The Observer, 8th October 2006 has an interesting article about the Extreme Right here in Belgium. Filip Dewinter, the leader of the openly xenophobic extreme right neo nazi party that is calling for stict measures against immigrants and has strong opinions on security.
Dewinter was speaking from his office in Antwerpen and happily recognised his party's links to other European hard-right groups - calling France's Jean-Marie Le Pen 'the grandfather of the European Nationalist right', praising Danish far-right leaders and talking of tactical lessons that could be learnt from the recent success of Switzerland's SVP.
He also admitted that Vlaams Belang is a renamed version of Vlaams Blok, a party dissolved after being condemned for inciting racial hatred by a Belgian court two years ago. 'The style and the propaganda have changed, but we are the same party underneath,' he said.
Dewinter has another belief, one that will continue to make a mess of this tiny country of 10 million people. He says that 'independence for Flanders is logical, not necessarily for economic reasons. 'They (as in Walloons) are of Latin genes, we are from Nordic racial stock,' he said.
This man got 62,000 votes yesterday ... his party took 95,000 votes in Antwerpen.
Welcome to Europe in the 21st century.
Monday, October 09, 2006
One of the oddest things about spending time with a district party group of Liberal Democrats last night as the election results were revealed, was the realisation that back in 2002 I was studying EU politics at Otago University in New Zealand ... we were researching the rise of the neo-nazi political parties here in Europe.
Yesterday I watched the election results unfold and saw the bizarre power of extreme right neo-nazi rhetoric, as villages with few foreigners and low crime rates voted for the neo-nazis in surges that took that particular party from 0% up to 15% in some places.
Here in the cities there was something different ... although Dewinter's neo-nazis still received 95,000 Antwerpen votes, his personal votes were finally down ... for the first time in about 15 years.
Belgians lose patience when trying to explain to me that neo-nazis are the only ones who haven't held power ... and by virtue of this, have never messed up the country but my argument has to be 'But a protest vote or a vote to change going to the neo-nazis???. What do you imagine they're going to improve about Belgium's economic or international standing?'
And so it seems Belgium is doomed to live out the reality of that old Chinese curse ... 'May you live in interesting times'.
Let's hope that the new coalition of all those parties who only hold the majority by virtue of joining together, are not so weakened by the merging of their political beliefs in the forming of that one voice to block the neo-nazis ... let's hope that they can actually move Belgium forward in positive ways.
Yesterday I watched the election results unfold and saw the bizarre power of extreme right neo-nazi rhetoric, as villages with few foreigners and low crime rates voted for the neo-nazis in surges that took that particular party from 0% up to 15% in some places.
Here in the cities there was something different ... although Dewinter's neo-nazis still received 95,000 Antwerpen votes, his personal votes were finally down ... for the first time in about 15 years.
Belgians lose patience when trying to explain to me that neo-nazis are the only ones who haven't held power ... and by virtue of this, have never messed up the country but my argument has to be 'But a protest vote or a vote to change going to the neo-nazis???. What do you imagine they're going to improve about Belgium's economic or international standing?'
And so it seems Belgium is doomed to live out the reality of that old Chinese curse ... 'May you live in interesting times'.
Let's hope that the new coalition of all those parties who only hold the majority by virtue of joining together, are not so weakened by the merging of their political beliefs in the forming of that one voice to block the neo-nazis ... let's hope that they can actually move Belgium forward in positive ways.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
A day spent with the horses and their people
I am slightly destroyed as I write this ... We were meant to get up about 7.30am and we woke at 9.15am.
This was a disaster of epic proportions but without loss of life, limb or home.
Epic as in phone calls apologising in advance for unavoidable lateness. So frustrating because I wake to the alarm clock at 6.30am every day of the week with no place that I have to be.
Today was about horses and standing in the cold. I was trying to work out how to capture horses in action and learning that my fingers will go numb if I'm out in the cold for 3 hours.
But it was about Belgians too ... the horsey ones who invite me into their world and who forgive me for following their every move with my camera.
Now I need to sort through the images, work out which ones succeeded, then downsize and load them onto a site where they can be viewed by the subjects
It was a good day out though ...
Di's Friday ...
I went wandering Friday and the early morning kettle incident was a harbinger of 'interesting' - I should have known.
Alison smsed to let me know that her train had left Brussels Central, I left home only to discover that there were no Number 11 trams for a while and so I had to go in on a tram that dropped me off the other side of the city centre.
Not only that but somewhere enroute I realised my cellphone was back on my desk and that there was no way I could tell Alison that I might be late ...
I walked briskly through the back streets of the city, meeting her as she walked down the station steps because she had a similar story in terms of frustration. Her inter-regional train had had only 3 carriages, incredibly short by normal standards and then one of those 3 was a first-class carriage and out of bounds to the common man. She had stood until Mechelen, with many unexpected stops along the way.
Coffee had become necessary to both of us by the time we met up and we popped into Exki to recover.
Next stop was Antwerpen's Photo Museum where Carl De Keyzer , Belgium's Magnum photographer had an exhibition.
His was the best of the 3 exhibitions. As usual, Alison and I were 'amazed' by the 'elevated' and 'artistic' descriptions that gift-wrapped some images ... stunned because it seems like these images exist because of the words that accompany them, not because of their photographic value ... I guess they are 'art' and I'm 'ignorant'.
They introduced the 'tunnels' exhibition with these words: 'The tunnel is, par excellence, the space for engaging in underground activities and programmes and for all action that searches out the hidden and the unseen reaches. In the collective imagination, the tunnel represents the passage towards 'another dimension', a plunge into the Unknown, with all connotations ranging from underworld to virtual reality, and the first and final experience along the path of one's earthly existence.'
The images really didn't match the build-up and some would have been rejects in my folder of work. The thing that intrigues me is how much the word-wrapping contributes to the exhibition itself ... extending images beyond their reality.
The day ended with the Canucks at El Pintxo, Antwerpen's most stunning Tapas Bar. It's located at Riemstraat 49, phone 03 237 06 00 because you really need to reserve a table if going there.
It's a tiny place that serves food made in an authentically Spanish way ... it's well worth a visit if you're looking for something a little bit special.
I ended the evening chatting with one of my bloggy friends on a new system called Sightspeed ... was impressed by the service, it seemed better than skype and he was just as lovely as he'd seemed on his blog.
Tot ziens.
Alison smsed to let me know that her train had left Brussels Central, I left home only to discover that there were no Number 11 trams for a while and so I had to go in on a tram that dropped me off the other side of the city centre.
Not only that but somewhere enroute I realised my cellphone was back on my desk and that there was no way I could tell Alison that I might be late ...
I walked briskly through the back streets of the city, meeting her as she walked down the station steps because she had a similar story in terms of frustration. Her inter-regional train had had only 3 carriages, incredibly short by normal standards and then one of those 3 was a first-class carriage and out of bounds to the common man. She had stood until Mechelen, with many unexpected stops along the way.
Coffee had become necessary to both of us by the time we met up and we popped into Exki to recover.
Next stop was Antwerpen's Photo Museum where Carl De Keyzer , Belgium's Magnum photographer had an exhibition.
His was the best of the 3 exhibitions. As usual, Alison and I were 'amazed' by the 'elevated' and 'artistic' descriptions that gift-wrapped some images ... stunned because it seems like these images exist because of the words that accompany them, not because of their photographic value ... I guess they are 'art' and I'm 'ignorant'.
They introduced the 'tunnels' exhibition with these words: 'The tunnel is, par excellence, the space for engaging in underground activities and programmes and for all action that searches out the hidden and the unseen reaches. In the collective imagination, the tunnel represents the passage towards 'another dimension', a plunge into the Unknown, with all connotations ranging from underworld to virtual reality, and the first and final experience along the path of one's earthly existence.'
The images really didn't match the build-up and some would have been rejects in my folder of work. The thing that intrigues me is how much the word-wrapping contributes to the exhibition itself ... extending images beyond their reality.
The day ended with the Canucks at El Pintxo, Antwerpen's most stunning Tapas Bar. It's located at Riemstraat 49, phone 03 237 06 00 because you really need to reserve a table if going there.
It's a tiny place that serves food made in an authentically Spanish way ... it's well worth a visit if you're looking for something a little bit special.
I ended the evening chatting with one of my bloggy friends on a new system called Sightspeed ... was impressed by the service, it seemed better than skype and he was just as lovely as he'd seemed on his blog.
Tot ziens.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Kiwi speak
You know there's a possibility that it's going to be 'one of those days' when you fail to notice that sure, you turned the gas element on, it's just that you forgot to put the kettle onto it after the flame was lit ... sigh.And it occured to me that my New Zealand/Australian readership is small and that if anyone else had heard me call myself 'a plonker' this morning, they might have had no idea of what I was talking about ...
'Plonker' has pretty much the same meaning as 'idiot'.And as I write that, I hear Canadian and American friends laughing, and it reminds me that they have picked up some of my charming phrases ... with Alison reporting that she had called someone 'a girl's blouse' when she went home to Canada last time.
'Girl's blouse' well ... that's one way of saying you think that someone's a bit of chicken or a coward.
But of course, you say.
Back in New Zealand, I'm almost sure that I rarely used these little Kiwi delights but Shannon's first question on meeting me was 'Do you guys really say by crikey'?
I didn't know and asked Gert when I got home.
Of course I do ... apparently ... and then I began hearing myself and noticed that when Gert was in unserious trouble, I did have a tendency to say things like 'By crikey you're in a lot of trouble' ... always accompanied by laughter, I hasten to add.
It's odd but leaving my country and being around people who mock me for my pronunciation of words like 'Ben' (apparently I pronounce it Bin), 'guest' ... yes well I murder that word, and 'actually' which apparently sounds more like 'exually' ... to name a few, has left me seeking my kiwi linguistic identity in ways that I avoided back home. I have become friends with my vowel sounds ... I'm beginning to embrace my linguistic identity.
I guess I knew there were problems when the Romanian and the Pole in my Nederlands class where almost on the floor laughing over the way I pronounce 'Brad Pitt'.When I teach, I tidy my English ... but then I relax and the mocking begins.
Gert phoned in as I was writing this post and I asked him what else I say to him. He reminded me that the best so far, in terms of shocked disbelief, was the time I mocked him with ... 'Tsk tsk tsk, send a boy to do a man's job'. And even as it slipped out of my mouth, I could see the old farmer leaning on a fence post mocking his son.
To understand the New Zealand connection to the pictures I used, you can wander over to this site .
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Matthew wrote that he'd taken this other photograph at sunset on the West Coast near Punakaiki.
I love that West Coast Road ... I'm not sure of the distance but it goes on forever ... maybe 600kms of often winding, mountainous, twisting-turning, two-lane roads (often one-lane bridges, other times shared roads with train tracks) ... anyway, there was nothing better than heading out of Wanaka, driving up into the mountains and rolling down through the Gates to the Haast and onto the coast road.
From there things became increasingly stunning as I travelled the small long road from one end of the South Island to the other ... Haast, Fox and Franz Joseph Glacier townships, Hokitika, on up past Greymouth to Punakaiki and on into Abel Tasman National Park.
New Zealand might be small but it's stunning.
These images take me home for a while ...
Thank you Matthew!
Matthew Walker, Photographer and Blogger
Matthew is a blogger back home in New Zealand and he mailed me a couple of his stunning photographs today ... images that I have permission to post ... photographs that I have to post just so you can understand what it is that I get so homesick for.
He took this sunrise photograph at Nape Nape in North Canterbury.
Dank u wel Matthew .
Habitation by Margaret Atwood
Marriage is not
a house or even a tent
it is before that, and colder:
the edge of the forest, the edge
of the desert
the unpainted stairs
at the back where we squat
outside, eating popcorn
the edge of the receding glacier
where painfully and with wonder
at having survived even
this far
we are learning to make fire
Thanks Matthew .
a house or even a tent
it is before that, and colder:
the edge of the forest, the edge
of the desert
the unpainted stairs
at the back where we squat
outside, eating popcorn
the edge of the receding glacier
where painfully and with wonder
at having survived even
this far
we are learning to make fire
Thanks Matthew .
R. W. Apple Jr, Journalist
“Newspaper people love impossible dreams,” he once told Lear’s magazine. “I suppose we’re reckless sentimentalists. If we didn’t love impossible dreams, we would not still be working in an industry whose basic technology was developed in the 16th and 17th centuries.”
R. W. Apple Jr., who in more than 40 years as a correspondent and editor at The New York Times wrote about war and revolution, politics and government, food and drink, and the revenge of living well from more than 100 countries, died early this morning in Washington. He was 71.
He reads delicious ... With his Dickensian byline, Churchillian brio and Falstaffian appetites, Mr. Apple, who was known as Johnny, was a singular presence at The Times almost from the moment he joined the metropolitan staff in 1963. He remained a colorful figure as new generations of journalists around him grew more pallid, and his encyclopedic knowledge, grace of expression — and above all his expense account — were the envy of his competitors, imitators and peers.
R. W. Apple Jr., who in more than 40 years as a correspondent and editor at The New York Times wrote about war and revolution, politics and government, food and drink, and the revenge of living well from more than 100 countries, died early this morning in Washington. He was 71.
He reads delicious ... With his Dickensian byline, Churchillian brio and Falstaffian appetites, Mr. Apple, who was known as Johnny, was a singular presence at The Times almost from the moment he joined the metropolitan staff in 1963. He remained a colorful figure as new generations of journalists around him grew more pallid, and his encyclopedic knowledge, grace of expression — and above all his expense account — were the envy of his competitors, imitators and peers.
Very depressing news for Belgians
I haven't felt 100% since arriving in Europe. At first I attributed it to a need to recover a stressful year with an exceptionally nasty British boss but beyond sleeping less, I've never really regained my New Zealand health.
I wonder if this has anything to do with it ...
A new report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says that Belgium has made great efforts to reduce concentrations of pollutants in the air. However, despite efforts by the authorities to improve air and water quality, increases in freight traffic on the roads and the intensive use of pesticides in agriculture, have meant that the quality of the air we breathe has deteriorated, since the last OECD report eight years ago.
The OECD made a total of 44 recommendations to improve air and water quality in Belgium. Greater efforts also need to be made by the Belgian government to help reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses.
Summer ozone peaks "unacceptable".
The OECD report also points to the annual summer peaks in ozone concentrations as being a major cause for concern. The River Zenne, which flows through Brussels, is one of the most polluted rivers in Belgium. Furthermore, Belgium's water has the highest concentrations of nitrates and pesticides in the industrialised world.
Greater efforts need to be made to reduce energy consumption, as buying up other countries' carbon emission quotas isn't enough, if progress is to be made on air quality.
The OECD report stresses the importance of fiscal measures, such as higher taxes on diesel and pesticides and grants for people who use energy sparingly.
The report also calls for greater cooperation and consultation between Belgium's three regions.
Joyce also pointed me in the direction of a rather interesting xPATS.com news source for Belgium.
Thanks Joyce.
I wonder if this has anything to do with it ...
A new report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says that Belgium has made great efforts to reduce concentrations of pollutants in the air. However, despite efforts by the authorities to improve air and water quality, increases in freight traffic on the roads and the intensive use of pesticides in agriculture, have meant that the quality of the air we breathe has deteriorated, since the last OECD report eight years ago.
The OECD made a total of 44 recommendations to improve air and water quality in Belgium. Greater efforts also need to be made by the Belgian government to help reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses.
Summer ozone peaks "unacceptable".
The OECD report also points to the annual summer peaks in ozone concentrations as being a major cause for concern. The River Zenne, which flows through Brussels, is one of the most polluted rivers in Belgium. Furthermore, Belgium's water has the highest concentrations of nitrates and pesticides in the industrialised world.
Greater efforts need to be made to reduce energy consumption, as buying up other countries' carbon emission quotas isn't enough, if progress is to be made on air quality.
The OECD report stresses the importance of fiscal measures, such as higher taxes on diesel and pesticides and grants for people who use energy sparingly.
The report also calls for greater cooperation and consultation between Belgium's three regions.
Joyce also pointed me in the direction of a rather interesting xPATS.com news source for Belgium.
Thanks Joyce.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
A good day in my Belgian world
I had a lovely day today ... Shannon came over from Brussels and two 'new' secondhand old-fashioned bicycles arrived in the garage.
My life is an odd one and a 'good day' is measured in new ways..
Last Friday I picked up my Yellow Card - the one that gives me permission to live, work and generally exist here in Belgium and while it's a grand thing, there are new complications with that but hey, why would that surprise me at this point in the journey.
Last Friday Gert's bike also died, with me as the rider on my way to the Districthuis ... a slight nightmare because the pedal kept falling off and we were a long way from home when it happened.
Nothing singles out a foreigner more than her inability to put the pedal back on in a permanent way ... coupled with the screams of laughter as it fell of yet again and again and again, yes definately outsiders.
And not being a natural born Belgian, I wasn't carrying that very necesssary bicycle tool-kit and despite working on it for ages, Shannon and I - strangers in a strange land - couldn't put that pedal back on again.
So I was yellow-carded but pedal-less.
Today we took out one of the new bikes and my beloved Abigail-bike, riding for miles through Rivierenhof Park's bush track and tree-lined avenues.
I do believe my soul was restored in the process.
Perhaps it's that simple ... who knows.
The South Beach Diet is looming on my next horizon ... I'll let you know.
My life is an odd one and a 'good day' is measured in new ways..
Last Friday I picked up my Yellow Card - the one that gives me permission to live, work and generally exist here in Belgium and while it's a grand thing, there are new complications with that but hey, why would that surprise me at this point in the journey.
Last Friday Gert's bike also died, with me as the rider on my way to the Districthuis ... a slight nightmare because the pedal kept falling off and we were a long way from home when it happened.
Nothing singles out a foreigner more than her inability to put the pedal back on in a permanent way ... coupled with the screams of laughter as it fell of yet again and again and again, yes definately outsiders.
And not being a natural born Belgian, I wasn't carrying that very necesssary bicycle tool-kit and despite working on it for ages, Shannon and I - strangers in a strange land - couldn't put that pedal back on again.
So I was yellow-carded but pedal-less.
Today we took out one of the new bikes and my beloved Abigail-bike, riding for miles through Rivierenhof Park's bush track and tree-lined avenues.
I do believe my soul was restored in the process.
Perhaps it's that simple ... who knows.
The South Beach Diet is looming on my next horizon ... I'll let you know.
How the Pope caused offence in Turkey ...
An interesting article in the New York Times ...
“The pope is both a political and religious figure,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an economic conference here. “But this person spoke in a way that is unfitting even for us politicians.”
... “If Western leaders of this kind are shutting the door, we are feeling very lonely, and prey to reactionary and nationalistic forces,” said Dogu Ergil, a political science professor at Ankara University. “Turks are increasingly feeling that they have no allies, and so be it.”
Mr. Ergil said such alienation had already curbed enthusiasm inside Turkey for joining the European Union, which he said could slow the pace of reform, and ultimately tilt Turkey away from the West.
The pope’s comments also angered other secularists, who took the pope’s speech as a kind of patronizing lecture from a flawed parent, condemning all Muslims for the sins of a few.
“The pope is both a political and religious figure,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an economic conference here. “But this person spoke in a way that is unfitting even for us politicians.”
... “If Western leaders of this kind are shutting the door, we are feeling very lonely, and prey to reactionary and nationalistic forces,” said Dogu Ergil, a political science professor at Ankara University. “Turks are increasingly feeling that they have no allies, and so be it.”
Mr. Ergil said such alienation had already curbed enthusiasm inside Turkey for joining the European Union, which he said could slow the pace of reform, and ultimately tilt Turkey away from the West.
The pope’s comments also angered other secularists, who took the pope’s speech as a kind of patronizing lecture from a flawed parent, condemning all Muslims for the sins of a few.
Finally, in the world according to Di, someone's making sense:Commisioner responsible for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, stated that no new conditions for Turkey's membership in the Union can be brought in.
Michel, one of those to vote on the EU's progress report on Turkey that will be announced on Nov. 8, indirectly criticized French President Jacques Chirac's remarks on recognition of the genocide claims, saying, "There are some people who want to change the rules of the game during the game."
"Turkey's membership in the EU is very important. It is enough to look at the intersection points of energy lines to understand it," Michel said.
Stressing that the Union needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU, Michel stressed that Turkey has played a key role in world crises in Iraq, Iran and the Middle East.
Erkan had posted news of this article in the New Anatolian.
I'm not sure that people are doing the research on the Armenian Genocide ... it's an interesting piece of history - outstripped on the atrocity scale by the German-led Genocide of Jewish people that occured here in Europe, with assistance from the collaborating regimes in countries like Austria, France and the Netherlands.
I guess it depends on which 'club' Europe is wanting to let Turkey into or exclude it from ...
Michel, one of those to vote on the EU's progress report on Turkey that will be announced on Nov. 8, indirectly criticized French President Jacques Chirac's remarks on recognition of the genocide claims, saying, "There are some people who want to change the rules of the game during the game."
"Turkey's membership in the EU is very important. It is enough to look at the intersection points of energy lines to understand it," Michel said.
Stressing that the Union needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU, Michel stressed that Turkey has played a key role in world crises in Iraq, Iran and the Middle East.
Erkan had posted news of this article in the New Anatolian.
I'm not sure that people are doing the research on the Armenian Genocide ... it's an interesting piece of history - outstripped on the atrocity scale by the German-led Genocide of Jewish people that occured here in Europe, with assistance from the collaborating regimes in countries like Austria, France and the Netherlands.
I guess it depends on which 'club' Europe is wanting to let Turkey into or exclude it from ...
News in America
It seems socio-economic status, perhaps colour, maybe race depends on how the news is reported over in the land of the free ...
Twitches has an interesting post on the subject here .
She introduces the poem she wrote on the subject of stolen gas with:I read a similar account last year about malfunctioning pumps at a gas station that caused outrageously low prices and subsequent long lines as word spread.
It was right after Hurricane Katrina, and I found the difference in reporting to be incredible: the shiny happy people driving up in their SUVs for practically free gas were just cute little human interest stories "striking back" at the mean old price-gouging gas companies (not once was the word "stealing" used - which is what I'd say they were doing), while the Katrina victims who broke into a Wal-Mart when their own government wouldn't deliver them ice or water after being devastated by a category 5 hurricane were "looters" who had lost all sense of restraint and reason.
Twitches has an interesting post on the subject here .
She introduces the poem she wrote on the subject of stolen gas with:I read a similar account last year about malfunctioning pumps at a gas station that caused outrageously low prices and subsequent long lines as word spread.
It was right after Hurricane Katrina, and I found the difference in reporting to be incredible: the shiny happy people driving up in their SUVs for practically free gas were just cute little human interest stories "striking back" at the mean old price-gouging gas companies (not once was the word "stealing" used - which is what I'd say they were doing), while the Katrina victims who broke into a Wal-Mart when their own government wouldn't deliver them ice or water after being devastated by a category 5 hurricane were "looters" who had lost all sense of restraint and reason.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Amy Gahran, conversational media consultant
Amy Gahran has posted an interesting article titled We Own the Internet: Net Neutrality for the Disengaged.
She writes: If you haven't yet managed to start caring about net neutrality, check out this hilarious advocacy site: We Own the Internet. It features several great bits of Flash video -- enthusiastic speeches by "Richard P. Merryweather, president & CEO of CT&TCOM American Communications."
A few choice excerpts from "Merryweather's" home page speech:
"[We're] the largest telephone company in the U.S. I want to make one thing perfectly clear: We own the internet. We acquired it last year with the help of the federal government, and now we're about to make some exciting changes. Some people object to this. ...But you see, an open internet is just too confusing for consumers, and not nearly as profitable for us. ...Who better to provide you with a 21st-century technology than a 19th-century monopoly?"
She writes: If you haven't yet managed to start caring about net neutrality, check out this hilarious advocacy site: We Own the Internet. It features several great bits of Flash video -- enthusiastic speeches by "Richard P. Merryweather, president & CEO of CT&TCOM American Communications."
A few choice excerpts from "Merryweather's" home page speech:
"[We're] the largest telephone company in the U.S. I want to make one thing perfectly clear: We own the internet. We acquired it last year with the help of the federal government, and now we're about to make some exciting changes. Some people object to this. ...But you see, an open internet is just too confusing for consumers, and not nearly as profitable for us. ...Who better to provide you with a 21st-century technology than a 19th-century monopoly?"
The Album - Bill Manhire, New Zealand Poet
What can you gain from my name?
It will die - like the sad scrawl
of a wave on a far-off shore,
like night as it sighs in the woods.
On the pale, remembering page
there'll be only a trace,
marks on a headstone
in some strange, untranslatable tongue.
For what can remain? Lost
in the years and the tempests of feeling,
my name cannot last in your life
like some delicate keepsake.
Yet on a day of despair, in a small space
of calm, say it aloud out of your sadness; say
'somewhere I may still be remembered;
there's a heart in the world, where I live'.
I was notified of a $500,000= win this morning ...Powerball Lotto online.
Being a curious person and liking the idea, I opened it, suspicious ... Mcafee cleaned out the resulting trojan. There was no attachment, foolishly I thought this meant it was safe to peek.
I searched online and read CONSOLATION PRIZEWINNER NOTICE - POWERBALL LOTTO Phishing Scams ... but of course.
Being a curious person and liking the idea, I opened it, suspicious ... Mcafee cleaned out the resulting trojan. There was no attachment, foolishly I thought this meant it was safe to peek.
I searched online and read CONSOLATION PRIZEWINNER NOTICE - POWERBALL LOTTO Phishing Scams ... but of course.
Note to self
I've drunk at various fonts and breathed different airs, some salutory, others quite polluted. I'm neither sorry for this nor do I complain ... the world is beautiful because it is varied.
-Primo Levi
Note in an old journal of mine dated 18th November 2000
-Primo Levi
Note in an old journal of mine dated 18th November 2000
Chi trova un amico trova un tesoro
Once upon a time, 3 old school friends met up in this cottage and laughed so hard that they cried, drank wine and kept the big old fire going with massive logs.I've known Liz since I was 12 and Fiona from 13. They were the horsey ones, still owning horses and riding today. I was the one who rode any old available nag ... Cinnamon, an ex-race horse who liked to bolt; Nutmeg who caused the vet to look away when she trotted towards him - so many faults that he winced. Mickey, the little bay pony who pawed the ground when we crossed creeks, indicating that she was thinking of rolling there ... rider and all.
Liz was the last to marry and I might have said at her wedding, 'Okay, race you to number 2'. Liz won without intending it, I came in second ... Fiona's the good one, or perhaps she just married a good one first time round.
I was at Fiona's the night that my mother died unexpectedly ... she had cancer but we all thought she had weeks left. Fiona's was the right place to be ... an old friend, a treasure you don't meet so often in life.
And Liz, we always pick up where we left off from ... 4 years and we continue with conversations that never acknowledge the passage of time.
They both live on farms now ... we studied agriculture and horticulture together, I guess I am the anomaly. Liz came back from her European life and I asked her 'But how?!' and now I am learning what she already knows.
Even their parents are delicious, and we know so much of each others lives ... it's an interweaving that I miss here in this cold country where people seem to fear the friendliness that was so natural back home in the wee country.
Homesick this morning?
Well now ... how did you guess?
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