Love Lowe

Have a few seconds to write an entry - and surely I will. Otherwise you'd have to wait to hear about Lowe. On Wednesday I got their CD Kino International into my hands - straight from the horse's mouth - and not knowing at all what to expect - I was very positively surprised.

Being a huge Depeche Mode fan for about 20 years, I never thought I'd hear anything that would reach that same level of incredibly well made electronic punk/pop. Well, Lowe actually does, and listening to the album makes me feel a bit like having a new Depeche Mode cd in my hands, and that it's better than those before. WOW!

Leo's voice fits the sounds like a glove and I feel within time it'll give even more depth to the package. I cannot say how psyched I am by having this newcomer in my collection of extraordinary music. After having the possibility to talk to Leo Josefsson as well as Richard Gunnarsson, I get the feeling these guys won't stop before they have the whole world at their feet. Modestly put.

The hat

It is amazing how many beautiful things my grandmother has had! A true woman of style! The latest finding that found its way into my collection of vintage items is a felt hat in camel colour, with a brown band and a rolled felt button. Judging by the shape I would say from the 1960's. It's beautiful and it will serve as an autumn hat quite well.



It's all in the detail!



Then - after using the rubber boots through rainy days, a new pair came up, a pair of high-heeled overshoes, yes, that's correct. Hollow inside to fit high-heels in double. Extraordinary! That is a pair that seems quite old and judging by the look of them and after some comparison with a museum site, I'd say 1950.



And yes, It's all in the detail:

Some bloom over night

My chili woke me up in bloom this autumn morning!

You can sell your time

I need to post a link to all of you, leading to an interview with one of my favourite writers, Paulo Coelho, at the Frankfurt book fair. It's always enjoyable to hear Coelho speak about the philosophy that is put forward in all of his books, and this exclusive interview is worth spending some 23 minutes on.
You can sell your time, but you can't buy it back, said Coelho, and I encourage you to INVEST your time in this one.

Gut feeling and choices

Is trusting your gut feeling and intuition a good idea when making choices? I've started to wonder. I've had to make a great deal of choices lately when deciding on what I want from life and particularly from work. Always going with my gut feeling has been a way of living so far, and it's only lately that I've started to second guess it.

My brother, who I love dearly, told me when asking his thoughts about it: Always trust your intuition and gut feeling. It might be wrong, but what's important is that it came from somewhere. Gut feelings don't come in vain.

I'd like to believe he's right (as big brothers are supposed to be), but still I'm wondering.

Here's the case: Going with your intuition might not take you where you thought you were going - however - you never know what you avoided by making that decision. We'll never know what would have happened going in the other direction, right?

I'd also like to believe that our intuition is what we might call our true self. My intuition = the real me. All people should follow their own path, create their own pattern of footprints in the sand of the beach we call life. Following our gut feeling and our intuition would in that case mean expressing our true self by following our heart. The print might be a winding path and I guess it scarcely ever will be a straight line, but the important thing is that the direction is the right one. We might as well enjoy the new things we see along the road, even when we are taking different roads than the ones we'd marked on the map. We might learn a thing or two on the way.

The wedding dress

Last night I bought a wedding dress - without a wedding to come. I remember the dream vividly, but more than anything, I remember the dress. It was dark violet to its colour, and it was filled with flowers. The hem was a green lace and partially ripped. It didn't bother me, I could easily fix it, I said.

Buying the dress made me very happy, but bringing it home gave me the thought of what if it'll ruin the whole thing, buying a wedding dress before having even a groom?

Ben meets Rasmus

Yesterday the post office made me happy and delivered two cd's I've been waiting for.

1. Ben Harper & the Innocent criminal's Lifeline
2. The Rasmus' Black Roses

Well - nobody can blame me for having a restricted taste in music. I am well aware of how totally different these two albums are. And in their differences they seem to give me an equal amount of joy and pleasure.

Ben Harper was a nice time machine, taking me back to London, July 2nd this year. It was my first encounter with Ben & the Innocent criminals, hopefully not the last. The title song is an obvious choice as a favourite tune, as Fight outta you, but I must say the whole album creates a mood and a setting that I enjoy very much.

The Rasmus - I'd just read a critic say that the Rasmus kind of lost it to doing the same thing over and over again. Maybe so - but for me, they are doing the thing I love over and over again. It is no brain surgery, that's for sure, but it still has some very valuable sides to it. The album is produced by Desmond Child, which is noticeable. Favourites? Living in a world without you, Your forgiveness - both of those, according to me, the core of what the Rasmus is.

A stranger made me feel

A stranger made me feel
What I always looked for in you
I was worthy
- of your love
That's what a stranger made me feel

After so many times
of opening my heart
of pouring out my love
to anyone passing by
just to feel
- alive.

After so many years
of waiting for this life
to take its course and remain true
to where ever it'd lead
- even if it wasn't to you.

Then along came this stranger
that took me by the hand
Made me feel all of what my heart 'd
been lacking
Made me understand.

Now I've taken
so many turns
I've started to forget
What makes me hurt.

I guess it's a good thing
Or then I'm just growing numb
From always loving so much
Waiting for that one refund.

So much love I gained in my life
I never laid out as much.
I've made investments that have paid
More gold than I ever thought to touch.

So is this feeling of emptiness
Just a sign of my selfishness
Never getting enough,
Always wishing for more?

I'd better start loving someone more sure.

Saturday quote

"[..] he saw the look of despair in her eyes and understood that she, too, had had to face the profound absurdity of the human condition. For that, if for no other reason, he would have loved her. But he had other reasons too."
The Enchantress of Florence

Happy 100 Boots

It's a Happy Hundred day at Nihil Declaro - Nothing to declare. It started out with some Pablo Neruda (are there any other ways?) and today, a hundred entries later we are stopping at rubber boots.

It was a good day yesterday, I had been waiting for rain for two weeks, and finally there was something that could be called some kind of rain.

Why on earth am I, who love being in the sun, waiting for rain? Well, that all started when I found my grandmother's old high healed NOKIA rubber boots. They were literally screaming my name! Sadly I don't know from what year they are. That's my new quest.

And yesterday that's what I wore, bicycling through the city on my way to work, hoping everybody would see the treasure I was wearing.