what happened?

Right, so all of you are wondering what I'm always blabbing about on the index page in the first paragraph? Well have I got the solution for you both! Here, I will keep a little archive of what I've written in exactly that paragraph. For your reading pleasure, I will try to put everyhthing on here one month at a time. The oldest post of the month will be at the top. When you have no idea what I'm talking about, go back a few days and everything should become clear. Whenever I think it's worth it, I'll add a link to the more interesting things I mention. Try to expect not too many links.

October 2003

3 - Friday - 23:12
Leids Ontzet. The day that we forced Spain out of Leiden, has turned into a big celebration which, like many other celebrations, is centered around many people, beer, fun and entertainment. We had a great time yesterday, visiting the carnival, dancing, drinking and being in exactly the same spot as we were exactly one year ago. Now that was a nice deja-vu. Oh, I also proved my sniping skills.

4 - Saturday - 16:07
Martine, Jet, Marije, Wouter, Niels, Jasper, Robert, Ad, me and our good host Frans. We were all together again for the first time. Yes, we had our annual evening at our teacher's house in Egmond. The group had never been this big, but it was a success, as was to be expected. We ate good food, drank a lot, made a cozy fire, I played the piano (wav file here), and it was generally speaking a great evening. Thank you Frans.

5 - Sunday - 18:38
Last night, WCLV radio broadcast a concert from the Dave Brubeck Quartet, totally live! It started at 20:00 american time, which means I had to stay up and wait till 2:00, when the show began. It was worth it though. Not everyone agrees that the internet is a good thing, but it just validated its entire existence within those three hours. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I find out that Dave will be here in Holland next month!!

6 - Monday - 00:32
You know, today started out as a pretty good day. Ad and I were going to nerd our way through sunday. He was going to figure out how to get Gentoo Linux working on his computer, and I was going to vanquish Odolwa. And then I heard that Dave Brubeck was going to be performing right here in Holland, 15 minutes away from where I was born, on the same stage as I was once in a musical. And then, everything went blank.

6 - Monday - 13:34
In a couple of weeks' time, my friend Jasper will have his own homepage on the www. I'm looking forward to that a great deal, I really wonder what he's going to write down on that. In the meantime, things haven't been bad around here. I'm going to London this friday, I'll get my '24' DVDs in a couple of days, not to mention next month. Let's hope I'll live. Today has work and study to offer though, don't you just love sour apples?

6 - Monday - 23:45
Today, another teaching job started again. This time around, I'll be teaching Japanese to eight people. The group seemed motivated enough, and I enjoyed the lesson. Let's hope I'll be able to get them to speak Japanese quickly. And for the rest, I've decided to stop changing my MSN messenger nickname. It seems that everytime I do that, people always start asking me questions, or assuming stupid things.

7 - Tuesday - 13:34
It kind of slipped my mind that I still have to put the soccer pictures and videos online. But maybe I'm just too lazy to do all that. About a week ago, students of the Japanese faculty and students of the Chinese faculty of Leiden University got together for a game of soccer. They try to do this every year, and last year we won with ten to nil. This time around, the final score was 3-2. We won.

7 - Tuesday - 19:38
If it's on, take a good look at the Weather Pixie. It's storming here, with a lot of rain and even hail falling out of the skies. Going outside at times like this is really not something one wants to do. Anyway, it's a quiet evening. Noone's here, so I have to think of something to do myself. Maybe Jasper will call me tonight though, after his 'date'. Let's hope so, for him. And beer doesn't sound bad...

8 - Wednesday - 03:03
It turned out to be a good evening. Me, Aya and Jasper had fun at 'De Kroeg' in leiden. It seems that everytime we go there it's always good. We talked about all sorts of things, had a couple of drinks, you know how that goes. Jasper, who will have his own homepage soon, had to leave early to catch the last train back home, which is always kinda sad, but I got to meet our cat Amadeus too!

8 - Wednesday - 20:45
In just a few moments I'll be heading out for a 'night with the guys' kind of thing. It's bound to be fun because a lot of friends are coming, so I'll make this short, wouldn't want to be late, would I. I've picked up all sorts of pictures today, some of them going back to when my nephew Mart was baptized. Some of them are really, really bad and confronting, but at least I can blackmail people now!

9 - Thursday - 23:54
I'll be heading to London in several hours, so I'm not going to post anymore pictures online, but let me tell you, you're missing out on some great shots. In time, they'll be online though, so don't worry. I just packed, and I think I have everything I need now. Since I'll only be there for the weekend, I won't need too much stuff. I hope you'll have a good weekend, I'll see you afterwards!

14 - Tuesday - 01:51
Lots of buses, nice people, Guinness, pints, salt & malt vinegar, the Eye, the Big Ben, the Marble Arch, lots of Japanese people, even more non-English speaking persons, and most importantly, bloody disgusting breakfasts! Yes, I was in London last weekend, and there'll be some pictures on the site soon. Meanwhile, I've received my tickets for the Dave Brubeck concert next month! Err, ta, mate?

14 - Tuesday - 23:56
No, there are still no new London pictures, but I have some other things to show you. The happiest I was of course with these. Just look at this. And imagine how excited I am. And I also got a new mouse from Ad not too long ago. It's optical and chordless, which makes for some greatly controllable games of Age of Mythology, which I've been playing quite a lot lately. More soon.

15 - Wednesday - 12:47
Depressing news for me. The two '24' DVD box sets should have arrived by now, but they haven't. I sent a mail to the people at Amazon, where I ordered it, and they advised me to first wait til the 20th, and check my post-office while doing that. I'm really looking forward to them, so I hope I'll get them quickly. Today I'll meet Jasper Bulk, and we're probably going to have lunch together.

15 - Wednesday - 23:33
Two things happened today that hadn't happened in a long, long time. Here they are in chronological order. This afternoon, and please note that it's already very cold outside, I got stung by a wasp. Yeah, a wasp, the yellow and black thing. That hadn't happened in more than 10 years! And just now, I ate yogurt. Yes, yogurt, just plain yogurt, without fruit or sugar in it. And it was absolutely delicious.

17 - Friday - 01:34
Watching pictures is always fun, but watching Japan pictures with Ad and reminisce about our adventures in Japan... well, it doesn't get much better than that. Watching pictures, talking about Japan and our friends over there, it's All Good. I'm loving it. Anyway, I was working again today, and before that, Tim and I were at our university, and at my room, having fun talking and playing video games.

18 - Saturday - 03:30
After classes today, Tim, Niels, Eelco and I went to Eelco's room, and that had been a long, long time for me. Anyhow, today's been pretty good. Discussing religion and society in classes today, I was actually able to participate quite a lot, were it only for the fact that a couple of people who couldn't keep their mouths shut just had to hear that they were wrong. You know, really wrong. The teacher nodded quietly in agreement.

18 - Saturday - 16:01
It won't take long anymore! In a few moments, my friend Jasper will have uploaded some of his site to our server, which means that we can all enjoy the great new site www.JasperBulk.nl!! Let's hope that Jasper will be able to post interesting things on there with a bit of regularity. It's 4 in the afternoon now, and I haven't eaten anything today, so before I fall over I'll go ahead and make food. To eat.

19 - Sunday - 00:59
Look at this guy. Yeah, this one. Here's another picture of him. And here's yet another one. Still not enough? Well, have a look at another one, and still another one. Heck, I even have a video of him. That's 5mb and almost 30 seconds of pure madness. This is Jasper Bulk, and he started his homepage on the world wide web today. Please go there and have a look. Not much to see except for some pictures, but that'll change pretty soon.

19 - Sunday - 23:11
I just finished watching '24', and it was another very good hour. I never care too much for acting in series like this, I care more for the story, but the scene where George Mason says good-bye to his son was really something else. Bravo to that. For the rest, I've not been feeling good today. I have a serious headache, and the overall feeling is just a bit crappy. I'll get over that soon, and the best way to fix it is usually to get some sleep. Let's try that.

21 - Tuesday - 01:26
Today, my piano was tuned, and that wasn't too soon either! Since it has been moved, it got totally out of key, and because it's an old piano, the tuner wasn't completely able to make it perfect again, but at least I can play on it again without having to scare the neighbour's cat. I worked too, teaching Japanese, and it looks like I ended up with an extra job teaching Dutch to the staff of a great Japanese yakitori restaurant in Amsterdam!

22 - Wednesday - 01:41
It was nothing too soon, but I received my '24' DVD box sets today! Now i have the first two seasons entirely on DVD, which is good. Furthermore, I was in Amsterdam today with Tim, and I bought an authentic Burberry scarf at the Krasnapolsky. Cashmere is good. After that, I had dinner with my cousin, mexican food, and when she went home I visited Justus' place, and I wasn't the only one. A great day all together, let's hope tomorrow's good too!

23 - Thursday - 01:07
I'm terribly sorry about the only-one-update-per-day thing which has been going on lately. I can't seem to find the time to update more. Today was pretty nice. Tim and I went to this promotion ceremony at our university, and after that Eelco came to my room and we started watching the first season of '24'. Ad was at home too, albeit for a short period of time only. I'll see him soon though.

25 - Saturday - 01:38
After work on thursday, I met up with Robert, to go for a drink in Amsterdam. After the usual 'Alto' jazzbar session, we went to a couple of other bars. I've been watching the second season of '24' this evening, and it's just really amazing how much that series is not letting me go. I'm forcing myself to go to sleep now, and watch the rest of it tomorrow. How's that for self-control, eh?

26 - Sunday - 02:49
I just got word that my housemate will spend the night at my room, since hers is full with her family members. Good for me. Well, you know. It's cool. And furthermore, I'm almost finished watching the second season of '24', and it's the best series I have ever seen, as far as I can remember. The show brought me to tears this one moment, and that's never happened before with a movie or TV show. It's great.

26 - Sunday - 09:48
Daylight Savings! The clock has been put back one hour last night, which means that winter time has officialy begun. From now on it's going to get a lot colder too, even though it has been pretty damn cool over the last couple of weeks. We'll see what happens. Ad has just gone out for a full English breakfast (the fool), and will be back this afternoon, so we can spend another nice sunday nerding away behind the computer. Good for us.

28 - Tuesday - 13:32
Yesterday after work, I went to Wouter's new appartment in Amsterdam. Ad was also there, as was Peta. What can be better than spending time with friends, relaxing and listening to great music? Indeed, not much, although I was pretty ecstatic with the message from Tish Brubeck that I'm going to meet Dave Brubeck after his concert next month! I can't wait for that. In the meantime, the weather's beautiful today, albeit a bit cold. Classes in the evening...

29 - Wednesday - 09:17
Not long ago, I received a letter from the United Kingdom, from a fellow Dave Brubeck fan. The letter contained two pictures of Dave, playing during a soundcheck they were doing before a concert. The sender of that letter told me it was okay to put the pictures on my site, and so now you can enjoy those pictures too. Click here for the first one and here for the second one. Last night was good also, as we went to classes and out for a drink afterwards.

30 - Thursday - 13:32
Today, it was time again to chill a bit at the Arsenal. Tim was there, and Gabi also showed up. Special credit goes to Raymond though. Knowing that today another Tanuki 'borrel' is going to take place, he showed up dressed in a flashy suit. It's good to see that even the new ones are devoted to the case of... well, you know, showing up on parties in style. Anyhow, today I have to skip the party, seeing I have to teach. Nice scarf though.

31 - Friday - 11:20
In an hour, I'm going to have lunch with Serge, a friend of mine who I met at the Leiden University introduction week. He started studying Japanese, but is now enrolled in Lawschool. I haven't seen him in ages, I wonder what he's like now. We used to call him Fox, because of his uncanny resemblance to David Duchovny, of Fox Mulder X-Files fame. Today also marks the end of October 2003. Not that this adds anything to anything, but I thought you'd like to know.