(no subject)
There's not so much I want to record from June. The second weekend I had some visitors on Saturday, which went kind-of strange. I resolved I did not like all-too-dominant people around. The weekend after was mainly spent with my brother's birthday and Father's Day. I also started around this time to spend rather a lot of time on a particular forum, which kind-of pushes LJ even further out of the picture than it already was for me.
My father had a farewell party at the school he had worked for a long time, since he just retired. I went to Apenheul (a zoo in Apeldoorn) with some people in mid-July, where I had not been since 1979. Also, I found someone else to have loooooooooooong email conversations with; and since I prefer these communications, LJ disappeared even further out of the picture.
Around this time we had a photographer over at the company where I work. It would turn out later that the Dutch magazine Intermediair had chosen us as the most innovative ICT company in the country this year. (We had already been in the top 5 for several years running.)
In mid-August I was asked to accompany a friend who wanted to go to a meeting which it had turned out was being organized by a bunch of evangelical christians, although they were just advertising it as a theme evening about Wicca. This did not feel right, as people actually interested in that theme might turn up expecting something quite different. And indeed we found a slightly agitated American woman who came to us when we arrived and warned us that these were really evangelicals. The meeting was kind of funny to have seen once, though this false advertising annoyed me to almost no end. As for information, these people did not even know the word "Gardnerian". But never mind about that. In the end we had done a good deed, I think, by being there for this actually interested lady, and had had a fun evening as well. So in the end, it seems the evangelicals actually helped spread the word. ;)-< :)-<
Then another friend came over from the UK and stayed here for a week, which was fun. We generally stayed in the vicinity, but also made it to a.o. Amsterdam. ;) There was also a family dinner around this time. I got invited to orkut, but turned down the offer as I already can't really keep up with LJ. ;)
I met with the other owners of the building and we decided not to collectively renovate the windows at the back of the building. We deciced that individual action was allowed, and the conditoins under which it was. I was not overjoyed with this result, but I am not unhappy with it either.
At the beginning of September I had a bit of a falling-out with the organizers of the Amsterdam meetings, though this has not had any direct consequences. This may actually have been safeguarded by a nice afternoon with a bunch of the other, quieter, people in a forest in mid-September. I did not actually pause to analyze this too deeply. Regarding meetings, BTW, I went to Utrecht a couple of times over the last few months as well, and I have started attending "Alkmaar" recently. All of this together is a bit too much, we'll see how I reprioritize later on. ;)
As for music I "discovered" Loreena McKennitt and Tori Amos around this time. I also found I could actually listen to "chants" etc. better than I had expected. I got also quite convinced that Omnia is really crap, as I had already thought was the case after hearing them live last year (which is why I had not been in a hurry to investigate them ;)). As for Tori, of course I had heard her before, but I hadn't paid that much true attention. Now, though, I was singing the praises of Kari Rueslatten to someone, and also explained that she sounded a bit like Tori in places, and especially on "Mesmerized", resulting in our swapping some sample songs.. (and chalk up another fan for Kari as well :-)).
I did not read so many books, though I managed some Graham Hancock and some more reading on Buddhism, including the Dhammapada. However, some of the time I normally spend on this was taken by thinking about the development process at work, which I want to restructure a bit. I don't otherwise normally think about these things in my free time a lot, but over the last month or so at least, I actually did.
At work I have been in far more meetings recently, partly due to several projects spannign departments. Also, the last few weeks have been punctuated by phone/webcasts, which are unfortunately broadcast from some EST zone, i.e., taking up most of the evening. *yaaaaaaaawn*
As for family, I am a bit worried about my brother, who doesn't seem to be doing very well, but otherwise I don't think there is anything that needs to be said at this time.
Finally, I have recently had a request to start updating in Dutch. I don't exlude the possibility that I will do so, but I think the main entries are likely to be mostly English for some time to come. Of course, comments can be made in either language, and I may well reply in whatever language gets picked. ;)
And that summarizes the past 4+ months adequately, I think... insofar I actually want to publicize them on the internet, that is. ;) :)
My father had a farewell party at the school he had worked for a long time, since he just retired. I went to Apenheul (a zoo in Apeldoorn) with some people in mid-July, where I had not been since 1979. Also, I found someone else to have loooooooooooong email conversations with; and since I prefer these communications, LJ disappeared even further out of the picture.
Around this time we had a photographer over at the company where I work. It would turn out later that the Dutch magazine Intermediair had chosen us as the most innovative ICT company in the country this year. (We had already been in the top 5 for several years running.)
In mid-August I was asked to accompany a friend who wanted to go to a meeting which it had turned out was being organized by a bunch of evangelical christians, although they were just advertising it as a theme evening about Wicca. This did not feel right, as people actually interested in that theme might turn up expecting something quite different. And indeed we found a slightly agitated American woman who came to us when we arrived and warned us that these were really evangelicals. The meeting was kind of funny to have seen once, though this false advertising annoyed me to almost no end. As for information, these people did not even know the word "Gardnerian". But never mind about that. In the end we had done a good deed, I think, by being there for this actually interested lady, and had had a fun evening as well. So in the end, it seems the evangelicals actually helped spread the word. ;)-< :)-<
Then another friend came over from the UK and stayed here for a week, which was fun. We generally stayed in the vicinity, but also made it to a.o. Amsterdam. ;) There was also a family dinner around this time. I got invited to orkut, but turned down the offer as I already can't really keep up with LJ. ;)
I met with the other owners of the building and we decided not to collectively renovate the windows at the back of the building. We deciced that individual action was allowed, and the conditoins under which it was. I was not overjoyed with this result, but I am not unhappy with it either.
At the beginning of September I had a bit of a falling-out with the organizers of the Amsterdam meetings, though this has not had any direct consequences. This may actually have been safeguarded by a nice afternoon with a bunch of the other, quieter, people in a forest in mid-September. I did not actually pause to analyze this too deeply. Regarding meetings, BTW, I went to Utrecht a couple of times over the last few months as well, and I have started attending "Alkmaar" recently. All of this together is a bit too much, we'll see how I reprioritize later on. ;)
As for music I "discovered" Loreena McKennitt and Tori Amos around this time. I also found I could actually listen to "chants" etc. better than I had expected. I got also quite convinced that Omnia is really crap, as I had already thought was the case after hearing them live last year (which is why I had not been in a hurry to investigate them ;)). As for Tori, of course I had heard her before, but I hadn't paid that much true attention. Now, though, I was singing the praises of Kari Rueslatten to someone, and also explained that she sounded a bit like Tori in places, and especially on "Mesmerized", resulting in our swapping some sample songs.. (and chalk up another fan for Kari as well :-)).
I did not read so many books, though I managed some Graham Hancock and some more reading on Buddhism, including the Dhammapada. However, some of the time I normally spend on this was taken by thinking about the development process at work, which I want to restructure a bit. I don't otherwise normally think about these things in my free time a lot, but over the last month or so at least, I actually did.
At work I have been in far more meetings recently, partly due to several projects spannign departments. Also, the last few weeks have been punctuated by phone/webcasts, which are unfortunately broadcast from some EST zone, i.e., taking up most of the evening. *yaaaaaaaawn*
As for family, I am a bit worried about my brother, who doesn't seem to be doing very well, but otherwise I don't think there is anything that needs to be said at this time.
Finally, I have recently had a request to start updating in Dutch. I don't exlude the possibility that I will do so, but I think the main entries are likely to be mostly English for some time to come. Of course, comments can be made in either language, and I may well reply in whatever language gets picked. ;)
And that summarizes the past 4+ months adequately, I think... insofar I actually want to publicize them on the internet, that is. ;) :)