Machine mugging

I put my sixty cents in the machine and request a Snickers.

(tangential rant: When I was a child this bar used to be called Marathon; a name which conjures up sport and stamina and maybe ancient Greece and war too. Then they changed the name to Snickers; which for me sound likes “sniggers”, or maybe like something you’d use to trim your garden hedge (snick! snick!). And the irony? Snickers have subsequently launched an energy bar called…Marathon!)

The chocolate bar edges slowly forwards, stopping just short of the ledge like a suddenly rebellious lemming, and stands there, immobile. Knowing well the caprices (and weaknesses) of this particular dumb waiter, I start shoving it, rocking it back and forth and giving it sharp slaps. The internal light flickers, the chocolate vacillates, and following one last thwack it finally falls.

As I retrieve it, a metallic clinking is heard. I reach over and retrieve my sixty cents from the change slot. It’s as if the machine is saying “Here! take your chocolate! And take the money back too! Whatever you want, just…stop hitting me!”

Dilemma

Next week I have two days off. Not just days at home looking after the kids during their school holidays, but days when I’m left completely to my own devices, free to fill the time as I choose. Like many people with children who don’t get a lot of “me” time, I dream of this kind of situation, and yet it also scares and confuses me. So many possibilities, which to choose? And while “two whole days” might sound like a lot of time, with one thing and another it works out to 9am-3pm, twice. Minus lunchtime, and travel time if I want to go somewhere.

I’ve narrowed the options down to these:

1. Potter around the house doing chores, tidying, paperwork, etc.

Advantages: this stuff needs to be done, and I’ll feel good about having achieved something useful (for a change).

Disadvantages: boring. Also inevitably frustrating as however much “work” I get done, there’s always more.

2. Spend some quality time with my DVD collection. I could make a big dent in season 4 of The Wire, or work my way through the special features from one of my favourite films.

Advantages: pleasurable and relaxing.

Disadvantages: in theory I can watch DVDs any evening of the week once the kids are in bed, so it won’t feel like I’m really taking full advantage of those two days.

3. Go into town and go to an exhibition (something I never get the time to do these days). Maybe that season of contemporary African photography I’ve heard so much about. Then wander for a bit, take some photos of urban oddities (of which Brussels has its fair share), find somewhere nice for lunch.

Advantages: potentially both pleasurable and improving.

Disadvantages: requires more effort and planning than option 2. Plus, I’d have to put on some proper clothes and get on a packed, sweaty metro, which I do every day when I go to work.

Help me, Internet! Tell me what to do!

Worth a thousand words

I’ve mailed this link to a few of you already, but for those who haven’t seen it, there’s a great collection of vintage amateur photography here.

Check out the dreamy images in the “On the limits of memory” gallery, or the bacchanalian decadence of The Party…

A nice way to start the week

Mondays should always be like this:

1. My boss and colleague are off on holiday all week.
2. Server problems made work impossible for large chunks of the day, giving me a perfectly valid excuse to loaf, lounge, and take extended coffee breaks.
3. I took a test to determine my level for a free language course at work due to start in September. Since I’ve only been learning Dutch since January, I didn’t think I’d be placed in a very high level (there are 6 in total), but I was hoping to jump over level 1, which always fills up very quickly. After a multiple choice grammar & vocabulary test and a brief chat in Dutch with a teacher, she tells me that she thinks I’ll be put in the level 3 class.
4. I’m still very much enjoying playing with our new TV.
5. I’m took some very satisfying photos of moss and cobwebs at the weekend.
6. The day ended with a thunderstorm.
7. My parents-in-law are here this week, leaving us free to go out every night.
8. When I got home, BITWRATHPLOOB had arrived. If this means nothing to you, hie thee hence to its blog (which I will start updating soon), where you can learn about the history (although its origins are shrouded in mystery) and raison d’être of this globe-trotting troll-bear. It’s also on flickr and twitter, naturally. I am truly honoured to be entrusted with showing it around my adopted country, and hope it enjoys its stay with me.

Out to lunch

Today I used my lunch break to pop into town and buy a wedding gift for our friends in Tokyo. As I entered the department store I was forced to make my way through the lingerie department in order to reach my destination. I hate it when that happens:

 

Purchase made,  I scoffed a disgusting burger and headed down the street to a nearby bookshop. As I walked, the bells of a nearby church began to ring. It took a few bars for me to recognise the song, which is not the kind of thing I’m used to hearing emanting from a house of God:

 

I guess the priest has a weakness for show-tunes.

I also passed a building full of rubble and workmen, obviously in the middle of some serious renovations/rebuilding. It used to house a rather nice Lebanese restaurant where we dined one evening with some friends. There was also a belly-dancing routine after the meal, and diners were encouraged to participate. The ladies in our group shook their booties with gusto, as I fondly recall. Needless to say, I remained seated. It’d be a shame if it’s closed for good.

Once in the bookshop, I picked up a free copy of a new creative writing magazine called Notes From The Underground (you can download a pdf of the entire issue from their site). So far I’ve only flicked through it and not yet read any of the stories, but one item caught my eye, about a web project called “Hitotoki“, which ties short stories to specific locations in a city (starting with Tokyo, but they’ve launched in a few other major cities too). I hope I get some time to read some of these before we go there next Wednesday…

Bits and sods

I’m so glad I don’t have to “date” any more.

Fascinating story.

I’m changing jobs sometime in January (same organisation; different department). Apart from the fact that the new job will be more interesting, and more in line with my past work experience, the location of the new office is more central, which means that I can take the metro to work, which means I’ll have about 45 minutes more reading time per day. Plus, we’ll be able to sell the second car, and save money on petrol, tax, insurance, etc.

I have about one more month in this office before my view changes…

Back to life

Brussels doesn’t seem to have entirely woken up to 2007 yet, with two consequences for me this morning. 
One – little or no traffic on the road to work this morning. Good. 
Two – café at work closed, forcing me to get my morning cappuccino from the machine. Bad. Machines cannot make cappuccino. They make white coffee with a thin layer of tiny bubbles which have all disappeared by the time I get back to my office.

Anyway, other than that, things are fine. Xmas at my parents was enjoyable (more details will be posted soon over at the family blog) – I received a creepy dvd and a bleepy cd, and vouchers to buy more of the same.

Yesterday the girls started back at the creche, but we only came back to work today, so yesterday we had a day to ourselves and drove up to Den Bosch (birthplace of, you’ve guessed it, Hieronymous Bosch) in the Netherlands. Upon arrival it became apparent that it was a lot colder than I’d anticipated, which lead to an emergency sweater purchase:

Following lunch at a great Dutch chain of cafés called Bagels and Beans (I had the special, filled with roast chicken, soy sauce, peanuts, and pak choi), I found the world’s greatest mug. 

You know – for those extra special drinks you want to be sure not to spill. Ok, so it was in a baby and toddler-type shop, but it holds a man-sized drink, and on the box it said “for ages 1 – 100″, and I happen to fit into that demographic, so there. 
You’re just envious.

Finally, I came back from the holidays to find that I’d made it onto The View From Your Window, which is nice.