Epic moments of nerdiness this week:

There was a fun "deleted scene" that took place in an Anarchist run squat/ common brothel. I've been tempted to reinsert it.

I've gotten two summer internships for the summer that are in some way connected to public radio. (Symphony Space + Storycorps)

I've replaced the tackiness of Amherst Confessional and the Daily Jolt with online British newspapers such as the Daily Mail and the Guardian. And it's worked.

I choose the Dutch language option on facebook, and now my wall is called "het prikbord."

I'm considering getting a PhD. in English. Eventually.

Ik ben al niet van de handigste, maar mijn overtuiging is dat koffiemelkpotjes speciaal ontworpen zijn om mee te smossen. Als je potje in goede staat is en je hebt een lucky day, dan kan het wel eens zijn dat het openmaken perfect lukt. Aan het lipje trekken, papiertje komt er half af, melk vlotjes in de tas gieten. Wat bij mij een gevoel van extase teweegbrengt.

Maar meestal spat de melk in het rond, moet ik het cellofaanpapier in stukken openrijten en giet ik de helft van de inhoud naast mijn tas. Om dan nog maar te zwijgen over de tallozen keren dat die melkjes naast je koffie gewoon géén treklipje hebben!
Hierbij dus een oproep aan koffiemelkpotjesmakers: wees creatief en maak mij het leven makkelijker! Of zijn er hier ervaringsdeskundigen met goeie tips om die ondingen open te doen zonder te smossen?

Not to pick on Peek and Cloppenburg mannequins again, but this is ridiculous. These kiddy dummies are just wrong. I guess for the summer it had to look trashier. Why are their pants open? Why do they have the just been fucked look? Why are they ages 8- 12? Who put this together? At least before they looked presentable.

Children's fashion is just going down the drain. It's not just a Europe or Amsterdam thing, it's a general problem at home, too. I feel like complaining to the store manager to at least zip up their pants and adjust their clothing, but I don't want to come off as some kind of "sheltered American." Besides, I've never shopped there. But really, this isn't be OK. The littlest mannequin is particularly disturbing. I would say something...if I was able to say it in Dutch.

Sorry it took me so long to back to this. I don't know why, cause I've been meaning to hate on this place all week.

So my brother Martin (aka Martlock, cause he's a lawyer now) came to visit me this past weekend. It was Pentecost and everything was closed so it made it difficult to get around, but we managed. We went to to Pancake Bakery first, which was amazing as usual despite some sloooooow service. Then we decided to go to Heineken Brewery.

I thought the Anne Frank line was serious. Nope, the Brewery was even more special. But with the 11 euro entry you get three beers and a free gift (which you, thankfully, won't get at the Anne Frank Huis). So we waited and eventually got in. It's a very Disney looking place, all things considered. There were brightly colored displays and exhibits, and something that looked like a scene from the Haunted Castle, except involving the scientist who helped develop some kind of yeast. Basically, it's for beer nerds.

Things were going great until we got sucked into this inexplicably long line. It was supposed to be a quick five room walk through showing the different elements that go into beer, but it was packed. We stood on it for what felt like a half hour. Turns out that there were two lines: One for the rest of the exhibit, and the other for a "ride." Since we stayed on the line for long enough, someone (Martin) suggested that we might as well go on the ride.

OK. So this ride was supposed to mimic what it feels like to be a bottle of beer in the factory. We had to stand in a small movie theater looking room, hold some bars for safety and watch a screen, while the thing we were standing on rocked, simulating the movement of a bottle on the conveyor belts.

I was angry within seconds of getting on this "ride." This was embarrassingly bad. This terrible music was playing in the background and none of the shots were even trying to be continuous. My brother and I just laughed the entire time. It ends with you, the "bottle", getting put into a box and shipped somewhere. That box is then opened in a bar, and the tune "Celebrate Good Times" by Kool and the Gang plays. That's when we really lost it.

At least we got beers at the end. But honestly, if they wanted to make us feel like bottles of beer, they should have filled us with alcohol first.

Gisteren echter is het me gelukt om een kopje dampend hete thee over mij, mijn bureau en mijn draadloos toetsenbord te gieten. Ikzelf noch mijn bureau hebben er enige schade van ondervanden, een natte broek en t-shirt was het enige. Maar mijn toetsenbord deed heel erg raar. Als je bepaalde toetsen indrukte hoorde je het foutgeluid, websites werden opgestart, ik typte dan in hoofdletters en daarna weer in gewone letters. Kortom, het zat niet goed.

Na wat gevloek het toetsenbord opgen gemaakt en tot mijn verbazing moeten vaststellen dat de binnenkant van een toetsenbord een vergaarbak is van allerlei zaken, kruimels, haartjes, stof,... ik heb allerlei vunzigheid zaken zien passeren. Het toetsebord laten bakken in de zon en deze ochtend opnieuw aangesloten. En kijk, blijkbaar heeft de zonnekuur hem goed gedaan want vandaag geen vreemde geluiden, geen websites die openen zonder dat ik daar naar vraag en geen hoofdletters als er geen moeten zijn.

Gelukkig zat er geen suiker in de thee! ;-)