a once upon a time adventure...

once upon a time (also known as last friday) my wee little charge and i went on an adventure to the city of amsterdam. together, we braved the most fearsome beasts known to mankind.

so, we went to the zoo. artis, the oldest zoo in nederland and a lovely one at that. it's being renovated to be a wee bit more animal (and animal-activist) friendly. which is good. we visited lions and tigers and bears, oh my! and generally had a lovely day.

except for the tiny blip where my wee little charge walked away and i couldn't find him. but i did find him, of course. it was a terrifying moment.

and just for the record, we took a bus, a train, and a tram to get there, and the reverse to get home, and i didn't mess it up at all. i was brilliant. no getting lost in a foreign city? priceless.


p.s. i ate cotton candy. it tastes better in my memory. oh well. it was still yummy.

p.p.s. i am so excited for the weekend. family. family! faaaaaaaaammmily.

ah, nobel, how they have besmerched your machine-gun-making name.

i know, this isn't exactly a "what i've been up to" post. but it is, a little.

tonight we were driving to a little italian restaurant where we were planning on eating. (we did, by the way, don't worry) when the radio announcer said the words "al gore" and "nobel peace prize" together. in the same sentence. as in, "al gore was awarded the nobel peace prize" (except in dutch, so it was more like "al gore heft het nobel prijz van vrijheid gekregen" or something like that). then i had to take a moment and try to restrain myself from rolling down the window and screaming to the sky "why? WHY?"

because who in their right mind would award a half-assed crummy politician one of the highest honors our world has in the realm of bringing about peace for his movie about pretty little animals and trees which we need to stop killing, a topic no one has ever breached before, clearly. (because david suzuki is crazy, but al gore is enlightened.)

now that i have ranted, i am a-okay.

ps. seriously. al gore? what, did no one rescue a baby this year? were they that desperate? because, you know, i've recycled lots and i don't drive, so i'm clearly a better candidate then mr. i-have-a-private-jet al gore, and a nobel peace prize would look great on my college applications.

lost in the pages

i've been reading a lot lately. in fact, today s. and i went on an excursion. to the, you guessed it, library. (or as it's affectionately called here, "het bib".)

their library is so high tech, i'm not even kidding. they have automated check out stations. which i love. really. you swipe your card, swipe your books, and away you go. and i know, it's not "high tech" per se, but it feels high tech to me. i got out three books: a kathy reichs (yes, again. i like her books, they make me happy), notes on a scandal by zoe heller, and the jane austen book club. i'm very excited. s., however, got a book about "meneer big en het wijde wereld" (which means "mr. pig and the wide world") which we are both rather excited about. we walked there, and when i went last night (to return my due books which i had forgotten about until then) it only took me about 20 minutes to get there and back, but with s. it took a little longer. oh well, at least he's a cutie.

also, i have had a social life lately. i've been out for coffee. and i visisted my church elder on sunday afternoon. i also maybe flirted mildy with his son, but he's a wee bit older than me so it was more to keep in practice. heh. (mama, are you worried yet?)

s. had monday and tuesday off this week, and he has all of next week off too, so it's gonna be busy. but we'll have fun. on tuesday he said he was sick, so he got fairly catered to, especially because he was running a mild fever. but he's all better.

also, i'll rebuild his lego castle soon, which will be a party as it got destroyed during his party and now i have to try to figure out how i managed the first time and duplicate it.

also, also, also... i need a new transition word. suggestions?

the "bear" necessities

- polaroid camera, plus film. and a sharpie.
- chocolates or flowers for tante helma's birthday.
- a gift for s. (lego, anyone?)
- souvenirs for my peeps. heh. peeps. i'm gangsta, obvs.
- wax. yes, the kind for legs.
- lined paper and a pen or two.
- stickytack or its dutch counterpart.
- envelopes. and stamps.


also: i need to find the post office, visit the library, and call my aforementioned peeps. and be paid.

mickey, minnie, and the whole gang.

i rode a roller-coaster. no, really. i rode a roller-coaster. me. space mission 2, to be exact. i thought i was going to die. and then i wanted to do it again.

i had fun. disneyland made me believe in princes on white horses again. they have this parade, the disney dreams something-or-other, and there are the princesses and the princes and they dance around and it's so cheesy and so bad and i loved it.

i rode: dumbo, the teacups, pirates of the carribean, buzz lightyear, space mission, some train/mine thing, and who knows what else.

as much as i liked it, disneyland still kinda creeped me out. there is something wrong about all that happy, fake, bottled, expensive ness contained in one area. plus, the whole place is plastic.



also, i ate foie gras. and liked it. a lot. dinner at our hotel, by the way, cost 44 euros. per person. i almost died the first time i saw the menu. they didn`t even flinch. part of me is having trouble getting used to all this. not that i hate it, though.