Thursday, June 17, 2010

A Sign from Above

Yesterday was the kind of day (with regard to weather) that makes you feel lucky to be alive. It was that perfect temperature, warm in the sun with a stiff cool breeze, and not a cloud to be seen. I decided to go for a walk in the royal park, bring a book, get some ice cream, make an outing out of it.

After a nice walk, I got an ice cream cone and sat down at the perfect empty table, partially in the sun, partially in the shade. I was concentrating on not letting the dripping ice cream get all over me and thinking to myself: "Today, I really like Brussels." No sooner had I finished that thought in my head... *SPLAT* A bird shit (or shat?) on my table, the splatter narrowly missing my purse. And I mean a big shit. That thing rocked the table!

I laughed, a little stunned, wondering if I should move (but where to? All of the other tables were taken) or if I should worry about getting a special delivery on my head or even in my purse. Is bird poop like lightening? Will it strike the same place twice?

I tried to maintain my calm, ice cream-in-the-park attitude, but all I could think about was what would I do if a bird pooped on my head, like, would I laugh or cry? Would I take the metro home or walk? And so, the mood was effectively ruined and I decided to head home.

So what do you think, was it a sign?

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Monday, June 14, 2010

Camera Troubles...

So I have had bad luck with cameras lately! I bought my camera (a nice little Canon Powershot SD870 IS) 2 years ago, and up until recently it has served me very well. Now, not so much.

First, the screen started to give out, strips of pixels just died. Then more patches were gone! Because the camera doesn't have an optical viewfinder, this is very annoying. But ok, I was willing to deal with it, since the spots didn't show up on my pictures. Fine.

Well, I decided to break out the camera yesterday to try to capture a pic of Cleo and Sophie getting their play on. I was taking pictures and video, no problem... until I decided to look at them. In every picture there was a fuzzy black line from the top of the screen to the bottom, and it was darker when I had the camera zoomed in. Ok, I thought, maybe it's just the camera and it won't show up on the pictures! WRONG. Examples:
It's just my luck, too, that the flower carpet is this year! It only happens every other year, and here is a picture someone else took of it:So while normally I would be content enough to wait a few months and save for a camera, all I can think of now is NEED CAMERA NOW. It doesn't help that after playing around with Dad's camera for a while, I am seriously coveting a Canon Powershot G11.

Time to get schem- er, saving...

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Observation

The weather has been really lovely here the last few days, and it has put me in a great mood! I was walking around in the sunshine 2 days ago, going to check out DOD (why have I not gone there before?) and I was paying no attention to the sidewalk. Then it occurred to me: It is risky to walk along and pay no attention to the sidewalk in Brussels. One of two things will imminently happen. 1) You trip on the cobblestones, or 2) step in dog poo.

Ah, the sad truths of living in Brussels. Good thing there's plenty of chocolate!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Shooting and Palais de Justice

Well, apparently Brussels is going to shit.

Miguel has been following the news a lot more closely in his new job, and just called to tell me that two people were JUST shot dead at the Palais de Justice; one judge and one court employee. At around 11am. On a Thursday. A beautiful sunny Thursday. WHAT THE HELL? Here's the info.

Last Friday night there was also a stabbing in Place Flagey. No one was killed, but three injured.

Finally, I only recently found out about an attack at the Porte de Namur metro, MY metro stop, on New Years Eve 2009/10. One man was attacked and thrown from a good height onto the tracks. Though he survived, this attack probably scares me most of all.