BEST OF ICE CREAM 2015

It’s Springalmostsummer, the hybrid season I love most of all. You start being more brave when it comes to your clothing. Maybe only a light scarf today… and those canvas shoes. Birds singing their mating songs. Flowers and trees spreading their mesmerizing odour.

But most important of all: Ice cream parlours open up EVERYWHERE. And living in Berlin where everyone wants to be unique means that also the ice cream wants to be unique. You cannot get the same flavour at the ice cream shack next door.

I have conducted thorough and intense research on the ice cream offer available at numerous ice cream parlours. It’s a research in progress though and I might find additional flights that are worth to be added to the list. But for now, these are my favorites:

10 Semolina-Strawberry-Rhubarb

What’s so good about it: the texture of the semolina in combination with the somewhat liquid and fruity strawberry and rhubarb sauce

09 Arabian Nights (Sesame, Honey and some secret ingredient)

What’s so good about it: the taste actually reminds you of Arabian nights although you have never been there

08 Grandma’s Applepie

What’s so good about it: the combination of apple and cinnamon is an old classic. Add dough – perfect!

07 Yoghurt-Gooseberry

What’s so good about it: I love all yoghurt-fruit combinations but this one is somewhat extraordinary

06 Raspberry-Basil

What’s so good about it: herbs and fruits go extremely well together

05 Peanuts and Chocolate

What’s so good about it: peanuts and chocolate are a dream team. I prefer this ice cream on chilly summer days

04 Buttermilk-Passion Fruit

What’s so good about it: soft buttermilk and sour passion fruit make you happy 🙂

03 Kinder Chocolate

What’s so good about it: Kinder Chocolate says it all

02 Pistachio

What’s so good about it: I know, it’s not that special as you can get this one at most ice cream parlours but it’s my all time favorite. Simple as that

01 Strawberry-Mint

What’s so good about it: it’s fruity and refreshing and it’s impossible to get enough of it!

Is a life worth a minute of time?

Urban Suicide

My favourite mean of transportation is probably the bicycle. I can get some fresh air while I feel sportive and I am faster than by foot and sometimes even faster than by car (during rush hour in the city).

A lot of people evidently feel the same as I see more and more cyclists on my way to work every morning. I can tell from their speed that most of these people don’t seem to be in a hurry. However, for some reason the majority keeps on ignoring red traffic lights.

For what reason?

I have absolutely no clue what crosses people’s minds when they decide that they wouldn’t need to adhere to traffic rules. Do they feel invulnerable? That they have certain rights which pedestrians and car drivers don’t have? What makes them feel so special?

I also find this to be extremely annoying as I have a rather high pace. I often overtake other cyclists just to see them slowly passing by at the next red light.

Even if they stop at a red light because the cars at the intersection have already started their engines – they can’t wait until the light turns green again: they roll a little forward to wait for exactly that moment when the cars seem far away enough to cross.

What if?

But what if something has been blocking their view? If there is a car that accelerates to still pass the green light?

Wouldn’t it have been worth the wait?

The amount of injured cyclists in Germany has increased by 37% since 1979.
Is that necessary?

3 reasons NOT to go to the flea market

I enjoy going to the flea market. And there are plenty of those in Berlin. On a sunny sunday I often look out of the window thinking “Oh what a splendid day for a stroll on the flea market”.

So I take my bike and head down the road for the closest flea market. Although much of the stuff sold on these flea markets actually has fleas there is also a whole bunch of selfmade goods, food and art. So this is the reason why I LIKE going to flea markets but as I was strolling along I wasn’t able to NOT notice all these little things that have the potential to ruin my harmonious stroll.

1) Twin buggies

It is usually extremely full in such venues. Especially on a sunny day. It’s already getting more difficult if you ever decide to walk into the opposite direction. So I go with the flow. Sometimes I get a little annoyed if somebody tries to make its way through the small alley with a buggy. What are those baby rugs to put around your body for?! But I could not believe my eyes when I saw a twin buggy swimming against the stream. Seriously?

2) Don’t get what you need but buy what you don’t

I often have small things in mind when going to the market. A framed picture, gloves, a tshirt… I almost never really find what I am looking for but I most definitely buy a bunch of other stuff. Things I probably don’t need. But if I see something that catches my interest on a flea market I instantly ask myself “Will this stall be here next week? Will I be here next week? Will somebody have bought it before I have decided to?” So in order to avoid thinking about those questions I just buy it.

3) Overeating

Now, most flea markets capitalize on the influx of people by having installed several food stalls, one looking more delicious than the other. But because of the massive amount of people you can’t be sure whether the food stall you are just passing already offers the best food you can get. Maybe. Maybe not. But if you don’t stop there, who knows if you’ll ever make your way back. I will go for the first mouthwatering one I see. Only to notice that there is one even better just a couple of stalls further. So I take some more. Cause well, this flea market takes place only once a week.

For all these reasons…

I should try stopping myself from returning every other week.
Instead I brush aside sanity and do whatever I feel like.

The truth is; Life is Tough.

A lot  Most of my music is about dying, sadness, loss, futility, questioning and chaos. That says a lot about me, and some might wonder if I’m constantly in a state of despair and downright hopelessness. Every day is a struggle on how to navigate life. Navigate it in a way that ideally promotes love, not hate.

The simple answer would be ‘no’, I’m not constantly feeling overtly hopeless.That said, I do believe we have lost our ability to think about the high level stuff in life by being obsessively busy. We are adding a lot of things to life, but often not willing to wrestle with hard thoughts.

In any given day, I’ll ask myself about the state of some affair as it relates to people. Call it a minor obsession with the human condition.

Its not smart to be milling around in a state of quandary without, sometimes, reaching consensus on some or other topic. I’ve made peace with some tough life questions, but I still actively think that ‘thinking’ is important. Thinking about you, stuff and the world is important. How did anything change (even if in your own small version of the world) without some thought striking someone.

How much time I spend in that space is debatable. I’m probably invested in some random thought about 40 – 60 percent of my day.  It will take me 3 – 4 weeks to get to the bottom of it, and when I do I still question it.

Its sort of micro vs macro brain processing, where micro is all the small to-dos and current items in your own life. The macro is something bigger and more unifying. Its the questions and struggles all of us face, and the idea that if we all spent a bit more time trying to get to the bottom of them we could experience more than we knew possible.

We could make real change. Or we could at least understand more.

The micro stuff, from what I can see, keeps us too busy and prevents us from walking right into a wall of toughness. Who wants to self-analyse and assess the world that much? I think I do. I think I have chosen a life where I will choose to struggle and wrestle with life itself.

I do, because I think its the only way we can get better, change and accept. I do because peoples heads in the dark part of humanity sometimes provides a clue about how we operate.

Seriously, who wouldn’t want to try and figure out as much as they could about the people around us, and the people within us? Who wouldn’t want to challenge what we think we know, by fighting with some seriously hard material.

Peck, explains it well. Its not simple and I’d like to die knowing that I tackled life knowing it was complex, and appreciating that I didnt take the easy way. Ever.

“Abandon the urge to simplify everything, to look for formulas and easy answers, and to begin to think multi-dimensionally, to glory in the mystery and paradoxes of life, not to be dismayed by the multitude of causes and consequences that are inherent in each experience — to appreciate the fact that life is complex.”
― M. Scott Peck

The art of not getting angry

Yesterday I went to see a musical I was looking forward to for an entire year. After having dinner with my boyfriend we headed towards the theater. We were quite late already so that the lobby and the cloak room were nearly completely empty. I was busy getting out of my bulky winter coat and stepped towards the outer edge of the cloak room desk to put down gloves, hat, etc. in order not to  get tangled up. The lady behind the desk asked for the next person to hand over their coat. I wasn’t at all intending to hand over mine as I still had one arm and half a shoulder somewhere inside it. But there was an older man standing beside me looking at me full of expectation. So I said: “You may go ahead.”. I’d say that I’m generally a well-behaved person but the man didn’t think so. He blurted: “Well, I was first in line anyway!”. He obviously didn’t notice that there was no line and that I was merely undressing. And I was so baffled, I wasn’t able to say a word. Apparently I left such an impression though that I heard him muttering to his wife as they left about the impertinence that just happened to him.

Same place, same day, 10 minutes later

We took our seats on the very left side of the theater. We noticed that they were 7 or 8 empty seats right next to us promising a better view. So when the show was about to start we softly slid a few seats further carefully paying attention that nobody would sit directly behind us.

Apparently we weren’t careful enough.

A second after we sat down a woman from somewhere diagonally behind us poked my boyfriend. She must have stretched her arm tremendously as she wasn’t even sitting close to us. He turned around to hear her viperous whisper: “Your seats are on the side, you can’t just take these seats and block my entire view! I will call the staff!” Obediently, we moved.

How to react?

In my mind I was getting more and more angry the longer I thought about it. All the things I could have said!
Can’t you ask politely?
Maybe you should have rented the entire theater!
Try to get the stick out of your butt! (German saying)
The staff will probably call the police who will then handcuff us. HAHA
I said none of the above but I would have loved to cause a scene (in my mind I did) but perhaps it’s for the best to do some things in your mind only. I probably wouldn’t have been happier by throwing all my anger at that woman. Instead I believe in bad karma.

Things I worried about yesterday

Ok, so I shouldn’t be trusting my brain and emotions at this point.  I have not slept enough, or drank water and I have consumed enough coffee to power South Africa during a blackout – but my brain was so so worried about things. Weird things.

Here are the random collection of concerns that ran across my mind. Do other people ever worry about this stuff. I’m starting to think that I want a brain transfusion.

1. Are women too gentle and non-assertive in meetings, and does this sense of compassion hinder or help overall business objectives.
2. Why are people in power inconsistent in what they say they believe and what they do. Am I that inconsistent, and how often do I do this?
3. Does it matter if you down all your water in a day or should you drink evenly throughout the day. If its equal amounts, surely it doesn’t matter.
4. How do you explain to someone they don’t understand the concept entirely without hurting their ego or diminishing their buy-in.
5.  Do you get less intelligent around people who are (factually) less intelligent than you over time.
6. Are younger people too idealistic; or have older people allowed ideals to erode over time – making societies fiber lessen over time
7. Is the best philosophy in business and life ‘simplicity’, or is this in and of itself too simple
8. If your convictions are completely ingrained in you, even if they are wrong, will that be enough for you to succeed.
9. Why do people glorify extended hours of working, and who are the smart people who got us to buy in to that idea
10. Could I make money from finding upcoming bands
11. Does utter transparency on all matters in social relationships better trust and depth of that relationship(s)
12. What % of the global population over-inflate their sense of self and what % of the global population under-estimate their sense of self
13. When should trust your gut feeling and when should you critically think
14. Is working with friends and family as bad as it is made to sound
15. Can you re-wire your body to cope on less sleep over time, or is a persons genetic make up wired to need a certain amount
16. Is Tinder, a smart way to date
17. When you date someone – should you not be wholly complete and not try and find completeness in someone else
18. Why are we scared of people so much
19. Are anti-materialists just finding social status and admiration in another way

Just to clear one thing up. I didn’t actively resolve any one of these questions. I just pushed them to the back of my mind.

It can be fun being clueless

The other day I came home after work – very tired. I hadn’t made up my mind what to eat this evening and my stomach was about to make a salto mortale. It was raining cats and dogs which didn’t spur my motivation to head to the supermarket (although it’s really just a 2 minute walk – darn laziness!).
So I asked my fridge what it had to offer. The answer seemed quite disillusioning at first: Ketchup, half a bottle of wine, 2 eggs, half a glass of pickles, some cream cheese, cold cuts. What a feast. I didn’t really have a choice, did I? So I cut everything worth cutting and mixed it with the remainder of the ingredients. Except for the white wine – that would have been disgusting. I downed it while cooking. In any case the result turned out to be surprisingly good and I was quite proud of myself for being a leftover magician.

3 other no-clue activities

There are other things though that I enjoy not knowing beforehand.

1) Going to the movies
Yes, you can go to Sneak Previews. It can be fun. It can also be horrible. I personally have had a devastating experience in a sneak preview. I rather go to the movie theater and choose a movie that a) sounds nice and/or b) which has an appealing movie poster. I don’t watch the trailer and I don’t read the summary before I go. That way I sort of make sure that the movie meets my taste somehow and usually it turns out better than I expect because I can’t expect much from not knowing the plot.
PS: Works well with DVDs too.

2) Improvisation theatre
I looove improvisation theatre. There is no set story, no pre-outlined characters. It’s just the actors and the audience. If you’re lucky you even get to influence the developing story. As far as I know it’s mostly comedy which is great after a whole day of being serious.

3) Ordering food in a foreign language
Okay, this can be dangerous. To your taste at least. You are on vacation in some foreign country and decide to head out for dinner. The menu is written in the country’s native language and you DON’T want to have the English menu. The waiter comes around and you just point at one of the dishes. Then you’ll wait for the surprise. You shouldn’t be a moaner though.
If you are, rather go to a restaurant with English menus and let your partner or friend choose your dish. A good way to see how well they know you too.

5 things to remember when stuff sucks

I’m just in an awfully great mood, which is most likely setting the stage for a blog post that seems happy and content and all those wonderful positive things.

It might change by this evening, but here is the really cool stuff I think of, whenever I’m sitting and staring blankly at the wall – trying to figure out how I got in a particular situation…

5 Things to Remind yourself when stuff sucks. 

Next year, you wont remember this feeling or idea. If you do, then go see someone (I’m not joking). Your mental health is important. A few days of real unhappiness is normal; we all have days where we’re the darkest shade of the saddest blue. In reality, whatever it is you’re dealing with will most likely have faded out next year this time.

If you’re really trying to hunt for good in the situation; it’ll pop up. I’ll let you in on some personal character flaws here. I never ever thought about actively trying to look for good stuff; until a few months ago. I thought it was the silliest thing EVER; to stop and think about the great (smallest) things that were good.

As many of my dearest analyst-armchair-philosopher friends tell me; “You don’t know until you try it”. So I did. I remember one day, the only thing I could write was: “I showered. I’m alive. I can buy cigarettes” – It didn’t make me feel better.

I took a better look at my list, and these days I don’t not take a few minutes to reflect on something awesome or good in my life.

[JUST START WRITING GOOD STUFF DOWN FOR A WHILE. IT CATCHES ON]

Its not as bad as it seems. Sort of like point one, where next year this time it wont exist. Some people tell me its not as bad as it seems, and it sounds way to easy to just think “ok, this isnt thaaat, bad“. I wanted to smack a few people who told me that. But….Guess what? They were 100% correct.

It took me getting out of my own brain, and getting a bit more involved in the external world before I realised that too much time on my hands really aggravated the smallest situation into a monsoon in my mind.

Tea and bed solve global issues. Please write this down, and share with loved ones.

Seriously. My mom swears by it, and I love it. When all the world is treating you poorly, and your heart is just sad and your brain is just nowhere. Go put that kettle on, go make that herbal tea you love and get a solid 12 hours sleep. Rest and rejuvenation go a long way in giving perspective.

If it doesn’t help more than 1%, know that sometimes things will suck for a while. Sometimes it just seems like nothing can change for the better. Hold out, because you’re one of the lucky ones who gets to turn around and say “I made it out of that awful time with tea, perspective and getting busy living”