Dio

Rest In Peace

Crochet Mania

Out of the blue I'm crocheting my ass off :)
Actually, not completely out of the blue: a friend asked me if I could make some cotton flowers to apply on her little girls' clothes. When I said yes, I *think* I can do that or learn how to do it, she sent me a package with different yarns. Haha, way to go, having all that material in hands made me start right away and now I find myself hooked (yep, silly pun^^).

Internet is such a good help: on Youtube you can find many, many crocheting tutorials and for a beginner like me that's perfect, easier than learning it from a book. And the English names for stitches make more sense to me.

Hope that, with enough practise, I can switch to making my own designs, with a more edgy twist. But for now flowers & butterflies are fine and I don't care if it makes me look like the typical cat lady. Got the cats, got some grey hair, got the ball of yarn next to me...all I need now is a rocking chair to complete the image! :)

Masochism?

So this is me, celebrating one of the most recent piercings. I expected this one to heal better than the last, but helas...it got infected and not only the pierced area was swollen, my cheek was as well. It hurt like hell and I was asking myself: "what was the reason again for having holes punched into your flesh?". No deeper meaning, no other reason than: I love the sight of piercings, I just like 'em.

Been using sea salt compresses a few times a day in an attempt to tear the goo out and noticed the best way to reach the inner part of the ear (where the other side of the piercing is) is with cotton sticks. Acupuncture for softies, Albert says ;)

This is what I hope it will look like in a few months. Let's hope it heals fast:)

Happy Birthday Albert!

My love turned 39 and his idea of a perfect day out is a day at the zoo. And I agree, it's a joy to stroll through that park together. Ouwehand's Dierenpark in Rhenen is just a bus ride away. This is an old zoo and lately there have been a lot of improvements going on. The spaces for the animals are bigger now and more like their natural habitats. Most of the big cats have moved to other parks and that's a relief to us. Of course it's great to be able to see every detail of the animals we love the most, but their space was too small and the cats didn't look happy. Now there are only lions and tigers left and they've got plenty of space to run around.

We saw a lot of newborn animals and watched the old bears frolic like cubs. Just a happy, cheerful day.
Afterwards we walked to the "pannenkoekenhuis", a pancake place. Yummie! Albert went for apple-raisin and I couldn't resist the pancake with stir-fried veggies & cheese.

Came home early, took a little old people's nap and watched a movie.

At the moment Albert is reading, a rare thing. He's just not into reading, like I'm not into some of his hobbies. My gift to him was the autobiography of his all-time rock idol, Biff Byford, and it was the first time I saw him get really excited about a book. So glad I could get my hands on that title!

In the 1st 2 pics Albert is wearing pyjamas. A bit of an inside joke between us, he's been talking about buying p.j.'s forever so I decided to buy him a set. It's his last year being thirty-something, he'd better get used to being old ;)

Pictures!

Convention!!!

Finally, finally, finally it was Convention time! A 3 day event, but I decided to join only one day, being aware of my limited energy.

My gosh, it was worth waiting for!!! Albert and I had such a good time...

We left early in the morning and took the luxury of taking a (cheap) taxi to the train station. We brought about 40 books, so it was nice not have to drag the luggage to the bus stop ;)

Smooth trip to Amsterdam and I noticed something weird: I was excited but not nervous. Hooray!
At the metro stop near the convention location we met the first foreign guests: Citibelle & husband from the UK. Wonderful people who had been lucky enough to fly to Amsterdam a few days earlier.

The Griffin (convention location) was easy to find thanks to the BookCrossing logo that showed us the way.

A warm welcome at the Griffin. A lot of new faces, but their names were familiar and everybody welcomed each other. During the day quite some people told me how glad they were we made it (I've listed myself for meetings so often and almost every time I couldn't be there because of issues). Felt so welcome and the atmosphere was so relaxed!

Phoenix-Flight, one of the organising BookCrossers, opened the day and told a little bit about the programme. Then Bruce, CEO & co-founder of BookCrossing, revealed the new look of our website, which will be online soon. It's gonna be friendlier for visitors, with less text and an easier interface. And lots more, but I won't bore you with that ;)

There were several speeches and performances during the day. We attended them all and enjoyed most of it. It was great to see Bruce, BookCrossing co-founder & CEO and his wife Heather IRL. The new fresh look of the BookCrossing website was presented and wow, it looks good! It's not online yet, but will be soon.

A writer of historical children's books, Rob Ruggenberg, had a great speech about his latest book.

The best performance of all was done by 2 storytellers and a poet. I wasn't sure if I was gonna like it, but the moment the first storyteller entered the stage (no, tóók the stage!), people were blown off their seats. My gosh, what a performer, what a vivid way of telling! A second storyteller joined him and later a singing poet completed the beauty by singing poems. There was a wonderful piece of the poet Rumi in it and that sent shivers down my spine. Standing ovation!

Albert and I went to a Greek restaurant during the dinner break, together with a BookCrosser who lives in our region. Yummie food and relaxed conversation.

When we returned to the Griffin, it was time for the Mystery VIP guest. Haha, I guess no one could have guessed it would be Sinterklaas himself, together with 2 zwarte pieten! :)
Sinterklaas did also draw the winning lottery tickets and quite some people won really cool prizes like a reading blanket, a pair of clogs and an eReader. Nope, Albert and I didn't win.

Although I was exhausted at the end of the day, it was hard to leave the convention, to say goodbye to all the people we'd met. To finally see faces behind the screen names I've known for years and to find out the click was there in real life as well...priceless! Can't wait for the next meeting!

The trip back home was a bit of a struggle. I had ran out of 'social energy', couldn't handle the switch between that feels-like-home atmosphere and the dark outside world very well. Was scared of every stranger that came by and I panicked. But with the help of Albert and my old friend Xanax I managed.

On Sunday I woke up with a mental hangover, but I hád to sort out, adjust and upload the pictures I shot. Kinda been doing that all day and in the end I knew I should have taken it easy, my head was running over. So I went to bed early, but in the middle of this night I woke up with the need to write about the convention and to upload the bits of video I made.
It's all done now.
I'm off to bed and will stay there for as long as I need!

Here are my photos & videos:

Piece of mu

Off we go!

In a few hours we're off to Amsterdam to join the international BookCrossing Convention. A huge pile of books in English, Dutch, German, French and Finnish is waiting to be taken along (so glad I don't have to carry them all by myself!).

It's been 2 years already since we (the Dutch BookCrossers) were chosen to organise this Convention (it's in a different country/state every year and several countries were battling to be chosen) and people have been working on it since then. So much to organise when you know over 200 people will visit the event; finding a place to hold the event, finding sponsors, getting the finances and administration done and lots more.
I didn't join the organising team but have lend a hand by designing the official themed bookplates, gathering goodies for the goodiebags and prizes for the lottery/tombola and I made a bunch of themed bookmarks. So I've been busy with it as well and I'm thrilled to be part of this all.

The Convention last 3 days, starting yesterday. Three whole days is too much for me, so with a little pain in my heart I decided to go only one day. This way I know I can probably handle the being-social part well enough without crossing my boundaries too much.

223 people from 18 different countries (if I counted correctly^^) have bought tickets and have been planning & booking their trips & places to sleep. Major disappointment when that vulcano in Iceland lead to mass cancellation of flights; quite a bunch of people are not going to make it because of that. Such a turn off for them and for the organising people!! Some found other ways of transportation, but the trains and ferries were out of seats in no time, mostly taken by business people. Boohoo!

I've just been watching the first bunch of pictures from yesterday evening, all looking really good & fun. Today we'll be part of that fun (yes, Albert, the non-reader, will join me and he's looking forward to it as well) and of course I'll bring my camera. Pictures will follow soon!

Offtopic: we've been worried about Puschkin lately. He's so fragile and his fur has gotten greasy since he can't reach all the spots anymore. I looked for powder or foam shampoo to help him clean, but in the end we decided a check-up at the vet's would be more helpful. The vet said he's probably only got a mild case of artrosis, it's just the high age that causes the stiffness in his limbs. They took some blood samples and the first results are in: no liver problems at all and his kidneys function well for a cat this old. Next week we'll get the results of his thyroid gland (?? schildklier).

It looks like our little old guy is in better shape than we thought! What a relief!

Silver Balls & Linings

A new piece of steel in my ear, my grey hairs wanted to be in the picture as well ;) (sorry for the bit of blood)

I hoped the piercer would replace my helix piercing for a ring, but since it's not completely healed (takes about 9 months in cartilage, it's 3.5 months now), he only wants to do it with a sterilized ring. I chose a nice & tiny one (8mm), will go back there next week.

But I'm happy!
Couldn't pass the 2nd hand bookstore without browsing & buying, scored 3 more books in English for the convention (already this weekend!!!).

Have had some health problems lately. First a jaw infection and right after that a flu-like stomach virus. The fever is finally gone now and I'm saving my energy for the convention.

@Anne: you were right, the tragus feels like it instantly healed, quite a difference with the helix. Hope it will give as less problems as yours. Thanks for being my info person! <3

Feline Adventures

After a little walk, guided by both his humans and 3 of the other cats, a surprise was waiting for Puschkin. A new fancy basket! Now he's got a 2 room, 2 floor appartment. We were surprised and glad that he accepted this new sleeping place. Cats, and especially Puschkin, want to make their own choices and most of the time they ignore the things you've bought for them and choose to sleep in a box or play with the wrapping of the toy you bought. One of the million reasons why I love cats!

We put Puschkins favourite blanket in the new basket and in no time he was deep asleep. He didn't even wake up when Pavlov and later Munchkin explored the upper part of the basket.

Molotov, on the other hand, preferred a plain old box :)

Sweet Old Man

(yes, we do feed him enough and yes, he's still enjoying life. little walks around the house are a joy to us all)

Online Shopping

I had so much fun with the web shop I stumbled upon today: easer.com. They've got quite a broad assortment and the descriptions are entertaining.

Surpising to find all kinds of tools for  grave maintenance, placed in the category  "hobby". Quite a hobby!





check out Holy Mary!







And this? It looks like a torture tool or something. It's an anti snore retainer, the most drastic one I've ever seen! We've tried many anti snoring aids, from nose stickers, nose clips, sprays and even an expensive pillow, but my darling is so good at snoring, he beats every method! ;)
Hmmm, next month is his birthday...*wink*

But this I couldn't ignore. Our old man Puschkin has used a large basket (we got it from my sister, her cat ignored the thing -as cats are supposed to do^^) for over 4 months, but he seems to have changed his mind about it, he doesn't want to use it anymore. We thought "maybe he wants something a little less open" and moved the travel basket (a round one) to the living room. Indeed, he spends his days in that basket now, seems to have forgotten how much he hated that vet-related item. But how stressful would it be for him if we took him to the vet again in that basket? I would stop trusting the person who's got the guts to abuse my favourite furniture like that!
So this 2-floors basket is coming our way. It looks purrrfect! :)

Book Releasing Spree, Wageningen

Wonderful weather today. We went to Wageningen for lunch, nice day!

Short!

The hairdresser & I are getting used to each other. The first couple of times she was careful not to give me a too butchy/boyish haircut, but now she grabs the tondeuse rightaway and I don't even have to re-do my hair when I come home. This is the style that suits me at the moment, this feels like "me". Wish I could have her dye my hair as well, but the wallet doesn't allow a professional colouring. Ah well, a pack of dark red dye plus a can of peroxide is waiting for me to be creative, it's gonna be just fine :)

Well, appointment with the shrink went well this morning, my hair doesn't look like our former prime minister/Harry Potter anymore, I did 6 themed book releases and the whole trip was panic free, so I'm satisfied!


Oh and I may have found the perfect volunteering job: the organisation where Albert works, is looking for people who want to teach some of their (mentally challenged) clients to read & write. Would love to do that!
I've also found two other projects: a local gay magazine needs a person who can write, edit and illustrate for them and another local magazine (mental health related) has got a similar opening. Hmmm, maybe this is the opportunity I was waiting for!

Whatever happened to equality?

This song gives words to how I feel right now about our little country full of hate towards "foreigners"...


I've got a soul
That cannot sleep
At night when something
Just ain't right
Blood red
But without sight
Exploding egos
In the night
Mix like sticks
Of dynamite
Red black or white
This is my fight
Come on courage
Let's be heard
Turn feelings
Into words
American equality
Has always been sour
An attitude
I would like to devour
My name is peace
This is my hour
Can I get
Just a little bit of power

The power of equality
Is not yet what it ought to be (ought to be)
It fills me up like a hollow tree (hollow tree)
The power of equality

Right or wrong
My song is strong
You don't like it
Get along
Say what I want
Do what I can
Death to the message
Of the Ku Klux Klan
I don't buy supremacy
Media chief
You menace me
The people you say
'Cause all the crime
Wake up motherfucker
And smell the slime
Blackest anger
Whitest fear
Can you hear me
Am I clear
My name is peace
This is my hour
Can I get
Just a little bit of power

The power of equality
Is not yet what it ought to be (ought to be)
It fills me up like a hollow tree (hollow tree)
The power of equality

I've got tapes
I've got CD's
I've got my public enemy
My lilly white ass
Is tickled pink
When I listen to the music
That makes me think
Not another
Motherfuckin' politician
Doin' nothin' but something
For his own ambition
Never touch
The sound we make
Soul sacred love
Vows that we take
To create straight
What is true
Yo he's with me
And what I do
My name is peace
This is my hour
Can I get
Just a little bit of power

The power of equality
Is not yet what it ought to be (ought to be)
It fills me up like a hollow tree (hollow tree)
The power of equality

Madder than a motherfucker
Lick my finger
Can't forget
'Cause the memory lingers
Count 'em off quick
Little piccadilly sickness
Take me to the hick
Eat my thickness
I've got a welt
From the bible belt
Dealing with the hand
That I've been dealt
Sitting in the grip
Of a killing fist
Giving up blood
Just to exist
Rub me wrong
And I get pissed
No I cannot
Get to this
People in pain
I do not dig it
Change of brain
For Mr Bigot

Little brother do you hear me
Have a heart oh come get near me
Misery is not my friend
But I'll break before I bend
What I see is insanity
What ever happened to humanity
What ever happened to humanity
What ever happened to humanity

Didn't know that!

Watched a nice documentary about The Doors on one of the Belgian tv channels and learned something new: I had no idea the origin of Alabama Song ("Whisky Bar") lies in German opera. Nice to learn something new!

Dutch Delight

Scored some red/white/blue ribbons today, so I could finally finish the bookmarks I'm making for the convention. Printing, cutting and laminating was already done, so this evening it was all about punching & attaching ribbons. Done!

It feels weird though, to work with this Dutch theme while keeping one eye on the news about local elections that were held today. Lots of votes for the extreme right party. I don't feel very 'proud of Holland' at the moment. Yuk. :(

Say (&eat!) cheese!

Kitschy but oh so cute, these ribbons ;)

Watching the elections...

Dutch Linebacker for Dallas!

Dallas Does Happy Dance

News from our local reporter

The Dallas Cowboys, an American football team from Texas, USA, are dancing for joy: a new and very talented linebacker was scouted and will lead the team to victory during the next NFL season.
This promising new member was scouted in The Netherlands, a weird little country somewhere in Europe, also referred to as "Holland". He was born & raised there, but he believes he's been born into the wrong part of the world. "I feel all American inside", he claims, "I discovered my true identity when I started drinking Coca Cola and it got worse after Mac Donald's opened its doors in our little Bible Belt village on the Dutch country side."

A mysterious box arrived at his home this week. A gift for his wife, our new man Albert figured: "she's involved in a mysterious movement called "BookCrossing" and those book people seem to like sending each other gifts, mostly books. I'm not a big reader, so I didn't show much interest in the box, until my wife said I should open the box because there was a surprise in it. A surprise for me!"

When Albert opened the box, he immediately recognized the blue star printed on two heavy duty football caps. The Cowboys! His favourite team! But there was more: a life size football helmet was enclosed as well!

"I just went crazy," Albert tells, "I grabbed my Cowboys shirt, put on the helmet, placed the caps on my wife's and my cat's heads and ran over to the soccer field near our home. I started making crazy football moves and my wife and cat were cheering. And then a car stopped. An American dude walked towards me and shook my hand. The rest is history: before I knew it, I was signing deals. It felt like coming home!". The big guy wipes a tear from his face. "Yes, we'll have to move to the States, the sooner the better. But I had to make one commitment to my old lady: we can't leave before the international BookCrossing convention has taken place and I promised to be on her side during that event."

Whispering, he adds: "I don't understand those people, why would you read books if you can watch the movies? But the people in that cult are friendly and hey, it's an American concept after all, so I'm kinda looking forward to that convention-meeting-thingy!".

Albert will have to work on his body, he admits: "A little extra padding here & there will make me a stronger linebacker. Jonathan Kirksey is my inspiration, he played for the Dutch team when the NFL Europe was still alive." 

If we look closely at Albert's picture, we notice something strange: twigs and leaves are growing out of his face. When we ask Albert about that curious disorder, he shakes his head and mumbles something about his wife being a vegetarian tree hugger. We wish him good luck with that, but most of all we wish him a wonderful carreer and new life in the States!

The Cowboys and their Happy Dance

Curious to see what else was in that mystery box?

Displayed below!

Munchkin

It's nice that cameras come with cat toys!