do some shop front spotting! :-) If not, Emily's cool site gives us the possibility for some virtual window shopping.

I don't know who is behind 1001 rules for my unborn son, but for sure it is a cool dad.



To most of them agree and some I make my own.

So that's it for this Friday. Oh I forgot: is this the reason why you are here?



Have a good Friday and a better weekend, Belle

December is a huge red dot in the forth dimension

So, November is over (finally), December officially started and we are all in Holiday-gift-rush-stress (see how non-religiously I resolved the topic?!).
I still need to get some, but half of it is done. Just remember: don't give "pratical" gifts!


All I Want For Christmas Is ... from Paul Rayment on Vimeo.

Ah! Ah! This made me so laugh!

Tom Weller has this beautiful web page about Minims, as opposed to maxims: "statement expressed in proverbial or sentential form but having no general application or practical use whatever."





This is too easy for you?

Ok, try this: an explanation about dimensions up to the tenth dimension. I think I lost myself between dimension 6 and 7, but then perfectly understood 8 to 10. I really liked it, I guess I fell in love with dimension four, I caught myself to fantasize over my BF as a "time-snake" (is very useful with my boss, too).



HA! Maybe you want to go back to the Minims? ;-)

Have a good Friday and a better weekend, Belle