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It seems to become a yearly returning ‘tradition’: a terrible back pain in January…I realized this weekend that I have had this almost every year in the past years. Is it due to too much partying during the Xmas season, me realizing that there is a new year to do everything I didn’t fulfill the year before, an easy excuse not to go skiing, the January winter coldness, or having a mental reason…? Fact is that for the past weeks I have not been able to move myself the way I want to, while the back pain moved from my middle back to my lower back and is now mostly in my left hip, making it even hard to walk ‘normal’.

Luckily there is book ‘You Can Heal Your Life‘ by Louise Hay which contains a list of different physical disorders or illnesses and their probable metaphysical causes. This is what Louise says about back pain and hip problems:

Back pain can be related to many emotions in your life. A pain in your middle back may be connected to your guilt, lower back pain may reflect your fear of money or lack of financial support.

Hip problems relate to a fear of going forward in major decisions. Fear to not reach you goal, nothing to move forward to.

Hmm, there is definitely something there…thanks Louise!

I have said it many times before; ‘Google is evil’.

The original idea “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” transformed into “use the world’s information to make shitloads of money with it” after they ‘Adsense’d’ and ‘AdWords’ed’ their business model and started to mix people’s hunger for information with their own hunger for cash and world domination.

Google‘s latest move is the Privacy Policy change, which makes all information ‘approved’ interconnected, and…will for example give you too personalized search results (and advertisements btw.). Dave Winer points it out in his blogpost ‘We need an exit from Google’ last week, read it to understand the consequences.

I am ok to get personalized search results, but…on my own request, PLEASE!

Besides that, you have to realize that all information you have in the Google systems can and will be handed over to anyone, more or less, who asks for it (read authorities). Oh, and do realize that Google’s Chrome web browser is, together with the Android mobile Operating System, their ‘best’ and most easy way to grab all your info…

So, while Google started out on the right path, they became evil (despite their initial unofficial slogan “Don’t be evil“).

I will give DuckDuckGo.com a try the coming weeks…this search engine brings back memories of old skool Google; simple, good results and no tracking (privacy!)…

Btw. check out the short movies, EPIC 2014 and EPIC 2015…interesting stuff!

It ain’t all that easy being away from Misha during these weeks, despite seeing and cuddling him all last weekend in NL…another week has past and the big little wonder turned four months today, time flies!!

This is the most recent picture that I received, taken this morning…isn’t he cute?? 😉

(click to enlarge)

You might have seen this Youtube clip before, it has been on the Net for some years (it ended 2nd in the AARP U@50 Challenge on Youtube in 2008).

‘Lost Generation’ is a poem written by Jonathan Reed, just watch it and ask yourself: ‘which generation do you belong in?’

BE inspired!

The full text:

I am part of a lost generation
and I refuse to believe that
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within.”
is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy.”
So in 30 years I will tell my children
they are not the most important thing in my life
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
work
is more important than
family
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Families stayed together
but this will not be true in my era
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
30 years from now, I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this earth
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope.

And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it.

Just read this text and then, read it again in reverse.

Martine has her Birthday today, which for the past four years automatically means that there are TWO Birthdays to celebrate: Happy Birthday to both my sister and my nephew Tygo!!

They celebrated both Birthdays last Sunday and I was glad to be in NL and able to personally give hugs, kisses and presents! 😉

OK, topic of 2012 is obviously change, a continuing process that never stops and only accelerates…

One does not need to think hard to realize this, here are some eye-opening funny pictures that illustrate it:

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It has been an intense weekend in NL, and while it was fantastic to see and hold Misha again, leaving him and Kissy behind does more to me than I expected…there is a part of me still there…

It was VERY nice to feed Misha his first ‘solid’ food, an apple (of course, Apple fan as I am!! 😉 ), or at least we *tried* to feed him an apple; he didn’t eat too much of it as the apple was probably a bit too sour judging from his face…oops! 😉

(you don’t notice that on the picture below though, sweet angel that he is!!)

I am in NL this weekend…GREAT to see Misha!! He is doing good; still the same, yet SO different…the big little wonder grew a lot in just 11 days, he is trying to speak, although all that comes out is babbling (I am sure that is gonna change!) and he still no hair. (and yes, I am sure that is gonna change too 😉 …a LOT of changes these days…)

After Blue Monday comes…Sunny Tuesday!! 😉

And indeed, the sun shined today and when the sun shines, people tend to laugh more!

Some colleagues at work where having fun with ‘Bubba J‘ (biography) today, ‘he’ is one of the characters played by ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. He is a beer-drinking redneck that is often described as ‘white trash trailer park’.

Bubba Junior has two things he loves: his country, his beer, and NASCAR. When asked what he does all day, his response is “Watching NASCAR and drinkin’ BEER!”, and also; “Do you have a drinking problem” is responded with: “Nah, I have it pretty much figured out!”, or; “What is your favorite beer?”…”An open one!”. 😉

So, BE prepared for some simple straightforward Southern US humor that will definitely make you laugh, thanks to the craftsmanship of Jeff Dunham!

Btw. most will know Jeff as the guy behind Achmed the Dead Terrorist. Check ‘m out as those clips are fantastic too! (and a good follow-up after watching Bubba J)

Today I saw many messages (Facebook and elsewhere) mentioning ‘Blue Monday’…I wasn’t familiar with this concept, but am now (thx Wikipedia 😉 ).

So, Blue Monday is a date declared to be the most depressing day of the year and has its own formula:

W = weather, d=debt, T=time since Christmas, Q=time since failing our new year’s resolutions, M=low motivational levels, N_a=the feeling of a need to take action and ‘D’ is not defined.

Hmm, as the weather ‘W’ is pretty ok for the time of year, my dept ‘d’…well, no comment 😉 , the time since Xmas ‘T’ is out of my control anyway (and steadily growing by one day everyday!),  I don’t ‘do’ New Years resolutions ‘Q’, motivation level ‘M’ could be better, but the need to take action ‘N_a‘ is very high, the formula would come close to zero for me!! 😉

Blue Monday originally started as the Monday of the last full week in January, but has now shifted to be the third Monday of January being today.

Thought you might wanted to know a bit more about this ‘Blue Monday’ thingy. 😉

bluemonday.org is a site dedicated to this phenomenon and they suggest to make someone happy on a Monday in January. They’ll be highlighting many of your happy moments on their site, so if you are feeling blue, check it out!

Alternatively, you can wait until for the happiest day of the year. The same person who calculated Blue Monday, also did the ‘math’ for the Happiest Day of the Year which has been close to Midsummer so far.

And obviously, since we are all creators of our own happiness, so forget everything ‘earthy’ that is occupying and bothering you…SMILE…and feel the happiness coming in!! (even if it is ‘just’ for one moment, that moment counts!!)

Njoy!

PS. Please note that some links in this blogpost link to Wikipedia and if you are reading this on January 18 2012, those links will not work; Wikipedia is going black that day to protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act.

I came back from NL with some very interesting books.

My reading list for the coming period:

– Neale Donald Walsch – When Everything Changes, Change Everything

– Paulo Coelho – Aleph

– Steve Jobs – The Biography

– Paulo Coelho – The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel

In total close to 1500 pages (200 in cartoons)…those and the numerous pages of the Book of Life as it unfolds give me enough to read for now!

I came back to Norway today and picked up the electric car…YES, the Nissan LEAF is IN the garage!

It was the first time I bought a new car myself, so I didn’t know what to expect…I was surprised how much attention was given to complete the buying process (well, it should as it is a big purchase!). All in all a very nice experience which took over two hours! Ha, it turns out that not all car salesman are brutal! 😉

It is pretty nice to drive the car literally out of the showroom with only 10 km on the meter, and so far it is a fantastic experience to drive the car. It will be interesting to see how the car behaves in Norwegian winter weather. 😉

I will blog more in the coming weeks, for now check out leafplan.nl (in dutch) for some interesting stories.

It has been a very intense day today for many reasons, and while the LEAF is charging (I just verified that with the iPhone App! 😉 ), I am off to bed…TIRED!!

A starry, starry night makes great pictures. This one of the Milky Way is besides beautiful, also putting things in to perspective: we are part of something HUGE!

Just a very nice story:

In a way it is a pity that it is a hoax…

danceDanceDANCE!!! 😉

I went to the So You Think You Can Dance Theater Tour today. Haha, Perhaps a-typical to some, indeed *very* commercial, and still; a great show!!

It is fantastic to see people following their dream, dancing as if there is no tomorrow…I am filled with energy and ready to start ‘working life’ tomorrow again!

A relaxing Saturday evening asks for a matching YouTube clip; the fantastic mountain views supported by Vangelis’ ‘Ask the Mountains’ track…beautiful!!

So, who is with me, going to climb some mountains?

We are spending two nights in the ‘Ode to Love‘ hotel blooming in Bergen (NL), the people here still remember last years party! (no wonder 😉 )

What we didn’t do then due to lack of time (=other priorities), was to hike in the neighborhood, and specifically through the ‘Noordhollands Duinreservaat’ just around the block. The storm that raged over NL the past days luckily eased down making today a perfect day for a hike…beautiful eh? 😉

(click to enlarge)

Last year I wrote that New Years resolutions are not for me as I am more a New Day resolutions guy; I believe and treat every day as a new beginning. This is more clear on some days than other and today is one of ‘those’ days: a clear mark of a new beginning. Thank you Anne Helena for today’s inspiration, guidance, light and love!

An early start today, but for a good reason; Misha went swimming for the first time in his life (not counting the pre-birth ‘swimming’ 😉 ).

The sweet little angel had a great time, as you can see in the pictures below! (hehe, and daddy had fun too btw. 😉 ).

Uhh, this kid is made for swimming?!?

Having friends in ‘high’ places opens up a window of opportunities; tonight we went ‘flying’ in flight simulators…REAL flight simulators (as in, the ones used by KLM for training and examining their pilots).

WowWowWow, WHAT an experience…this is as real as it gets!!

Over 1.5h of take-offs and landings, some low altitude flying over ‘Het Westland’ and Amsterdam, making maneuvers that you *never* want the pilot to do when you are a passenger in the cabin 😉 , hehe the ability to push any button, push the throttle  and pull the levers, *without* any fatal consequence…a FAN-flying-TASTIC experience!! (couldn’t get enough of the Boeing 777-300! 😉 )

Axel my friend, THANKS a zillion for this night!!

Ready for take-off…