COOLEST GIRL IN TOWN: ALICE GLASS

Alice Glass from Chrystal Castles embodies like Kate Moss the heroine chic style. Besides her rumoured drug habit, she has the most amazing smokey eye-make up. Always. And for that she gets 10 points from me.

MY DECEMBER SONG

Marteria is a German rapper whose sound has started to grow on me, like moss on trees. I don't like rap. I rarely find its beat infectious. But I love this song. The text means roughly translated: "I am so radiated by you". Nice!

MISTER COOL OF POLITICS

Meet the coolest politician in Germany: he's 93, mentally sharp and hilarious. His name is Helmut Schmidt. He is as famous for smoking cigarettes anywhere and everywhere - even on live television - as for his wise words.

"Das Schneckentempo ist das normale Tempo jeder Demokratie." (Snails-pace is the normal speed of every democracy.)

"Wollen wir denn auch noch Weltmeister im Jammern werden?" (Do we [Germany] want to become the world champions in complaining?)
 
"Politiker und Journalisten teilen sich das Schicksal, dass sie heute über Dinge reden oder schreiben müssen, die sie erst morgen ganz verstehen." (Politicians and Journalists share the same fate: they write about things they will only understand tomorrow.)

Chain-smoking his entire life, he is nowadays the only man allowed to smoke on public television. His retort: "Willen braucht man. Und Zigaretten." (You need will. And cigarettes.)

DANCE, DANCE, DANCE

Haruki Murakami is my all time favourite author. While the sunlight filters through the silver blinds of my windows, Murakami's words are even more enticing than a rare blue sky in Hamburg. I devour his book and enter another world. 

I like to read his books again and again: on the subway, squashed between commuters, in my lunchbreak or at home on my bed. I devour his words like chocolate cookies. 

The last two novels I bought are "Sleep" (a short story with beautiful silver and blue illustrations) and "Dance Dance Dance" - whose central theme is dreams. Sometimes when I look up from the book I am reading, the world does seem a little softer and little fuzzier at the edges. 

But then the subway doors slam together and I am reminded that dreams and reality cannot exist at the same time - as they do in Murakami's books.

RIOTS IN LONDON

I recently read this essay by Sam Jacob which is awesome: “Everywhere is a target, everywhere is symbolic”.
I would like to now quote John Lydon "anger is an energy" and just end this post.

LET'S MOVE

I have just moved into a new apartment and am surrounded by boxes, containers and things that have to do with storage. Here are some creations that aren't only functional but also beautiful - and make my life more organised.

OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING!

"...People don't respect the morning. An alarm clock violently wakes them up, shatters their sleep like the blow of an ax, and they immediately surrender themselves to deadly haste. Can you tell me what kind of day can follow a beginning of such violence?" Milan Kundera (Farewell Waltz)
Or, are we supposed to spend our mornings in calm solitude?

MEET MY FAVOURITE INTERIOR DESIGNER QUARTERMAINE!

When I was younger I wanted to become an interior designer or a marine biologist. The dream to work with sea animals was soon crushed after I spent two days interning at the Cape Town aquarium. The fish smell and cold hours on a rainy beach, holding a warning flags for the divers, quickly dampened my enthusiasm. However, the creative side of interior design still fascinates me today. Here are some images of my absolute favourite designer, who has charmed me for years with her delightful room creations and handmade silk-screenings.

THE LITTLE CITY CALLED KARLSRUHE

The direct translation of the city I am currently living in is “Charles' repose”. Karlsruhe is a cute little city and at its center lies the palace, and thirty-two streets radiate out from it like the ribs of a folding fan. This has earned the city its nickname “fan city”. 

Apparently, the city was inspired by a dream that Charles III William had who was the Margrave of Baden-Durlach. Thus the city of Karlsruhe was born and the palace was one of the first buildings to be built. Most of it was reduced to rubble during the war and rebuilt afterwards. I took a few photos of the city that still has a prim-and-proper flair. 

THE DEMONSTRATION CITY OF STUTTGART

A few photographs I took on a recent trip to Stuttgart in southern Germany. The infamous "Stuttgart 21" demonstrations have been taking place here, in the park outside the main station. It has injected the city with an uniquely fierce and proud energy.

ORDER IN DISORDER

Those close to me know that I like things to be organised. But no matter how often I clean my room, the kitchen, my desk...the pile of dreadfully important documents growing steadily, the dust collecting under couch and bed, and odd things accumulating (paint tubes, bicycle parts and unopened letters). They appear, as if out of nowhere, to unorder the order that was my life.

I BLAME COCO

I blame Coco is headed up by Sting's daughter, Coco. She's the coolest, grungiest girl in the music business and has developed her own fashion style. It's a mixture of adrogynous menswear with a rebellious teen spirit. Her voice has similarities to her father's but is too unique for comparison.

PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE: BOKEH

"Bokeh" is a Japanese term that refers to the aesthetic blur in photographs. It is a camera technique that occurs only when using a shallow depth of field. The areas that blur lie outside of the depth of field. Light can beautifully create any shapes: octagons, hearts or circles.

UNLOCK MY HEART

Tiffany's key chains.

The new accessories obsession are antique keys strung on string or silver necklaces. Here are some examples of luciously decorated pieces that used to grace castles centuries ago.