Vivid Autumn Hues & Good Excuses for Parties

I can't get over how beautiful this season is!

What the sky lacks in colour these days, you find in the leaves on the ground and those that are left on the trees. 

We didn't celebrate Halloween this year, but we had our housewarming party yesterday (almost 3 months after we moved into our appartment), which we extended with one extra night since we had so much food leftover :)

It's apparently not very common to invite your neighbours to your housewarming party here in Sweden ...
which, for me of course, was all the more reasons to do so!

Not all of our them showed up (good thing we had some back-up friends who did! :p), but it feels really nice to know at least some of the people we share the building with.

Now we know what doors to knock on when we need some sugar :)

Holistic Hypocrisy!

Many nutritionists don't like Jamie Oliver.

They don't like that he ignores the existence of whole grain flour,

They don't like his consistent use of white sugar,

They don't like that he tries to do THEIR job.

My goodness!

What is this ridiculous elementary school mentality?

I'm a holistic nutritionist.

This means I don't just focus on weight & calories when I give recommendations.

It means I focus on all aspects of my clients health, that I assess them as a completely unique person, not just a stomach, or some other organ in trouble.

Holistic means "Emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts".

Maybe this is why I don't agree with those nutritionists who don't like Jamie.

I think he's great.

Sure, maybe he didn't study nutrition like we did, but he knows the most important bits, and most of all:

He gets the word out!

He's passionate about food and health and wants to share it with everybody out there.

He's a very important part of the whole.

Every single person is important here.

Every person who can inspire other people to think twice about the food they put in their mouth or the food they serve their children is important.

Saying that nutritional education is not the 'job' of a tv-chef is so wrong it makes me angry.

Knowing these words were written by a fellow holistic nutritionist, in an article that appeared on the alumni website of my school, makes me even more angry.

(then again, anger makes you productive, so this is a good thing)

Watch the clips below and make up your mind.

What is so bad about Jamie Oliver trying to educate?

Unusual Skis

The great thing about carrying your camera around wherever you go is that you get to capture moments like this.

I'll never really know what this guy was thinking ... 

But it looked like he was having a good time!

Colourful World

I have nothing intelligent to say about these photos but I just wanted to share them with you.

Doesn't everybody agree that traffic poles should all be colourful &fun?

Think about it! Such potential!

How many ugly traffic poles are there in the world? What if they all get transformed into works of art?

Would there be 1 pole per person? 

Maybe we should each get a pole to decorate!

Isn't it crazy we're almost 7 billion people on this earth?!

When I was born, the global population was about:

4,912,561,054

Want to find out how many we were when you saw the light?

Click here!

I think it's rather shocking, a little alarming even, but not everyone agrees it's all that bad.

I'm really happy I watched this video on the Do Lectures yesterday...

If there are people out there who truly believe that we can & will succeed in feeding every person on earth, (especially if they believe the way we'll succeed is by small-to-medium-scale diverse organic farming), then I do too!

Ideas + energy = change

Go Do.
That's the message of the following, startlingly inspiring website.
The idea is simple: that people who Do things can inspire the rest of us to go Do things too!
On their website you can find inspirational talks, inspirational books, their upcoming events where you can experience everything live, and the Do Shop where you can make a little contribution and get something great in return!
I'm seriously considering buying this poster. Would make a nice addition to our currently rather empty newly wallpapered walls :)

Don't know what to do this Sunday? Take your pick from one of these lectures and be inspired!

Make a Difference Day

Today, the 22nd of October, is make a difference day in the USA. A national day of doing good.

I say we stretch it a little further! 

I challenge all of you who read this post (even if you read it after the 22nd of October - you won't get away with it!) to make a difference for someone, anyone, maybe even yourself if you need it!

At this very moment, there are people only you can reach … and differences only you can make. 
Mike Dooley 

From can to brick

I find it slightly ironic that one of the events organized in Visby next week (for the schoolkids who have a week off) is a graffiti course.

Isn't that just asking for trouble?

Don't get me wrong, I can really enjoy street art, but only on grey & boring buildings in neighbourhoods that need a little colour. Just like the one I walked through in Ghent, during my last trip to Belgium.

Maybe I'm just jealous ... I can't apply to the course because I'm too old :p

Sustainability, a wonderful journey

What follows is a liberally translated quote from National Geographic photographer Mattias Klum, who was in Visby yesterday because of Gotland's Ekodag, a yearly event with the goal to inspire people to rethink their daily choices in respect to the environment:


"The journey towards sustainability is a wonderful journey, it's a journey towards health, towards beauty."


This year's topic was clean water, which is becoming more and more of a luxury on and around this island (with emphasis on our beautiful but suffering Baltic Sea) and all over the world.
Mattias Klum explained the various projects he's working on and shared some of his pictures and a few movie clips with us (you can find a nice summary on his website)


Here's a trailer of his movie called the Coral Eden:

His projects run all over the world, but the message is the same: We need to stop taking nature for granted ...

And to end this post with another quote: "Nature is not something that we have or don't have. It's a prerequisite for our world to survive."

Last Days of Summer

Just wanted to share a few sunny pictures with you. It's grey and rainy in Visby, so maybe this can lift some spirits?

 Beach weather on the first of October is pretty unusual in Belgium (first time since 1908, I read).

I'm glad I was there to experience it :)

Not-to-do list

Stop flying more than strictly necessary is absolutely on top of my not-to-do list. Even though airports are fun places to take pictures ...

(picture above taken by Luqaz!)

I guess we all do a lot of things we know we shouldn't be doing ... 

Here's a list I made from different sources after googling "things we need to stop doing"

Inspiration?

Stop putting yourself down.

Stop trying to do it all yourself.

Stop striving for perfection, and strive for execution instead.

Stop presuming everything will get better because someone else will fix it.

Stop making excuses.

Stop procrastinating.

Stop caring what people think.

Stop being hung up over details.

Stop thinking you have to do everything immediately.

Stop doing things you don't enjoy.


And a last one: Stop being so reckless with mother Nature!

Admirable Street Artist

I'm one of those people who thinks it's really cool to have people playing music in public places but hardly ever pulls our her wallet *shame*

but for this guy we did!! 

See, all it takes is a little creativity, humour, and of course, a little talent :)

Keep on doing what you're doing Mister!

Have an amazing weekend!

I'm in Stockholm and I'm supposed to go to bed so I'll keep it short.

Visit Gaping Void, website of a guy called Hugh MacLeod who draws cartoons on the back of businesscards.

They are brilliant, and you can suscribe to his mailing list to get one of his goodies in your inbox every day!

PS: me and my mac are reunited so regular posting is yet again possible!

Announcement

For you who started wondering what happened to me, or why I stopped writing, it's as simple as this:
My computer is in for repair!
I'll be picking it up on Thursday (never had a better excuse to go to Stockholm!) so come back for a visit soon!
I hope you're having a great week so far - Luqaz and I have been wallpapering so that housewarming party may actually happen in the very near future!

Fat Tax in Denmark

A friend of mine made the brilliant remark that anger makes one productive, which makes being angry not at all a bad thing.

Well, I'm ANGRY. And Andrea might be right. I might just write a long article and post it everywhere I can.

They introduced a friggin' fat tax in Denmark?

To increase the average life expectancy of Danes?

So now they make butter more expensive so Danes will choose the "healthier" margarines?
They should introduce a garbage tax and tax the actual things that make people sick. Or just call it what it is, be honest, and admit it's just an easy way to cash in some more money.

Source: curlygirldesign.com via Sue on Pinterest

Happy World Vegetarian Day!

Hötorget - Stockholm

Today I learned that October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, with the 1st of October being World Vegetarian Day: A perfect occasion to consider the ethical, environmental, health and humanitarian benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle.

Maybe that's why the GOOD 30 day-challenge for October is "Get Healthy" (they already had a "go vegetarian" challenge last June). Are you up for it?

Last's month challenge was "connect with people" - and even though last month's over, I suggest we keep on trying :D