yay! today i got more free tickets for cirque. nice, huh? these ones are for next friday’s matinee, and i’ve offered them to ivo and marieke. they weren’t planning on going at all, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? i think their reason was financial, though. ivo sounded pretty excited on the phone this afternoon.

in other news:

dick spoke to the triumph dealership this morning, because my bike isn’t safely ride-able until i get the left fork seal and brake pads replaced. they can pick it up from schiphol for me next week, but they won’t be able to do the repairs until the following week. bummer. still, the date i ride my baby here is rapidly approaching!!!

tuesday i will take all the papers in to have customs begin their thingy. and then i wait. again. damn i hate waiting.

matt’s on his way up here by train. we’re going to the shape of sin party tonight in alphen aan den rijn. somewhere along the line i’ll be needing a nap. but here i am, typing. hmmm….

that there is the ONLY photo i’ve taken since borrowing matt’s digital camera and moving up here for the summer. pathetic, huh. anyway, that was my first day of work… i was bicycling towards the tent and i noticed human shaped ants crawling all over it. they were cleaning. it looks like fun!

the first week was exhausting. the second week i managed to annoy all the kitchen staff by removing their towels from the laundry every morning when i came in. this is near the end of the third week, and i’ve managed to annoy the hula hoop girl. i’m doing great. 🙂

actually, i enjoy working there. i’m having ups and downs with the local security. most of the time they’re really friendly, then they have little power trips, then they switch back to friendly. today the one who i mostly interact with was explaining to me how he’s a biker. he has a really ugly old kawasaki that’s parked out front every morning. he’s had it for 19 years. that it runs well enough to commute every day speaks in its favor.

oh, on to… SUMMER CAMP…

so, i invited myself along to a night at a summer camp for 9 – 11 year olds. ivo and marieke and dick were all going, and the kids were playing “hotel” for the night. so. unfortunately, i was exhausted, and didn’t do a great job of playing along. ivo insisted that i should only speak english to the kids, but i kept getting confused. and sometimes i really really missed what the hell was going on. i got “volunteered” for participation in a skit. i have no idea. someone was taking pictures. egads.

the only really horrible part was when i needed to go to sleep, and i was just starting to relax when all the grownup guests came in after the “disco.” they didn’t have the excuse of being drunk, because there was only small amounts of liquor available, so i have no idea what caused them to loudly talk and switch the dorm lights on and off. once again i am reminded of how much i hate slumber parties. a lesson relearned. over and over. why don’t i just give up?

so after leaving before breakfast, dick dropped me off at the utrecht train station for the ride to work. amazingly, after all that, i caught the early train and got to work almost 1/2 hour early! and, 5 minutes before getting into the amsterdam bijlmer station, my phone rang!

it was the shipping company who had received my motorcycle here in the netherlands!!!!!! so, my bike is here. unfortunately, i can’t get the papers until monday, although i did call and try to get them delivered to me here today. i even did it right away in the morning. but i still managed to miss the driver who had left to try me at my apartment in maastricht. anyway, i can get them monday, then tuesday after work i will go into the shipping office and get the paperwork done. then customs needs to ok it, and then hopefully i might be able to leave with it on tuesday. maybe. the woman on the phone was very hesitant to make any such suggestions. she said customs can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days. or longer. and i still need to make an appointment to get the fork seals and brake pads replaced. ugh.

anyway, that’s the news as of this moment. i am preparing to leave kristie’s apartment, where i have been cat and house sitting. i will be returning to jane’s apartment next tuesday, then jane will go on vacation. my weeks are going so quickly, and i never get anything done! how is this possible?

hi guys!

some acquaintances of mine who have recently returned to MN from Maastricht are in need of a wedding/reception photographer. i believe it is sometime the first week of september.

i don’t know the people very well (they are friends of a friend), nor do i know what they have in mind, but if you are interested in having them contact you, please email me: spidertangle@gmail.com

thanks!

ok… so today was a bit weird. tomorrow will probably be weirder. woke up normalish time (10ish)and made coffee. packed up some stuff. drank more coffee. matt made breakfast.

got on train with matt, bike, two suitcases and each of us a backpack.
arrived in amsterdam. found spot to park bike until i come pick it back up tomorrow evening. tram to lomanstraat.

jane and jonathan both home. some chatting, hanging about, unpacking, dinner, etc. but it feels weird. matt will go home tomorrow night, and i will stay here, with the kitties. 🙂 nice kitties. have another place-to-stay offer, because a friend of jane’s who i met before is going on a business trip and needs a cat-sitter. i’ll probably do it. why the hell not?

so here i am. more next time. bats in the dungeon tonight, but i’m SO tired. could use a nap. maybe just feeling emotionally exhausted. poor Cat. he’ll be sad without me to pet him every day!

just trying again… this is matt and dick on the sofa, before dick went and cut off all his beautiful hair.

this is a picture of our friend dev and another guy in a pig costume. i am practicing uploading pics from various sources.

so, everything’s set.

i had my last lesson with a student on monday evening. i had my last violin lesson last friday. last dutch lesson yesterday. have done most of the laundry. jane and jonathan are expecting me and matt on saturday.

we’re going to the bats in the dungeon party on saturday night, in the amsterdam dungeon. i’m trying to sort out what i feel like packing for the 6 weeks i’ll be up in amsterdam, so that i don’t have to bring stuff up all the time. shoes have been especially a problem. clubwear that doesn’t require too much accessorizing and isn’t too hot has been another problem. it’s a pain in the butt to pack a million accessories for only a few opportunities to wear them.

jane is, understandably, worried about my stay. the last two people she had living with her are no longer on speaking terms with her. it’s been rough. one of them was one of her dearest friends. however, i’m there on a very temporary basis, and she’ll be off on vacation for 2 weeks (3 weekends), and gone for the 2nd weekend that i’m there as well. so in lots of ways i’ll just be house/cat sitting. and i hope to be busy and stay out of her way as much as possible. but we’re both pretty positive that it’ll be fun, and if it seems like trouble, i’ll just go somewhere else. i think it helps her to know that i have options, and that there’s a definite date when i’ll be out.

now if i can just remember how to do the whole photo thing on here, i’ll be all set! project for this evening, perhaps!