Showing posts with label Brussels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brussels. Show all posts

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Recent Times

A hodgepodge of imagery from the last few weeks.

My German friend Knut came to visit. Nothing was going on in Brussels,
so we headed to Antwerp.


Lazy Sunday of Pita making

and How I Met Your Mother watching.




Once a month an abandoned schoolhouse on the edge of town turns into
a pretty pumpin' electro party.

This was a nice day of pancakes in the morning, beers at the river, and
a rendez vous at Cassa 4.

I'll miss you, Antwerp.
(photo by Jonathan)

Antwerpian layers
(photo by Jonathan)





That day Maarten forgot where he parked his car.
We spent four hours searching the city for it, and took a few photos along the way.

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

No Kidding


I've spotted this man, with his cat on a leash, twice now in Brussels.
First, tugging it around the flea market at Marolles.
Then, at the royal park, during some sort of circus festival, I spotted the cat perched on his shoulder, watching the trapeze artists.

Silly Belgians, dogs are for leashes.

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Friday, July 03, 2009

Léo


The other day,
the little boy I take care of
accidentally dropped his self blown balloon
off a small balcony.
He watched it fall,
and when it hit the ground
he called after it
"you OK bloooon?"

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Saturday, June 27, 2009

Tonight

was nice.
Watched "How I Met Your Mother" and ate pita with Jonathan.
Then walked the 20 minutes of cobblestoned streets down to the Flagey film festival, practicing French by chatting into my cell phone who hadn't actually called or answered anyone.
My new favorite French word to use is "veritable". I learned it in my new book; "Le Petit Prince." You'll hear more about that later.
I stopped at the GB express in search of an ice cream cone.
It only seemed appropriate on such a warm summer evening, wearing my soft swishy skirt and whatnot.
I couldn't find an ice cream, so I took a capri sun, and sipped it on my way down the hill.
Next into a little indian night shop. The ice cream was of poor quality, so I walked back out again, and met up with Emily at Place Flagey.
As she approached I spotted a waffel van which also sold ice cream. I bought a cone of raspberry and mocha. The quality wasn't impressive, but it was cold and sweet and seemed appropriate. We chatted in front of the big white movie screen for a long while, and finally wondered when the film would begin.
It turned out it had started. 40 minutes ago. Inside. Shit.
We were disappointed, but the festival lasts all week. So we sucked it up and took a tram to the "kinopolis" to see what was playing.
We dodged "The Proposal" and saw "The Hangover". Wasn't too bad. But was one of those films where so much shit happens (i.e. Meet the Parents) that after a certain point, you just don't care what else goes wrong.
But it was upbeat and made me laugh.
We took the metro to Merode. I checked the time table. 15 minutes in the muggy metro waiting for my connection didn't sound so great. So I took 3 stairs at a time and climbed into clean night air. I took off my sandals and ran along the cool, uneven cobblestone.
I made it home 26 minutes later, my legs warm and red. I've had a surge of optimism. Emily said something inspiring at one point, and I think it's going to help.

'Night friends.

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Friday, June 12, 2009

Pigeons aren't so bad


Today, I was sitting in the park
when a pigeon flew over my head.
From the angle I was sitting in
it looked majestic.
I thought
Pigeons seem like stupid animals
but look
He can fly.

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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Things I saw and liked




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Monday, April 13, 2009

Dear Stranger

Today, on Avenue Louise you stole a shiny bicycle.
The bicycle belonged to my boss
but was mine for the day.

Today I owe my boss 500 euro.
I make 500 a month.

It's going to take me a while to pay off your crime.

I hope you needed it.
I hope you raced with it to see your dying mother.
Or maybe..no.
I can't think of a better excuse.

My condolences.

Kelsi.

P.S. If you don't need it anymore, would you mine dropping it by the police station?
I might give them a call from time to time, just to check in on humanity.

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Thursday, April 02, 2009

Brussels in Flames


Yellow flames of bright little blossoms.

Every morning I go out and see a new patch of yellow somewhere.
It's one of my favorite things about Europe; the evolution of spring.
In California, it just becomes more and more comfortable to hang out at the beach.
Here, you see the change, in technicolor.
The yellow blossoms were first, and now the trees along my street are individually bursting into pink and white cherry blossoms.

And it's warm! Yesterday I wore a shortsleeved dress and a cardigan, no coat. And that felt good.

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Monday, March 09, 2009

Kid in a Candy Shop

Brussels, it turns out, is an amazing music venue.
I've never had such a line-up of shows I wanted to see.
I was lazy in Germany, and missed show after show due to sold-outness, or simply losing track of the date.
This time I am on top of my game.
Having a friend here who (according to last.fm) has "SUPER" compatible taste with me helps a lot. Eventually I will get around to seeing shows on my own, but for the time being, it's nice to have someone to get excited with.

So far we're set to see:
Mar 14: The Love Company
The Love Company: Grey Hair

Mar 24: Girl Talk
Mar 25: Peter, Bjorn & John
PB&J: Let's Call It Off (Girl Talk Remix)

April 14: The Whitest Boy Alive (very excited)
The Whitest Boy Alive: Gravity

May 6: Beirut (I can die happy)

Please play it, Zach.

May 9: Andrew Bird, Laura Marling and Phosphorescent (also very excited)
Andrew Bird: Opposite Day

May 28: Deerhunter

I also want to see Great Lake Swimmers, Akron/Family and The Acorn on May 16th, but tickets cost money, so I am holding off on that one. I don't see it selling out.

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