So I started my 52 book challenge a little more than an month ago, and to keep myself motivated through sheer peer pressure, I'll try to give monthly updates whenever I actually remember.
Last time, I was in week 8, and I'd read 6 books in total. I've made some progress until now, but not as much as I would have liked. We're currently in week 14, and here are the books I've read since last time:
7 The Sleeper and the Spindle - Neil Gaiman
8 Dit kan niet waar zijn - Joris Luyendijk
9 Gratis geld voor iedereen - Rutger Bregman
10 Dept. of Speculation - Jenny Offill
Yup, I am now officially 4 books behind. But I'm reading two books at the same time, so I may be catching up (or so I tell myself), or at least not falling behind even more.
Other noteworthy things: two of the books on the list above are Dutch. I don't really read a lot of Dutch books, but there have been some good ones coming out recently, so I've been buying and reading those. Interestingly, both Dutch books are also non-fiction. I wasn't sure about including non-fiction books on this list, but because I will never ever make 52 books in a year if I don't, they're there. Also, I've already sneaked in one of the very short novels I have saved up to 'make up' for a whole week with a novel that I can just read in 3-4 hours. Dept of Speculation also only took about an afternoon to read, so technically that's in the short novel category too.
Anyway, the list so far doesn't really seem that promising for the future of the whole challenge, but I'm still pretty positive, with several holidays coming up in the near future. I'll try and write another update at the end of April, and we'll see how things stand then. In the meantime, I'll get back to John le Carre.
Tuesday 31 March 2015
Sunday 22 March 2015
Veg patches
So most of you will probably know by now that we have a small vegetable patch in the back garden, in which we try to grow some food, with various outcomes. Potatoes, apples, pumpkins and strawberries appear to love it here, while carrots, lettuce and cauliflower don't really want to do anything. This year, we're sticking to our success stories, and therefore we've already put the potatoes in the ground (in a different place than last year, of course).
We started quite early this year, because the major supermarket chain in the Netherlands decided to jump on the whole 'authentic food' bandwagon and give out miniature vegetable patches with every 10 Euros of groceries you bought. Technically they're not only veg patches but also herb gardens, as you can also get stuff like thyme and rosemary, but they called them 'moestuintjes' (= veg patches) nonetheless.
I've talked to several (freelance) marketing professionals in the last few weeks who cannot comprehend how this supermarket chain has another 'hit' by giving away stuff that most people usually turn up their noses at, but somehow little boxes are popping up left right and centre on the window sills. How many of these will actually turn into proper plants or be planted out when the time comes remains to be seen.
Of course, we will take our little plant proteges very seriously. We got 7 'patches' in total: aubergine, broccoli, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, thyme, spinach and endive. Luckily, most of them are plants we've already grown and/or plants that like our soil. We've put the first 5 of them in their boxes already, and the broccoli and cherry tomatoes have come up really quickly, so we've put them in bigger pots ready to be planted outside when the temperatures get a bit higher. The thyme is now also showing two very tiny leaves, but the aubergines and strawberries don't appear to be doing much as of yet. We won't put the leaf vegetables out until about halfway through April, because these tend to grow pretty quickly and we don't want to see them wither away in the cold March air.
Apart from these new plants, we still have a lot of strawberry plants from last year, plus the apple tree, and a lot of pumpkin seeds from the two pumpkins we grew last year (and didn't eat, because I really just like to look at them and marvel at the fact that we've grown these things in a small, shaded garden in the middle of the city). We may buy more peppers at some point, but with the 'free' veg patches our own patch is filling up pretty quickly. Hopefully, this will be the last year we grow stuff here, as we are now seriously looking at moving to a place with a bigger garden before next spring. But even if we get half the amount of food we grew last year, I'll still be a happy gardener!
We started quite early this year, because the major supermarket chain in the Netherlands decided to jump on the whole 'authentic food' bandwagon and give out miniature vegetable patches with every 10 Euros of groceries you bought. Technically they're not only veg patches but also herb gardens, as you can also get stuff like thyme and rosemary, but they called them 'moestuintjes' (= veg patches) nonetheless.
I've talked to several (freelance) marketing professionals in the last few weeks who cannot comprehend how this supermarket chain has another 'hit' by giving away stuff that most people usually turn up their noses at, but somehow little boxes are popping up left right and centre on the window sills. How many of these will actually turn into proper plants or be planted out when the time comes remains to be seen.
Of course, we will take our little plant proteges very seriously. We got 7 'patches' in total: aubergine, broccoli, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, thyme, spinach and endive. Luckily, most of them are plants we've already grown and/or plants that like our soil. We've put the first 5 of them in their boxes already, and the broccoli and cherry tomatoes have come up really quickly, so we've put them in bigger pots ready to be planted outside when the temperatures get a bit higher. The thyme is now also showing two very tiny leaves, but the aubergines and strawberries don't appear to be doing much as of yet. We won't put the leaf vegetables out until about halfway through April, because these tend to grow pretty quickly and we don't want to see them wither away in the cold March air.
Apart from these new plants, we still have a lot of strawberry plants from last year, plus the apple tree, and a lot of pumpkin seeds from the two pumpkins we grew last year (and didn't eat, because I really just like to look at them and marvel at the fact that we've grown these things in a small, shaded garden in the middle of the city). We may buy more peppers at some point, but with the 'free' veg patches our own patch is filling up pretty quickly. Hopefully, this will be the last year we grow stuff here, as we are now seriously looking at moving to a place with a bigger garden before next spring. But even if we get half the amount of food we grew last year, I'll still be a happy gardener!
Saturday 21 March 2015
Getting a haircut
There are some reoccurring things in one's life that you have to repeat after a couple of months. These include going to the dentist, having your eyes checked (if you're a contact or glasses-wearer), going to your GP or getting your meds. Mostly, I find these things an annoyance because I don't have that much time, but mostly they're more useful than terrible.
There is one exception to this rule; going to the hairdresser to have my hair cut. I really dread this, because of two things:
1 I don't really pay that much attention to what my hair is doing or how long it's getting, so I usually don't go to a hairdresser until it's about 2 months too late, leaving my hair too long and frizzly;
2 I don't really 'fit in' with people who pay a lot of attention to their hair and hairstyle and make-up etc, which leaves me short of conversation topics while I'm there, and generally creates an awkward atmosphere for all involved.
These things are of course related; because I feel really awkward trying to make conversation while I'm there, I keep postponing actually going, which makes the person cutting my hair even more exasperated with the state of my hair when I finally do go. Thus making me feel even less like a normal human being who should actually be allowed in a hairdresser's.
Although I'm really happy with the result once I've managed to find the time and the courage to actually go, and always plan on bettering my life and visiting more often, the pattern is very well-ingrained and somehow always repeats itself.
The funny thing is; most people I know don't like to go. Usually, because they always get a different result than what they opted for; hair either too short or in a weird way that you can never actually replicate at home. I personally never have this problem, because I always ask for my hair in exactly the same way, and after a couple of times memorised the lingo that the hairdresser uses when they ask the confirmation questions about what you want, so I just tell them those words from the beginning and usually end up with exactly the same hair. Which is thoroughly disappointing to the person who has just cut my hair, because it is a style that doesn't really work when you wear it down, but which works perfectly when you put it in a ponytail or bun, which is how I wear my hair 98% of the time. So I'm happy with it.
And the other thing I hear other people mention about not liking to have their hair cut is the same problem I'm having; the lack of suitable conversation topics that leads to awkward silences. This concerns women, generally, as men either have silent hairdressers or are out of there so fast that the lack of conversation doesn't really matter. And I even know several other women who postpone having their hair cut because of this. So I'm not alone.
However, contrary to all expectations, I had my hair cut yesterday, and it all went swimmingly. The girl cutting my hair was one I'd already seen several times earlier, so we had some recurring topics that we could use. Also, we're of almost the same age, which makes things easier. And, most important of all, we'd both just visited Australia, so we spent about 20 minutes talking about that. We never even got to the question of why my hair was way too long and dry as dust.
Which got me thinking; maybe the solution is that when you make an appointment to have your hair cut, you also hand in a list of personal information, including your age and hometown, but also recent experiences and interests. That way, they can match you to someone who has the same interests, so you have something to talk about.
Also, hairdressers should realise that they are abnormally interested in all things concerning hair (an understandable occupational hazard) but that most other people don't really care that much. So when they comment about styles or products or whatever, and get a terse reply, they should really drop the subject instead of asking even more questions or suggesting difficult products or procedures to 'amend' problems that the person whose hair it is doesn't really have. This would take away a lot of the pre-cutting anxiety, which leads to people going to the hairdresser's more often, which probably also amends the disastrous state one's hair can get into. It's win-win all around.
It would make me, and my tormented hair, a lot happier and more relaxed. Because really, having your hair cut should be just that; having your hair cut.
There is one exception to this rule; going to the hairdresser to have my hair cut. I really dread this, because of two things:
1 I don't really pay that much attention to what my hair is doing or how long it's getting, so I usually don't go to a hairdresser until it's about 2 months too late, leaving my hair too long and frizzly;
2 I don't really 'fit in' with people who pay a lot of attention to their hair and hairstyle and make-up etc, which leaves me short of conversation topics while I'm there, and generally creates an awkward atmosphere for all involved.
These things are of course related; because I feel really awkward trying to make conversation while I'm there, I keep postponing actually going, which makes the person cutting my hair even more exasperated with the state of my hair when I finally do go. Thus making me feel even less like a normal human being who should actually be allowed in a hairdresser's.
Although I'm really happy with the result once I've managed to find the time and the courage to actually go, and always plan on bettering my life and visiting more often, the pattern is very well-ingrained and somehow always repeats itself.
The funny thing is; most people I know don't like to go. Usually, because they always get a different result than what they opted for; hair either too short or in a weird way that you can never actually replicate at home. I personally never have this problem, because I always ask for my hair in exactly the same way, and after a couple of times memorised the lingo that the hairdresser uses when they ask the confirmation questions about what you want, so I just tell them those words from the beginning and usually end up with exactly the same hair. Which is thoroughly disappointing to the person who has just cut my hair, because it is a style that doesn't really work when you wear it down, but which works perfectly when you put it in a ponytail or bun, which is how I wear my hair 98% of the time. So I'm happy with it.
And the other thing I hear other people mention about not liking to have their hair cut is the same problem I'm having; the lack of suitable conversation topics that leads to awkward silences. This concerns women, generally, as men either have silent hairdressers or are out of there so fast that the lack of conversation doesn't really matter. And I even know several other women who postpone having their hair cut because of this. So I'm not alone.
However, contrary to all expectations, I had my hair cut yesterday, and it all went swimmingly. The girl cutting my hair was one I'd already seen several times earlier, so we had some recurring topics that we could use. Also, we're of almost the same age, which makes things easier. And, most important of all, we'd both just visited Australia, so we spent about 20 minutes talking about that. We never even got to the question of why my hair was way too long and dry as dust.
Which got me thinking; maybe the solution is that when you make an appointment to have your hair cut, you also hand in a list of personal information, including your age and hometown, but also recent experiences and interests. That way, they can match you to someone who has the same interests, so you have something to talk about.
Also, hairdressers should realise that they are abnormally interested in all things concerning hair (an understandable occupational hazard) but that most other people don't really care that much. So when they comment about styles or products or whatever, and get a terse reply, they should really drop the subject instead of asking even more questions or suggesting difficult products or procedures to 'amend' problems that the person whose hair it is doesn't really have. This would take away a lot of the pre-cutting anxiety, which leads to people going to the hairdresser's more often, which probably also amends the disastrous state one's hair can get into. It's win-win all around.
It would make me, and my tormented hair, a lot happier and more relaxed. Because really, having your hair cut should be just that; having your hair cut.
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