Over alles wat in mij opkomt en ik met u wil delen.
I’ve uploaded a selection of pictures of days 3 & 4 of my 2011 summer holiday in Italy. Check ‘m out!
Day 3 was on Ischia, I went from Sant’Angelo to Baia di Sorgeto – relaxing at the hot springs.
Day 4 was spent mostly travelling from Sant’Angelo to Anacapri – with Sentiero dei Fortini in the evening (and a pizza at Le Arcate in Anacapri).
I’ve been making cupcakes lately. For others. They say they’re good. I don’t know how to take a compliment, because I really think anyone can make these. All you need is a little time, and the right ingredients. So here’s a little insight into how I make these.
Ingredients for the cakes themselves – this will easily give you 12 cakes:
Tools & others:
The works:
Then there’s decorations. I tried once to make my own glaze from sugar, but for now I find it easier to just buy some in the shop. Though lately I’ve not been glazing the cupcakes at all. Instead I put some (vanilla flavoured) fondant on it. You can buy it in a range of colors, and again, is very easy to work with. Just roll out a bit, cut out whatever shape you want and put it on the cupcake. I have a bunch of fondants from Funcakes, that you can get at a hobby store near you. That’s it really. There’s nothing more to it; for now.
Have you ever wondered what happens at a supermarket at night, when everyone is sound asleep? I know I did – and I decided that it was about time I got to the bottom of this. Please, join me in this journey into the unknown…
When you want to find out what happens at a supermarket at night, but only wish to spend one night without sleep, you better take the time to find the one that adequately represents the entire population of supermarkets. To the untrained eye any supermarket may qualify for this; after all they are all commonly referred to as such. Yet, there is such a breadth & wealth of different supermarkets that it really does matter a lot. Hungry for examples, are you? Take for example the Spanish supermarket, where fruit & vegetables are strictly separated from each other. The fruit is kept at the front of the store, the vegetables in the back. The reason for this is of course historical. In the 16th century king Felipe II was at war with the English, at the time famous for their version of ratatouille. A dish with so many vegetables it could kill you if you had three really big portions. The king used to eat two big portions of English ratatouille every day – yes, he loved living on the edge – but when the war broke he ordained all vegetables to be destroyed so that none would ever even think of the English cuisine being any good. Little anecdote 1: the king did not order the potato crops to be destroyed as he did not know that these were in fact vegetables. Little anecdote 2: indeed the persuasion that the English simply don’t have a cuisine of their own still holds strong in some regions of the world. The same goes for the Dutch. It should come as no surprise, as it was in fact Felipe II himself who had used a similar strategy to try and beat down the revolts in the Netherlands. Of course, people need vegetables for all sorts of healthy nutrients so it should come as no surprise that instead of destroying perfectly good food, the shopkeepers all stealthily moved their vegetables to the back of the store. The king, going on visits throughout the land would look into the shops windows and see nothing but delicious fruit & potatoes for sale. He would feel like he was in control, but we all know now he wasn’t. Sure, there are many stories to be found of shopkeepers that were executed – forced to eat three large portions of English ratatouille for their betrayal, but their came no end to this practice and in the end it was not until the 17th century that Felipe IV signed the law to allow vegetables to be sold again, free from persecution. The law does stipulate that the vegetables should be kept at the back, just to piss the English off. This little example can also serve as explanation for why in English & Dutch supermarkets the vegetables are displayed much more prominently than fruit.
This is just one example of the level of detail that was required in my search for “the supermarket”. And if you ask yourself now how I would account for both Dutch/English & Spanish supermarket configurations, please stop asking. The answer is simple: for this particular parameter “the supermarket” would have to be one where fruit & vegetables are happily mingling at the very center of the store. If the supermarkets near you are nothing like that, then they are not eligible for the quest – if you would ever decide to go on one yourself. I must admit, it took me some time to find these kind of supermarkets as well. But when you’re motivated to get to the bottom of a mystery that has kept mankind in its firm grip for at least a few decades, then no search is too great.
In Part 2 I will divulge further details about the chosen supermarket – hold on tight, because it is going to be quite a ride! (in one of those supermarket trolleys)
A sunny Saturday afternoon in June. I’m walking, going at an easy pace, without a care in the world. It’s a short walk to the shop, only takes 10 minutes. I’m on the footpath starting right across the street from my place that ends up right in front of the shop. I’m listening to some music, looking at trees & fields. Thinking ahead of what to buy, what to cook in the evening.
A Tuesday evening in November. I’m at the office, working late. Again. I’m thinking about how the day went. I’m updating accounts ; resolving issues. It’s quiet in the office. Usually the cleaning lady is here around this time. Not today. Traffic will be smooth when I’ll be going home. My mind drifts away and returns after a few minutes. I need to finish this today. I wonder what tomorrow will be like. Where shall I go on holidays? I’m waiting for the system to finish the operation.
I’m walking home.
I’m driving home.
What’s next?
A HIT & RUN! A CRASH!
Flashing lights.
eh?
I just didn’t feel like making this into a long story. 
And who cares anyway?
In mei leggen alle vogels het loodje.
mmmm… brain… *drool*
After being here for nearly 28 years I must say I do consider Earth to be my home planet. No earthling ever questioned my past, everyone whose paths I’ve crossed accepted me for who I am, and through the kindness of the people of planet Earth whatever happened before my arrival here has become nothing but a blur in my memory. So much even that I am at times beginning to doubt where I came from what my original form was and whether any of the few memories of my adventures in the distant galaxies of the universe are true. Maybe it’s all just my imagination.
Here’s a fun fact: a single cockroach can devour up to three zebras in a week.
Oh. I see, said the blind man. What sites? Me is curious now. I am a kitten afterall. Actually, I’m a horse with no legs
Weekends go by so quickly … I can’t imagine how some people decide what to do during the weekend and what not… on the other hand I can imagine why some people might come in tired at work on Monday after a tough weekend.
Me, I take my weekends calm and easy. Not sure if it’s the right way to live life – as we only have one (we consciously know about).
Anyway, this weekend I went cycling.
Nothing special really ; but it’s my blog, I write what I want to write and share what I want to share.
Saturday, De Haan – Knokke – De Haan
Sunday, Moerzeke – Schelle – Moerzeke
I think I’ve started something I’m not going to quit any time soon. Unless I find more interesting things to do…. And the damning thing is, I’m sure I will. There’s too much things to do. Task 1 : start preparing a bucket list!
Strange how evil is associated with a ‘beast’, not a cuddly fluffy animal – except in Monty Python movies.
On the other hand, strange how ‘beast’ has come to mean something negative alltogether – as cuddly fluffy animals are just as much ‘beast’ as raging bulls?
And what about Eagles?
I’ve read that
If you eat a live tortoise, you will never go blind from staring into the sun. It does not protect you from blindness caused by eye-gouging.
The more often you press the fast forward button on a remote control, the shorter your life will be. The effect can be undone by pressing the rewind button, but this technique can never be used to either commit suicide, or live forever. Also, each time you press one of these buttons, your hair grows faster/slower than normal.
If you listen to Beethoven’s fifth backwards, you will develop a supernatural ability – each time you listen to it again, this ability will be replaced by another one. Short list of most common abilities known to have been developed this way: being able to discuss string theory with white rabbits (they will not respond to any other inquiries), being able to morph into any kind of fabric softener that ever existed (useful if you just ran out of it and shops are closed and you have no (kind) neighbours), being able to produce antidote to the most poisonous snakebites (prepare a way to capture the antidote, the stuff comes out liters at a time through your pores), being able to alter memories of goldfish.
If you drive 50 km east and dig a hole, chances of finding gold are higher than if you had driven in any other direction, or any other distance. Notes: this does not apply at sea, so you should be at least 50 km to the west of any sea/ocean. Also does not apply in a 50 km radius from the north or south pole. Chances are highest if you are near a circus tent.
As long as I can keep spewing nonsense like this out into the world, please do not consider this as a being a burn-out. The real burn-out will come long after I’ve gone. It will engorge all of you in happy thoughts (aka flames). Just kidding, no flames – that would just make no sense in a burn-out.
Ok, time for sleep now.
A little while ago I was asked by a world renowned newspaper called “THE AUTHORITY ON ALL MATTERS TRUE” to write a little story of FICTION, which -really, needless to say, but I don’t know your level of intellect so here goes- was quite unusual for this newspaper. They said they needed me to attract a greater audience; people that were tired of reading the mere FACTS OF LIFE in their newspaper grew smaller and smaller; even in the online edition, which was already considered a ‘dumbed down version’. So -naturally- they turned to me for this extraordinary task.
At first, I was reluctant. After all, why would the readers of this newspaper (I repeat, it was called “THE AUTHORITY ON ALL MATTERS TRUE”) suddenly consider my writings as FACT; after I had written about the “natural sadness of baby monkeys” (really drug-induced) and the “average size of a burrito in Mexico being 22 centimeters” (actually 22.2 centimeters) – which were nothing but LIES.
I gained insight into the motifs of the newspaper as soon as I first met the newspaper’s editor in chief, Ms Rosenblatt. She told me that, despite the name of her newspaper, whatever I wrote for the newspaper would not necessarily need to be true. As point in case, she pointed me to a 1000x magnification of the moon’s surface – specifically the area of the moon landing. We discussed this image (nothing but a giant blur) for days, hours, minutes even, without sleep – and no matter what argument I threw at her (e.g. armchair) to try and persuade myself of her newspaper’s honesty and the reality of the moon-landing really happening, she always found just the right words to refute my (admittedly flawed) arguments. Yes, I am very lazy when involved in any arguments; most of my arguments include cute kittens. My contract with the newspaper in question forbids me to go into any further details about these motifs, but SURELY by now you have guessed it involves chipmunks, aerial photography, unicorns, kabbala, ping pong balls, blackmail and lots and lots of ice cream.
So… I reluctantly agreed.
In my contract with this newspaper I agreed not to put any references to any letters of the alphabet or any knowledge gathered by mankind in general in my articles. So, the only thing I am entitled to say in this context is that any article that you read in any newspaper that seems like a load of … might have been written by me, with the sole purpose of garnering a wider audience for this newspaper. Please, if you read any article that you think is … a little off… do consider it to be my writing unless you feel it is utterly ridiculous… in which case you can be AS CERTAIN AS A PILLOW.
(As in the 80′s saying: “I’d like a one-way certain pillow to New York please.”)
PS: the name of the newspaper has been changed, for not wanting to be killed by ninjas. (Out of fear of people recognizing which newspaper I am referring to I have replaced both the name of the newspaper as well as their associated death trap by the innocuous term ‘ninja’, though I do apologize to all ninjas out there that are not trying to kill me. I also wish to deny that the so-called death trap I refer to are ‘badger aliens’ so as to avoid litigation from the ‘OLD NEW GUILT NEWSPAPER OF ADMITTANCE’ (mostly sold in Catholic villages that have not been involved in evolution in the past 30 years… to them I say: “YES OUR LORD AND SAVIOR BABY JESUS WILL BRING US VICTORY AT THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST NEXT YEAR).)