New Shoes

… And suddenly everything is right.

After this serious post the last time I have to be a little happier again (and a little more girlsh, too!)

Last week I ordered my new pair of vans, with Flamingos! When I was 18 I had like 3 pairs of them and I know that one pair was broken, what happened to the other 2 pairs I seriously have no idea…

So, here are the new ones

Size and what it matters to me

“got called fat by a paper & must say,on a bad day & just in general being a girl & getting called fat can suck. but more importantly,the main thing that concerns me is that one of you,a normal shaped non model sized girl could read that shit & feel down on yourselves too! so just incase,it’s ok to be a size 12 & you don’t have to be hungry to be happy! riot not diet 4 life. V was so much fun,can’t wait for more tour.” Kate Nash on facebook

Being a girl is pretty hard, you have to look pretty, be kind and nice, be individual and just yourself plus: be skinny.

Now that the new year has come everyone is talking about getting rid of some extra pounds (mostly) she doesn’t need. In the bookstores of my town are huge windows full of diet books, health books, yoga(instead THIS is healthy and well for you) and so on, I could write a whole page about it.

I was always pleased with my body, when I was a young girl I always used to say “I want to get bigger, I’m too skinny”… I was really skinny as a girl, I could eat what I wanted, I didn’t become bigger.I did sports and have gardeners as parents, maybe that is a reason why I didn’t really become big at all (although I had bad eating habits when I haven’t been a vegetarian yet)

I think when I turned 20 that changed. I still ate a lot but, instead of all the years before, I gained some pounds. And didn’t really care. I didn’t have a scale to weight myself, if I still fit in my favorite trousers it’ll be fine… But also that changed.

So I put it lower and lower in the drawer so I won’t be reminded of this really cool trousers, I still don’t fit in anymore. Do I want to fit in again? Kind of…

Even if I am always saying I am happy with my body, my size and my heaviness lightness, I am not. I don’t know, when this change came, but it did. And I am here to say it out loud. When the clock strikes six in the afternoon I am always thinking about food: I am hungry and I say to myself: No, don’t eat. But why??? And I have to say, I am not “fat” and I don’t care if others are.

I think it comes with EVERYBODY TALKING about sizes and pounds and whatever… No one is really talking about feeling well and happy in their bodies but being skinny… I still don’t get why my mind is also spinning around that, but it is. And I am trying to change that.

I have a normal size, some little curves, they could be more I suppose

When I saw the ad of this issue http://issuu.com/plusmodelmag/docs/plus_model_magazine_plus_size_january_2012/61

I was so happy, that some people really think about what lifestyle and fashion magazines can do to women.

I’ve just been reminded of a photography of Kate Winslet in some bullshit magazine, where she wears a gorgeous dress(I love the idea of this dress!) by Stella McCartney and the category she was in was like: Do and Don’t.

She, in sight of the magazine, was a don’t. In their opinion she was looking fat in that dress, but actually it fitted her perfectly just as sewn for her body. They just don’t see that, clothes actually have to “fit” people and not being lose around them. What do you think? Is she “fat” in that dress? Come on!

But there is hope: Some magazines in Germany (all around the “Brigitte“) are only advertising with “No-Models”, normal women like you and me, and I think this is the future I am talking about hopefully! And also the Suicide Girls (Love ‘em!) also host normal and plus sized girls, and no models

So I have to say a few more little words to all these magazine authors:
Shut up and fuck the hell off!

Project 52-12 #3: Striped

This week’s on mondgras.de: striped…(haha, and finally when I posted the link to Sari’s blog I noticed it was the topic “lined” or “ruled” and not quite stiped Hopefully it’s okay with that!)  Now I finally found out, that all the participants can choose of the 4 topics, which one is shot in which week by themselfs ;D And I thought there was a “strict” order, whatever… “This” week I chose “striped”… And when I finally finished the picture of my first felt-knitted striped(!) slippers I decided to chose them

I always wanted to knit slippers like these and finally I made it! I am so proud that I am knitting so much these days! Now I know what I can do better so the next pair of slippers will be more perfect

The picture, btw shows the slippers right after knitting and right after washing (they shrink like 30%)

Yesterday in the evening I finished my first felt-knitted hat and now I just have to through it into the washing machine and see what comes out of it! I am very excited!

Vegan Recipe #2: Rice & Shine

The first time I give a recipe of mine a name: “Rice & Shine”. I was so hungry for it all day, I had it on my mind and then I just had to cook it right after work. It is a kind of curry with coconut milk, green squash, tofu and rice to tell you the main ingredients right on the start.

Ingredients:

-1 cup of rice (took basmati)

-some tofu

-1 green squash

-1 carott

- 1 can ok coconut milk

-sundried tomatos

-garlic paste

-thai paste (took yellow)

-indian spicery like curry and curcuma

- salt, pepper, chili

Preparation:

Start with the rice, it takes the same time as preparing the vegetables. Take 1 cup of rice for 2 persons, let water boil in the kettle (it is saving energy) and then pour it into a pot, add some salt and the rice.

Now to the main menu: Cut the tofu into pieces and roat it gently in peanut oil.

When it is finished give the cut green squash to the tofu and roast it also, after a few minutes the cut carotts and dried tomatos as well.

Let them all roast in the pan and after a more few minutes pour the coconut milk into the pan, let it simmer.

When it is not as fluid as in the beginning add the spiceries. First I took the garlic and the thai paste and then the indian curry mix, salz, pepper and chili. Attention: Be careful using the garilc and thai pastes, they are very hot!

Let it simmer again, taste it, if it is fine you are finsihed and have a great vegan meal

Now drain the rice and add it to your meal.

Special hint: Cashews might fit perfectly to this recipe, but unfortunately I didn’t had some at the moment! (Would roast them gently with the vegetables at the beginning)

Have a good one!

Sherlock, my Sherlock

…

Acutally I wrote a song about the greatest brain the world has ever seen… But not because of the series, just because of himself

Vegan repice #1: Special Salad

I always love salads of any kind. And I eat it like all the time as well I know, salads aren’t such a special meal but to create it vegan is, for some people, a challenge. So I show you one of my favorites right now.

Ingredients(for 1 very hungry person):

-1 hand full of field salad

-some tofu

-1 small onion

-1 carrot

-1/2 pomegranate

-1/2 Avocado

-sunflower seed

-walnuts

First cut your tofu into pieces and roast it gently with peanut oil (the taste of it fist perfectly to tofu), give it some salt and pepper, when finished lay aside.
Cut the onions into fine pieces and roast them gently, too (you can use them raw as well, but I don’t like it so much).
Cut all of the other ingredients as you like to. Cut the pomegranat into two halfs turn one piece upside down and hammer on it with a knife so that the cores get out (you use them…).

The dressing:

-olive oil

-brandy vinegar

-salt, pepper, some other spices or herbs you like

-mustard (my secret ingredient)

Enjoy your, maybe, first vegan meal!

Project 52-12 #2 “Rubbish”

2nd round of project 52, this time the weekly topic is rubbish, garbage whatever the trash is I took my DSLR outside for a walk through my, still, new town to find the perfect shot. And I did.

When I walked direction town theatre I found a trash can with a painting on it (actually almost every puplic trash can is painted). The Painting shows a tour poster of one of my favorite bands, the Beatsteaks. It’s their tour poster from their winter tour with a hot air balloon on it, I love hot air balloons in deed!

Here you go, have a nice sunday!

Waiting for the world to change- I’m CO² neutral

what is this graphic about?

As you proably know, to use the internet we need power and energy. To produce this energy many many many kinds of power houses have to run and they emit CO² which isn’t that good or our environment (and to reduce the emission of CO² they invented nuclear power houses, which is probably (watch out for my cynical tone) more dangerous than the CO² emission.

chemical structure

But what to do against it?

So where was I at the beginning? Right, our use of the internet. So we use the internet day by day, check FB, google, and blogs, blogs, blogs… I can’t reduce the emission of CO² but I can make it better… If I plant a tree… But, I have no land (indeed my parents have some, but I am not able to plant anything right now- I am lazy!)

So… someone else plants a tree for me, for trees (as almost every other plant) convert CO² into, omg chemistry come back to me please… Ok I won’t get it… Plants convert CO² into O² and something more through photosynthesis and we get healthy air again. And who plants a tree for me, these people here: http://www.kaufda.de/umwelt/

We also do reduce the CO² emissions if we eat meat free aka vegetarian and we save even more CO² emission (ca. 7 more) if we live vegan! Did you know that?

I really don’t want to missionaire but you have to think about what you are doing right now, for our planet (plant + e = planet) can’t bear this living any longer.

Think and change

“Wer will, dass die Welt bleibt, wie sie ist, will nicht, dass sie bleibt.”

credit: all images I used are from the website: www.kaufda.de and www.wikipedia.de

Project 52-12 #1 “Circus Alike”

I am participating a photo challenge again, it’s called Project 52 and it is all over the year. Sari the head of the idea created this project (It is one project per week) some year ago and I did participate partly, but this year I’m gonna change I want to post pictures all over the year, we’ll see what comes out of it. Here you can go with the flow and shot photos or paint something over the year!

The topic of week one was “Wie im Zirkus”- so Circus Alike. I shot a photo out of the book “Der Elefant-Gigant des Tierreichs”. I love elephants very much, they are as you can say my favorite animals and the idea of them living in a circus is quite horrorfying for me. So if you have a circus in your city and you know that the have beside human artists animals, please boykott it! Everybody boykotting a circus makes the next step to a circus free world

Byebye

normalean

PS: Go and watch the movie “Pina”! Yesterday I saw it in the cinema almost around the corner to my flat, it’s running since 46 weeks, this my dear readers is almost a whole year! Amazing I think!
What it is about? It is about Pina Bausch who died suddenly in 2009. She was a dancer and dance choreographer in Wuppertal,Germany (which has by the way a great elevated railway) who revolutionaired the modern dance theatre. It is shot by director Wim Wenders in 3D. Actually I don’t like 3D movies for it is nonsense but “Pina” was the first movie I liked in 3D, it is like you are sitting in the audience of a theatre and not only a movie place. The movie shows some of her choregraphies, the people who worked with her and some old film material with her teaching and dancing. So not a normal dance movie like “Flashdance” for example.

Plus: I definately want to visit Wuppertal

To-Do-List for 2012

Hello dear readers,

last year I decided to make myself some aims for the year 2011 I wanted to reach or try to, maybe you remember (check out this post). I stared very fast with working on that list, I sew several dresses for myself, learned croaching, traveled to New York City, saw a unknown german city (ok, this point does not really count actually). I learned and bought a new instrument, the Ukulele.

In the month of may I shot one picture a day abouth green things. I also wanted to risk something and I did… And I failed in that but I tried at least and that is the point (but this year I am not gonna risk anything )

I didn’t reach: learning skating on a skate board, rcording my songs in a high quality, get rid of thins I do not need plus getting engaged for charity or something like that.

And last but not least: At this time I am cutting myself a coat I am going to sew in a few days/weeks

So I aimed 6 things out of 12, I think it is a good rate, but I can raise this! It is good, having goals over a year you want to reach, it is even better, to write them down and hang them on your wall, so you can see them, and checking them is much fun and motivating, too.

So I was thinking the last days what my ames could be this year, of course I have to take some ames I did not reach last year (it sounds strange saying “last year” to 2011), but not all of them.

The list is quite similar to the old one from 2011, I want to do more for my music, I want to travel (this time to sweden and visit my dear friend Veronica in Stockholm), I want to work more creative and I want to eat more vegan (and show you 12 vegan recipes)

And ending this post like the post one year ago I will show you my last.fm top ten, but I have to admit, that I’m not listening so much music via last.fm or my computer that this list is not really representative.

10. Lykke Li
09. Dredg
08. Thrice
07. Amy Winehouse
06. Portishead
05. Counting Crows
04. William Fitzsimmons
03. Arcade Fire
02. Foo Fighters
01. Beatsteaks

Now as I read the list again it IS representative! I Listened very much to Amy Winehouse after her tragical death, POrtishead after their South Side gig (awesome!!!), and so it was with Arcade Fire. Of course Foo Fighters and Beatsteaks would battle a hard fight, I love both albums, although I like “Wasting Light” a little more. It is such a huge album by Dave and his 4 friends, I can hardly describe what I’m feeling when I’m listening to the album. Each song is really good, but my favorite is “Arlandria”

Home is where there’s music.

Oh, I wanted to close the post with these words but now one special song comes to my mind… I simply show you, you probably might know. The first time I heard the song in the “Magnet” Club in Berlin when we were celebrating our friend Lu’s birthday, great evening, great memory plus a great song= perfect <3