Me, myself and I

I won't even comment on the fact that I've been absent for the past year. Or the year before that. The reasons are multifold, ranging from "I've got nothing to say." over "I'm not a big fan of livejournal anymore." to "I've changed and don't want to think about the past anymore." I come here at least once a day, though, and read what you have to say. And I started a new blog. It's one of these "A picture a day" kind of things that have been around for the past few years (look at me, always behind the curve). I'm not sure to what extent I will talk about deeper emotions or opinions, but if you're curious what's going on in my life on a daily basis: Like A Bat

9 years ago today, I lost my then-best friend. We had shared a room together for several months and spent easily 90% of our time together, laughing and crying, talking and listening, at a time when nothing made sense and nobody seemed to understand us. Then from one day to the next, she left. Never to come back.
It would be a lie to say that not a day goes by that I don't think about her. But I carry around the keepsake I got from her as a constant reminder that life is fragile and every choice you make may have an impact you didn't foresee.

You're missed, Tina, my wintergirl. I hope you found happiness.

English translation under the cut.

Wie bereits angekündigt, nehme ich 2012 an einem Fotoprojekt teil. Andy hat eine Webseite eingerichtet, auf der jeden Monat Foto-Freunde aus ganz Deutschland (und EU-Umgebung, wie man sieht) einen bestimmten Aspekt ihres Wohnortes ablichten. Das schien mir eine tolle Idee, denn a) kenne ich viel zu wenig von Deutschland und b) brauche ich wohl doch extrinsische Motivation um meinen neuen Liebling (Canon 1100D) ein wenig mehr auszuführen. Januar stand unter dem Motto: Rathaus.

Endlich bin ich dazu gekommen, unser Rathaus zu fotografieren. Oder eher das, was mir bei meiner ersten Ankunft hier als altes Rathaus verkauft wurde. So ganz bin ich nicht sicher, ob es das jemals war und ob es überhaupt noch irgendeine Funktion erfüllt – es sieht ein wenig nach Gasthaus aus, aber mir war schrecklich kalt, deshalb hab ich nicht genauer nachgeforscht.



Wie schon angedeutet, finden heutzutage Amtliches und Bürgersachen der ‚gemeente’ Nijmegen woanders statt. Im Stadswinkel (wörtlich: Stadtladen) hab ich schon so manche Stunde verbacht, um mich an- und umzumelden. Schickes Haus und kompetente und freundliche Mitarbeiter – so wünscht man sich das. (Und man beachte die allgegenwärtigen Fahrräder...)

 

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I'm still here, really. How often have I said this in the past? How often have I then failed at producing a blog entry in a timely manner? Uh huh. Now, let's see... what could I tell you about?

- I got a spiffy new camera.
- I'm moving in 2 weeks, mixed feelings included.
- I could show you what's in my black hole of a backpack, apparently this is blog-worthy.
- I went to London. And Maastricht.
- I'm participating in a themed pictures-of-my-hometown project. (In German. And I have yet to actually take a pic. Go figure.)

So much fascinating stuff, right? Yeah, I thought so.
Maybe I should have gotten one of these "One picture a day" blogs, so that I don't feel lame about writing about things. I'm not good with words, ask my boss.

But yeah, I hope that tonight's baking will result in a picture-worthy entry. And maybe once I get into the habit of writing again, I can actually tell you fascinating tales about my life. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a wonderful video. I heart Meat Loaf and Patti Russo and this song and this version of this song (and very long sentences) and I don't care how predictable it makes me. ;)

Hmmm... anyone still out there? *looks around with sleepy eyes*
I heard there was some uproar on LJ? Yet again. And people are fleeing to Dreamwidth? Yet again. Huh. Anyway, I shan't care.
Not much has happened on my end since the last time I posted and yet, I guess I'll try to wrap up a decent entry, now that my life is less of constant alternation of working late and drinking later. (Is it remarks like this one that get people weirded out about my life style? Possibly.)

First things first. It's Christmas Eve. MERRY CHRISTMAS! :D

And of course, some things never change, so here's this year's Christmas meme.

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(Hanging By A Moment, Lifehouse)

Can you see how I’m trying to be a good girl about this blogging thing? Uh huh! I’m always amazed when I read other people’s blogs, especially the unthemed ones. Obviously, when you have a food/DIY/fashion/whatever blog, there’s always an excuse to post. But how come some of my online friends can make a two-line entry about nothing in particular and half the world, including me, finds that interesting? Huh.

So, yep, let’s see what I’d tell you about if I did that...

northern_star bought tickets to the Caps@Bruins game in March. She’s also trying to get some for when the Habs play the Rangers the next day. Which meaaaaaans that I’m very likely going to the US for yet another hockey mini-vacation. I haven’t quite figured out... things. Like, when am I going which is very much related to where am I staying and where will I fly in, I guess.
See, if there’s one thing I don’t have enough of, it’s vacation days. (Just kidding, it’s not the only thing I wish I had more of. More internet! More sleep! Moooore stuff!) However, hopping across the pond will take up two half-days anyway, so I may just as well use the time to visit some friends and/or do some city-hopping in NY/CT/MA. I love Montreal but the ties are getting more and more loose and most of my friends have moved for grad school anyway.
But yes, bottom-line: I’M GOING TO THE US!

Work is going veeeery slowly these days. I’m taking a bunch of classes (some of them even quite interesting, who’d have thought?) and it shows. I should be working on a new experiment, I guessssss, but finding stimuli and getting our artist to draw me pretty pictures takes so much time. Also, I’ve submitted my stuff (first experiment of my PhD and what looks like a promising follow-up) to a bunch of conferences which will hopefully buy me a couple of trips to some major European cities next year. Can I get some crossed fingers? Thanks! :)

I spent quitse some money on music lately, mainly stuff by Joshua Radin who I’ve probably gushed about earlier. He’s awesome! Go check him out. (I swear, I don't get money promoting him. Just peace of mind.)

Baking! Thanks to many birthdays and potluck dinners lately, I’ve had the chance to fatten up my friends and myself bake lots. Snickurtle Pie is to die for but really needs a proper freezer, not the crappy thing we have at work. Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie is pretty good – go easy on the butter and this may be a really awesome thing. Cookie Pizza is just plain ridiculous and if you’re in your right mind, you make this right now. (Go go go!) I screwed up pretty badly with the cookie "crust“ and yet it may be my most favorite dessert ever.

That’s it for now. Yup. :)

Wow, it's been a month since the last time that I posted? Yikes. And yet... I can't even tell you about cool things that kept me from blogging. There's just... nothing. Well, almost.

• I've been working lots. With some luck I can finish the follow-up to my first study and then write everything up and submit to conferences and journals. Deadlines deadlines.
• I went to Germany for a week, mainly for my Granny's 75th birthday and to meet up with my best friend from highschool. The former was as weird and awkward and umcomfortable as I expected it to be. I miss my nuclear family when I don't see them but I seem to have lost all connection to cousins and aunts/uncles and we don't talk much beyond small talk. "Uh huh, yeah, the Netherlands are great. Cheese, windmills and all. No, I don't smoke weed all the time. Oh no, you're totally the first person to ask about that."
• Joshua Radin will be in Europe in October and I keep refreshing the website, hoping he'll come to BeNeLux or Germany. *sigh* Another trip to England? London or Birmingham? Cheap flights to and free accommodation in either city, you'd wonder what's keeping me here. Yet... I'm not sure. Sometimes I wish I were more into super popular music, artists who are big enough to tour properly in Europe. But what would be the fun in that, eh?
• I'm looking for a new place to live, together with a wonderful friend of mine from work and a guy I met in Dutch class last year. We had found an excellent house that we lost just before signing the lease, so-to-speak. Luckily it seems that I had misread my contract, thinking I had signed a one-year lease that I'd have to renew for yet another year in October - which I'm pretty sure is what the contract says but my landlords insist that I have a one-month notice. That would be perfect! Dutch legalese is still extremely confusing to me. Living together with a Chinese girl who cooks often and listens to my ramblings and a motorbike-riding Canadian - how cool would that be? 

That's it, I guess. I'll try my best to comment on entries and read fic and all that. Oh, and I'm trying to do this 30 day photo challenge. We'll see how that goes. If nothing else, it'll force me to post more often. ;)

Life is good. That is all.

I imagine some of you know FutureMe. It's a website that will let you send e-mails "to the future"; you write them now and they will be delivered on a date specified by you. I suppose most people use this on their birthdays to send an e-mail to their future self with hopes and wishes and the like. So did I. On the night of July 13, 2010, I wrote a letter to Future-Jana but then somehow didn't end up sending it. I re-discovered it today (as in... I opened Word and there it was in my restored documents) and while I would probably make a few changes and additions now, here is what 24-year-old Jana had to tell 2016-Jana:

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I'll keep this here for a week or so and take it down again, so as not to spoil the "surprise". But I figured this letter tells you more about myself and my life right now than a hundred blog entries could, so I wanted to share it. ;)

I got this from northern_star 

 - Comment with "Hit me!"
- I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you.
- Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
- Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people.


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