waiting for nothing

Stayed up all night

With the bugs in the bright

And the air turned cold and black

Turtle trapped on its back

I'm waiting for nothing

Waiting for nothing

There are angels hiding under

Trestles above the ground

They hover there forever

So they can't be found

It's too late now It's too late now It's too late to fix my broken hands To fix my broken hands

I'm waiting for nothing
Waiting for nothing

Almost Lover

Your fingertips across my skin
The palm trees swaying in the wind
You sang me Spanish lullabies
The sweetest sadness in your eyes
Clever trick

Well, I never want to see you unhappy
I thought you'd want the same for me
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do

We walked along a crowded street
You took my hand and danced with me
And when you left, you kissed my lips
You told me you would never, never forget

I cannot go to the ocean
I cannot drive the streets at night
I cannot wake up in the morning
Without you on my mind
So you're gone and I'm haunted
And I bet you are just fine
Did I make it that easy to walk right in and out
Of my life?

"unicorns aren't real"

we believe this
because its what we're told
because magic like that can't be true

but maybe they are real
or maybe that isn't the point

maybe believing in yourself,
believing in your dreams,
feels like believing in a fictitious creature

imagine how excited you'd be
(how excited the world would be)
to discover that unicorns exist

have the same excitement towards yourself
let yourself be seen
and not just the best parts

let your messy parts show
let yourself be loved
for who you really are

maybe that
is magic in itself

(harlee kae)

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

30 years ago today the Berlin Wall fell, 2 years after Reagan famously said ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall’.

In total, at least 171 people were killed attempting to get over, under or around the wall. According to German historian Hans-Hermann Hertle in his work Berlin Wall: Monument of the Cold War, between 1961 and when the wall finally came down in 1989, over 5,000 East Germans successfully managed to cross the border by jumping out of windows of buildings adjacent to the wall or climbing over the barbed wire. Some even attempted to cross in hot air balloons, by ramming through in vehicles at high speeds or by crawling through sewers.

On Oct. 3, 1990, 11 months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, East and West Germany became one state again. Despite the initial euphoria, the road to recovery for East Germany was long and difficult with economic and social dislocation. And the fallout from the fall continues to this day: citizens were still paying slightly higher taxes than before the merger in order to cover the costs of unification.

In 1930 the history of Konnopke’s Imbiss, Berlin’s most famous currywurst stand under the Magistrate’s Viaduct in Schönhauser Allee. What started with Max and his Wurstkessel – sausage tray, with his wife, Charlotte at his side, became a Berlin Attraction. Since then it’s all been about sausages, in the war also from time to time about potato fritters. From 1960 onwards the first Currywurst in East Berlin has been available with ketchup to a family recipe. Konnopke’s became a cult. The Currywurst survived reunification and it’s new challenges including the rapid changes in the local area.

Today Konnopke’s team serves the locals, visitors and party people with sausages and more from morning to evening.

Magical creatures still exist today

Legends, myths and folkloric systems across the western world record legendary horned creatures which have become known to us collectively as unicorns. 

In heraldry, the unicorn is the symbol of my home nation of Scotland because this “proud and haughty beast” would rather die than be captured, as Scottish soldiers would fight to remain sovereign and unconquered. 

While much has been written about the mythological creature itself, less has been said about its horn, about which an entire mythological system exists.

When humans appeared, they came into contact with unicorns and, at first, they lived in harmony together. However, things changed as people spread across the Earth, increasing in number and gaining powers of a different kind: mechanical, electrical, industrial. Humans came to rely on modern technologies and fewer people remembered the old magic. 

As the world grew busier and noisier, unicorns became shyer creatures. They retreated to the highest mountains and deep into the thickest woods, where they used their intimate knowledge of the landscape and highly developed camouflage to hide.

The Gold Unicorn and the Silver Unicorn are believed to have been the first of their kind. They existed back when the world was young, and magical creatures were as common as clouds in the sky …

All sorts of enchanted beings lived on Earth at this time, from fleet-footed fairies to colonies of mischievous nymphs, and ice-breathing dragons that could freeze anything in their path. Unlike the Gold Unicorn and the Silver Unicorn, many of these magical creatures still exist today – if you know where to find them.

One November

One November
Spawned a monster
In the shape of this child
Who later cried 
One November
Spawned a monster
In the shape of this child
Who must remain
A hostage to kindness
And the wheels underneath her
A hostage to kindness
And the wheels underneath her.

A symbol of where mad, mad lovers
Must pause and draw the line.
So sleep and dream of love
Because it's the closest
You will get to love
That November
Is a time
Which I must
Put out of my mind
Oh, one fine day
Let it be soon
She won't be rich or beautiful
But she'll be walking your streets
In the clothes that she went out
And chose for herself.

All Saints’ Day, and All Soul’s Day, Remembering those who passed.

Rest in Peace. Know you are part of me.

It is important that the memory of those that have died is passed down to future generations so that the heritage of our past can be continued in the lives of our children. Find ways to pass along the stories of deceased loved ones so that the children feel a connection to their past.

Everybody knows the secular holiday of Halloween. But not everybody knows it derives from a holy day, All Saints' Day on Nov. 1, which is followed by All Souls' Day on Nov. 2.

The Celtic nations believed that at certain times of the year the boundaries between the mortal and unearthly realms broke down and this was especially true on Halloween (Samhain), All Saints’ Day, and All Soul’s Day.

What song would you play for me when I am gone?

The ancient Irish believed the dead were repositories of wisdom and lore and that during this blessed period they would return to speak to their descendants. During these visits, the ancestors would bestow two gifts – the ability to remember old days and traditions and to hold a deeper understanding of how we are forever linked to our bloodline.

Although many of these traditions have died out in Ireland similar customs continue around the world. The Mexican traditions surrounding the commemorative day are probably the most widely known. They celebrate the day as “El Dia de Los Muertos” (“The Day of the Dead”). Today they traditionally visit graveyards and have a picnic and leave food out for their dead relatives who are on their journey to heaven.

Who do you think of on the Day of the Dead?