no penny for them

mies et marion

2012-01-25T09:54:00.000+01:00

marion suggested paying mies a visit, and we did. and look, how well they got on!

the house, originally landhaus lemke (1932), is tiny. like so many places in berlin, it has a complex history. after the war, the russian allies used it as a garage, in the 1960s, it was used by the stasi (east german secret service) as laundry storage. today, you can visit the house - it is almost empty, there is no signage, there are no wall texts, no plaques, no explanations. which is astonishing. at the same time, it gives you the chance to just see and feel the place, the light, the textures.

a few days later i found myself pondering how mr and mrs lemke, the original owners, might have used the space. i can work out kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom (fairly obvious), but how did they use the two main rooms? did they choose to have the view onto the garden and the little lake beyond from the living room? and how did they furnish the rooms? a look at the house's website gives you an idea, and i must say, well, in this instance, i agree to disagree with mies. i bet the carpets were chosen by the lemke's though. oh, the absence of taste.

p.s.: don't forget you can still enter for my little giveaway. i will draw a winner this coming sunday.

saturday morning

2012-01-22T09:51:00.000+01:00

the first one is for you alexandria! when marion was here - an amazing couple of days, of which there will be more to see soon -, we went for a little walk across mauerpark, and as we passed these trees against the glorious sky, and i looked up, i had to think of alexandria's images. her blog is such a wonderful place, of stillness captured in visuals and poetry.

marion and i went on to have coffee at bonanza coffee heroes, the place gets smaller and busier every time i go. in winter you can't really use the outside benches and stools, so i sometimes leave without even venturing inside, as it's so crowded, as you would essentially have to drink your coffee standing up between loads of people, bar-stylee. we were lucky, and after a little while got a seat between the piled up coffee sacks. two girls and four cameras, we went a bit crazy, what fun!

as you can see, i'm now the proud owner of a polaroid camera, which is so fabulous. unfortunately, at the moment there seems to be a technical problem with it (the button can't be fully pressed, it feels blocked), so i will have to take it to the polaroid shop to see what can be done. any ideas what it might be?

finally, i have a little belated goodie on behalf of this blog's third birthday earlier this month. would you leave me a comment, saying how long you've been reading, and which country you're from? i shall be drawing a winner next sunday, 29th january, and send you a little pack of bonanza espresso (yes, those are the white bags with the pink labels above). if you don't drink coffee, please just let me know, and i'll find something else for you if you win.

st. john hotel

2012-01-19T22:08:00.000+01:00

before i went to the airport, i treated myself. it was a little late in the morning, so all the regular guests of the st. john hotel had already taken breakfast, and it was very quiet. i ordered the chestnut pancakes with poached quince, pears, and plums. and how absolutely wonderful they were. i've tried to recreate the pancakes, to no avail (i shall keep trying), but the quince i poached yesterday are quite magical.

p.s.: i just realise this must sound as if i stayed at the st. john - that's wishful thinking for you! i would have to find some money under my floorboards to do that, though. in fact, i always visit london to visit a dear friend, so it was breakfast at st. john, and a little bit of dreaming.

house on the hill

2012-01-18T09:19:00.000+01:00

how beautiful it is to stand on a hill, looking over the big city.

i just realised that i haven't said thank you for all your suggestions regarding winter food, i loved reading your ideas!

london (part one)

2012-01-17T10:06:00.000+01:00

earlier this month, there was a very short visit to london - i wish i had had more time, to meet more friends, to see more, to visit places. things being as they are, i enjoyed seeing a few very close friends, and caught the richter show at the tate just before it closed. no picture-taking in the exhibition itself, but a few behind-the-scene-shots nevertheless. it was a precious day.

taking time

2012-01-17T09:57:00.000+01:00

trying to create little islands in a sea of projects is becoming more and more important. last saturday, there was coffee with sandra and marion at the michelberger. plenty to talk and laugh about, such a perfect afternoon!

the winter's crop

2012-01-10T09:01:00.002+01:00

the first ten days of the new year have already proven to be a whirlwind. hope you got off to a good start?

i often think how lucky i am to love my work, yet lately there never seem to be enough hours in the day, or days in the week. and so there also never seems to be enough time to think about food much in advance.

could you help me out here - i'm looking for ideas for healthy winter eating: favourite dishes, ideas for winter vegetables and fruit, or links to websites are all more than welcome! i'm thinking vitamins and freshness, and perhaps a little less cream...

happy new

2012-01-01T10:42:00.005+01:00

may twenty-twelve hold many a smile for you, and keep you on your toes.

happy new year!

(what's the one thing you are going to make happen, weather permitting and all?
oh, and by the way, 'no penny for them' is turning three today. how did that happen?)

endings and beginnings

2011-12-31T08:50:00.004+01:00

two-thousand eleven

the closeness of friends
the growing-pains of moving forward
the stiffness of neck of desk-bound work
the excitement of each new project
the bliss of doing nothing, in the sun
the joy of shared meals
the challenge of seeing and recording
the need for rest
the taking of breath
the looking forward to things unforeseeable

here's to good-byeing an eventful year--
thank you so much for keeping me company, in so many different ways,
and see you in 2012!

(p.s.: the pics were not taken at my house, we had breakfast at my friends' most beautiful place.)

merry merry

2011-12-22T08:44:00.005+01:00

christmas dinner with friends from the bookshop was so wonderfully good. m and k had us round at their place, like before, and i wish i had taken another roll of film.

now it's only such a little while to christmas, and the list of things to do, errands to run, must-not-forgets, is so, so, so long. i wonder whether there is a correlation between increasing age and decreasing prepared-ness. but i bet you are all totally on top of things. right?

well, i'm off for a little while then - spending christmas with friends in berlin, and very much looking forward to the quietness 'between the years'.

so, everyone who is celebrating: merry merry, friends!

(the little poem on the slip of paper up there reads: 'i know not every wish comes true, but i continue wishing, for it is wonderful')

good things

2011-12-20T09:07:00.004+01:00

a visit to the indie art book fair "miss read" at KW berlin (institute for contemporary art) was one of the most inspiring things recently. so much goodness! two things i liked very much: hard copy, an initiative by the geneva university of art and design, and the motto bookshop in berlin.

later today, i will meet renée who is town for a brief visit. so looking forward!

and, you know what, today might just be the day i'm treating myself to a roll of fuji provia 400.

happy tuesday!

dear santa

2011-12-14T09:56:00.003+01:00

dear santa, could i have a medium format camera please. if asking for a hasselblad is too presumptuous, perhaps a zenza bronica; in any case, a single lens reflex would be ace. i have a feeling though you might send me a letter saying 'why don't you get one yourself, girl'. i will consider it. overall it seems that i have been a so-so girl this year, and while i understand this might result in some sanctions, i would appreciate if those affected the material side of things only. i'm planning on having good times with friends, involving an impressive tree and plenty of cooking. which, come to think of it, i'd rather have than a medium format camera.

kx

p.s.: a little time travel back to france. but i digress. what's on your wishlist?
p.p.s.: perhaps the irony of my above statement wasn't blatant enough. i most definitely don't expect a medium format camera from santa, we are not in the habit of passing around big presents, it's more about small gestures. but i'm saving up so i can buy one, next year perhaps. ;)

frost

2011-12-11T09:21:00.003+01:00

back in early november, after the first frost. it was the last day at the garden. many communal gardeners had long stopped coming, and it seemed as if the vast field was eagerly claiming back its ground after the last romantic urban part-time agrarophiles had finally gone home.

happy second of advent (if you are celebrating). this year, i'm lighting candles on a branch found in the woods. i have some, if by far not all christmas presents, but today shall be as quiet as can be. back into the frenzy of work to be completed, and things to be thought of tomorrow.

having

2011-12-04T11:04:00.003+01:00

having a gift: is it an obligation (or: does having a talent imply the courage to use it)?

still

2011-11-19T12:17:00.002+01:00

just read this morning --

if plan 'a' didn't work,
the alphabet has 25 more letters.
stay cool.

lights

2011-11-18T09:26:00.003+01:00

first, you are amazing, thank you so much for your feedback on my last post, i was really quite stunned by all the love. wow. thank you. the praktica says thank you, too. she'll get out more often now.

november is a month i didn't use to like very much. grey. very often rainy in these parts. and cold. but this year i like it: the crisp, cool air on my face when i'm riding my bike, the misty days, the mood of 'yes, we are definitely in between autumn and winter'. november has got a certain magic this year, and i like it.

by the way, i think i need a scanner. i love the people at my lab, they are super friendly, but the scans very often have dust specks, contrast is not good etc. i need a scanner that's mac compatible though. any recommendations?

the light above is from kolor. oh, and i like this calendar.

//

2011-11-13T10:33:00.003+01:00

november so far has brought mysterious fog, cold air and sunny days too. i like the mist in the trees.

there is so much going on at the moment that i have to be a bit easier on myself. and that's why 'five words' will have to go on a little break.

i'm aware that i'm turning almost monosyllabic when there's too much preoccupying me. but there'll be other times, promise.

wishing you a good sunday and a kind start to the new week.

(i've taken out the old praktica. the viewfinder is very dark and it's all manual, but i like using it again.)

end of the season

2011-11-11T21:21:00.003+01:00

only a few days left, then the season of the garden is over. the communal field will be closed and the patches will be ploughed up. we will go one last time and harvest what we can. we will probably have some leeks, some more swiss chard, winter lettuce, onions. perhaps some more cabbage. i will miss the garden, but now it has gotten colder, i probably wouldn't cycle out. goodbye garden, it has been a good season!

what's your favourite vegetable or dish of the season?

(these photos were taken five weeks ago.)

//

2011-11-07T20:44:00.002+01:00

hope you are having a good start to your week.

five words

2011-11-05T10:11:00.005+01:00

I live by the ocean. Before, I lived in the big city. The tall buildings, the relentless lights, the drone of the machines, the ones we use to move in, the ones we use to facilitate our routines, the ones we use to feed us, to clean us. The constant hum of conversations. The shouts and screeches. The absence of solitude. The imperiousness of the moment. The compulsion of success. I breathed the city, its fabric was me.

That was a long time ago. Now I live by the ocean.

I live by the ocean.
thank you, suzie

----------

please feel free to comment on my five words, be it on something that surprised you, something you missed or something that puzzled you. your feedback would be so interesting to me. perhaps one question to start with: does it bother you that some instalments are longer and others are shorter?

how things are

2011-11-02T09:54:00.003+01:00

i was wondering why i rather rarely post images that are recognisably berlin. i think it is because i am easily bored with clichées of this city. but of course, i would happily snap the eiffel tower when in paris. although, when in london, i never photographed red buses or the tower bridge either. so maybe no eiffel tower? anyway, i took these a while ago, the first two in 2011, the bottom two in 2009 and somehow, they are berlin to me.

on a different note: for a while now, i have felt that the subjects that interest me are fundamentally changing, that my general aesthetic is somehow taking different turns. it is a bit unsettling, but i'll just have to wait what evolves. it's possibly going to be less images hereabouts, for a while. i'm not sure. wish i could tell you.

but i'm hoping that you are hanging in there.

would you tell me what you are up to and what you're mulling over these days, as the seasons change again?

five words

2011-10-29T11:34:00.006+02:00

It’s a fine line between spending time in one’s own company, contentedly, and loneliness. Johan had never understood why some of his neighbours seemed to pity him: Perhaps they were the sort to feel an unbearable sense of forlornness as soon as a day, or a stretch of hours announced themselves free of engagements. Not him. Sometimes he positively looked forward to days that were left entirely to himself. So when he got up that saturday morning in late summer, so late in summer, in fact, you would probably have to consider calling it another season, he left bed with a lightness of spirit and the hint of a smile. The apartment was small, but familiar. He had been living here since 1964, when the blocks had just been built at the edge of a big square. The trains were going past in regular intervals, he could hear their rumbling progress and the occasional screeching of metal on metal when it hit the curve just before the station. It had become a comforting sound. He put his rucksack on the brown and green corderoy sofa to pack it. It was big, just what he needed today. He double-wrapped everything in plastic bags before he carefully stored it, checking every now and again whether he could still lift the bag. It wasn’t too bad, he could walk slowly and take a break if needed. Before he left, he made sure all windows were shut, the fridge was empty of any easily decomposable food and everything had the air of general tidyness. In the narrow corridor to the lifts he ran into his next-door neighbour. No more than a quick „Morning!“ that day. Well, it hardly mattered. He felt alive, he felt up to his mission, up for the train ride and a brisk walk. On the way to the station he saw his own shape reflected in the window of the still-closed supermarket. The rucksack looked bulky. He should have taken greater care packing it. At the station, he barely had to wait three minutes for the train, now it was only a good hour until he would reach his destination. The sun cast odd shapes across the seats opposite, the flickering light made him drowsy. On getting off, he recognised the way immediately, even though it must have been twenty-five years or more. He took the small street leading off the main road at the end of the village, soon the neat little houses with their scrubbed patches of front garden gave way to a dirt track. Some older houses with stable doors ajar, bordering onto the fields, their plaster crumbling in places, swifts flying through a brick hole in the barn gable, then the landscape was open, a line of trees to the right keeping him company. He kept walking for almost an hour, past an abandoned farm. There was an old tree with a halo of walnuts lying on the ground beneath it.

He left the dirt track and went into the woods. His back began to feel sore, his neck and shoulders stiff. Not much longer, he was certain he was close to the spot at last. Another half hour – he had to wipe his forehead with an old handkerchief repeatedly. And then he was there. Yes, it most certainly was here. Just as he remembered.

He put down the rucksack and untied the laces underneath the flap with the old leather buckles. Johan sat down on the stump of a tree. He unpacked the old aluminium pot, a small gas stove burner and a tin of ravioli. Set up and lit the flame.

He felt an utter sense of accomplishment.

narrow // alive // reflected // walnuts // swift
thank you, sylee

p.s.: i'm so sorry for being far behind with blog reading and commenting. i'm trying to catch up. happy weekend, all!

paper

2011-10-29T00:26:00.003+02:00

sometimes someone picks you flowers. sometimes a good friend makes them for you with tissue paper and you put them on branches you found on a walk.

i'm ploughing on with work, but were lucky enough to have lunch with this visitor from marseille today. how great to catch up a little!

also thank you so much for your feedback on the wanderer. so many have been visiting already: you are the best! -- oh, and the comment function is now live there, just click on the date of any given post, where you can see and leave comments.

the wanderer

2011-10-26T20:45:00.009+02:00

i have been thinking about this for quite a while. a place to gather the things i see. it's something i already do, in some shape, on pinterest, but i wanted a different format. another blog perhaps. in the end, it turned out to be a tumblr, something i've been very ambivalent about in the past. i felt very uneasy about the fact that many people on tumblr post images without bothering to credit them, and linking them back to a source.

i've decided to use this new place as a mood board, and i will caption whatever i find, so you can see where it comes from, go back to the source and enjoy.

it's called the wanderer.

do come by!

p.s.: should you notice any technical glitches on the wanderer, please do let me know. i've tried installing a comments function (via disqus) - however, it doesn't seem to work just yet. in the meantime, your best bet to let me have your feedback is right here!

UPDATE: the comments function is now live on the wanderer! click on the date of the post you would like to comment on, et voilà...

five words

2011-10-26T20:31:00.005+02:00

i'm late, very late with my five words. it's hardly saturday any longer, is it? well, i've just scrambled out of the rabbit hole, where i spent considerable time finishing a translation project. i hope you'll forgive me.

---

When I woke up this morning, I held the fine end of the thread of my dream in my hand. I had been standing in the grand hall of a museum, talking to some person I can remember neither face nor name of and said: „I so badly wanted to buy a Carsten Höller, but they were all gone. Then I saw those two deer, and I just knew it had to be them.“ – Can I remember whether the deer were live? No, I can’t. And where would I have put them? Are there people running stables for artwork? Surely, there must be. And what does it tell me in the blue light of the morning? Is it the sure sign of an art related inferiority complex? Is it the deep wish to touch the silken ears of a deer? Am I attracted to artists dabbling in biology? All I can clearly remember, is one of the deer turning her slender head towards me, twitching her ears and looking at me with those brown eyes. Then I woke up. It makes me wonder. Wouldn’t you wonder? Later that day my stiff neck makes me sigh, and somehow the fact that the rain has turned the yellow leaves -- rustling on the sidewalk and street just the day before -- into some undefined brownish slush leaves me sad. They are driving around in those big orange trucks again, sucking up the leaves with big flexible snouts. One is driving, one is walking, holding the snout, moving it around so as not to miss the odd pile hiding under a parked car. I can see bits of traffic queuing up behind them, the driver surely drumming their fingers on the steering wheel. I’m riding my bike around them, down to the baker’s for a sourdough and to the Asian grocer’s for some noodle soup, some fresh lime and some sugar snaps. I must not forget to add plums to my shopping list for the next day. A friend is calling, we say to meet up on saturday. I have to finish some work, and I keep thinking about things that don’t seem to lend themselves to easy answers. Are thoughts flying higher in summer? Is autumn the season of rumination, of dark plum compote, of deer and other illicit thoughts finding their way into my dreams? I should imagine so.

blue  // wonder  // sigh  // illicit  // imagine
thank you, enia

to the lake

2011-10-19T09:43:00.004+02:00

we went to the lake, like every year. some things just have to turn into traditions.

more about ferry trips over on my berlin blog, here and here.

(i am really quite touched by your comments on my five words series, they mean a lot!)

five words

2011-10-15T21:39:00.005+02:00

She didn’t even want to begin to speculate how many tubes of toothpaste she had tried to squeeze the very last, itty bitty minty whiteness out of, having forgotten to buy new supply. She was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, grimacing at her reflection with the faint red line of pillow crease running across her left cheek. It was her birthday at the end of the week, a few friends were coming for dinner, she’d better do the shopping list soon.

In the kitchen a quick cup of tea, some buttered toast, the last uncontaminated slice, the rest had grown mouldy overnight. She left the house; far too late; again. Ran down the street, to the station. “Here we go,” she thought, “Monday morning, how I love thee.” There was a bit of wind, the last few leaves would soon be chased along the pavement, trodden on, drowning in a sad dirty puddle. City leaves had really pulled the short straw, she thought, unless you count the ones in the park. Much better to be a country leaf. Although. Who knows.

The girl on the train pulled off her poppy red beret, pushed it into her bag and took out a book. She had wrapped it into a sleeve made from newspaper. “Must be rubbing ink onto her fingers,” she thought. Were there people who didn’t analyse everything they saw? Who just zoned out? Perhaps she should try doing that.

How she hated the train. Tomorrow she’d take the bus. Or a duvet day. She was washed onto the platform and up the elevator. Thinking about the meeting already. Perhaps she should come out with her idea at the very end. Or perhaps she should just leave. Run a farm. Buy a few chickens, and a goat. She rummaged in her bag for a biro and a post-it. Scribbled “toothpaste”, “bread”. Pushed everything back into the bag. Went through the doors.

“Here we go”, she thought.

wind // love // poppy red // bread // tea
thank you, maria

morning!

2011-10-12T08:14:00.004+02:00

morning!

last week, my niece's mornings started with hot cocoa in aunty k's kitchen. which isn't a bad start to a day. the small bol i brought back from france this summer, of course.

p.s.: normally, a cold isn't really worth mentioning, but this time it seems to be a nasty bug, which hasn't just floored my niece last week, but also a friend of mine, and now me. the kind with fevers and not being able to stay awake for too long. the latter seemed to be key: sleeping it off. it's uphill now, i can feel it.

slow

2011-10-11T09:41:00.002+02:00

please bear with me while i'm taking it a bit slow, the first cold of the season has floored me. unfortunately one of the lie-down-in-bed varieties. till soon.

five words

2011-10-08T10:09:00.005+02:00

feels a bit like i made myself jump in at the deep end here, you know. while writing the first story - stories, which by the way might turn out to be miniature three-liners, rather short or longer ones - i realised how many details do bug me intensely. i'm posting this anyway, hoping it will give me that little push which hopefully makes up for the embarrassment, which is more or less inevitable whenever you go out on a limb. so really, this is very much work in progress, a way to make me write regularly, because i'm the greatest procrastinator when it comes to that.

oh, and one more thing: i will take my pick from the five words you have given me in no particular order and credit them at the end of the story. thanks for being part of this!

//

Going back in my mind, I can see it quite clearly. We had gotten up in the wee hours, when a bird pecked on the window. The unexpectedness of that sound had startled me, I am used to the tram going past or the faint sound of the shopping trolleys of the supermarket next door clanking. There was a breeze when we stepped out, quietly, so as not to wake the others. There was a faint rain of pine needles. Where the bird had gone, I don’t know. After the hundredth tree we took a left, then a right after the next twenty-three. We came to a lake. No crystal clear waters here, greenish-brown instead, with a hint of golden specks, where the light fell through the trees. I sat on a small rock, trying to make out how long it might take me to swim to the far end of the lake. Ten minutes, fifteen? It was too cold though. We shared an apple, which i had brought in my pocket. I wondered why we had come to spend this weekend together. For some of us the need to step back from questions that seem unanswerable, for others some vague notion about going back to nature. As if we knew what that meant. For me it was the need of holding on to the familiar before the big unknown. I had initiated the change myself, but it still scared me. 'Make a move?', I whispered. We walked for another good hour, past a clearing of young birches, now almost bare. The slenderest tips of their pitch-black branches swayed. We saw some deer in the distance, heard them first, by the rustling of leaves and the crackling of small twigs underfoot. We crossed a small stream, stepping on rocks. A light drizzle had set in. We kept on walking for a good thirty-minutes. He had been looking on the ground mostly, now lifted his head a little and said ‚Call it a day?’ And it meant all kinds of things.

breeze // golden // whisper // crystal // sway
thank you, emily vanessa

where to go

2011-10-06T09:13:00.002+02:00

‎"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life." Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

-- Steve Jobs, address at Stanford University (2005)

a special day

2011-10-05T11:21:00.003+02:00

i'm sharing my birthday with one of my nieces, so early october, for the past few years, has always brought visits from them and a joint little celebration. i remember the year when she turned one, and we had japanese green tea and patisserie at a little place near my house, she was holding on to the benches, trying to make her first steps. this year, she turned six. and started off her birthday with a night at the emergency room, coming down with pneumonia. she found it very exciting, and while the adults were seriously worried, she chatted away. in the morning, after medication was bought at the pharmacy, we had breakfast with a cake with pink icing (a dash of cherry juice will do that, magic effect!). phew.

so here's to a new year full of goodness.

p.s.: wow, you threw me - in the best possible way - with all your comments on my last post. seems like you like the idea. i seriously hope i'll manage to live up to the expectation! i've got my work cut out... looking forward to it!

images are a little sneak preview for a post coming up on my berlin blog shortly.

five words

2011-10-01T21:01:00.004+02:00

will you give me five words?

i'll wrap them into a little story and post an image along with it. if possible, every saturday.

so leave me your five words in the comments, and i'll tackle them by and by. let's see how it goes! first story up next saturday.

happy weekend, everyone!

by the sea

2011-09-30T10:52:00.002+02:00

in early september, we all met at my parents' house for my father's birthday. one evening, the niece and i sneaked out to spend an hour at the beach. we splashed through the sea mud, did some drawing in the sand, gathered feathers and stones, and had an ice cream. walkers and horse-drawn coaches were scattered across the wide, empty ground of the sea. the tide is a magic thing.

this weekend, the niece will come for a visit, along with her sister and their parents. what are you up to?

unrelated

2011-09-28T14:40:00.003+02:00

two favourites from france - unrelated. one taken in avignon, the other one on the terrace in st. rémy.

yesterday i had a funny day, where nothing worked out as planned. as if the wiring of that day was somehow wrong. today, i'm feeling a little under the weather: a stiff neck, pressure on my ears, light-headed. hope it's passing.

p.s.: feeling much better today, thanks for your kind words!

tapas with marion

2011-09-23T09:42:00.002+02:00

i would never have found that small spanish restaurant without marion. safely tucked away in a side street, the front looked unassuming, and there were no customers in the first room. it was the tiny courtyard where everybody sat. it was hot, music was blaring from the kitchen, the dishes were marked on a board as long as my arm and my leg together. and my, were they good. (see those wine glasses. i want some.)

so here's to the lady, whose birthday it is today - happy, happy, marion!

there

2011-09-21T10:39:00.003+02:00

there was a house off the main road, off the next one after, and down a dirt track, where we stayed. it was hot and i can still hear the cigales singing.

a very good day

2011-09-20T11:03:00.006+02:00

one sunny day i drove to avignon to see the cy twombly show at the collection lambert and to meet mary. what a perfect day it was. i so enjoyed the exhibition, i think we needed something like three or four hours to see it, because we stopped everywhere, getting lost in some conversation. i remember we wondered how very different sol lewitt's work and his personal space at home were - would you have guessed a master of conceptual, highly cerebral art would have a study full of memorabilia and an amazing moodboard, and would take serial pictures of his crockery? and we did have such a good time looking at lartigue's stereoscopic photographs. what a cheek he was.

cy twombly's photographs were quite wonderful. i loved the early black and white images he took of the shared studio space with rauschenberg in new york, but his later polaroids were quietly poetic, altogether of a different kind.

very kindly, mary gave me a roll of kodak elite chrome, on which these frames were taken. and she introduced me to fondant au chocolat, which we had in the courtyard, after having successfully missed lunch service due to our chatting away. it was a revelation. thanks mary!

(the graphics on the wall are by douglas gordon. marion went as well, on another day.)

the season of rain

2011-09-18T10:18:00.005+02:00

it's here again. the season of rain.

today, we are having mayoral elections in berlin, so i'll be donning my hideous rain cape soon, cycling to the polling station, then onto the museum bookshop for my sunday shift.

i'm starting to crave cakes, pears, lambs lettuce, walnuts, mushrooms. what's your favourite seasonal dish? any cake recipes? or savoury treats?

(these images were taken on a ferry ride - there's a post about berlin ferries over on mostly berlin. with the very same pictures, something i rarely do. i had to, this time...)

the pool

2011-09-17T10:57:00.003+02:00

let's go to the pool, shall we? (back in berlin, outside my window people are walking past in woolly hats, which is worrying. in my mind, though, i can go back to the pool side whenever i want.)

p.s.: first two frames colour negative film, all others taken on slide.

lines

2011-09-16T09:41:00.004+02:00

i'd like to say thank you for all your feedback. not only does it make me happy to hear from you, it is also so very helpful. i always tend to think that everybody else knows exactly what they are doing, that everybody else has a clear, distinct style, found their way, while i'm finding it often excruciating to be all over the place. rather like circling an unknown point-of-having-arrived, and constantly being somewhere along the wide periphery of that circle. since i feel i'm so far from that certain point, the circumference is great and the individual spots i'm checking in from lie wide apart. it seems so random.

still, on that journey, i'm learning a lot, and you often keep me going. so thank you.

this morning, i have some lines from the corbusier house in marseille for you.

morning

2011-09-15T10:53:00.001+02:00

waking up at the hotel corbusier on a summer's day.

corbusier

2011-09-14T15:04:00.004+02:00

well, i had to go. and of course, marion took me. to the unité d'habitation in marseille, one of le corbusier's most seminal buildings.

it's hard to put into words how connected i felt to this place. maybe you can guess from the photos i took.

p.s.: a new post here, with some news.

thinking

2011-09-12T09:39:00.003+02:00

since last november life was moving so fast it felt suffocating. the scales were just tipping far too much. not in the way of having to work the odd extra hour, but in the sense of an all-encompassing state of working, where there was no time to even leave the house when the sun was - so rarely - shining, or to see a friend for a chat. occasionally there were precious hour-long breaks to meet someone, or chances to cycle to the garden, but even that was mostly impossible by the time june and july came around.

being away from it all for two weeks, staying in the south of france, two long weeks of hot summer days, days that were finally entirely unplanned and truly free, gave me time to think.

i don't want a life that feels like a race i can't win. time is a precious gift, not a string of numbered days. i will make space for shared hours, shared thoughts and ideas. because as much as i love my work, living and creating, and caring and be cared about, are infinitely closer to my heart. first things first.

going for a stroll

2011-09-08T10:23:00.002+02:00

going for a stroll in marseille. what a fascinating city. and i've only seen a tiny fraction of it in 1 1/2 short days.

what you can't see is how hot it was. we simply had to go inside the shops because they were air-conditioned, you see. no other reason, of course.

of friends and places

2011-09-07T17:58:00.004+02:00

it may not be the best way of travelling to marseille, on a very hot day in august on just 3 and 1/2 hours of sleep. but then there was marion, who met me at the station and took me to la caravelle for lunch. she is the best city guide, and it was so good seeing her again. the food was delicious - even though i couldn't eat the snails - the tender fish and soft boiled egg with new potatoes, haricots verts and aioli were wonderful. afterwards we went to the corbusier house, but that's another story...

p.s.: when looking at the old port, i can't get this reference out of my head. give me seventies movies any day.

de retour

2011-09-06T13:46:00.002+02:00

je suis de retour, mes amis, i'm back home again. i'm full of memories and sunshine, and feel incrediby energised.

more images to follow. how have you been?

p.s.: you may have noticed: doing a marion in the second frame.

**

2011-08-13T16:55:00.002+02:00

i'm on bach rescue drops and arvo pärt. less than a week to go.

p.s.: i know i haven't been reading/commenting much of late - please don't feel i've lost interest, i simply don't manage at the moment.

stormy summer

2011-08-10T09:47:00.002+02:00

just leaving you with two images today.

p.s.: new post here.

counting down

2011-08-04T20:17:00.004+02:00

only two weeks to go, and i'll be on holiday!
!!!
(not best pleased with the bikini test this morning. harumph. but what the heck.)

my reading list is almost complete (thanks again for all recommendations!). any suggestions for a playlist?

cloudy mornings give way to clear evenings

2011-07-31T12:19:00.007+02:00

i know it can't be always so, but i like the thought. we've had our fair share of clouds here recently.

what brightens up a grey day

meeting s and s in a café for tea and a croissant
drawing all kinds of things in a little book
having a little helper when taking out and putting in a roll of film
waiting for the roll to be processed after s pressed 'the button' (twice!)

my plans for the upcoming weeks before the holiday

loads of work, and to ease the pain
sewing a skirt or two
making more jam
having coffee other places than home
go with the flow

p.s.: thanks ever so much for your reading recommendations! and - totally unrelated: i went to apply for an allotment yesterday in the pouring rain, only to learn that they don't even take down names on the waiting list until next year. so disappointed. i might have to look at other options.

photo credit:
second and third image by my little friend s. (3) - i really can't take any credit for these beautiful frames.

where i stand

2011-07-23T10:08:00.002+02:00

i can feel change is in the air. i'm looking forward to it.

"it's been in between the things i've thought i was doing, that the real work has happened."
-william kentridge

p.s.: events like the ones in norway make me turn inward. i don't think i've got anything wise or clever to say, so i won't.

slow down, you are moving too fast

2011-07-22T10:13:00.003+02:00

i wish. the next four weeks will be anything but slow. but then: a two-week break. this weekend, my niece is coming to stay. that's a little break, and i couldn't look forward to it anymore than i do.

(how are you doing? holidays, staycation? and would you have any reading recommendations for me? i'd like to find something that really draws me in.)

p.s.: when it's really quiet around here, i'm often still managing to pin something here.)

cheer me up

2011-07-17T16:45:00.002+02:00

since march, i haven't had a single work-free weekend. and i'm at my desk, it will be a long night. there's no way round the fact that i have an important deadline tomorrow. can you please cheer me up?

green hummus

2011-07-16T09:10:00.005+02:00

coming home from the garden with greens i've never prepared or eaten before is something that happened quite often since early june.

nigel slater's green 'hummus' was one of the things i tried, it took its time but was the happiest green ever and tasted fantastic.

get those broad beans out of their pods
give them a quick rinse
boil them with a little salt (10 mins for big ones, smaller ones perhaps as little as 3-4 mins)
drain into a colander, briefly rinse with cold water
if they're very thick-skinned, slide the skin off
put into food processor with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and herbs
(i used basil and fresh mint)
process, add more olive oil, lemon juice or seasoning until you have the consistency/taste you like

eat with flat bread or similar

yum!

p.s.: i was given some lovely delphiniums by my 3-year-old friend s yesterday. aren't i lucky?!

garden & something else

2011-07-14T08:23:00.004+02:00

these days, when i find time to go to the garden, a long row of sunflowers is greeting me. i'm not usually a fan of that particular flower - so big, so bright, so not subtle - but here it makes perfect sense. it's beautiful. i also love the patches of mixed wild flowers. i think they can happily stand up to all the vegetable bounty. not to be eaten, not to be used in any way, just there to make us smile.

oh, and i must not forget to ask you:

anyone interested in staying in berlin for a week in august? friends of mine are renting out their rather beautiful, split-level apartment in the middle of prenzlauer berg. the apartment is free from august 4 to august 10 (wed-wed). if you prefer, you could also arrive as early as tuesday, 3 aug and get a day for free, so to speak.

if you're interested, please email me (twinklestar at gmx dot net) for more info. the sooner the better!

i might also know of a place in berlin later in august, so please do get in touch if you're interested.

oh, and a very happy 14 juillet to all my friends in france!

garden

2011-07-11T22:45:00.003+02:00

lush times.

sugar snaps (come and gone already)
kohlrabi
dill
lettuce
mint
lemon melissa
parsley
fennel
cauliflower
swiss chard
broad beans
green beans
oh, and potatoes

still waiting for the tomatoes.

i'm such a city girl, just can't believe all this goodness.

the day of the potato

2011-07-10T17:47:00.003+02:00

well hooray! yesterday i harvested my very first potatoes in the garden. last night, i had new potatoes with butter, today potato salad for lunch. now, i'll have a little potato break - but how good this felt! like digging for gold, pardon the clichée.

i also ran into a garden neighbour whom i hadn't seen in a while, and we both said that we had gone for the garden project to find out whether it was for us. and guess what--. i will definitely have an allotment, or a little garden outside the city as soon as i can make it happen. and until then, i'll stick to garden schemes like this one, pre-planted or not.

i sometimes think that we know much better what is for us than we think we do. i don't know about you, but i tend to agonise over decisions. just think how much time i could have saved in the past by listening to what i know in my heart of hearts. i need more courage to trust my instincts.

p.s.: this photo was taken on a weekend by the sea last year. in an old garden, with lots of old apple trees.

and another thought: sylee reminded me of this post, which i had completely forgotten about. i couldn't help but thinking, gosh, my writing has gone rather downhill in the past months. it's what too much work and utilitarian thinking does to you, i guess. but i do know, there'll be other times ahead.

agfa synchro box

2011-07-09T09:48:00.004+02:00

the other day, it was raining and i was walking in the drizzle, trying to find a café for a quick stop. i had my agfa synchro box with me, a very basic box camera from the late forties/early fifties, with the first roll of film in it. my mother had found the little box at a fleamarket, got it for me and posted it to berlin. for me the first time i used a 120 rollfilm.

when i picked up the processed roll, there were seven out of eight frames with recognisable subject matter on them (score!). i've got no idea what happened to that one frame in the middle, which was blank. probably skipped it when winding the film?

anyhow, what i can tell from looking at that first roll, is that i need a tripod, or intentionally play with the motion blur. also, i think i may prefer b/w with this kind of basic analogue camera. and i'd like to take less urban scenes with it. perhaps landscapes.

i just thought i'd document the ho-hum first shots and my ideas, after all, this is a diary of sorts, and you can't always get the desired result with the first try, right?

happy weekend!

on richard long and some other things

2011-07-05T10:26:00.004+02:00

thank you for all your suggestions and well wishes, i'm trying to take your advice and hope that things will ease up a little soon.

what makes me really calm, is being in that big main hall of the hamburger bahnhof, the museum of contemporary art in berlin, and to look at richard long's berlin circle, and his monumental mural, the mud circle he painted with his hands. there's still time to see it, until the end of july. all of the above taken just there.

also, i'm really thankful for the kindness of friends, their emails, letters, and phone calls. and for danica's playlists on 8track and barbara-rose's glorious finds, both of which often give me a lift.

did i tell you i'll go on holiday at the end of august? i so can't wait!

p.s.: a click on the images will take you to my flickr site, where you can also view the photos in different sizes, or on black.

**

2011-06-29T12:28:00.003+02:00

at the moment, i don't sleep well and have constant tension pain in my neck and/or headaches. i just can't relax. herbal teas, taking baths or a glass of wine in the evening, you name it, i've tried it. do you have any good tips? i'm just a little worried that this will continue until the end of summer, as i'm chock-a-block with projects (which is great, but stressful).

hybrid

2011-06-27T10:13:00.004+02:00

things are still mad here, so just a quick hello.

some time ago, pascale wrote about going 'hybrid' - using analog lenses with a digital camera body. i really liked the idea and have been trying my hand at it last week, but have yet to get used to using the DSLR with an 'all manual' setting. my heart still is with analog photography, but this gives me an immediate feed-back that's really useful when playing around with angles, light, focus etc.

p.s.: new pins.

lunch

2011-06-22T10:32:00.003+02:00

when jo was in berlin, we had lunch at bixels.

it might be a bit quiet around here for a little while projects are taking up all my time. but do keep leaving your comments, they are always appreciated and make me smile!

don't read this if you're hungry (make yourself a sandwich and a cup of tea first)

2011-06-18T10:42:00.004+02:00

i do realise that if you don't LOVE food, this blog must be turning into a slightly boring read recently. but i promised you 'random thoughts and inspirations', you see.

might well be that the wind is turning again sometime soon and i'll be going on about philosophy, potato beetles or charlotte gainsbourg. you just never know. i so believe in the versatiliy of the human mind.

anyway. since some of you were asking, here are two recipes for a fig balsamic chutney that i found.

number one here
i shall be giving this one a whirl - sounds and looks spot on.

number two here
ok. this is from bon appetit magazine and has fabulous ratings. but honestly, the combination of ingredients sounds like a bit of a car crash to me. why oh why black and green olives with figs? or am i too much of a conservative mind (ha, joke for those of you who know me in person)? what do you think?

while browsing for recipes, i came across really nice recipes, and it seems not only really nice, but also really useful. lots of basic recipes, simple typography, no advertising, lots of step-by-step images. here are some recipes and chapters that caught my eye:

a wholemeal loaf
how to make brioche
desserts
sauces
potato recipes

p.s.: while you're at it and if you don't know it already, you should also take a look at xavier encinas' food blog. an absolute favourite.

just quickly

2011-06-17T09:27:00.003+02:00

i'm über-busy but fine. could do with a bit more sleep and a bit less pressure. but life is good.

the cat's always busy too, as you can see (and if she isn't busy playing or watching the street from the window sill, she's busy sleeping. as you do. - these pictures were taken with my praktica ages ago.)

oh, and i'm looking for recipes for preserving fruit and vegetables, for chutneys etc. i've already found some contenders for a fig and balsamic chutney and a rhubarb chutney, but i'm grateful for any tips, book recommendations and links.

happy weekend everyone!

garden

2011-06-14T09:17:00.004+02:00

everything's growing so fast! honestly, the photo above is already seriously outdated: the spinach is all gone by now (blanched some and put it in the freezer), the peas in the foreground have almost reached half the height of the supporting sticks and have first light green, almost translucent pods. in front of that (outside the picture frame) there is a row of sunflowers, now almost reaching up to my shoulders, but not flowering yet. the tomatoes at the back are growing into a virtual djungle, we now really have to keep breaking off the surplus offshoots regularly and put in higher sticks for support.

a bit of a challenge: we've got potato beetles. nasty little buggers.

last time i was there it was quite muddy as it had been raining heavily, and sure enough, in the end i had to run for cover when another mighty downpour happened.

in my little 'flower garden' (i.e. some big planters outside my window) i planted some white cosmos, a little wild hydrangea bush and some lavender.

i'm feeling quite energised after a bank holiday yesterday - a good start to a busy week. have a good one!

p.s.: the ground looks rather dry, since i took the photo before my watering round. luckily, that's a bit deceiving, it's a perfect loam soil that retains humidity well. scratching the surface before watering regularly shows me the ground is moist just four/five centimeters below the surface.

(our patch is the one with the many supports, to the right of my baskets and watering can. it's a bit of an unusual concept: many people sharing a big field. our patches are only seperated by small trampled paths.)

early summer

2011-06-11T09:40:00.004+02:00

i was invited to a lovely birthday party a while ago. it was an early summerish afternoon, and we gathered in the communal garden, amidst the trees, shrubs and lavendar bushes. there was sparkling wine with home-made rhubarb cordial, a delicious herbed, lemony quinoa salad with feta cheese and an ever-so-pretty, scrumptious cake with tiny dried roses on top, which suzy had made. thank you for having us over, sylee!

recently, i have had an exhausting work schedule (and still have), but i try to make time, a half-hour here, a half-hour there, for little projects. i made elderflower jelly. i mounted some prints. and, as a treat, spent an afternoon in the garden and brought home large branches of wild roses, cut along the way. and you know, sometimes small projects can lead to bigger things. try it.

have you read about kinfolk magazine? oh. cannot wait.

bread stories

2011-06-09T07:56:00.003+02:00

one of the reasons why i've gathered a veritable stack of nigel slater cookbooks over the years, is that his cooking is truly unfussy, unpretentious. i don't mind cooking being a bit of a challenge sometimes, but i believe it should be compatible with the demands of my day to day life, and i can't and won't get up at five in the morning to start some infusion or other with circa twenty-three herbs for a dinner two days ahead. and even though cooking is some kind of slow-down, grounding process i enjoy, the whole thing - ultimately - is about eating the food. at least for me.

so the country loaf i baked a little while ago just hit the spot. after it had cooled down enough, we had thick slices with home-made strawberry jam. so good. the next morning, i had it toasted with sliced tomatoes.

the recipe is from nigel slater's appetite. it's too long to just type it up, but it involves nothing more than 1kg bread flour, 2x 7g dry yeast, 20g salt, c. 700 ml water.

what are your favourite bread recipes? and have you tried baking with sourdough? (my attempt looked pretty, but tasted bland. the sourdough was store-bought.)

night out

2011-06-07T10:27:00.003+02:00

you know how some friends always come up with the best ideas? well, a while ago, p suggested we go to the (somewhat politically incorrect titled) gypsy restaurant at claerchen's ballhaus for j's birthday. so we did. can you tell how much i loved that night out?

some of you might recognise the spiegelsaal (hall of mirrors), upstairs from the regular ballroom, which most of the time is quiet and empty. it's also occasionally used for music and restaurant events like this, for dancing classes, and also rented out for private functions.

(more infos about the ballroom here, in german.)

welcome

2011-06-06T15:11:00.002+02:00

recently, quite a few new readers seem to be around here. welcome!
would you mind telling me who you are and how you came here? no pressure, but it would be lovely to get to know you a little!

also thank you for your well wishes. still feeling a bit shaky, but much better already.

light and shadows in my kitchen, late afternoon.

light headed

2011-06-05T09:50:00.002+02:00

i'm feeling a little light headed. after getting sick suddenly yesterday around lunchtime, i went to bed and slept for almost 19 hours. i guess this is my body telling me quite clearly that i needed a rest. (no, i didn't have any cucumbers, so this shouldn't be anything serious.)

having some green tea now, as i'll have to work on a text today. which may happen on the sofa instead of at the desk. we'll see.

a quiet moment

2011-06-03T10:25:00.003+02:00

the less time there seems to be, the more i need those quiet moments.

p.s.: who are your favourite photographers?
i hope you'll forgive my lack of commenting of late. i'm working so much it's not true.

after the storm

2011-06-01T10:36:00.002+02:00

last afternoon we had another big storm. today it's much colder and i can hear the wind trying to wheeze through the old windows.

photos from a place about which i hope to post more over on mostly berlin. soon.

p.s.: i can't stop adding things to my 'random beauty' moodboard on pinterest.

garden

2011-05-30T22:14:00.004+02:00

what's been happening recently:

gathered sticks by the wayside to support the peas, soy and tomatoes
harvested plenty of spinach, rocket, radishes and swiss chard
saw the mizuna peeking out of the ground
ate apple cake in the garden, before watering the plants
got lots of mosquito bites
planted some dahlias and other flowers
got some self-made pesto, which katja made from our very own rocket crop
traded it for some self-made strawberry jam (store-bought fruits, i'm afraid)

p.s.: if this looks as if i've got an impressive green thumb, i'm afraid i'll have to disillusion you. the deal with this garden project is that the farmer pre-plants the majority of the plants. when we first came, many of them already had a decent size, they were pre-grown in glasshouses and put out as seedlings, or bigger. also, the ground is amazingly fertile and we had a beautiful mix of sun and rain last month. so basically, i'm just standing by, watch proudly, carry the watering cans, tie up some plants and talk nicely to them. oh, and we planted some seeds, that's true. for anything else, i couldn't take any credit.

environments

2011-05-29T09:50:00.006+02:00

i've been part of the publishing world for over fifteen years now, in one way or another, and it's fair to say that books touch me in a way very few other objects can. so when i heard olga bennett was going to make a book, when i finally ordered a copy and received it in the post, and then sat down at breakfast to leaf through the pages for the first time, i was very excited. the book is a small format, roughly the size of both my hands placed one above the other. it is printed on matte paper and carries olga's subtle and atmospheric photographs so well. often the depth of field is shallow, you can feel the ambient light of the room, often you can make out the colours and contours of objects in the background, which makes these images even more enigmatic.

olga portrayed the working spaces of various artists for her project, and i love reading the small texts, in which these creative people describe themselves, their work, their relationship to their environments.

my favourite quotes from the short introduction by sarah caldwell:

"perhaps the more that you look at these ordinary places, the more you can find the extraordinary about each person within them."

"their attitudes evoke the human capacity for change, reinvention and openness to new things."

sarah is closing with a most beautiful quote from sainte-beuve, volupté, 1834
"... let the image float inside you; pass lightly; the slightest idea of it will suffice for you."

find olga's blog here, her portfolio here, and if you are curious now, you can order a copy of environments here.

p.s.: pictures showing my living room and olga's book on my table.

eurovision song contest

2011-05-27T12:56:00.004+02:00

we had so much fun at the party my friends threw for the eurovision song contest this year (some bad, bad music, lots of laughter!). we had a little barbecue on the terrace, sparkling wine and some pimm's. general jolliness and silliness. haven't had that much fun in a long time!

what kind of things do you like to organise with your friends? (in general, totally eurovision unrelated, that is...)

happiness is

2011-05-26T10:55:00.002+02:00

shared laughter with friends
putting fresh flowers into a vase
tending the garden
hearing the birds at dusk as i cycle home
reading in bed

very expired film

2011-05-25T09:29:00.005+02:00

a while ago, marion sent me a roll of expired kodak TMAX 100 pro as a little surprise. i was excited and curious, as i had never before used expired film. what would happen? less contrast than with fresh film? defects in the emulsion, scratches? i knew i had to take it somewhere special, so the next time i went to hamburger bahnhof (museum of contemporary art), i took some pictures of the richard long exhibition, berlin circle. his work is full of stillness and beauty. the big circular mural is painted by hand with mud from the river avon. i could look at it for hours, so much texture.

thank you, marion!

p.s.: when i looked through the roll, i found that the close-ups are mostly pretty decent in focus, while the ones showing the bigger picture seem blurry. any idea why that might be? (or is it just my eyes going funny? this is all manual focus, after all.)

last weekend

2011-05-23T09:04:00.003+02:00

i'm very happy to report the garden is alive and very well. we have so much spinach, lettuce and rocket! i spent a lot of time there on saturday, loosening up the soil, planting and watering, i was limping around with sore muscles on sunday. oh, and i found a good way to cycle there, which takes me an hour each way.

also made some strawberry jam, and tried my hand at baking a simple white loaf from nigel slater's 'appetite'. it turned out huge, and quite pretty. have any of you tried his recipe for olive foccaccia?

what was your weekend like?

the garden

2011-05-21T10:05:00.005+02:00

well, the garden isn't really a garden, you know. it's the slither of a proper vegetable field that we're renting for one season. a friend had heard of that idea, and although i had my doubts at first, i jumped on the wagon. the field is huge. i don't even know how many other city romantics are trying their hand at gardening there (the locals must think we are slightly insane). but everybody is super friendly, and i've embraced this project, really enjoying it. the good thing about doing this with friends is that we can take it in turns to go and water the plants and take out the weeds, also we can share the crop. this will be really good once summer's here. last year we had weeks without rain and temperatures over 30°C. not a good idea then to not go and skip the watering because you're lazy (i'm talking about myself here, you see). so we'll see how that goes.

so far, we have pre-planted lettuce, rocket, spinach, red swiss chard, carrots, beets, potatoes etc. we also planted some more unusual plants like mizuna (a japanese plant similar to rocket), some pak choi and some broccoletto (tender broccoli stems that can be blanched or stir fried quickly). basically, it seems like we have too much of everything to eat it all, so will be giving some of the crop to friends and neighbours.

i'll be taking pictures throughout the season and post them here in a little garden series. hope you don't mind! otherwise, you know, just skip any posts titled 'garden'. easy, no?

happy weekend!

p.s.: can't wait for the plants, and particularly the flowers, to grow higher. it all looks much too 'tidy' for my liking just now. so grow, little plants!

seven things

2011-05-19T09:27:00.004+02:00

i've been asked to tell you seven things about myself a couple of times before, and it always makes me think and take stock a little. most recently i was tagged by elizabeth (of primoeza), and had written a post, all ready to go, when blogger had that glitch the other day. some of it was saved as a draft, but only a small part. now, even more has disappeared, so i might as well start over.

here's the latest edition of seven things then (thanks to elizabeth, and my other friends who recently tagged me to do this, i wish i had gotten round to it earlier.)

1 //
i've been through some difficult times recently, and i'm so glad to have friends who were most patient in listening when i had the umpteenth meltdown. (i'm much better now!)

2 //
i wouldn't have thought that a new hair cut can be such a catalyst. oh dear, i'm such a cliché.

3//
i love gardening even more than i thought. this weekend, i'm going to plant some more flowers (cosmos, delphinium, dahlias) and support the peas and beans with found sticks. (a little garden series is coming up!)

4//
i had forgotten how much i love going to the theatre and concerts. (thanks a million to sylee who heard about last-minute tickets for the sufjan stevens show, wohoo!)

5//
i hate testiness and sulking in people, and yet put up with it so often, wanting to please everybody. not anymore.

6//
i love making plans. and making them happen.

7//
i feel at a crossroads with my photography, at a point where i feel i'm caught in set ways. more and more often, i'm ever so bored with my own pictures. i don't know, what's next. but i'm curious.

feel free to play along if you like, and let us know in the comments if you do!

p.s.: these are two photos from my archives, taken with my praktica in 2009, in venice and at home.

may

2011-05-17T13:12:00.003+02:00

so far, may has been a good month. sunshine aplenty, but also rain (good for the garden!), time with friends, lots of laughter. also lots of work, which is why i am not posting as often as i would like. sometimes it's like that. how has your may been thus far?

p.s.: blogger still seems to have technical difficulties in restoring lost comments and old drafts. i have found the lost comments on the sandwich post though, which i have now added in the comments section under my name (couldn't work out another way). bon appétit, and thanks for all your super ideas! keep them coming, if you feel like it! also, i made some houmous the other day, so will try making a sandwich variation with it next time.

p.p.s.: my pinterest. say hello when you're around, and let me know if you would like an invite.

sandwich

2011-05-12T13:58:00.001+02:00

had a post all ready to go when blogger crashed on me this morning. don't know if i can piece it back together, some of it was saved, it seems. harumph.

anyway, in the meantime, perhaps you could help me out with your favourite sandwich ideas / recipes? i'd love to hear them!

p.s.: this weekend, a very dear friend will be in town and we'll have a big eurovision song contest extravaganza at a&m's house. there's nothing like a good dose of trash, enjoyed with friends! bring on the weird costumes and fire throwers on stage!

++ please note that previous comments are not showing due to a technical glitch. according to blogger they should be restored this weekend. ++

random

2011-05-08T23:23:00.003+02:00

overheard in the museum:

-- (woman walking past on heels) "you've seen those shoes there? they are really expensive. when they've got red soles, they are really expensive." -- "oh, like 100 euros?"

-- "excuse me, sir? which is the way to the cats?" -- "just past the stones and up the stairs." -- "thank you."
(which really means: where is the cory arcangel video of the piano playing cats? past beuys' the end of the 20th century.)

have a random and happy week!

almost summer

2011-05-04T14:55:00.005+02:00

when pascale came to berlin, she brought summer with her. it was late april and felt like june. we talked a lot, and many things we said still have me thinking. we had lunch at a place that officially had no bathroom, but really, what it did have, was a being-john-malkovich-closet, up some rickety-make-shift steps behind the fridge. surreal. guess whose mind i travelled into? whose would you have chosen?

some randomness:

just found out about the sufjan stevens concert in berlin this weekend. guess what: too late! all tickets gone. argh!
tonight, there is a documentary about susan sontag on arte. they usually stream the videos seven days after airing time here fo free (german or french). so check it out from tomorrow.
the garden (or should i say field) was officially opened last night. this morning it rained, which made me happy. see, it's already changing my perception.
in retrospect, i hope i didn't put off my vegetarian readers with my last post.

+++ CORRECTION: very sorry about a mix-up - the susan sontag documentary will be screened monday, 9 may at 22.05h! oops. +++

what i did last friday

2011-05-03T12:05:00.002+02:00

i'm very sorry if you're reading this while being very hungry. that's cruel. go and make yourself a sandwich, ok?

(if you really want to know what i did last friday, look here. all after the royal wedding, of course.)

two

2011-04-30T00:57:00.002+02:00

and here:
number two.

one

2011-04-30T00:51:00.002+02:00

have been playing with different angles and different degrees of abstraction - which of the two pairs do you like better? and why?

here we go:
number one.

be there

2011-04-27T08:28:00.005+02:00

looking back at my time at school and uni, what stays with me most as an untangible feeling of happiness is the ability to lose myself in a book, an article, some kind of paper, a project. the more time passes, the more electronic devices and media are around, the more i'm losing touch with that ability and let myself be torn in a million directions at once. equally, wholly analog things might tear me away from what i want to devote myself to. why the urge to quickly run an errand when there's a text to finish, why the twinge to check one's emails while with friends? too many reasons to list them all. and don't get me wrong, i like my days varied, a mixed bag of things, i'm not in favour of tunnel vision.

but i want to learn again to concentrate, to make time for one thing and lose myself in it. alain de botton wrote an interesting little piece on distraction. go and read, if this strikes a chord.

today is the day i'm starting. i'll be where i am.

morning!

2011-04-23T08:51:00.002+02:00

breakfast at a friend's, a while ago. always good to have a pirate's sabre around the house, no?

quick question: do any of you have good links for tutorials on tie-dye (preferably simple shibori, but doesn't have to be)? any suggestions very welcome!

p.s.: meeting pascale was just perfect. lots of talking, walking around, berliner weisse at prater beergarden, and some more talking. and you know what - i even got a little sun-burnt!

wishing you

2011-04-22T09:53:00.002+02:00

a perfect weekend, and if you're celebrating, a very happy easter!

have you seen this? stephanie's been "tie-dying" easter eggs. pretty.

the sugarsnaps and heirloom tomatoes are slowing sprouting on my window sill, the garden plot will officially be open for planting from 3rd may. can't wait.

(oh, and very much looking forward to meeting this traveller from marseille today!)

here and there

2011-04-20T13:11:00.004+02:00

today couldn't be sunnier and mellower, but the other day there was a big storm. the wind was pulling the trees' hair ever so strongly.

now a cup of tea and back to work.

(regarding my last post: thanks for bearing with me. you might be glad to know i've been calm and well-behaved since then.)

who am i

2011-04-19T09:59:00.002+02:00

yesterday i scared myself. had a small flare-up at a local shop, despite being quite good at taking the regular berlin rudeness in my stride. after leaving the shop with tears in my eyes i thought: what the heck is happening here? sometimes i just want to pack it all in and run away.

anyway, some lovely things hereabouts too, let's not forget:

friends having me over for seder night last night (my first one ever, it was quite wonderful)
all trees on my street turned green
enough work to feed me and the cat
light flickering through said leaves, into the living room and onto the desk

oh, and have you seen claire dollan featured on this joy and ride?

green

2011-04-17T09:26:00.004+02:00

i had a rare visitor: my mother was here for a few days. we did so many things, one of them was a visit to the berlin botanic gardens. we spent most of the time inside the glasshouses, even though the weather was glorious, but made up for it by having coffee outside on a bench in the sun. the garden itself is so big, we only ventured a little bit into it. next time, i'll go when it's overcast to take pictures of the asian pacific parts of the park. you should have seen the trees: they looked like ancient ink drawings.

what are your sunday plans? i'll have to work, but will also meet a. for coffee and maybe go to the fleamarket, let's see how it goes.

p.s.: what are your favourite fashion sites? i'm a bit bored with the sartorialist.

care

2011-04-14T10:08:00.003+02:00

do things because you care.

latest blog crush: miss moss.

perfection (or not)

2011-04-13T10:10:00.004+02:00

recently i've felt a fundamental change:
i've strived for perfection so many years,
and it was a burden.
now the imperfect appeals much more than the perfect.

changes

2011-04-11T21:19:00.003+02:00

the kitchen is still work in progress, but much changed already. couldn't have done it without e, who've helped me with countless renovations in the past. oh, and that elderflower jelly from the farmer's market on seelower strasse is amazing.

have a good week.

p.s.: the solomon r. guggenheim foundation has started a petition on change.org for the release of chinese artist ai weiwei, who has been detained by the chinese police since april 3, 2011. if you'd like to take a look and consider signing it, take a look here.

sunday morning

2011-04-10T09:14:00.003+02:00

a quiet sunday morning. looking through the takes of my last roll of film (two more waiting to be processed, can't wait!), and somehow stopping at these four above, taken at sgaminegg the other day. they seem so quiet. i'm not even sure it was. the place is always bustling with people, most of all on saturdays, when the little market is out front. i love to have places and people who are just there, quietly, to fall back on them anytime.

how is your weekend?

ticking boxes

2011-04-06T23:07:00.003+02:00

so much done recently:

projects finished
kitchen redecorated
time spent with friends
coffee and chats
hair cut (a lot)

and you?

p.s.: thank you, so much, for all your lovely comments.

**

2011-04-03T10:07:00.003+02:00

easing back into things. i have missed you.

**
a love lost. the trouble is, just about everything i can think of sounds like a bad cliché. so less words, more pictures. slide is a good way to start.