<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813</id><updated>2009-02-21T16:41:19.569+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Karin in Wonderland. Magic and torture</title><subtitle type='html'>“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”&lt;br&gt;
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.&lt;br&gt;
“I don't much care where --“ said Alice.&lt;br&gt;
“Then it doesn't matter which way you go,” said the Cat.&lt;br&gt;
“--so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.&lt;br&gt;
“Oh, you're sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>24</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-116480857502249759</id><published>2006-11-29T15:46:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-11-29T22:11:03.236+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Nobody is given a larger cross than he can bear</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I just remembered a story my mom once told me.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A man prayed to God, because he couldn't cope with his burden anymore; the cross was too heavy to carry. Please God, please lift this cross from me and give me a smaller one.&lt;br /&gt;And God answered... come, my son. I will let you choose your own cross.&lt;br /&gt;They walked together through an alley, and there were big, dark crosses on the side of the road. Finally they came across one that was considerably smaller.&lt;br /&gt;I will pick this, God! the man heaved a sigh of relief; &lt;em&gt;this&lt;/em&gt; one i can carry.&lt;br /&gt;Take this and go in peace, my son. This cross was yours all along...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Maybe it's true.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;*no picture this time :)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-116480857502249759?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/116480857502249759/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=116480857502249759' title='6 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/116480857502249759'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/116480857502249759'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/11/nobody-is-given-larger-cross-than-he.html' title='Nobody is given a larger cross than he can bear'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-116256500617125663</id><published>2006-11-03T14:54:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-11-29T16:04:04.070+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Just a random thought</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;We don’t talk&lt;br /&gt;The way we used to&lt;br /&gt;Time will pass&lt;br /&gt;and sing the blues&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;An eye for an eye&lt;br /&gt;A tooth for a tooth&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While you’re busy&lt;br /&gt;Judging me&lt;br /&gt;I have no time&lt;br /&gt;To miss you&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A pity&lt;br /&gt;Huh&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/Picture%2024-1.jpg"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/Picture%2024-1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-116256500617125663?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/116256500617125663/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=116256500617125663' title='7 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/116256500617125663'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/116256500617125663'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/11/just-random-thought.html' title='Just a random thought'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-116173817191441775</id><published>2006-10-25T04:00:00.000+03:00</published><updated>2006-11-29T16:05:58.206+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Twinkle twinkle</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One of my best friends&lt;/strong&gt; wrote this poem a while ago, and i liked it so much that i need to share it with you.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"&gt;***&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;twinkle twinkle&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;little pain&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;I see you’ve come&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/image15-111.jpg"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/image15-111.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;to play again&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;lodged here in my soul so tight&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;turning brightness into night&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;twinkle twinkle&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;tearing ache&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;please let me sleep&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;to never wake&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;now I lay me down to sleep&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;my life in tatters at my feet&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;if I should wake before I die&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;I pray these tattered wings can fly&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;twinkle twinkle&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;empathic strain&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;I never want to feel again&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;trapped here in this world so cold&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;twinkle twinkle&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;falling tear&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;how i wonder why i'm here&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-116173817191441775?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/116173817191441775/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=116173817191441775' title='8 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/116173817191441775'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/116173817191441775'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/10/twinkle-twinkle.html' title='Twinkle twinkle'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114528341432666151</id><published>2006-10-01T16:06:00.000+03:00</published><updated>2006-10-01T16:21:28.353+03:00</updated><title type='text'>My favourite Shakespearean sonnet</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Lately i have noticed people who like me for what they think i am, not for who i really am. Which is ok in the beginning. But most never bother to find out more, and instead choose to live in their own imaginary world. Ignorance is bliss? :)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;The sonnet has been my fav for years, and i think the Estonian translation is even better than the original (blasphemy, i know!). Hope you'll enjoy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;color:#666666;"&gt;CXXX&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;&lt;br /&gt;Coral is far more red than her lips' red;&lt;br /&gt;If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;&lt;br /&gt;If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,&lt;br /&gt;But no such roses see I in her cheeks;&lt;br /&gt;And in some perfumes is there more delight&lt;br /&gt;Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I love to hear her speak, yet well I know&lt;br /&gt;That music hath a far more pleasing sound;&lt;br /&gt;I grant I never saw a goddess go;&lt;br /&gt;My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare&lt;br /&gt;As any she belied with false compare.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/fav-stuff-15.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt; &lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;color:#666666;"&gt;Mu kallil puudub päikse pilk ja jume,&lt;br /&gt;ta suul ei näe koralli verevust.&lt;br /&gt;Kui lumi valge on, tal rind on tume;&lt;br /&gt;kui juus on traat, siis peas tal traat on must.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tean roose kirjuid, valgeid, verevaid -&lt;br /&gt;ei õheta mu armsaim roosipõsi.&lt;br /&gt;Et lõhnu olen haistnud hõrgemaid&lt;br /&gt;kui tema hingeõhk, ka see on tõsi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mul tema kõnet kuulata on hea,&lt;br /&gt;ehk muusika on kaunim küll, ei salga.&lt;br /&gt;Kuis jumalannad sammuvad, ei tea;&lt;br /&gt;Mu kallim käies maha toetab jalga.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ja siiski teda kallimaks pean muist,&lt;br /&gt;noist võrdlustega võltsilt kiidetuist.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114528341432666151?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114528341432666151/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114528341432666151' title='8 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114528341432666151'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114528341432666151'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/10/my-favourite-shakespearean-sonnet.html' title='My favourite Shakespearean sonnet'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114424158982635418</id><published>2006-09-18T13:45:00.000+03:00</published><updated>2006-09-18T13:51:04.503+03:00</updated><title type='text'>When two women talk they say nothing;</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/IMG_8447.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/IMG_8447.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;...when one woman speaks she reveals all of life. (K. Gibran)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Ok sweethearts, I am really really &lt;strong&gt;really&lt;/strong&gt; sorry for being away for that long. I took the time off and it did me good. And I promise to make it up, maybe you'll get to read a lot more lately... and something more interesting ;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Well, at least I hope so. Now, let me catch up on your blogs :)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Hugs to each and every one of you!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114424158982635418?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114424158982635418/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114424158982635418' title='9 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114424158982635418'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114424158982635418'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/09/when-two-women-talk-they-say-nothing.html' title='When two women talk they say nothing;'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>9</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114166826791703516</id><published>2006-04-24T17:25:00.000+03:00</published><updated>2006-04-25T04:02:18.156+03:00</updated><title type='text'>My liverleaf day arriving</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/jaanuar2006%2006714.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/jaanuar2006%2006714.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Hey all :) it's April, right? I've decided to cut down on being miserable.&lt;/strong&gt; Plus, looking at the time, in New Zealand and Australia it's my birthday already. Big party coming this friday, so everybody, prepare. I'm expecting at least a moral support, even if you can't hop on a plane and fly over :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A while ago i had a discussion with my friend &lt;strong&gt;Peter&lt;/strong&gt; about proverbs. I was looking for an English equivalent for Estonian proverb &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;'Igaüks on oma õnne sepp'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. He said it should go &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;'We are the architects of our own fortune'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;Of course the literal translation from Estonian (&lt;em&gt;the no-nonsense peasant language&lt;/em&gt;) would be &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;'One is the smith of one's own happiness'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Now i'm really interested how the same saying goes in other languages. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Greek, Portuguese, Hindi, Dutch, French, German, Norwegian, you name it!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; all posts are most welcome. It doesn't have to say the same thing, just about give the same meaning. So &lt;strong&gt;as a birthday present :)&lt;/strong&gt; i'd like you to write me the saying in original language and also the translation in English. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will then print them all out, stick the paper to the wall and read like a mantra every morning. Now that should do the job, wouldn't you think?&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! :)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114166826791703516?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114166826791703516/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114166826791703516' title='27 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114166826791703516'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114166826791703516'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-liverleaf-day-arriving.html' title='My liverleaf day arriving'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>27</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114475220937850185</id><published>2006-04-11T13:40:00.000+03:00</published><updated>2006-04-20T19:07:30.030+03:00</updated><title type='text'>World superlative?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/tallinn%2009[1].04.2006%2018-52-37.jpg"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/tallinn%2009%5B1%5D.04.2006%2018-52-37.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Today i'm not going to talk too much, just briefly about two things&lt;/strong&gt;. Firstly, i went to the notorious KuMu yesterday and liked it a lot. Not very many people were there (surprise-surprise!) and it was all quite enjoyable. I hadn't seen most of the pieces before (only from books) because they used to store them, there was no place to display.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;But of course there was one typical little example of KuMu culture, hehe. It happened 15 minutes before closing time, 17:45. They announced that it was time to leave... no, i can't say 'announced'. It sounded like thunder coming from the speakers. Everybody around me jumped a bit and i think i screamed a little. Nerves...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;It did work wonders though, everybody left in a hurry. Me too, because i really believe after this nice little "warning" the next thing you see will be two big security guards that drag you down the stairs and throw you out of the door. So you'd better obey.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;Ok, the other thing - i was reading the official &lt;a href="http://www.visitestonia.com"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Visit Estonia&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; homepage and found a description that sounded so familiar and funny:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"Estonia - a world superlative!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;Discover Estonia and you will see it is phenomenal. Like Alice in her Wonderland (&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;rings any bells?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;), you will find there is even more to see in Estonia than you have dreamed about. The dream world becomes real and the reality is unbelievable."&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Mmmmmm. Well, what can i say. Yeah, the reality is sometimes quite unbelievable but i'm not sure if it's a good thing. So long.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114475220937850185?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114475220937850185/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114475220937850185' title='12 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114475220937850185'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114475220937850185'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/04/world-superlative.html' title='World superlative?'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>12</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114103770991756968</id><published>2006-04-03T20:38:00.000+03:00</published><updated>2006-04-03T20:18:41.200+03:00</updated><title type='text'>"If nothing else works... (Vol 1)</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;...a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through" (&lt;em&gt;Monty Python&lt;/em&gt;) &lt;p&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/web_image3_show.3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/web_image3_show.3.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Hello everybody. Sorry again for being away for so long, i've been busy with real life. Anyway, I'm feeling &lt;strong&gt;very&lt;/strong&gt; snappy today. In fact, professionally furious (and for once i'm going to talk about something interesting instead of going on and on about my private life. Consider yourselves lucky!).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;About 6 weeks ago a very important building was &lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/web_image1_show.3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/web_image1_show.3.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;opened in Tallinn. &lt;a href="http://www.kumu.ee"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;KuMu&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; - abbreviation derives from the words &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;Kunst&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;art&lt;/em&gt;) + &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;Muuseum&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;museum&lt;/em&gt;, obviously). So, this is our new art museum and exhibition centre. It's supposed to be the biggest in the whole Scandinavia and Baltics region. The building itself cost 50 million USD. Now one would assume that something like that could be a real tourist attraction, n'est pas? But no. Did you bother to click on the link already? Don't. It will "Open soon". Actually they just didn't think about registering the domain in time and now it belongs to someone else who is probably looking to make money on this. And i can't really blame them, at least they were wise enough to take action. &lt;p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/web_image4_show.jpg"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/web_image4_show.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Ok, maybe everything is not lost yet. Maybe some poor tourist is smart enough to look for information in the &lt;a href="http://www.ekm.ee"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Art Museum of Estonia&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; web page. Let's try... Yay! A lot of information in Estonian. Not let's see what we can find under the link &lt;a href="http://www.ekm.ee/eng.php"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'English'&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in the index page...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/web_image5_show.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/web_image5_show.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I suppose you already guessed that, huh? Obviously the English version is 'under construction'. Nice going, really. I mean, it would probably take a whole hour to put up some basic information about the opening hours and ticket prices in English. And who could spare that precious time on something so insignificant.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;I was actually extremely surprised when the director of KuMu happily announced in the opening day that some tourists from Korea and Finland were among the first visitors of the building. I have no idea how they got there. I wonder if they know it themselves. Maybe they just got lost in the city :p&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114103770991756968?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114103770991756968/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114103770991756968' title='8 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114103770991756968'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114103770991756968'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/04/if-nothing-else-works-vol-1.html' title='&quot;If nothing else works... (Vol 1)'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114407891899076573</id><published>2006-04-03T20:31:00.000+03:00</published><updated>2006-04-03T21:21:34.516+03:00</updated><title type='text'>"If nothing else works... (Vol 2)</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ok, anyway, they opened this building.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;And then someone probably came to a brilliant idea that in order to use the museum properly, it should have some visitors.&lt;/strong&gt; So they organized an ad campaign. An outdoor campaign, to be more exact. You know, i&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt; can just picture the key people (the director of KuMu of course, and some snob from the ad agency) sitting around the table and discussing what needs to be done in order to bring "common people" to the museum. "Hmmm," says one. "We should use slang and bright colors. It's an ok thing to do when you're targeting this group." "Good idea," says the other. "But let's spend as little on the campaign as possible. We built the house for 50 million USD, so the campaign can look cheap, doesn't matter." &lt;p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/2006-03%20kumu11.2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 306px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px" height="231" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/2006-03%20kumu11.0.jpg" width="312" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Here you can see some examples of this immortal campaign&lt;/strong&gt; (i took the photos on my way to work one day). The posters use images of well-known pieces of art from the 19th and mid-20th century. Which is not such a bad idea, at least everybody should know them. The problem is the message. See the orange splashes in picture on the left? The first says: &lt;em&gt;"Doh... me? Doh... KuMu?".&lt;/em&gt; The other invites people to see her new home, using a really archaic language that people last used in the 19th century. There was another poster in the series, a girl with a dog and the orange splash saying "&lt;em&gt;Don't worry, Estonian art won't bite you!&lt;/em&gt;". Eeeeeeeeew! &lt;p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/2006-03%20kumu21.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 312px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px" height="221" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/2006-03%20kumu21.0.jpg" width="313" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;Now take a look at the picture on the right, please. This is a big poster that stands in the middle of the old town. Near a somewhat famous sculpture of a goat (&lt;em&gt;hey, stop laughing, over here all pieces of art are somewhat 'famous', at least they try to be. This isn't Rome, people :p&lt;/em&gt;). Anyway, the poster is pointing at The Goat and says: "&lt;em&gt;KuMu is not cheap with art&lt;/em&gt;". Now try to imagine that the words &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;GOAT&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;kits&lt;/em&gt;) and &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;CHEAP&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;em&gt;kitsi&lt;/em&gt;) sound similar in English, as they do in Estonian. Would it sound funny or witty to you? No? Well, neither does it in Estonian. I'm more like... well, ashamed to read it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;I can't understand why, WHY they couldn't see the obvious and launch some kind of normal campaign at the same time, using our independence day celebrations as a supporting cause. It's a national museum and what better occasion to point that out than the national day. They could have used direct mailing with invitations to celebrate that day in KuMu. Plus, you know, there isn't that much to do in Estonia in the winter anyway! They could have done a number of things instead of producing a patronising, horrible campaign. Could have, would have, should have! I'm professionally very irritated. And i'd like a word with the ad agency people. For totally wasting the taxpayers' money.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114407891899076573?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114407891899076573/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114407891899076573' title='7 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114407891899076573'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114407891899076573'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/04/if-nothing-else-works-vol-2.html' title='&quot;If nothing else works... (Vol 2)'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114407911256001358</id><published>2006-04-03T20:30:00.000+03:00</published><updated>2006-04-03T20:26:59.596+03:00</updated><title type='text'>"If nothing else works... (Vol 3)</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More faux pas's:&lt;/strong&gt; Last week i wanted to attend an opening tour that they organize every Saturday. So i called the KuMu ticket office number to get some additional information. I was stopped in half a sentence by a grumpy-voiced receptionist who bluntly said: "Wait. I'll give you another number". Ok, i called this other number. I called 4-5 times that day. There was no answer. Then i &lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;gave up. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;I will go there one day, sure i will. When i start feeling less grumpy myself. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;By the way. It's closed 2 days a week and the rest of the days it's opened only till 6 PM. Which makes it very hard for any working person to visit...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/Picture%202922.jpg"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/Picture%202922.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Oh, and listen to that:&lt;/strong&gt; they organized a huge opening ceremony. Which is certainly a normal thing to do. Many VIPs were present, including the presidents of Estonia and Finland, all together about 2000 guests. My friend was there and she said it was the weirdest event she has ever seen. A lot of speeches and bla-bla, no chairs, nowhere to sit (and many of those VIPs were really old people who almost had to pass out during the whole process). But the best part was the catering. You know what they served? &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;Unpeeled boiled potatoes&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - just cut into pieces - and &lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;sea buckthorn champagne&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;. You heard me. See, the &lt;a href="http://www.astelpaju.ee/sisu.php?id=1"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;sea buckthorn&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is cultivated in Estonia. It's supposed to be really good for your health. And no, it's NOT possible to make champagne out of it. As my friend put it, it was some kind of soggy orange liquid that nobody dared to touch. And that was all the food there was. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;I just don't know. Is that supposed &lt;em&gt;avant-garde&lt;/em&gt;, or what exactly is it supposed to be? Is there a rule somewhere that everything about art has to be weird, pointless and not understandable to us common people?&lt;p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Anyway, &lt;span style="color:#333399;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.visitestonia.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;welcome to Estonia!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;This is our official slogan. It cost about 1 million USD to develop the slogan with the logo. See, we're pretty good in throwing away money (sometimes). And If you ever happen to come to our part of the world, definitely visit KuMu. But be sure to e-mail me first, or you'll never find it. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See ya.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114407911256001358?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114407911256001358/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114407911256001358' title='2 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114407911256001358'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114407911256001358'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/04/if-nothing-else-works-vol-3.html' title='&quot;If nothing else works... (Vol 3)'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114246093952795087</id><published>2006-04-02T01:01:00.000+03:00</published><updated>2006-04-03T20:36:35.250+03:00</updated><title type='text'>Feeling grateful</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/Picture%2017511.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/Picture%2017511.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hello everybody, and sorry for my long absence.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Today i just need to say that... i only just realised how lucky i am. I have a couple of really great, loving, best friends who are always willing to help with everything in their power. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;There are many wonderful people, not only here but all around the world who are always unbelievably kind and thoughtful with me. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;And - I have the bravest, most adorable daughter in the whole world. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;Love you all so much :) And thanks!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;color:#999999;"&gt;(i'll be filling this blog again in no time)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114246093952795087?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114246093952795087/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114246093952795087' title='5 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114246093952795087'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114246093952795087'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/04/feeling-grateful.html' title='Feeling grateful'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114167368978632423</id><published>2006-03-17T18:43:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-03-17T20:02:53.193+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Poetry reading kind-of-mood</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Doris Kareva&lt;/span&gt;, my all-time favourite Estonian poet. &lt;/strong&gt;Maybe i'll try to translate some of her creation some day.&lt;br /&gt;Until then, something is available in&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.einst.ee/literary/autumn99/09_kareva.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;English&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;and &lt;a href="http://www.litterature-estonienne.com/Karevapoemes.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;French&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;Üksinda&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Kõik on liiga laokil Ja ei mahu&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;ära kuidagi see valu sinu sees&lt;br /&gt;Mööda tube käid ja otsid rahu&lt;br /&gt;Tõelist rahu leiad üksnes eneses&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kõik on liiga laokil Kogu maja&lt;br /&gt;Pole jõudu otsast alata&lt;br /&gt;Vist on veidi liiga palju vaja&lt;br /&gt;Seks et iseennast salata&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;* &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/msni22.11.jpg"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/msni22.8.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Into that awesome abyss &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;your word falls like stone&lt;br /&gt;from the sensitive, succulent heart&lt;br /&gt;of the fruit of life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Circles fade on the surface.&lt;br /&gt;And out of the depth of truth&lt;br /&gt;a tree will rise - full of fruit&lt;br /&gt;that tastes like a riddle - or love.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Et les cloches sonnaient ; un mois de juillet&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;divin touchait à sa fin. Ta bouche&lt;br /&gt;bougeait, parcourait mon corps&lt;br /&gt;comme un agneau égaré,&lt;br /&gt;tantôt broutant l’herbe brûlée,&lt;br /&gt;tantôt bêlant : reste avec moi !&lt;br /&gt;puis s’arrêtant, pressentant un danger.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Je le crains, nous ne nous verrons plus.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Je le crois : nous ne nous croiserons plus.&lt;br /&gt;Nuit sous les voûtes envoûtées.&lt;br /&gt;Les ponts ont été incendiés.&lt;br /&gt;Je le crois, je le crains : ces lèvres&lt;br /&gt;tendres et vivantes comme des plaies&lt;br /&gt;me toucheront encore dans la mémoire,&lt;br /&gt;à jamais me poursuivront.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Et les cloches. Qui sonnent et sonnent&lt;/span&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114167368978632423?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114167368978632423/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114167368978632423' title='1 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114167368978632423'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114167368978632423'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/03/poetry-reading-kind-of-mood.html' title='Poetry reading kind-of-mood'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114246230153578803</id><published>2006-03-15T23:55:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-03-16T00:43:52.733+02:00</updated><title type='text'>In Memoriam Lennart Meri</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.riik.ee/lennartmeri/?lang=en"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Lennart Meri&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, President of the Republic of Estonia 1992-2001&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;He was universally welcome as a stirring speaker, conversation partner and decision-maker. He seemed to be "bigger" than his tiny country: in world politics dominated by great powers he had taken on the task to speak for the pivotal role of smaller nations in shaping the international environment. Lennart Meri's presidency made Estonia as it was upon the arrival of the 21st century, and moulded it into what it is now, AD 2006. He devoted even his post-presidency years to working for the benefit of the state. It was all part of his "Life lived for Estonia".&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/header.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/header.jpg" border="0" /&gt; &lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;He passed away on Tuesday, March 14. They say that irreplaceable people do not exist, but i think he was one. There is a gap left that no one will ever be able to fill. LM was sort of the common sense and the conscience of the nation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;We will always remember you...&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114246230153578803?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114246230153578803/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114246230153578803' title='1 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114246230153578803'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114246230153578803'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/03/in-memoriam-lennart-meri.html' title='In Memoriam Lennart Meri'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114121529323751472</id><published>2006-03-07T16:23:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-03-07T16:29:44.796+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Sinilill, Leverbloempje, Liverleaf, Blåveis...</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;...Hepatica nobilis, Anémone hépatique, Leberblümchen, Blåsippa, Blå Anemone&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've put up a picture of my favourite flowers here, although it's still only a wishful thinking. They bloom in time of my birthday, the end of april. Memories of the childhood... as well as the main reason why i love my birthdays so much, in case you were wondering :)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/eesti4.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;Every year, the day before my birthday my dad would go and pick those little wild flowers in the forest. In the morning of my birthday my parents would sneak into my room bringing the presents. I always pretended to sleep, but actually it was so exciting that i had to hold my breath. They left quietly and i could open my eyes. Well, yes - the presents were the best part of a birthday back in those days. But i can't remember any gifts from that time. I do remember a big glass bowl full of the flowers, the scent of which filled the air in a matter of seconds. This memory is something that is there with me on my every birthday ever since.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;We lived in the city and my dad had to take a train to go to the forest outside Tallinn. Makes it all the more special. When i grew older, i would join him. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.em.ca/garden/per_hepatica_noblis.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Sinilill&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; is usually one of the first wildflowers to show up in the spring, so there was still snow under the trees. I had to wear rubber boots not to get soaking wet. But birds were already singing, the smell of spring was in the air. Sun was still low in the sky, but it was enough to warm up a big stone where we sat down and ate our cheese sandwiches when we needed a little break. And the trees were not green yet, so sun was shining really brightly through the buds in the branches. After 6 months of winter, actual sunshine can seem like a miracle.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;By the way, if you know the name in some other language, you're welcome to post it. Because i want to know if it can sound better than &lt;span style="color:#333399;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'sinilill' &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;in any other language :)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'sinilill' means simply 'blue flower' in Estonian&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114121529323751472?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114121529323751472/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114121529323751472' title='7 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114121529323751472'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114121529323751472'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/03/sinilill-leverbloempje-liverleaf.html' title='Sinilill, Leverbloempje, Liverleaf, Blåveis...'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114102153437959176</id><published>2006-03-05T23:22:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-03-05T23:36:46.746+02:00</updated><title type='text'>I went on a course. Learning to love yourself. I came top*</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/DSC009552.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 258px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 360px" height="342" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/DSC009552.jpg" width="235" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I took Marion to see the pond last Saturday.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;It was almost as magical&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;as on the evening that i saw the whole thing for the first time. Marion was thrilled. We spent hours there, sliding on the ice, falling down occasionally, laughing like crazy. The waltz was playing again and i tried to teach Marion to dance, but i guess it might have looked more like a little and a big bear wrestling... Of course we had to feed the flock of lethargic-looking ducks - and i didn't even think about the bird flu threat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Funny, a couple of tourists took photos of us having fun. I can imagine them back home, explaining to everyone &lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;how this was the natives' traditional winter activity, haha! Tourists, really...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;When we got tired - or should i say, when i got tired - we climbed up to the Dome Hill and watched the sunset from the viewing platform. It was crispy cold, but rooftops were golden from the setting sun, air was pure and clear and the clouds were painted in rainbow colors... We saw some ships sailing out to the sea and the whole view was absolutely picturesque. The cosy little cafe in a medieval building where we stopped to drink a cup of hot chocolate before walking back home was every bit as fairytale-like. I felt very happy. Sometimes it takes so little :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;*&lt;/strong&gt; you may hear my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Coupling&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt; quotes a lot in the future. It's the most brilliant (ok ok, one of the most brilliant) British TV comedies ever made. Trust me on this, will you?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="right"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Picture was taken in January in Pärnu beach - the frozen bay&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/Picture%20259111.jpg"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114102153437959176?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114102153437959176/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114102153437959176' title='5 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114102153437959176'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114102153437959176'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/03/i-went-on-course-learning-to-love.html' title='I went on a course. Learning to love yourself. I came top*'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114119650205508118</id><published>2006-03-04T23:54:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-03-10T14:15:06.723+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Selling pilgrimages over breakfast</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The other day i went to a presentation of a new management training programme&lt;/strong&gt; that's carried out by our competitors. I must say, it's really an interesting business to be in, especially when you get to see things like this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;First of all, the presentation took place in this cool and hip place called Cafe Moskva. There are only brunettes on the ground floor and upstairs only blondes - i'm talking about the waitresses in this place - but naturally they all look gorgeous in their belt-like shirts and high heels (you guessed right, it's my pure envy talking now). So the second floor lounge was full of VIPs, sitting comfortably on the sofas, enjoying excellent coffee and luxurious breakfast. Lights were dimmed and flamenco was playing on the background.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/hourglass.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/hourglass.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/hourglass.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/hourglass.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;Then they started. The essence of the programme was a &lt;span style="color:#993300;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;pilgrimage&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt; to &lt;strong&gt;Santiago de Compostela&lt;/strong&gt;, combined with some kind of management training which was left unspecified until the end. Maybe it wasn't that important or maybe they we trying to conceal it from those nasty sneaky competitors who are lurking everywhere :) &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;Anyway, the trainer introduced the programme and spoke very passionately about her own suffering and lessons in the pilgrimage. A good story-teller, really. But then at one point she suddenly stopped and looked us with an expression on her face that said: "Now you're in for a real treat!" and continued: "I just have to quote someone who has been my spiritual guide on this road - Paolo Coelho!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/hourglass.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;I felt nauseous. Here we go again! I'm so sick of people saying "What would Paolo do?" and stuff like that. True, i have only read one of his masterpieces but i think it's more than enough. In my not-so-humble opinion, this is the result of all those reality shows and talkshows that make people numb, so ignorant that they need the meaning of life to be chewed through and fed right into their throats. Disgusting, you say? Yes, it is! But in a way it's still good. Authors like Dan Brown and Paolo Coelho (with a little help from Barbara Cartland &amp; Co) are probably the only obstacle in some people's relapse into illiteracy. So all good.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;Back to the pilgrimage. She continued talking but i didn't really listen anymore. Instead i was people-watching because i needed some feedback. Some looked really sarcastic to my relief. Some were discussing their possible participation in the pilgrimage and how "deep and meaningful" it would be. I think some were actually taking a little nap, and can you really blame those poor exhausted executives for dozing off, or maybe they were meditating. I was looking at the crowd and thinking to myself that it's a hell of a business idea, charging them around 1000 euros for the privilege to starve and walk dozens of kilometres per day in a pouring rain or burning sun. I'm not denying that it's a good way to test your mental strength and survival skills that managers undoubtedly need, but does it have to be done like this? It felt weird to realize that times are changing and we're now in a business of selling pilgrimages over breakfast. Sounds almost like selling modern day indulgences, wouldn't you agree?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/Picture%2043.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 83px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 127px" height="165" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/Picture%2043.jpg" width="104" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Still. There were some ideas that stood out for me. When she described her first real experience of praying (whatever it means), i thought to myself - &lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;most people&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt; never pray. They beg&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;. There is a big difference. I'm not religious but i think i know what the difference is. Secondly, and this may have been one of Coelho's ideas but it doesn't matter: &lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;You get everything that you give up&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;But the thing is, once you have given it up, you don't want or need it anymore. So what's the point of getting it later...?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;color:#666666;"&gt;NB This picture is here especially for Tûba ;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114119650205508118?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114119650205508118/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114119650205508118' title='1 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114119650205508118'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114119650205508118'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/03/selling-pilgrimages-over-breakfast_04.html' title='Selling pilgrimages over breakfast'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114106113521589523</id><published>2006-02-27T19:18:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-02-28T16:43:41.916+02:00</updated><title type='text'>S.A.D.</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;S.A.D. means 'seasonal affective disorder', a type of winter depression that affects half a million people every winter between September and April. &lt;/strong&gt;Hey, at least they can explain all these problems now, listen how the &lt;a href="http://www.sada.org.uk/"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;SAD Association&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is describing it: &lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#663366;"&gt;lethargy, overeating, apathy, loss of feelings, anxiety, mood changes, vulnerability to infections and viruses...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Yay!&lt;/span&gt; I feel half cured already :) My fellow countrymen should be able to relate to the description above. Listen on: &lt;span style="color:#663366;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;"SAD symptoms disappear in Spring... (and) are extremely rare in those living within 30 degrees of the Equator"&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/Picture%201811.jpg"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/Picture%201811.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;By the way, i need to clarify one common misunderstanding about me.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Most people seem to think that i truly a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;m this happy-go-lucky&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt; person who is always around to make others laugh. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;A friend wrote me some time ago: &lt;em&gt;"I'm usually happy. The funny thing is, I'm sometimes happy even when I'm sad. My sadness usually has nothing bitter about it- it's just there, and it's ok."&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Me, i'm the opposite. Even when i'm happy, there is always some sadness so deep inside that you never get to the source of it. My friends - they get confused when Dr Jekyll turns into Mr Hyde and they start telling me to stop the nonsense and return to my playful self :)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ok my dears, let's face it. Look at the design of my blog. Look at the images i use, even the poems i chose, for god's sake :) Doesn't it scream "melancholy" all over? Truth is, it's always going to be a rollercoaster with me. One day on top of the world, the next looking into the abyss. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The reason why i'm talking about it?&lt;/strong&gt; I actually want to thank someone. L&lt;/span&gt;ast week i did something that was hard but needed to be done. I had postponed the decision long enough, but it was inevitable to face it. So i did it and shared my news with friends who were all really nice and supportive, much like the way they always are. But it didn't make me feel any better. Finally there was one who, after hearing my story asked right away: &lt;em&gt;Why? And are you ok now?&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I wasn't ok. But later i was again. Thank you - you know who you are - for giving me the opportunity to explain. It meant a lot to me :) Talk to you later, got to go pack my swimsuit now.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114106113521589523?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114106113521589523/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114106113521589523' title='4 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114106113521589523'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114106113521589523'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/02/sad.html' title='S.A.D.'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114081959746089027</id><published>2006-02-24T23:26:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-03-05T21:43:41.250+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Wonderful discoveries</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To be honest, when i started this blog&lt;/strong&gt; thanks to my wonderful friend Bettina, i first suspected i would be rambling about things only to my own eyes and nobody else would pay any attention to it. Apparently i was mistaken and i am truly thankful to &lt;a href="http://aggiesplace.blogspot.com/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Aggie&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; who first found me :) Her sharp and irresistibly funny blog is definitely worth coming back to again and again.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Now i have managed to infect &lt;a href="http://stoneflowersearch.blogspot.com/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Rita&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; too, feeling really humble about my own blog at the moment... read for yourselves and found out why. The picture below is to added to celebrate her joining us fellow bloggers :)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;More to come, so stay tuned - hopefully &lt;span style="color:#000066;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bettinasbravenewworld.blogspot.com"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Bettina&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/span&gt;will give me permission to link her blog here, as well as &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://knowlav.blogspot.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Lav&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; whose writing skills are something i cannot compete with, and some more friends who have promised to take up blogging... (yes, &lt;strong&gt;you&lt;/strong&gt;!). I'm waiting in anticipation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:78%;color:#333333;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Little addition here, they did :) Look for their blogs under the links in the sidebar and happy reading.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/jaanuar2006%20133.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/jaanuar2006%20133.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Taken through the airport window as i was leaving the place i always, always miss when i'm away...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114081959746089027?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114081959746089027/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114081959746089027' title='3 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114081959746089027'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114081959746089027'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/02/wonderful-discoveries.html' title='Wonderful discoveries'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114051099211310450</id><published>2006-02-21T10:26:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-02-24T22:59:18.763+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Home sweet home</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/Picture%20901.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/200/Picture%20901.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When something goes up, it must come down.&lt;/strong&gt; Perhaps a simple pendulum effect that has to bring you down from the heights sooner or later (usually sooner)? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Last night i was completely under the spell of a magical waltz. This morning on my way to the office, still carrying a smile on my face, i saw a police car standing on the sidewalk in front of this old decayed building. As i tried to squeeze myself through the wall and the car, i overheard one officer calling the forensics: &lt;em&gt;will you please come to this address, here's a female corpse that has been identified...&lt;/em&gt; Bloody hell! My heart jumped. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;At the moments like this people prove to be truly selfish, don't we? I was deeply disturbed, but not because of the poor woman lying there who probably had a family and things to do in life, i was worried about myself and trying to fight this creepy feeling that i will have from now on whenever i have to pass by that house again. I don't even know whether she died of an illness, alcohol/drug overdose (very likely) or was killed (also likely in this neighbourhood), but whatever happened, it's a miserable way to go. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114051099211310450?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114051099211310450/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114051099211310450' title='2 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114051099211310450'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114051099211310450'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/02/home-sweet-home.html' title='Home sweet home'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114047828245962159</id><published>2006-02-20T21:05:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-02-25T00:41:18.530+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Under a spell</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/1600/_twinkle.0.gif"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/_twinkle.0.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I was heading home from work today.&lt;/strong&gt; So tired, so hungry,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;aiming only at getting there as quickly as possible. As i&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;was&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;getting&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;closer to the central train station that i have to&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt; pass by, i heard music. Most surprising in a place like this. Not street musicians - you can't find them here in &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;the middle of the winter anyway. No. And there were lights...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Everything was different and i had to stop and look for the source of it all. T&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;here is this old pond surrounding the walls of the Old Town, an abandoned and gloomy place at night, but today everything was different. A Strauss waltz playing, lamps covering the trees surrounding the pond.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;There were people skating. For a while i just stood there, absolutely enchanted by what was going on in front of my eyes. It was a fairytale and yet so real. Human mind is a funny thing, all my worries seemed so far away and i felt like going back in time, to some different era, to an entirely different atmosphere. I knew where i was, i was inside the story of Silver Skates that i read when i was maybe seven years old. The pond was not a pond at all, it had turned into a canal now and i had gone to Holland, 150 years back in time.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;I smiled and people who passed by looked at me with a question reflecting from their faces. Can't one be happy just because there is music, lights and a little miracle on the way home? You have no idea, i thought looking at them, but all this is here only because i needed this. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find it all vanished tomorrow, but it doesn't matter. What matters is now.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;After a while i felt recharged again. I closed my eyes for the last time, quietly hummed along with &lt;em&gt;On the Beautiful Blue Danube&lt;/em&gt; while it played. Then i turned away and came home, smiling.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And spring doesn't seem that far away anymore :)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114047828245962159?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114047828245962159/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114047828245962159' title='10 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114047828245962159'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114047828245962159'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/02/under-spell.html' title='Under a spell'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>10</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114039816143302541</id><published>2006-02-19T02:56:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-02-21T11:14:19.276+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Typical female masochism as a friend would say</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;REQUIEM, 7.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;Anna Akhmatova, 1939&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;И упало каменное слово &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;На мою еще живую грудь. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Ничего, ведь я была готова, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Справлюсь с этим как-нибудь.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;У меня сегодня много дела: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Надо память до конца убить, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Надо, чтоб душа окаменела, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;Надо снова научиться жить.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ÜLE KURISTIKU&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Doris Kareva &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Ma ütlen: armastus. See pole vale.&lt;br /&gt;Kui tahad kuulda, tule lähemale.&lt;br /&gt;Kui tahad tunda, tule päris ligi.&lt;br /&gt;Kuid rohkem ma ei ütle ometigi.&lt;br /&gt;Ma ütlen: armastus. Ja kõik on öeldud, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Mis? Ma ei kuule hästi, mis sa küsid.&lt;br /&gt;Jah, kõik võib olla. Jah. Võib-olla möödub.&lt;br /&gt;Kuid imelik, et ta nii kaua püsib.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AUGURIES OF INNOCENCE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;William Blake&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;/--/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;Every night and every morn&lt;br /&gt;Some to misery are born,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Every morn and every night&lt;br /&gt;Some are born to sweet delight.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some are born to sweet delight,&lt;br /&gt;Some are born to endless night. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114039816143302541?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114039816143302541/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114039816143302541' title='0 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114039816143302541'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114039816143302541'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/02/typical-female-masochism-as-friend.html' title='Typical female masochism as a friend would say'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114001454405436367</id><published>2006-02-15T13:47:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-02-23T10:07:48.613+02:00</updated><title type='text'>If you are not thoroughly confused, you have not been thoroughly informed</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yesterday's lesson No 1&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;When you have absolutely nothing to do on Valentine's Day (besides work, but that would be so pathetic), go see a fortune teller. I'll be doing it every year from now on, beats most awkward and uncomfortable dates, that's for sure.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yesterday's lesson No 2&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;No matter how hard you try to catch a fortune teller from talking nonsense, it won't happen. The more you try, the more they make sense.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yesterday's lesson No 3&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;In a way, i already knew everything that she told me. But how could she have known? Is my life really that predictable? And does that mean now that i really have to face the things that have been on my mind for a long time?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;I didn't think i was going to have my whole life figured out after seeing the fortune teller, but neither could i imagine i'd be more confused than ever.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;I must be thoroughly informed now.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114001454405436367?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114001454405436367/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114001454405436367' title='0 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114001454405436367'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114001454405436367'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/02/if-you-are-not-thoroughly-confused-you.html' title='If you are not thoroughly confused, you have not been thoroughly informed'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-114000063262320327</id><published>2006-02-15T12:49:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-02-25T12:20:36.870+02:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/640/jaanuar2006%201401.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4664/2277/320/jaanuar2006%201401.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt; My very own wonderland&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href="http://picasa.google.com/" target="ext"&gt;&lt;img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; moz-background-clip: initial; moz-background-origin: initial; moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-114000063262320327?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/114000063262320327/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=114000063262320327' title='0 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114000063262320327'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/114000063262320327'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/02/my-very-own-wonderland.html' title=''/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22399813.post-113985231551959713</id><published>2006-02-13T19:31:00.000+02:00</published><updated>2006-02-21T11:46:34.163+02:00</updated><title type='text'>Down, down, down.</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;color:#333333;"&gt;Would the fall never come to an end? "I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?" she said aloud. "I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think-" (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the school-room, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) "-- yes that's about the right distance -- but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22399813-113985231551959713?l=karinwonderland.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/feeds/113985231551959713/comments/default' title='Reacties plaatsen'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22399813&amp;postID=113985231551959713' title='0 reacties'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/113985231551959713'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/22399813/posts/default/113985231551959713'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://karinwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/02/down-down-down.html' title='Down, down, down.'/><author><name>Karin</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/00345323743327922276</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16614659216681066530'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry></feed>