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.

December 2003

2 - Tuesday - 01:34
Tonight, I looked out of my window and realized that sometimes, it's just really good to look outside of my window. It was pretty beautiful. After that, I went to work, and when that was finished I went to Haarlem. There, Aya and Jasper were waiting for me in Cafe Brinkmann. We had drinks and some food, and we talked about all sorts of things. Jasper went home, and so did Aya and I. Too bad She'll be leaving so soon, but she'll be back. Thank you for being you, do you understand?

3 - Wednesday - 00:30
Tim, Dennis and me got together tonight for a good old fashioned night of playing games. Two games to be exact. First off was Starfox Adventures, which might not be the best game in the world, but it sure is a good looking game. After that though, it was time for a very good game, Secret of Mana. I've played this one way back when I was in highschool, and it's still so good. For Tim and me it was especially cool to see all the locations after such a long time. We got to the Mana Fortress eventually. Almost there!

3 - Wednesday - 16:39
Tonight, we're going to celebrate Sinterklaas in Amsterdam. About eight people will show up for a game of 'Stress Sinterklaas'. We will each draw two names, for which we have to buy a present each for a maximum of three euros. We also have to compose a poem with a minimum of four lines. For all of this, we get just one hour, after which we're going to have dinner at a restaurant, and there, we will hand over the presents and poems to the persons we drew. I wonder who I'll draw? More soon!

4 - Thursday - 08:48
Part 1. Jet, Marije, Roos, Wouter, Ad, Robert, Dean and me were in Amsterdam, celebrating Sinterklaas. I drew Roos and Marije, and had to buy gifts and write poems for them. I sure hope they enjoy the christmas lights and the golden tree. It was a beautiful evening in Amsterdam. A lot of people were out, and on the Dam Square, there even was a skating rink. I even met a quite drunk Sinterklaas! While having dinner, we distributed the gifts.

5 - Friday - 11:40
Part 2. Afterwards, we went to a bar in Amsterdam. Just as we were thinking about going home, Jet persuaded us to stay. So we did. We had some more drinks there, and the evening ended at Wouter's place. Ad, Wouter, Marije, Jet and me went there and had even more beer. The next morning was something else though. I had to go to class very early, so I woke up at 6:30am, after a mere three hours of sleep. With a hangover and the need for sleep, it was tough, but hey, at least we had fun!

6 - Saturday - 04:05
Tonight, I witnessed three forms of Beauty in Leiden. The first was words. But to be more precise, the source of those words. I saw Christiaan Weijts, a journalist and columnist. After that, I saw Eugenie. Female beauty then. Was she telling the truth? Was she a star at lying? Or just plain a temptress? Who knows. Finally, I walked along the 'Oude Vest' after a night of drinking with Niels and Ruud. The Oude Vest is the most beautiful canal if you ask me, nature and humand resources combined to the fullest.

6 - Saturday - 11:54
Today is Dave Brubeck's 83rd birthday! The jazz legend, who was in the Netherlands not long ago, is a source of great inspiration for me and many others. And although Brubeck is mostly known for his music, jazz and classical, it's not just that. As an ambassador of goodwill, he is teaching the world round important messages of peace, or at least hope. I wish him, and his wife Iola, their kids and everybody else a very happy birthday. Play on, Dave.

7 - Sunday - 02:39
I bought a Playstation 2 today. The 'enemy', so to say, as I've always been a Nintendo fan. But anyway, I started playing Final Fantasy X, and man oh man is that ever good. Can't wait to see more of it, but sleep is already taking over now. It's late. Aya left for Japan today, but fortunately, she'll be back soon, in about a month or so. Tomorrow is going to be somewhat busy, but I'll write about that later on. Watch this space.

7 - Sunday - 23:42
With lips that are threatening to crack open everytime I want to smile, ice on my bike's saddle, and just an overall damn low temperature, it's clear that winter has arrived. At least for a short while, it's supposed to get warmer soon. Anyhow, today we had Japanese food at Wouter's place, which Jet, Marije and also Natalie made. It was really really good. Before that, I spent quite some time with Anika, studying Japanese. Great day.

9 - Tuesday - 04:52
Late again? Yes. FFX, then. It just gets better and better, really. Today, there was time for a lot of things. Lunch with Ad, talking and gaming with Tim, working in the evening, meeting up with Takuro, and after that the couple of necessary hours of FFX. Aya, I hope you read this. Thanks for the sake! I want to drink at least one cup together with you, so I'll save some of it. The rest? That'll be gone pretty quickly, I recon. Thank you.

10 - Wednesday - 03:33
Man have I been dull. I studied, and did work. How's that for not living the life of a student? It's been a nice, quiet and cold day though. Yurika called me this evening, and after that, I watched a great big band concert featuring music from the famous Mario and Zelda video games. That was... different, to say the least. I also acquired two new games for my PS2. Well, one of them is a PS1 game, but I hardly think you'll mind. Pictures soon!

12 - Friday - 01:27
What have you been doing? I've been studying. Not quite voluntarily of course, but it didn't feel bad at all. Only thing is, I haven't put any pictures on this site for a couple of days now. Not that I haven't been making pictures. No, that's not it. Robert graduated, and I've got pictures of that, and lots more. I'll start putting more pictures on the site again as soon as I'm all not-tired again. Musical tip: Royksopp, "Melody A.M." Great lounge!

12 - Friday - 23:59
Pictures, then! These are just some random shots from the last couple of days. This was quite funny. This though, was quite beautiful. Furthermore, Robert graduated. There'll be a party tomorrow evening. That ought to be fun. At his graduation, there were quite some people. Jasper, Wouter, Jet and Marije, you name them. Of course, Ron and Niels were there to celebrate too. Robert's name was inscribed in the infamous 'Sweat Room'.

14 - Sunday - 02:33
Today was Robert's party. He graduated last wednesday, and today we all came together to celebrate at 'De Grote Beer'. Just about everyone was there, and we had a really good time. I'm pretty sure I've taken quite a bit of shameless pictures. Bulk, Bierman, Dean, Roos, Domi, Ad, Wouter, so many people. I'm not going to name them all. I had such a good conversation with Roos, and it was just a really good evening overall. When I got home though, no-one wanted to talk to me. Woe is me, boo-hooh.

15 - Monday - 02:45
After studying a whole lot today, I wanted to relax a bit, so what I did, is I watched 'The Two Towers' of the famed Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter 'Brain Dead is a cool movie' Jackson in the extended DVD edition, which I recently acquired from Amazon.com. As I'm getting sick of all the reviews in which people are dissing these films because of the inconsistencies with the books, I'm not even going there. It's a damn fine movie, as was the first one, and the third one will be equally good.

15 - Monday - 22:55
What's a milestone in a person's life? I guess it could be the smallest of things, so why not receiving your first 'kerstpakket'. A what? Ah, a 'Christmas Kit', if you will. Here in Holland, companies give them out to their employees, and in them is all kinds of stuff you'd never buy yourself, but is still nice to receive. In mine was a box of cookies, a bottle of wine, mini-toast, cream-cheese, candles, a nice dish, a lottery-ticket, and a coupon. Oh, and tea. My first Christmas Kit. (cries)

16 - Tuesday - 20:54
There's something wrong with my computer. The processor gets too hot when it has a lot of work to do, and then it starts to beep as a warning. So what we did, Ad and I opened it up, and we cleaned it up a bit with the vacuum cleaner, and the wonderful "Dust Off"! There was a lot of dust to be cleaned, but that wasn't even the main problem. It seems that a part of the fan bracket has broken off, and that causes the processor to overheat. Off to the computer store, then!

17 - Wednesday - 11:41
Last night, I was inspired to go through some old letters I received, and man is it good to see those again! You'd almost forget what happened the last couple of years, but it sure was great to go through all those memories. Now, most of you might not know John, but he's still alive and kicking, and living the Grand Life in Japan. I got to mailing him when I opened up my Yahoo Japan mailing account and saw one of his emails. He mailed me back, too, how great! It gets better and better.

17 - Wednesday - 19:49
Most people who read this will know that I'm quite into jazz, especially the kind that Dave Brubeck always plays. I've never been interested a lot in the violin as a jazz instrument, but hearing Japanese jazz violinist 'Maiko' playing tunes like How High the Moon, Bluesette, and also her own compositions, changed my mind quite a bit! She plays with this sort of elegance, she moves with the music, and never before has jazz looked so pretty! She also has a Japanese website, so check it out!

18 - Thursday - 10:54
The test for Japanese premodern history draws nearer and nearer, as I'm getting more nervous by the hour. It should be a bit okay though. But enough about that. Tonight, Ad and me will go to a 'forget the year' celebration which is organized by Nihon Terebi. Which reminds me that I still have to put the program with me in it on this site. That's something for later though. But when the test's over, I should have plenty more time to do that. And Yurika will be in Holland the 22nd of this month!

19 - Friday - 06:51
Ad and I had a really good time yesterday at the WTC in Amsterdam. The 'forget the year' celebration was great, there was lots of Japanese food, drinks, people, you name it. And after that, we had more beer downstairs, in the beautiful cafe of which I forgot the name. The Blue something-something. Anyhow, today's the Big Day (tm) of the history test. I'm sure I'll be able to laugh at myself a couple of years from now, but I'm quite pre-test-like nervous. Usually that feels good, but now, it kinda doesn't.

20 - Saturday - 03:22
And thus, the big day has come to an end. I woke up early to read through my notes one more time, and I think it has paid off. But I won't know for sure until next week. After the test, I went home for a nice, healthy session of playing games on my playstation 2. That was quite nice, seeing I haven't been doing that for a while now. I also received a notification that a package has arrived, and I can pick it up next monday. Oh, and tomorrow, the plan is to go see the Return of the King.

21 - Sunday - 00:40
It seems almost obligatory to write something about 'The Return of the King', the third and last film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But so many things have been written about it, and in a much better fashion than I could ever hope to do here. That's why, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I introduce you to my new 'One Word Review' ! Ehm, now to pick a word which describes the whole movie, the drama, the special effects, everything. Oh, I know. Click here to find out!

22 - Monday - 02:23
Fortunately for Ad and me, the King Bombi didn't bother us too much, as we were playing the marvellous Momotaro Dentetsu 11 (website here) on my playstation 2. As I was looking for pictures of King Bombi, I came across this picture of a game show, and I asked myself, 'why the heck wasn't I there!?' Ah well, it was great nonetheless. That playstation 2 is a source of great fun, although after seeing the following picture, I'm now thinking about getting an X-Box with a live account. Japan rocks!

22 - Monday - 17:43
Today we had the strangest weather. The sun was shining, and suddenly everything was white because it had been snowing! I waited for the sun to go out and pick up a package which arrived not too long ago. I was just outside when it started raining, snowing and hailing at the same time. I was pretty much soaked when I got there, and even more so when I got back home, after which of course the sun started shining again. Yurika will be here in just a couple of hours.

23 - Tuesday - 12:47
Wouldn't you just know it? Just as you have to be outside for a while, it keeps on raining and raining. Yesterday, Ad and I were lucky enough to squeeze in a couple of extra years of Momotaro Dentetsu 11. It's such an addictive game, even though it's madder than someone from Belgium. Today, I'll teach Yurika how to play the game, and with a little bit of luck, we're going to play it together in a couple of days. First though, there's still the thing with going outside in the rain...

27 - Saturday - 11:46
On Christmas eve, Yurika and I went to Nathalie's place, where a lot of people had gathered to eat. A lot. Really, there was so much to eat and drink, and it was just a really nice evening. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't too good during Christmas, so for me, it was mainly spent inside, playing Momotaro Dentetsu!Today, the weather seems to be really good, so I'll find myself a reason to go out (beer always works) and have a good time. It's almost 2004, too. Where did the time go?

30 - Tuesday - 01:30
It's been a while, but here's another update, fresh with pictures to boot! Today, I was in the great company of Yurika, Ad and Tim, and we had a great time, eating dinner which Yurika had prepared, and playing a whopping 5 hours of Momotaro Dentetsu! The big winner of today was Ad, and Tim didn't seem to have much luck, seeing he was bothered a lot by the 'Bimbo Gami', so he came in last. What matters more though, is that we had a lot of fun, and that the food was good. Ah, sustenance!

31 - Wednesday - 11:46
Well! Here I am with the last post of this year. Hope it's been a good year for all of you. 2004 seems to start with a lot of things to do for me, so I'm not going to be able to rest the next couple of days. But hey! That's fine with me. At least I'm not bored. Tonight, we'll be in Amsterdam, at the ArenA Hotel, to celebrate the new year. I'm looking forward to that quite a bit, and I hope that you, the reader, also make sure that the beginning of 2004 will be a good one. What comes after that, we'll just have to wait.

No more posts this year