A short fable written by Remco Campert. It’s from the book Fabeltjes vertellen, which i have for many many years. It is in Dutch, and my translation skills are not up to translating this. It is a very language specific story, about an ezel who think he is a wezel and an eekhoorn who think he is an eenhoorn. Sorry guys and girls 🙂
These questions i asked on lfs.nl. I did get 716 important answers. On lfs.nl i do say these questions were inspired by Smash Hits, a UK popmusic magazine. These questions were not a part of presents or the things i made before that, they always were a separate section of my website. It started in 1998 and ended 3 August 2006.
Important questions
My name is
I’m doing
In my pocket i’ve got
and
I like
and i don’t like
Sometimes I think about
I am
Male Female Not sure
Old Young Not sure
Sad Happy Not sure
It has always surprised how different people respond to these questions. They are fairly innocent. Stuff you have in your pockets. Things you like. Things you don’t like. Things that you think about. And then of course: are you male? female? not sure? old? young? not sure? happy sad? sad? not sure?
These last questions to me were always important. Many people didn’t know how old they were. Didn’t know if they were happy or sad. Some didn’t know if they are male or female. It’s not a big message, it is a little one. Still important.
For the Dutch, peppers doesn’t mean peper. A pepper is a paprika. So, today i’m gonna preserve peppers. Last Saturday i bought four red and four yellow peppers at the market. I also bought a 1 liter pot at the Xenos. It is delicious, no doubt it won’t be a week til they are finished… well maybe two weeks. They are good on their own, with a bit of toasted bread, with mozzarella, with sausages, with tomatoes and pasta. Simply lovely.
I have made these before. Well, not in a pot, but for dinners multiple times. I thought about making them for this website when i saw the Dutch cooking show Koken met van boven (Cooking with from above) last friday. The show is online, but i’m not sure for how long.
Ingredients
Preparation
I mentioned buying her album A Distant Shore in 1983 in the Memories post in June this year. I loved it when i bought it, and i still love it now.
I also do enjoy her writing. I haven’t read her books yet, but i’m sure i will some day. I do read her column in the New Statesman.
This song Plain Sailing is about how your life will never be that, plain sailing. It simply doesn’t exist. I don’t think you should want it anyway. It is an illusion. Even if you are happy, with friends, with someone to love, with work in your life, there are always rocks and dry periods and sandbanks to try to get you off course. You simply have to deal with that.
My wise words for today 🙂
Enjoy!
Plain Sailing – Tracey Thorn
Meetings arranged, they say, never work out
I say we’ve proved them wrong without a doubt
I can’t remember now just what we said
I never could have guessed what lay ahead
As I ran towards you up the stairs
Did a voice in my ear cry, ‘Beware’?
Even now I’m surprised you recall
Such a short time it took me to fall
Pretending that my heart still lay elsewhere
When in truth I had long ceased to care
For what I thought I’d never replace
Til in my heart you left him no space
You say, you wonder what was it I saw?
I say ‘Oh, I don’t recall anymore’
My first impressions have been left behind
Replaced now by feelings and more lost in kind
Sure that you know but you never can tell
When I think I understand you so well
Shakes me that you were a constant surprise
Or so you appear in my eyes
Tempting to think now it will all be plain sailing
Old enough now to know there’s no such thing
The original
It feels to me like i’ve come to a conclusion. I know i’ve been there before. It’s not a big surprise to me, it’s something i’ve known all along. But i do feel i might just be able to really go through with it. Being an artist.
With everything in me that was always keeping me back, my shyness, my aloneness, my searching, my findings. I do still feel the wind blowing for me, not against me.
I don’t know what is gonna happen in the future. But i do feel like i’ve sown many seeds and some of them will bloom, absolutely. It’s not a vague feeling.
But right now, i’m tired. I do have a slight headache. The whole day. So i’m gonna go try to get a bit more sleep. Last night i slept ok, up until like four in the morning. It was a bit better than the night before. But still, awake for quite some time. I’m still tired.
Have a good day!
Last night i only slept a bit towards the end. Today i spend some time in bed, reading. Now i’m just really sleepy and tired.
So that’s it for today. I’m going to bed, go through my blogs, through my youtube subscriptions, play a little solitaire, read in the Peter Hamilton book. And hopefully fall asleep and don’t let the dreams get to me like they did yesterday. I mean, it’s sort of nice, but it’s also taking a lot of energy from me.
Goodnight sweeties 🙂
Seeya tomorrow!
12:48
Awake. Made breakfast, two rye spelt slices of bread with butter, bacon and parmesan omelet. Listening to music. Singing along with the songs i know, Motor from Jewelz, Sparks. I like this song, i really do.
15:34
Another song! I only added this one a couple of months ago. I discovered i truly love this song. Here goes!
D’Angelo – Untitled (How does it feel)
18:09
Making a salad for dinner. A red bellpepper, spring onions, a bit of rocket, some cottage cheese, a boiled egg, green asparagus. A slice of bread on the side. I’m hungry!
18:48
No slide of bread on the side, but i will have one with a cup of tea in half an hour or so. With apple butter on it. I had look up the translation for the Dutch word appelstroop. Apple butter doesn’t feel right, but i’m also not sure it’s actually known in the UK. I did do a search for ‘apple butter’, and the photos with the recipes don’t look like our apple butter at all. Ours is simple. Cook the apples, get the juice and cook that together with sugar. You can buy it in all supermarkets! Ooh, and you also have pear butter. Nice too. 🙂
Today i painted my nails.
The main a cappella song i know, Jane’s It’s a fine day. It was on a disc sampler i used to have, The eyes of Barbara Steele. I might have lended this album out. I don’t remember to be honest. I did go though my whole vinyl collection but i couldn’t find it.
I do enjoy this song. I did find more people have covered it, but this version i do really love. Because it is a cappella. It was heard to find good lyrics for this song, there wasn’t one with the right verses and la la la’s and hm hm hmm’s in it. I did sing it from my memory, after having sung it with her a couple of times. I don’t think it is exactly the same, but i do really enjoy singing it.
It’s not too bad. In my humble opinion. 🙂 Enjoy!
It’s a fine day
Jane
It’s a fine day
People open windows
They leave their houses
Just want a short walk
They look at the grass
They look at the sky
It’s going to be a fine night tonite
It’s going to be a fine day tomorrow
La la la la la dee da la la
La la la la la da la la la
La la la la la dee da la la
La la la la la da la la la
La la la la la dee da la la
La la la la la da la la la
La la la la la dee da la la
La la la la la da la la la
Sitting in this field
I remember how we are going to sit in this field
But never quite did
Rain or appointment or something
Rain or appointment
Hm hm hm hm hm hmmm
It’s a fine day
People open windows
They leave their houses
Just for a short walk
They look at the grass
They look at the sky
It’s going to be a fine night tonite
It’s going to be a fine day tomorrow
We will have salad
The original
These drawings i made in art school in the first and second year. Most in the first i guess, but it is a long time ago, so the memory is a bit faded. I got these drawings from the attic today and went through them. There are loads more, but these are the ones which i liked best.
It starts with a series of drawings i made with pastel crayons. I do remember working on these, sitting at home in the front room and being completely focused on making these drawings. It wasn’t like i knew what i was making, it was just the excitement i felt at the time and the pressure i felt of making these drawings. I can still see it in the drawings themselves.
The one photo with three drawings on them next, most likely made with gouache paint. A dark with a little blue in the top one. These were made with gestures and making a solid mass with paper on top of the paper so you would get those cut-out shapes.
The next series is one made with gouache paint as well. I made these at school. I folded the paper and painted different colours on the different sides of the folded paper. I don’t remember how i made the ones with a rounded interior shape. These were made with colours all painted all over each other. I remember the class i got this assignment in. I went in a completely different way than the other students. I remember the paint dripping of the table, as i was working with all these layers.
A drawings of a mountain and a lake with a swan in it. There is also a moon or a sun in the sky. I always thought of this swan as being me. I know, fairy tales!
A drawing of a large quadrilateral shape filled with pencil. Still love making these shapes. I made several of these on lfs in flash. I played around with different random generated fillings and fillings made by the people watching. Still enjoying this. I should check how to make this in html and/or canvas.
The last drawings i used much earlier in homebase. They are the the Girl with a Pearl Earring from Johannes Vermeer. I should make a separate post on Vermeer, i still love his work. The middle drawing is a selfportrait. The last one is a drawing of Whitney Houston.
