And we're back...

It's been a long time, in which a lot has happened, and this thirty-something has - as if by magic - turned into a forty-something.

But the writing and blogging fever has returned, and has now found a focus in the topic that's been occupying my life for a lot of years. You guessed it, I'm blogging about wine!

After 4 years of intense wine training in Belgium, France and the international WSET system, it's time to put all the blood, sweat, tears and tasting to good use.

So a few days ago, and no longer hiding behind my pseudonym, I launched my new blog at www.wineandwords.be.

I hope to see you there!

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Of Love, Blood and Saying Goodbye.

Four and a half weeks ago, we buried my father. A tall, sturdy man of 65, in apparent good health. He died unexpectedly, on a bicycle ride organised by a local club of which he was the chairman. About a mile from home, he gave a scream and fell over. One scream, and Dad is no longer just a phone call away.

It was an enormous shock. I had expected at least another twenty years with both of my parents. After all, life expectancy in Belgium is up to around 80, and my dad was never one to give up early.

Life expectancy is a deceptive number. It's not a warranty, nor a right. That 80 is an average. For every centenarian, one of us kicks the bucket in our early sixties, and you don't get to ask for a refund. Meanwhile our politicians discuss raising the retirement age to 67, or even to 70.

This past month, I've lived my life over and over again, questioning my choices, behaviour and most of all, my values and priorities. While mourning for my father, I've also grieved for missed opportunities and for the time and energy I have already wasted: on being impatient with imperfection, on worrying about worldly trivia and on incessant self-criticism.

I work a lot, and enjoy what I do. Yet it takes up a large chunk of my life, leaving precious little to divide between everyone and everything else I love: my husband, family, friends, 6.5 cats, writing, reading, travelling, pottering about with herbs, food and wine, not to mention my ongoing quest to understand what Life is all about.

Who am I? Why are we here? What's the true value of Man / Woman in this social, ecological network we call World? Will our spirits live on when we are no longer remembered? Does it matter? Why do I even care?

So many questions, so few answers - a downside of having said goodbye to one's childhood faith and the simple, clear-cut answers it provided. As a grown-up, I am responsible for my own answers, either to discover them, or to make some up as I go along.

Never before have I understood how deeply a parent's death cuts into one's heart. I am an independent woman and by no means a Daddy's girl. Up until a month ago, I wouldn't even have called myself a family person. I've only just begun to acknowledge my parents' impact on who I have become. But the influence is there, and it cannot be overestimated. We might radiate on different wavelengths, but our cores are solid and alike. My life would have been so different if it hadn't been for their presence and support, and I know many people aren't that lucky.

And then - a phone call, a cataclysm to disrupt our lives and shake up the status quo. In a split second, 'everyday life' turns into something spelled with capital letters. Suddenly, similarities shine more brightly and differences dissolve.

Now, a month later, the first whirlwind of emotions has settled and I feel wrung out. My skull is filled with cotton wool, my brain occupied, getting used to the new situation, incorporating, filing and wrapping up; it's hard to concentrate for any length of time.

Our only certainty is change, and times seem to have changed once again. Yet underneath, what I fear most is that soon, life will go on, and that maybe, just maybe, this won't have changed me at all.


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Photo 'circle of life' by Carmen Kong, available under a creative commons license. © 2006, Carmen Kong.

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Living in the Heart of Europe.

I'm having one of these moments where I feel incredibly lucky. It's connected with the lovely spring weather, I'm sure, and being tired helps too.

Yesterday I had a 15-hour working day, and it was a really good one.

I got up at 5:45 (okay, an awful start) to catch a train to the French city of Amiens. There I spent a few hours in a meeting and a working lunch, before getting on another train to Tournai, Belgium's oldest city, in the French-speaking part of our country.

After another meeting and a small reception in the crypt of Tournai's stunning city hall, I returned to my home town late at night to find my fabulous husband waiting for me at the station because he'd guessed I'd be very tired and not in the mood to walk home. Small actions can mean so much, sometimes.

Cathedral, Amiens (France). March 2012.

Because I travelled by train I also had some moderate exercise, walking through the wonderful city centres of Amiens and Tournai, ànd I managed to squeeze in a 30-minute visit to Amiens' stunning cathedral.

Not bad for an average working day.

Once again it hit me what a great part of the world we live in. Sure, Europe has its economic issues, political struggles and the odd cultural misunderstanding, but that's just one side of life.

It doesn't take away from the profound beauty of our surroundings and the awe-inspiring monuments those same civilisations have created all around us.

While society continues to change, our cities, villages and landscapes testify to the cycles that have been. They breathe our rich and colourful history and never cease to whisper stories, there for our hearts and minds to pick up.

We just need to listen.


What does your environment whisper of?

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Lucky 13: Women Writers about Attitude.

"The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as when you go looking for your joy."
- Eudora Welty

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain."
- Maya Angelou

"The knowledge that we are responsible for our actions and attitudes does not need to be discouraging, because it also means that we are free to change this destiny. One is not in bondage to the past, which has shaped our feelings, to race, inheritance, background. All this can be altered if we have the courage to examine how it formed us."
- Anaïs Nin

"The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude."
- Julia Child

"I happen to feel that the degree of a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear on the same topic."
- Lisa Alther

"Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations. If you adopt their attitudes, then the possibility won't exist because you'll have already shut it out...You can hear other people's wisdom, but you've got to re-evaluate the world for yourself."
- Mae Jemison

"Don't be a pawn in somebody's game. Find the attitude which gives you the maximum strength and the maximum dignity, no matter what else is going on"
- Anne Rice

"I think the passion for an extraordinary life, and the courage to pursue it, is what makes us special. And I don’t even think of it as an “extraordinary life” anymore so much as simple happiness. It’s rarer than it should be, and I believe it comes from creating a life that fits you perfectly, not taking what’s already there, but making your own from scratch."

- Laini Taylor

"If you can't change your fate, change your attitude."
- Amy Tan

"Reverence is an emotion that we can nurture in our very young children, respect is an attitude that we instill in our children as they become school-agers, and responsibility is an act that we inspire in our children as they grow through the middle years and become adolescents."
- Zoe Weil

"If there's one thing I believe, it's that I don't know anything and anything can happen"
- Amy Lee

"Novels don't contain only exceptional situations, life or death choices, or major ordeals; there are also everyday difficulties, temptations, ordinary disappointments; and, in response, every human attitude, every type of behavior, from the finest to the most wretched. There are books where, as you read, you wonder: What would I have done?"
- Laurence Cossé

"Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
- Mary Oliver

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Photo 'stare' by Sandra Lara, available under a creative commons license. © 2008, Sandra Lara.

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Book Review: Blood Orchids, by Toby Neal.

In case you have been wondering: I am still alive. For the past month and a half, I have been working like a maniac. Neglecting my blog - and my friends' blogs (sorry guys!) - was the only way I could save the remaining shreds of sanity.

By now The Project has been submitted and I have taken a week off to recover, read, write and spend some time in my beloved Cotswolds.

I've finally finished Kim Harrison's The Hollows series, and got to read Toby Neal's Blood Orchids, which had been on my must-read list ever since it came out.

I hardly ever read crime novels, but I'm a big fan of Toby's blog, her topics, writing style and her warm, zesty personality. As a result, I really wanted to read Blood Orchids, and I'm glad I have.

It took me a while to get a feel for the story and connect with the characters, possibly because there's a lot of Hawaiian "couleur locale" in the story, which is quite alien to my European self. However, the more I got to know Lei Texeira, the protagonist, the more I cared and the faster I began to read - a good sign.

The novel's world is drawn in rich detail and step by step the setting enfolded and I got grabbed by the lighter and darker sides of Hawaiian culture.

However, to me, the strongest elements of this novel are its characters. They're human and real, they have a history and hopes and dreams for the future, they're damaged but eager to live fulfilling and meaningful lives. Toby's characters stay with you long after you've finished reading.

Lei's a great heroine, but my personal favourite was Dr. Wilson. I'd unload my issues on her couch any day! I'm (not-so-secretly) hoping Toby will one day write another series with her as the main character.

I also found Lei's developing relationship with Stevens very interesting and well-written. They have a number of great scenes together, which could only have been written by an intelligent and wise person with a keen insight in human nature, who's not afraid to dig deep into her own mind and experiences in order to touch on fundamental thoughts and authentic emotions.

I can't wait to see what Toby will come up with in the future. Definitely a writer I'll continue to follow!

You can find Toby's blog at http://www.tobyneal.net/.

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Guest Kittens - the Breakthrough.

It's been two weeks since Guest Kittens 2 and 3 moved into our improvised Sunflower Kitten Hotel.

During that time they have grown like ... well, sunflowers, and after a painstakingly slow process of acclimatisation and a small amount of blood spilt - mine - they have finally stopped seeing us as a threat.

Two days ago, we experienced a major breakthrough. Turn up the volume and check out the result here:

It's been quite an adventure, getting this far. Confrontational, too. I'm not the most patient person on the planet, so this is a life lesson, a story of apprivoiser, like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's little prince who had to go through the necessary steps and rituals to approach and befriend his fox.

What a fragile and hard-won construct trust can be - and rightfully so.

But now we've come this far, we've got a good chance of finding this precious duo a warm and loving home.

They're still a bit shy, but I'm sure that with continued TLC they will blossom into the most affectionate cats you can imagine - just like their mum and their big sister. And they make great entertainers - the perfect distraction while you're trying to write ...

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Lucky 13: Women Writers about Imagination.

“There are two ways to reach me: by way of kisses or by way of the imagination. But there is a hierarchy: the kisses alone don't work.”
- Anaïs Nin (Henry and June)

“When I read a book, I put in all the imagination I can, so that it is almost like writing the book as well as reading it - or rather, it is like living it.”
- Dodie Smith (I Capture the Castle)

"I have crossed over to a place where I never thought I'd be. I am someone I would have never imagined. A secret. A dream. I am this, body and soul. Burn me. Drown me. Tell me lies. I will still be who I am.”
- Alice Hoffman (Incantation)

“You will recognize your own path when you come upon it because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need.”
- Sara Teasdale

“A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.”
- Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
- Sylvia Plath

“I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would grow up to be an eggplant.”
- Ursula K. Le Guin (The Language of the Night)

“You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sand castles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander."
- Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird)

“The imagination needs moodling,--long, inefficient happy idling, dawdling and puttering. ”
- Brenda Ueland

“Writing is a job, a talent, but it's also the place to go in your head. It is the imaginary friend you drink your tea with in the afternoon.”
- Ann Patchett (Truth and Beauty: A Friendship)

“Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master.”
- Agatha Christie (The Mysterious Affair at Styles)

“Are we all living like this? Two lives, the ideal outer life and the inner imaginative life where we keep our secrets?”
- Jeanette Winterson (Sexing the Cherry)

“Those who fear the imagination condemn it: something childish, they say, something monsterish, misbegotten. Not all of us dream awake. But those of us who do have no choice.”
- Patricia A. McKillip

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Photo 'Reach' by Keith Garner, available under a creative commons license. © 2011, Keith Garner.

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Kitten Said No ...

(No comment.)

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Sunflower Kitten Hotel.

2012 started well for Guest Kitten 1. On the second day of the New Year, she moved to a big house in the historic centre of Bruges (how lucky can you get ...) to live with a loving couple, their wonderful little girl and two big-hearted Golden Retrievers.

Since her departure we've managed to capture her two remaining siblings and now they too enjoy the perks of our temporary three-star Sunflower Kitten Hotel (formerly known as: The Conservatory).

They're still very shy, but each day they become more curious, playful and at ease. Earlier this morning one started purring when I was near, which makes me hopeful they'll want to check us out soon.

It means that in a matter of days, these two cuties will also be ready to go to a new home.

Therefore, if you're anywhere in or near Flanders, Belgium and you have a big heart, house or garden, drop me a line.

Below I've enclosed two more videos - for your entertainment and okay, maybe a bit to play on your emotions ....

Feel free to pass them on to your family and friends! ;-)

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Looking for a Home - the Sequel.

Two weeks ago I shared a few videos of our newest Guest Kittens and wrote about the subsequent 'Looking for a Home' campaign. Well, a lot has happened since then.

First of all, we've officially adopted their mum. She's been to the vet, has been sterilised and she's recovering well. We've named her Maharet, after the character from the Anne Rice novels.

We've also been working hard to gain our Guest Kittens' trust, with mixed success. It's going to be a long process, but worth the effort if we want to find them a good home.

Guest Kitten 1 is now lodged in our conservatory and we're getting close to being able to pick it up and pet it, without it crawling into a corner and hissing its tiny vocal cords in a twist.

Here's a video of Guest Kitten 1 'playing it cool'. Not an easy job when you're snuggled up on a giant sunflower ...

Anyway, this little cutie is still looking for a warm and loving home, so if you've got a whole lot of love and a little bit of time and space, drop me a line!

Guest Kitten wishes you a wonderful year's end

and an even better start of 2012!

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A Little Warm in My Heart.

I've just set up and decorated our tree; I feel ready for winter now.

Isn't it amazing how a little ritual can make such a big difference?

Here are a few more snapshots ...

Have a great Christmas, Hanukkah, Midwinter, Yule or whichever holiday(s) you celebrate!

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Lucky 13: Women Writers about Inspiration.

“Inspiration usually comes during work rather than before it.”
- Madeleine L'Engle

“I learned...that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.”
- Brenda Ueland

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” 

- Maya Angelou

“Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze. ”
- Elinor Glyn

“stand often in the company of dreamers: they tickle your common sense & believe you can achieve things which are impossible.”
- Mary Anne Radmacher

“The inner fire is the most important thing mankind possesses.” 

- Edith Södergran

“Five tender apricots in a blue bowl, a brief and exact promise of things to come.” 

- Frances Mayes (In Tuscany)

“Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.”
- Susan Sontag

“A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it's better than no inspiration at all.”
- Rita Mae Brown

“Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I’ll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep, deep woods and I'd look up into the sky - up, up, up - into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I'd just feel a prayer.”
- L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

“There is no place for grief in a house which serves the Muse.” 

- Sappho

“I ask not for any crown 

But that which all may win;
Nor try to conquer any world
Except the one within.”
- Louisa May Alcott

“Out of the red and silver and the long cry of alarm to the poet who survives in all human beings, as the child survives in him; to this poet she threw an unexpected ladder in the middle of the city and ordained, 'Climb!”
- Anaïs Nin

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Image: 'Aprikosen / Apricots' by Thomas. Available under a creative commons license. © 2009, Thomas.

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More Guest Kittens - Looking for a Home.

Last September, I recounted the adventures of Guest Kitten. I'm happy to let you know that in the meantime we have adopted her, she has undergone the inevitable veterinary procedures and she now goes by the name of 'Spook'.

A few weeks ago, we discovered she has 3 younger brothers and sisters. In other words, new Guest Kittens have arrived. 

Their mum, who was left behind by her owners when they moved earlier this year, is now lying on a cushion in the conservatory, awaiting a visit of her own to the vet. She knows what we have in store for her; she's been glaring at me through the window all evening.

Still, we can't continue adopting every stray cat in the neighbourhood (I admit I have considered it), so we are looking for a new home for the Amazing Kitten Threesome. If you happen to live anywhere near Belgium and have a big heart, house or garden, drop me a line!

I don't need to tell you they are the cutest kittens ever. You know you want to be cuddled up in front of a fire this winter with a few of these crawling all over you:

And if you're still not convinced ... 

(warning: do not watch the following video if you're cuteness intolerant or easily swayed by emotion!)

Pretty please?

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Du Pain, Du Vin ...

Jugendstil villa in Bonn - Bad Godesberg. November 2011.

In spite of alarming daily news reports about the euro crisis and the fact we still don't have a government after 500+ days of negotiating, the majority of us seem to lead our daily lives with little noticeable change.

For me personally, these are hectic but stimulating times. The past fortnight I've spent 4 days in England (London and the Cotswolds), 4 in France (Lille, mainly) and 2 in Germany (Bonn - Bad Godesberg). Most of the travelling was done for work, but I've managed to squeeze in a couple of days for myself.

Spare wine racks, anyone?

In my scarce free time I've been studying for next week's exam (I'm taking 'Communicative French' evening classes twice a week) and of course I had to attend two of the annual wine festivals that are common in France and Belgium in late autumn.

Some big, others small, these wine fairs are the perfect occasion to discover wines from independent winemakers and many of the smaller vineyards all over France.

As a result, we're now in dire need of extra wine racks, but I understand that's a luxury problem.

And now for some trivia:


My top 5 observations of the past 2 weeks.

1. Lille is truly a beautiful city, with striking architecture, a vibrant atmosphere and wonderful restaurants.
   
2. The French Alsace region, famous for its white wines, makes surprisingly good pinot noirs that offer great value for money.
   
3. Anybody who thinks English people are cold and reserved, hasn't met my friends. I had the chance to meet up with several of them when I was in the Cotswolds and even though we don't see each other often, the time we spent together was once again heartwarming.
4. Once you've learnt a language, even if you don't use it for ages, it's ingrained in your brain. I had French in school between the ages of 8 and 17, then didn't use it for almost 20 years. Now that I'm taking classes again, I'm surprised how quickly it all comes back.
5. Bad Godesberg's residential villa quarter is stunning. When Bonn was still the capital of West Germany and later the official seat of united Germany's government (until 1999), many of the foreign embassies were located in stately Jugendstil villas.

Residential villas in Bonn - Bad Godesberg. November 2011.

So, my dear friends, what have you been up to?

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Lucky 13: Women Writers about Character.

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
- Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre)

“The sisters and brothers that you meet give you the materials which your character uses to build itself. It is said that some people are born great, others achieve it, some have it thrust upon them. In truth, the ways in which your character is built have to do with all three of those. Those around you, those you choose, and those who choose you.”
- Maya Angelou

“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”
- Anne Frank

“What we call our destiny is truly our character and that character can be altered. The knowledge that we are responsible for our actions and attitudes does not need to be discouraging, because it also means that we are free to change this destiny.”
- Anaïs Nin

“I can't decide whether I'm a good girl wrapped up in a bad girl, or if I'm a bad girl wrapped up in a good girl. And that's how I know I'm a woman!”
- C. JoyBell C.

“Whatever you are physically...male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy--all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside.”
- Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Angel)

“But what man does out of despair, is not necessarily a key to his character. I have always thought that the real key is in that which he seeks for his enjoyment.”
- Ayn Rand

“When anyone asks me about the Irish character, I say look at the trees. Maimed, stark and misshapen, but ferociously tenacious.”
- Edna O'Brien

“There is a curious thing that happens with the passage of time: a calcification of character.”
- Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper)

“Her beauty satisfied [his] artistic eye, her peculiarities piqued his curiosity, her vivacity lightened his ennui, and her character interested him by the unconscious hints it gave of power, pride and passion. So entirely natural and unconventional was she that he soon found himself on a familiar footing, asking all manner of unusual questions, and receiving rather piquant replies.”
- Louisa May Alcott (A Long Fatal Love Chase)

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
- Helen Keller

“Don't separate the mind from the body. Don't separate even character - you can't. Our unit of existence is a body, a physical, tangible, sensate entity with perceptions and reactions that express it and form it simultaneously."
- Susanna Kaysen

"character--the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life--is the source from which self-respect springs.”
- Joan Didion

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Image: 'where did rachel "gun show" get her guns?' by sean dreilinger. Available under a creative commons license. © 2011, sean dreilinger.

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Fear of Writing.

Just a thought today:

'Fear of writing is like when you're fresh in love, and every time you see that person, you freeze. Not because you don't have anything to say, but because you want your words to be deep and meaningful. 

So instead you stand there and choke, or - if you see them coming - duck behind a postbox.'

How do you deal with fear?

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Image: 'Postbox: London, Great Britain' by Chris Wronski. Available under a creative commons license. © 2011, Chris Wronski.

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Choc-o-licious: Chocolate Festival, Bruges.

Today I got to experience one of the perks of living in Belgium ànd being a blogger: I'd been invited to the press event of Choco-Laté, the chocolate festival in Bruges.

Choco-Laté is a festival aimed at professionals, devoted chocolate fans ànd more casual ones. As a self-proclaimed healthy hedonist and passionate chocolate lover, I have been there in the past and I can testify it's a treat, a true feast for the senses.

This year's edition will focus on chocolate in its purest form: the origins of the cacao bean, organic fair-trade chocolate and authentic recipes prepared on the spot by representatives of the Kuna people of Panama.

Choco-Laté organiser Eddy Van Belle,
chocolatier Dominique Persoone &
representatives of the Kuna people.

The Kuna people have featured in several medical reports because of the absence of high blood pressure among them and remarkably low death rates from stroke, cancer or cardiovascular disease. This might be linked to their cocoa-rich diet, which is an interesting path for further research.
But I digress.

At this festival you can discover visually stunning chocolate art, learn about the origins, production, health and wellness benefits of chocolate, sample chunks and nuggets at a wide variety of exhibitor booths, or get your hands dirty (and lick them clean again) in truffle-making workshops. All this takes place in a unique historic location, permeated with the rich, velvety scent of more kinds of chocolate than you and I knew existed.

Trust me, it's not an event you want to miss.

'Choco en Lala'
book cover chocolates

The parents among you don't need to find a babysitter. Take your kids along and drop them off at the Choco Kids Village, where they can play and learn about chocolate while you indulge in more adult activities. Allow me to make a few suggestions: find the perfect wine to go with chocolate, design the perfect cocoa drink or watch the bodypainting artists at work - with chocolate!

When you're at the festival, be sure to drop by author Marc de Bel's booth. At Choco-Laté 2011 he will present his new chocolate-themed children's book: 'Spikkel en Spekkie: Choco en Lala'.

(Come to think of it, chocolate should play a much bigger part in my novel!)

'Bruges swan'
chocolate dress.

At first sight, fashion and (calorie-dense) chocolate might not be a good match, but this year even fashionistas will be able to indulge.

Star designer Nicky Vankets, known to yours truly because of his gorgeous wedding dresses (I got married last year - did I mention I ♥ his 'White Couture' collection?), has teamed up with my favourite 'shock-o-latier' Dominique Persoone to design a fabulous 'Bruges swan' chocolate dress.

I so want one. Or two: one to wear and one to eat.
But I digress again.

Choco-Laté 2011 will take place at the Bruges belfry from 11th till 13th November.
For more information and tickets, go to: http://www.choco-late.be/en.

If you can't make those dates, do not despair. Bruges has 52 (hyper)active chocolatiers, who sell their scrumptious creations all year round.

On top of that, until 8 December 2011, the city of Bruges celebrates "Choc'in Brugge" - chocolate month, if you will, with gastronomic events, chocolate-themed city walks, chocolate wellness and much more. You can find the programme here.

Last but not least, if you live too far and can't make it to Belgium this year, have some great chocolate wherever you are and consider stopping by in the future.
When you do, drop me a line and I'd be happy to point out a number of places that are worth a visit.

Have a choc-o-licious November!

Bonus picture. From left to right:
shock-o-latier Dominique Persoone, fashion designer Nicky Vankets
and yours truly, plotting an escape with The Dress.

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The Better Story Wins.

In writing, for us mere mortals, the quality of our stories and characters is key.

The following TED video made me wonder for how many other aspects of life this might be true.

In his 2009 talk, novelist and politician Shashi Tharoor (himself a fascinating character) looks at India's success and emerging popularity from a cultural point of view. He discusses the 'soft power' with which Indian culture, food, technology and music influences people's hearts and minds.

There's a lot of food for thought in this video. It made me wonder about the notion of world leadership, about the effect technological revolutions can have on people in different kinds and layers of society, and once again about the power of stories in our lives.




A few of my favourite passages:

'But, with this increasing awareness of India, with you and with I, and so on, with tales like Afghanistan, comes something vital in the information era, the sense that in today's world it's not the side of the bigger army that wins, it's the country that tells a better story that prevails.'

'Governments aren't very good at telling stories. But, people see a society for what it is, and that, it seems to me, is what ultimately will make a difference in today's information era'

'But, the whole point is that India is the nationalism of an idea. It's the idea of an ever-ever-land, emerging from an ancient civilization, united by a shared history, but sustained, above all, by pluralist democracy. That is a 21st-century story as well as an ancient one. And it's the nationalism of an idea that essentially says you can endure differences of caste, creed, color, culture, cuisine, custom and costume, consonant, for that matter,and still rally around a consensus. And the consensus is of a very simple principle, that in a diverse plural democracy like India you don't really have to agree on everything all the time, so long as you agree on the ground rules of how you will disagree.'

 - Shashi Tharoor, TEDIndia, Nov 2009

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Simplify.

I've been a bad blogger this month, but I have an excuse:  I have been (trying to be) good somethingelses, mainly at work and at home.

A few weeks ago, I started my new job. It's stimulating and demanding and I love it.

It's causing big changes in my life, though. So far none I hadn't anticipated - an advantage of taking the whole summer to weigh pros and cons - but it's still interesting to observe and experience the effects.

Changing your surroundings, circumstances or lifestyle has a way of confronting you with where you're at in life. As you develop new routines and grow into them, it's easier to see how far you've come and what you need to focus on for the future.

The most mundane but possibly most significant change for me is that I have a lot less 'free' time. That doesn't sound like a good thing, yet I feel more relaxed, in control and mentally free than I have in years. It was clearly time to stop fretting, hoping and assuming, go out on the fields and bring in the harvest.

What has changed?

I always thought I was unable to simplify my life. I'm the kind of person who's potentially interested in anything and everything. That is still the case - and I'm happy because it's a good skill for a writer - but I seem to have learnt to prioritise along the way. Who'd have thought?

Most importantly: giving up a number of things (or making them less prominent) doesn't make me feel like I'm missing out. To the contrary. I am less worried and more productive. I know that what's important will still stand out, possibly more so than before.

As a result, I have set myself a deadline for my novel. I have a (small) list with the final changes I want to make, and then I'm going to unleash my baby.

Whatever happens next, I'll live and learn - and change again.

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Image: 'Harvest time' by Steve Schnabel. Available under a creative commons license. © 2009, Steve Schnabel.

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Lucky 13: Women Writers about Wine.

"Wine is the refined jewel that only a grown woman will prefer to the sparkling trinkets adored by little girls."
- Muriel Barbery (Gourmet Rhapsody)

"Only a fool tries to reconstruct a bunch of grapes from a bottle of wine."
- Jeanette Winterson (Art & Lies)

"Wine talks; ask anyone. The oracle at the street corner; the uninvited guest at the wedding feast; the holy fool. It ventriloquizes. It has a million voices. It unleashes the tongue, teasing out secrets you never meant to tell, secrets you never even knew. It shouts, rants, whispers. It speaks of great plans, tragic loves, and terrible betrayals. It screams with laughter. It chuckles softly to itself. It weeps in front of its own reflection. It revives summers long past and memories best forgotten. Every bottle a whiff of other times, other places, everyone...a humble miracle"
- Joanne Harris

“There are days when solitude is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a bitter tonic, and still others when it is a poison that makes you beat your head against the wall.”
- Colette

"What I do, and what I dream include thee, as the wine must taste of its own grapes."
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Sonnets from the Portuguese and Other Poems)

"...and I get refill number three or four and the wine is making my bones loose and it's giving my hair a red sheen and my breasts are blooming and my eyes feel sultry and wise and the dress is water."
- Aimee Bender (Willful Creatures: Stories)

"All Creatures know that some must die
That all the rest may take and eat;
Sooner or later, all transform
Their blood to wine, their flesh to meat."
- Margaret Atwood

"I am a connoisseur of fine irony. 'Tis a bit like fine wine, but it has a better bite."
- Lynn Kurland (Princess of the Sword (Nine Kingdoms, #3))

"Language is wine upon the lips."
- Virginia Woolf

My writing is an overflow of the wine glass of my life, not a basin in which I wash out my ideals and expectations."
- C. JoyBell C

"Your divine should not have used water. It just doesn't hold the attention properly. Wine. Or blood, in a pinch. Some liquid that matters."
- Lois McMaster Bujold

"You are trying to lure us into revealing information you're not entitled to? With chocolate and wine? Are you amateurs?"
- Moira J. Moore (Heroes at Odds)

"I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind."
- Emily Brontë (Wuthering Heights)

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Image: 'A Glass in The Hand...' by clappstar. Available under a creative commons license. © 2010, clappstar.

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