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Exercises in Learning Dutch #2
I wonder if my teachers will decide that it isn’t such a good idea to ask an aspiring author to write a short piece of “freeform text” about a given subject, in this case, a restaurant. This time, I wasn’t … Continue reading
Exercises in Learning Dutch #1
The first “free composition” exercise in my intensive Dutch learning course, so I had to write a short essay “In het café”. Not easy to write anything well in just ten minutes or so, but inspired by the coffee I’d … Continue reading
33 Years – That’s an LP in “Old Money”
Today marks 33 years since one of the most significant decisions that I ever made. On the 5th February 1990, waking up after a weekend of excessive consumption, and struggling to get myself ready for a new week in work, … Continue reading
Reflections on Thought and Expression
For me, it’s been a particularly difficult and traumatic last few months of 2021. Not simply because of the whole covid situation, or the usual stresses of work; but because I started taking therapy over the Summer. I know that … Continue reading
Confronting our Demons
Confronting our own inner demons is the hardest battle we ever have to face, especially when they’re so deep-rooted after so many years: filling in the holes that each leaves behind with hope, because that’s all that I have at … Continue reading
An Attempt at Poetry
It’s been nearly two months since my last post, two months trying to pull myself out from the state that I’d got myself into. 2020 isn’t a forgiving year, and I’m hurting myself and others with the darkness that I’ve … Continue reading
Fear and Self-Loathing in Amsterdam
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I … Continue reading
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