This week’s horoscope

CAPRICORN (22 Dec-20 Jan) Every time we say goodbye, I die a little. Every time we say goodbye, I wonder why a little.

AQUARIUS (21 Jan-19 Feb) Um… no. Sorry ’bout that.

PISCES (20 Feb-20 March) Oh yes! Sorry ’bout that.

ARIES (21 March-20 April) Just as well, he wasn’t good for you anyway. Nor was she.

TAURUS (21 April-20 May) As long as you’re sure. Are you sure? Really? Wow.

GEMINI (22 May-21 June) … … … (the stars apologize, they had their mouths full)

CANCER (22 June-22 July) If anything, it’s as green as it gets. Deal with it.

LEO (23 July-22 Aug) Badgers? Badgers? We don’t need no stinkin’… No offense, badgers! The stars have nothing against badgers. Some of their friends are badgers.

VIRGO (22 Aug- 22 Sep) It’s in his kiss.

LIBRA (23 Sep-22 Oct) How long has it been?

SCORPIO (23 Oct-21 Nov) Picking up the pace. Keep it and strengthen it. It will do you good. (And that is about as coherent as the stars will get this week!)

SAGITTARIUS (22 Nov-21 Dec) Sing it!

BAM!

You think y’all in the States are having all the fun? Think again. The Dutch government (finally) collapsed not so long ago and that means that new elections are called for. Woop-ti-doo! I’m always voting left of center but lately I have been having the hardest time deciding what to vote for next. I say ‘what’ because the Dutch system is still largely based on voting for parties instead of people, although this is changing rapidly. Hurray for Americanization! Not so much.

A prime example of this Yankeefied state of Dutch politics has become the primary elections that each of the parties deem necessary these days. Who will preside the party during the elections? Will it be grey mouse no. 1 or grey mouse no. 2? Will it be the lady in the dark blue suit or the lady in the black-with-red-accents suit? (Please note that my referral to dress is no coincidence – I think a party should make up their mind about content before they ask me what I think and vote. It’s part of the game and it’s their job, not mine.) Latest news: BAM!

That’s not a reference to the Flintstones people! It’s an actual campaign slogan. Yah.

Obama’s “Forward!” made me scratch my ears a bit but this is above and beyond. Now Dutch Green Left (Groen Links) party member Tofik Dibi is using ‘Bam!’ as his main argument for winning the primary so he can lead the Greens in the elections in September. He said it’s about being clear in your choices etc. Hm. Not about being as eloquent as a brick? I was considering voting Green this time, as I do every time and sometimes I vote for them too, but now… I’m not so sure that I will even consider it if Dibi gets the party members’ votes for saying Bam! In fact, I think I will just BAM! put that pencil on the paper like SMACK! and avoid the Greens like SWOOSH!

On the other hand, he did manage to make politics sound like a vintage Batman cartoon. There is something to be said for that. KA-POW!

Off the grid II

Yesterday I was offline all day long. Well, let’s be honest here: I checked my e-mail at the end of the day at 11 pm to make sure I didn’t miss anything important for today, and through my e-mail I clicked through to a regular site to do my daily check-ins. So that added up to about 5 minutes or so. Bad bad me!

The reason for my offline status was twofold. On one hand I wanted to not feel a need to check for mails or messages. It’s funny how one imposes these things on oneself and there is really no need. I am not that important. The other reason, or rather it’s a prompt, was the ‘ik ben offline’ (I am offline) campaign in the Netherlands by some organisation called ‘Media en Maatschappij’ (Media and Society). It was based on supposed research findings (and they’re probably false but who cares?) that young people these days feel a lot of stress if they’re not constantly online. This is called – by the organisation – SMS (Social Media Stress) and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). It’s a bit lame and it’s probably just a way to direct attention to the organisation and ‘what it can do for you!’ but when I read about it I was kind of tickled to participate anyway.

How was it? Dull. Haha! I had a nice dinner with friends on Saturday, announced among other things as a Facebook event, and I was unable to check in and tell everyone I had a nice evening. I didn’t write or post any blog posts (here or on Check West). I didn’t post any pictures, not even of the Pirate. On the other hand, I also didn’t read mind-rippingly interesting books or anything like that – you hear that sometimes from people who go offline. It was just another day but without the checking for messages. Hm, okay. One good thing though: my phone battery had a much longer lifespan.

This week’s horoscope

CAPRICORN (22 Dec-20 Jan) Where has all the colour gone?

AQUARIUS (21 Jan-19 Feb) Wishing you were standing at the tip of the Titanic with your arms wide? Must have been pretty cold. Just sayin’.

PISCES (20 Feb-20 March) Fishy fishy in the water, fishy fishy in the bowl. Fishy fishy cannot talk, fishy fishy turn around. (Hey, it rhymes in Dutch okay?)

ARIES (21 March-20 April) I’ll have a latte thanks.

TAURUS (21 April-20 May) “I got money now.” (Really?)

GEMINI (22 May-21 June) Spring in the air! No, not the season but the verb.

CANCER (22 June-22 July) We have lost all sense of history.

LEO (23 July-22 Aug) We are not lost. Just everything around us is.

VIRGO (22 Aug- 22 Sep) The stars would be ever so grateful if you could figure out for them why James Bond hasn’t died yet. He should be dead by now, they feel.

LIBRA (23 Sep-22 Oct) Get that horse outta my face!

SCORPIO (23 Oct-21 Nov) The stars are not talking to you.

SAGITTARIUS (22 Nov-21 Dec) Someday!

Fokke & Sukke

are no fan of Obama.

“But we also think gays should be able to marry…”
“…someone of the opposite gender.”

For non-Dutchies: Fokke & Sukke are cartoon characters who deliver daily commentaries on the news – in their own way, usually without too much sensitivity or nuance. I am posting today’s F&S just to illustrate how American election politics have a grip on Dutch media these days. Subjects such as same-sex marriage are pretty hot on the needle these days ‘over there’ but sadly also ‘over here’. With christian influence over the past governments we’ve had, the division of church and state – in my view one of the most important developments in any society that declares itself serious about its business – is not so complete anymore. That is a great loss. It is my understanding (brought to me by many friends in the US) that at the founding of the nation there, this division was made explicit by those who signed the document in the first place. Yet the issue of ‘traditional marriage’ is a big one in the current debates, mostly on religious grounds. This is even more surprisingly when considering how the same group of opposers appears to be the one clamouring for ‘less government’. Then why interfere with who anyone wants to marry? As long as they’re not direct family (genetic defects…) I would say: whatever makes y’all happy folks!

Seriously though: the elections are an interesting show to watch from overseas. My favorite character so far has been Obama. I have always been a sucker for brains over brawl.

Apple-Cinnamon Milkshake

Reblogged from foodiliciousnan:

How do you handle a midweek crisis that hits you just as theweek starts to unfold? When you plan and plan, make provision for every smallslip that could ever happen, but still you end up being stared at in the faceby the not-so-cheerful stuff? I just leave all the work that’s crying out to bedone for the time being, sit in my favourite chair and aimlessly watchtelevision for a while.

Read more… 365 more words

Got a blender? Need to make your mid-day snacks healthy/healthier? Try this one! I just made it (in about 30 seconds) and it is wonderful. Yum!

A day at the library

Amsterdam has one of the most kick-ass libraries I have ever seen. That very eloquent description should cover it – even if it doesn’t quite give you an accurate idea of my general level of development. Hah! ‘Kick-ass’, my friends, means ‘pretty good’.

The building was completed in 2008. It has six floors. It has loads of facilities like computers and wifi available. It is spacious. It has workplaces for everyone. It has a restaurant at the top with a terrace that allows you to see much of the old 17^th century town centre. It has a ‘silence space’ with comfortable chairs to lounge in for a good think. The collection is big and accessible. And the youth section… The youth section deserves a blog post all for itself. It is beyond kick-ass or awesome.

Sitting there to do my own work I am surrounded by school kids doing their homework. It is vacation time, mind you. They’re doing their assignments in study groups and discussing history and life in general. It is awesome. (Awesome = comparable to kick-ass.) Just now I heard two kids – probably from Moroccan migrant families – discuss European church schisms. The guy across from me had the Anglican church mixed up with reformation but his friend (very focused headscarfed girl) corrected him immediately. Was the Dutch replublic catholic or protestant? Why did the English king found his own church?

I love overhearing these things, sitting here typing my English blog. It is somehow uplifting to hear this vicious studying and debating around me. Let me tell you: next time you hear someone complain that ‘the youth of today’ don’t know what hard work is, or how ‘those islamic headscarved girls’ don’t do their own thinking – think again. This generation will make a difference. Particularly the girls because they appear to be the hardest working, most serious, most dedicated, and they will not let anyone – let alone this guy – tell them what they do and don’t know.

I am in love with the library. It gives me rest from the present, and hope for the future.