My talisman, and my response to your beautiful words

Many years ago, at a dawn very similar to this one, my father gave me my talisman. A man who loved words and treated logos with respect used two phrases to give me courage and faith as I started a difficult journey: “chin up” and “always remember: what you are is defined by the ideas you create in your mind, the strength of your soul and the vulnerability of your heart.” These words have seen me through the most trying moments. These words I now offer to you.
And I add my own talisman; the words of a poet. They help me get up every time I fall; they help me go on. These words I now offer to you.
In dream all sins are easy, but by day
it is defeat gives proof we are alive;
The sword we suffer is the guarded crown.

Io con sicura fede l'aspetto

Lohn es ihr durch tausend Kusse...

Kiss and tell…

I was in the bus on my way to work this morning, stuck in traffic as always, but I suddenly started smiling as I caught the perfect picture: a young couple kissing in the street. It is the only picture that when I see it I am jealous, and the only regret that I have for not being young anymore. I believe that I would instantly fall in love with the one that would impulsively kiss me like that. But little hope for this. All I can expect are those boring kisses I know so well and I can easily decipher. And although the regret continues, I feel I should always be prepared for that remote chance that my last desire becomes true. It is, anyway, the time of the year that many ask for advice regarding chapped lips. I know how painful it can be, although I should tell you that I have not had chapped lips in I don’t remember how many years; and it is all because a routine that I religiously follow.

You remember how often I refer to the need for exfoliation. Do not forget to exfoliate your lips off old-uninspiring kisses and nasty lies! Get rid of the dead cells and the residue left by unworthy past touches. The process is easy: after you brush your teeth in the evening, brush your lips for 2 minutes. That’s all it takes and ensue with my miracle balm: The Rosebud Salve that comes in a small tin box and it is by far the best I have used. Costs approximately 10 euros, and if you cannot find it where you live, order it online from my favorite cosmetic shop in Europe: Cosmeticary in Brussels and Antwerp. The people who run the shop are like me; they love cosmetics and they are very generous with advice. I have learned so much from Vauke and Jean; I thank them for the time they took to guide me into their world by demystifying it and making it comfortable.

Kisses to everyone out there…and talk to me…

P.S. Beware!!!!do not exfoliate EVERY evening, or you may end up looking like Dory :)

Recap and opening…

I have been silent for some time and for quite a few reasons. One, because I wanted to give space to my competition so that he gaps the silence. Two, I had so many issues to deal with while visiting my family home for Christmas and the image of me writing an entry pressing my two thumbs on the face of my blackberry was not the most pleasant. Three, it took me some time to evaluate last year and find a desirable opening to the New Year. But I am back now and ready to recap 2010. It was a great year. I started a new job; they were actually searching for me believing I would give answers to all their issues. I started this blog; the inspiration came in the form of a great smile and I became addicted to a new type of communication and writing competition. All my questions about love wereanswered and both my past and future experiences received their ranking in my heart’s evaluation scale. I became fifty, and I feel great about it.

This blog has a peculiar mix of followers both eponymous and anonymous. It started with only one, but he run a very successful campaign and now my blog offers cosmetics advice to many of you. Looking back to those advices and trying to choose one that I consider the best in many respects (and the criteria are defined: cost, availability, result) I would choose the tip offered to me by my best friend Effie; the olive-oil hair mask.

I do not believe in New Year and its significance; it is a convention after all. It has been many years now that resolutions do not start on Mondays, Birthdays or New Years. Yet, I needed an opening to this New Year, just so that I welcome it and encourage some positive energy; just in case! So, I decided on the best opening I could find: the opening lines of some of the best literature around. Let’s welcome 2011 with perfection:

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins, my sin, my soul.

He was an old man who fished alone in a skift in the Gulf Stream and he had gone 84 days now without taking a fish.

He was awake a long time before he remembered that his heart was broken.

In my younger and more vulnerable year my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.

The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.

For a long time I went to bed early.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope…

Let’s flash a smile to the New Year and be open to challenges, be courageous, be ready to lovingly receive any message the bottle carries.

PS: Get yourself a new bookshelf; one more on the way…

The soundtrack that defines 2010...