Double-Half
or One Ten without ham

This at sculpture by the sea is Alessandra Rossi´s Cairn, the artist is from... Italy and WA!!!
(Italy and Australia and Ingo... always a funny combo)

It´s about abstraction and simplification, of light and colors, of "exposing the hidden and the imaginary".... I didn´t get "#1, #2, #3, though, I could count on here?

I have to laugh about this one!
I really didn´t like it but... we´d talked about an artwork in Freo and I said I´m afraid I get lost.

Hmmm. Grace and P had a seemingly private talk, so I kept myself busy with this, respect, right?



Oh, my goodness, are they discussing about abandoning the lost one right there? (Joke)
Or was it probably really some serious family-stuff? You never know! (No joke)



Neither would be good and I got more and more worried over time, too!
Heck, thanks for digital cameras - to have all this on expensive real film, oh, my (I took a lot more).

We went to see the artwork later together, pics are to come :-)

Some people, like Ingo, will never ever understand how horrible it is to have no sense of direction and yes, I have a mouth and can and did ask my ways through.
Yet, this was so nice - and yummy, too, as said, more to come.

BTW... Happy 25th, Ingo :-)

          

Here is something fun for you:
Our cleaner, Peanut, was back!*

And... the window is clean - apart from the color-dots when we sprayed the wallpaper...

Lion of the day:



Taken at Löwenwall.

* Thanks to Facebook he/she has a name now.
Some (deeply) hate Facebook, but it helped me/us loads - I think if used reasonably it´s a good tool, how about you, what do you think?

Sweet Addendum!

This is an interesting one once you read the statement, which hence I dare to copy 1:1.

This is by R.M (Ron) Gomboc from WA, Time and Motion...

"Like every journey, time and motion each have beginnings. Our existence revolves around the anxiety and uncertainty of expectations and the unknown."

Wee. pretty much my life at the moment.

All the ups and downs, the circles... I wonder how and why the artist created this. It´s not a happy one, it´s reality for too many, I reckon.
But it´s a journey, right, we´ll move on.
(As "someone", the one who presented me with this leaflet, in the background to the left does already and hence adds a light note with a smile to this)

I always did.
From a young age I worked.
I ran from dogs, delivering ads (and much more, I worked in an icky food-factory with maggots and cockroaches - brrr, for an undertaker, too). I jumped high(er than at school in sport from a dog chasing me).

And now?

I´ve been working 17 years as an "IT-analyst", but the last years, what did I do, really??

No programming no more.
I combined two systems (not easy!).
I told people off!!!
Me, can you imagine this?!

Our customer had an internal "mini-e-Bay" I could´ve made good, but a "colleague" stole the project from me... long ago.

Anyways, we had rules like... no aggressive, over 18-years games.
GTA... you think I´m stupid?! I know what this is. COD, same, I do not have to show you...
One even - and they were there with their real names, at their employee, too!!! One tried to sell his porn-collection, a huge list...

I had T to take care of the agressive ones, luckily - one first via e-mail a couple of times, then the phone.
Not me, I don´t take that.
He called our secretary in Braunschweig!!!
She called me, I said, no. Give it to T.
And that was fun.
The more the guy got furious, the more T got calmer. I sat 3m from T and could hear that guy screaming!
Would he act like that standing in front of us?
He "threatened" to destroy our company (we were just working "for" Volkswagen, little externals we were).

Diesel-affair, tells you something, long story short, I lost my job.



This man describes it well (sadly German only, but you can use google-translator or something).

"Don´t act as if you are sick!" maybe describes a depression best.
You cannot see it, say, like a broken leg or something.
I loose a lot of my very thin hair.

Ingo sometimes thinks I´m acting, I´m lazy.

I get mails, paper-mails from the same and different institutions, I hardly can make myself open the box.
It´s STRESS. One says A, the other Z and they´re from the same place, I get different names, too - if I worked like that!!

You cannot see depression. And I have very fun and good moments, too - AND I WANT TO WORK!

But I do not know WHAT!!!!



According to my vita I can do it all.
I´m a graded engineer, an IT-analyst, bla-bla-bla, I can do nothing no more.
I can read the languages, but not program anymore.

What clothes to choose, too?
I cannot stomp in with jeans and sneakers. Can I.
But with "women-clothes" I´m not me, I feel uncomphy and loose.

Depression is making you feel overwhelmed...

And Ingo mostly is understanding, don´t get me wrong!!!

Lion of the day....



Also... we voted for the EU - no queue, no one interested...
Politicians, you did a "great" job (and I have none)...

Yes, hello Leederville, mural-heaven again!
Could not find the artist, but, weee...



And at the nature-historical museum here in Braunschweig we got this fella:



I called him Zunge, not very creative, no...
And yes... poor guy got nailed there, or stapled, I can´t remember, he lives with us since ages.

Addendum: Mae would like to see where Zunge lives (the other only Perthies can give), so, here goes:



The red is our small kitchen, behind is our "green chamber", a tiny room with the washing machine and one to slice bread.
The door is in the cellar as it just ate up space (same goes for our bathroom-door, and no, no one takes a shower when there are visitors and the toilet is a different room - with a door in place!)

Taking part again in Sami´s COLOURFULWORLD Monday Murals.

I grew up respecting and obeying older persons, adults (and Santas).

I´m on my bike/skates/skateboard, I make way to others.
I was taught, and understood. There was no debate.
Rule. Period.



These days?
I JUMP when a kid speeds in my direction!

I cried or screamed over "nothing" - I got a reason.
In the face. Or on the butt, depending on whom giving said reason to cry about.

No. I´m not a Mother.
But I may have an opinion, no?

(Most) kids have no respect over here anymore. Parents glued to their stupid "smart"phones not teaching any values anymore, so how are the kids supposed to know anyways.

Teachers?
I read (too) many reports of them not really teaching math, German or whatever but rules, simple things like shutting up when (someone or) the teacher talks.
Saying "Good morning".
Not hitting another kid (or adult)...
Doing your homework...

Have you ever questioned doing not one of these, not greeting, not hitting, not...

I have Nieces.
I´m glad I´m only the Aunt cause...
It´s a very tough job to try to teach your kids respect and rules when other kids roam loose without.

"Oh, you´re just an Auntie, you can spoil them, like a Grandmother can do!"



(Back in the day we got useful things above toys for Christmas. No idea what my Granma got, though. And, awww, the sofa!!!)

We were in the supermarket, Granma and I.
I begged for potatoe chips (never sweets for me ;-)...).
She gave in, I was, say... four years old?

I failed opening the bag - in the store (after the cash-out) and started crying after a few attempts.
Grandma did the same - without the crying, that is.
The bag burst open and the yummy chips were on the floor - I threw a lille fit.
Granma grabbed me and weee.... my butt sure "hurt" and I had a reason to cry.

Other customers just passed by because it was normal in the 70´s to get a reason and today... I can even laugh about it cause certainly she did not really hurt me.
It was embarassement, rather, maybe astonishment, mental hurt, frustration (I fought so hard for those chips (war generation, not much money) and there they were, on the floor!!! And there was no second chance, either.).

What about kids in your place, do they show respect or do you have to jump to give way, too?
Am I too... strict, narrow-minded, old?

Lion of the day...



At the Cathedral...
(I´m sorry, it was so frustrating - AGAIN! I´d went shopping, there was weight on my back and I had to jump.
And no. It was no "learner", that I understand, there I jump, that´s OK. It was an older kid, looking me in the eye even :-( That is not OK...)

sculpture by the sea once more, sadly no note in the leaflet, yet a beautiful bird, no?

I just wonder...



Maybe there was a sign later, explaining the artwork, then please let me know.
Otherwise just enjoy the cheerful bird :-)

I step outside and neighbours H turn around the corner in their white up!.
It´s raining and he opens the window to wave hello - isn´t that man too sweet?

It was a longer search for a parking space and we met again at the house when I came back.

He´s a tad older than her, 85, maybe?
We chatted a bit and he then said to her, "stop keeping our neighbour busy", to which I replied that I´m not busy at all.

They live in 4th floor and after a while he said his grinny good-bye and started his way up (! ... ;-)...).

What we talked about?
Italy, wine and beer. Sport, Ingo (always so hectical, but a nice man).

Well. Over an hour later I was in our condo, too, and Ingo asked, "where´ve you been?!!!"

It was sad. Mrs H, I think she suffers of Dementia or Alzheimer´s.
She often looses track, often repeats the same story, but she is so nice you just cannot go away.
Also she says nice things! ;-)
"My Grandchild is eleven now. She´s as sweet as you are."
Well, I´m "a tad" older, no?

But also... "did you not want children or could´t you?" - wow.

My Granma had the same, Alzheimer´s, we assume, she passed April 2002.
Try not to cry to see history repeat itself.



The fear it might happen to oneself, too. Or to your partner, what is worse?

Their bodies are fit for being 80+ but when the mind, the brain, the self goes away...

Another neighbour, I think she lives alone, I never saw her with anyone (and we live here since 2011)... weee.
Mrs H said, "don´t forget an umbrella ;-)" - "I have one in the car!!!!".

And I thought she does not like me. She likes no-one, poor woman. Unfriendly to everyone :-(
Who knows what´s happened to her, maybe something very sad?

It´s bitter to loose your brain, it´s sweet to have memories of when you were young.
THAT she still has, our Mrs H, she still talks of her wedding, how she was pregnant already (uhhh, too much info ;-)....).
And yet,... "if one of us dies the other one has to go to an old people's home" - it broke my heart.

Reasonable one moment, lost the other.
Frightening.
And she realizes it, too ("What was I wanting to say?") - is it my job to.... what?
She has kids, Grandkinds.... I´m just "the nice neighbour", right.

And hope that one day, like Udo Jürgens, I just drop down and that was it...



"We" fly to the moon, to mars, but cancer, Alzheimer´s & co remain unsolved dangers.
How can that be...

I said I´d only share my favs from sculpture by the sea and I feel bad admitting this was no fav of mine but isn´t art art and open to everyone´s mind?

Why I do share?

Because.

Because I cannot let go as easily as I thought.
It is a wonderful event, I was there with very nice people, too. Friends, I might say.
Before the event officially started even.

And the artist, Max Ball from WA states that the "Oat" is the part of a boat that makes it float.
And it´s only part of the float! You need two to make a boat and he made a tiny house boat, too.

How awesome is that! One of my Uncles was a boat-engineer. He constructed and built a boat, took his wife and baby-daughter over Bermuda Triangle (buuuuhhhh, don´t get lost) to Mallorca where they still live. He looks like an older version of my Brother, 1:1, too.



My very first flight was to... Mallorca.
With my Mum.
We met people from our home town, alas, the world is a small place, so a house-boat is a great idea, no?

"Is an Oat a sculpture? That´s for the eye of the beholder".

And with this statement... or "explanation" this work becomes a favorite of mine, too.
So... here you go!

... tell you about last weekend.
We went to the market - a story to the side:

1995, Sydney.
We bought this car in just one hour:



And then went to Coles... Woolies, I can´t remember, we wanted to buy an Esky.
And couldn´t find one (naturally), so we split up.
I finally found a staff member, very young, and asked him.
"K-Mart". Upon all my questions (what/where is it - as German you learn the word marKEt) he just repeated this word, K-Mart.
I was so fed up! Luckily Ingo knew instantly (he´d been to Australia 1993 with his Brother).

Anyhows.
After spending a lot of money for tomatoes there, at the marKEt...



...from a mini-Robin, too!



Can you guess we love, love, love our city?
T-Shirt says "Braunschweig", jacket says "Löwenstadt" and Robin, the mini-bag, says "Wanted - Braunschweig city".

But we also love Italy, right?
These pics were taken at Guido´s (Braunschweig´s oldest Pizza-place).



And certainly...



Later... hmmm...



Also eggs from free running chicken and strawberries (no idea if the strawberries ran also, guess rather not).

Just to find on Sunday someone´s cleaning our BBQ!!!
I kid you not!



He or she took some time to lick off all the spices from last summer, brrr...
Well our BBQ is licked now, ready for ... peanuts? :-)

(It says "BEEF!", so it´s safe for a squirrel)
And yes. sculpture by the sea/Perth is continuing soon...

Tuesday morno I found him/her like this:



Our table should be clean now, too!

(The glass is clean, the cam keeps focussing on it instead of the outside, advice is welcome! And the squirrel counts as Lion of the day, nearly the same color!)

A new toy is sitting in my back.
I didn´t want it.
Two years ago Ingo wanted to have it, it´d been red, I said no.

We had a billiard table, a tiny one, loaded with stuff, never played.
Do I need a bigger version of that?!

This time Ingo didn´t ask and argumented it´s not my room but the living room, well, bummer, right.

AND!!!



It´s blue and we have so.much.fun!!!!
Technically I almost always loose, but we only play for fun (so far).
Seesh, we could´ve had this two years now! In red, too!!
But I remember Ingo played on a blue table before near Bull Creek :-)
(I didn´t dare to join, being afraid to ruin the table - next time I´d dare (to join, not to ruin)).

T said he lost out in this game on "Wiki" *.
I said, we just play for fun.
And no "Wiki" - ever.

Let´s hope there will be many hours of fun with this toy!

Do you like to play?

Lion of the day:



Too simple, huh? ;-)



* The worst colleague you can have.
3 times a year (and for christmas) the company met (work was in different places).
On one "Wiki" said something (again) and a colleague went loudly sighing.
I sat next to him and said, I´m in the office with that guy.
"Oh, poor you!", says it all, no? Worst time in my working life and I tried hard to go into another office!
We called him "Wiki" as in Wikipedia. He "knows" a wee bit of "everything" and talks when no one asks him to :-(. Customers run away even, the most arrogant person, too...
I could tell you stories and Ingo´d RUN cause I took it all home :-(
But we just play for fun, Ingo and I, billiard! :-)

Mural found in... tadaaa... Leederville!

Sadly no name of the artist and...



Is there only the upper arm?
Yet he plays, say basketball (cliché!!!), is that what it´s about?
Can you explain?

If this is it, I just saw a documentary on Felix Klieser, a hornist without arms.
A happy man, full of joy and confidence, with a great life, a girlfriend and all.
See his Bio in English here - though I think this expresses it much better ("That Felix plays his horn with his feet becomes a side issue! Felix Klieser tells his unusual story with lots of humor, lightness and a healthy dose of self-esteem.").

So, if you feel a tad blue on a Monday this might cheer you up?

And if I´m wrong about the mural... please feel good anyways! :-)

Taking part again in Sami´s COLOURFULWORLD Monday Murals.