WRITER'S CRAMPS

2007-06-12T07:20:00.002+01:00

THIS BLOG IS CLOSED But here is the continuation

WRITER CRAMPS

2007-05-13T23:50:00.004+01:00

Pookie is very angry about Blogger and prefers not to show her very upset face ! She is not amused !

But here is

WRITER CRAMPS with sidebar ! last clean up and pay the cleaners a drink and it's

THE END

but not the end of writer cramps

@#!$# I QUIT !

2007-05-13T07:33:00.000+01:00

This is Pookie my support, helping actively to solve my problems !

You have probably noticed that I am without sidebar. Not me, but my blog. It's not even hanging down, it just has disappeared. The worst is, that it has disappeared in my blog insides too, there is nothing in "add elements" besides "about me" and there is nothing to add, or "archives".

I wrote to Bloogle Glogger help group. Nothing happened. All these savant men apparently were also stumped. Finally I wrote a mail to Rat who is quite a specialist and for once he couldn't help me either and suggested to write to Blogger itself. That's what I did and very polite, although it itched in my fingers to write "repair my @<%¨§@ page elements and before yesterday &@#% !!

What happened ? Nothing ! Not even a standard Robot answer which you probably know so well too :

"Thanks for contacting Blogger Support. Since we cannot always respond personally to every message we get, we encourage you to check Blogger Help, where you can find answers to many common questions. Here are some of the top articles which could help you out:"

Addresses of the top articles in question? None of them spoke about missing "page elements". As usual I must be an exception and the first "strange" case in ex Blogger Beta.

Now I have sent already 5 mails with the same message always pointing out that I tried everything : cleared cash, rebooted, switched from IE to Firefox, republished, locked in again (doesn't work with IE anymore on none of my blogs)I even tried to change the template without any result, the HTML Java script button is still missing.

Deadly silence so far. I already had once a similar problem with my sidebar but only hanging down. As a complete newbee I had also asked Blogger for help and wrote this post :

"I have sent a mail to Blogger Help . Now answer. Without any patience as usual 2 h later I sent again a message to Blogger' highness submitting again my problem. 5 min later I GOT A MESSAGE ! I red it : see above.

Same text. I got angry and told Pookie my personal cat who slept on my bed, war is declared now ! Pookie opened an eye and agreed. That's nice she always agrees with me. I think it's much better complaining to a cat then talking to walls, that looks kind of stupid. So I autoreplied too with the same text and suggested on my mail to wake up because it's already late afternoon. Nothing happened.

I wrote to Blogger god again, adding that I would NOW really like an answer ! and .... I got it! 5 min later ! and from his highness himself, amazing ! I opened the mail and ..... see above.

I informed Pookie that they use a computer robot always with the same text. I mean at least they could change a little bit i.e. instead of "encourage you" "suggest you" that would already make a difference, no ? Pookie agreed, this time without opening an eye, just a movement of her tailtop. I decided to be amused. I sent a reply again, this time in red with bold and font 20 and suggested to switch off the Robot and answer personally. No answer. I filled in again the email form of Blogger support and suggested them a staff increase. And oh yes ! I got an answer : see above.

I asked Pookie what to do now. Pookie agreed. So every hour I filled in Bloggers support mail form and thought about the face the Blogger guy would make when finally he had to check the mails, because one day they will have to clean it I suppose. This will be my revenge ! and then maybe I will get an answer ! Never give up hope ! Meanwhile I continue. It became a habit. Each time I am at my computer I send a message. I prepared several texts ! Naaa. I said to Pookie still on my bed, I will do this until I get an answer ! She probably said, yes, do so, but I couldn't see it well.

This morning when I looked again for help in Google Blogger help group, amongst hundreds of complaints and requests, I noticed one. It was a priest who blogged and even HE had a problem. That was a sign from heaven, I informed Pookie, still on my bed. I opened his blog and read :

"You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities."

This was a sign!! It WAS help !!! But as a protestant I don't have any rosary. Where could I get one from ? but then ? I don't know how to use it. I asked Pookie, she didn't know either. My catholic husband send me to hell. So maybe during the day I will ask my neighbor for one, she surely has one she is catholic as all belgians. As a protestant I am rather considered as a "Jehova witness". Only I don't go from door to door in flat shoes, long skirts and ombrella looking grey. It happens to me to go from door to door looking for my cat Arthur, yes, that I do. But I surely don't look grey.

In my despair for any help I just looked at "next blog", and there it was .....!! another sign ! It was a black blog and the text all in little squares. I tried to read it, but it was chinese. So maybe I should write to Blogger in little squares ? Then the robot wouldn't catch the message and a human has to reply ! That is an idea. I asked Pookie, she agreed ! "

Today is my 250 post ! and therefore I close. I can live without love but not without sidebar. I made a new blog. Just the same, I only dropped the "s" in Writer and of course had to change the link into : http://gattinawritercramps.blogspot. com/ Isn't that clever ? Now at least I have a sidebar and can sleep peacefully again. And Blogger and his Bloogle Glogger help group can all go to hell and be cooked by the devil himself ! @€§#% !!

....AND ANOTHER SICILIAN STORY

2007-05-12T08:41:00.000+01:00

"Five" pictures are here

The Godmother

My unvolontary imprisonment got more and more on my nerves. The fact not being able to go out alone in Messina I just couldn't get used too and complained. Finally we moved over outside Messina to a just wonderful place. It belonged to a "Professore"(everybody who could read and write at this time in Sicily was immediately promoted to Professore or Dottore) This man was old, at least 50 ! but for a young girl of 23 it really was. I was told that he was a famous poet and writer. He had a face like an eagle, burning eyes and thick grey hair. It's strange that after so many years I still can remember this face.

A lot of strange things happened in and around the house, but I didn't notice it at all, everything seemed normal to me. It's only long time later, when I knew a little more about the famous Mafia that I wondered if I hadn't been just in their middle without knowing it.

The house was flat and quite big with a huge patio. The view was just beautiful over Messina to the sea. It was surrounded by Olive trees which grew on large terraces up the hill. The whole property was very big and surrounded by a wall. I didn't like walls, and it was the only thing I wondered about. That every car which wanted to go through a big gate was controlled by a big guy, or that in the middle of the night men arrived making such a noise that I woke up, I didn't find strange. Anyway I was in love and love makes blind.

A completely black dressed old women scurried through the house and did everything. She was the only female person around. When I tried to ask her something other then what I needed, she looked at me with a shy glance and disappeared without any answer. I asked FL (first love) about this and other things I had noticed and found unusual, but for an answer I only got a laugh, a kiss and "don't bother". I didn't think more about it and enjoyed good food, sunshine and the sea. There was a private beach too.

One late evening men arrived and I heard agitated voices. FL got up and disappeared. Of course I got curious and wanted to know what happened. As an answer I was pushed back in the room and locked in ! That made me crazy, never ever in my whole life somebody had dared to lock me in ! I screamed, shouted and drummed with my hands against the door, without success. Nobody bothered about me, not even FL ! In my rage I took the first thing coming across my way, which was a heavy cupper thing, I don't remember what and smashed it against the window which was open but had thick stores. The stores went open and I could see moon and a lot of stars on the dark blue sky. These dark moonlight skies I remember for ever, they were so beautiful. Inspite of this noise, nobody came. I still boilt with rage and climbed out of the window, ran over in the dark night to sit down under olive trees. There I cried waterfalls of rage. Calming down a little, I started breeding my revenge. He had dared to lock me in !! and in my innocent mind, I decided to walk along the beach to the city and have a drink somewhere. I really was crazy.

After a while still only seeing closed and dark houses I wondered what to do now. Again without thinking I knocked on a door. The word danger or dangerous wasn't part of my vocabulary and fear neither. Finally a man opened the door and when he saw me he starred at me as if I were a ghost and called his wife. She took me in and was so kind an friendly and gave me wine (which I badly needed) and then their 3 children also came and looked at me, the stranger from another world.

What followed afterwards I can only guess. After maybe half an hour FL showed up with 3 other men, who looked quite unfriendly and of course he was angry with me. But not as much as I was with him ! so we screamed and shouted at each other, while the others were standing around. Finally I agreed to go back with them anyway I had no other choice and I think I remember seeing him giving some money to this family. Years later I understood that anyway this family or even single men wouldn't have dared to harm me. Professore the peaceful poet and writer was maybe not what he pretended to be.

A MEME OR AN INTERVIEW ?

2007-05-11T08:57:00.000+01:00

Memes ???? what's that ???

Friday Feast must be delayed !

Kuanyin "tagged" me !! She dared ! Usually I don't like "tagging" I can see some on the wall of our train station, but I thought to just consider it as an interview and make an exception.

1. What do you hope to accomplish with your blog

A miracle ! A get together of the whole world ! (my second name is Modesty)

2. Are you a spiritual person?

Oh yes ! ! Deep sigh, closing eyes, 5 sec, opening eyes wide, illuminated look to the crumbly sealing...... smiling misteriously. (try to do the same)

my dearest wish is to become a blog myth ! With a 1 m long sidebar of AWARDS !

3. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you want to have with you?

my laptop, Internet and a dictionary and (Pookie of course) to kill the time until somebody finally shows up and comes to rescue me

4. What's your favorite childhood memory?

When I could get on the nerves of all people around me and drive them crazy !

5. Is this your first meme?

Oh yes ! I am a very shy person and don't want to divulge my interior thinkings.

Ah ! (waking up) is that all ?? Then I leave, I have memes to do ! 100 questions ! No time to blog anymore !

FRIDAY FEAST Catering service is repaired at now 4.30 pm ! Hope you are still hungry ! Here is the Menu

Appetizer Tell about a time when you had to be brave.

All the time ! since I am married for 38 years and it still continues !

Soup Which upcoming movie are you excited about seeing?

Salad Name an item you try to always have on hand.

My cigarettes ! and please be free to tell my that smoking is not healthy I know (my father already gave it up on me because I knew everything better) But don't write waterfalls in my comments !

Main Course Imagine the most relaxing room you can think of. Now describe it!

One with a nice big jazzy in pink (!) with flowers around me and a Magnum bottle of champagne !

Dessert On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being highest), how spiritual or religious are you?

Ouf ! 1 % perhaps ? see above my interview

AN ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK - TT

2007-05-10T07:19:00.000+01:00

Thirteen different meanings !

Pookie is exhausted, she studied the difference between American and Oxford English meowing

When an English-English speaking person comes to the States how should he know that :

1. he doesn't go to a toilet but has to rest in a restroom ? Even when it's urgent !

2. he doesn't eat a biscuit but a cookie and doesn't even get an indigestion because he thought it was something for the computer

3. he is not a chap anymore but a guy and is afraid of wrong prononciation "gay".

4. he has not a booth in his car but a trunk and thinks he now has a corpse in his booth.

5. he doesn't drive in a lorry but in truck

6. he doesn't have a bonnet at his car but a hood. Wasn't that a bonnet to wear ?

7. he doesn't sit in a garden but in a yard and askes himself if it is bigger then a meter ?

8. he hasn't a pushchair to push but a stroller and what does a stroller then walking around and looking at girls ?

9. He is not in a lift but in an elevator. Fortunately both went up and down and didn't get stuck

10. He has no wardrobe anymore but a closet and wonders why he should put his clothes in a toilet or restroom

11. he doesn't get post anymore but mail and wonders why the postman rings twice and not the mailman ?

12. he isn't wearing trousers but pants and askes himself what he should put under his pants ?

13. He doesn't watch a film but a movie and his chair is not moving

Poor poor Englishman in New York !

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-05-09T19:08:00.000+01:00

Pookie is happy that she didn't adopt puppies !

A HAM PARTY

2007-05-08T07:31:00.000+01:00

Sorry my sidebar has disappeared not only on my blog but also in Bloogle-Gloggers "page elements" ! Has anybody had a similar problem ? I can't add anything in my sidebar, it's just not there anymore.

Pookie also had to laugh !

My son's best buddy was a little American boy who also was in his Kindergarten, they both were 3 or 4. The boy's grandpa was an american officer who worked at the NATO here in Brussels.

Little Patrick was the souvenir of Spanish holidays his mother had brought back, hidden in her belly. So his grandpa was his Dad. Patrick really looked like a mini Torreador, black curly hairs, burning black eyes and a temper like a volcano. I think it must have been hard for her to have this living souvenir running around in the house. I didn't have a lot of contact to her, she was a rather mousy person, completely overwhelmed by her very temperamental mother and the little son. Anne, my friend (the grandma) had married her American officer just after the liberation of France. She was french and came from Normandy.

Anne's house was open to everybody and very often looked like a dovecote. It was very big, and the main room where everybody popped in was the kitchen. It was huge ! At the big table at least 14 people could sit easily. Despite the bigness, the kitchen was a very cosy place.

One day we were invited to a little feast, because the eldest son who was also in the army but in Frankfurt (Germany) had brought a big ham from there. It was almost the whole pig leg ! As Mr. Gattino was working I went there with my little son.

I had a nice (very) short dress with the skirt full of flounces and high over the knees boots. That was very fashionable at the time. Grandpa stand in the kitchen and cut big slices of ham and everybody took its plate put a slice on and then sat in the very big living room with a nice open fire lit.

At one moment I had to go for little girls (which means the toilet). When I came back, keeping myself very straight and very proud of my new dress, people started to laugh behind me, so I turned around to see why they were laughing so hard. But when I had turned other people started to laugh too and again behind me. I really wondered what I had missed. And while I turned and turned to get at least one of these apparently so funny conversations, Anne still laughing came over to me and told me that my (short) skirt was jammed in my pants. The view they all had must have been quite special with my high boots ! I quickly pulled it out and had to laugh too what should I do else anyway.

Mr. Gattino who meanwhile had arrived looked just bored and informed the guests that things like that could only happen to his dear wife. Little son wondered why people laughed so much, he was used to worse.

In the past it looked a little better !

MANIC MONDAY - I WILL SURVIVE

2007-05-07T07:08:00.000+01:00

Pookie also dances on the table

When I read the word for Manic Monday I immediatly thought of a young man whose brain had been nearly distroyed by drug abuse.

One of my friends daughter was hospitalized for anorexia. The day where my friend was allowed to visit her, she asked me to come with her, because she hadn't the courage to go there alone and facing her skeleton like daughter. She was full of reproaches for herself and felt so guilty that she didn't know what to say to her daughter and she thought with me being there it would be less stressful.

When we arrived it was visitor day and the sick girls and boys were all in a big room to wait for their families or friends. There were all main deseases represented. Depressions, Anorexia, boulimia and very heavy drug addicts and all of them hoped to survive or not.

The first thing I noticed in this room was a young man of around 20 who had climbed on a table, singing the song "I will survive" with all his heart and danced. On the table was also a big birthday cake with candles and at least 8 people sat around. Of course I became curious about what happened there and asked. A woman told me the very sad story of this young man. His problem was to be too intelligent and he had an IQ far above the average. Nobody had noticed that and as school became so boring for him because he learned too fast, he had started with a few coke lines, which had been offered to him probably during parties. From there it got worse more and more until he reached the state of heroin and crack and everything what could get him out of his boring world. Until the day he almost died from an overdose. Hospitalized here, he suddenly realized that he wanted to survive and start a cure.

In some way he was very lucky that his parents never gave up on him and tried to get him out of this hell by all means. Later on another visit I had the occasion to discuss with him and I was really amazed about the general knowledge of everything he had in litterature, painting, science etc. But he wasn't healed yet. In the middle of a conversation he just would walk away, start singing or doing something else. He was such a friendly and loveable guy.

And when I think about him dancing and singing on this table, with his whole family around, I sincerely hope that he had survived.

Each time I hear this song I see him dancing with such joy and hope for a new life.

I will survive song

and the same song but only for people with humor don't blame me afterwards ! I warned you !

Jesus will survive

ZIA PETRINA - ANOTHER SICILIAN STORY

2007-05-06T07:11:00.000+01:00

Sorry my sidebar has disappeared not only on my blog but also in Bloogle-Gloggers "page elements" ! Has anybody had a similar problem. I can't add anything in my sidebar, it's just not there anymore.

Pookie goes on holidays

During my stay in FL's (first love) parental home I fortunately wasn't home very much. Of course he wanted to show me as much as possible of Sicily. But the days where he had something to do in the morning I was locked in. Literally. As soon as I put my nose outside the house there where curious eyes. At that time I didn't realize why. I just couldn't imagine that people had never seen such a species like me. I had nothing special at least up in the north, I only was blond and tall. But in 1964's Sicily I must have looked like an alien.

After 2 times staying a whole morning in the house, I had enough and revolted. I wanted to go out and right away ! I have to admit that I was quite a spoiled brat and when I didn't get what I wanted I could become very furious. Finally Zia (aunt) Petrina had enough of my show told me to shut up (she spoke Italian as the other members of the family) knotted her black scarf under her chin, armed herself with a black umbrella opened the door and pushed me out in the morning sun. I wondered why she took an umbrella in this dazzling sunshine and no rain clouds around but finally it wasn't my business, at least I now was out of the house.

After a few steps, some children followed us laughing, pointing at me and jumping around. That was normal I thought. But then suddenly teenaged boys and young men followed us too making ¨probably very salacious remarks, because Zia Petrina suddenly transformed into a fury. This little woman, looking like a grey (or rather black) mouse with her grey hair and the knot on top of her head, always covered by her black scarf when she went out, took her ombrella and started beating furiously on every human she could reach. And she beat very strong. She didn't care where or whom she hit she just blindly beat around with her ombrella.

As always in dangerous or strange moments, I have a sort of black out and only see the comic side of the situation and of course this one made me laugh. I didn't realize anything. Now the young men went back and all this scenery was accompagnied with loud screaming and gesticulating and house doors and windows opened to watch this riot. And I stand there in the middle, probably dressed half naked in their eyes and laughed. I couldn't help it.

Today when I think about this situation, I really had the innocence of youth (I was only 23 and not a bit mature) and didn't realize at all what could have happened. Anyway suddenly 2 police cars showed up and I don't remember how many policemen jumped out and shouted at the men and started to beat them with their batons. Now I too was afraid. But Zia Petrina, with a satisfied look at me, took my arm and lead me home, pushed me inside the house and said " See ! You can't go out here !"

Yes, apparently, even I with my pighead had to agree.

This isn't Zia Petrina because I don't have any picture of her. Old woman for a young girl were not very interesting of course. But she must have looked like this one. A face carved by a hard life. In 1964 women were dressed like this. Today probably not anymore at least not in cities. But at that time widows were always dressed in black from top to bottom and others too from a certain age on of course. I wondered why they all were dressed in black especially in this heat. They told me that when one family member dies the woman wears black even if it's only a distant cousin, uncle or aunt. As there are always a family member who dies, they never get out of wearing black.

if you want to read another story it's here

A SICILIAN STORY

2007-05-04T16:37:00.000+01:00

Pookie as a "still life" ?

Messina

In 1964 I was engaged to a Sicilian from Messina, my first love. After some plane adventures and others I found myself in his parent's home. It was a big yellow house with green stores which were always closed to keep the heat out. Only late evening and early morning they were opened to get fresh cool air in and then closed again. This way it was nice and cool in the house the only thing which bothered me and to which I was not used at all was to live with light the whole day while outside the sun was shining as if payed for.

A lot of visitors came during the whole day and popped in any time. There was always a very big bottle of red wine on the table for them. Sometimes they also stayed for a meal. Of course I always were the center of their attention and it was clear that they only came for me. I started to feel like a chimpanzee girl in a Zoo. The worst thing was that they all were talking together at the same time nobody seemed to listen to the other, I couldn't understand a word and that got very much on my nerves, because it was also very, very loud.

To escape to this (without a lot of success) I took a book and settled down in the garden. It was full of vegetables and not really a garden to sit down and rest. Everybody had to plant the most things he could, because the country was very poor and each piece of ground was used to let grow something to eat. A very friendly chicken was walking around me and cackled. I didn't know yet that my two legged friend would be roasted on the table at Sunday ! Of course that drove me sick, I couldn't eat a piece of it. I had never eaten an animal with which I just had talked the day before ! Of course my hosts couldn't understand my strange behavior, as they probably had prepared that for me.

I sat their peacefully reading, in shorts and a top. Suddenly I had the unpleasant feeling of being observed. I looked around and saw eyes starring on me behind the stores of the surrounding houses, which had been opened a little. I tried not to care. Today I realize it was quite provoking to them sitting there half naked in their eyes, being blond and tall, while all women were dressed in black and covered from top to bottom.

But suddenly I saw a man's head over the wall which separated the garden from others, and then two, and more and they changed while laughing and discussing probably all parts of my body. I told them in Italian to go away not angry but also laughing, because I thought if I would look angry they would even get more excited, and I had no intention to leave my nice sunny place to go inside the house in this electric light darkness.

Then they started to jump up and down the wall to look at me and suddenly one tried to climb over. In this moment a tiny little woman came running out of the house. She looked like a scarecrow, all dressed in black. She waved her arms in menacing gests and screamed to the boys, pulled me out of the chair and pushed me in the house. She was amazingly strong but at least one head smaller then I.

Inside the house she talked to me like a waterfall gesticulating at the same time. She looked really scaring. Outside I heard a police car and loud voices. It was Zia Petrina, the aunt and she decided that from that day I wasn't allowed to sit in the garden anymore and honnestly I didn't want to either. I suddenly could understand movie stars harassed by paparazzi.

Zia (which means aunt) Petrina became my body guard, I will write about her tomorrow.

Another of my Sicilian adventures was I HAVE BEEN AN ANGEL,

FRIDAY FEAST 143

2007-05-04T07:20:00.000+01:00

Pookie has already finished and drinks her coffee

Appetizer Name something you would not want to own.

a crocodile as house pet which would then want to share my bath tube with me.

Soup Describe your hair (texture, color, length, etc.).

Easy ! Imagine a thin round yellow haystack

Salad Finish this sentence: I’ll never forget Friday Feast.

Main Course Which famous person would you like to be for one day? Why?

Camilla, wearing funny hats with feathers and vegetables on, petting horses and children (in this order) smiling happily around and take her jewlery with me when the day is over.

Dessert Write one sentence about yourself that includes one thing that is true and another thing that is not.

It is true that I always do things opposit to the once I am asked for. Untrue is that I would do things what I am asked for.

if you are looking for Cyber Cruise port ANTWERP go here

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

2007-05-03T06:13:00.000+01:00

How to meow and not to miou in English

I have 13 questions about the English language :

1) Why One tooth, two teeth and not toothes, or one foot, and not two foots but feet ?

2) Why is one goose two geese and why not booth and beeth or moose and meese ?

3) Why is cargo by ship ?

4) why do you ship by truck and not truck by truck ?

5) Why are boxing rings square

6. Why something can burn up as it burns down ?

7. Why do you have a slim chance and a fat chance

8. Why do you fill in a form by filling it out

9. Why does an alarm goes off by going on.

10. Why did teachers taught, and preachers not praught

11. Why is a hedgehog a pig ? and even of a hedge ?

12. Wy do you say eggplant and there is no egg in it

13 Why guinea pig ? It is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

toothes or teeth ?

FOR CAT LOVERS THURSDAY 13 is here

if you are looking for Cyber Cruise port ANTWERP go here

WW & CYBER CRUISE ENTRY

2007-05-02T18:16:00.000+01:00

For Wordless Wednesday please scroll down !

Pookie welcomes you to our visit to Antwerp a little drink first

Take your walking shoes and of course this ! Empty your piggy banks !!

we go to

ANTWERP THE DIAMOND TOWN !!!

Entrance : click here (no entrance fee above 20) !

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

TUESDAY LAUGHS : AN ITALIAN GOES ABROAD

2007-05-01T05:24:00.000+01:00

Today is a holiday, labor day ! In Belgium it's the use to offer at least one lilly of the valley or a bouquet to your family and friends. So this is my bouquet for you !

Pookie enjoys her sheets !

When we are with people at home or out Mr. Gattino likes to speak english and tell this story with a very strong Italian accent. You know Italians are unable not to pronounce the "r".For example Laura becomes "Lowwwwwwwra". Although I have heard this at least 1000 times during 38 years of marriage, it still makes me laugh. So now immagine to "roll" the "r's" and hear an Italian accent.

The actor with Yanouk (neighbor's dog)

"One day ima gonna London to bigga hotel. In morning I go down to eat breakfast. I tella waitress I wanna two pissis toast. She brings me only one piss; I talla her I want two piss. She say go to the toilet. I say you no understand, I wanna to piss onna my plate. She say you better no piss onna plate, you sonna ma bitch. I don't even know the lady and she call me sonna ma bitch.

Later I go to eat at the bigga restaurant. The waitress brings me a spoon and knife but no fock. I tella her I wanna fock. She tell me everyone wanna fock. I tell her you no understand. I wanna fock on the table. She say better not fock on the table, you sonna ma bitch.

So I go back to my room and there is no shits onna my bed. Call the manager and tella him I wanna shit. He tell me to go to toilet. I say you no understand. I wanna shit on my bed. He say you better not shit onna bed, you sonna ma bitch

I go to the checkout and the man at the desk say : "Peace on you". I say piss on you too, you sonna ma bitch, I gonna back to Italy !"

Accents can sometimes be very funny, be assured that I don't sink but think !

MANIC MONDAY-SILENT

2007-04-30T05:19:00.000+01:00

Want to participate to a humorous story contest "This Blog Blows My Dress Up") ? It's here : at Shelly Kneupper Tucker's blog "The Eclectic Life"

The word silent is rather a sad word because it often discribes negative situations. If you are a silent witness, you probably have seen somebody killed. The expression "silent as a grave" means that deads don't speak. If you are silent about something, that means that you have something to hide. A priest has the duty to remain silent whatever he hears, even crimes. Therefore quite a lot were murdered by torture during the middle age because they remained silent. At court too you have the right to remain silent and that's also probably something bad you can't speak about. Silent minutes are observed to honor a tragedy etc.

The only positive "silent" is the silent movie. It must have been quite an event when the first films were shown. It usually took place in all kind of places wherever they could put a screen. Movie theatres came later. The movie was always accompagnied by a piano player on an old piano and the more it sounded false the more it was fun.

Especially in dramatic scenes he hammered on the piano as if he wanted to brake it. The actors had to overact and express their feelings or fear by exaggerated mimic. To us today it really looks too funny. There were a lot of famous actors and they were all adored. But when the sound film came out, most of them didn't find any role anymore because they had an awful voice ! What a disappointment.

Here are a few pictures and how the actors where categorized.

This Lady was considered a "Vamp" I think there are a lot of "vamps" running around today which is probably not the case anymore for "Virgin". Charly Chaplin with a virgin (I have my doubts)

A nude was represented like this and made already a big scandal. If the producers would see the "nudes" today .....

Buster Keaton also "posed" nude. Today a topless torse is not considered as a nude but at this time it was.

Believe it or not, but this is Gary Cooper, he also was an actor in silent movies but could switch over to sound films. He filled in the category "Cowboy".

The famous Valentino played "Sheiks"

The movies of Laurel and Hardy are still liked to be seen.

movie posters

Animals played in the silent movies too and probably the piano player hammered some notes to make the piano bark.

For those who are silent today I just repeat a comment I have got from an American woman :

"I don't think anyone should have a gun. The founding fathers wrote that into the constitution so people could protect themselves against the indians and against insurgents by the goverment. There was no thought given at that time to assault rifles that could fire 1000 bullets per minute!!!! Good lord already!!!"

ONE DRINK OR MORE ?

2007-04-29T06:30:00.000+01:00

Statistics show an amazing amount of alcoholic women, I don't remember the number and I don't care. Anyway numbers are numbers and doesn't mean much because a lot of women drink secretly and no statistics can count them.

The first alcoolic woman I saw in my life was the mother of a girlfriend. I didn't know why she had so strange eyes and didn't walk right. I thought she was sick and that finally was the truth. Everybody whispered behind her back because every day she went to the shop around the corner to buy herself a bottle of wine, where every women in the area did their shopping.

Sometimes she had no money and she asked one of them to borrow her some. But after a while women found an excuse, as she never gave the money back. So she asked the shop owner, who pittied her and gave her the wine. (husband had to pay later) My mother too slandered over her and told me all these stories. I didn't understand anything, the only thing I felt was pitty with her. My friend too treated her very badly. Then, one day I didn't see her any more and I suppose she went to a specialized hospital.

The next one was an around 50 year old woman with whom I used to work. Once taking a file out I found 1 full and 3 empty whisky bottles. Now I understood why she had these mood changes. She bitched over everything and when she came back from the filing cabinet, she was suddenly all smiles.

Years later when I were in the 50th I noticed that a lot of women around me appreciated very much (too much) cocktails or wine. Especially those who didn't work anymore or those who realized that household and family wasn't enough to fullfil their lifes. Children had grown up and they felt useless. When I was hospitalized for depression alcoholics and depressives were on the same floor. I heard a lot of terrible human tragedies to fill a whole book about human misery.

It's amazing what a creative mind and phantasy women develop to hide their drinks. Parfum bottles when they were invited (so that they could take it with them and officially not drinking much) small plastic water bottles filled with Wodka or Gin, medication bottles etc. Everything was good. At home there also were enough places in the dryer, between oil and vinegar bottles, behind clothes in the wardrobe behind books on shelves, in the garbidge etc etc. Even in their cars. I knew one who used to hide her bottle amongst a pile of empty water bottles. The kitchen also was considered as a nice hiding place as usually husbands don't check very often the content of the cupboards.

During my stay there, a little 75 year old lady with rosy cheaks and white curls, was taken to the emergency service because she had emptied all available parfum bottles in the rooms while the others were eating. Another one who was allowed to go out for the first time after 3 weeks of abstinence, came back like a drunken sailor, had to be locked in and bawled like a hurt animal the whole night. It was terrible.

It happens mostly to women when the children are gone, or if they loose their work or go in pension. Suddenly their life changes completely and they have to face the problem of having too much time. And then they get bored.

It's a big problem and cannot be solved so easily. Alcoholism is a sad desease although we are laughing about them when they speak so funny or are dancing on a table.

TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT !

2007-04-28T09:52:00.000+01:00

Take the train and not your car !

I rarely take public transports, but sometimes it's better especially when you are going to a town where you are sure that you have to drive around for hours to find a parking place.

I wanted to go to Antwerp to take some pictures and also go to the Zoo. I wanted to see how my ancestors looked like. Together with a friend we took the train at Waterloo Station to go to Brussels South and there take a direct train to Antwerp. When we arrived at the platform a train just arrived. My friend ran and jumped in. What should I do, I followed her and did the same. In the train I asked "Are you sure that this train goes to Brussels South" and she answered, of course, all trains are going there.

Suddenly I realized that we were in a tunnel, but on the way to Brussels South there was no tunnel. I told her. She looked at me in horror and said "I think we are in the wrong train" That really was a discovery because when she asked the lady sitting besides us she just confirmed. We were on the way to another town, far away from South Station and far away from Antwerp too. So at the next stop we jumped out and looked for a train to South Station.

We looked at the timetable and yes, there were even two, one in 5 and one in 10 min. We ran over to the right platform and I sat down to wait for the train. My friend instead saw a train standing there and was convinced that it was already the right one, she hurried over to ask and just when she arrived the train started to move and was gone. Now she got really nervous and thought we would never arrive. But the right train arrived and we finally got to the South Station.

Again we looked at the timetable to see at what time the train arrived for Antwerp and also which platform. It was n° 19 and in 7 min. We sprinted over to n° 19 and arrived breathless just 5 min before the departure. The train was not yet there. Suddenly a voice from the loudspeaker informed us that the platform n° had changed and the train would arrive at n° 21. We ran again, down steps, up steps to the right platform. The train wasn't there. We gathered our spirits and waited anxiously for it's arrival. Suddenly the loudspeaker told us that they were sorry but we should please go to platform n° 19 ! Ready for a nervous breakdown we jumped down and up the steps and arrived again at n°19 where we had been at the very beginning. Now it was really time for the train and suddenly we saw it coming but not on our platform 19 but on platform 21 ! That was new. So far we had twice 19 and once 20 and now 21. As sportif as two snails we quickly ran over to platform 21 and had just time to jump in the last wagon.

We both looked as if we had climbed on the Mount Everest. When I got my breath back I noticed that I badly had to go to the restroom and before settling down for good I looked around. Fortunately there was one just behind me. Sighing with relief I opened the door and .... the train driver was sitting there not on a toilet but on his seat in the driving cabine !

But there is a happy end ! We arrived finally in Antwerp only half an hour late and there we only took twice a wrong tramway ! And last but not least could admire my ancestor

FRIDAY FEAST 142

2007-04-27T08:05:00.000+01:00

Want to participate to a humorous story contest "This Blog Blows My Dress Up" ? It's here : at Shelly Kneupper Tucker's blog "The Eclectic Life"

Pookie is ready with the drink

Appetizer How fast can you type?
That's one thing in my life that I do really very fast. When I typed on an IBM typewriter with a ball, it always jumped out and rolled to my boss' open office door and he shouted, "can't you type a little slower, I have to pick that up all 5 min !"

Soup What is your favorite online game?

Answering spams ! They are so funny ! Last time I have even got an email from a "Princess" who wanted me to place 20 mill "which were derived from his vast estates and investment in capital market with his bank here in UK. Presently, this money is still with the Bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that I have limited days to live due to the cancerous problems I am suffering from". Then she asked me to keep this money for her because " I don't want my relation or anybody to know because they are always around me". Isn't that nice ? I will become rich. I suggested her to shoot her relatives.
Salad On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), how intelligent do you think you are?
I don't care, ask the others if they find me intelligent !
Main Course Name three of your best teachers from your school years.
Name three ? who invented that question ? If I tell you it was Mr. Bullshit, Mrs. Catnip, and Miss Getmeaman, how can you check it ? They are all dead anyway.
Dessert What are your plans for this upcoming weekend?
To make a plan for the next weekend.

THURSDAY THIRTEEN UNKNOWN N°

2007-04-26T06:22:00.000+01:00

Pookie waits too

THIRTEEN THINGS WHAT PEOPLE DO WHILE WAITING

1. They take out their mobile call somebody and everybody can listen to the latest family news

2. They "read" a book while observing all people around above the border

3. They look around for a victim to chat and start : "How long are you waiting ?"

4. They admire their shoes for a while

5. They look for something in their nostrils and admire what they found

6. They finally have the time to clean their ears

7. They gnaw their nails

8. They take out a mirror and admire themselves moving cheaks from left to right

9. They check their shoes if they are dirty

10. They fall asleep and snore, mouth open

11. They clean their glasses

12. They admire their hands, fingers and fingernails

13. They stare at the door as if they want to open it with just one glance

I participate to a humorous story contest called "This Blog Blows My Dress Up" (although I am not wearing dresses). This contest takes place at Shelly Kneupper Tucker's blog "The Eclectic Life" There you can read my entries and others of course. So if you want to participate and make us laugh then enter a funny story.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-04-25T06:29:00.000+01:00

FIRST PRICE I only explain ! Otherwise I am completely wordless. Here are the socks which I have got together with a wiking hat and two books about Sweden for the first Price I won in the Cyber Cruise Hat Parade ! To prove that the socks really had toes I put little ceramic cats in between, and of course Pookie had to check.

CATS WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

I HAVE BEEN AN ANGEL

2007-04-24T07:37:00.000+01:00

In 1966 I took for the first time an airplane to join my First Love (afterwardes named FL) in Sicily. He stayed with his parents in Messina and I wanted to join him there for my holidays.

Now in 1966 Sicily was very far from Tourisme and the country was very poor. People still imigrated to the States and Mario Puzzo was probably just busy writing his book "The Godfather" (it was published in 1969) The Mafia was everywhere although I didn't know it. Only years later there were many things which I suddenly understood.

A lot of people were illitrated too. One day FL decided to go into the mountains in a little village to wash the car. There were not many fountains around and the drive up to this village was just beautiful. I had a sight all over the town, over the see until Italy.

We arrived in this little village and got out of the car. As dead as the village had looked when we arrived, suddenly people came out of the houses and approached. I didn't know what to do so I sat on a bank besides the fountain. Now I have to say I looked really very "extra terrestre" to them with my blond hair and my tall figure. People here were all short and very dark and some of them had an arabic look. While FL started with his carwash, women of all ages appeared with their children and the dogs were joining too. I wore a light blue organza dress with white spots, which was very fashionable at this moment, with volants on the skirt and around the short sleeves. It looked a little like a silky sahri.

Suddenly an old woman shouted : " Un angelo" I didn't realize what she said but suddenly I was surrounded by all the women. I asked FL what happened and he laughed and said : "They take you for an angel " I thought he was joking and just wanted to put my finger on my front when the women started to touch my dress and my arms.

Now I got nervous I didn't like this at all. Men came too and joined the women. There was a big group around us all chatting together. Suddenly a young woman came to me and wanted to give me her baby, I just wanted to refuse when FL told me to better take it.

With 23 I was not really a specialist in baby holding but I tried to do my best and not drop it and sat there helpless with the baby in my arms. The woman said something. I asked what she had said. To my surprise he started to laugh like crazy hiding his head in the car and between his laughing he told me that I should bless the baby ! Bless the baby ! I thought I had misunderstood but apparently not, because the woman smiled at me and pointed at the baby.

Fortunately it was sleeping. I told FL that I couldn't do it that this was completely crazy, but he stopped laughing directed his eyes to the men and said : "you better do" And indeed the men looked quite hostile. So I gathered all my church knowledges, made a cross on the baby's front and stroke over his haed and sincerely hoped that I did it well. There was no other choice, we were far from civilisation and it could be quite dangerous. After 3 or 4 babies I felt much better and started even to find the situation funny. Now I had to hide my amusement. When I was finished with the babies, the toddlers came and then the small children and I continued my blessings.

Apparently I did my job well, because when the old women started and wanted to be blessed too I refused and asked FL to tell them that I was only responsible for children. I don't know what for a story he told them, but they stepped back.

Now a big hullaballoo started they pulled me up and pushed me direction houses and I really got scared with all these laughing and screeming people around me. But the only thing they wanted was to invite us in their houses. Finally we made an agreement, we went to the village place and they all came and brought the best food they had. I wasn't hungry and also ashamed to accept food knowing that they themselves had hardly something to eat, but FL told me that I could not refuse if I didn't want to provoke a riot.

So we sat down under olvive trees at a very big table and I had the best food I ever had and the best wine too !

Nobody payed attention that I didn't speak, they probably thought that angels don't, but I couldn't understand a word because sicilian and italian is completely different.

When years later I read the "Godfather" I had to think about my adventure as an angel ! Indeed it could have been dangerous. Many people disappeared at that time.

If you want to see here my last paintings I published them today.

MANIC MONDAY - THE SUN

2007-04-23T06:05:00.000+01:00

Pookie looks at The Sun, nice place to nap on !

When I stayed in London at my son's house I took everyday the "tube" (subway) to go to the City Center. And each day the seats where covered by "The Sun" a newspaper which people had left behind. There were not a lot of people in the tube when I went to the city because I always tried to avoid the rush hours. So I could read "The Sun" in peace and found it very interesting !

For those who don't know, "The Sun" is a tabloid daily newspaper and is published in the UK and Ireland. It has the highest circulation of any daily English language newspaper in the world and publishes about 3.107.412 copies daily ! Their readership is just over 7.800.000 and it has more than twice as many readers as The Times. With me as reader now it makes 7.800.001.

Thanks to The Sun you know everything about politics, celebrities, crimes, weather and global warming.

You can sleep without worry because Tom Cruises daughter has no diarrhea any more and eats well. You are informed how often Mrs. Bush goes to the beauty center, which she badly needed I agree. All marriage fights between Victoria and David Beckham are described in details, you even know the brand of the plate that she had thrown at him. Today I learned that Britney Spears prays for her Dad and that her hair is slowly growing, if she doesn't shave it off again.

Prince William has at least one new girlfriend per day it depends on the edition time of The Sun. You will increase your general knowledge every day ! You now know that Hillary is using pink toilet paper (with white spots) and that Madonna will adopt a little chinese and not to forget that Elvis is still alive.

Titles such as :

- Judge frees women who forced tots to fight

- Men bit his dog

- Bush boozed found in a bush

- Bratt and Angelina are they drug dealers ?

- Woman found in a deepfreeze

- George Clooney visits center for abandonned pigs

attract of course a lot of people, me included. If you put all the titles together you could make a bestseller ! If you wish to read more just go to The Sun !

(Note from the author : the Titles are invented !)

NEW GUN LAW IN BELGIUM

2007-04-22T07:56:00.000+01:00

In Belgium since June 2006 nobody is allowed to own a gun or a rifle unless he has a special permission but it is extremely difficult to get one, this includes also hunters. They can get a permission but for rifles only. Each gun or rifle is registrated and the owner well known.

For policemen of course it is different as a gun is part of their work equipment. But this has changed too. Since yesterday a policemen is not allowed anymore to take his gun home. He has to leave it in his locker before he leaves.

Of course there have been a lot of pro and cons because sometimes a policemen even private could settle some fights in a subway for example if he would have a gun. We will see what the future will tell us.

The decision to make this new law came finally up when a policeman had shot his wife in a fit of jealousy last year.

With these laws Belgium has become or still is a quite safe country. Of course there are burglaries, car and home jackings but these are all criminal damages and can be replaced. Of course it happens too that people are murdered but never such massacres could occur like in the USA for example. With a knife you can only kill one person at the time, with strangling, beating etc. too. It's therefore impossible to shoot around like a mad cowboy and kill more than 30 people at one time, as it had happened last week in Virginia.

I AM A HIPPY !

2007-04-21T07:02:00.000+01:00

Pookie forgot to put flowers in her fur !

I like to look at test results of other people, but I don't really like it to do the test for myself. But this time I thought it would be fun to know what kind of girl I am (or if I am still a girl). To my surprise the result was "I am a Hippy" !

In some way it's true, I am a kind of hippy although I never lived in a community and I also know who is the father of my son.

The hippies came out of the student's revolution in the 60th against the establishment. They wanted to change the family rules and go back to nature. This was not so my styl. I still was for mariage and an only love at the time. I didn't want to live on the countryside although I love it. But sleeping together with cows, goats and dirty men was not really my style. I loved the idea of peace and love (pronounced in French like "Piss and laugh") and no war.

What I also liked very much was the Hippy fashion. I didn't wear any flowers in my hairs, but I liked the long skirts and the "wrinkle" look. I also had some trousers like the girl below with flowers on it. I remember a suede jacket with broderie on and goat fur which I loved to wear. I saw almost the same jacket not long ago in an American native exposition.

I also remember that at that time a lot of Belgian boys and girls escaped to Australia or to the Spanish Islands, where they lived in Hippy communities. They are probably today respectable fathers and mothers, with a house a garden grown up children and a cat and a dog. Gone the time of living in "nature".

There are still some hippies left on the Spanish Islands. I saw some, now my age, the men with long thin hair grey of course and the women with grey pigtails. They look a little out of time.

You scored as Hippy.

Hippy

75%

Preppy Girl

63%

Slut

63%

Popular Bitch

56%

Nerdy Girl

56%

Athletic Tomboy

44%

Loser

19%

Goth

13%

What type of girl are you?!!
created with QuizFarm.com

FRIDAY FEAST 140

2007-04-20T06:59:00.000+01:00

Appetizer What is your favorite kind of bread?

wheat bread with nuts ! Not hard nuts, deaf nuts or tough nuts but just nuts ! And I am still not nuts although I eat it every day.

Soup When was the last time you bought a new pillow?

When it was full of blood. Not because somebody tried to stab me, but I felt from my bed and hurt my eyebrow. I didn't notice, climbed in my bed again and discovered blood stains in the morning. So I bought a new pillow.

Salad Approximated how many hours per week do you spend surfing the ‘net?

I never surf ! I am walking through Blogville from house to house and it's better to ask me how many hours I don't walk through Blogville.

Main Course What’s the highest you remember your temperature being?

When I have fever I have nothing or 40° (104 F) But I am still alive and not dead

Dessert Fill in the blank:

When I see "fill in the blank" I ask myself "with what ?"

CAT FRIDAY FEAST here

13 THINGS WHICH ALWAYS HAPPEN IN A MOVIE

2007-04-18T15:24:00.000+01:00

1. Everybody can land a plane, providing there is someone in the control tower to explain to you what you should do.

2. A ventilation system of any building is a perfect hiding place. No-one will ever think of looking for you in there and you can go to any other part of the building you want without difficulty.

3. With one gun you can shoot for an hour without ever reloading it

4. A man will show no pain while tortured, but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.

5. If being chased through town, you can usually take cover in a passing parade even when it's past midnight.

6.When paying for a taxi, don't look at your wallet as you take out a bill - just grab one and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.

7. When staying in a haunted house, women always investigate any strange noises half naked

8. It's always a mere child's play to find a complicated password to log in the bank account of a criminal;

9.Cars that crash will almost always burst into flames.

10. Even when driving on a perfectly straight road it is necessary to turn the steering wheel from left to right every few moments.

11. It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts - your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out all of them.

12. All peasants, homeless, or beggars have always perfect teeth,

13.Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at that precise moment.

CAT THURSDAY THIRTEEN here.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-04-18T06:57:00.000+01:00

TOO EASY TO GET ONE

TUESDAY LAUGHS : THE NEW MOBILE

2007-04-17T07:36:00.000+01:00

Pookie expects a phone call

Yesterday I had lunch with one of my friends. We just had taken the card to look at the menu, when her mobile rang. She fumbled in her handbag and got more and more angry because her bag was also a little transportable shop. She carried everything in there from tissues to mobile, which now had stopped ringing.

She pushed a deep sigh and told me that she had never wanted a mobile because at least when she is out of the house she doesn't want to be persecuted by her family. She is the director, manager, administrator, and cleaning woman of a big family. Now her daughter had offered her a new mobile and this gift poisoned her life. The one she had before was a mobile to call and receive phone calls and that was it. It was a mobile phone you could carry around everywhere even to the restroom.

The one she has got now does almost everything and has even a telephone function. But it is hard to find the right button. At least that what she told me.

She pushed again a loud sigh pulled out of her warehouse bag a manual and her glasses put them on her nose and started to read what her mobile could do.

Sharing photos, video clips and captured memories with family and friends on a large compatible TV screen. For that she said, we have a digital camera and a DVD recorder. Which unfortunately she doesn't know how to use, because husband and children take care of that.

Internet access for browsing, uploading content, and sending and receiving emails. What should I do with that ? she asked me, I never even touched a computer, only for dusting !

Browse the Web, watch TV, listen to stereo FM radio and a digital music player and can also easily rip CDs and transfer music collection to the phone. And in addition, she could store up to 1500 songs !

I whistled (inside only) impressed. I imagined watching a football (soccer) game on my mobile and would probably see a bunch of flees running behind a point. She gave me a desperate look, and asked me :

What is browse, internet, web, email and what for a content could she upload and where ? Not to speak about 1500 songs she would never have time to listen to all and why 1500 with 6 she would already have enough !

I thought of my other friends when I had tried to explain something so simple as my blog and that it would probably take a year or even more or maybe for ever to explain it to her and suggested to ask her daughter who had offered her this generous gift.

The only thing she complained, I would like to do with my mobile is to call my friends and open my garage door so I don't need to get out of the car ! That would be so nice especially when it rains. But this thing cannot even do that !

MANIC MONDAY - TAXES

2007-04-16T06:16:00.000+01:00

Pookie fainted after looking at her tax bill for her litterbox !

The theme today would make all treasury secretaries of the world very happy. If in normal life they are quite boring and unimaginative and usually not creative at all, when it comes to invent taxes, they suddenly devolp an extraordinary phantasy ! With hungry eyes and pointed ears they look and hear everywhere where they could get some more taxes to collect !

I suppose it's in every country the same, and in this one our treasury secretary, hasn't slept either ! After taxes on house, ground, car, bykes and motorbykes, heritage, income, pensions and fortune (yes even that, it's better you remain poor !) he now saw his chance in air pollution, world warm ups, smogs and ozon.

He happily rubbed his hands and his heart was full of joy ! What kind of taxes could he create to also profit from our sick globe ? The garbidge ! Yes ! that's a good idea but how ? He thought it over and over and then had the idea of his life ! Just banning the heavy metal garbidge bins and only allow special colored plastic bags. The garbidge men also would be happy (and then vote for him) because it's less heavy to carry. But what color ? He looked to the sky and choose light blue for cans and plastic bottles. He looked at the white (short) skirt of his secretary and choose white for household trash. Of course you have to buy these bags in the city hall and if ever you put another "ordinary" plastic bag on the street, it is not taken or you even can get a fine.

But what to do then with paper and cartons ? So he added a little tax on the house tax and allowed the garbadgemen to pick them up twice per month. To make the tax again a little bigger, he also added a little bit for street cleaning.

He racked his brain and hurrah ! he found something else ! Pollution caused by cars and trucks ! Little more taxes to pay on the trucks and some more fine to pay for car owners if they don't respect the speed limit when there is smog.

Finally he thought, it's not so bad. With the VAT (value added tax) on all bills and invoices there is also some money coming in. And then last but not least, as it is so warm already why not invent a tax on barbecues ? It pollutes the air too ! To watch over all the culprits who make a barbecue in their gardens he would create a special police unit who should overfly the gardens by helicopter and by walky talky send a special agent to this house to collect a barbecue tax.

But there was a problem. Sausages do more smoke then steaks, and porc and beaf is also different so what to do ? Easy ! For sausages it will be 40 € and for steaks 30 € tax on barbecue, payable immediatly. For porc he is not sure yet, he has to try it first himself when he makes his next barbecue !

The last tax invention was reported to the population in the news of April 1st. It created hot phone lines, overcharged internet and almost riots !

Before and after the elections !

CYBER CRUISE BALL !!!

2007-04-14T17:54:00.000+01:00

"Hobby" pictures are here

April Write-Away Contest - Growing - please scroll down to post below

Mrs. Lifecruiser our captain and organizer of the cruise has sent us her secretary to show us the way were the ball takes place ! Here it is !

Don't pay attention to the guard, he only frees the way for you.

and here I am together with my assistant Lady Pookie and my show dont't miss it ! On the program are also clowns and magicians !

and not to forget a DJ ! of course Madonna wouldn't miss to sing for us on this cruise ! and even Elvis climbed out of his grave in Graceland !

At the end a wonderful firework !

FROM NORMAL TO "GEANT"

2007-04-14T09:12:00.000+01:00

April Write-Away Contest - Growing

Pookie when she owned my son she had her personal Empire State Building

When my son was born and I saw him for the first time, I found him normal. The only things I noticed which seemed a little strange to me were his hands and feet, they were quite big. He was bald but had in the middle a line of blond upstanding hairs which made him look like a punk. His ears too were big and not at the same level. But these were only details, I didn't belong to mothers who find their babies beautiful even if they look like wrinkled dwarfs.

The whole family especially on the Italian side had knitted little baby shoes in yellow or light green, because they didn't know if it was a boy or a girl and I had a stock to dress the feet of a whole orphanage. The once I had brought to the hospital were already too small. I left them there.

At home I dressed him in the baby outfits I had got, very beautiful once, but after 2 weeks I realized to my surprise that they became to small, Baby grew. His length at birth was 51 cm (20) which is not big and completely normal. We had a little baby basket for the first weeks, very cute, but that too only lasted 3 weeks and then it became too small. So I moved him in a normal baby bed. With one months, he had to wear size 4 months and he grow. I was very proud to have such a big baby and thought he will be a nice big man. After three months he didn't fit in the pram anymore and it became complicated to carry him around. He couldn't sit yet, but was too big for the pram, all these nice things you find today to carry even big babies didn't exist. So we bought a stroller. I had to pay attention that he didn't fall out and it was a whole story to get him fasten in correctly.

I started learning to say : "yes he is tall, but he is only 3 months old" to avoid suspicious glances about the fact is he retarded or not. But all this didn't bother me.

He developped well especially in height. With 2 years he had the size of a four year old. I only was in constant worry that people treated him like a two year old toddler and not like a 4 year old boy.

When he was about 7 and still grew very fast I tried to put in his mind that tall people have an advantage over the others, they can overlook everybody and if they would tease him he at least could even spit on their heads. Of course I hoped he would not do it. But I feared that he would walk with his head between the shoulders and the back bent to seem smaller as a lot of big people do. Fortunately that helped and he always stretched himself even higher to show that he was the biggest !

With 14 it got problematic when we travelled by plane. There was no room enough for his legs. Sitting he looked completely "normal" but when he got up and people looked at him, they got their necks twisted. We had to ask a place for disabled people. He found that wonderful because he always had the best places, and we were squeezed somewhere with the other passengers.

The city asked him to join the Basket Ball players, he was the tallest. His length made him rather famous. He was asked to get cats down from trees, to pick up balls from roofs and he was very helpful at home. I didn't need a ladder to pick up something high on the wardrobe or to screw a bulb in a ceiling lamp. He made fun of his grandma by checking on the wardrobe for dust. At school he had to sit behind not to take the view of the others and enjoyed the fact that he could look down on every teacher. And he still grew. At 18 he mesured 1.96 (6.4) and I never could loose him even in the biggest crowd he always was at least half a head bigger.

At the frame of our kitchen door I mesured him twice a year and put down the year and the heights. It's still there

. When he was 20 and 2m (6.6) he stopped growing. He really was relieved, he didn't want to go in the Guiness Book of Records. 2m was long enough. Meanwhile he called his father my "little one" or "little dad" which was not quite justified because Mr. Gattino mesures 1.89 m.

When we were invited somewhere we showed up like a circus trio, he in the middle with his arms around his "little" parents. We also got used to the fact that wherever we went people looked at us and exclaimed : Is he tall ! I was happy he didn't have any complex about his length, for me it was the most important matter. But he was worried about his weight. He was too slim ! With his 2 m his weight was only 76 kg (167). So he started to do something quite unic in our today's slim world, he tried to put on weight ! For that he had a special diet with can food plenty of vitamines and stuff to get fat. He managed to get to 82 kg (185) which was already much better, because it also had always been a problem to find the right clothes. Or they were long enough and far too large, or they fit but were far too short.

Of course a lot of anecdotes happened to him because of his length, with which I could fill another post.

When I saw the word "growing" for the April Write Away contest I couldn't think of nothing else but the fast growing of my son !

At Kindergarten, 4 yrs old, the blond boy besides the kindergarten teacher.

Last year with his god mother and her husband

THINKING BLOGGER & FRIDAY FEAST 139

2007-04-13T07:11:00.000+01:00

FOR FRIDAY FEAST SCROLL DOWN

I have got a price and even twice ! I don't know what happens to me for the moment but this is now the third one ! One for my hat and two for my head (I mean brain, if there is some)

And this is the price I have got !

I only wished my teachers would come out of their graves and see this ! I think they wouldn't believe it ! I wasn't very famous for thinking at school !

I was honored with this price from Melli and Shelly Kneupper Tucker and I thank them very much ! The idea of such an award came from The Thinking Blog" from Ilker Yoldas.

I never thought that my writings would inspire people to think, but it is very flattering ! Unfortunately there is a condition with this price ! I have to find 5 other "thinking" Blogs ! I should find 10 because I got the price twice, but that's too much for one woman ! After a long reflection I finally choose these 5 Blogfriends. That doesn't mean that others are not nice to read but I wanted to find 5 who didn't get this award or others yet.

Sanni often has very interesting things to tell and I like her humorous writing style.

Mrs. O'Kitten lives on a Llama farm and writes about her life on the farm. Even in serious situations, she always makes me laugh. She writes about her Llamas and I even had the honor to assist to the birth of baby Llama Pepper in October. Since this time I see her growing. She also writes about her cats and the other animals and it's very refreshing for me to read her farm life. She also is a great knitter, I suppose because the things she shows look very nice. I have to admit that the knitting stuff I don't read.

Tor Aa lives in Norway and writes about his life there. He also has a very humoristic style and it's always very nice to read his adventures and his life with his wife and the two cats.

Puss-in-Boots tells me about life in Australia and also about her cat Oscar. I have learned already a lot !

Vlado & Toni Toni is a filipina and lives with her Bulgarian husband in Germany. She teaches me a lot about the country of which I have my passport. I love her writing style and also what she writes. It's a little bit about everything.

Now I have put enough links (it still takes me a lot of time, I just can't get used to it) if I would put more, I think I wouldn't have finished today !

Appetizer When you were a child, which crayon color was your favorite?

Red and it seems that I am still a child because I still like red !

Soup On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest), how likely would you be to change jobs if it required you to move?

Change jobs ? I am not allowed to change, I am retired. That's a very nice job and needs no change anyway.

Salad Take all the numbers in your birthday and your phone number and add them up, one by one. What’s the total?

Sorry I misplaced my calculator.

Main Course Have you ever “re-gifted” anything? If so, what was it and who did you pass it on to?

A green toaster with pink roses which I got from my mother to fit in my red-white kitchen. I gave it to the garbadge man who loved it.

Dessert Name something you need from the store.

The store

13 DAILY NEWS

2007-04-12T06:06:00.000+01:00

FOR CYBER CRUISE SHOPPING RESULT PLEASE SCROLL BELOW

Pookie thinks that News are every day the same.

Every morning I watch the news on Euronews to keep me up to date. Today as usual I did the same and here are 13 news out of a lot of others.

1. Father kidnapped baby and disappeard. Mother desperate asks for Baby return on local TV

2. Train derailed 56 people injured, 7 badly wounded. Five year old had put a stone on the rails

3. 36 years old man raped 28 women because he wanted to be a father

5. 28 women aborted

6. 3 Kamikaze exploded in the center of Letmelaughville

7. Priest married, he already had 3 children. Pope Benedict scandalized

8. 80 year old discovered the corpse of a stabbed woman in Middlepark and died of a heart attack

9. Women killed husband with a cake fork because of his snoring

10. Heavy fights in parliament. 5 politicians badly wounded

11. Research center for beauty products burnt down. Animals could escape, 5 researchers couldn't and died in the flames.

12. 25 year old raped 89 year old woman in hospital and stole her purse

13. 16 soldiers killed in Bagdad (only ? the other day it was much more)

Well informed and updated I can begin my day !

CAT THURSDAY THIRTEEN IS here

HARD TO CHOOSE

2007-04-11T15:39:00.000+01:00

Today was the Big Shopping Day before the cruise ball on Saturday the 14th. at Mrs. Lifecruiser.

Of course as always when you have such a big choice it's hard to decide what to wear !

While I sat comfortable in a golden seat with red plush I looked at the models who presented the dresses to me. Of course I only asked for famous designers ! Now I have to decide which one I will wear or if I still have to look for another ! Life is hard !

This is the head with the hat you have to imagine instead of the model's head without hat.

misterious, OK ! but I don't like the doll I would prefer a cat and that's a big problem !

or feathers ? But maybe they would tickle me and I would caugh and sneeze the whole evening ?

This model is ideal ! Not only it would hide belly and other body imperfections, but also dirty hair !

and of this one I could make a lot of scarfs after the ball !

Tiger look, yes OK but stripes make me fat !

I will sleep this over and decide tomorrow !

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - 1st PRICE !!

2007-04-11T06:36:00.000+01:00

For this Wordless Wednesday I have to give a explanation to those who have not participated at our Cyber Cruise organized by Mrs. Lifecruiser (participants here). I WON THE FIRST PRICE FOR THIS HAT ! I wore it during our cruise, only on special occasions of course ! So yesterday the postman brought me a green parcel ! Sent by Mrs. Lifecruiser !

and when I had opened it together with Pookie of course ....

I found my 1st price !! One hat as souvenir of the Cyber Cruise, a beautiful pair of socks with toes !!! 2 books about Sweden (they won't be a mistery to me anymore !) and of course THIS which made me wordless ! THANK YOU !

CAT WORDLESS WEDNSDAY and Pookie's reaction on the first price !

TUESDAY LAUGHS : RAIN OR SUN ?

2007-04-10T07:25:00.000+01:00

100 % true weather forecast !

Living in a bilingual country can sometimes be very funny. The problems the politicians are creating from both sides, french and flemish(dutch) really diserve a big award in phantasy ! They could get an Oscar for creating problems between the population where usually there aren't.

They would fight for weeks in the parliament to decide if the name of a city has to be put on a sign in both languages or only in one and then they discuss like old bags on a market each party sitting on their principles. Unfortunately there are always (stupid) people who listen to them but the majority laughs, the Belgian fortunately has a lot of humor !

If you look for example at the official weatherforecast you sometimes find two different temperatures and two different weathers. The national french speaking TV for example announces 10° (50 F)and cloudy and on the flemish side you can see 11° (52 F)and sunshine or the other way around. Sometimes it rains in one part and in the other part it's only cloudy. When it comes to air polution on some days, the speed limit is only suggested, in the other part you get a fine if you exceed it.

When your rich uncle dies in the flemish part you inherit more, because there are less inheritance tax then in the french speaking part . To profit from that you have to suggest to your uncle to quickle move to the flemish part and die there.

Belgium is devided into 4 parts, the flemish, the french and the bilingual (Brussels) and a little corner of a German speaking part. This is a lot for a country which counts 10 million inhabitants and is very small compared to other countries. If you sit in the middle and you would drive 250 km (155 miles) to North, South, East or West you allways arrive at the border of another country. (France, Luxemburg, Germany and Holland) and not to forget to the sea or the tunnel to get to England.

So sometimes I just watch the weatherforecast in flemish, because the announced weather seems better to me then in the french speaking part, or the other way around when it's better on the french's side.

But to be completely sure if it will rain or not I have Pookie the cat ! She is the best weatherman in the country ! You can 100 % rely on her to know if you have to take an ombrella or not ! If she washs behind her ears then it's sure ! It will rain the next day or at the latest the day after ! I swear it's true !

Last time the flemish weatherforecast announced cloudy, the french sunny and Pookie washed behind her ears. Guess what weather we had the day after ? IT RAINED !

JEALOUS ?

2007-04-09T06:40:00.000+01:00

No jealousy between them !

- SNAP

From time to time a drama takes place in this house ! Old cat Lisa decided to squat my bed and Pookie (who consideres herself as my personal cat) had to move out, because Lisa is convinced that she is the master of the house. I cannot interfere as I am supposed to love them both the same way. Of course I do, but each one in another way. Now they are jealous and hiss and snap at each other and I the poor subject of this jealousy is sitting here and got the inspiration of writing about jealousy ! Have I ever been jealous ?

Many women are jealous or even abnormaly jealous. When you talk about jealousy you automaticaly think it concerns a woman being jealous about another because she is afraid that the other one would snap away her man.

I don't think that I have ever been jealous of another woman because she would try to snap away my man. Not because there were no occasions there surely were but it isn't part of my nature. Anyway if the guy wants to look elsewhere and thinks that he would be more happy with somebody else, let him go, there are so many mothers having nice and handsome sons.

Sometimes when I hear "don't tell this or that to my wife, she is very jealous" just because I had seen him in a Café having a drink with a female collegue, I really pity him. Some women are standing every day in front of the office to pick up their partner not leaving him alone for a minute. That's not for me, I would feel like a prison warden and anyway if I cannot trust somebody he is not interesting for me.

Once I had a boyfriend who watched every step I did and called me several times a day to check if I was there, office or home. That made me feel like having a boa around my neck strangling me slowly until I could not breath anymore. So I had to say good bye to the guy, but he wouldn't give up for a year even when I was busy with my wedding preparations.

If you come to the point to borrow your friend's car put on a wig, black sunglasses and a raincoat and follow your partner to snap him with another women, then it is time to look for a psychiatrist.

But there are also other ways of jealousy. You can be jealous about the neigbor's bigger car, or the jewlery hanging on a woman like decoration on a Christmas tree, or because somebody has more money, travels a lot or has a better job.

These are things I am not jealous of, but I could be jealous when I hear that this or that friend had a family party with aunts, oncles, nephews, grandmas etc and I have none. When I do a family party we are just the four of us and the cats of course, I almost forgot ! Or I could be jealous when I hear that a mother has a very special relationship to her child, and I just had a fight with mine.

But I have very good friends and that compensates the lack of family. When I hear sometimes what happens in families between brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, uncles and aunts so that I could write a whole book about family meetings, then I tell myself you can choose your friends but you inherit your family.

Are you jealous ?

Jealous because he looks at another woman ?

EASTER TRADITION

2007-04-08T03:58:00.000+01:00

The first time I put my feet on Belgian ground it was Easter, and I was very disappointed because I couldn't see a single Easter Bunny, there was nothing. In the shop windows I saw chocolate fishes and choclate bells and living little yellow chicken (that was the only thing I found cute, but later I thought different about it) So it seemed to me that they didn't celebrate Easter in this country ! Later I learned that the bells represented the bells of Rome, the church bells. The story said that as they ring every day of the year, they stop on thursday until saturday evening. During these days they go to Rome and rest from the whole year's work. Then on Easter sunday they come back with a lot of eggs which they drop in parcs or gardens or also in flats and houses.

For all children Easter egg huntings are organized in parks by the city and colored eggs and chocolate eggs are hidden in the bushes or behind trees.

In the past the chocolate shops were full of chocolate bells, wrapped in golden foil and yellow ribbons. But slowly slowly the Easter Bunny replaced them although children still believe that the eggs and bunnies are brought by the bells of rome.

In the 50th you didn't see one single Easter bunny in the shop windows. There were chocolate fishes symbolizing Good Friday and eggs. Unfortunately also little living yellow chickens, some of them survived but most of them died. Beginning 60th it was not allowed anymore and they were replaced by fluffy false chicken.

With the arriving of the EU (Commun Market at that time) the Easter Bunny arrived too and today you will see everywhere Easter Bunnies and eggs and only sometimes bells in chocolate.

LIVING IN TWO WORLDS

2007-04-07T08:56:00.000+01:00

to all of you !

Since I am blogging, I have changed. Now, I spend much more time at home and are not running around anymore after myself or buying stupid stuff that I don't need. Now, when I run around it's for taking photos for my photoblog. Now when I am visiting a city or another country it's for my travel blog. Not only for that of course, I love travelling. But it's nice to make about 200 photos for a reason and to be able to share them with others then making them put them somewhere or delete them after I while.

I also stated that I have got the feeling to live in two worlds now. My Blogger world and my Waterloo world.

When I am busy to read blogs and to see what people are writing and the phone rings it pulls me out into another world where people are of blood and flesh have faces and a voice. So I have a kind of switch to reality and try to listen to my newspaper neighbor (the one who knows everything in the street) who informes me about the last happenings around here. For example that the cousin of another neighbors sister has died or that the women three houses farer wears a wig or that the other neighbor washs his car with a tooth brush. In fact all very interesting things to know and you couldn't live without them. Or my friend calls and askes me to lunch with her and then I think should I go or not ? Two or three hours lost in blogging ? But I am not a slave to my computer !

So I kicked myself somewhere, switched off my window to the world, made myself presentable and went out for lunch.

Lunch was nice but the trouble was I had absolutely nothing to say about such simple things like what did you do yesterday ? What I did, nothing in her eyes, because she doesn't know what a blog is.

And when I explained to her that I put that and that picture and text on a blog in Internet, she looked at me like a cow (she doesn't look like a cow) seeing a train for the first time.

So after lunch, I with a dry mouth from explaining, she with two question marks in her eyes, I took here home and showed her my computer. When my friend saw my face on the screen and all the stuff around and my text, she asked me how the hell did I do that and how could I get on the screen ? I tried to explain but it didn't help it just didn't get in. I got the impression that she thought I had slipped in some secret way, maybe shrinking myself to a little goast, through tubes and wires on the screen.

Finally she sighed that she didn't understand at all about what I were talking, that computers are far to complicated to use, to which I protested and told her that even her 6 year old grandchild is using it. Yes, she said but I am too old for that.

When my friend was gone I grumbled, too old !! (we have the same age) and I said it to Pookie because nobody else was in the house to complain to, can you believe that ?

I think you are never too old to learn something when you like it or when it is useful. I learned it too ! But some people are just afraid to "go with the time", they refuse everything which didn't exist when they were young. Yes, said Pookie, yawning in need of more sleep, but then you can think at least you are young ! (I don't know if she really said that)

And it would be such a good thing for especially older people who complain that they are alone, they wouldn't be alone anymore ! And it's also a great occupation for somebody retired who doesn't know what to do with all the time he/she has now !

Before it comes to that BLOG !!

FRIDAY FEAST 138

2007-04-06T06:41:00.000+01:00

Pookie and her easter bunny

Appetizer When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer ?

A Rickshaw, I don't like walking too much, so it would be ideal for me to let walk others.

Soup Have you ever met a blogging friend in person?

No, I am afraid this would happen !

Salad When was the last time you were really, really tired?

During the whole winter, I did my hibernation

Main Course If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be?

ET, I never met an extra terrestre in the first place and then he looks quite cute. I have realized that in real life famous persons look very disappointing, they have pimples, and wrinkles like everybody and are mostly much shorter than you had imagined !

Dessert Fill in the blank: ___________

One day, I hope to see a easter bunny which breed colored eggs. Or even an ordinary bunny breading normal eggs, would already make me happy !

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

2007-04-05T17:58:00.000+01:00

Pookie too is in a silly spring mood !

On a Belgian webside for children, the children were asked to send in what silly things they had done last week, so I took 13 out and translated them for you :

1. I put a screwdriver in the plug of our living room and blow all fuses of the building

2. We gathered dog poops and put them at a witches front door and waited that she steps in

3. I put glue on the chair of my teacher

4. I carried a hot pot of spaghettis and dropped it on my grandma's feet ! She screamed because her left food was burnt

5. I invited a friend and we painted my room, I don't know why my parents went beserk

6. I put a little firework in our open fireplace for New Years eve and it exploded when dad lighted the wood.

7. I dropped a jerrycan of oil in the garage and dad slipped out and felt on his bottom

8. I laughed loud in religion, because my neighbor had photos of naked women

9. We put stones on the rail and waited for the train to jump out

10. I put the fish bowl on the plate warmer because the water was so cold, I don't know what happened, but all 3 of them died.

11. I wanted to ride the car of my dad and suddenly it went off in our garage door

12. We put the skeleton in our English teachers wardrobe. She got histerical when it fell on her

13. When we were at the beach I shot on women with my waterpistol, it was so funny when they turned around and I could see their boobs.

Cat Thursday 13.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-04-04T06:43:00.000+01:00

Meowless Pookie

Our Cyber Cruise still has some programs on its schedule Today all Cruisers put up 1 photo from 1 place they’ve been and have strong memories from. and here is a picture of the Grand Canyon. Mr. Gattino and I in 1971 ! The special souvenir was after having visited the Gran Canyon, we drove for 8 h (14 h in total) through an Indian reservation to find a motel read here if you wish.

TUESDAY LAUGHS ? What is your Blog worth ?

2007-04-03T06:29:00.000+01:00

Easter is approaching !

My blog is worth $508,086.00. How much is your blog worth?

WHERE IS MY MONEY ?????

Doing my morning duty and walking through Blogville, (followed by cat Arthur of course) I found these interesting questionary on Irish Church Lady's Blog. Although it was meant for Monday and here it's already Tuesday, I thought in some places of the world it's still Monday. Anyway, when you don't know what to write then take a Questionary just like for buying on credit and answer. That's easy.

How does your blog benefit you?

It makes my imagination and creativity work. That's the positive side. It doesn't bring any money but this is not the question.

Does it make you happy?

Oh yes, every morning reading the comments of my blogger friends I jump to the ceiling and make my cats disappearing in all directions

Does it earn you friends and admirers?

That I don't know, most of my "alive" friends don't even understand what I am doing and I gave up to explain.

Does it improve your writing?

For sure, before I was illiterate

Does it keep you up-to-date on news and technology?

Oh yes ! at least I know now when a door window is cleaned in Australia, that seats in a movie theatre in the Phillipines have to be renewed or that somebody dropped dishes on a kitchen floor in the States !

Technology wise I learned how to use a computer.

How does your blog benefit others?

How should I know ? I haven't seen any ameloration in their writing !

Does it provide valuable information for free?

Of course ! Now everybody knows that I have four cats and an Italian husband and when the weather is bad.

Does it speak for the speechless?

Through a blog it's difficult to hear people speaking and I don't know if they are speechless, at least they are not writingless.

Does it make people think?

I hope not !

Questions stolen from 2k Bloggers asks "What's Your Blog Worth?"

MANIC MONDAY - BRANCH

2007-04-02T06:18:00.000+01:00

Pookie was so proud of me that I have won the first price in the hat parade (see below) that she closed her eyes full of emotion and offered me a little present

In 1964 I had started to work for a company which made letters for subtitles on movies or for games. It was a very small company in Belgium but a branch from a big one in Germany. To present the new letters which were magnetic the German company had rented a stand at International Toy Fair Nürnberg, in Nürnberg, Germany for its Belgian branch.

My Boss decided to take me with him as decoration and interpretor, because his german was not so good and somebody had to talk to the clients at the stand.

So I kept the stand, showed our letter boxes and how it worked and we had quite some success. "We" is a generous word, because he always left me alone to shop for his wife or do other things and only showed up from time to time to check if I had made some contract prospections. Then he could say that he had found the customer and the Company would be proud of his work.

One day I again was alone and very hungry. I looked around if I could eat something so that nobody saw me eating, but the hall was fully packed. Finally I put my sandwich on the floor so that nobody could see it and from time to time I bent down to take a bite swallowed quickly and sat up again with a friendly innocent smile.

A few stands farer I heard people laughing and laughing and told myself that there must be something very funny going on and that's why probably nobody was at our stand. Suddenly I noticed that one of my nylon stockings was loose (there were no panties yet) and had to be fixed, otherwise, getting up I would have lost my stocking.

As the desk covered my legs from curious looks I pulled up my skirt and fixed the clip. This time a real explosion of loud laughter reached me. I became curious and as my stocking was fixed I walked over there to have a look and to find out why people were laughing so much and evidently were very amused.

When I approached the laughter even increased and I didn't understand a thing. And then I saw what had happened ! The subject they were all looking at was a video camera (very uncommun at that time) directed right to my stand and you could see everything even behind the desk ! Now I understood, everybody had seen me eating under the desk and also my uncovered legs while I fixed my stocking !

Today that's not very shocking anymore but in the 60ths people were still prude and it probably looked to them as if I had done a striptease behind my desk !

Now what should I do ? Getting a red face, be ashamed and run away ? That's not what I have done ! I laughed with all of them and admired the camera ! Unfortunately my boss didn't show up and scratched himself under the desk !

And here is the big surprise I have got yesterday !!! Sir Arthur and Lady Pookie my companions on the Cruise

I got the first price for this hat, which I had worn for the Crazy hat Parade at our Cyber Cruise !!! And I was sooooo happy when I read : "Gattinas hat were choosen because of it’s both craziness AND creativity, no one can’t say that this hat not is like an artwork! I mean, this cruiser has a whole garden - or world - on her head! Just look at it - there is even a tree! I symbolize it with this crazy world cruise we’re doing too. "

But I want to thank especially Melli who finally had the idea with the hats. She took 20 hats on our cruise and they all were wonderful. So I have to share the honor with her and think she merits the first price for the hat IDEA !

CYBER CRUISE - MIDI MARKET IN BRUSSELS

2007-04-01T06:47:00.000+01:00

Sir Arthur and Lady Pookie my cruise companions are ready to go with you to the market !

And off we go to the Midi Market in Brussels. Keep your handbag safe, there are pickpockets ! No other dangers.

The Midi market is reputed to be the biggest in Europe behind Ventimiglia on the Italian Riviera! On average 450 stand holders (mostly Morrocans) sell here their wares, mainly foodstuffs and clothes of all varieties and prices. The market takes place all around the Midi train station. It is very easy to reach by public transport (underground, train, tram, bus), but also for car drivers to get to, due to the new immense (paying) car park that has been opened in this area . So many office blocks have grown like mushrooms around here! Each sunday the market opens at dawn and closes around 2 pm.

As the weather was so sunny I thought we could do a walk over there, I hadn't been at the midi market since at least 25 years ! And then only when we had visitors from abroad.

I took the train at Waterloo station (not in London, but here in Belgium) and went to the "Gare du Midi" which means "South Station" . This is the most important station of Brussels where all international trains arrive. It only takes 20 min with the train from Waterloo to Brussels and on sundays there are special prices so I only payed 3.50 € (!) for a return ticket, without having any parking problems. In the parkhouses I would have payed more then the double as they are quite expensive. Usually during the week you would pay for a train ticket 5 € and 7 € with return.

The market is really around the station.

click on the pictures to make them bigger The first stand when we come out of the station, thermos, coffee machines and other household machines and instruments All kind of spices from the whole world you can find her and you will see many Chinese, Japonese, Indians, Arabs etc. here to buy the spices of their country. You also have DVDs of all musics of the world, Arabic and Japonese, Indian and English etc. There are a lot of Moroccans here in Brussels, about 400 000, which in total has around 2,090,000 inhabitants. Certainly 80 % of the stands are helt by Moroccans or Turks. There is also a Turkish community in Belgium.

When I walked through the market I thought that I see here more women with scarfs then I had seen in Morocco or Turkey. These are Moroccinian teapots. The traditional pot to make Couscous Fruits vegetables, fish, meat everything you wish ! Potatoes a Moroccinian dad with his son Jeans, trousers, dresses, cardigans, T-shirts whatever you want. I bought Jeans (stretch) for 5 € (a little more then 5 $) ! And they are very comfortable, I wear them every day ! Fashion jewlery, but also silver and watches "Italian" leather shoes for sometimes less then 10 € ! A friend of mine bought some real leather shoes for 4 € and they are really nice.

Sometimes I wonder if these things haven't "fallen" off a truck ! I am not in Morocco, I am at the Midi Station in Brussels ! I am sure you all know Tintin with his dog Milou, which has been translated into "Snowy" for the English speaking people.

Tintin was "born" in Brussels and here you see the office building where all decisions are taken. Cheap, cheaper, the cheapest !

Now we can rest a little and have one of the Brussel's hot waffels. They taste phantastic and are often sold in these kind of cars.

This woman tried to haggle as it is the use in her country, but here is nothing to do, she had to pay the price !

We are now back to the Station and if you wish you can take a box of belgian "Godiva" pralines with you !

I hope you enjoyed your walk through the crowd ! Sometimes you really can get squeezed !

Our M/S Lifecruiser Cyber cruise continues, my hat parade too, schedule here

I MET AMERICAN NATIVES (ex Indians)

2007-03-31T07:51:00.000+01:00

Pookie in the costume of a Native American housecat

Yesterday our cruise stopped at Hootin Anni who took us on a trip through the "Wild West" from Los Angeles to Durango.

When I saw the word "Durango" I remembered all of a sudden our first trip to the States in 1971 ! And even though it was such a long time ago suddenly all souvenirs came up.

My american uncle who had married my mother's sister had invited us to show us his country. And that he did !! In 2 weeks we drove 8000 km (4971 miles) from Madison Wisconsin through North and South Dakota, Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone park, Las Vegas, Flagstaff and finally the Grand Canyon. We admired the Cran Canyon (after that I had been there 2 more times), we also admired the 4 corners and took pictures of us, sitting on four States, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.

I rember then that it was about 4 pm when we were in Flagstaff and my aunt and uncle wanted to go direction Durango and looked up the map. No problem there were plenty of towns so plenty of motels (they thought). What they didn't know was that all these towns were in an Navajo Indian Reservation.

Now in 1971 Indians were still Indians and not American Natives and both sides were still like cats and dogs. We started driving and driving and driving through a wonderful desert, in red and sandy colors and yes we drove through the cities mentioned on the map but they were composed of maybe 5 or 6 houses and a bar. It's strange that after so many years I remember that there had always been a bar. And on purpose because we got hungry and wanted something to eat.

All the way long we saw Indians not in the costumes I was used to see in the movies but mostly dressed in Jeans and T-Shirts. I was very disappointed ! Finally and quite reluctantly we stopped in a "town" and opened the swinging door of the bar, just as I had seen in Western movies, but there were no cowboys.

The Indians looked at us as if we were ET in person they probably had never seen "whites" coming in their bar. We were received polite and cold and the older men even glanced at us with hostile looks. We really didn't feel at ease. But then they realized that we spoke another language then english (we spoke german together) and their attitude changed completely. Now they all came to our table most of them still wearing plaits (or pigtails I don't know the difference) which I found hightly romantic.

The only one who was ignored in our group was my poor uncle because he spoke english and they immediately realized that he was american. We chatted together and it was very interesting. Then 2 women came in unfortunatley not with a leather dress and feathers but with Jeans and T-shirt and brought us food. I don't remember what it was but it was very good and anyway I was so hungry I would even have swallowed a grilled rat ! My uncle got nothing. They just ignored him as if he in person had killed all now dead indians and put them here in this reservation which indeed was very beautiful but nothing could grow here it was just a desert. I don't know how it is now, they probably all live from tourism but at that time it just was like this. We shared our food with my uncle and then left still chatting and laughing and promised to come back ! (without uncle of course)

I remember sitting in the car I was so excited !! I had met real Indians not movie Indians but real true Indians the only thing I was missing so much were the feathers !

And then we drove and drove again once my uncle once my aunt. Mr. Gattino was not allowed to drive because he was Italian and therefore probably didn't know how to drive although he had learned driving on a truck ! In 1971 Europeans were not supposed to know how to drive a car.

Then we got into 3 heavy thunderstorms, one behind, one above and one in front of us. The sky was indescribable almost untrue because between the very black clouds and lightenings there were blue sky and sun between the 3 ! Amazing ! My uncle really got scared, but he didn't want to stop in another Indian "town" I think he feared for his life !

And finally we arrived in Durango ! Meanwhile it was 3 am and we had to look for a hotel or motel ! The once we saw were all fully booked and we were so tired !! We had 12 h driving behind us looking for a motel ! Finally I don't remember how but my aunt managed to get us one room in a private house where we spent the rest of the night all together in one room. What came next I really don't remember.

And all these souvenirs came up because of the Cruise and Hootin Anni !

That's what I expected ! The four courners where my honorable bottom sat on just in the middle of the cross ! Today our cruise will stop at aka Rac’quel who will show us the Blue Mountains, NSW of Australia !

Tomorrow it will be my turn and I will show you the second biggest market of Europe in Brussels ! There are more than 450 stands, so take enough € !

Our M/S Lifecruiser Cyber cruise continues, my hat parade too, schedule here

FRIDAY FEAST 137

2007-03-30T07:30:00.000+01:00

Fiday Feast

Pookie hesitates for this feast !

Appetizer What are you proud of?

My four templates I made alone. Last year at this time I didn't even know what a blog was !

Soup What is the best thing you’ve ever won as a prize?

Mr. Gattino (strip poker)

Salad Name something you do that is a waste of time.

Household stuff

Main Course In what year of your life did you change the most?

from 30 to 60, first young then old young (but that makes two years of life)

Dessert Where is a place you consider to be very tranquil?

The place where Kings and Presidents go without bodyguards. (the toilet, for those who ignore this place)

Today our cruise will stop at Hootin Anni who has a Northern America surprise for us. Then our M/S Lifecruiser Cyber cruise continues, my hat parade too, schedule here

Before sombody asks me, Strip poker is not true !!

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

2007-03-29T05:44:00.000+01:00

Pookie poses

13 things I heard this morning

1. Your eye is too narrow, make it bigger

2. Your tail is too short, it should lay around your legs

3. Your bottom is too far down, put it up

4. Your head is too big make it smaller

5. One of your breasts is bigger than the other

6. Make your hands bigger, your arm is too thick

7. Your feet seem too big make your legs longer or shorten the feet

8. Your belly button is not in the middle

9. Your eyes are too narrow and your nose too long

10. Your left lower leg is too thick compared to the right

11. Your pubis is not in the middle

12. Your arms are too long, they go under your knees

13. Your ears are too high, they have to be at eye level

Now guess where I have heard this ?

in my painting course

Could happen in a drawing lesson too !

Another "Ascott" hat that I am wearing on our cyber cruise ! Interested ?

schedule here

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY- HAT PARADE

2007-03-28T06:38:00.000+01:00

Click to see what she has to tell you !

TODAY'S CYBER CRUISE CRAZY HAT PARADE !

For today's hat parade on board of our cruise ship the M/S Lifecruiser after a long hesitation amongst my various (see above) hats I own for King's /Queens, Bush's White House, Ascott derbies, etc. receptions, I finally choose this one.

For my companions on the cruise I choose something English, as they have the best hat fashion creations in the world.

Sir Arthur Lady Pookie

ITALIAN MAMMAS (Tuesday Laugh)

2007-03-27T05:04:00.000+01:00

Pookie prepares herself for the vet

Mr. Gattino has a friend named Giorgio. Giorgio is a heart of man and the only thing in his life he really hates are problems. Problems have to be solved by mostly saying yes to everything or ask his wife to handle them.

But this time it was different, a catastrophe had happened ! It concerned his mamma ! You have to know that for an Italian his Mamma is the most important person in his life. Especially when he is grown up. Even in Mafia circles men always listened to Mamma (see the "Godfather").

Mamma is respected by everybody in the family and inspite the fact that everybody thinks that Italian man are machos in front of Mamma he is like a new born baby.

Giorgio's Mamma in the respectable age of 94 had to be hospitalized, at least that's what she had decided. The whole family was informed like a queen's desease is announced in public.

Therefore Giorgio rushed over in a hurry like a headless chicken, he thought his Mamma was already half dead.

He immediately wanted to call an ambulance but Mamma had first to dress up in a very elegant dress, to comb her heavy silver hair as if she would go to an opera,to put make up on and her jewelry and only then she was ready to suffer and to receive the men with their ambulance.

Giorgio had to lay her down on the stretcher, not the men from the ambulance, although he suffers badly from his back. Now Mamma could be the star of the whole street ! She is not the type of suffering in silence, so while the ambulance guys carried her out on a stretcher, she was lamentating, moaning, groaning and gesticulating with her hands, while looking around to see if the whole street really could have a good view on her suffering.

They all, Giorgio, Angela, father, aunt, uncle, nephew and grandchildren followed the stretcher, loud talking, fighting and discussing while Mamma suffered loud. The nurse who saw them coming, almost fainted and threw them all out. Mamma screemed for her son.

The nurse shut the door and looked at the elegant outfit, took everything off and put her to bed. Mamma shouted her protestings so loud, that almost the whole hospital could hear her. Finally she calmed down and lay divalike, with her silk nightgown on the bed.

Next day she got hysterical and screamed at Giorgo, so that even a deaf could hear her that, the bed was too hard, the TV had no italian channel, the nurses came not fast enough, the doctors are all stupid and don't do with her what she desevers, the room was too warm, she was freezing at night and of course she couldn't close an an eye.The poor women who shared the room with her had almost gotten a nervous brakedown and hadn't closed an eye, because Mamma was moarning the whole night like an old cat in love.

Of course she didn't eat, no, the hospital food was just rotten and she asked Giorgio, her son and not the husband to bring her food everyday otherwise she would starve. Of course it had to be italian food and nothing else all other kitchens are bad. So poor Giorgio every day went to a catering service and bought italian food.

Mamma was an easy patient, she rang the bell every five minutes for the nurse, to open the window, to close the window, to bring fresh water, to bring her a mirror, to give her a cover, to take off the cover etc. Finally doctor and nurses had enough of Mamma and asked Giorgio, to take her home. Giorgio of course called again the ambulance and went with Mamma home. Papa was always behind. In front of their house, Mamma, laying on her stretcher greated everybody like a queen her subjects. Of course she complained that Giorgio had forgotten to buy her some flowers.

Now back home, poor Giorgio is not out of his troubles ! Mamma lets her husband call mostly around 3 am to inform him that she cannot sleep, and is to weak to speak, that she suffers worse then Jesus on his cross and that her end is near. (but she is still there) and every morning before going to work Giorgio has to bring her croissants from a special italian bakery and woe it's not true.

The whole family watches like Pitbulls and Dobermans together and poor Giorgio is critisized when for once he dares to say that he is tired and just wants to rest for a day. No, they say, you only have one Mamma, now she is so sick, you at least have to take care of her like she did when you were a baby.

The baby in between is 64 years old and has a family. But that doesn't matter to Mamma, she is half dead although she looks like a fresh rose compared to poor Giorgio with his mouse grey face.

PS. My mamma in law wasn't at all like that, she was a wonderful woman and we were very close friends.

Mamma ready for the ambulance

WHAT HAPPENS IN SPRING ?

2007-03-26T07:25:00.000+01:00

SPRING

Pookie suffers from severe spring fatigue the whole year !

On March 20 spring began officially and lasts until end of May, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere. Our Australian friends now instead settle down for their winter sleep.

But what happens so special in spring ? We all wake up or should at least and realize that the days are longer the sun comes out and the nature gets crazy !

Some humans are feeling depressed and retire in their deep black hole and call it (spring) seasonal depression others are coming out of their holes because their's is finished (automn-winter depressions). Some others are suffering from strong spring fatigue and feel weak, tired and without any energy.

Floodings, hails and thunderstorms happen in spring.

But then trees get leaves and the flowers come out, nature begins to take color.

Boys begin to look even more as usual at girls and men discover that there are other women to look at in streets and parks than their own one.

Girls do the same but more discreet. That's called sexual equality.

Cats are laying in the sunshine and sing operas during nights looking at the moonshine

Dogs try to climb over the fences to find a partner especially when she smells so good. Dog owners are doing skateboard on the street pulled by their dogs running behind a nice looking (and smelling) dog girl.

Horses forget that they have a human to carry and ran after a horse lady, while the human gathers his limbs and gets slowly up. (mostly swearing)

Cows are laying in the grass and leak each other tenderly until a bull springs over the fence

Windows are cleaned and you suddenly realize that a new neighbor has moved in. Curtains are washed and the room looks much brighter. Housewives get crazy and clean from morning till evening the home from top to bottom.

Men suddenly discover that their car has to be cleaned from the winter dirt and salt. They cut everything available in the garden and dig holes for flowers and plants. Women too of course again equality.

Shops and boutiques are full of the new spring collections and women look for new feathers and claws.

Birds are arriving from far and settle down to built their nests. The once which stayed here do the same.

Early mornings you wake up and spring (or fall) out of your bed because of the bird's singing. In town of course less, but there is the traffic noise coming through the open window.

Hairs are cut and shaved off the whole body.

Babies are created Couples get married (not necessarily in this order) Spring feelings are in the air !

Don’t miss our fabulous cyber cruise which started on Friday 16 March. Today we are in the Dominican Republic at Sanni, other destinations will follow !

schedule here

50 YEARS EUROPE

2007-03-25T08:35:00.000+01:00

Today is the 50th anniversary of EUROPE.

Roman Treaty

On March 24, 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany, signed the Rome Treaty. This established a European Economic Community (Commun Market).

One of the most important persons participating was Paul Henri Spaak. He was thePrime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Foreign Affairs. His role in the creation of the EEC earned Spaak a place among the Founding Fathers of the European Union. His dream was already at that time to create a United Europe.

In 1958 the members opened their offices in Brussels and Brussels became the capital of Europe.

This picture represents the "Berlaimont" which houses the Eurpean Commission consisting of 27 Commissioners, one from each member state of the EU supported by an administrative body of about 23,000 European civil servants. Now 50 years later we are maybe approaching this target a , but it's still not yet completed.

The European Union (EU) is now a supranational and intergovernmental union of 27 states in Europe. It was established in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (The Maastricht Treaty), and is the de facto successor to the six above mentioned members of the beginning.

A lot of changements had therefore occured. No borders anymore, more then 90 % of the member states have the same money (Euro) and there is also a commun police, Europol (the name is a contraction of European Police Office) which is the European Union's criminal intelligence agency. Enjoying immunity from prosecution, Europol became fully operational on July 1, 1999.

There is still a lot to do, especially to change people's mentality from being only French, Belgian or German and to become a Europan French, Belgian or German. Most of the people are afraid they would loose their country's identity, traditions and their language.

Languages are the biggest barrier between the different countries and therefore also a big obstacle. If you cannot understand what your neighbor is talking about in your own city, how difficult is it then between countries !

I think the generation now, especially the older one, are not convinced about a united Europe. It will be much better in the next generation, already now there are so many youth exchanges and allow young people to open their minds learning languages and communicate between each other. They will see their part of the world in a completely different way.

But I can consider myself already as a European. Mr. Gattino is Italian, my son is a mixture and has two passports, Italian and German, we live in Belgium. My son lives with his Dutch girlfriend in Amerstam, but is domicilated in London. Mr. Gattino and I speak German together, with our son french (but he also speaks German) when we have Italian guests we speak Italian, when we have other guests usually French and when our son is here with his girlfriend we speak English. Now isn't that a European family ? And meanwhile the EU has become the largest economic entity and one of the largest political entities in the world, with 493 million people and a nominal GDP of €11.5 ($15.0) trillion in 2006. And that is already something. (Wikipedia)

If you want to read how I lived the beginning of Europe, when I had to follow my parents to Brussels a fact which has changed my life completely you can read it here

THE START OF EUROPE - I WAS FOURTEEN

The Justus Lipsius building, the headquarter of the EU Council in Brussels is a governing body that forms, along with the European Parliament, the legislative arm of the European Union (EU). The Europol building in Den Haag (Holland) Euro bills and coins

EXPLAINING A CYBER CRUISE

2007-03-24T08:24:00.000Z

Pookie as a perfect English lady (she comes from London) prepares herself for the next cruise

Yesterday I tried to explain to my friend that I am doing a Cyber Cruise.

Of course she asked what that was. I have to say that my friend has no idea of internet, computer or whatsoever concerning the modern world today. Even a mobile or a remote control is a mistery to her and a computer for her is like a TV. Except of course my laptop, and she cannot understand that this small thing is a computer and not a briefcase to carry around

I told her that we had started in Stockholm/Sweden, that my swedish blogfriend (Mrs.Lifecruiser ) had this good idea and had organized the whole thing. First I had to explain what a Blogfriend is. It would take too long to describe my description of a blogfriend. So I gave it up and went further. I told her that we are on an imaginated ship and had sailed from Stockholm to Oslo and then Waterloo etc schedule here.

The imaginated ship she could imagine, but the fact that we criss-crossed through the whole world without any logic sailing from Alaska to Canada and then to Rome and to the States she couldn't understand. Why didn't we follow the normal way and follow the geographical order as normal humans, staying on one continent, visiting everything and then going to the next ? I said that doesn't matter if we go from America to Europe and back there and then again Europe and then Canada and then, and then ... my poor friend got dizzy and I started to fancy about all countries I would visit in the whole world, when she brought me back to my seat in the Chinese restaurant.

She said : " and Mr. Gattino agrees that you would be away for such a long time "? In this moment I gave up and changed subject to something what she knew better "by the way how is Jacques ?" (her son) and enjoyed my chinese beef with noodles.

One of our male cruise members on the beach

If you are interested in the cruise, see what Melli wrote today about her town in Maryland (USA)

FRIDAY FEAST 135

2007-03-23T05:27:00.000Z

Pookie just finished her feast and is washing herself before she starts her daily 24 h sleep around tour.

Appetizer Who is your favorite news anchor/reporter? Why?

The one who has other news then war, bombing, killing, murdering, earthquakes, floodings, airplane crashes etc. etc. which is usually the content of news whoever tells them.

Soup Name 3 foods that are currently in your freezer.

The corpse mentioned in the today news by a charming reporter, cut into three pieces.

Salad If you were to have the opportunity to name a new town or city, what would you call it?

Here. When people ask me "where do you live ?" I can answer "in Here". (and then watch their faces)

Main Course What will most likely be the next book you read?

"How to avoid work in house and garden".

Dessert What's the first thing you notice

Depends where I am. On a street the cars not to be run over and look like a pancake, in a dark parc, if nobody is around to rape me (even at my advanced age) or if a place is messy but still cosy to sit on a sofa and chat.

Our cruise stops today in

Ottawa

where our Irish Church Lady shows us around in her town. Tomorrow, we will stop in Chesapeake Beach, US at

Melli

. Then follows, Rome (Italy), Dominican Republic, Australia and other mystery destinations!

schedule here

13 THINGS I HEAR IN MY FITNESS CLUB

2007-03-22T05:34:00.000Z

Pookie has her beauty day

1. I put on weight

2. I don't fit in my jeans anymore

3. My belly looks like a football

4. Look at my tighs, they are too fat

5. My bottom, look at my bottom, I look like a horse !

6. I look like a barrel with legs

7. Look at all that fat around my waist

8. My boobs start hanging to my belly bottom

9. I can't see my feet anymore ! I am too fat

10. I put on at least 10 kgs

11. I feel sooo heavy

12. I feel blown up, I will explode

13. Has anybody a remedy for me to loose weight ?

For cat lovers for dog lovers

Don’t miss our cruise today it stops in Alaska at Maribeth. Then follows US, Italy, Dominican Republic, Australia and other mystery destinations!

schedule here

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-03-21T06:36:00.000Z

Mobile is necessary !

Don’t miss our cruise today it stops in Berlin at Sanni. Then follows Alaska (!), US, Italy, Dominican Republic, Australia and other mystery destinations!

schedule here

ALARM ! PIRATES ON BOARD

2007-03-20T08:38:00.000Z

The cruise continues and we are sailing from Barcelona to the Irish Church Lady who I hope will have left her church by now and has prepared everything to walk us around.

While I was enjoying my cigar on deck

and Pookie had stolen a hat from Melli (I think it suits her very well)

Arthur enjoyed the pipe of Sanni and to be sure had also lighted a cigare. While he savoured his champagne ....

Suddenly !!! I heard Mrs. Lifecruiser screaming "Pirates" !!!

And they were coming !

Help ! a mess broke out on the whole cruise !

They looked terrible ! Some of them were already dead and showed their skulls, we thought !

But then we had a closer look, and realized that they still looked terrible but at least as humans.

One of us women on board (I don't remember who it was) proposed generously herself to get rid of the pirates ! I was impressed, such a brave soul !

But Renny and TorAa didn't agree with that and wanted to protect her ! Mrs. Lifecruiser our capitain started to negotiate with the terrible pirates !

Poor Sanni, in her hurry to escape, lost one of her 6o (or were it more shoes ?) !

Melli tried to make a seductive smile and asked them kindly to leave the ship. She was very worried about her 20 hats !

The pirates looked very afraid when they saw this red hat and when Mrs. Lifecruiser showed up with a furious face, (below )

they finally left ! Big sighs of relief went through the whole ship and we all saw them jumping in the water. The last one couldn't escape ! Renny and Tor catched him and ....

just hanged a trophee on our ship, so that no pirates would dare to come on our cruise ship again.

For those who think that I escaped from a madhouse this morning, I can assure them, no ! I only described the cruise I am participating on.

Above mention cruise members and cruise schedule you can find here with our Capitain

Mrs.Lifecruiser

WATERLOO RESTAURANTS - CHIPS (Manic Monday)

2007-03-19T06:35:00.000Z

After yesterday's cruise and too much drinking, Pookie today is on diet.

And I forgot to lead my guests to the Waterloo' Restaurants ! This is really unforgivable of me ! Fortunately today's word for Manic Monday is "chips" and this reminded me that we also have Chips in Waterloo ! Very good once and even Fish and Chips in our Irish Pub, which would please our Irish Church Lady.

This is our Irish Pub, very appreciated by young men but also by me for example. It's very nicely decorated inside and you really feel like being in an Irish or for me more English Pub, as I have never been to Ireland, but have been in about 60 pubs in London ! Of course not to drink but to draw the people. Drinking was in second place, I love Cider and this I can only find here !

There are so many Restaurants in Waterloo, that bad people pretend that there is one Restaurant per family ! Maybe that's not quite true, sure is you have the choice !

This Restaurant is located in a very small street and when it is warm enough people are sitting "on the street" and can have a sandwich or chips with something. Inside is a beautiful Restaurant.

A lot of very old houses or farms have been transformed to Restaurants, which is a very good idea. It keeps the ancient style where nobody wants to live in anymore and at the same time keeps the patrimoine occupied.

All these Restaurants have beautiful gardens were in summertime people eat outside of course. The "Green Roof" is my favourite Restaurant. It's 2min from our house in front of the wood surrounding Brussels. They have a huge garden and the food is very good. During lunch hours you only pay 7.50 € for a "plat du jour" which changes everyday. Of course you get very good chips here too ! The traditional belgian plate : Steak, frites (chips) salad ! Or this little Snack bar kept by two Waterloo girls. You can see the chips !!

Of course hamburgers are not missed either, besides the American Mc Donald's we have the belgian group "Quick"

In Waterloo you can find every kind of kitchen, morrocan, Mexican, Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Italian and I am sure that I forgot some.

There is another thing I want to mention here. Why does the English language use for chips "french fries" ? Very much to the anger of all Belgians, because France has nothing to do with the "fries" they are not french at all, but were a Belgian invention. There are a lot of jokes about the Belgians and their "frites" !

And before you leave and go to Barcelona

to Mar here please taste the Waterloo beer, especially brewed for Waterloo. Belgium is famous for its beer and the total number of types of Belgian beer exceeds 1000.

If you wish to continue or participate to the Cyber Cruise, go to our Capitain Mrs. Lifecruiser here

WATERLOO CRUISE STOP 3

2007-03-18T08:39:00.001Z

Waterloo, of course has always been famous because Napoleon lost his battle here against the most important European countries and had been exilated after that.

Many people ignore this fact and relate Waterloo very often to the Abba song "Waterloo" with which they won the European song contest "Eurovision" in 1974 and had been the first foreign group in the British chart as n° 1 with this song. When I was in London, people often thought that I talked about the Waterloo Station and didn't know that this Londoner station had been named after the Duke of Wellington who had won against Napoleon.

I will not give a history lesson here or copy a tourist information, you can read everything in Wikipedia for that.

I also wrote already about Waterloo and will give you some links afterwards.

Waterloo had been quite a little city almost a village about 30 years ago but has now become a very demanded place to live. It is not far from Brussels only about 15 km and there is the motorway. Normally you could be in Brussels in 15 min, but that is only theory in practical it can take you more than 1 h almost every day during office hours.

A lot of foreigners, Scandinavians, English and Americans mouved to Waterloo, because the St. Johns International school and the Scandinavian school, settled here. Waterloo people take it easy and learn English.

The church of Waterloo and the Tourist center besides were already there during the famous battle. They are located in the center.

Waterloo is a very long stretched city along the main street it is not very large. Along the streets you have many boutiques and shops. Shopping malls are outside the city. During spring time, Japanese cherry trees are blooming and many streets are full of these trees.

We have a lot of parcs and woods around Waterloo and although the population has doubled and many new houses built there is still a lot of green space.

After this old tunnel there is a big field where people let run their dogs and children are playing. There is no major danger in Waterloo concerning criminality. Of course there are many burgleries because of the huge villas and rich people living here, but street attacks are very seldom. Haven't even heard of any.

Our farmer who lives near our house meantime became a millionair with all these demands of ground. When we bought our lot we payed 15 € /m2 ( 0.000 247 105 acre, sorry that's my converter) and it costs now 450 €/m2 and more.

Unfortunately the cows are gone since houses were built just down our street. But 32 years ago one looked into my living room window door and scared me to death ! The field just besides the farmer's house

an old private house and a few others The street which leads to the station.

The station hasn't changed at all and is still the old little one from the very beginning.

The only sign of modern times are the graphitis which so said "artists" (I call them pigs) paint on the walls. The city tries to have them cleaned off but they come always back during night, and then of course nobody is there anymore.

The "Maison Communale" the city hall is very modern and new. Inside is a beautiful reception room for weddings, for people who don't wish a religious ceremony.

and from there you have a look on the church

Each Sunday is market behind the station. It is a place where people meet and go for an apperitif after shopping. Mr. Gattino of course has his sunday meeting there with all the Italians living in Waterloo and it takes place of course at an Italian stand.

Here a cat is greeting a dog who doesn't seem to be too happy.

The house were Wellington lived during the battle is today a Museum. Old Waterloo people used to play in Wellington's bed when it was still an empty house. Wellingtons bed is very small, today a 10 year old child would fit in it.

When it rains (which it does very often) you can walk in the small shopping galeries, full of quite expensive boutiques and shops.

Besides the International schools Waterloo of course has normal schools too. This one is particularly nice and located in a parc. It is for young people who have difficulties to follow a normal schooling and learn hear a manual work. The Scandinavian school is located in an old Castle. It is very pretty and surrounded by woods and parcs.

Nearby is another Castle which is called "Chateau d'Argenteuil" where King Leopold II, the father of our actual King Albert II lived together with his second wife Lilliane and their 3 children.

The first wife Queen Astrid (from Sweden) died in a car accident.

Today it belongs again to the Belgian state and I don't know what they intend to do with it. Inside it is very beautiful. Lilliane was famous for her good taste.

And now we are ending our sightseeing tour with the most famous place : The battle field.

From far you can already see the Lion of Waterloo. It was built on the bones of the fallen soldiers and women carried earth to cover them and build the hill. I don't know if that is true, but still it's a thrilling story. The Lion turns his bottom to France because they lost !

In the panorama you can see battle scenes with wax figures and paintings.

Each year a reconstruction of the battle takes place and soldiers from Holland, England and Germany are coming with their costumes. It's always a big event and a lot of fun and drunken soldiers (not sailors) which ends with a big firework in the evening.

A couple wearing the historical costumes

And this is the end of our tour. I hope you enjoyed it and wish you a good trip to Barcelona where you arrive at

Mar

where I climb on board again and join you !

The rest of the schedule you find on Mrs. Lifecruiser's blog here she is our capitain ! lifecruiser cyber cruise

A few other links

Waterloo battle reconstitution

on my blog "Countries and Cities" there is also another story about Waterloo

Scandinavian School

for those who are interested how foreign kids live and learn

St.Johns International school

Belgian Waterloo Blog

I don't know this guy who lives in Waterloo but his Blog is very interesting.

After your visit they are exhausted !

NILE CRUISE & CIBER CRUISE

2007-03-17T08:23:00.000Z

Pookie enjoys her saturday morning milk !

You are not on the wrong blog, I changed my template !

Tomorrow it's my turn to receive the cruise in Waterloo, and to put me in the right mood I digged out some souvenirs of the Cruise on the Nile we have done in 2002 together with our friends from Madison/Wisc.

I will not talk about all the wonderful historic things we have seen, but about a few happenings on board.

The excursions took place from 6 am (!) till 12 then we returned to the ship because it became very hot (50°C , 122 F) and it was impossible to stay in the sun amongst the ruins. The swimming pool was on the deck but impossible to use. During the day you could prepare fried and scrambled eggs there without any problem.

Here are a few things I remember, where we had a lot of fun.

In the evenings we usually dressed up as "Egyptians" (have never seen such on the street) and went for supper to the dining room where an international buffet was dressed up. Of course not all guests were so silly as we were, most of them were very serious and walked around with historical books (not hysterical) and wanted to explain to everybody who showed himself unoccupied, all the knowlege they had won. Our group thought, visiting in the morning, reading in the afternoon and having fun in the evening was just the right program.

One evening coming back to our cabin I found this "person" in my bed ! The stuarts made it with pillows and towles and put clothes, hats and glasses on it with whatever they could find in the cabine !

One evening we heard an awful screem coming from next door, it was one of our group who found herself just in front of a hanged person ! Her stuart had hanged it up on the ceiling just after the door, so that she got the legs in her face !

Besides these human figures they also made snakes or crokodiles. It was absolutely crazy what they could do with just some pieces of fabric.

Unfortunately five years ago I hadn't discovered photography yet and was running around with my video camera ! I only had a disposable photo camera.

The cruise ships are not very big, for about 80 people because the Nile in some places is not deep at all so it was not so easy to go through without getting stuck in the sand. No danger of drowning !

The "habours" too were very small so that several ships had to lay side by side, sometimes up to 5 ships. I always was happy when we were in the last ship because then you had to go through all the others and that was very interesting.

Here am I in the King's Valley Today already it will be a new experience for me I have never done a Cyber cruise ! The stop is in Norway at

TorAa and

RennieBa's Terella

FRIDAY FEAST 134 ?

2007-03-16T06:32:00.000Z

Friday cat feast

here

Pookie has a nice feast !

Appetizer Name two things that made you smile this week.

Only two things ! My cat Arthur slept deep and peacefully on the dining table and suddenly dropped on the floor like a stone and looked at us with huge asking eyes and a very astonished look !

When the doorbell rang and I opened the door, saw a man in grey and said "You loose your time I am budhist and blooddonor" thinking it was a Jehova witness and it was my neighbor to give me his keys because they went away for the weekend.

But both made me rather laugh then smile !

Soup Fill in the blank: Don't you hate it when ________?

the phone rings in the middle of the night and somebody tells me "sorry I thought you were Mrs. Ratshit" (or something else)

Salad When you can't go to sleep, what is your personal remedy to help yourself drift into Lullabyland?

A Valium (I usually put my head on the pillow and I am gone !)

Main course What is something about which you've always wondered but have not yet found a good answer.

The fact that I am married since 37 years and still with the same man !

Dessert What is your favorite pasta dish?

Mr. Gattino (without the word "pasta", he is Italian)

Don’t miss our fabulous cyber cruise organized by

Mrs. Lifecruiser

that starts today

The cruise will stop in Waterloo on Sunday !

schedule here

13 SYMPTOMS OF A RETIRED MAN

2007-03-15T06:30:00.000Z

If your want to see 13 cat rules go

here cat participation

Pookie notes everything in her agenda

After 35 years or more of marriage the man suddenly is retired. It should be logical that now he also helps in the household. Don't be surprised

that

1. he grumbles about the way you peel the potatoes and that there is too much waste. When you ask him to show you how he does it, he cuts himself in his finger and the kitchen is full of blood.

2. he checks (when you have done it) that the bed is made correctly, the towles are folded and put in the closet but when he has to do it for a week, he doesn't care anymore and can suddenly sleep in an unmade bed and live with unfolded towles in the closets.

3. he insists to check the filter of the vacuum cleaner and doesn't find out how, turns the thing around and around and drops finally the dirty filter on the floor. Dust everywhere. He thinks about buying a second vaccuum cleaner, to vacuum the dust of the first one.

4. he wonders why the mailbox has to be emptied everyday. He hadn't realized that there was a mailbox, because the mail always lay on the table.

5. he wonders why the garbadge hadn't been picked up and the bottles and cartons not been taken.He calls angrily the city and complains loudly and is all astonished to hear that there are certain garbadge dates to be respected. He does a sophisticated table with the dates in his computer, and mixes up the garbadge which he put out on the wrong dates.

6. he is quite asthonished that he has to put dirty socks, shirts, shorts etc. in the laundry basket to be washed, instead of distributing them on the floor as for the past 35 years.

7. he complains that the washing machine turns such a long time and is consuming electricity, but didn't dare to suggest to wash it all by hand.

8. he proposes to wash up the dirty dishes to safe water and electricity instead of using the dishwasher, but gives it up after one day.

9. he suddenly realizes that somebody has to do the grocery shopping otherwise there is no food on the table. During the whole week he works at this list and then forgets half of the shoppings.

10. he wonders that breakfast doesn't come alone on the table and that it has to be prepared and therefore somebody has to get up. He prepares a "to make breakfast" date list in his computer and forgot to switch on the coffee machine.

11. he wonders how many pans and pots are used for cooking, especially when he has to wash them up and pretends that he can do it with only one pot. Result a completely messed up kitchen which took 2h to clean.

12. he is really surprised that windows have to be cleaned to be able to look through

13. he should admit (if he is honnest) that household "work" is work too !

(These are facts I collected from my friends.) Of course I have nothing to complain about.

Don’t miss our fabulous cyber cruise organized by Mrs. Lifecruiser, that starts now on Friday the 16th of March with many fantastic destinations such as: Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Alaska (!), US, Italy, Dominican Republic, Australia and other mystery destinations!

The cruise will stop in Waterloo on Sunday !

schedule here

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-03-14T06:30:00.000Z

ADVERTISING FOR

condoms

knives

catfood

Don’t miss our fabulous cyber cruise that starts now on Friday the 16th of March with many fantastic destinations such as: Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Alaska (!), US, Italy, Dominican Republic, Australia and other mystery destinations!

schedule here

TUESDAY LAUGHS : NOTHING ON TV ?

2007-03-13T06:47:00.001Z

Pookie watches too much crime stories on TV !

Yesterday evening I was sitting happily on my sofa, with an icecream in one hand, the remote control in the other and Pookie rolled up like a little snail on my knees with the intention to watch a wonderful Love Story with a lot of dramas, misunderstandings an then a happy end.

Mr. Gattino had a nice book to read (probably about the Mafia, he likes it) so I was alone and could choose what I liked. Not that we have any problems in watching TV together, we always try to find a compromise. If that is not possible, then we watch our things separated.

So I looked for my love romance. We have about 70 channels of cable TV and I really were convinced to find something. I had quite some choice as I could watch in german, french, english, italian and even the dutch/flemisch channels as they are mostly subtitled in english. I started to zap.

First France, a stupid talk show with a guy who took himself for the belly bottom of the world and found himself very charming. I got bored and changed.

Now I saw the series of the "Experts" (scientific police investigators), don't remember the title in english. They were just busy to find out what the victim had eaten. They digged with tweezers and other medical instruments in his stomac, and you had a lovely view on a disgusting dark colored mass which looked like vomit.

I looked at my nice ice cream and changed quickly. Next was another crime story where the pathologist just fumbled in red meat looking for a lost bullet while the blood dropped from the table. I wondered from which animal the meat came from it could hardly be the "dead" actor's flesh.

l went on and hoped to find my romantic movie, and yes I found it ! Finally ! He kissed her passionately, but then, behind her neck he suddenly had a nylon (I suppose, I am not yet an expert) string in his hand and what did he do ? He strangled her !! Isn't this a shame ? She dropped on the floor with open loving eyes and died.

I got enerved ! This was definitely not a romantic movie and I switched to the next channel. This time it was something very interesting for me, a Golf game ! An old bold guy stand there like a statue, with his club in one hand and looked concentrated at a hole as if a mouse or a mole would come out.

After a while, as nothing came out of the hole not even a worm, I didn't follow this event further and zapped again. Some arabs with their checkered kitchen towel on their haeds and some soldiers in their camouflage uniform with big guns in their hands looked at each other and before anything could happen or somebody got shot, I changed, that was not for me I am a peaceful person.

I looked angrily at the screen, still no love story ! This time I saw a masked black dressed person jumping out of a bush on a peacefully walking women, a blade was glittering in the moonshine (this was romantic, I mean the moonshine) and ....stabbed her in the chest ! I didn't wait for the blood streaming out and went further. Now it became better, a scientific explanation about spiders, beatles, worms and other disgusting beasts which I dearly love, so I switched before a hairy spider was zoomed.

Elephants ! that I like, they are cute, not so easy to keep in a house but still they are nice animals. Maybe not so good companions for my cats, they could step on them and I love my cats and not cat pancakes.

After mass car accidents, floods, fire, bombings, bank attacs and other catastrophies, I finally gave up and realized that there was nothing, but absolutely nothing on TV. I wonder why we pay for it ?

I moved an angry Pookie from my knees and looked through our CDs which I hadn't watched yet. And what did I find ? CDs of my son, full of science fiction, crime stories and other stuff of no interest to me ! Offended, I switched off the TV, picked up Pookie and retired in my bed with a book ! But before I checked if there were no bloodstaines on the floor.

THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC

2007-03-12T06:51:00.000Z

Pookie just fainted ....

Yesterday coming back from my sunday walk in Blogville, I had an idea (not a dream !) : Imagine the followong scene :

I am sitting quietly at my computer, a cup of coffee in one hand the mouse in the other and this way I do my daily visits through Blogworld. One, by one I click to open the blogs, read, comment and click on the next. Outside the sun is shining and the birds are singing.

It is very peaceful around me.

Grandpa sits in his armchair dozing, eyes closed, glasses on the tip of his nose the newspaper open on his knees

Grandma watches TV her favourite cooking show, chewing on her false teeth

Husband lays on the sofa, mouth wide open, snoring happily, hands folded over his chest

Cats are sleeping on the table, on a chair, or elswhere

One child tries to get a puzzle together, the other writes for her homework

and then !!

I take a zip of coffee and click on the next blog. Aaaaaah, loud music fills the room,

- I drop my cup of coffee an ruin my keyboard

- Grandpa falls off his chair and brakes his arm

- Husband wakes up, jumps in the air and falls from the sofa. He brakes his leg

- Grandma screams and spits her false teeth out

- Cats are jumping in the air, hairs up, thick tails . One jumps on the false teeth to get the prey

- Child hits the puzzle and 400 pieces are all around the place, the other scratches out everything she wrote.

The room looks like a mess, husband and grandpa are swearing, grandma looks for her teeth, cats dispatched in all directions, children cry. I am picking up my cup take the mouse and scroll and scroll to click on the stop sign. Why the heck these people don't put their music on the top, if they have to spoil us with it ? Of course I can't find it. Desperately I click on my loudspeaker sign and silence fills the room.

Outside the sun is still shining and the birds are still singing.

Grandpa and husband have to be driven to the hospital

Grandma finally found here teeth and put them in her mouth with shaking hands

Cats are still blown up

Children are crying.

And you know what ? All this happened because a very kind, generous and friendly Blogger just wanted me to listen to his favourite music which he had put in form of "My Tube" on his blog.

I don't want to offend anybody but just show what can happen when suddenly music sounds all over. If you are just besides your sleeping better half, you will get troubles !

Phobias - A book

2007-03-11T18:36:00.000Z

OK, I admit it's not really a chicken.

Pookie has also finished her book.

I just had finished this book. It involves the most important kinds of phobias.

I choose this book because I had seen a TV crime mouvie where a woman was killed with a tarantula ! These spiders are not dangerous for humans they only look terrific and disgusting at least for most of us.

isn't it cute ??

The killer had put a tarantuala in her office and had locked the door. Now he only had to wait until this charming beast showed up and did its effect. That's what happened. The woman pushed an awful screem and then dropped on the floor and was dead. She had been litterally scared to death and died of a haert attack. Almost the perfect crime, but little tarantula showed up and the investigators understood.

And then during the week, my friend had told me about her cousin who suffered from agoraphobics and that's why she could never go out. I had never heard this word.

All this made me curious and by reading this book I really was amazed how many phobias are existing ! It's just terrible. So I only mentioned a few which impressed me the most.

Arachnophobia is a desease where people suffer from panic attacks when they see a spider, even the tiniest one. They usually loose completely their mind and become hysterical.

Ophidiophobia refers to the fear of snakes. A typical ophidiophobic (what a word !) would not only fear them when in live contact but also dreads to think about them or even see them on TV or in pictures. Christians also view the serpent as an incarnation of evil and it is likely that such a viewpoint influences too.

Paedophobia is the fear of youth and children. For these people it is impossible to support even babies, they have almost the same reaction as the once who fear snakes. The problem is that these people have often to hide their aversion when they are in children's company. Nobody could understand them and I had never heard about this desease. Have I met such people without knowing it ??

More known is Claustrophobia, the fear of being locked in. They get panic attacks while they are in a confined space. The claustrophobe fears not being able to escape the situation. Those suffering from claustrophobia might find it difficult to breathe in closed auditoriums, theatres, and elevators and also in crowded trains or shops.

The opposite is Agoraphobia. The fear of going out on the street or even only to the mailbox.They may experience severe panic attacks in situations where they feel trapped, insecure, out of control, or too far from their personal comfort zone. In severe cases, an agoraphobic may be confined not only to their home, but to one or two rooms, and they may even become bed-bound, or a recluse.

Agoraphobics can already be disturbed by the fact that somebody rings the doorbell and it may trigger a full-blown panic attack, because he fears that somebody would open the door.

It must be terrible to suffer from these deseases and mostly there is nothing else to do but looking for help with a psychiatrist and taking anti depressive medications. In very strong cases they have to be hospitalized.

Like many other disorders, these phobias are mostly due to a traumatic incident in childhood.

Next time I see a TV movie showing somebody who hides under his bed because the doorbell is ringing, or stands in a corner because he doesn't want to see children, or gets hysterical about a spider or a snake, I can understand better.

And now try to undo the knot you have in your tongue with all these unpronounceable words !

Erotophobia — fear of sexual love or sexual questions.

A TOM CRUISE SCULPTURE

2007-03-10T05:52:00.000Z

here

Yesterday looking through my french magazine I found an old article which draw my attention. It had happened short after Tom Cruise's baby Suri was born. I don't know if you have heard of this story but I think I can't withhold this event to the blogworld.

The first weeks after his daughter's birth, proof that he was able to ..., Tom Cruise still hadn't allowed to publish a picture of his freshly baked baby. But he allowed artist Daniel Edwards, to make a sculpture in bronze of the first (?!) poop Suri has put in this world. This masterpiece was exposed in New York at Capla Kesting's gallery in Brooklyn and had been sold by eBay to the benefit of children in need.

Suri Cruises First Poop August 18, 2006

if you want it bigger, please click

***

I hope that it brought a lot of money if this was the case, then every mean is good for me even a bronzified poop to help children in need.

I also think that good old Tom was absolutely right ! Why not taking benifit from peoples voyeurism if its for a good reason ?

I should have bought it ! With such a masterpiece in my living room, all my friends would have gotten green of jalousy ! Maybe even our mayor would have asked me to lend it for the next sculpture exposition in Waterloo ? I saw myself elegantly dressed up, walking through the vernissage holding a glass of champaign in my hand and just telling everybody with a shy look at my shoes, that I only bought it for a good purpose. So wonderful thoughts !

And suddenly I had the idea of the day ! As I gave up sculpturing I could paint my cat's poops ! Now I am very happy and inspirated ! I will run down to the basement right away and have a look in the litterbox ! Where is my drawing book ?

If nothing is published here tomorrow, then I am painting cat poops !

FRIDAY FEAST 133

2007-03-09T06:26:00.000Z

Pookie's feast on friday

Appetizer What is your usual bedtime? Do you like that, or would you rather it be different?

My usual bedtime is when I want to go to bed. I am free like a bird, so why should I bother about bedtime ? It could be 9 pm, midnight or later, I am happily retired !

Soup When it comes to advice, do you give more or receive more ?

Probably I receive a lot of advices, but I don't listen, so I don't know exactly. One thing is sure, I like to give advices all the time even when they are unwanted.

Salad Describe a memorable meal you've had.

I would like to, but I think and think and think, my head is already smoking, but I really can't find one. Maybe they all were memorable or so common that I don't remember. I never had a meal with fried worms, insects or snakes.

Main Course Name a work of fiction that affected the way you think about something.

I think I have to find a book which explains to me why I changed thinking about something but first I have to look after something which makes me think.

Dessert What is your favorite type of fruit juice?

I like any type of fruit juice, but it shouldn't be too sweet.

13 THINGS I WILL NEVER FORGET

2007-03-08T06:11:00.000Z

Poockie loves spring.

1. I was asked if we drove by car from Belgium to New York

2. Somebody in Arizona asked me what language was spoken in England. English and England didn't ring a bell.

3. When we visited the Empire State building the guide who had heard that we were coming from Belgium asked us if Belgium was a city of Brussels.

4. I also was asked if latin is still spoken in Rome

5. Coming back from Germany by train, I had forgotten my passport with my friends and I was arrested and escorted by two policemen to their office because they thought I had run away from home and I was still a minor. All passengers squeezed their noses against the windows to see what happened to this girl !

6. I was arrested and locked in a cell because I drove over the French border without a passport. I hadn't realized that I was already in France when I arrived at the border control. I had to wait there until they had contacted the German Embassy in Brussels. (Today there are no borders anymore !)

7. I was sommond by my son's school director, because he had bought a "Playboy" magazine which caused a scandal in his catholic school. Have to say my son was only 11 years old and had bought it for older friends. He himself found the magazine boring, because there were only girls in it.

8. I was called by the hospital (out of an important meeting) because my son had fallen on his head and claimed loud (very loud) for his "Hulk" (remember the green monster ?) otherwise he wouldn't calm down and sleep. Hulk (don't ask me why he didn't prefer a plush animal to sleep with !)

9. I had locked my car, leaving the keys inside. I tried to get the door open with a long knitting needle, while a group of people watched me braking into a car in the middle of the Grand' Place in Brussels. Nobody called the police, they were to busy to see if I managed it. I did.

10. I was locked in a hotel, the entrance door was closed and I had to leave very early in the morning to drive to Italy. So I climbed out of an open window on the roof, jumped down, got in my car and drove away. But I had paid before !

11. I drove Mr. Gattino and his friend home from a party, while they were both vomiting out of the window. They had celebrated too much.

12. I had to get up at 3 am to wash my son's clothes because he had felt in a cesspit and the whole house smelled roses. He had taken a "shorter" way through a cow field.

13. I had to carry buckets and buckets of water to slack a fire on the field behind our house, while the neighbors called the firemen. My son had only wanted to do a little camp fire with his friend. Unfortunately it became a very big one ! He was 6 years old. (no worry he is now a nice man !)

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-03-07T06:15:00.000Z

Psssst !!!

TUESDAY' LAUGHS

2007-03-06T09:37:00.000Z

Has Pookie to change too ?

I found this Quizz "Which religion is the right one for you?" on a blog (of course where else) and as I always wanted to know the answer to this question I tried it. I swear I gave an honnest answer to all questions.

And what came out ?? Something really awful which I didn't know and which probably has slept in me for a long while, I am a satanist ! It cleary said that I belong to 78 % to Satanism ! Would you ever have believed that ?? I was in shock ! To be sure what it is exactly meaning I asked Wikipedia and learned amongst other explanations that there is even a church and that people such as Jayne Mansfield, Kenneth Anger, Sammy Davis Jr., King were or are members.

Before I change my make up to this to be Satans little (why little ?) helper, I did another test to know if I am really that evil ! It was nice of me to do that, because now I can be completely reassured I am not evil ! I can send the devil to hell where he belongs to.

How evil are you?

With my inner demons I can live, they are not sooo demoniac or did I ever send you spams ? (Anonymous of course).

As there is no group on tuesdays who gives me a menu, a wordless day, or just one word, I invented a group for myself. "Tuesday laughs". That day I can write something to laugh or to laugh about. Somebody interested to join ? So far my group has one member, me !

To show this cartoon must be suggested by my inner demons

I don't dare to label this post with satanism, I am afraid that I attract the whole comunity.

THE STORY OF A BALOON (Manic Monday)

2007-03-05T05:49:00.000Z

No baloon in there either !

blow blown blew blowing

that is the question !

Thinking over these words and finding a story to knit around is quite hard. At least for me, maybe others have children to describe who blow up a baloon or terrorists to blow up a building, the hat that had been blown away, or the wind who is still blowing.

There are also other meanings but they are more for X or XX blogs and not for a brave, innocent family friendly blog like this, entertained by a brave, innocent, honest, correct, clean, retired ex working mum, faithful wife, mother and housewife.

Finally I remembered something which happened when I was a child, so it's clean enough to read. (I mean for this blog).

I was in the bedroom of my parents and found a baloon on the bedside table. The color was not that exiting for a child, not even red, blue or green no it looked quite transparent and boring. But nevertheless I took one and tried to blow it up. I blew and blew and blew but it was very hard to get blown up ! My cheaks got thick and thicker, my head red and redder and suddenly somebody stormed in the room snatched the still not blown up baloon out of my mouth and hands and screemed in horror ! I didn't understand the world anymore, it was my mother ! Why was she so upset that I had taken a baloon on her night table ? There were enough left !

Later on I understood. And I thought if she wouldn't have made such a mess I would never had kept this event in my memories.

So keep this in mind : whenever your child finds a "balloon" or a X-Video in your home, don't forget it has not (yet) such a dirty mind as you !

Why do you always buy baloons for Dad and never for me ?

SITTING IN AN OLD SHELL

2007-03-03T14:00:00.000Z

Pookie doesn't care she is in her fourties now in human age of course and still looks as when she was a young girl.

Some time ago I met a woman who complained bitterly that getting older is awful. Maybe for her it is right, but I don't think so. Life still can be very interesting even when you are very old ! It all depends on you. Some women are already born old and had never been "young" whatever that means.

And then I thought about all my friends I know since ages and have to admit that they don't have the same faces or bodies anymore as when I met them for the first time. Some of them didn't put on weight and still had the same silhouette, others doubled. They look "old" now, or more polite, you can see that they are not 30 anymore, me included of course.

And this a real problem for me. Usually I completely forget that I am "old" but it is written in my passport, and when somebody proposes me an excursion organized for "seniors" I first think they are crazy ! Me a senior ! Not because of vanity but I have the problem of sitting in an old shell and being still the same as when I were in my thirties. (with some experiences more of course).

There are a lot of things I would like to do, but don't because it would really look ridiculous and nothing is worse than an old cow playing "young". I can't hopping around on dancing floors as I used to do, or dancing a Rock 'n Roll and being thrown over a man's shoulder, or flirting around with young men. I don't wear a bikini any more because I think with an "old" face on even a good conserved body it's better to leave this for women who still have the adequate face. Faceliftings are not really a solution sometimes women look as if they had a stretched mask instead of a face and then I think you look much more attractive when you stand to your age.

Sometimes when I look in a mirror I am surprised that I don't see the face I used to see with 30 and have to remember that this was 30 years ago.

Some women, are always talking about the past that makes them going on, they don't look into the future and prefer to organize their funerals, because then the children wouldn't have to pay too much, they say, proud of how caring they are ! They talk all the time about "at my time" which gets very much on my nerves. What means "their time" ? They are still alive and when was this time ? When I ask them they look surprised, they don't even know.

Some women start complaining about wrinkles, loosing hair and thick veines etc the whole day long as if there were nothing more important in life. Besides going out in restaurants, movies shopping, hairdresser and beauty saloon, they do nothing ! Oh yes, they do something, they drink and a lot mostly wine. It's amazing how many women become alcoholics after they are retired or the children have left the house.

Fortunately most of my friends which I know since ages are dealing very well with getting older. They even don't realize. They have a lot of occupations such as photography, painting, or helping out in hospitals, they get never bored and most important they are full of humor, and enjoy life. They are happy to be able to do things they love but had never the time to do.

They can travel as they like they don't have to pay attention to school holidays, they can go to bed whenever they want they don't have to work or get up for the children, they can get up early or late, nobody cares (except the husband if they have one), in short they are free. . So a few wrinkles what does that matter ?

I always have a very good relationship with girls or boys in their 30 or younger probably because of my problem, feeling 30 and sitting in my old shell but with a very important advantage I can look back on 30 years of life and I have become wiser too.

And there is one woman in my life who is my example : my grandma. She was wonderful at any age and even took care of the bookkeeping of much younger women when she was already far in her 80. She was funny, active and witful until she felt off her armchair at 95 watching her favorite TV soap and died.

FRIDAY FEAST 132

2007-03-02T06:04:00.000Z

Pookie waits for the guests

Appetizer

What does the color pink make you think of?

a cute little pig with a curly little tail

Soup

Name something you thought you had lost, but later found.

Impossible, all things I loose, I never found again. I loose things well !

Salad

In 3 words, describe this past week.

I have forgotten

Main Course

What are you obsessed with?

I would say with nothing, but all people around me, family and friends would say "cats" considering that I have a cat collection of more than 350 cats (only) and four real cats.

Dessert

What kind of perfume or cologne do you like to wear?

Marilyn Monroe wore Chanel n° 5 (or was it 6 ?) and nothing. I only wear nothing.

IF I WERE A MAN

2007-03-01T05:59:00.000Z

Pookie too, prefers to be a female cat ! She doesn't like to go from garbadge can to garbadge can and fight with other cats for females !

there are 13 (and even more things) which I would have to do :

1. I would have to let go women and children first when my cruiser sinks and risk my life instead of jumping as first in the lifeboat and paddle away;.

2. I would have to change a wire instead of standing helpless and cute until a man does it for me 3. I would have to take the garbadge out and spoil my image for the neighbors

4. I couldn't make up my eyes to make them bigger, my nose to make it smaller, my lips to make them bigger etc. It would look suspicious

5. I couldn't wear a dress or high heels to make me taller (again suspicious)

6. I could not be a housewife and staying at home with my 10 children and rest the whole day.

7. I would have to give my seat to a woman (if I were polite of course) instead of lazily sitting there and observing people.

8. I would have to hold the door open and maybe pinch my fingers

9. I would have to pay attention to birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's and other festivities, not to forget them and buy flowers, pralines, diamonds etc.

10. I would have to shave everyday or look male, but dirty

11. I would have to cut out the hairs of my ears and nose after my 30th birthday

12. I would have to check if a burgler is in the house instead of hiding in a wardrobe

13. I would have to defend my partner even with my fists and risk a blue eye

there are much more reasons why I prefer to be a woman and not a man !

Last but not least that's a reason too !

WORDLESS

2007-02-28T05:23:00.000Z

but not odorless !

A BLOGGING START WITH DIVERSIONS

2007-02-27T09:20:00.000Z

here

Pookie also had to change her life ! From TV she moved to a Computer. About a year ago, I (already) discovered Internet. Mr. Gattino had a computer since ages, but to me it was an annoying thing, were he spent hours and was only there to collect dust. I used it from time to time to write letters and answer emails but nothing more.

When I came back from Egypt a year ago I wanted to know more about Egyptian cats and I asked Mr. Gattino what I have to do to find some documentation in Internet. And there the battle began. Understanding first the computer, file and folders and then the whole Internet stuff, looking for things, in short everything. Google was somebody living in England or the States maybe an actor or a millionair, I didn't know.

Websites, Homepages never heard. Webs I knew from spiders, and sites from historic places, but what has a spider to do in sites ? Spinning ? A homepage ! what a word, I have a home and I have pages in my books for example, but what should I call a homepage in my house ?

While looking and learning slowly slowly I dropped on Forums. That this had nothing to do with the old romans or with justice I understood quickly. I used my new knowledge to create a username (also new) and a password (ok. that's like a credit card) and logged myself in in all forums which I thought were interesting. But I didn't know where to write, answered to the wrong people and mixed everything up. For a cat owner I would have given the following tip, "if he barks during your absence, put the TV on".

When I stumbled over the word "Blog" nobody amongst my surroundings didn't know what it was and even Mr. Gattino who knows everything this time didn't know. Of course I asked my new friend old Google who gave me an explanation which even I could understand. I found this idea not bad at all and logged in once more, this time into Yahoo, there I got a blog ! I was very proud and without knowing anything I made up my profile and started to write. Without success, nobody found me, nobody read me and I didn't know at all what to do to get some visitors.

I gave up and moved to another address Blog "something". Later I read in blogs where especially elderly people asked themselves what would happen to their blog if they died and if they could include it in their testaments. What a terrible thought ! I left at least two Blog cadavers behind me. I hope other bloggers put some flowers on them. After a while as I had troubles with the limited picture loadings I discovered Blogger, and I am still here.

Now a year later I am the first to be surprised what I all have learned in a year !

How did you discover blogging ?

My idea of a computer before feb 2006

my life before My life now

MY YELLOW CAR

2007-02-26T06:48:00.000Z

Pookie is observing me as if I was a mouse

This is my car. Now you probably wonder why I say that, everybody today has a car and therefore it's nothing special. But mine is special ! It is yellow ! I didn't order a yellow one on purpose, but I needed a car immediately because my other car was stolen and I had to take the one they had in stock and that was a yellow car !

It doesn't look bad, I wouldn't say so, but it's not very descreet. I could never be a detective and follow a car with an unfaithful husband, a secret service agent or a spy. I am seen by everybody.

I meet people, friends or neighbors, they tell me "you were in the cinema", "you were shopping" "I saw your car in front of the City hall" "I saw your car in our street" "what did you do there ?"

At the very beginning as owner of a yellow car I wondered that so many people had seen me and knew where I had gone. But after a while I understood. It was because of my yellow car ! The worst was when I heard from my garage where I had bought my car, that I was the only person in the whole city with a yellow car !

So there is nothing to do, as long as I have my "descreet" yellow car, I have to behave correctly, I can't do anything or anything illegal : visit a lover secretely, robbing a bank, dealing drugs or only be a drunken driver !

I have to conduct an insconspicious life and drive my yellow car without attracting attention, which is (unfortunately) impossible !

STORY N° 3 WORKING WITH MEN

2007-02-24T20:22:00.000Z

here

Pookie prefers a cup of tea instead of my stories.

I worked for 10 years in an American company for textile fibres and was the Sales Assistant for Europe to three managers. An english gentlemen, with suit and tie,( mostly the same tie), always friendly and I strictly have nothing to say about him.

A very nice German, happily married and he and his wife became friends.

The third was a French and a case for a psychiatric clinic. He had 4 mistresses and a wife, and of course he thought he could add me to the group. Not only jumping on the phone to answer but also in his bed. He apparently found this completely normal. I told him that I prefer my own bed and sent him to hell and we became good friends. At that time sexual harassement didn't exist otherwise I would be very rich today !

After a while, I started to pitty the poor guy, women were flying around him like butterflies around flowers or maybe flies around something else, and he didn't do anything, they just came from alone ! (except me, where he did an effort, because he was convinced that an assistant should assist him everywhere, bed included).

Sometimes when he was on the phone with one, I was on the second phone with another and had to comfort her, justifying his absence by inventing trips or meetings. I also quickly found out that the only person he really loved was his wife. She was a very independant woman, with a very strong character, very intelligent and very beautiful. I didn't have to lie to her and probably would have refused that too. We became friends and accomplice and maintained our friendship even long after I had left the company.

With him I had not only to handle his various mistresses by phone, but he also asked me to write the answers to their love letters, which was quite difficult as I was always afraid of mixing them up. I wrote an adequate text with my typewriter (no computer at that time) and he copied it per hand. He was very happy with this solution and the women apparently were happy too. And as I already loved writing, it was OK for all of us.

The worst moments were, when he became fat up with one girl, they mostly were young and stupid and I could never understand why they lost their time with a married man ! But they all were convinced that he would leave his wife and marry them. As far as I know this only happens in very rare cases.

When the moment came to say good-bye, I had to order a huge bouquet of flowers, write a good bye letter, how much he was heartbroken to leave her, but he really couldn't divorce his wife who was a poor woman he had met (by error) when he was very young, and then there are the children, etc. etc my phantasy had no limits !

Then I armed myself with a considerable amount of tissues in my drawer and waited until they stormed into my office, usually with red noses and swollen eyes. He of course as a brave man had disappeared for a business trip.

I really couldn't feel any pitty with these girls, they just were hunting rich men and as I said, they all were not very intelligent... females, not women, there is a big difference.

I have to admit that this was a real funny period of my career.

FRIDAY FEAST N° UNKNOWN

2007-02-23T06:35:00.000Z

The guy on TV got on Pookies nerves, so she switched it off. Question : which TV station was it ? Appetizer Where on your body do you have a scar, and what caused it?

Good question ! but I have no scars on my body, not even at my head and even less in my brain. I don't even have an appendix scar. Very sorry !

Soup What is something that has happened to you that you would consider a miracle?

Has ?? nothing I am still waiting for !

Salad Name a television personality who really gets on your nerves.

What television do you mean ? The once of the 27 European countries or Russia, Japan, China Africa, Canada, Australia, America and the rest of the world ?? If it's the Belgian TV Alain Simons gets on my nerves. Do you know him ??

Main Course What was a funny word you said as a child (such as "pasketti" for "spaghetti")?

I didn't speak English when I was a child. But later I suggested to use more bones for the coffee to make it stronger. Mixing up coffee beans with the German word Kaffeebohne.

Dessert

Fill in the blank:

I have always thought Elton John was a womanizer, but then he married a man.

or he has troubles with the English language !

13 THINGS I HARDLY CAN STAND

2007-02-22T07:01:00.000Z

"That's completely normal" meauws Pookie with "friends" !

1. When I go with one to an Exposition and she talks for an hour about her intestines and the troubles she has with her constipation, describing everything in details, while I look at the paintings.

2. When one talks all the time about her skin and body and what kind of cremes she uses, while we are sitting in a cinema and waiting for a movie to start and everybody listens.

3. When one praises her son and what an important man he had become and the wonderful studies he had made, forgetting that the guy had spent 9 years at University payed by the parents of course.

4. When one starts to speak with a group of youngsters having fun on the street and just wants to behave the same, and they are making fun of her, which of course she doesn't realize.

5. When one behaves like a foolish, giggeling girl when she sees some young men. (and I cross-eyed, behind her, looking to heaven have to excuse her).

6. When one makes big sweet cow eyes to seduce a young man and he doesn't know what to do not to be unpolite.

7. When one absolutely wants to convince me to stop smoking and tells me horrendous stories about people she know and died from lung cancer

8. When one is talking about her weight all the time and has no other conversation. For example I talk about the world's end and she still finds a way to direct the conversation to her weight.

9. When one asks me to do the shopping for her and always forget that usually when you buy something you have also to pay.

10. When one spends a nice week-end in my house and then disappears for months without even saying "thank you" and then suddenly shows up as if she had seen me yesterday

11. When one talks about her wonderful husband all the time and I know that he makes eyes on every skirt passing by, me included.

12. When one says that her daughter is telling her everything, I think that is so pretentious, and I know that the daughter doesn't say everything !

13. I have to say that none of these belong to my real friends !

"Dear, if you're gonna pad your bra with Kleenex, take them out of the box first."

I saw this note this morning :

End of Thursday Thirteen. "Regarding the questions about continuing the Thursday Thirteen, no interested parties have approached me to discuss purchasing the rights to it."

I don't know if TT is protected by copyright. But to avoid any problems why don't we just continue as before and call it NEW THURSDAY THIRTEEN or THIRTEEN 1/2 ? I would do it, but I think I am too new and not enough experienced. What do you think about this idea and who would be interested to do it ?

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2007-02-21T06:37:00.000Z

I found this in a French magazine, a new gas station which as been opened in Nebraska (USA). This gas station only sells gas from Canada and the USA.

I only hope it doesn't explode in the car tank !

MISUNDERSTANDINGS

2007-02-20T05:44:00.000Z

here

Pookie doesn't wonder about anything anymore ! But here she agrees fully on what it's written on the cat.

When I started to work for an American company, my English was more than rusty and only my 9 yrs long school english. So it was normal that in the beginning there were quite some misunderstandings !

Once I asked my collegue at 10 pm "Do you have some scotch for me ?" She looked at me with scandalized eyes and said "what ? scotch ? so early in the morning ?" I couldn't understand what she meant, I really needed it ! and why should I wait until later, I needed it now !

After some time, she and I still talking in different directions, I finally found out why she was so surprised ! She thought I wanted a glass of Whisky, and I was talking about an adhesive band to stick papers together which every french speaking person called "scotch" which in fact was the name of the company who produced it. We had a big laughter all together !

And then another day I had brought some cookies and offered it to a collegue : "Hey Simon, do you want to have it with me ?" Useless to say that he burst out in laughter and said "yes of course" I was happy that he took some of the cookies, but couldn't understand at all, why everybody around was shaking of laughter. Later they explained to me what I had said. Yes sometimes the best jokes are created in real life !