Wickedness

This weekend might've been one of the best weekends I've had in a very long time.
Good company, good discussions, good jokes, a good movie, good food (after sunset), good drinks, good everything! =) We actually went "pubbing" and didn't get home till around 2 o' clock or something (at night, that is).
We being my cousin, Judith, her boyfriend Ricardo and a friend of theirs. Well, and me, of course.

After going to my cousin's place, we spent a bit more talking and hanging around, drinking coffee and eating chocolate (aka more good stuff), until Judith headed to bed at around 3 am. I stayed up till 4 to eat ( readying myself for another 17 hour fast), then went to bed myself (which took a lot longer than I thought it would. Maybe it was the fact I'm not used to sleeping in just any bed?) then woke up after three hours only to find the house dead quiet, and my body refusing to go to sleep again for at least three more hours.

Me and Judith were in the garden/terrace (they'd just bought new trees and plants for it Saturday) trying to uproot some very adamant plants from a big case which apparently had an entire ants colony at its bottom, when Ricardo came with a rented movie. :) More fun and laughs at that, and halfway mum and my siblings came to "pick me up", and watched the rest of the movie with us :)
It was all much funs. :3

xxx
The Gypsy

Emotional limbo

Yesterday was NOT a good day for me.
Emotionally/Mentally speaking that is.
Not even cause of just one reason, it's the "bad news comes in bunches" but then without the bad news. Just tension situations that make you want to scream or cry. Or both.

Most of the reasons I don't even want to talk about.
They're touchy subjects which need a personal close friendship to confide in, and though I can be pretty open-hearted here, I have my limits.
Lets just say it included a failed job hunt, a disease, a family crisis and a friendship's betrayal.
Yeah. I'm not even exaggerating or anything.
I'm constantly wavering between sadness, depression, self mockery and giving up, occasionally thrown off course by a completely unrelated and unexplainable loopy or hyper-ness.

And I'm not even pregnant.. God help whoever gets into my way then if it ever happens... Nor am I PMSing, for that matter. It was just the day itself. And my rotten luck :)

Today is better. Loads.
Not because anything happened that cleared up any of the aforementioned tensions, but simply because I fell back into the numb unexpectancy I've grown so familiar with.

xxx
The Gypsy

Red itchiness.

Even though Tommie's gone, he's apparently left me a fair reminder of his stay here.
A reminder that bites, and leaves itchy red marks. Yes. As in. Bugs. Nasty lil ones.
Not just bothering me, but the entire household.
So now I'm getting yelled at whenever a new red itchy mark is detected on any of their skins. Or when I complain about any of my own. Huzzah.

I sprayed twice already, but somehow they're not budging.
The longer I'll spray, the more it'll be effective, nay?
They'll have to die, eventually... D;

On an entirely different note, this is the fifth day of fasting already.
Yes, already, as in damn that time went by flying.
Always happens. The day itself seems long as hell, but the month as a whole is over in a second.
And that's sad. At the end of it things are going to go nasty, because I know it.
One way or the other there'll be arguing, there'll be an unhappy party, and there'll be more arguing. Or even worse, the "I'm not talking to you anymore" symptom that comes with unhappiness and excessive arguing.
All I can do is decide whether I want to be selfish, or be sacrificing my own happiness.
Obviously, I really don't want this month to end.

xxx
The Gypsy.

Lists

I need to make lists of the things I read and watch..
I was planning to update that book blog ages ago, and now I can honestly say that I have forgotten half of the titles I've read already.
Not good.

So I'll just type this down, maybe I'll go on about them elaborately later on (in the book blog), or maybe I'll just leave it at that, and only add any titles I'll remember later on (Right. Fat chance xD)

Series:
- House
- How I Met Your Mother
- CSI

Movies: (Not many of those, I think)
- The Gladiator
- Up (3D)
- The Secret (Documentary)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Ladder 49
- Dirty Dancing
- Ghost
- Grease 1 & 2
- Face Off
- Die Hard
- Surrogates
- Die Hard 4.0
- The Number 23
- I, Robot
- Maid In Manhattan
- Sahara

- Men In Black

- Sweeney Todd

- The Sixth Sense

- Brokeback Mountain
- New Moon

Books:
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
-... and the Prisoner of Azkaban
-... and the Goblet of Fire
-... and the Order of the Phoenix
-... and the Half Blood Prince (Twice)
- Pure Land , by Alan Spence
- Three Wishes, by Liane Moriarty
- Tussen Hoofddoek en Naaldhak, by Bea Mol
- Charmante Leugen (Originally: Spirit Willing, Flesh Weak) , Julian Cohen
- Twilight (Always have been curious to read that one. Was quite disappointing.) By Stephanie Meyer.
- Slam , Nick Hornby
- New Moon, Stephanie Meyer
- Match Me If You Can, Susan Elizabeth Philips
- Gluckskekse, Anna Hertz
- Eclipse, Stephanie Meyer
- De Dochters van Khadija, Sytze van der Zee
- Disgraced, Saira Ahmed
- Die Luge, Petra Hammesfahr
- 101 Cat Stories ( Emile Zola, Mark Twain, Colette ..etc)

- Geluksblind, *Marian Mulder
- De Mannentester, *Heleen van Rooyen
- Ademloos, *Kim Moelands
- The Gunslinger, *Stephen King
- Breaking Dawn, *Stephanie Meyer
- My Uncle Oswald, *Roald Dahl
- Tales of the Unexpected, *Roald Dahl
- Kan Ik Hem Nog Ruilen, *Yvonne Kroonenberg
- Het Zit Op De Bank En Het Zapt, *Yvonne Kroonenberg
- Alles Went Behalve Een Vent, *Yvonne Kroonenberg
- Ik Haal Je Op, Ik Neem Je Mee, *Nicollo Ammaniti (Translation from the Italian "Ti Prendo E Ti Porto Via")

- The Lord Of the Rings, JRR Tolkien

* The Fellowship of the Ring

* The Two Towers

* The Return of the The King

- Aber Aisha ist doch nicht euer Eigentum, Ben Faridi

- Taal is Zeg Maar Echt Mijn Ding, Pauline Cornelisse

- Een Moslima Ontsluiert, Naema Tahir

- The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux

This is the best my memory can do at this point in time.
Maybe I'll have more luck remembering later on.

xxx
The Gypsy

Ramadan

That's what started today (or last night, technically.)
Means no eating, drinking, intercourse, smoking, swearing, lieing or getting violent between sunrise and sunset (the last few being a given seeing as you're not supposed to do those anyways) a month long.
Sunset here, because it's summer, is late as anything, around 21:00 .. And sunrise is around 04:00. Which means 17 long hours of fasting.
It does improve self discipline, train will power and cleanse your body though, so it's not as horrible as it might sound. (Those who have never tried it seem to think it more scary than those who have; Practice makes perfect?)

*yawns* I need to make sure I try getting enough sleep though, been lacking that lately (again).

xxx
The Gypsy

A Week's Worth

This is what happens when I procrastinate. A week full of things that are actually eventful enough to relate pass by, and I can't get myself to write anything long-winded about it, partly because I'm just plain lazy, and partly because you'd be stuck reading this for hours. I'm not one for wasting other people's time.

Saturday was Sis' birthday. She turned 19! Which I remember was my favourite year ever. Up till now anyways. She better have a good year, too.
I was actually able to borrow some money and get her a decent present, which, even more surprisingly, she actually liked.
Dad slept the afternoon away, which ruined the planned trip to Madurodam, so I volunteered we postpone it to the next day, and go do something nearby that evening (which might've been partly revenge on him ruining it at all, so that he had to pay twice.. I'm awfully evil. )

We went bowling. Partly my idea as well, even though I know (as everyone keeps reminding me) it was bowling that caused my knee muscle to tear four years ago. I ended up having to walk with crutches for two months. The horror. Two years ago we went again, and I won. But they all seemed to have blocked that memory out completely. *grumble*
Didn't win this time, but I was more focused on getting everyone out of their tense atmosphere. -Yet another ruined birthday because of arguments- .(Now that everyone has had their birthday this year, I can honestly say they were all disappointments. Except for mum's maybe, who doesn't expect to celebrate it at all, so there are no expectations. And dad wasn't there, so no arguments either.)

Goooo Jess! xD

Bee-oo-tiful sunset

The day after we went to something called the Omniversum, a place like a Planetarium, with a new movie every hour. IMax Screen, and always about nature or something related.
The movie we went to was the newest edition yet, called Sea Monsters. Interesting how they combined facts with fiction. Basically it was just about a group of archeologists finding dino-bones. Sea-dinosaurs, to be exact. Call me a geek but I find that intriguing. There's always been a part of me toying with the idea to become an archeologist. But then I have so many interests parts of me are always toying with a hundred different things to become or do. It's alarming it hasn't gotten me anywhere yet. xD

After the Omniversum opened my eyes to a range of new possibilities of existence and development, we finally went to Madurodam, where we had planned to go the day before. In case you're not aware what it is, it's a little "town" with a collection of the entire Netherlands in miniature. All cities, most important buildings and places are there.
We roamed around for the whole afternoon/evening, until, when it went dark, they had a light-show: Madurodam By Night. With lasers and other flashy lights so that we were fully entertained. (Of which I have no pictures, sadly)

Mew. Miniature Dutch Windmill.

Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum

I fed fishies. o.o

Monday, we spent the whole afternoon with Mum's friend and her son, which turned out to be as fun as always when we go there. I have no idea why she had to wait so long to go there, we could have gone ten times already D; (we hadn't seen them for two years)
Her oldest son came home half an hour before we left. We hadn't seen him for four years, and man, he's changed. o.o Scarily so. But I suppose a lot of people do over four years. Especially teenagers/twenty-ers. I just made up that word -.-

Yesterday I went with mum to get her eyes checked, whether they were good for a laser surgery. Turns out they are, but that still means she needs to save up to get it.
Afterwards we went to Ikea, which is one of Holland's well-known furniture shops ever.
I designed the interior of my "future home" a total of six times, each totally different from the other. Which brought me a pang of pain seeing as I might never actually have that.
Back home I made my first ever own decision, without asking for either permission, help or money. True, Dad doesn't even know yet, but Mum didn't even put up a fight. It has me feeling both elated and glad it all went well, but I'm just hoping it doesn't blow up in my face.

Last night Dad decided to chuck some old stuff out, so my attic is actually half-empty now.
Did a lot of cleaning and vacuuming and shifting bed and table and closet alike.
I took a break to type this out, but I'm not near-finished yet.
Maybe I'll just continue tomorrow?

xxx
The Gypsy.

I miss him already.

The owners of Tommie just came to pick him up about an hour ago.
I miss him already.
He woke me up daily purring in my ear.
Regardless of the fact he attacked me and the laundry daily, too.
It's empty up in the attic without him. *sniff*

The kids who own him came back from the South of France today, and couldn't wait to pick him up. Sunburned and content, it was obvious they were glad to be home and have him back.
Kevin (The younger of the two) gave me a potted plant, and Nick (A few years older) some chocolate. As a thank you gift! And that with me stressing over and over that it was for free!
So sweet though! Real touching.
First flowered plant anyone has ever given to me. So it feels special.

Don't know if I'll post pictures. Maybe tomorrow~
Tschüss. -thanks Babs- (Means Adios in German. Which means Doei in Spanish. Which is Dutch for Bye in plain old English) <-- To activate your brain, that is.

xxx
The Gypsy

Nopes, sorry..

.. to disappoint you.

Nothing worth telling is happening.
I'm not going to complain and apart from anything to complain about very little is happening.
Just reading a lot to avoid everything. Reading's good.

(Dutch mill, yo)

Today it rained. Finally. After days of "heat".
Heat being between quotation marks because it's relative.
Weather in Texas and Egypt are both far more deadly.
I still hate the sun, anyways.

I want to visit my relatives, or go out with friends, but really, people seem to be showing very little motivation for anything these days. From both sides, myself excluded. However that works. So yeah.

Tired.
Going to try and sleep.

xxx
The Gypsy.

Blijdorp, Rotterdam

That was two days ago, beginning of the heatwave that's stuck for a good three days, today being the hottest of all. I don't want to move if I can help it xD Lazy as the lionesses I saw at the zoo.
It is not just a zoo, mind, as a sort park divided into the continents of the world.
About the closest you can get to any animal, basically, unless you have them in your own back yard. xD

I went with a friend of mine, Kim, who has this card thing that let go in for free because her study/job are linked to animals and animal care. Huzzah!
It was major fun :3



I have always known I was an animal lover, but I didn't know I loved quite that many animals xD
I seemed to have many many favourites, more so than even I could have told you beforehand.
Tigers, penguins, sea turtles, snakes, racoons and birds of prey, they all made me squeal.
Seeing as it was a really hot day, the animals were slower and lazier than usual, which meant that all those belonging to the cat family were sleeping, and all the others were hiding in the shades of big bushes and trees.






Me and Kim also attended this show called Free Flight (literally translated anyways). Birds of Prey and their natural living surroundings, habits and whatnot. Owls, vultures, ravens, aras and ibises, all zooming very close to our heads. Twas cool :3





Also, the Oceanarium continues to intrigue me. It consists of a huge tunnel underneath a big as hell basin of water, so you're walking under the sea turtles, sting rays and sharks, as it were. They are everywhere around you, doing what they do best: Swim and take no notice of the many hands trying to knock a hole in the glass of which the tunnel is made.

And as you walk on you arrive in a hall where you can go see a lab, where I found Nemo =D , and Dory as well xD





Little seahorses and a crab-like animal which looked suspiciously like an armoured stingray.

Monkeys, elephants, giraffes. It was all stunningly beautiful.
Ended a perfectly good day with a perfectly delicious sandwich with smoked salmon and something to drink, and as we walked out we bumped into Kim's best friend, so that she had someone to go home together with. :3



xxx
The Gypsy

Weekend.

August already?
What's up with time robbing me like that? xD

Tommie is still holding me company, but that's as much as company goes.
Haven't been online much, and thus haven't been in touch with anybody.
Sometimes having friends living mightily far away just stinks.
Not that I'd be allowed to spend that much time with them if they did live next door, mind...

Kept busy though. Mostly reading. Or rereading.

Saturday we went to a (free) concert in Hoek van Holland, which was a blast.
Specifically Kane was, about the only dutch band I actually like.
It lasted for hours on end, and ended in a show of fireworks which was stunningly pretty.


Sunday was even cooler, we went to something called Castlefest. A three-day-event (Friday + weekend) which mixes the medieval times with fantasy. And such an event is incomplete without performers and guests alike coming in crazy, scary, gothic,beautiful or accurate costumes.
That meant that there were devils, elves, witches and wizards, pirates, princesses, knights and so much more~ I even saw three Jack Sparrows there (One of whom was female. :3 )

I was dieing to buy a corset, but dad wouldn't lend me the money because he thought it was way too expensive (never mind the fact he knew I was going to pay it back). He reckoned I could have a tailor in Egypt make one "just like it." Yeah right.

There were bands playing, Celtic music as well as Scottish tunes, and some of the stuff sounded like we were in the middle of a Lord Of The Rings scene. Although I wouldn't know exactly, having never been able to watch a complete LotR movie up till this moment.

I want to go again next year, wearing a costume. (Although I'm torn which costume I like best, there were several things that looked really prettiful. -Amongst them a pirate costume, and elf one, and a sort of medieval-damsel-in-distress-dress - )



On the way home I actually got dad persuaded (gasp) to get take out at my all-time-favourite restaurant ever (faint): A Chinese-Indian one. Then we went home and I had the best take-out-dinner in two years.

Cheers,
xxx
The Gypsy.