raymondpoort.com

I am pretty sure everyone has heard of the word ‘karma‘, though I am not too sure if everyone knows what it exactly means…

The definition on merriam-webster.com: “the force generated by a person’s actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person’s next existence.”.

The picture below is another way to explain it…hehe, indeed a picture is worth a thousand words! 😉

Let’s say you are 13 years old, you have an angelic voice and participate in X-Factor USA…this audition and her outstanding performances in the rounds after made her runner-up in the X-Factor competition!

Carly Rose Sonenclar…what a talent, WoW!

Many more clips can be found here, fantastic!

I *love* to be active in nature and having Norwegian nature all around me there are loads of opportunities to do this, even year-round. Currently I am enjoying the (cross country) skiing season (only when the sun is out though 😉 ), and I expect the mountain bike season to start very soon; the snow melts like crazy with the temperatures these past days (5C in the shade, and blue skies making it extremely nice in the sun).

I went for my third skiing trip in 5 days today, actually my first one without Misha…haha, a whole different experience to ski without the sled (‘pulk‘), both are great though!

(click to enlarge)

Today is my first day of unemployment (this ain’t no April Fools day  joke 😉 ) officially at least, as I have not been working since my resignation in December. oof, these first three months have been flying by (amazing that I ever have had the time to work at all 😉 ) and new opportunities are on the horizon. I am thrilled to see what life will be like in the (near) future! For the moment though I am enjoying the time off and am a happy ‘Koos Werkeloos’, in a way similar yet very different than it was back in 2007.

For y’all non-dutchies; ‘Koos Werkeloos’ is a dutch song by ‘Klein Orkest‘ (The Small Orchestra) describing a guy called Koos, being happily unemployed (‘werkeloos’) and criticizing society who is telling him what he should be doing. 😉

The lyrics:

Klein Orkest – Koos Werkeloos

Mijn naam is Koos en ik ben werkeloos
De mensen zeggen ga toch werken Koos
Nou ik wil er best wel tegenaan
Maar dan wel een leuke baan
Want anders hoeft het niet van Koos

Laat Koos maar vissen aan de waterkant
Mij niet gezien achter de lopende band
En Koos gaat ook geen vakken vullen
Zeker om de zak te vullen van de fabrikant

Refrein:
Werkeloos, laat mij voorlopig lekker wer-keloos
Al dat gezeur van ga toch werken Koos
Koos werkeloos

M’n zwager Jan die spreekt er schande van
Die zegt van Koos gebruik je handen man
Maar hij werkt met z’n ellebogen
Heeft z’n schapen op het droge
Nou verbrand maar Jan

Die politieke Haagse maffia
Die blijft maar korten op de minima
Nou laat ze zelf maar betalen
Want bij Koos valt niets te halen
Sorry dat ik besta

Refrein

Kijk je hoort vaak zeggen waar moet dat heen
Straks doen computers al het werk alleen
Maar mensen het gaat toch prima zo
Gratis vrije tijd cadeau
En dat is voor Koos geen probleem

This one keeps putting a smile on my face 😉 …Happy Easter everrrrrybody!!

1. Truth – Truth raises your consciousness. Falsehood lowers it.

2. Courage – Courage raises your consciousness. Cowardice lowers it.

3. Compassion – Compassion raises your consciousness. Cruelty lowers it.

4. Desire – Desire raises your consciousness. Apathy lowers it.

5. Attention – Attention raises your consciousness. Distraction lowers it.

6. Knowledge – Knowledge raises your consciousness. Ignorance lowers it.

7. Reason – Reason raises your consciousness. Irrationality lowers it.

8. Conscious people – Conscious people raise your consciousness. Unconscious people lower it.

9. Energy – Energy raises your consciousness. Disease lowers it.

10. Intention – The intention to raise your consciousness raises it. The intention to lower your consciousness lowers it.

(via Social Consciousness – Information Insemination for Self Improvement

Misha and I are having a blast these days; sun all over, hours of playing together and…a small celebration as my angel turned 1.5 year today, that is 547 days, wow! It is still amazing how fast he develops, there is something new everyday and nothing is forgotten.

His newest thing is calling; unlocking my iPhone is no problem, luckily he doesn’t know my passcode! 😉 The telephone in the photo below might seem a bit old-skool, well it actually is…it used to be mine when I was young! (yeeeears ago 😉 )

Yeah, this is a Good Friday…so sweet!

This (Easter) week used to be a slow week at work, or even a full week off; Easter is celebrated big in Norway. 😉 Cottage owners (half of the country it seems 😉 ) are spending the week in the mountains and all stores are closed this Maundy Thursday, tomorrow’s Good Friday and coming (Easter) Monday. Though everything, work-wise, is different for me this year, Easter week is quite similar; the full week off, fantastic weather as a bonus, and Misha to cheer me up even more!

Joy! 😉

My big little angel turns out to be a groovy post-modern artist! 😉

Just check out the drawing he made on his last day before Easter vacation yesterday; clearly you can see the blue skies, a green garden and red painted easter eggs hidden in it…eh? 😉

He calls this drawing ‘Look, the Easter Bunny…ow, now he’s gone already’. 😉

(click to enlarge)

It is no secret that I *love* music; listening to it, going to concerts, discovering new artists and genres, playing the piano or guitar (or various other instruments 😉 ). Great respect for those who create music magic and bring joy in the hearts of people. It is one of the reasons that I will always drop some money in a street musicians hat…the little girl in the video below does the same, watch what happens…JOY!!

A perfectly timed photo occurs when two of the following three conditions are met:

1. Perfect Place
2. Perfect Time
3. Perfect Angle

(this by Internet standards…though I am not sure who defined these standards, I tend to agree 😉 )

When all three conditions are met, a classic is the result. twistedsifter.com selected the ‘50 Most Perfectly Timed Photos Ever‘…be sure to check ‘m out, all 50 are pretty awesome!!

Below is nr. 50, sweet eh? I picked this one coz it was the last one and mostly as the cats look like twins to my cat Kwibus! 😉

Do you remember last years blogpost ‘The iPad act’? Magicians Charlie Caper and Erik Rosales performed an iPad magic show to promote Stockholm at the 2012 MIPIM trade show in Cannes. Well, they did it again this year; check out ‘Whiteboard Technology’, the second act of their iPad magic show! Cool to see what one can do with a bunch of iPads!

Ha, this seems somewhat a-typical; the start of spring actually coincides with matching weather! 😉 Though a tad cold, the sun is out and here to stay for at least a week (‘they’ say 😉 ), I love blue skies!!

‘They’ also say that spring starts on March 21…well, ‘they’ say a lot 😉 : as explained in this blogpost some years ago, we are better of changing the start of spring to March 20 as this will be Vernal equinox day, marking the beginning of spring, for decades to come. Also, the first ‘March 21 spring start’ will be in 2102 (!), hehe, I hope you enjoyed this first day of spring!

Ha, ain’t that interesting; the United Nations declared March 20 to be the International Day of Happiness and today is the first ever! Hmm, and I thought that happiness is an everyday thing?!? (UN related comment deleted 😉 )

Don’t get me wrong, I do think it is great to create ‘happiness awareness’ so, if you are not happy, start today; touch the people around you with your smile and keep the energy flowing! What better way to mark this day with a song…one particular song comes to mind…THE happy song; Bobby McFerrin with Don’t Worry, Be Happy! Trust me, it will make you smile. 😉

Whistle and sing along y’all!

Let’s say you are participating in the TV gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and you haven’t used any lifeline until the very last $1,000,000 question. Your name is John Carpenter, it is November 19 1999 and…you answer the million dollar question like a boss!

(if those interested, the complete run can be found here: PART 1, PART 2 and PART 3)

I trust that everyone understands the importance of a well balanced diet, and awareness of exactly *what* you are eating…in the end, you are what you eat! The past year I made some changes in my eating habits (being vegetarian and choosing fresh, mostly ecological vegetables etc., not overeating) which are surprisingly easy to do…*much* easier than you would expect coming from a processed food diet that seems to be the standard of todays cooking. Ready made for your easy use, fast and tasty (?), just open a box or can, and you are halfway done…it seems to good to be true, and…it IS!

The Youtube video below is an eye opener, and really, if you think about it, very true!

What most schools don’t teach…is how to program a computer! For most people it seems boring and way too difficult, mainly because software, and the computer in general, seems like a black magic box. This, of course, is only because one is not familiar with it. Really, if you think about it, it is pretty strange that kids are not taught how to program and code, as almost everything we do and interact with is related to a computer!

Schools do teach Math, so you can count (your blessings 😉 ), and language(s) so we can interact with fellow humans. Some Geography and History perhaps to give you a sense of where you are in this world and then some hours (by far not enough) to stimulate your creativity through Music, Drawing or Sports.

As Math is in a way a predecessor of the computer (the word computer comes from ‘to compute’/’computing’), it could easily be replaced or enhanced by computer programming…actually, when you look at it from a broader perspective, coding/programming is the ultimate combination of Math, Language and Creativity! Teaching children how to program a computer will cover exactly that what ‘we’ feel they should learn. Think about it!

Yes, it *is* magic, especially when you are able to control that black box!

Steve Jobs: “Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer…because it teaches you how to think”

Haha this says it all, there is nothing much to add to it; stick to the things that matter most (in your life) and avoid being swallowed in details that don’t matter or are out of your control anyway! It pretty much sums up the phase in life that I am in (/going into) as today was the last ‘pay day’ from my former job (I will reach the official unemployment status per April 1)…

So, TGIF and have a great weekend y’all! 😉

‘We guys’ had to wait one month for it…today is time to get compensated for our efforts on Valentine’s Day as March 14 is Steak & Blow Job Day!!

Uncyclopedia: “The idea is simple; there are no cards, flowers, candy or other overpriced fluff. Partners need only to bestow their man with a steak and a blow job. But not necessarily in that order. And not necessarily only once that day. And it doesn’t even have to be them who does it.”

Good to see that this memorable day is supported by some of the smartest and wisest man in the world:

– Stephen Hawking: “Fellatio is awesome and makes you smarter!”

– Ghandi: “If only there were more Steaks and Blow Jobs in the world, we would have no War…” (~ Ghandhi on Steak & Blow Job day, before he turned vegetarian.)

Hehe, as a vegetarian myself, I’ll trade the steak for an extra BJ… 😉

(Oh, and for all you girls out there, don’t get too upset as your turn comes soon enough: April 14 is Cake and Cunnilingus Day! 😉 )

You might remember Steve Kardynal’s Songs in Real Life that I posted last year. Well, he also created a part 2 (for two years already, but hey 😉 ) and it is as hilarious. Integrating music is a great way to tell a story!

As you might remember, Steve’s tagline is: ‘Today you need to smile. You need to smile so big it hurts your cheeks’…so once again peeps: SMIIILEEE!! (and LYAO! 😉 )