BEDA 26 - Opposites attract

People always say that opposites attract. And they're right. Take this candy for example. It's caramel made out of salted butter - and it's beyond delicious. The combination of sea salt and sugar is worth gaining a few pounds...

The problem with the attraction of opposites is that they may attract, but they also cause trouble. Two people who might be very different might end up attracted to each other, but to STAY together? Improbable or even impossible. And there we have our problem. Rules that are made in our everyday lives often tell us how to start something or how to judge something from the outside, the exterior... but they don't tell us how to continue or how to judge something when the outer layers are gone and the real topic is exposed.

I'm sorry for being a bit cryptic today, but I have these moods ;) bear with me.

Oh btw... I just finished Suite Scarlett and enjoyed it immensely. I will order the rest of Maureen's books very soon and just read them all. You know, because I want to. I have taken to a little song, very nicely covered by Dave (MusicFromBlueSkies on YouTube) called 10 things. Originally by Paul Baribeau, but I like the cover better.

And that's where I leave you today. With the lyrics of 10 things: Make them true and you'll be a little bit happier than before. Promise.

name ten things you wanna do before you die and then go do them.

name ten places you really wanna be before you die and then go to them

name ten books you wanna read before you die and then go read them

name ten songs you wanna hear again before you die, get all of your friends together and scream them

because right now all you have is time time time yeah,

but someday that time will run out.

that's the only thing you can be absolutely certain about.

think of all the things that are wrong with your life and then fix them

think of all the things that you love about your life, be thankful you are blessed with them

think of all the things that hold you back and realize that you don't need them

think of all the mistakes you have made in your life, make sure that you never repeat them

because right now all you have is time time time yeah,

but someday that time will run out.

that's the only thing you can be absolutely certain about.

name ten thousand reasons why you never wanna die, go and tell someone who might've forgotten

try to list the endless reasons why it's good to be alive, and then just smile for awhile about them

soon the sun will rise and another day will come

soon enough the sun will set, another day will be gone

and right now all you have is time time time yeah,

but someday that time will run out.

that's the only thing you can be absolutely certain about.

BEDA 25 - Lonely. Thankful. Content.

This might be a really great weekend :) The party yesterday was fun, today spending a morning at a coffee bar reading.... Suite Scarlett! By our own Maureen Johnson.

I really really like this book and I'm looking forward to maybe finishing it tomorrow. It has a lot of the humour that I've enjoyed from Maureen's blog and the setting in a 1920ies hotel just fits perfectly.

I will go outside again now to catch some rays of the evening sun and might go to a birthday party that I've been invited to. But I could also use a more quiet evening. Cinema? Stay at home watching movies? We'll see.

As a last point, let me try to express that I'm feeling ok. It's been a while since I've been ok and I'm tentatively enjoying it. I'm still a bit lonely, but at least I have friends, a family, a job that pays the bills and is enjoyable from time to time, some money in the bank, mostly healthy... I should feel ok, even if I'm lonely sometimes. What I definitely feel is thankful.

Short blog post again today, but the weather draws me outside. At least Ingrid and I have been keeping up with blogging, our two other BEDA buddies have deserted us, sadly.

So these lyrics go out to Ingrid :)

Listen as your day unfolds

Challenge what the future holds

Try and keep your head up to the sky

Lovers, they may cause you tears

Go ahead release your fears

Stand up and be counted

Don't be ashamed to cry

You gotta be

You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold

You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard

You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger

You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm

You gotta stay together

All I know, all I know, love will save the day

Herald what your mother said

Readin' the books your father read

Try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time

Some may have more cash than you

Others take a different view

My oh my heh, hey

All I know, all I know, love will save the day

Time asks no questions, it goes on without you

Leaving you behind if you can't stand the pace

The world keeps on spinning

You can't stop it, if you try to

This time it's danger staring you in the face

Oh oh oh Remember

Listen as your day unfolds

Challenge what the future holds

Try and keep your head up to the sky

Lovers, they may cause you tears

Go ahead release your fears

My oh my heh, hey, hey

All I know, all I know, love will save the day

All I know, all I know, love will save the day

BEDA 24 - Connections

I know... technically it's the 25th, but I'm not in bed yet, so for me the day isn't over. I won't lose BEDA. I won't.

Today a relatively short blog post. You know I love to ramble, but I'm very tired.

I just got back from a lovely party with friends from work. It was sad that I had to go, but I have a hair appointment tomorrow 8.30... I will be tired as hell. The thing is that lately, my friends from work seem more fitting for me than my old friends from childhood. I mean, it's understandable. What do I have in common with my old friends. My childhood. My history.

What do I have in common with my new friends? A common work place, spending 40+h a week together, common topics, gossip.

It kinda makes sense, I guess... but I wanted to talk to you about connections. I guess... mainly about twitter. These days, we can follow every celebrity who's on twitter. We know what they are doing, thinking, we can even talk to them by @replies.

Think about it. Everyone can just "talk" to every celebrity. Of course, they might not read it, they might not care... but it's a direct connection. To almost everyone imaginable.

After Ashton Kutcher's stunt with CNN, the media got wind about the power of twitter. It's like web 3.0. User-generated content with direct connections.

It's a short blog post, but it will end with lyrics ;)

No, I'm not colorblind

I know the world is black and white

Try to keep an open mind

But I just can't sleep on this tonight

Stop this train

I wanna get off

And go home again

I can't take the speed it's moving in

I know I can't

But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

Don't know how else to say it

Don't want to see my parents go

One generation's length away

From fighting life out on my own

Stop this train

I wanna get off

And go home again

I can't take the speed it's moving in

I know I can't

But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

So scared of getting older

I'm only good at being young

So I play the numbers game

To find a way to say that life has just begun

Had a talk with my old man

Said "help me understand"

He said "turn sixty-eight

You renegotiate"

"Don't stop this train

Don't for a minute change the place you're in

And don't think I couldn't ever understand

I tried my hand

John, honestly we'll never stop this train"

Once in awhile, when it's good

It'll feel like it should

And they're all still around

And you're still safe and sound

And you don't miss a thing

Till you cry when you're driving away in the dark

Singing

Stop this train

I wanna get off

And go home again

I can't take the speed it's moving in

I know I can

Cause now I see I'll never stop this train

BEDA 23 - The things people say

I took a few pictures when I got home this evening. Spring is such a beautiful time for photography :)

Unfortunately, these pictures have little to do with what I'd like to talk to you about today. And that is a topic of heated debate. And has been for quite some time. It's especially current due to what a certain beauty pageant contestant said on the show.

I guess you already know what this is about. It's about gay "marriage". It's about equality. But most of all and most importantly, it is about... religion and the separation of church and state.

I haven't said a lot about these topics in the last months and I'll try to be brief today. What Ms California said is that she loves to live in a country where you can choose. You can choose same-sex marriage and you can choose "opposite" marriage and she believes that marriage should always be between a man and a woman.

I won't even go into the fact that she's believing in a God that promotes inequality. It surely is not the same God that I believe in. The thing is that she's not even answering the question that was given to her. When asked if she thinks gay marriage should be legal, she says that she believes it shouldn't. And there we have the problem. She is asked if it should be "legal" and she says that she "believes" otherwise.

The separation of church and state was a very necessary move, because it allows for people of different beliefs to live together on common ground with the same law, the same legal basis. It doesn't matter that in hinduism it's not allowed to kill a cow, it is still done to get food in most western countries. It is not allowed in Judaism to work on the sabbath, it's still legal in most western countries. That is because we have decided that it shouldn't matter what people believe, all should be able to live in a state that governs based on laws passed by people.

I know that there are still some states that have connections between church and state. Turkey and Israel come to mind, but in our civilised and "enlightened" age, we should progress past all of this.

Now there are people who say that the laws in western civilisations are based on the bible and that it tells us morally what is right and wrong. That is bulls---. The thing is that common sense and decency tells us what's right. Treat others with respect. Love each other. Don't kill, steal, etc are a given. Because the bible tells us many strange things like sell your daughters to slavery. Bible believers say that you have to read carefully and judge what is meant like it's written and what's not. Well, there you have it. We have our own built-in compass and we use this compass, these innate ethics to judge what's right or wrong. Not the bible, or Coran, or Tora.

I don't diss the bible, mind you. There are passages that are pure poetry. Many can help you govern your life. Some might inspire you to believe, it's all up to you. But a state should not adhere to laws written down in an age that's as far from us as the pyramids.

These things go through my head when I hear someone say "I believe it's wrong, so it should be illegal". I just want to slap them and say "well, just believe that I didn't just slap you, maybe it helps".

I have been thinking about these issues for over 10 years now and I still don't understand many of the factors, though I do understand some of them. It is a very very complicated issue and has to be handled delicately and with caution.

One last point. When the people against same-sex marriage argue, they say that if same-sex marriage is legal, what's next? Polygamy? And that's where I stopped to think... if you follow through, polygamy would be a possibility, but in my opinion only between same-sex couples/triples... because marriage is about balance and about power. If one guy marries 2 women, there is obviously a dysbalance of power. The 2 women have to share the one guy, which dimeans them as second class. Now if 3 guys married, that would be different. But you see... if you can comprehend that theoretically one person could love 2 people equally... you would be in an ethical dilemma.

I could write on and on about this topic, but it would be more for me than for my readers. I hope you take care and don't let the worries of the world hunt you down.

Lyrics:

If you find yourself caught in love

Say a prayer to the man above

Thank him for everything you know

You should thank him for every breath you blow

If you find yourself caught in love

Say a prayer to the man above

Thank him for every day you pass

You should Thank him for saving your sorry ass

If you’re single, but looking out

You must raise your prayer to a shout

Another partner must be found

Someone to take your life beyond

Another TV “I Love 1999”

Just one more box of cheapo wine

If you find yourself caught in love

say a prayer to the man above

But If you don’t listen to the voices then my friend

You’ll soon run out of choices

What a pity it would be

You talk of freedom don’t you see

The only freedom that you’ll ever really know

Is written in books from long ago

Give up your will to Him that loves you

Things will change, I’m not saying overnight

You’ve gotta start somewhere

Start by kidding on you care

If you find yourself out of love

Shed a tear for the one you love

Tell your boss that you’ve gone away

Down your tools for a holiday

But If you’re going off to war then I wish you well

But don’t be sore

If I cheer the other team

Killing people’s not my scene

I prefer to give the inhabitants a say

Before you blow their town away

I like to watch them play

I like to marvel at the random beauty of a simple village girl

Why should she be the one who’s killed?

If you find yourself caught in love...

BEDA 22 - I'm senile...got to be.

I just got back from my piano lesson and I had a great idea for today's blog. I got the idea when I started playing and then put it in the back of my head, because, obviously, I had other things to worry about. Like... how to play 5.000 notes with 10 fingers. And now I struggle to remember what that idea was.... give me a second.

Give me a Ginkgo infusion now! Grml... I can't remember for the life of me what I wanted to talk about. Maybe I'll remember tomorrow? Anyway. Today was hectic beyond belief. Again... Have I mentioned that I don't like stress? I guess if "cloud watching" is your favourite pastime, the no-stress is implied. So a collegue is sick, I am stuck with her responsiblities, I have my own stuff to take care of... resulting in me running around all day long :)

The good thing is my boss wrote me an email this afternoon asking what's up (he wasn't in town today) and I just replied "the usual trouble". He wrote back "why don't you take a few days off and work from home, maybe you get more done that way and I promise to not bother you for a few days with emails"... I was shocked. Then, he ended this email with a ":)"... I was disoriented after that. It's not really his style. The giving me time off. And the :)

Anyway... I have too much to do to even think about staying home. I know that everybody thinks that the world will stop turning when they're not around, but in my case it's really like I'm the only one there to tell the direction to go, what to do etc... I haven't had a holiday in about 4 months now.

Ok... enough with the work stuff.

I don't have the energy to write much more (even if I could just write all day long... I should become a writer :), so I'll stop here.

If anyone has any questions for me, leave them in the comments. Take care, see you tomorrow.

Lyrics of the day:

Don't you have a word to show what may be done

Have you never heard a way to find the sun

Tell me all that you may know

Show me what you have to show

Won't you come and say

If you know the way to blue?

Have you seen the land living by the breeze

Can you understand a light among the trees

Tell me all that you may know

Show me what you have to show

Tell us all today

If you know the way to blue?

Look through time and find your rhyme

Tell us what you find

We will wait at your gate

Hoping like the blind.

Can you now recall all that you have known?

Will you never fall

When the light has flown?

Tell me all that you may know

Show me what you have to show

Won't you come and say

If you know the way to blue?

BEDA 21 - Where nobody knows your name

I love my home. The sky outside my window, the moon and stars in familiar constellations. I have to admit that I'm not connected to the people here (aside from my family), but the hills and forests.

However, I have never felt more freedom than when I walked out of my hotel onto the street in Lisbon, Berlin, Tokyo, Kyoto, Dallas, Valetta, Porto, Paris, ... wherever I was. This moment when the door opens and you can smell a foreign city. See life that's different from your home. Where you can go anywhere and do whatever you want. Noone knows you. Noone judges you. It's the kind of freedom I never knew existed. Now I'm not the most frequent traveller. I don't go much on vacations (though I still plan to go diving this year!), but still... being in a foreign country elates me and fills me with joy.

This is a shorter blog post, because I just got home from my yoga course and only have about an hour before I go to bed. Take care, see you soon.

Lyrics of the day:

Sometimes is never quite enough

If you're flawless, then you'll win my love

Don't forget to win first place

Don't forget to keep that smile on your face

Be a good boy

Try a little harder

You've got to measure up

And make me prouder

How long before you screw it up

How many times do I have to tell you to hurry up

With everything I do for you

The least you can do is keep quiet

Be a good girl

You've gotta try a little harder

That simply wasn't good enough

To make us proud

I'll live for you

I'll make you what I never was

If you're the best, then maybe so am I

Compared to him compared to her

I'm doing this for your own damn good

You'll make up for what I blew

What's the problem ...... why are you crying

Be a good boy

Push a little farther now

That wasn't fast enough

To make us happy

We'll love you just the way you are if you're perfect

BEDA 20 - When you find yourself in the presence of people

I have to admit that I struggled with finding an appropriate picture and I imagine that I will struggle equally when trying to find fitting lyrics at the end of the blog post...

I should also tell you that I ultimately failed in finding an appropriate picture and the idyllic scene you can see above has actually nothing to do with my experiences today.

So today was hectic at work. Things came up last minute to be finished shortly afterwards. People were crazy and everything was blurry. This was the fun part though. In the late afternoon (I had already decided to leave timely to get some of that glorious sunshine...) my boss comes in and tells me that I should accompany him when looking at the "remains" of a patient. I'm sparing you the details, but let's just say that I spent an inappropriately large amount of time in the company of metal trays filled with various organs and two professors poking and pulling some of them. I'm not squeamish when these things are concerned (but I do have to leave the room when in Jackass the movie one of them eats peed-on snow). It was fairly interesting to be honest, but now comes the thing.

I had the distinct impression that both professors didn't actually quite know what they were talking about. I might be wrong (I hope to God that I am), but that's what it felt like. I will spare you the details now, but this will be drawn into my memory as one of the most macabre afternoons of my life so far.

In other news, I started the countdown today for my last exam in a few weeks. I should now start preparing myself, but like I said, work was c-r-a-z-y today.

Also, I began downsizing my internet presence. I have way way too many sites where I'm present. I will strip down and only keep those that I deem a necessity for my online life. Right now, that encompasses:

Blogger, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook. I'm still undecided concerning blip.fm and also twitter... we will see.

That should be enough for today. It certainly was enough for me ;)

Lyrics (after struggling):

I've been thinking

I've been thinking I've been thinking too much

I just want to live now for a little while

And cast my dreams to the wind

Don't wanna wonder

Don't wanna wonder what it's all about

I'm just working for a living singing with my friends

As I cast my dreams to the wind

Maryland, I'm coming home

Never worry about what I did wrong

And that I'll never be what my daddy wanted me to be

And I'll never see what my mama's dreams were

But I will sing

I wanna fly

I wanna fly down the highway to my home away from home

This funky funky club on Fairfax Avenue to see you

I'll never give up

Because what is there to give up anyway

I'm just working for a living working for my pay

In Maryland it's raining somewhere in some cafe

Maryland, I'm coming home

Never worry about what I did wrong

And that I'll never be what my daddy wanted me to be

And I'll never see what my mama's dreams were

But I can sing