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About

This weblog contains the life ::, rants ##, poems "" and scribblings *) of Nivelan.

:: boring otherwise Sunday, May 29, 2005 |

aug04-14

Today I thought "let's ride my racing bike!" Then I noticed my short cycling trunks and my hairy legs. So I spent over an hour shaving my legs. Then it rained and I watched some telly.

Scousers Rock Thursday, May 26, 2005 |

The English are twats and arses. They're either fox-shooting, SUV-driving conservative floppy-haired teabags - or beer-guzzling, loudmouth hooligans and pregnant teens. "Effete arseholes" as Ewan McGregor put it in Trainspotting.

I am however happy that Liverpool beat AC Milan tonight, in the Champions League final. Liverpudlians are the most Irish of English, like Northerners are the most Scottish of English. The least buggered up, so to say. It's good to see this once-great city (Titanic, Beatles, Liverpool of the eighties..) liven up again. It'll be the cultural capital of Europe in 2008, so Yoko Ono hung pictures of her naked breast on every lamppost in town. Everton finished 4th, Liverpool 5th, and both will play in Europe for years to come I'm sure. Liverpool ousted Chelski, came from 3-0 down against Milan.. And I partied with some Irish in Nijmegen.

Hay Wednesday, May 25, 2005 |

For the first time this year, noticed hayfever is about to spoil the fun of early summer.. But it became a fine day anyway, when I met a girl who looks remarkably like Catherine Keener, the beautiful actress who plays a bitchy femme fatale in 'Being John Malkovich'. Reason enough to think 'she seems nice', then frown and run away fast.

Walking back to Happiness Monday, May 23, 2005 |

I got up on a Sunday morning, which I don't normally do. Walked to a friends house, waited for my dad and then participated in a 25 kilometer walk through Nijmegen and the surrounding woodlands. We went with roughly ten people, met another ten in the woods and finished with about five. By car. To get the medal in time. Hehe. In the evening I had a barbeque with my father, his girlfriend and two neighbours. Drank a bit too much Spanish wine but it was great. After that, my father and I discussed my precarious situation at length - though partly as an excuse to empty a crate of beer. It was enlightening though: I decided I should leave my Amsterdam flat, get a job in or around Nijmegen and move there as soon as I can. Why? What else did I get back home for?

Finances Wednesday, May 18, 2005 |

Alright, finances are starting to bite me in the arse again. Yesterday I has my last timesheet signed and I delivered it at my agency personally, which should ensure I get some money on Friday. But how to get to Friday with 2 euro's? Luckily, I am a heavy drinker when I can afford it. So this morning I went to the supermarket to return emptry crates, loose bottles and a considerable amount of cola bottles too. Then I did lots of groceries and the cashier paid me for the pleasure. Fabulous. My bank only has one ATM in Amsterdam (d'oh) and as I didn't want to waste money on public transport, I walked for nearly two hours. Then I updated my blog (hey!) and walked back. Vi ses!

:: scotland on my doorstep Sunday, May 15, 2005 |

I accompanied my sister to Schiphol Airport this morning, to see her off to Moldova. She should keep a travel (b)log actually, with the amount she travels. Remind me to remind her, please? Anyway, I noticed my way home took just 25 minutes. This means that with 30 minutes check-in time, 25 & 15 minutes of Public Transport at either end and 1.5 hours by aeroplane.. And taking GMT and CET into consideration.. Edinburgh city centre is just 1 hour and 40 minutes from my doorstep. My home town of Nimwegen lies ten minutes further away!

2002-0420-StGiles

:: switched Off Friday, May 13, 2005 |

Tuesday's big event was quite insulting, but I got over it the same day. Drank a lot of beer, talked to my sister on the phone and watched afternoon telly - saw a penguin called Pingu piss against a toilet because he was too small for it. Don't know why, but it took a while for me to stop laughing. On Wednesday I drank with my sister, who visited Amsterdam. And today? Well, I installed Windows 2000 on my flatmate's pc. It took ages and still didn't work well.

Odd One Out Tuesday, May 10, 2005 |

Wednesday last week I managed to ask my boss why I should loose my job. I told him I was surprised that I "did not fit in the team", as I had had no complaints. He agreed 'the team' should sit and talk about it. I then had a few days off. The chat would be on Tuesday morning.

Except there wasn't one. I came in, sat down with a coffee, and so did two managers and two colleagues: one who I worked with most, and a racist twat that I avoided. The third colleague was invited by the manager to sit down too, but refused: "Last week you said we'd get a new temp in! I am not gonna sit down with a temp to discuss anything, you just get a new temp!" Soon after, the racist twat explained why I needed to leave. "I came into the toilet one day, and saw you in front of the mirror. You were splashing your hands in a funny way, making the mirror all wet." My mouth fell open. "You mean you saw me doing my hair, my contact lenses or washing my hands?" "No, you're an odd one. You were messing with the mirror." There was nothing about how I do my work. Well, I was thought to ask a delivery time once, so I could sit longer, while I actually wanted to know if I had any chance against the clock. But there's nothing a disposable temp could do to fight personal dislike. I soon had enough and went on my merry way, accompanied by the managers. They apologised. How sad.

Board Meeting |

As a representative of the Young Greens, I'm welcome at the board meeting of GroenLinks - that's the Green Party of the Netherlands. I agree with my predecessor that the food served there is the number one reason to attend. Unfortunately today I came late, missed the food and had to rely on coffee instead, to see me through 2.5 hours of discussing implementation of what the annual Congress discussed in 1 hour 3 months before. Ach, politics.

Mother's Day Sunday, May 08, 2005 |

It's Mother's Day today and I'm staying at her house. Taking care of her cats. Watching a few dvd's. Writing some stuff on a computer. My mother and friends of hers have taken a camper, turned right at the sight of bad weather and ended up on the French Rivièra. Hmm. Luckily, the sun shines here too.

:: bush in the netherlands |

George W. Bush chose to honour the Netherlands - well, the southern most tip of the country - with his presence, in memorial of fallen American soldiers in World War II. Crass: at the same time, more American soldiers die in Iraq where they should never have been.

From Amsterdam, the Young Greens and many other organisations kindly requested him to please fork off. The demonstration counted some 8000 people, of which I was one. Mind you, I couldn't participate in the march of protest as I would watch our belongings. I stood on a vacated square for 2.5 hours in hard wind and rain until my fellow Greens came back. In the evening I was supposed to see a Russian play in Germany in which my father played. I was late. Pity, because I prefer a bit of Russian culture over American shyte.

:: celebrate my lateness Friday, May 06, 2005 |

May 5 is the National Holiday [bevrijdingsdag] of the Netherlands. I decided I should spend it celebrating for once, as I had missed 3 out of the last 4 by living in a country far far away. My father and I decided we would both cycle to Wageningen, a small town that hosts the biggest party every year. Just out of Nijmegen however, I carried my bike down some steps, off a bridge. For no apparent reason the pannier straps twirled around the derailleur and jammed it. The front mudguard was hanging loose, while the brake pads jammed against the rim. Aye, to a non-cyclist these last sentences were nonsensical, but to a cyclist like myself the entire bit was nonsensical too. I got my fingers dirty cleaning the derailleur, fixed the mudguards and got the pannier bags back on fine, but couldn't do anything with the front brakes. So I cycled further with the brakes on, until I met my dad at a restaurant halfway. He'd been waiting for an hour. When together we managed to get the brakes off, I did however notice that cycling with your brakes on is one helluva traing. My dad, who cycles to work daily and rides a racing bike every Sunday, couldn't keep up. Later of course, I drank him under the table too.

:: fourth of may Thursday, May 05, 2005 |

I realised too late that yesterday was National Memorial Day, the reason why my sister invited me to join her at the Dam square in central Amsterdam. So at eight o'clock in the evening, we stood there in a mass of people and held two minutes silence for the casualties of World War II. Amazing, a capital city, that still. After the silence came the Queen, who spoke a few words. We listened. Then along came ridiculous Prime Minister Balkenende. We hastened away. While he spoke, my sister and I washed away the bad taste with a few Guinness.

:: noticeable Wednesday, May 04, 2005 |

A Young Greens board meeting, if you can call it that. Good fun. I wasn't appointed to write the meeting's report, so I can't remember what we spoke about this evening. Hopefully the report comes in soon.

:: onkel vanya Sunday, May 01, 2005 |

Yesterday evening I went to see my father play Vanya, in a play by Chechov. Unfortunately, a player/musician did not get there. So, I went back home.

After drinking a whole lot of vodka and red wine, talking with the disappointed crew, telling my father I'll visit the play again next time and throwing my bicycle in the back of his car, that is.