Images.

Well hello!

Let me start this post by telling you a sad story...

As I mentioned in one of my first posts, my boyfriend's handluggage got stolen on our way back home from Lisbon a couple of weeks ago. We left Portugal on a plane from Lisbon to Amsterdam, since this was a bit cheaper for us than a flight directly to Brussels. We then arrived safely in Amsterdam (which is a LOT, since flying scares the bejeebies out of me), and all we had to do was take a train from Amsterdam to Antwerp, where previously mentioned boyfriend's brother was coming to pick us up. Well, it was on that train that our handluggage landed in the hands of the wrong person. He actually stole it from under our noses: we never left our seats and our luggage was stowed away in the overhead compartment. While we were sitting there, all tired from the long journey, the guy put his sneaky hands on our bag and replaced it with a different, practically empty (if you don't count a stuffed animal and an empty box of cookies) backpack so we wouldn't immediately be alarmed. So, when we did finally notice, our stuff was long gone.

This SERIOUSLY pisses me off for many reasons:

- For one, it wasn't just a backpack with some books and a pillow in it. No, there was his laptop (a LAPTOP!), wallet, ipod, jacket, sunglasses AND our beloved camera. Well, not even just the camera. The camera with all our pictures on it. And let me tell you, the man is one fine photographer so there were some real beauties on that thing.

- The theft also took away a part of our trust in mankind. Okay, this may sound a bit dramatic, but it's just hard to grasp that someone willingly stole our personal belongings, and even more that someone actually steps on to a train, just to steal (why else would one carry an empty backpack?). It just saddens me.

- Due to the loss of all our stuff, we've already invested quite a lot of money in new things to replace them. This basically leaves me less money to shop, which is a real torture at the start of the new A/W collection.

- And MOSTLY, I'm pissed off because I am now left without camera. I've started up this blog not only to share my writings, but also to share all the beauty I see around me. I can't even count the number of times anymore that I've said or thought: "Wow, this is cool. I'll take a quick picture of this! Oh wait...". Anyways, we ordered a new camera (the exact same camera as the one we had before, only 100 euros cheaper now... yay!) a couple of days ago and I can't WAIT for it to arrive in the store!

Here's a picture:

So, enough with the negative emotions in this post. I went out today and actually sort of decided to use the mental camera in my head (duh, where else would you find a mental camera? anywho...). Whenever I saw someone or something that I really thought worth snapping, I just made a mental picture of it and did my very best to remember all the details so I could write about them later on. Here is a mental picture of the two people that have amazed me the most:

- Last week, it was raining really bad here in Belgium (and I don't mean a light drizzle, I'm talking actual POURING). Clouds were covering the sky up to the point that it got very dark out, even though it was only four o'clock in the afternoon. Know the kind? The wind was blowing, and I was on my bike, on my way to a friend to leave for a mini-festival together. I am giving all I've got to get through this heavy rain-filled wind, when suddenly I see the most beautiful, unexpected phenomenon: a young woman covering from the rain under a big white umbrella, wearing a peachy pink A-lined dress, vintage high heels and big black sunglasses. She was on the phone, laughing, and I'm pretty sure she made the whole world forget about the miserable weather we were having for just a second. "Now that's dedication", I thought, and continued the rest of my journey with a slight smile on my face.

- For the rest of the week the weather was - to say the least - very unfortunate, so I didn't really take the time to be outside for longer than absolutely necessary, but today, the sun came out again so my internal people-spotter was finally reactivated. And I saw someone I really wish I could have snapped with my camera. Luckily, I had my mental camera with me, so here we go: I was sitting on the tram, listening to my ipod, when I suddenly saw this, well, old lady (I'd guess she was about 85 years old) getting on. She had this incredibly wrinkly face and old hands, and she was really short like most sweet old ladies are. But... there was just something off about her. There was something about her that wasn't old-lady-like at all.  And when she came to sit in front of me, it hit me: this woman actually had fake, shiny, young hair sown into her head, and from the back I really would've believed that it was a young girl who was sitting in front of me. She had sort of an Agyness Deyn (anno 2009) haircut, with many different shades of highlights in it, which was styled to perfection. And those clothes... Well, the least I can say was that they were very Vogue-friendly. With her light greyish blazer, a t-shirt with the big, black Chanel logo on it, and jeans so skinny that not even Kate Moss herself would fit in to them (well, okay, I'm not gonna lie: MAYBE Kate Moss), she would have easily made any eighteen-year-old jealous of her youthful looks. She also had an arm full of colourful bangles (guess she must have read this article before she left the house today) and bright coral nails to finish off the look. Just hip, you know.  But let me tell you: this woman may have looked all young and trendy from the back,  I physically got a little bit scared every time she turned around to look behind her. It was just... wrong. With all due respect,  but I really think she would've made a much prettier granny without the overaged teenager-look she was sporting now.

So you see, it always comes in handy to carry a camera with you if you love to spot a few trends and capture the beauty and weirdness you are confronted with on a daily basis. And if you don't, I will :) Be it mental OR tangible.

And finally, to finish this post, I would like to say goodbye with one more VERY important message:

Happy 53rd Birthday, Madonna!!! 

(picture from huffingtonpost.com, thanks to Ben Van Alboom)

- Now, let's turn that frown upside down, shall we?

Big big love, enjoy your Tuesday!

x Magel