Storm
Thursday 17 November 2016
Pancakes for breakfast. With baked apples, bacon and maple syrup. Hmmm.
Installed a Pinterest plugin and started adding photos i lik to an ellenpronk.com board.
Forever is composed of nows.
– Emily Dickinson
Working now, while singing along with my MIX tapes.
Sometimes i run, sometimes i hide
– Britney Spears
Work done!
After i finished my work, i went into town. I needed to go the bank. After that i went to the Bijenkorf. I did look at the Chanel nail polishes, but decided that now wasn’t the time. I walked back home, thinking of maybe drinking a coffee. I came across John. He had bought himself new shoes. Great ones, high, water tight. Then i walked further to the Gimsel. I finally had figured out what i wanted to buy. A steel canteen bottle. Made only from steel, silicone and bamboo. After the Gimsel i went to the wine shop and bought me a bottle of Syrah. Yum!
That is enough for today. Did a bit of minor dancing, before i got ready to go into bed. I actually just got out to type this bit. Yes, i forgot. Tomorrow its garden time. A bit fo free time too.
Have a good weekend. Enjoy!
Pinterest boards
Work work work
Yep, i’m working. It is taking up most of my time. I did go to the market today, during lunchtime. Talked to an old lady for a bit. Bought some vegetables, some ramen and tofu.
Tomorrow i am going to my mum.
So thinking about making a post over the past few days is taking a downturn. I am making a bit of money now though, that is a good thing. Good until the end of the year at least.
For today, i’m keeping it with this simple post.
Enjoy your day!
What you shall do
This is what you shall do:
Love the earth
and sun
and the animals,
despise riches,
give alms to every one that asks,
stand up for the stupid
and crazy,
devote your income
and labor to others,
hate tyrants,
argue not concerning God,
have patience
and indulgence toward the people,
take off your hat to nothing known
or unknown
or to any man
or number of men,
go freely with powerful uneducated persons
and with the young
and with the mothers of families,
read these leaves in the open air
every season
of every year
of your life,
re-examine all you have been told at school
or church
or in any book,
dismiss whatever insults your own soul,
and your very flesh shall be a great poem
and have the richest fluency
not only in its words
but in the silent lines of its lips
and face
and between the lashes of your eyes
and in every motion
and joint of your body.
Love the earth
and sun
and the animals,
despise riches,
give alms to every one that asks,
stand up for the stupid
and crazy,
devote your income
and labor to others,
hate tyrants,
argue not concerning God,
have patience
and indulgence toward the people,
take off your hat to nothing known
or unknown
or to any man
or number of men,
go freely with powerful uneducated persons
and with the young
and with the mothers of families,
read these leaves in the open air
every season
of every year
of your life,
re-examine all you have been told at school
or church
or in any book,
dismiss whatever insults your own soul,
and your very flesh shall be a great poem
and have the richest fluency
not only in its words
but in the silent lines of its lips
and face
and between the lashes of your eyes
and in every motion
and joint of your body.
Source: Walt Whitman’s Advice on Living a Vibrant and Rewarding Life
Published on November 15, 2016 at 6:00 by Ellen
Categorised in: Books, films and TV
A grey Sunday
Today, Sunday, it was a clouded day. Not wet no. But cold and grey. Only a few people turned up at the garden. It was still good. Further on we went with the wood chips. I filled a path between the rows. Soto filled the bit at the compost heap and the newly dug path at the side, between the hop and the newly planted raspberry plants. It was warming. I did keep on my fleece sweater, but it did get warm while working. I do feel my body right now, yes. Nothing that hurts much, it’s a good feeling.
Last week many thoughts crossed my mind. I finally went through the party program of the Party for the Animals, Partij voor de Dieren. I still need to read it more carefully. But i do think this party is closest to my own thoughts about our planet, about us humans, about all the animals and plants living here. Our current economic system is too much focused on making a profit. We humans, we are clever, we are knowledgeable. We have our science, our desire to learn everything about all the details of life, of the inorganic world around us, of the universe and the stars surrounding us. But i do think we need to learn how to control ourselves. How to take care of ourselves and everything around us on this still beautiful planet.
So yes, teaching our children about nature, having them learn by working in a small garden themselves, is one thing that crossed my mind. There are already schools doing this, there are already people working on getting this done and working. I’m also thinking about schooling older children and young adults get. I’m not sure, but i do think it is too much focused on making children learn skills they could use in our current working environment, not make them learn their own specific skills and broadening them with the help of their teachers and other students. Make work less taxable and make profit of companies more taxable. Return our working culture back to a more regional area, make all farmers work ecological, make communal vegetable gardens all over the country. Those are simply first thoughts in my head. Nothing is fixed yet, and so many things are already being worked on by so many people.
This is all so much a bunch of loose ideas, tumbling over each other. It’s good, thinking these thoughts. They will settle down a bit more over time. I’m happy i am thinking them.
More later. Salute!
Published on November 14, 2016 at 6:00 by Ellen
Retreat
The power of the dark is ascending. The light retreats to security, so that the dark cannot encroach upon it. This retreat is a matter not of man’s will but of natural law. Therefore in this case withdrawal is proper; it is the correct way to behave in order not to exhaust one’s forces.
In the calendar this hexagram is linked with the sixth month (July-August), in which the forces of winter are already showing their influence.
THE JUDGMENT
RETREAT. Success.
In what is small, perseverance furthers.
Conditions are such that the hostile forces favored by the time are advancing. In this case retreat is the right course, and it is not to be confused with flight. Flight means saving oneself under any circumstances, whereas retreat is a sign of strength. We must be careful not to miss the right moment while we are in full possession of power and position. Then we shall be able to interpret the signs of the time before it is too late and to prepare for provisional retreat instead of being drawn into a desperate life-and-death struggle. Thus we do not simple abandon the field to the opponent; we make it difficult for him to advance by showing perseverance in single acts of resistance. In this way we prepare, while retreating, for the counter-movement. Understanding the laws of a constructive retreat of this sort is not easy. The meaning that lies hidden in such a time is important.
THE IMAGE
Mountain under heaven: the image of RETREAT.
Thus the superior man keeps the inferior man at a distance,
Not angrily but with reserve.
The mountain rises up under heaven, but owing to its nature it finally comes to a stop. Heaven on the other hand retreats upward before it into the distance and remains out of reach. This symbolizes the behavior of the superior man toward a climbing inferior; he retreats into his own thoughts as the inferior man comes forward. He does not hate him, for hatred is a form of subjective involvement by which we are bound to the hated object. The superior man shows strength (heaven) in that he brings the inferior man to a standstill (mountain) by his dignified reserve.
THE LINES
°Six at the beginning means:
At the tail in retreat. This is dangerous.
One must not wish to undertake anything.
Since the hexagram is the picture of something that is retreating, the lowest line represents the tail and the top line the head. In a retreat it is advantageous to be at the front. Here one is at the back, in immediate contact with the pursuing enemy. This is dangerous, and under such circumstances it is not advisable to undertake anything. Keeping still is the easiest way of escaping from the threatening danger.
Six in the second place means:
he holds him fast with yellow oxhide.
No one can tear him loose.
Yellow is the color of the middle. It indicates that which is correct and in line with duty. Oxhide is strong and not to be torn.
While the superior men retreat and the inferior press after them, the inferior man represented here holds on so firmly and tightly to the superior man that the latter cannot shake him off. And because he is in quest of what is right an so strong in purpose, he reaches his goal. Thus the line confirms what is said in the Judgment: “In what is small” —here equivalent to “in the inferior man” — “perseverance furthers.”
Nine in the third place means:
A halted retreat
Is nerve-wracking and dangerous.
To retain people as men- and maidservants
Brings good fortune.
When it is time to retreat it is both unpleasant and dangerous to be held back, because then one no longer has freedom of action. In such a case the only expedient is to take into one’s service, so to speak, those who refuse to let one go, so that one may at least keep one’s initiative and not fall helplessly under their domination. But even with this expedient the situation is far from satisfactory—for what can one hope to accomplish with such servants?
Nine in the fourth place means:
Voluntary retreat brings good fortune to the superior man
And downfall to the inferior man.
In retreating the superior man is intent on taking his departure willingly and in all friendliness. He easily adjusts his mind to retreat, because in retreating he does not have to do violence to his convictions. The only one who suffers is the inferior man from whom he retreats, who will degenerate when deprived of the guidance of the superior man.
Nine in the fifth place means:
Friendly retreat. Perseverance brings good fortune.
It is the business of the superior man to recognize in time that the moment for retreat has come. If the right moment is chosen, the retreat can be carried out within the forms of perfect friendliness, without the necessity of disagreeable discussions. Yet, for all the observance of amenities, absolute firmness of decision is necessary if one is not to be led astray by irrelevant considerations.
Nine at the top means:
Cheerful retreat. Everything serves to further.
The situation is unequivocal. Inner detachment has become an established fact, and we are at liberty to depart. When one sees the way ahead thus clearly, free of all doubt, a cheerful mood sets in, and one chooses what is right without further thought. Such a clear path ahead always leads to the good.
Rosemary
The garden with shrubs all around it. In this part there are some eternal leeks growing. I also planted some bulbs in here. They should be blooming from February to July next year. We also weeded this bit out a few weeks ago. We did all the bits, the bit where the chickens will come, the bit where the apple trees grow in the other garden 100 meters further.
A corner. Strawberries are planted here, some other vegetables, kale for instance, grow here too. Some straw to throw on the ground when it is extremely wet. Like today!
On the left row we used the plants of the parsnip harvest as mulch. We also collected sacks of dead leaves from around the garden and dug it in the ground. Leaves are not nutrituous, but they do better the structure of the ground. We still do need that in our clay garden with only top soil of compost.
The small side with plum trees, shrubs and topinamboer growing at the end of it.
Freely seeded plants, celery, chervil, spinach. I'm sorry to say i don't know which is which. It looks lovely!
Beans at the top, some mulch, leeks.
Last Sunday we swiped all the dead leaves together and threw them on the garden down below. A general mulch and like i said earlier, improvement of the ground structure.
Lettuce, endive, green chicory.
In front of the markthal there are these beds of several plants. Last Saturday i was walking past them, and to my surprise i saw these rosemary plants growing there. Not just this bit on the photo, but several bits all planted over several meters of beds.
Last Tuesday i picked some rosemary. I had them with me when i went to the Meiden on the market. The girl helping me asked about the stems i had in my hand. She was really surprised when i said i picked them myself from besides the Markthal. Very few people notice these things. Like the plants growing next to the church: the onions, fennel, chard and other plants growing in these round beds.
Art from friends
I don’t have many art works from other people in my house. I have three works in total, all from old friends.
Un angle dȇcadré permet de transmettre une impression de danger, Jeroen Bosch, 2006. I bought this work from Jeroen in 2006. I love package material. I met Jeroen through an e-mail he send me around 1998, about my work online. I replied. He also lives in Rotterdam, so we eventually had a meeting. There were more people in Rotterdam working online, some programmers, some artists. It was fun. We didn't keep together though. This made me sad at times, but it was also a natural movement. Some got children, some moved away. The way things go.
Saskia Veugelers made this photograph of me around 1992/1993. She made a series of artists working in Rotterdam at the time. Between ten and five years ago she contacted me and asked me if i wanted the large print back. She was cleaning up her house. I said yes, of course. A good photo to hang above my couch. I like Kylie's calendar, the I Ching book under the table, my black and white television, a work from Cezanne. In my old house, now torn down. A memory.
An old work from Ben Oostrum i got as a present for my birthday in 1993. On the back is the name of the work this is based on: Andrea di Bonatuti da Firenze, Crucifixion. I always kept this work hanging in my room, even though i didn't see Ben for around fifteen years. I do come across him at times the past years, we chat a little. A friend of the past.
Fire
It is a quiet day today. And cold. Which wasn’t the main reason i turned on my gas stove today. My mum called me up. She knew i hadn’t turned the heating on yet. She thought my gas stove was broke. It isn’t. The pulling system with which i could turn on the starting fire is broke. But i can still use it unscrewing the front, removing the glass and turn it on with a match. I cleaned the glass before i put it back in. It is better, it does feel warmer in my house now.
Tomorrow i need to work. Hopefully it will all be done in a day. I will also need to go to the market.
I have written about many things on this website. Very personal things. It usually feels like a relief writing here. Like i’m writing things out of my system. I know i’m in a tight spot right now. I am not sure why i don’t worry about it more. I don’t. I can feel the edge coming, my bank account going down, my mortgage not being paid. And i simply don’t worry. I still feel i need to show you, my dear reader, something. Something important.
I do have a few upcoming posts i need to work on. Eroticism. Life is wonderful. A clip with the couple of art pieces i got from friends. It should all be done in time.
I hope you will have a good Tuesday. Or any other day for that matter, i don’t know on which day you will read this.
Good wishes.
*hug*