For all you sourpusses out there, here's something to make you smile...

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MzeoSIMb8Q[/url]

At the same time, it's a bit creepy, lol.

We're going to the Lake District in September, looking forward to it already I need to get my ass in shape though for those hikes...

A little preview:

I'm doing WORK at the moment, to avoid being rushed off my feet the next few days. Not too fun, but I put on some music. I downloaded some Cd's by Lacuna Coil (I had only listened to one, "Karma Code" and sweet jesus, it is so awesome. See, I said "sweet jesus" and I don't have a religious bone in my body, so it MUST be great music

Yesterday I watched Footloose on TV, for the third time. I actually love dance movies, they make me want to dance myself. People who know me would be surprised, as I never dance at parties. I don't feel I have "good moves", I only feel comfortable doing dances where there are certain rules and steps, not the improvised dancing that's usually done at parties. I guess I'm too uptight and unable to "let go", but in the privacy of my own home I do sometimes dance across the room. Somewhere in the future, I'd love to do dance classes, such as ballroom dancing (Strictly Come Dancing is absolutely fabulous). Not with boyfriend though, he has two left feet AND no sense of rhythm

And today I watched several episodes of Master Chef. I absolutely love cooking, and I love eating. But I feel lacking in skill, as I really don't know any basic cooking skills, I just love putting ingredients together (sometimes odd combinations) and trying new things. I love buying vegetables in the supermarket just to experiment, without even knowing what they are or what they taste like. Cooking classes would be cool, somewhere in the future when I have some more time and money...

And my last dream... singing lessons... Having lived in an apartment the past four years, with terrible acoustics (I could hear the neighbor's cell phone rattling on his night stand when it was on vibrate) I've gone without singing for way too long. I used to crank up the music and sing along for dear life. Only after not being able to do that did I realise what a great way it is to relieve tension and frustration. I'd love to live up to my full (singing) potential and learn singing and breathing techniques to better use my voice.

From my old French lit professor:
"Ton français est devenu d'une aisance admirable" ("Your French has become admirably fluent"
From a francophone professor who is very difficult to impress, a big compliment.

From a co-worker who works "under" me on my project:
"Really? You're 26? I would have thought older. Not because of your physical appearance, but because of your competences. [...] You should be proud of yourself."

My mother complains that my father and her haven't been on holiday for years, because they don't have the money. And yet she just spent 700 (!) euros on pots and pans. Don't complain about a lack of money, complain about a lack of priorities, between the pots and pans and the chain smoking, she could have saved up a tidy sum for a trip abroad...

Because that's the only reason I can think of that more and more clothes have the warning: "Keep away from fire". And it's usually on pyjamas and underwear. Geez, I guess that means I won't be roasting my underwear-clad self over a barbecue, such a disappointment...

Today we bought a new dishwasher to replace the old one, and a very large freezer for in the garage (the built in freezer in the kitchen is tiny). 1500 euros less on our bank account... It's scary how fast money can disappear, I'm seriously wondering how we're going to pay the renovation on our roof at the end of the year... No more big purchases anymore, at least not till 2010!

Today a seafood risotto was on the menu. As I'm laying out my ingredients, I notice that I forgot the white wine. I ask boyfriend to quickly go to the shop and get some. When he comes back I ask him to open the bottle, while I fry the onions and mushrooms and stir in the rice. At this precise moment I am supposed to pour out a quantity of white wine and add it to the mixture. Lo and behold, what do I see when I pour out the wine? It's red wine! *sigh* I don't know what you would do, but I had a serious little rant... I ended up making the risotto with beer, original combination with shrimp

Hilde Rens, also know under her artist name Yasmine, Belgian singer and TV presenter, and one of the first female TV personalities in Belgium to be openly gay, took her own life today, at the age of 37. She had gone from relationship to relationship, till in 2003 she found what she called the love of her life. In April 2009 she got divorced from her wife, and appeared on television a lot thinner and looking broken. Everyone is shocked at her death, even though it was clear that she wasn't doing well.

[img]http://www.davidsfonds.be/editionauthor/photos/detail/Yasmine.jpg[/img]

Here she is singing a beautiful duet with a famous Dutch singer, a cover of a Leonard Cohen song:
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B39rRjSA9yo[/url]

R.I.P.