well, we made it safely to MN.  got really lucky on the plane:  we had 2 seats in the middle row of 4… and the plane was pretty full.  but then… no one sat down with us!  so we had all that extra space the whole way.  and VOD screens!  and the food didn’t have bell peppers!  yes!

ceese & bob (matt’s dad & stepmom) picked us up, took us to their place.  we fell asleep for HOURS.  then we went to dinner with caly & scott, who suggested the happy gnome, on selby, for dinner.  it was delicious, and the beer was excellent.  and we were exhausted, so we went to their place, chatted a bit, stole their car, and off we went home to sleep. 

did i mention how awesome it is that they are letting us borrow their car???  it’s really really awesome!  saves us tons of money, which is really important right now.  i think this is the first trip to the states where we really CAN’T afford to do lots of shopping.  too bad.  bare necessities only.  like neosporin, and sudafed.  🙂

tonight, we HOPE to go to the derby match.  matt’s feeling a bit unsure about it, but i think i’m going anyway.  so hopefully i’ll see a few people there!  before that, we don’t really have plans.  we are thinking of running over to victor’s for breakfast, then i have some important errands to run – bank, t-mobile store, like that.  and we are supposed to help some with the prepping for tomorrow’s thanksgiving feast here at bob & ceese’s.  so i may need to make pies.

tomorrow, sunday, we have family stuff.  it starts in early afternoon (say 1ish) and could go on all evening (i don’t know).  so if anyone has only tomorrow to see us, please call us here at the number i posted yesterday or the day before, and we can still squeeze you in anyway.  there are several non-thanksgiving-day family required things, and everyone here knows that i at least am here primarily to see friends.  🙂

right.  there are the immediate plans.  i hope to see many of you soon!

i think my US phone may be broken.  therefore, you can try it.  otherwise, i suggest calling matt’s dad & stepmom’s house:  651/917 2854.  i still plan on keeping my dutch mobile with me.  i have already posted that number, so i don’t need to do that again.

we’ll be in town tomorrow afternoon (friday).  about 1pm.  🙂 

hey everyone,
i don’t know yet if my MN cell will work – it’s sometimes a pain.  i always get it running within a day, though.  the number is:  651 329 9878.

also, if you really need to reach one of us and that’s not working, you can try our NL numbers:
sharon:  +31 65 4704071
matt: +31 62 783 6090

as for what you need to dial to get out of the US (ie what you will dial where that + is), i think it’s: 011.

🙂  and we like sms.  cheaper, usually.

hello hello,

many people ever so kindly informed me of bands playing while we’re in town, but i have another question:

are people still going to ground zero and the saloon?  which nights?  we’d like to make some "out on the town and see lots of people" plans.  this may include a triple rock breakfast or something as well.  no plans yet for sure, we just want info….

psycho suzy’s for evil cocktails is another intriguing possibility…

this morning i had some amazing news…

many years ago, my stepsister, lani, ran away.  i wasn’t around much in those years, so i don’t know the details, but she must have been pretty unhappy, obviously.  my parents hired a private detective, but although there were occasional leads, he never found her.  at one point, he had narrowed her down to a shelter in san francisco, and matt and i happened to also be in san francisco around the time, so we spent about 6 hours sitting in their lobby, because they wouldn’t confirm if she was there or not, but said we were welcome to hang out in case she came through.  she didn’t.

my stepdad, of course, has never stopped looking.  i don’t know how he found her, or if he’s been paying a detective all this time, but this morning i opened my email to find an email from him with her address and a little information.  i’m going to write her right away!

on a related but much sadder note, i have just learned last week that my grandparents are in a nursing home.  this makes two urgent letters with photos that i need to be writing right away.

guess what i’ll be up to tonight?  i had been thinking about a movie at de nieuwe anita or wherever, but i think this takes precedence.

today i was bicycing along and was stopped in my tracks by … a pair of boots in the window of a store in the 9 straatjes.  it’s a large clothing shop on the same block with zipper, a 2nd hand shop i sometimes find nice things in.

i went inside to look closer.  they had 3 lacings, front and offset front left & right.  they had 2 zippers, one on each side entire height.  they had the perfect heel height – for dancing & walking. 

they were 990 euros.

!

!

!

i don’t think i’ve ever seen a pair of boots that were 990 euros.  but i had to try them on.  the women were really sweet – they went looking in the basement for my size (39) and came back, fortunately, with only a 38 and a 40.  i tried on the 40 just for fun.  gorgeous.  but too big.

they asked if they should call their berlin store to see if they still had another pair in 39.  🙂

how sweet.  but seriously, how can you be SOLD OUT of a pair of boots that costs 990 euros???? who spends 990 euros on a pair of boots?  how many did they have in stock originally?  maybe they only had one pair.  honestly, not likely.

are there really that many people around with that much to waste on one pair of admittedly DROP DEAD GORGEOUS boots?

and if you ever want to go into a store with way-over-your-price-range clothes and accessories and be treated like royalty regardless of your shaggy red dreadlocks and not exactly expensive clothes, then i recommend the lovely staff at…. van r…. i WILL remember the name of the shop and add it later.

last night was st. martin’s night.  i stocked up on candy, and there were TONS of children around our neighborhood, with glowing lanterns.  but no one rang the bell.  i kept all the lights on and everything.  maybe people have to know me better first.  but i only saw kids.  i didn’t see any supervising adults.  mostly kids between ages 7 and 13, from the looks of them.  they were really sweet to look at out the window.

then we went to see wim wenders’ king of the road.  it was excellent.  i started to lose track of it sometime around the long night that they spent at the home of bruno’s mother, but it was pretty late and the scene was dark, and i was pretty tired.  all in all, though, i really enjoyed the images and the feel of it.  i think now that i would have enjoyed other wim wenders movies i’ve seen better if i’d seen them in a dark theatre on a big screen.

and today…
well, have i mentioned lately that i really like my job these days?  i had a pretty rough 6 months or so, and then a month or two ago it started drastically improving.  i’m really doing research now, and i spend a lot of time browsing video sites and putting together mini-reports on them.  well, and a lot of time talking to our external IT department, because we seem to never have working machines.  but that’s something else entirely.

my boss just sprang for lunch, take-away from a very nice italian restaurant around the corner.  it was excellent, and my tummy is all full of warm yummy italian flavors.

blah blah.

another opportunity for being a film critic, but you have to be under 30 years old.  on the plus side, this time you don’t have to be from the netherlands…

professionals.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/eng/press/trainee_project_young_film_critics.aspx

When Matt and I lived in Prague, there was also a figure called "Cerny Petr" – also "Black Peter" but he did not look like a slave to my memory… I’m having some trouble (while at work) finding out more about him… anyone?

This is all I got from Wikipedia:

The Companions of Saint Nicholas (or Father Christmas) are a group of closely related figures who accompany St. Nicholas in many European traditions. The tradition is particularly strong amongst the Germanic peoples, with some regional expression in the U.S. (largely from European ethnic groups).

The most recognized companion, especially outside of Europe, is Knecht Ruprecht, which translates as Farmhand Ruprecht or Servant Ruprecht. Other companions include Krampus (Austria, Bavaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Friul, Hungary [spelled Krampusz]), Klaubauf (Bavaria), Bartel (Styria), Pelzebock, Pelznickel, Belzeniggl, Belsnickel (Pennsylvania), Schmutzli (Switzerland), Rumpelklas, Bellzebub, Hans Muff, Drapp or Buzebergt (Augsburg), Hanstrapp (Alsace, East of France) and Le Père Fouettard (Northern France). In the Czech Republic, St. Nicholas or Svatý Mikuláš is accompanied by the Čert (Devil) and Anděl (Angel). These servants are often associated with, but are distinct from Saint Nicholas’ helpers in the Netherlands and Flanders (called Zwarte Piet, meaning Black Pete(r) in English).

There is also a movie directed by Milos Forman, from 1964.  Maybe I’ll look into that later today…  for now I have to get back to work!
 

stolen from amsterdamon, because it’s a really really bizarre thing about living here in the netherlands…