Shapes and brains

Of all the numerous things that went wrong in my childhood, this is the worst one: not ever having possessed the Miller Goodman ShapeMaker. I doubt that I'll ever possess it, and that's got something to do with the breathtaking price of € 40,-, for (just to put it into perspective) 25 very ordinary wooden blocks, with a little bit of paint on them. But here we have it, the very essence of 'playing' and 'toys' and 'creativity' and, if I daresay, 'life' and/or 'happiness': making something out of nothing.

Almost adding 'love' to the list, I'm reminded of a concert yesterday, in Paradiso (Amsterdam): singer/songwriter Luc de Vos of the Belgian band Gorki performed some of his songs, stories and jokes in the charming small hall. One of the songs is called 'Ik ben erbij' (in English something between 'I'm there' and 'I'm in'):

mijn grote beer
kijkt op mij neer
het zijn neuronen in mijn hersencellen
en de honger knelt
en mijn liefde brandt
maar het zijn neuronen in mijn hersencellen

(My own crappy translation:)
my big bear
looks down on me
it's neurons in my brain cells
and hunger restrains
and my love, it burns
but it's neurons in my brain cells

Making something out of nothing, that's our brain's core business. So I should cope without the ShapeMaker...

Oh but I do love the Darth Vader image, centre row left.