AN EMPTY HEAD

Today I just feel like cat Arthur (above) only there is no room for me to sleep on my laptop. It is the first time after 1 year and 7 months of blogging that I run out of inspiration ! It must be the weather. First it looked like spring and everybody got hope that the rainy winter was finally over but of course it started raining again and cats and dogs are falling on our house and garden !








So I leave you with some spring cartoons which made me smile and my party pictures for the Photo Hunters.

FRIDAY FEAST

Appetizer

Who was the last person you hugged?
My neighbor when I said good night to her (and not to him !) yesterday late evening. We had been together in the Theatre.

Soup

Share a beauty or grooming trick or tip with us.
Cucumber slices on your eyes. Rinsing your hair with beer, gives it strength and makes it shiny.

Salad

What does the color yellow make you think of?
Sunshine, light, flowers and my car, its color is yellow !

Main Course

If you were to make your living as a photographer, what subject would your pictures revolve around? What a question ! Cats of course !!


Dessert

What was the longest book you ever read?
I think it was "Gone with the Wind" but I didn't mesure it.

SHOW & TELL

Other participants at Kelly Show and tell Friday

I have a few other items of my cat collection to show you this Friday.




These cats I got from an American friend when I was staying in Madison/Wisc. with my aunt and uncle. One says "Husband and Cat missing - Reward for Cat" and the other says "If you hate cats you must have been a rat in your former life".



A cute blue ceramic cat I received from friends in London





In my kitchen too I am watched by different cats but I don't remember who gave them to me.

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

13 Quotes about "Communication"

1. What is the shortest word in the English language that contains the letters: abcdef? Answer: feedback. Don't forget that feedback is one of the essential elements of good communication.

2. The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.

3. Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know

4. When all other means of communication fail, try words

5. What is the shortest word in the English language that contains the letters: abcdef? Answer: feedback. Don't forget that feedback is one of the essential elements of good communication.

6. Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.

7. "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?

8. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

9. Great Britain and the United States are nations separated by a common language.

10. Communication is depositing a part of yourself in another person.

11. Men and women belong to different species and communications between them is still in its infancy.

12. Words should be used as tools of communication and not as a substitute for action

13. “The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Last week some liked it "fat" what about this ?

COMPILED NEWS

Starlet Lindsay Lohan got the Golden Raspberry Award as the worst actress in "I know who killed me" a movie which also got the title of the worst movie of the year ! At least she got an award to allow her to be in the Newspaper ! I have got many awards, especially here, but have never been in a Newspaper ! That's not right !



French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Saturday that he will ask the UNESCO to recognize the French Gastronomy as cultural heritage because according to him it is the best in the world.
I really wonder why his parents haven't called him "Modest" instead of Nicolas.



Sarkozy outburst at farming fair
A man at the Salon International de l'Agriculture refused to shake the president's hand. The man drew back and said : "Oh no, don't touch me, you'll dirty me."
Mr Sarkozy snaps: "Get lost then you bloody idiot, just get lost!" to put it in a mild English translation. Now he takes himself for Prince Philip, the Queen's husband he too always shows his good education. Unfortunately he wasn't born to be a Prince but only a President.



A japonise professor has invented a machine to mesure laughter. This machine allows to detect if you really laugh or if you laugh cynically or mockingly. Some countries (if not all) should buy this machine to test their politicians ! Then we all would know the truth !





The Venice Gondoliers unemployed
Due to the exceptional low tied on sunday the canals were almost dry and the Venice Gondols were forced to stay in their emplacements. What a catastrophe ! The poor honeymooners !


Elections between Hitler and Frankenstein
The choice seems to be bizarre, even impossible, but there is really an election between Hitler, real name Adolf Lu Hitler-Marak, and Frankenstein Momin in the little State of Meghalaya, north-east of India. Both men pointed out that their parents didn't know who these persons were and only choose the names because they liked them. The election will take place on march 3. What do you think who will be elected ??

In Belgium a woman was murdered in a house standing exactly on the borderline with the Netherlands. When the body was discovered an official survey had to come first to determine the borderline running through the house. While the living room was located in Belgium the bedroom was in the Netherlands. As the body was found in the bedroom the dutch police was charged with the investigation. A typical case for CSI (the dutch one of course !)

MANIC MONDAY - EXPLOSIVE

MANIC MONDAY LINK

When I was 14 or 15 I was with my parents in Austria at the Lake Wörth during summer holidays.


Lake Wörth

I had been there already once the year before and it had been very nice because for the first time I was allowed to go out dancing ! It was in this little village where everybody knew everybody even amongst the families who spend their holidays here.

One evening I met a boy who was 2 years older then I and he was a wonderful Rock 'n Roll dancer. When we found out that we danced so very well together, we did it all the time and had a lot of success and applause.

The next day however, when I met my dancing partner at the beach, my eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw him in his bathing suit ! He walked with crutches and had only one leg !! He must have been used to such reactions like mine because he came over to me grinned and explained me why he was already an invalid at 17 !

He was born during World War II in 1941 and when the war was over he was 4. He lived in Berlin which was completely destroyed and in ruins and did what all kids did at that time, they played in the destroyed houses. Ruins were such an interesting playground ! I too loved to play in there. We found a lot of treasures, like toys or plates or other things which had belonged to the former owners, probably killed. Of course it was dangerous to play in there and our parents had told us to keep away. But as all children we knew everything better and didn't listen. So the boy then 6 and his sister 8 went playing in a ruin nearby where they lived. Suddenly there was a big explosion. they had walked on some explosive which went of and blew off his leg just under the knee and his sisters left arm ! From this day on he had to wear a prosthesis.

And I hadn't stated anything abnormal when he walked and danced like all the others and I really admired him for that. Useless to say, the same evening we danced together again !

FUN MONDAY

Mariposa asks us for this week's Fun Monday to tell how the NAME of our BLOG was made and also our favorite but most common dish.

The name of my blog came out from alone. When I started surfing on Internet one and a half year ago and discovered forums, chat rooms and finally blogs I immediately thought that's something for me ! I must have one ! Since my teen age years I loved to write and always had a diary but of course nobody could read me, it was written in exercise books or whatever and that was it.

So when I found out how to create and make up a blog I thought now I will write and write and write until I get writer's cramps ! And the name of my blog was born !






I don't really have ONE favourite dish, I have several or it changes by periods. The one which comes in my mind right now is Tagliatelle alla Carbonara.

Tagliatelle is the classic pasta of the Emilia-Romagna a region of Italy. Individually, they are long, flat ribbons, about 0.65cm to 1cm (0.25 to 0.375 inches) wide.

The Carbonara consists of eggs, parmigiano cheese, and pancetta bacon strips. It is very easy to prepare. The eggs are added to the sauce raw, and cook with the heat of the pasta itself while you add the roasted pancetta strips and the cheese.

BELGIUM and it's languages

I invite you to come with me for A visit to Manneken Pis in Brussels




This little red spot on the Europe map is Belgium


and so looks a close up. If you drive about 200 km(124 miles) to 250 km(155) to South, North, East or West you arrive at a border. France, Holland, Germany and Luxembourg.

This little country is devided into three regions,

Flemish speaking part (Flanders) French speaking part (Wallonia) and the little red spot is Brussels, where both languages are spoken.

Of course both parts have a regional government. That leads sometimes to quite funny situations.

If there is smog the highway speed is reduced to 90 km/h. If you don't respect it you get a fine of € 40 in Flanders but only a warning in Wallonia. Concretely it would look like this for me :

15 km Waterloo - Brussels = 5 min high speed, 5 min at 90km 10 min high speed and this way I could drive through the whole country.

The weather too is different. I am living at the border between Flanders and Wallonia. After our garden we are in Flanders. When I listen to the french speaking weatherman, he would say (for example) it is 10 ° and sunshine. I listen to the flemish speaking weatherman and there it is 11° and cloudy. I look out of my garden and it's 14° and it rains even after the "border". This is really quite strange.

There are a lot of other absurd linguistic things. If you live in the french part of the country and want to send your child to a flemish school to become bilingual (that's what the politicians praise every day) you are not allowed. The school is only for children living in this town.

The traffic signs for city names are also very difficult especially for tourists. If you want to drive to the walloonish city Mons, in the flemish part it is named Bergen or Lille (France) becomes Rijsel ! How can a poor stranger find his way ??

When I go to Antwerpen which is a flemish town, I speak english or german but not french because I don't want to meet some fanatic flemish who pretends he can't speak french. But it has also happened to me that some of them ask " do you speak french ?"

I only hope the next generation will be more intelligent !