.SOMETIMES RAW.

“The sky is always there for me, while my life has been going through many, many changes. When I look up the sky, it gives me a nice feeling, like looking at an old friend.” – Yoko Ono

What I knew about Yoko Ono before I met her at the United Nations a couple of years ago was, that she was married to John Lennon. But that was about it really. I was fortunate enough to spent an entire afternoon with her and her staff which was an amazing experience. Before I talk a bit more about my encounter with her I share some insight on her first so you can shine talking about her and her art at the next party which is a great conversation starter. 😉 

Yoko Ono was born in 1933 in Tokyo. When she was two years old she moved with her parents to California; however, she returned to Japan/Tokyo a bit before WWII and survived the bombings in 1945. In the 50s she came back to the States and moved to New York together with her parents. She went to college to study music and art. She worked as a waitress, studied and was a music teacher in New York public schools at one point. Throughout this time she suffered from depression and actually was in a mental hospital in Japan. At that time she was married to Anthony Cox and later had one daughter with him. A while later when she felt a lot better, Ono started art exhibits throughout the States with “Bottoms” in 1966 with 365 volunteers and friends who showed their naked buttocks for close ups for the exhibit. On a side-note: What’s up with this guy? 

This is Jeremy Levenbach. He features photos of himself completely naked throughout New York City. If you want to see his butt, click here. 

Sorry, I got off on a tangent thinking about butts. Back to Yoko Ono. 

John Lennon came into her life at an art show she had in London in 1966. As Ono stated many times in interviews, “I was first impressed with his [John Lennon’s] intellect, everything else came later”. They married and were together 24/7 for almost six years (say WHAAAT?!) until they had a break of approximately one year. I don’t think it is easy to be that famous. They did have to go through a lot of attacks from politicians, harasses and of course the media. Many say that Ono broke apart the Beatles. I love that they stayed together and created great music and art. They also have a son together. She had many art shows all over the world already. In fact, there is an art show at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) right now. I really love the New Museum in New York. They usually have some of her art as well and a lot more contemporary art. The New Museum, according to my godmother “you either love or hate – there is no in-between”. 

John Lennon was murdered in 1980 and Yoko was right next to him when it happened. After his death she went into complete seclusion for a long time. She dedicated a lot of her exhibits, memorials, monuments and artwork to him. 

I think they had a very special strong loving relationship which becomes clearer when you read and see her art in her book “Between the sky and my head”. I read this book and showed it to someone at work so it was at my desk. When I heard Yoko Ono will be at the United Nations I grabbed my book and met her in person. Of course she signed my book and we had a nice little chat afterwards. I also own this book by her if you are interested in her drawings. It was very special when I met her and Yoko Ono is indeed one awesome, good-hearted person. 

I stayed up late the night before my son’s birthday to get his favorite banana/blueberry muffins ready so he could enjoy some for breakfast. I cannot believe I am celebrating this little guy’s second birthday. Wow, TWO years. I have been thinking for quite some time how I can make this day special for him. I overheard conversations at the playground of women planning a LION KING Party, a MICKEY MOUSE Party or a DOC MCSTUFFINS PARTY. (I know, it sounds like a cheap porn title from the 70s but it is actually a show that my son watches and likes) 😀

I have a different point of few and usually do my own thing anyway. First of all, I am alone with him. My husband is back in Kinshasa and my family is in Germany. I just remember how I celebrated my son’s first birthday. It was the best. My mom, my dad, my son and I walked around the Goldbergsee in Coburg/Germany and had muffins and brownies on a bench while sitting in the sun watching the ducks. So simple and so good! I mean, honestly, what does a two-year old know and understand about his birthday? Of course if you have your family around it is a nice gathering and food, drinks and celebration- sort of thing. But your child has no clue really what is going on at two years old, right? He sees that people are there; they eat, they drink but it could be like any other day or party. My husband sent gifts for our son and I bought him this particular steering wheel he is obsessed with. He first saw it at Hank May’s Garage in the toy box while we waited to get the emission of our car done. Obsessed! He unwrapped his birthday packages but he has no clue why he gets this today. And this is the point. I don’t think you have to go sooooo crazy with a huge party. If your son is in Kindergarten or Daycare and has some friends of course you plan a party and make them all come over and the kids can play. But this HUGE theme party with a smashing cake and all this at age two? I have some friends here and I could organize something insane but I simply don’t want to. Even if my family would be close by I would do a little cake/coffee gathering at home but that would be it really. What is your opinion on this?

So what did we do? We went to the local Fire Departments Open House and my son had a blast. He is totally into firetrucks and police cars these days. For late lunch we went to our favorite diner and had onion soup and fries of course. After that we went to the playground for two hours so he could play with the kids and run around so he get tired. Mama has a lot of work on the website to do tonight. To make his birthday perfect we went to Trader Joe’s which is great for him because he can walk the aisles with the kids push cart. We drove home and it started getting dark outside and he almost fell asleep in the car. What a perfect day and birthday. It is dark outside as I type this but it does not matter. He is my light. He teaches me so much every day. I want him to appreciate the simple things in life. Of course he will get his birthday parties with his friends later on. But now, it is all okay the way it is. 

I love you so much my son. Happy Birthday. I cannot wait to make the next year as exciting and adventurous as the previous one. Unconditional love for you my heart. 

Thank you for reading.

Hey and Happy Friday! It is almost weekend again. My week was crazy with a weird mix of stressful, sad and happy! More sad than anything else though! But as you can see, my son and I had fun at the beach and this I think is very important to balance everything else out. No matter how difficult and hard a situation seems, try to find something positive or try to move on. One day at the time. Life goes on. With you still in it. My husband left again last Saturday. Yep, he is back in Congo. It was tough but we did the quick drop-off that I use whenever my dad drives me to the airport. Just pull over, open doors and open trunk. Then get your stuff out, kiss and leave. Whenever I go inside and stick around to have coffee or food before leaving or the person I drop of leaves I feel how the tears start welling up and my heart might burst so this is the best way for us to deal with it. How was our week otherwise and what did we do and experience? Read on. 

Watching: My brother mentioned to see “Californication”  several times already and that “I have to watch this because it is F’n awesome!” I finally got sucked into it after just one episode and I am currently watching Season 5. David Duchovny is in it and he plays a writer.Whoop Whoop! Otherwise, do you know Sarah Silverman? I love her – she is a great funny comedian and just “different”.  Check her out here! 

Reading: As usual a lot. I am reading “City of Thorns” by Ben Rawlence, “Miracle at the Higher Grounds Cafe” by Max Lucado and “Furiously Happy” by Jenny Lawson. Besides all this I am reading the New York Times Book Review online and several blogs that I am following. I literally could read all day long – I love it so much! Reviews will be on the blog soon and the links to some of the blogs that are on my daily reading list. 

Listening to: Howard Stern on Siruis whenever I am driving in our car. I love him. He is funny, entertaining and crazy at the same time. 😉 I have to stop at this, even though I love to listen to him but my son picks up on all the f-words he uses. I mean, he uses it a LOT and so do all his guests. I also listened to this great talk with Hal Hartley. Hal Hartley is a screenwriter, producer and director and is a key figure in the indecent film movement of the 80s and 90s. He is just amazing. I also occasionally listen to  shows, podcasts and talk on PBS. And of course TED Talks. 

Thinking about: These days I think a lot about death, change and how to deal with all this. Life can get really tough at points and one has to find a way to deal with difficult circumstances and situations. And then it is important to take it one day at a time. When people tell me that “Time heals all wounds” I tend to hate it in that particular moment because I feel they sort of need to say that, you know. To comfort me in a way. But guess what? Time DOES heal wounds. Sometimes it takes a long time, but it all gets better eventually even though everything seems hopeless right now. 

Enjoying: Planning my son’s birthday. He will be two years old on the 24th and I am alone here to celebrate it with him. This day will be special either way. I will bake his favorite blueberry/banana muffins, we will go to the playground at the beach, he will enjoy his new toys and I found out that the local Fire Department here has an Open House that day. He is currently obsessed with fire trucks or any ‘big” truck actually. I am also enjoying my blog and writing every single day. It is shaping into some cool read that I would love to follow myself. 😀  I am not a pro but if you are thinking about starting your own blog, I can give you some tips. I figured this blog business out on my own! It is a lot of work but in the end so worth it because I love what I am doing. 

Thank you for reading.