Happy 2005...

.... to the people in Kirimati!!!
(and, off course, also to the rest of you, around the world, in the next couple of hours)

 

Orbis Terrae Tremulus

Boxing day's quake - and subsequent tsunami - in Southeast Asia has definitely shocked the complete world - metaphorically and quite literally:

The death toll of the tsunami has risen to 134,000 (one hundred and thirty-four thousand !!!- that's almost the number of people inhabiting my hometown!). Strangely enough, nearly no wild animals were killed...

The deadly Asian earthquake may have permanently accelerated the Earth's rotation -- shortening days by a fraction of a second -- and caused the planet to wobble on its axis, a U.S. geophysicist theorised.

 

Good night

The most surreal part of partying (Sven Väth! 6 hour set!) on week-nights is the journey home: traveling by train at 7 AM, surrounded by commuters... While you're thinking about the hot shower, the warm bed and the sleep you'll get when you get home, your fellow travelers just left all that and have a whole day of work ahead of them... Some people have all the luck!

 

This Season's First Snow (Angel)

 

Shocked

I don't swear a lot, and certainly not because of stuff on TV, but I might have said more than a few fecks in the past 24 hours... JF!
I thought I had a deja-vu when I heard the news, yesterday at breakfast. Last year on December 26th a quake destroyed the ancient city of Bam, in Iran, and 43,000 people were killed. This year - on the same date! - Southeast Asia was struck by the world's most powerful earthquake in more than 40 years - 8.9 on Richter's Scale! It erupted underwater off of the Indonesian island of Sumatra and sent walls of water barreling thousands of miles, killing over 22.000 people - and sadly enough still counting - across the region... By the way, Laila, you ok?

I made a mental note not to be near any tectonic zones and/or fault lines on Boxing Day in 2005...

 

Post-Christmas

*sigh*
The carols have all been sung...
The food has all been eaten...
The hugs have all been given...
It was all so great...
Same time next year?

(from Today's Garfield cartoon)

 

Merry X-mas

Pffff, I am stuffed like a turkey! I can hardly move... Thanks Mum (and Dad)! That was a very good first day! Fun and giggles all day long - thanks to the champagne at breakfast ;-)

So, how's your Christmas so far?

 

List-mania (part 1)

"It's the end of the year as we know it and I feel fine!"
Time for lists! (I know, it's a bit early, but I have more lists... )
Solly does / will...
* get that fecking job !!!
* buy more pink clothes, shoes and boots
* stick to beer and wine
* go back to India
* keep on blogging
Solly does not / won't
* want to talk to any friends who spend the coldest months of the year on tropical islands ;-)
* sing any of the Darkness songs in the shower
* drink more than two units of alcoholic drinks with more sugar than alcohol in it (Sambuca, Cointreau)
* talk about weather/season related depressions on her blog
* nag about her 29th birthday
in 2005

 

Scrooge

Almost x-mas... A time for peace, light and cheesy tunes. Time to spend with your loved ones - family, friends, pets... Everyone talks about charity, humanity, compassion...

Everyone? No, not everyone. There's a small tribe of ignorant people, who happen to do their x-mas shopping at my local supermarket. Double parked cars at the street, shopping carts filled to the max, couples rushing through the store, people fighting over the last bottle of cheap wine, arguing who was first at the counter, ignoring the queue... All they seem to care about is consumption, consumption, consumption. For them, that's the true spirit of Christmas!

Luckily, this is only a minority. Let's hope the ghosts of Christmas pay a visit to them Ebenezers!

 

Turkey

The negotiations went fairly easy this year. No diplomatic crises, no cold war. All parties were happy with the outcome of the conference; no hushing peace talks afterward. Our special 'iron out all difficulties'-diplomat had nothing to do all day. Even the compromises, compensation measures and bribery money weren't necessary at all!

Who said I was discussing Turkey's EU membership? No, I am talking about a much more sensitive subject: the annual distribution of Christmas dinner locations. Where to eat turkey, so to say. But, as I said before, things went very smoothly this year. Christmas day is for my parents, and we spend Boxing Day at MyLove's parents. X-mas eve we spend at home- under our x-mas tree ;-)

I wish, that all the world's problems could be solved this easy...

 

Sun on Friday

This morning, MyLove thought I'd crossed the thin line between winter depression and winter craziness. And who can blame him? I woke him up early this morning - the only day of the week he can sleep late! - brutally opened the curtains, jumped up and down on our bed and screaming: "Look, look, I think the sun is shining, let's go outside, let's...." and then MyLove threw a pillow at me.

I just went outside, had 15 minutes of pure sunshine at me and I feel a lot better. The battery is charged again, so to speak, with solar energy.

I know, that some people think I over react, but I really need (day or sun) light to function properly.

 

Midwinter dip (part two): Help Solly!

Winter Depression symptoms can include:

* excessive sleeping, difficulty staying awake, overeating, and weight gain during the fall or winter months;
* feelings of extreme fatigue, inability to maintain regular lifestyle schedule;
depression (feelings of sadness, loss of feelings, apathy) combined with irritability;
* lack of interest in social interactions, losing interest in activities of enjoyment;
* remission of symptoms in the spring and summer months.

Those suffering from mild cases of SAD can benefit from additional exposure to the sun. This can include a long walk outside or arranging your home or office so that you are exposed to a window during the day. (source)

Hmmm... all those symptoms (except for part about overeating/weight gain and lack of interest in social activities) apply to me... Maybe decorating the x-mas tree or my 'think you're in Cuba'-therapy (drinking Hot Coco and Rum while listening to the Buena Vista Social Club) is just not enough. I need real sun! Going outside is not an option, 'cause there IS no sun, only lots and lots of grey clouds!

Help me to get through this winter and send money for a tropical holiday or useful tips and tricks or funny stuff or some sun...

 

Conversation pieces

1.
It's 10 AM and I've just finished baking... This early? Yep: I've prepared something that needs more added than just milk or yoghurt. My mom's visiting- she wants to see the prettiest x-mas decorations EVER with her own eyes. (Then she will decide if she agrees with me or will provide a shelter for MyLove). Mum likes something with her coffee. As we are both sugar-intolerant - mom's a diabetes patient, I have hypoglycemia- I made cinnamon-and-apple turnovers. Hmmm. They look good, they smell even better- I just have to remember to were gloves next time my hands enter the oven... Ouch!
2.
I only had 10 things wrong in the 'Groot Dictee der Nederlandse Taal' (Grand Dictation of the Dutch Language; a bit like the National IQ test, but this is very difficult dictation exercise, broadcasted live on national TV, lots of Dutch celebs, making lots of mistakes... Anyway) The average was around 25 spelling mistakes, so I performed way above average! I did better than my parents in law - wee! it's a prestige thing... I must admit I was a bit surprised, cause I never write anything the old-fashioned way any more- I actually got severe cramps in my hand halfway....

 

Midwinter dip

So far, this December has been rather grey and cold. I haven't seen the sun in about 5 days!!! In order to get rid of the approaching winter-depression, I have considered moving to the other (read: sunny) side of this planet. ("Hi Sista, Hi Cam!") MyLove, several friends and family (especially my mom "I already have one daughter down-under, don't you dare moving that far away, too!!!") subtly convinced me to take less drastic steps. So I tried going to the solarium... turn up the heating really high (27 degC inside ;-D)... buying more (pink) coloured clothing...

However, the thing that really did the trick was...

...decorating my house and (tiny) Christmas tree with lots of bright yellow, pink, blue, green and orange balls! Eat this, you mean winter depression! Ha!











(the flip side is, that MyLove now strongly considers to move out of our apartment until I have removed 'the ugliest x-mas decorations EVER'. His words... Not mine.)

 

From laptop to desktop

Though I think I don't want to become a mother ever, I would like to keep all options open. Therefore, I have forbidden MyLove to use his laptop on his... eh, well... lap. Just in case...

MEN could damage their fertility by using laptops on their LAPS. Tests showed that after just 15 minutes of laptop use, a man's scrotum temperature had risen 1°C, enough to harm sperm. After an hour's use the underside of a laptop rose from 31°C to 40°C. It can reach 70°C, heating the nether regions by 2.8°C. Users wore loose clothing for the tests. Now a report in medical journal Human Reproduction suggests male users should keep laptops on DESKS. Dr Yefim Sheynkin, director of male infertility at New York State University, warned: "As well as being capable of producing direct heat, they require the user to sit with his thighs close together to balance the machine, which traps the scrotum between the thighs. Exposure may cause irreversible changes in reproductive function!" (source)

 

Head forecast

Yesterday, a narrowing band of cloud drifted into Solly's cranium, so today's forecast for Solly's head does not look too good either. There's a chance of showers in the nose, with thunderstorms in the throat area. Lingering fog in the complete head, slow to clear especially near the eyes.

Due to these conditions, today's ferry sailings between Funnythought and Brilliantpost have been cancelled.

Things should improve in the coming days.

('stolen' and/or adapted from Bieslog)

 

Whoo-hee-hee-whoo

Every morning promptly at 6 AM: female giggling from the apartment above ours. Quite loud. "Whoo-hee-hee-whoo". A bit like a happy wake-up call. "Whoo-hee-hee-whoo". Every single morning.
She giggles a couple of times more at random moments during the day, yet its that morning giggle that puzzles me and MyLove. We aint laughing that early in the morning. We just want coffee. Someone suggested that her man might be 'sweet' to her in the morning. We considered that suggestion, but dismissed it. It would explain the 6 AM giggles - talk about routine!... - but not the random ones during the day (we have checked the presence of his car at giggle moments). Another person suggested psychosis or anxiety attacks, and that the giggling is in fact crying. "Whoo-hee-hee-whoo". Considered, yet dismissed too. This would explain the random giggling, but not the 6 AM ones - unless it's fear of being left alone?... Nah. She looks like a stable person, happy, and greets us friendly when we see her. Someone suggested we should ask her in person.

Ask her?! That would ruin the fun completely! 'Guess the time of the giggle' is one of our favorite games... Plus she makes us smile at 6 AM: "Whoo-hee-hee-whoo". Our happy wake-up call...

So, does anyone else have a better suggestion?

 

St. Nic's Eve

The presents are wrapped, the surprises are ready, I've nearly finished my poems... I am ready for Sinterklaasavond (a.k.a. Saint Nicholas eve)!

This truly is my favourite eve of the year. In fact, it even tops my birthday. Why? Well, it combines everything I like: lots and lots of presents AND being together with my family AND lots of laughter. It's like Christmas in the US, but not the same - though St. Nicholas and Santa Claus are in fact the same guy!

On December 5th, St. Nicholas Eve, it actually not about giving, though "it is in giving that we receive." Its for adults as well as children, though the kids get their pressies directly from Sinterklaas, IF they have been sweet and good kids during the year. The adults give eachother gifts, after the kids have gone to bed. These gifts are prettily wrapped in special Sinterklaas paper or they may be hidden, for example, in a potato or an old sock. Each gift, anonymously signed "from Sinterklaas," comes with a clever rhyme that may point out a person's shortcomings in a humorous way. The gift itself is just a bonus, as the fun is in the doing. Originality, not value of the gift, is what counts.

update @ 8.30 PM I got new socks, shoes, incense, cd-r's, a book, perfume... virtually every rhyme referred to my driving-exams... I laughed my bum off... Others liked the gifts I bought them... I am completely stuffed with all the sugarfree chocolate letters... It was a good St. Nic's Eve!!!

 

Fun on Friday (10)

Lots and lots of X-mas games!

 

Tot

Prince Bernhard Leopold Friedrich Eberhard Julius Kurt Karl Gottfried Peter zur Lippe Biesterfeld died yesterday evening aged 93.

That's two years older than my grandparents, so even they considered him to be officially old... When his wife HRH Princess Juliana died earlier this year, they (my grandparents) said to me: 'He won't outlive her much longer. They were married 67 years: he will miss her too much. She was his reason to live, without her he will lose his will to fight.' Grandpa and grandma looked at each other, loving, knowingly. They were right - as always.

Three weeks ago, a press release was issued, stating that HRH the Prince was terminally ill - cancer. No treatment was started. He personally said goodbye to his friends and family. In the course of yesterday afternoon, the Prince’s condition had deteriorated and he had become extremely poorly. He was admitted to Utrecht University Medical Centre, where, in accordance with his wishes, the decision was taken to desist from further treatment. He is reunited with his beloved wife again, may they live happily in the there-after...

 

World Aids Day

Today!