Circle of Money fountain in Aachen, Germany

 

Circle of Money Fountain in Aachen Germany, near Cologne and the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. Each character or group shows different attitudes to money.

The wiki caption says:

The fountain Circle of Money (Kreislauf des Geldes) in Aachen, Germany. The figurines show different persons dealing with money, while the rotating water symbolizes the circle of money. Sculptured by Karl-Henning Seemann, sponsored by the Sparkasse Aachen.

Photo by User:Ahoerstemeier

An amusing picture. Also a great illustration for a talk or workshop or speech about money.

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is teacher of English. (Advanced English and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, an aspiring polyglot.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs, and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Drawing Caricatures using an iPad - why do it?

Why draw a caricature? Why not just take a photo?

1Because you can draw on an iPad and your subject might think you are writing a text message, whilst they would either get annoyed or pose un-naturally if they thought you were taking a photo.
2 Because your subject is photo shy.
3 Because they would be flattered and intrigued to have a caricature. They may have had lots of photos but never have had a caricature.
4 Because it is more creative.
5 Because you can sell it. People can take their now photos as selfies but they mostly cannot draw a caricature.
6 You edit out the unnecessary and capture the essence of the person.
7 Because you are proud of your artistic skills. It's fun, creative.
8 Because the sitter has to keep still and talk to you whilst you are drawing, creating rapport and a friendship more than spending two seconds taking photos.
9 Because you have no chance of winning a photography competition but think your original drawings might win a drawing competition.
10 Because somebody asked you to do it. To raise money for charity at an event.

Angela Lansbury

Chatting: Signalling Come and Go and Personal Space

I wrote about the I talk to Strangers badge on Facebook. A friend of mine on Facebook (a real friend who found me on Facebook but knew me years ago from a post graduate literature club) told me on holiday she used body language if she needs to discourage chats from a fellow diner at a hotel who apparently thought she ought to eat the dish he had ordered and in the way he suggested.

Mostly I'd be delighted to chat about food to a stranger, and adopt their suggestions on the principle of try anything once.

She was making another point. That you can use body language to encourage or discourage conversation.

Touching
Closeness is another factor. I recently sat next two three Singaporean friends (two long-standing friends and another I met on an aircraft and chatted to for several hours). In all three cases these ladies were tactile. The first two prodded me with their fingertips to hold my attention when making a point.

Arm Rest
The third was taking over my arm rest. I kept trying to move away each time our arms accidentally touched. I considered putting up a cushion as a barrier.

But we were friends. We were deep in conversation. Since I wanted to be psychologically close to her, I decided physical closeness was the way to go. If you can't beat them, join them. So I snuggled up withy arm comfortably against hers.

Photo Barriers and Linking Arms
On another occasion I was standing in the back row of a group being photographed. The jolly and friendly club committee member standing in front was blocking the view of me by standing arms akimbo. I could not push him out of the way. I instinctively took hold of his elbow. Since did not take the hint to move, I linked arms with him and hugged his arm tightly. Much better visually and psychologically. I was now friends with him in the picture and in life.

As a photographer, if one person is blocking another, you could ask them to link arms.

Angela Lansbury

How To Make Friends And Chat Whilst Travelling

Wear a badge which says, I want to chat. What a great idea. Not chat on social media, but chat to a real person near you.
What a great idea.

I love chatting to people.

A Singapore Taxi Chat
Sitting in a taxi to the airport, I got chatting to the taxi driver. The first comment I/we made was about noticing a new housing development. That led to discussing cutting down the jungle to make way for more houses.

What did the taxi driver think? More housing was needed, he conceded. Then he added an amusing and insightful comment on changing times. "Old Prime Minister (Lee Kwan Yew) planted trees. His son cut them down."

So true; so funny.

You can follow this train of thought in many directions. That each generation does the opposite of the previous generation. That the reason is that everybody wants to be different. That it's the swing of the pendulum. Sons rebelling against fathers.

Planting
In a country, developing and planting faces the same problems as when you plant a garden, as we did in London, England. First you have not enough greenery, not enough shade, not enough plants, so you plant trees and bushes. For a brief period things are just right.

But a few years later the trees are too tall and the bushes are merging and the grass is growing knee-highs if you don't spend every week cutting it down. Soon you are constantly pruning the trees and cutting down the bushes. Finally, you have to cut down the trees you planted.

I could write a poem or a PhD thesis or a book about this, just inspired by one sentence from a Singapore taxi driver. What pleasure from talking to stranger. I am an extravert and love talking to strangers. Maybe I should get a badge. If you get one, maybe one day I shall talk to you.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/i-talk-to-strangers-the-badge-campaign-encouraging-humans-to-actually-engage-with-one-another-a7319996.html

The plants you left at home - Six Secrets About Plants

When I am travelling one of my biggest worries is what will happen to my plants. I want to tell you six secrets about plants.

1 Plants are simple - and easy to please.
I won't go so far as to call them stupid. But they are simple. Easily pleased. You don't need to buy them alcoholic drinks. Just give them a glass of water and they are really pleased. They perk up. They are grateful. They thrive. Just plain old tap water.

2 Plants are simple. Honest souls.
They don't lie. If they need water they sag. They flag and droop. They look miserable. Their leaves flop and drop. Feed them a little water and they straighten up. They look proud and pleased. Just like a dog wags its tail when you offer it a drink.

3 Plants are simple. Survive on very little.
They don't need much to survive. Some plants are survivors. When you deprive them of food and water they play dead. Their flowers fall off. But so long as their roots are living they will recover.

4 Plants are simple. They don't say much.
If you want a good chat, they will listen. They don't interrupt. However, like most people, their favourite subject is themselves.

Talk to them. Say, 'How are you doing?' Which country do you come from? How do you like our weather?

Do you like my house? Are you thirsty? Have some water. It's no trouble.

Are you too hot - shall I give you a blanket to protect you from the frost? Too cold? Is this corner draughty for you?

Would you like to move to a bigger pot? You don't need to buy them fancy pots. You don't need anything. stand up straight, dear.  I'll give you a little stick and tie you to it to help you stand up straight.Are you drowning in water? You want to go to the toilet - you have a wet nappy - all smelly - let me make a hole in  the pot and let out the surplus water.

5 Check up on your plant's background.
Be suspicious of foreign plants. Actually most of them are quite civilised and will thrive. But do a few background checks. Read the label. Their mothers (the shop) will tell you a lot. If you have no label, no information from their friends or previous owners (who gave you a cutting), do your own research. The internet tells you everything you need to know. Is the plant poisonous to you or children or cats. Can you eat or drink any part of it?

6 Plants are friendly.
Plants are like cats. They will often fend for themselves if you put them outdoors. Frankly, you may think the plant is your personal friend, but it likes anybody who feeds it.

7 Be Kind to plants.
Plants give you pleasure day after day. It's mean to let them die if you are on holiday or in hospital or are sick or terminally ill. Give your favourite plant as a loan to somebody else until you feel better and can claim it back. If it's a plant which makes cuttings, give cuttings to all your friends. Then, if you ever move house or are away and lose your original plant, you can get back a clone from the cutting. Worst case scenario, after you are dead your plant will live on in the home of your friend or family member or acquaintance and the new owner will remember you (and your generosity) every time they look at the plant.

8 People are a mix of stupid and clever.
Put labels on your plants. Write large and on a coloured pretty card. Give the plant's name and what it likes (shade or sun) how much it drinks and how often.If you give your plant to a family, chances are that even if one person is to busy, another will look after it.

9 Don't fret about dead plants
You can usually buy or borrow or take a cutting of another.

10 Always say hello and goodbye to plants
That way you can keep them happy and check on them and remember to water them.

11 Plants aren't fussy
They will live in broken crockery, on saucers with a chip turned away so nobody can see it. They grow in gardens in odd corner.

12 Every country has a few 'bad apples' - Clean up.
Watch out for weeds that breed. You might want to turn an old house or cemetery into a jungle so it is forgotten and lies undistributed for centuries hidden by plants. But some plants seed and breed and you will consider them weeds.

13 Make Big Problems Small Ones
A plant grown too large can often be cut down into a matching pair, mother and baby, or an avenue.
As with any other problem you have three choices:
a)  Spring Clean. Blitz - new year and spring clean. Once a year throw out what's dead; and buy in new.
b)  Daily Routine.
Just check everything for one minute a day so it's never a burden, easy to remember, and takes little time.
c)  Delegate.
Find out what to do but don't do it yourself. Employ somebody else (friend, family member, maid, friend, gardener, and check what they are doing, praise them, thank them, tell them they have green fingers.

14 Money Talks
If all else fails, invest in a watering system. Every garden centre will have suggestions. If they don't, you can cut up a plastic bottle and make a small hole at the bottom to drip feed and a large hole at the top to fill.

15 Free Advice
If your plants won't talk to you, visit a gardening club, or chat to anybody who owns or looks after a grand garden. Start by praising the garden. Then ask how they manage it.Ask where you can buy or order one of their plants. They will probably tell you. They might even give you a cutting.  If nobody is around, take a photo, and while you are there or later search the internet for a match.

16 Persuade People to Water Plants
I made a mistake. I never taught my toddler son to water plants. Now he is in his thirties it is a long battle to get him to water plants when I am away. If I get grandchildren I will train them to water plants and people. I will say, give your visitors a glass of water. Now give the plant some water. (Only if it wants the water.)

17 Invest in Self-Watering Or Hardy Plants
If you are out at work all day, or away weeks at a time, you need somebody to look after your children, animals, and plants. Some plants will last longer without attention. Buy plants which need little attention.

Did I say six secrets? Like a plant, my blog grew.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.