30 November 2006

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Okay, I know it's still November, but I'll be home for Christmas three weeks from today! I started listening to Christmas songs at the office yesterday evening in an attempt to cheer myself up and am now midway through compiling an "alternative" Christmas playlist to burn onto CD for whoever wants it (siblings - copies for your cars will be in the post next week! and I expect them to be playing full blast when you're chauffeuring me around!)

I'm also in festive mood because the Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas next Tuesday. Kids leave their shoes out to be filled with sweets, and adults get drunk and make each other presents (a poem, a card, or in one friend's experience, a full sized papier maché turkey). The Sint has been the subject of quite a few news headlines this year as debate escalates about the political correctness of his helpers, the Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes). Tradition has it, though, that the Petes' faces are black due to the chimney soot, but I can't imagine them surviving this long in any other country.

Political debate aside, the streetlights are lit, the ice rinks are up, and Amsterdam looks prettier than it has all year. And not a single shop blaring cheesy Christmas songs - that generally doesn't kick in until the week before (if at all), by which time I will be winging my way home. All in all, the best of both worlds.

28 November 2006

The cookery section, part 1 of ?

I think I'm taking the whole "feed a cold, starve a fever" thing a bit too literally. It's not even a proper cold - I have the sniffles and a sore throat - but the old wives' tale dictates that I have carte blanche to eat lots if I'm feeling peaky, so I am. It's not like I've ever needed an excuse to break out the comfort food. Hangover? Bacon sandwich. PMS? Macaroni cheese with bacon bits (you can see where this is headed, can't you). Sort-of cold? Bacon & cabbage, 21st-century style i.e. not mushy and flavourless, oh no. This recipe was pieced together from various descriptions of my uncle's take on the dish and about five text messages from my family on Sunday afternoon.

(Unbelievably moreish) bacon & cabbage

Serves 4-6 "normal" portions or 2-3 gluttonous ones

1 green Savoy cabbage
1 onion
about 15 pieces streaky bacon (smoked if you can get it, I'm limited to Dutch breakfast bacon which isn't bad but the pieces are tiny)
a handful of pine nuts
salt & pepper
a knob of butter
quarter pint chicken stock

So. First to the cabbage. Rinse it in some icy cold water and then chop roughly.

Bring the chicken stock to the boil in a largeish pot and throw in the cabbage. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the cabbage is soft but you don't want it to fall apart completely. Make sure it doesn't boil dry & add a tiny bit of water if needed.

While the cabbage is simmering away, chop your onion finely & fry off in the butter until it's golden brown. Remove the onion from the pan but leave all the buttery oniony juices in - you'll need these for frying off the bacon.

Fry the bacon in the onion juices (yum!) and remove when done. Leave to cool for a few minutes then chop roughly or just grab a scissors and snip the bacon into bits.

Next toss the pine nuts in the still warm onion & bacon juices for a couple of seconds. Remove and put with the onion & bacon bits.

When the cabbage is done, drain all the water off. Return to the pot and chuck in the pine nuts, onion and bacon bits. Season generously and mix through. Serve immediately!

Delicious on its own, or with a pile of creamy mashed potato, and maybe some sausages. And if you're me in my current state, follow with a half packet of chocolate biscuits and two cups of tea while bawling through the Grey's Anatomy Season 2 finale even though you've seen it before.

26 November 2006

Fashion victim?

I swore I never would, but behold, the boots are out, and the jeans are in:




















Okay, so not quite Kate Moss, but oh so comfy and warm.

21 November 2006

They come in threes, you know

Today did not start well.

It was my second as Bosslady, so I made a mad dash for the office in an effort to arrive before 9am, thus appearing Responsible and Professional. I made it in at around 8:58 but by 9:08, still no assistant... and then my phone rang. She called in sick. To my direct line (which no-one has). Who does that on day 2? I spent most of the morning in a fouler and most of the afternoon avoiding work.

Things started looking up at around 3pm when a mammoth chain of emails between myself, Sarah, Jenny and Julia kicked off. The end result? See below! We're headed to London in February to see The Sound Of Music. Hold on to your wimples...

Another downward turn followed at around 6:50 when Jenny & I left a beautiful 2 floor apartment in a great part of town after a viewing. Long story short, we're out of our current place on December 31st and had hoped to have somewhere to move into, but it's fallen through (and that's all I'm saying here, it was a horribly long, drawn out and stressful process). We loved this place but the couple renting it out had already shown it to some Irish girls and it looked like we were out of the running.

Onwards and upwards... another mad dash to Paradiso for a bit of a boogie to The Kooks, who were much improved since I last saw them in February and had the entire crowd screaming and stomping. Photos to follow over there once I've filtered out all the crap ones (of which there are many). So, good thing number 2 in the bag and it looked like my day was finally improving. The last thing I was expecting at 9pm, mid gig, was a phone number from the lady whose apartment we'd just viewed... when I got back to her half an hour later she said they'd had a bit of a think and reckoned we were a safer bet than three noisy Irish girls (ha!) So it looks like we have a place from 20th December, although I won't believe it til I'm hawking boxes up the three flights of steep windy stairs. We're signing the contract this Thursday and I will be taking gazillions of photos as soon as I can. It's got a balcony! And a bath! And central heating! And we won't have to brush our teeth in the kitchen sink!

I couldn't have been any more hyper leaving Paradiso to cycle home - so when I encountered the entire Kooks contingent crossing the road all I could think of to say to them was "howrya, great gig". What a waste!

So, proof that good things come in threes. Now to deal with tomorrow...

One of my favourite things

3rd of February, here we come!

20 November 2006

It's week 47, apparently

My dad just pointed the above out to me on the phone and I am now all a-panic. I know it's almost the end of November and the shops in this don't-really-do-Christmas country are starting to fill up with tinselly tat, but now I have it in numbers: there are five weeks of 2006 left. Which means that:

- Oran and I are almost half way through our long distance stint
- I have 23 working days left to tick all the boxes on my management objectives form (am developing alarming workaholic tendencies)
- Flatmate Jenny & I have about two weeks to find somewhere to live (more on that later)
- I fly home for Christmas in four weeks and three days!

In the meantime, I have a new assistant to train, four gigs to go to this week alone, my very first interview with the lovely Tapes n Tapes this Wednesday for a web zine (link to follow once it's published, I promise), and a gazillion other things to accomplish (losing three kilos, buying knockout party dress, oh and Christmas shopping!)

Looks like weeks 48-52 will fly by at this rate.

16 November 2006

Musical interlude

Oh my goodness. I've just found out that Ben Folds is playing here on January 30th. Cue much excitement.

I blame my ex-boyfriend for introducing me to Mr. Folds (then part of a Fivesome who were actually a threesome, but whatever). He lent me his signed copy of Whatever And Ever Amen back in 1998 and I was instantly hooked. We had a race with our friends at the time to see who could learn to play the most songs on piano by ear. I managed Evaporated, a little of Missing The War and the riff from Kate; our friend Conor had the whole thing down pat within about a week so he accompanied us on our tipsy evening singalongs around the chaplaincy piano. The next couple of months were universally soundtracked by these songs, so when we split up just after the Christmas break I had to give the album a rest for a while. (I considered keeping the signed copy, but I'm not that mean.)

Since then (seven years, has it been that long?) I've dipped in and out of Reinhold Messner and Ben's solo albums. I've also reacquainted myself with Whatever And Ever Amen, in the process proving Nick Hornby's theory that if you really love a song, it won't remind you of anything specific when you hear it. Now I just hear the songs. But I've never had the opportunity to hear them live... in a little over two months, I will. One to cross off my list of Acts To See Live Before I Die.

13 November 2006

The Leg Endz return

Fifth week back at pub quiz for the winter season and we came third! We're in the money, etc. etc. We would've been second if my teammates had believed me when I said Johnny Hates Jazz were a real band. Dammit! Still, the proceeds will pay for our entry fee next week, where we will aim for the dizzy heights of second but more likely fall flat on our arses.

Tidbits from the weekend

It was meant to be a quiet one... whoops.

- Lily Allen concert: surprisingly good, backed by a kickass 9 piece band
- Gambling earnings: EUR30!
- Fussball skills: improving...still crap in defence but I can now score goals, whoo
- Real chocolate as substitute for cooking chocolate in rice krispie buns: heavenly
- Julia's nachos: I still want more
- Games played on games night: 3... 7-person Ligretto (loud), Celebrity (riotous), Asshole (neverending)
- Time I decided to go for frites after games night: 4.12am
- Frites: delicious
- Banana pancakes: perfect hangover cure
- Ugly Betty: new second favourite TV show after only 12 minutes
- Staff in American Book Center: amazingly helpful
- Bird Thai food: stellar
- Kenny vs. Spenny: unexpectedly hilarious
- Borat: meh

Now to a long and tiresome five-day week - but my last as a non-boss! I am quite terrified...

10 November 2006

Vicious bears and running taps

(Note: This one's probably not for the squeamish.)

Last night I had a dream - okay, a nightmare - in which I was mauled by a bear. I have no idea how I ended up in such a situation but all of a sudden there I was, on a mountain somewhere, looking on in horror as Mr. Bear chewed off first one, then both of my hands. Seriously. I was left with two bloody arm stumps... and then I woke up in a cold sweat.

I have absolutely no idea what would've led my subconscious to this gory little scenario. I'm not a fan of horror films and haven't seen anything blood-and-gutsy (unless you count Grey's Anatomy) in months, maybe years. It's been a stressful week, though, and I did have two cheese sandwiches for lunch yesterday - perhaps contributing factors? Or is a dream like that proof that I have, in fact, gone completely batshit?

My colleagues were pretty sympathetic when I told the story earlier this afternoon. One guy on my team told me about a Russian custom for dealing with bad dreams. Apparently the thing to do is to go into the bathroom, turn on the taps full blast and tell the dream to the running water, thus washing it down the plughole. Good to know, but I sincerely hope I don't have cause to try it out any time soon.

Don't mug(g) yourself

Amsterdammers are notorious for their, er, unusual dress sense, and after three years here I've become pretty much oblivious to even the oddest get-ups. Stonewashed denim miniskirt, purple tights and cowboy boots? Just an average day at the office. Shorts, footless tights, leg warmers and sparkly flat shoes? Friday night down the pub. Blue shirt, red trousers, brown blazer? Saturday lunch. It seems that anything goes here, and whatever I might think of certain sartorial choices, a part of me has to applaud them - I'd certainly never have the confidence to dress like the natives.

However, nothing prepared me for what I encountered cycling down the Elandsgracht this morning: Fortysomething Man in Skinny Jeans and Ugg Boots. I just wish I'd had my camera.

8 November 2006

Anything to take my mind off the fact that I'm working late... again

Here is a list, in no particular order, of words I overuse, some when I write, and some when I speak (can you guess which are which?)

- seriously
- cool
- brilliant
- fab
- actually
- meng (okay, not a real word)
- hello
- timeline
- process
- issue
- encode
- tracker
- lekker (Dutch, but still)
- totally
- doei (again with the Dutch!)

And, to balance things out, here's a list of words I should really use more.

- gobshite
- blimp
- squishy
- muppetry
- pernicious
- no

What words do you over/underuse?

Completely rusty

Since Oran moved back to Ireland, I've had to adjust to going solo on social occasions. It's been fine for the most part, but one interesting side effect has cropped up: with no boyfriend around, I occasionally get chatted up. Most of the time it's in indirect fashion so I usually manage to steer the conversation around to my lovely boyfriend, but I was completely thrown for a loop on Saturday night...

A bunch of us were at Foam in the midst of our Museumnacht rounds and had popped down to the bar for a couple of drinks. On my way back from the bathroom, I was all of a sudden accosted by a strapping English bloke, who didn't beat about the bush at all:

Him: "So, you have a lovely smile. I have a lovely number, would you like it?"

Me (floored, trying to channel Lily Allen and failing miserably): "Um... er... I don't have a phone" (what?!)

Him: "Yeah, right"

Me (mentally flailing): "I'm very, er, 19th century like that... I need to get back to my friends..."

At which point he walked off and I legged it back to the group to pass on the woeful chat up line I'd just been assaulted with and my even more woeful response. Except he didn't walk off, and about 30 seconds into my story I received a tap on the shoulder, and turned around to see the guy standing right behind me! Luckily he saw the funny side of it, but I'll be a little more discreet the next time I'm hit with a cheesy chat up line. And maybe more articulate when telling the guy where to go...