Alright

I couldn't have said it any better. Thanks André Jordan at A Beautiful revolution.

An easy Monday-afternoon in Brussels

On the way to school :
metro-line closed due to an armed robbery of a jewellery store, one man killed
Arriving at school:
area closed down because a gang of youngsters attacked the police station
On the way home:
metro-lines closed because they found two suspicious suitcases in the station.

No people, this is not Harlem or the Bronx. This is just downtown Brussels. Our mayor calls this “things that just happen in a city”. Cheers.

Shall I compare thee....or just kill you?

Res’ post on “amore” got me thinking about love as well.
Love, in my opinion, is cruel. I mean, think about it. Romeo and Juliet: wouldn’t they’ve been far happier if they’d never known each other? Hell, they probably wouldn’t have died if they hadn’t known each other! Their lives would’ve been saved without love!

Whenever love tends to hurt/kill me, I take cover. I build a huge medieval city wall all around myself, I hire a 21st century army to defend my heart, and I cut all communication lines. It’s called “survival strategy”. Sure, I’ve tried attacking first, or simply engaging in battle. Always to find myself mortally injured and on the loosing side. ‘Cause let’s face it: the one who has your love, has your weakness – and therefore the greatest force to hurt you.

So dear readers, you are warned : if I ever write a book about love, it will be a bloody affair. Think American Psycho Killer meets Romeo& Juliet. Bound to be a bestseller.

The five stages

1.Denial – "Everything’s just fine. It’s just not happening."
I seem to love this one at the moment. In fact, I seem to love it that much that I literally do the ostrich-trick, and stick my head in the sand. You see? I’m not really here. In fact, I live on another planet in another galaxy.

2.Anger – "Why (not) me? It's not fair! Who is to blame?"
"Once in the second stage, the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue. Because of anger, the person is very difficult to care for due to misplaced feelings of rage and envy."
“Misplaced feelings”?? Ok, who are you? ‘cause I’m about to kill you right now. My feelings are anything BUT misplaced, lady.

3.Bargaining –"I will give my life savings if..."Bargaining?
No, really – not in my dictionary. I’m skipping this stage.

4.Depression – "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"
"It is not recommended to attempt to cheer up an individual who is in this stage"
You hear that, dear friends? Don’t tell me everything’s going to be “just fine”. It won’t. Don’t try to be “light” about it either.

5.Acceptance – "It's going to be okay. I can't fight it, I may as well prepare for it."
Ha. Haha. Indeed, I can't fight it. But it's not going to be okay.


So, sorry for the rather weird post, dear readers. But, if I would be open and honest about everything once more, P would probably freak out again (it's sooo time for the Secret N-files). No, it's not about wanting a baby this time, it's about something completely different - although probably as life-changing. For the moment I'm mostly stuck in denial and anger, with a twist of depression. And strangely, a lot of acceptance as well. Although I would rather call it "throwing in the towel and giving up".

Cheers!

Well, what can I say? It’s Friday evening after an insane week, and the sun is shining like summer is about to begin. I went to the Italian deli right after work, and came home with a delicious supply of wine, cheese and fine meat. I put on my sunglasses, opened the bottle of red, cut the cheese and the meat, broke off a piece of bread, and installed myself on the sunny deck. By now, the bottle is somehow half empty (or half full), and I’m feeling kind of tipsy. Life’s good. I’m happy. Let’s have another glass :-). Haha to all of you who are breast feeding or pregnant and can’t have it. You don’t know what you’re missing (sorry, that was just N’s little dark side making a surprise appearance).

From :-( to :-)

I dragged myself to work this morning after a very long Easter weekend. I just couldn’t wake up after three almost sleepless nights in a very beautiful, fancy hotel bed in Munich, and after a sick night back in Brussels. My students managed to cheer me up.
Student 1 spent the better part of the weekend with her husband in the Emergency Room of the hospital. Student 2 just came back from a funeral in France, only had 3 hours of sleep, and spilled his morning coffee all over the table. Student 3 was late, because she had to go to hospital for a blood test this morning. And student 4 was waiting for news from his son, who was in hospital getting ready to have surgery. I wanted to cheer them up with the lesson I had planned around songs about spring (on YouTube), but....internet was completely down. The lesson started with the five of us laughing our heads of with each others’ misery.
Sometimes all you need to smile is another grumpy face :-) .

Therapy

I've got different kinds of therapy. One is to crawl in bed, and listen to iBooks until I fall asleep. Another one is to soak in bath until I'm all pruny. Or I go online, and I look for pictures of cute animals (thank you, Cute Overload). Or I go to interior design sites to get ideas for my dream house. This room would do right now. A bit girlie, but not too. A TV. Nice bed. Beam me up, Scotty.