In Brussels, we live very close to what is known as the gaycommunity of the city aka the Plattesteen and surroundings. Today it was a highday for the gaycommunity, with the yearly gaypride. As every year, it is one of the most exuberant manifestations in Brussels. You never  see more extravaganza per square meter than on this day. And although for some people this is a reason to create their own little exodus out of town, it is also one of the most joyfull and peacefull manifestations around. You’ll see people dancing, singing, acting crazy but never a grimm or hostile atmosphere.

All the above just to say that ‘Man, they can dance!”

Last monday evening there was a lot of girlpower going on in our kitchen, seen 3 friends and I were brainstorming about a new company. Woman and business, it is a more evident choice than ever. Demonstrated also by all these great initiatives  that are being taken to promote women and business – some already existing for some time, others brand new. For us, it meant a great boost for our own creativity to know that there is so much support out there!

So for all you entrepreneuring girls, here is a list of all the ones we like so far!

- Brusselsgirlgeekdinner organised by bnox => we are still looking for a technology chick to join us, and somehow I am convinced we will find her there! www.brusselsgirlgeekdinner.be

- Womenslab.org => boost innovation and creativity among and by women. A new initiative taken bij Jan from the well know AddictLab. www.womenslab.org

- Com’eva startersaward => www.comeva.be

- Markant VZW => networking but actually so much more than that! www.markantvzw.be

All initiatives by and for women, you go girls!

What a joy Brussels is when no cars are allowed in the center. Today, thanks to the yearly celebration of the Brussels Region, we enjoyed a carless day with lots of cool activities. And even plenty of sun, how atypical can it get! There was the 1,2 km long table between the gare du midi and the grand place,  the small eateries scattered around it, the great circusinitiations for toddlers and kids of all ages, the fountain filled with colourful balls and one giant plastic one, in which a ballerina was dancing – poetic to say the least – , the dance event embellished with great cocktails, the concerts on the square in front of the palais, …. .

Charlie, Saartje, Kim and me divided our time between the table (a girl has got to eat, no?) and the circusinitiations for toddlers. When you have kids, you finally understand the real goal of child attractions – give the parents a break and let the kids exhaust theirselves so a good night sleep is the result. Charlie climbed up and off everything he could get his little hands on, just sorry i didn’t brought my camera.

You’ll now by now I really, really like my city and well, today was another of those days why…

Usually not known for my athletic qualities, last friday I find myself  in Knokke for my first official running tour. The first of 4 Knack Ladies runs would start there at 14.30 and I thought a mere 3,5 km would be right up my alley. That was the goal….  However upon arrival Ido sign in for the 10K, just in order to see where all my training of the last months has lead me. Bart looks worried, but manages to hide - not very well though -  his anxiety and just tells me not to overdo it. 

My last memory of a running tour was at the age of 12, and is still somewhat of a trauma till this day. No, not because it was so horrible or painfull – it was just plain embarrassing. Cause at the age of 12 I cheated, and took a – non official –  shortcut through the woods. Like so many others (no excuse though) but silly enough I just did it right in front of the audience . As you can imagine, a dishonorable diskwalification was mine not to mention the humiliation. Still today I cannot explain what the hell came over me, we shall say I was temporarily insane due to fatigue or something…

Since then twenty years have passed, without me even thinking about participating at another running event. And still there I was, waiting for the start signal for my first 10K ever. And this time, I did run the whole official parcours till the end. So not only surprising myself on my athletic capabilities, since friday my childhood trauma has been washed away a bit. I imagine that after completing the full Knack Ladies Run cycle, I will be as good as new!

Seen Bart and me love, love, love music – we have seen more concerts than considered healthy for your hearing. Just in the last half year there was Madonna in Dodger Stadium – with Britney and Justin -, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin in House of Blues, PJ Harvey and John Parish, Prince in the Nokia Theatre, the Kaiser Chiefs to name a few.

So it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that we’re really looking forward to the new festival season. Although already way passed the average age at most (thank god for Werchter Classic!), for us it is a yearly tradition without which summer wouldn’t be really there.

This year festival season started early, with all the commotion about Regi/ Milk Inc who is going to close the Marquee. Personally, I don’t get the fuss. Live and let live is my motto, and as long as it is going to be a great party – I’ll be there dancing!

I know i am making a BIIIIIIIIG leap now, but Prince said it so beautiful at his concert in the Nokia Theatry – I DON’T PLAY MUSIC, I AM MUSIC – and the little man didn’t even sounded arrogant…. I think you agree if I say that for 99% of the musicians that stadium is still a galaxy away, but hey – can you blame a guy for trying?

The Obama’s are visiting Europe – and don’t we know it! Most of the newspapers this morning (thank you – internet) opened with a picture of the couple, stepping out of Airforce One. And no, it is not Barack who is creating the most uproar, it is Michelle Obama – who gets full on raves about her choosen outfits. There is the long black/white vist with black dress for the departure, the yellow dress with the black vest for the arrival, the green skirt with the very simple flowery cardigan for the visit to downing street 10. Whether I check the news on the Internet, or have breakfast here in LA – looking at CNN news broadcasts - everywhere I look I am confronted with all kinds of experts commenting on the outfits of Mrs O.

I admit, I am guilty as charged – I too love to look at the outfits of the wifes and gniffle – if needed – at their choices. However, can we please focus as soon as possible on the essence of the matter – the G20 meeting itself? And no, it is not created as a funny intermezzo before the highly publicised confrontation between Mrs O and Mrs Bruni – Sarkozy. Besides, lets not forget that the beauty of this first lady is way broader than the clothes, however beautiful and well choosen, she wears.

Balloons parade in Bruxelles this weekend - never saw a more joyfull parade resulting in all these childlike ”oooohs and aaaaahs’. Great to see the North – South Axe filled with young children, allmost all of them holding one or more balloons themselves while watching with big eyes these great flying creatures passing by.

For me, again one of the great initiatives Brussels is taking to make her city much more liveable and agreable. Brussels stays a not so easy city to live in, but one with so much imagination and inspiration that after 13 years of living here I still can’t see myself living anywhere else.

Love you Brussels, even if i am an absent lover sometimes – i will always come home to you…

It is unbelievable how quickly live goes on… Demonstrated today by the reactions of many on the article that the OCMW of Dendermonde wants to open Fabeltjesland again for children – despite the promises made to the parents in the aftermath of the events. Most of the reactions say, well ok – that’s live, and however sorry for the parents of the victims – we do need a solution and there aren’t so many choices… HELLO? Be fucking creative please! Do you really want the parents of Leon to bring their daughter to the same building as where they lost their little boy? Do we really think it is a good thing for the community as a whole to be confronted with this building time and time again?  Of course you cannot demolish every building where a tragedy happens, but i think everybody agrees that this is a tragedy ‘hors categorie’. It is not just an unhappy series of events, it was an atrocity most of us could not even imagine. So at least give everybody involved a chance to mend their wounds and give them a place where they can be with their memories in peace, instead of  painfully reminding them how quickly the world forgets…

Short rectification, it now seems that Fabeltjesland will not open again – they are talking about the daycare center in the same building.
Makes it less worse than initially thought, but still…. just use the building for another purpose and give the parents of dendermonde a new place for their children, one which isn’t fullfilled with all these memories…

Seen I am a proximus customer, this weekend I was among the lucky ones who got a message on my mobile saying “Onze oprechte excuses voor het mogelijke ongemak dat u donderdagavond heeft ondervonden met ons netwerk. Michel Georgis, gedelegeerd bestuurder.” As you might have noticed, last thursday evening the proximus network experienced some difficulties and the majority of proximus customers lost all connectivity on their mobile network. So at proximus they thought, let’s be customer oriented and send all our clients an sms  in which we express our sincerest appologies.

Mmm, they got me puzzled – is this a good or a bad thing? I am sure they are really sorry for the inconvenience, but it is necessary to send me an SMS about it? Aren’t they inconveniencing me again – cause when my gsm bleeps i expect something nice from family or friends, not Michel Georgis a l’appareil.  Besides, how well would they react when i would call them to say that i am really truely sorry about the inconvenience my non payment might have caused? Not so well, i can tell you – apology or no apology, in that case they would or shut me down or give me a steep reminder cost on my next bill.

So, however well intended the sms was, give your customer some real value to make up for the problems on thursday evening. Cause like my dad always told me, it is too easy to say sorry afterwards  – just make sure it doesn’t happen so you don’t have to say sorry.

Damn, last week was a terrible week on the technology front. TV imploded, laptop crashed, digital camera fell -  resulted in a broken lcd screen – and my gsm is, well… ready for a museum. For two people who are supposed to live in a high tech environment, more than about time to go shopping for some new stuff. Spent this morning surfing the net, focusing on the laptop and the tv – examining all the options out there.  And man, do we have some options. Plasma, LCD, ms, large – larger – gigantesk, multimedia, Graphic card, Intel Core, Intel Centrino, Intel Pentium, 250 or 500 Gb, 2 or 4 MB active memory, … .

And how powerful my crashcourse in the morning was, once in the shop – we still looked puzzled at this wide variety of choices. People have gotten depressed for less.

Fortunately where laptops are concerned, i know pretty good what i want. True multimedia possibilities, great screen, powerful…  while being  light enough to travel around the globe with. So I am now the super happy owner of a Sony Vaio with really everything and more I expect from my laptop.

What the TV is concerned, after three shops and long and extensive explanations about pros and cons, we decided to try a life without a TV – not an option applauded by the salesguy but for us a true relief, seen we now could postpone the task of having to choose between plasma or lcd.

GSM and digital camera will have to wait a bit, too many choices can kill you.