Categories for General

Preparation

At the end of this year i will have a dinner party at my house. A cooling down party as a friend called it. Right now i’m going through my cookery books and asking for prices of geese. I already made a playlist on Spotify for it, which i enjoy playing right now. Looking forward to it!

Published on November 20, 2019 at 6:00 by

Destiny

Solitude is not chosen, any more than destiny is chosen. Solitude comes to us if we have within us the magic stone that attracts destiny.

In each one of you there is a hidden being, still in the deep sleep of childhood. Bring it to life! In each one of you there is a call, a will, an impulse of nature, an impulse toward the future, the new, the higher. Let it mature, let it resound, nurture it! Your future is not this or that; it is not money or power, it is not wisdom or success at your trade — your future, your hard dangerous path is this: to mature and to find God in yourselves.

Source: Brainpickings: Hermann Hesse on Solitude, the Value of Hardship, the Courage to Be Yourself, and How to Find Your Destiny

Published on November 13, 2019 at 6:00 by

Skin hair and teeth care

I went into town. First i brought away the bag full of plastics. On the big bin i read that from December on we could throw away our plastic stuff in the general bins. So i threw away the bag as well. After that i went into the Gimsel. I came across someone i knew from the garden just before i entered. Nice. In the shop i bought a bamboo toothbrush and toothpaste. I went on. At the HEMA i bought half a rookworst with mustard. Yum. This Saturday i walked past the Bijenkorf and noticed the brand the Ordinary. I have heard of this through some youtube channels i follow, mainly skincare and not expensive. I did a search for the best products for me. I picked up Niacimanide 10% + Zinc 1% (€6) and the Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil (€10). To start with. I walked on. I was a still a bit peckish. So i walked on to Kiem Foei and got me a small soto soup without the egg. Yum. I stared out on the street, watching the people walking through the rain. I looked at the Gouvernestraat. I realised i was close to the Marqt. I needed new shampoo and conditioner. so i walked up there. In the store i talked to two people who work there. Before the store moved two years ago i bought quite a few things there. They told me the store will be closing 3 January 2020. Hmmm. I walked on. The Van Oldenbarneveltstraat. The Karel Doormanstraat. The Aert van Nesstraat. The Meent. In the Jumbo on the Botersloot. Bought ecological sunflower oil and heavy cream. Walked on towards home.

Yeah!

Published on November 12, 2019 at 6:00 by

My old computers, printers, television and Wii

The whole table was covered with old things i got from all the corners of my house, including the cellar and the attic. I got a telephone number from a friend. All these things will be repaired or ripped apart or send to the Ukraine or Russia or somewhere in Africa. Or might even stay in the Netherlands, like the Wii.
The Wii. I used this for around a month. Not a good buy.
My old iMac and Apple monitor. A Microsoft keyboard.
An Apple Extended Keyboard II. One of the best ever. I thought about keeping this, but no.
My old G4 Quicksilver computer. Beauty.
Lovely
My television gone too. Not used for two years.
A box full of cables, most still packaged.
My old Apple monitor. Wonderful.
Bye bye!
My old Sony Triniton 17" monitor.
Published on November 8, 2019 at 6:00 by

Silently happy

Having a couple of days of being happy. Simply happy. I don’t feel like adding much to this. I’ll be back working here for sure. Just for now, nothing much to say or show.

Published on November 6, 2019 at 6:00 by

Close

Nothing much happened today. I did some shopping. Bought some veggies. Chocolate. Read some more. Played some warcraft. I felt quiet. Peaceful. Yeah 🙂

Published on November 5, 2019 at 6:00 by

Increase

22. Pi / Grace

above KêN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN
below LI THE CLINGING, FIRE

This hexagram shows a fire that breaks out of the secret depths of the earth and, blazing up, illuminates and beautifies the mountain, the heavenly heights. Grace-beauty of form-is necessary in any union if it is to be well ordered and pleasing rather than disordered and chaotic.

THE JUDGMENT

GRACE has success.
In small matters
It is favorable to undertake something.

Grace brings success. However, it is not the essential or fundamental thing; it is only the ornament and therefore be used sparingly and only in little things. In the lower trigram of fire a yielding line comes between two strong lines and makes them beautiful, but the strong lines are the essential content and the weak line is the beautifying form. In the upper trigram of the mountain, the strong line takes the lead, so that here again the strong element must be regarded as the decisive factor. In nature we see in the sky the strong light of the sun; the life of the world depends on it. But this strong, essential thing is changed and given pleasing variety by the moon and the stars. In human affairs, aesthetic form comes into being when traditions exist that, strong and abiding like mountains, are made pleasing by a lucid beauty. By contemplating the forms existing in the heavens we come to understand time and its changing demands. Through contemplation of the forms existing in human society it becomes possible to shape the world.

THE IMAGE

Fire at the foot of the mountain:
The image of GRACE.
Thus does the superior man proceed
When clearing up current affairs.
But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.

The fire, whose light illuminates the mountain and makes it pleasing, does not shine far; in the same way, beautiful form suffices to brighten and to throw light upon matters of lesser moment, but important questions cannot be decided in this way. They require greater earnestness.

Nine in the third place means:
Graceful and moist.
Constant perseverance brings good fortune.

This represents a very charming life situation. One is under the spell of grace and the mellow mood induced by wine. This grace can adorn, but it can also swamp us. Hence the warning not to sink into convivial indolence but to remain constant in perseverance. Good fortune depends on this.

Six in the fifth place means:
Grace in the hills and gardens.
The roll of silk is meager and small.
Humiliation, but in the end good fortune.

A man withdraws from contact with people of the lowlands, who seek nothing but magnificence and luxury, in to the solitude of the heights. There he finds an individual to look up to, whom he would like to have as a friend. But the gifts he has to offer are poor and few, so that he feels ashamed. However, it is not the material gifts that count, but sincerity of feeling, and so all goes well in the end.

42. I / Increase

above SUN THE GENTLE, WIND
below CHêN THE AROUSING, THUNDER

The idea of increase is expressed in the fact that the strong lowest line of the upper trigram has sunk down and taken its place under the lower trigram. This conception also expresses the fundamental idea on which the Book of Changes is based. To rule truly is to serve.
A sacrifice of the higher element that produces an increase of the lower is called an out-and-out increase: it indicates the spirit that alone has power to help the world.

THE JUDGMENT

INCREASE. It furthers one
To undertake something.
It furthers one to cross the great water.

Sacrifice on the part of those above for the increase of those below fills the people with a sense of joy and gratitude that is extremely valuable for the flowering of the commonwealth. When people are thus devoted to their leaders, undertakings are possible, and even difficult and dangerous enterprises will succeed. Therefore in such times of progress and successful development it is necessary to work and make the best use of time. This time resembles that of the marriage of heaven and earth, when the earth partakes of the creative power of heaven, forming and bringing forth living beings. The time of INCREASE does not endure, therefore it must be utilized while it lasts.

THE IMAGE

Wind and thunder: the image of INCREASE.
Thus the superior man:
If he sees good, he imitates it;
If he has faults, he rids himself of them.

While observing how thunder and wind increase and strengthen each other, a man can not the way to self-increase and self-improvement. When he discovers good in others, he should imitate it and thus make everything on earth his own. If he perceives something bad in himself, let him rid himself of it. In this way he becomes free of evil. This ethical change represents the most important increase of personality.

Published on October 24, 2019 at 6:00 by