Day ?? - That Time I Got Sucked In
I have been re-watching the first season of the American-Australian TV show 'Farscape'. Not only because A) it's awesome but B) I am bored of revision.
And, as I was watching, I got to an episode where John lands on a planet and is left there for 3 months. Somehow he becomes Tom Hanks (sans Wilson the volleyball) and has no power to get off the planet. I was so sucked in by the show that I actually said ALOUD (bear in mind that I was watching it alone) 'wow, that planet looks a lot like Earth'.
Where does my brain think the rest of the scenes are filmed?
But, I swear, I honestly forgot for one second that I was watching a sci-fi TV show.
If that's not the sign of a good show then I don't know what is.
&& Fin.
Monday 25 October 2010
Wednesday 20 October 2010
Here's To The Pilot That Weathered The Storm
Day ?? - That Time I Regretted Not Starving
Hello, dear readers.
I know that my absence in writing must have caused more than a few broken hearts but fear not! For I have returned with a vengeance.
The Tale of The Disconnection
Twas a cold Thursday eve
And the winter drew in
There was nought to do
But to sit and to sin.
A young girl was sat,
Her head in her hands,
For the internet was down
Along with her plans.
For she hoped she could watch
(As she was wont to do)
Some TV shows of hers
(There were more than a few).
But alas come the night
When the stars shone so gay
Her connection was gone
It had fluttered away.
Onward she battled
Through sever and gateway
But she turned to the vodka
So miserable was her day.
Then she partied all night
Danced till her feet turned blue
As she prayed that tomorrow
Her connection would be renewed.
All through Friday she suffered
Without book (face or lame),
Till she called the IT man
Such was her pain.
She knocked on his dwelling,
Filled with such dread,
For she had heard if you woke him,
He ripped off your head.
He opened the door,
She stifled a cry.
"What do you want?"
He roared with fee and with fi.
Calmly she told him
Her woes and her needs
He slammed the door in her face
And went about his dark, IT deeds.
A few minutes later,
And a few minutes more,
A muffled apology
Could be heard through the door.
"There's nought to be done."
He shrugged and he waved.
"Your internet's gone.
It cannot be saved."
Beaten, defeated,
The girl returned home
Where the only thing to do
Was to whine and to moan.
"Unhelpful wretch!
What on earth shall I do?
I have a project on Monday
And I'll miss Smallville too."
The weekend came
And the weekend went
She was ready to demand
A reduction of her rent.
In her hours of seclusion,
Cut off from the world
She managed to get through
An entire series of Gossip Girl.
But Monday came
And the IT man did too
"Turns out it's just your IPv6
It'll be as good as new."
The girl rejoiced
Her luck was finally in,
But her stomach lurched
When she saw IT man grin.
"Yep, reconnected
In a day or three.
That's what you get
For awakening me."
He left with a chuckle,
The girl still without power
So she sat down and counted
Every minute, every hour.
Lucky for her
(And her sanity too)
She was reconnected Tuesday
And she had much to do.
There were programs to watch
And emails to write
And secrets to keep
Of the events of Sunday night.
For nobody knew
That the girl was a whizz
That she hacked someone's wireless
What a cheeky young miss.
But regardless of this,
Her internet was back
So she wasted her time
Writing poetry and other cack.
=D
Yeah. Take that.
Also, I had my Anthropology presentation on Monday which could have gone worse. I think it was okay so I'm feeling quite good about that. It's weird to think though that I've had 6 weeks of lectures and I've already finished 2 of my modules for the year. Very bizarre. I'm a little worried about exams next week just because I feel like I haven't really learnt anything. And not because I haven't been working but just because it's been such a short time.
Anyway, onto other news.
Today I ran out of food. (Well, technically it was yesterday evening). So I knew I had to go food shopping. But the weather was horrible so I knew I had to do it on the way home because I wouldn't leave my house again if I got into the warm.
I picked up a few things in town and then went onto Albert Heijn and Lidl to get my food.
As I'm cycling home the wind picks up and it's been drizzling on and off all day so it started doing that again. Then, all of a sudden, there is a heavy hail storm. And I'm stuck in the middle of it with shopping bags, a wooly hat and skinny jeans.
Oh, that was a fun ride home.
Turns out the best buy of the day was not food (which I would have starved without) it was the preemptive waterproof mascara.
Bargain.
&&Fin.
Hello, dear readers.
I know that my absence in writing must have caused more than a few broken hearts but fear not! For I have returned with a vengeance.
The Tale of The Disconnection
Twas a cold Thursday eve
And the winter drew in
There was nought to do
But to sit and to sin.
A young girl was sat,
Her head in her hands,
For the internet was down
Along with her plans.
For she hoped she could watch
(As she was wont to do)
Some TV shows of hers
(There were more than a few).
But alas come the night
When the stars shone so gay
Her connection was gone
It had fluttered away.
Onward she battled
Through sever and gateway
But she turned to the vodka
So miserable was her day.
Then she partied all night
Danced till her feet turned blue
As she prayed that tomorrow
Her connection would be renewed.
All through Friday she suffered
Without book (face or lame),
Till she called the IT man
Such was her pain.
She knocked on his dwelling,
Filled with such dread,
For she had heard if you woke him,
He ripped off your head.
He opened the door,
She stifled a cry.
"What do you want?"
He roared with fee and with fi.
Calmly she told him
Her woes and her needs
He slammed the door in her face
And went about his dark, IT deeds.
A few minutes later,
And a few minutes more,
A muffled apology
Could be heard through the door.
"There's nought to be done."
He shrugged and he waved.
"Your internet's gone.
It cannot be saved."
Beaten, defeated,
The girl returned home
Where the only thing to do
Was to whine and to moan.
"Unhelpful wretch!
What on earth shall I do?
I have a project on Monday
And I'll miss Smallville too."
The weekend came
And the weekend went
She was ready to demand
A reduction of her rent.
In her hours of seclusion,
Cut off from the world
She managed to get through
An entire series of Gossip Girl.
But Monday came
And the IT man did too
"Turns out it's just your IPv6
It'll be as good as new."
The girl rejoiced
Her luck was finally in,
But her stomach lurched
When she saw IT man grin.
"Yep, reconnected
In a day or three.
That's what you get
For awakening me."
He left with a chuckle,
The girl still without power
So she sat down and counted
Every minute, every hour.
Lucky for her
(And her sanity too)
She was reconnected Tuesday
And she had much to do.
There were programs to watch
And emails to write
And secrets to keep
Of the events of Sunday night.
For nobody knew
That the girl was a whizz
That she hacked someone's wireless
What a cheeky young miss.
But regardless of this,
Her internet was back
So she wasted her time
Writing poetry and other cack.
=D
Yeah. Take that.
Also, I had my Anthropology presentation on Monday which could have gone worse. I think it was okay so I'm feeling quite good about that. It's weird to think though that I've had 6 weeks of lectures and I've already finished 2 of my modules for the year. Very bizarre. I'm a little worried about exams next week just because I feel like I haven't really learnt anything. And not because I haven't been working but just because it's been such a short time.
Anyway, onto other news.
Today I ran out of food. (Well, technically it was yesterday evening). So I knew I had to go food shopping. But the weather was horrible so I knew I had to do it on the way home because I wouldn't leave my house again if I got into the warm.
I picked up a few things in town and then went onto Albert Heijn and Lidl to get my food.
As I'm cycling home the wind picks up and it's been drizzling on and off all day so it started doing that again. Then, all of a sudden, there is a heavy hail storm. And I'm stuck in the middle of it with shopping bags, a wooly hat and skinny jeans.
Oh, that was a fun ride home.
Turns out the best buy of the day was not food (which I would have starved without) it was the preemptive waterproof mascara.
Bargain.
&&Fin.
Wednesday 13 October 2010
A Dress Makes No Sense Unless It Inspires Men To Want To Take It Off You
Day ?? - That Time I Took Stock
So the past few days have been a bit of a blur.
The weather has been fantastic. So fantastic, in fact, that I left the house in shorts and a cardigan on Tuesday. What started out as a labelling me a fashionista soon turned into quite the fashion faux pas.
Turns out that it's cold in October. Regardless of whether the sun is out or not.
I went for lunch and coffee with a friend and ended up having to buy a pair of jeans to change into. Luckily, they were only 10 euros in the H&M sale and I did need a new pair anyway. But still. Felt like a bit of a moron going into the Academic building to shimmy out of shorts and jam on my new (far, far too skinny no wonder they were in the sale. They were made for Twiggy I swear.) jeans.
Anyway, this purchase got me thinking about what I've bought since I've been out in the Netherlands clothes wise. I moved with just 4 pairs of shoes in my suitcase and I know I've bought some since I've been here but I thought it would be interesting to see (roughly) what I've been spending my hard earned cash on. I took pictures of everything.
And now I'm a little ashamed to share.
So first, my lunch today was awesome. Bacon sandwiches and salad. It's allllll good.
So the past few days have been a bit of a blur.
The weather has been fantastic. So fantastic, in fact, that I left the house in shorts and a cardigan on Tuesday. What started out as a labelling me a fashionista soon turned into quite the fashion faux pas.
Turns out that it's cold in October. Regardless of whether the sun is out or not.
I went for lunch and coffee with a friend and ended up having to buy a pair of jeans to change into. Luckily, they were only 10 euros in the H&M sale and I did need a new pair anyway. But still. Felt like a bit of a moron going into the Academic building to shimmy out of shorts and jam on my new (far, far too skinny no wonder they were in the sale. They were made for Twiggy I swear.) jeans.
Anyway, this purchase got me thinking about what I've bought since I've been out in the Netherlands clothes wise. I moved with just 4 pairs of shoes in my suitcase and I know I've bought some since I've been here but I thought it would be interesting to see (roughly) what I've been spending my hard earned cash on. I took pictures of everything.
And now I'm a little ashamed to share.
So first, my lunch today was awesome. Bacon sandwiches and salad. It's allllll good.
Now, as to my shopping. We must bear in mind that I came over without a rain coat and with only one pair of flat shoes. And only like 2 (or 5) dresses. So some of this has been necessary purchases. Sort of.
(I'm sorry, Mum)
Gulp.
And then there is all the socks I bought the other week because I realised I had like 3 pairs. =/
Moving on...my money saving scheme is in place. I am not buying too much at the supermarket because I refuse to throw away food anymore. I am also not going out as much. This has less to do with saving money and more to do with the fact that I have exams in less than two weeks and I don't feel like I've learnt anything yet! Eek. This is insane. One of my courses has actually ended already.
Ask me anything about Anthropology.
I guarantee you that the answer will be 'I don't know'. I think I'm going to have to hole myself away for a solid week and revise.
And we all know how good I am at revision, dear readers.
Where are my very kind, very patient flat mates when I need them?!
This plan is somewhat hindered by the fact that I have been invited to the Hague on Friday to sit in on a War Crimes case in the International Court of Justice and I really, really want to go. The question is not about money or even passing my degree.
The real question is: can I be bothered to get to the train station for 6AM?
The answer, dear friends, is looking rather bleak I must admit.
&&Fin
Sunday 10 October 2010
A = success so A = X + Y + Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut
Day ?? - That Time Summer Came Back To The Netherlands
This weekend has mostly been about work.
A little bit about X-Factor but mostly work.
The only really interesting thing about the weekend was when I went out briefly on Saturday night. I went to go to a bar with my Australian friend that I met a few weeks ago. She invited me out for a drink or two with a group of her friends so I thought I would go and meet some new people. This was actually an excellent idea because I managed to meet the two other people that are coming to Portugal with us. =D
Always good to know who you are sharing a room with before you turn the lights out I suppose.
Anyway, turns out it was this rooftop bar in the Grote Markt. So we watched the sunset over the City Hall and then went to get hot chocolate in the Drie Gezusters. It was heavenly.
And this morning I woke up to clear blue skies once again. So my weekend has been fantastic weather wise, met some new, fun people and managed to get a whole lot of reading done besides.
Haven't gone for that second run yet though and my trainers are staring at me woefully from their box.
I may have to tuck them behind the wardrobe just so I feel less guilty about the whole 'not going running' thing.
This weekend has mostly been about work.
A little bit about X-Factor but mostly work.
The only really interesting thing about the weekend was when I went out briefly on Saturday night. I went to go to a bar with my Australian friend that I met a few weeks ago. She invited me out for a drink or two with a group of her friends so I thought I would go and meet some new people. This was actually an excellent idea because I managed to meet the two other people that are coming to Portugal with us. =D
Always good to know who you are sharing a room with before you turn the lights out I suppose.
Anyway, turns out it was this rooftop bar in the Grote Markt. So we watched the sunset over the City Hall and then went to get hot chocolate in the Drie Gezusters. It was heavenly.
And this morning I woke up to clear blue skies once again. So my weekend has been fantastic weather wise, met some new, fun people and managed to get a whole lot of reading done besides.
Haven't gone for that second run yet though and my trainers are staring at me woefully from their box.
I may have to tuck them behind the wardrobe just so I feel less guilty about the whole 'not going running' thing.
&&Fin
Friday 8 October 2010
Take In Laundry Before You Take In Partners
Day ?? - That Time I Made Some Stupid Decisions
I know, dear readers, it is a rare day when I make a stupid decision but, alas, that day has arrived.
Money is not the root of all evil. Alcohol is. I'm pretty sure that should be made official because not many people would disagree with me.
Moving swiftly on...I did laundry today.
Well...I tried. It's taken me roughly 5 hours to complete this gruelling mission. I don't think I could tell you why in all honesty because it's all blurred into a hazy, lint-filled memory. The washing machine was fine until it decided to lock the door at the end of the cycle and refuse to give me back my clothes. I waited for over 20 minutes for it to stop having a hissy fit and finally give up.
Then there were no spare dryers.
This wouldn't annoy me so much if there weren't 3 dryers filled with dry clothes that just haven't been collected. I decided to be nice. So instead of taking the dry clothes out and dumping them on the 'collection' table I went back to my room with my wet clothes and decided to wait for half an hour to see if these clothes were collected.
They were not.
Eventually I managed to find a dryer that was empty.
It didn't work.
Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal but I had just washed my only set of bed sheets so they kind of needed to dry in order for me to catch some zzzs later.
Some time later (I forget how long because I was so busy pouting about it) I found a dryer that worked and was empty. Huzzah! For a building of 300 people I feel that 8 dryers may be pushing it a little on the availability front.
I'm kind of missing home and the magic washing machine fairy.
AKA Mother.
&&Fin.
I know, dear readers, it is a rare day when I make a stupid decision but, alas, that day has arrived.
Money is not the root of all evil. Alcohol is. I'm pretty sure that should be made official because not many people would disagree with me.
Moving swiftly on...I did laundry today.
Well...I tried. It's taken me roughly 5 hours to complete this gruelling mission. I don't think I could tell you why in all honesty because it's all blurred into a hazy, lint-filled memory. The washing machine was fine until it decided to lock the door at the end of the cycle and refuse to give me back my clothes. I waited for over 20 minutes for it to stop having a hissy fit and finally give up.
Then there were no spare dryers.
This wouldn't annoy me so much if there weren't 3 dryers filled with dry clothes that just haven't been collected. I decided to be nice. So instead of taking the dry clothes out and dumping them on the 'collection' table I went back to my room with my wet clothes and decided to wait for half an hour to see if these clothes were collected.
They were not.
Eventually I managed to find a dryer that was empty.
It didn't work.
Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal but I had just washed my only set of bed sheets so they kind of needed to dry in order for me to catch some zzzs later.
Some time later (I forget how long because I was so busy pouting about it) I found a dryer that worked and was empty. Huzzah! For a building of 300 people I feel that 8 dryers may be pushing it a little on the availability front.
I'm kind of missing home and the magic washing machine fairy.
AKA Mother.
&&Fin.
Monday 4 October 2010
A Lean Compromise Is Better Than A Fat Lawsuit
Day ?? - That Time I Realised My Youth Was Running Out
The day has come that I have been dreading for years and everybody else I know has been praying for.
My metabolism appears to have slowed down because, alas, I have gained weight since moving to the Netherlands. I'm not sure if this is a permanent thing or just because I have been particularly piggy this week. I would not like to hazard a guess.
So, as of Monday, I am on a fitness regime.
This means going jogging at least 3 times a week, doing some relaxing yoga cycles and eating better sized portions for dinner.
No more colossal mountains of curry, no more plates piled high with pasta, no more wolfing down waffles.
I am feeling good about this.
Really. I am. I refuse to come back from the Netherlands with wonderful memories and a less than wonderful bouncing belly. ME + GAINING WEIGHT = GOING AGAINST THE LAWS OF NATURE.
I have already started doing some yoga this evening but this is my ultimate goal (I'm already half way there so I just have to practice a bit and stretch and I should be okay.)
In other news, not a lot has happened. I went to Anthropology today and was reminded that I needed to hand an abstract in to my teacher about the presentation I have to give in 2 weeks.
Which reminds me...I should probably get on that.
...right after a round of Sun Salutations.
&&Fin.
The day has come that I have been dreading for years and everybody else I know has been praying for.
My metabolism appears to have slowed down because, alas, I have gained weight since moving to the Netherlands. I'm not sure if this is a permanent thing or just because I have been particularly piggy this week. I would not like to hazard a guess.
So, as of Monday, I am on a fitness regime.
This means going jogging at least 3 times a week, doing some relaxing yoga cycles and eating better sized portions for dinner.
No more colossal mountains of curry, no more plates piled high with pasta, no more wolfing down waffles.
I am feeling good about this.
Really. I am. I refuse to come back from the Netherlands with wonderful memories and a less than wonderful bouncing belly. ME + GAINING WEIGHT = GOING AGAINST THE LAWS OF NATURE.
I have already started doing some yoga this evening but this is my ultimate goal (I'm already half way there so I just have to practice a bit and stretch and I should be okay.)
In other news, not a lot has happened. I went to Anthropology today and was reminded that I needed to hand an abstract in to my teacher about the presentation I have to give in 2 weeks.
Which reminds me...I should probably get on that.
...right after a round of Sun Salutations.
&&Fin.
Saturday 2 October 2010
Fraternity Without Absorption, Union Without Fusion
Day ?? - That Time We Crashed Another Frat Party And Got Free Drinks All Night
The past few days haven't been all that exciting - lectures, writing up notes, food shopping etc.
However, we did have a bit of an exciting purchase the other day. We were in town trying to pay rent (we couldn't because there is a daily withdrawal limit of 250 and rent is 319) but instead we ended up buying shoes and a shisha!
Very exciting stuff.
We ended up smoking some apple flavour before we went out on the town on Friday night. We went to a couple of bars and danced and generally had a good time. Then we were getting peckish so we went to our favourite pizza place.
Then we went to the bar/club &Zo. It was fairly busy so the atmosphere was good but we didn't really know many people out and the average age appeared to be about 35. So we were about to go home until one of our friends saw us, grabbed me and pulled me through to the private/VIP section of the club. I was a little dazed but went with it because there seemed to be younger people there.
Found out about 2 minutes later that it's a private, black tie frat event.
Whoops.
Anyway, the head of the fraternity comes up to me and says 'you know this is a private frat party, right?' and I apologised and explained that I'd been dragged in by a mate and he just goes 'that's cool. If anyone gives you a hard time just say you're with me. Now...what are you drinking?'
And that was that.
For the rest of the night we were given all our drinks free and just danced away with all these frat boys. It was awesome. There was vodka, some appley drink, champagne. It was amazing.
I also appear to have come home with someone's bunny ears.
Best night ever? I submit that it just might be.
Or at least in the top 10.
&&Fin
The past few days haven't been all that exciting - lectures, writing up notes, food shopping etc.
However, we did have a bit of an exciting purchase the other day. We were in town trying to pay rent (we couldn't because there is a daily withdrawal limit of 250 and rent is 319) but instead we ended up buying shoes and a shisha!
Very exciting stuff.
We ended up smoking some apple flavour before we went out on the town on Friday night. We went to a couple of bars and danced and generally had a good time. Then we were getting peckish so we went to our favourite pizza place.
Then we went to the bar/club &Zo. It was fairly busy so the atmosphere was good but we didn't really know many people out and the average age appeared to be about 35. So we were about to go home until one of our friends saw us, grabbed me and pulled me through to the private/VIP section of the club. I was a little dazed but went with it because there seemed to be younger people there.
Found out about 2 minutes later that it's a private, black tie frat event.
Whoops.
Anyway, the head of the fraternity comes up to me and says 'you know this is a private frat party, right?' and I apologised and explained that I'd been dragged in by a mate and he just goes 'that's cool. If anyone gives you a hard time just say you're with me. Now...what are you drinking?'
And that was that.
For the rest of the night we were given all our drinks free and just danced away with all these frat boys. It was awesome. There was vodka, some appley drink, champagne. It was amazing.
I also appear to have come home with someone's bunny ears.
Best night ever? I submit that it just might be.
Or at least in the top 10.
&&Fin
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