I feel like a Cathy Cartoon

I was going to write a lovely post about picnicing etc. but then it started to rain which made me not in the mood to write about the sun.
Also I spent the last two hours talking to my best friend Suzee Q.  It should be noted, that this is the FIRST TIME we have gotten to speak on the phone since I've been here, and we are both horrible at emailing, and I practically started crying when I heard her voice.  Sigh...it was wonderful.  So instead I give you this quick little post...

I am craving chocolate sooo badly right now.
I just made some hot chocolate from Grammy...mmm...but that doesn't seem to settle it.
I actually thought about going out (in the POURING rain) a couple kilometers down the road to the Albert Heijn (since the local Vomar is already closed) to buy a bag of overpriced M&Ms.
But I didn't.
Oh M&Ms...I love you so.

Apparently I'm not the only one craving some cocoa...

Word of the Day: chocolaterie - place that sells chocolate

Friday Fragments: Reflections of a blogger...

I'm gonna try and start another thing...themed Fridays.  There's so many words that start with F...and most of them are appropriate.  So today is Fragments. I got the idea From Tracie.  And I feel like today is a day to talk about my blog.  And how it's going.  And all that stuff.  In fragment form (Hey!  Another F word!)

-This construction means that my internet keeps going in and out preventing me from exploring the bloggie world and posting on time.  I've discovered scheduled postings and I like it!
-It's been almost a months since my SITS day.  And because of that wonderful opportunity, I made lots of new friends and got lots of new comments and followers.  And I have yet to visit them all!!!  Ugh I know...horrible.  But I'm really trying a promise.  I don't want to just visit a blog and go "cool there it is."  I want to explore and find out more about you!!  So I will get to them all...eventually.
-I want to start doing some "mini-series."  I've already got some ideas lined up - Stereotypical Holland, The Nanny Blogs, etc.
-I want to change my layout.  I want three columns.  And a fancy button.  And a little square thing up by the URL.  But I'm html challenged.  Alas, I have yet to win a blog makeover, and these things cost money which I could be spending on, oh I don't know, a train ticket to Paris.
-Upon reading my comments, I have RECEIVED AWARDS!!!  Do you know how exciting that it?  Now I just need to figure out who to pass them on to and write a post about it.  Because I think giving them to someone is actually more exciting!!!
-This does not have to do with my blog, but I still haven't seen Sex and the City 2.  And I'm dying inside.
-How do you make a condensed blog url for twitter?  Someone help me!!!
-I haven't blogged about Fien in a while...here's a cute picture to hold you over.  Please notice Swiper on the tv.  That sneaky fox is probably going to try and swipe the tart-y goodness.

-I was looking for a fun comic to end this strip.  I found this one...plus 25 others.

Word of the day: luilak - slacker

And I began to wonder...

Ok...this post should be about how I just got back from seeing Sex and the City 2 and how I LOVED IT!

Unfortnately it's not.
Ugh, Grrr, and a whole bunch of expletives I shouldn't be typing!!!!!
For starters, I was super excited because originally, the movie was coming out the 27th in the Netherland and the 28th in the US.  This meant that I had a fighting chance to see it around the same time my friends were busting out their midnight showing tickets, three cocktails in, and wearing cute dresses.
But alas, they changed the date.  No seriously...it was the 28th America.  It was on my facebook.
Anyway...now at nine o clock this morning while I was wrestling a two year old out of her pajamas and threatening water-in-the-eyes-if-she-didn't-tilt-her-head-back-for-the-love-of-God-so-I-wouldn't-get-soap-in-her-face, my sister was sitting outside a movie theater waiting to be let in to see Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha get whisked away to Abu Dabi and make us cry about why we can't have their wardrobe or see Liza Minelli perform "Single Ladies" live.
So, then I was supposed to go see it today.  But my friend ended up not being able to make it.  So tomorrow I'm headed into Amsterdam wearing my I ♥ Sex and the City shirt and catching it with some of my fellow aupairs.  Sigh...at least it's opening weekend.
So instead I'm dedicating this post to my predictions.
DO NOT TELL ME HOW WRONG I AM!!!  Wait till I see it.  I will cut you.

-Carrie will maybe kiss Aiden.  That's it.  The whole Aiden vs. Big thing already happened...Big won...like twice.  And Big is intoxicated by Penelope Cruz.  But she tries to seduce him and he gallantly refuses.  I think the producers are smart enough to not put the viewers through a whole lot more Big drama.  Been there, done that, for six years, and a movie already.
-Miranda is going to get pissed at something Samantha says...it always happens.
-In the previews, it shows Carrie giving Big a watch that says "Just us Two" which I think means that ironically, she'll be pregnant by the time the credits roll.
-Samantha will fall in love with Smith...ok that's not going to happen, but I would really appreciate it if they had a bare chested picture of him in the corner for the entirety of the film.  Also she might impale herself on one of her shoulder spikes...
-Charlotte goes back home with a "new lease on Mommy-dom" which includes Harry taking them once a week...she's too OCD perfect to attempt anything greater.
-Stanford and Anthony get married...big deal.  Anthony annoys me, and Anthony should definitely not be wearing white.  But Liza performs...oh man.

Yea...that's it.  Ok...don't tell me what happened.  I'll see you all tomorrow!!!

Word of the Day: Seks en de Stad - Sex and the City

Goodnight Seattle

Whelp, I did it again…I finished another show…another 11 season show to be exact…

That's right..."Frasier" is finished!

Remember WAAAAAYYYYY (and by way I mean beginning of February) back when I wrote this post about finishing "Cheers?"  Well the reason I started watching "Cheers" was because it was the precursor to "Frasier."  I’ve seen maybe one "Frasier" episode in my life.  But when I first got here and my computer was broken, there was one channel on TV that had about a four hour gap of English speaking sitcoms, one of them being "Frasier."  And I kind of got addicted.  I mean who doesn’t love David Hyde Pierce?

So once again lets break out the calculator.  11 seasons, 263 episodes, 110 days equals out to…2.3 episodes a day.  Which equals to about an hour.  So now all of you sitting there catching up on six seasons of "Lost" in one month realize you can’t judge can you? (P.S. I haven’t seen one single episode of Lost.  And I really don’t care.  Apparently my mom and I are going to watch it when I get home.)  And I’m not really one for repetition, so I skipped practically an entire season from when I had watched it three months before on TV.  So it’s even less…just saying.

Ok so what do I think of it?  Well…Kelsey Grammar got the hang of Frasier.  After playing him for twenty years, you’d hope so.  But I think my favorite character is Martin, dad, played by John Mahony.  But my favorite actor is Pierce.  Because he’s just so cute.  And so in love with Daphne.  It takes some good acting and writing to make me invested in one love story for eleven years worth of episodes (Diane left Sam after season 5, Ross and Rachel got tiring around season 7.)  And again…so many guest stars!  I love it!!  And it’s funny!  But in that pretentious, glad I listened in school kind of way.

Anyway, when I settled down to watch the series finale, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I like watching these shows from start to finish, but investing four months of my life in them is a lot different than eleven years.  But then Frasier’s final monologue happened…

You all know how I feel about you, and the only reason I'm leaving is because I want what all of you have now: a new chapter.  Who knows if it'll even work out? But it's like that Tennyson poem Mom had us recite for us when we were kids.  Do you remember? […]

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down,

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, and though

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are,

We are made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

I've been thinking about that poem a lot lately.  And I think what it says is that, while it's tempting to play it safe, the more we're willing to risk, the more alive we are.  In the end, what we regret most are the chances we never took.  And I hope that explains a little this journey on which I'm about to embark.

And I just felt it ended perfectly. That poem is from Ulysses by the way. And it summed up exactly what I have been feeling through this whole journey.  Who would have thought a TV show could have done that?

So for now, goodnight.  And I’ll see you when I’m done taking my chances.

Oh yea...and now I need a new tv show?  Preferably one already finished, so I can watch it from start to finish.  Any suggestions?

Word of the Day: kans - chance

Top Ten: Breaking out the Frommers

Ok...today it just hit me...I have been here for almost seven months!!  Which is crazy!  And I have so many things I still want to do.  Which may just mean that I stay longer...you know... :-D
So I'm not gonna waste any more time typing so I can spend the rest of the night planning.  Here are the

TOP TEN THINGS I HAVE YET TO DO IN EUROPE

(Does not include things I already have solidified plans for)

Ride the London Eye

See Sister Act: The Musical

Soak up the sun on a Portugese Beach

"Hold up" the Leaning tower of Pisa

Enjoy a Pizza from Naples

Perform a monologue on stage at the Epidaurus Theatre

Kiss the Blarney Stone

Go back to Prague

Oktoberfest

Weekend in Friesland

Word of the Day: van plan om plannen te maken - plan to make plans

You are interested in the unknown. The mysterious. The unexplainable.

It’s time for a second installment of…

My quest to watch the IMDB top 250!

This past weekend I went to Germany to visit my friends that I met in Prague (but they live in Germany.)  Julia and Russell ended up having to cancel, but I still got to hang out with Jonas…on a farm…with sheep…and a giant trampoline…boo-yah!

Oh and also we watched a movie.  In the guest room at Jonas’ there was a small drawer with movies…and one of the movies was one that had been on my blockbuster list since I started it, but it was always “ultra long wait” or whatever the hell they labeled it.  It’s also one that my mom continually says I need to see.  It’s also one that I’ve heard was Johnny Depp’s best work (I know…aren’t ALL of them his best? *sigh*)  It’s also one of the ones with Johnny Depp, before he was…Johnny Depp (aka before Pirates.)  Any guesses yet?  Well the answer is, currently at number 198…

ED WOOD

Here’s the synopsis based on IMDB… 

The life of Edward D. Wood Jr., hailed as the worst director (of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), Glen or Glenda (1953) and Bride of the Monster (1955)) of all time.

A biopic of the life and work of the legendary 'worst director of all time', Edward D. Wood Jr., concentrating on the best-known period of his life in the 1950s, when he made Glen or Glenda (1953), Bride of the Monster (1955) and Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), and focusing on both his transvestism and his touching friendship with the once great but now ageing and unemployed horror star Bela Lugosi.

You can read more at Wikipedia.

Well…yes…I guess that describes it.  Johnny Depp’s Ed Wood is a spastic, driven, enthusiastic character who likes to wear women's clothing (but unfortunately is nt very good at actually playing drag.)  The voice that he takes on for it is similar to his Willy Wonka in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” although not as extreme.  But it’s still a little high pitched, with a back-tongue placement, and lowering of the center vowel towards the lower end of the vowel chart (for those of you who didn’t get it, that’s ok, I’m just trying to prove my linguistics minor was worth something.)

It’s also one of those movies that you watch and continually go “(S)HE’s in this?!?!”  So many stars!  Sarah Jessica Parker, Bill Murrey, Patricia Arquette, and so many more!  And all of them superbly acted.  By superbly acted, I mean perfect for the genre.  The movie was shot in a style of an Ed Wood movie – as in a 1950s, stylized, horribly directed, B/C/D rated horror film with little to no budget.  Ironic seeing as the director was Tim Burton and the opening credits are said to have cost more than an entire Ed Wood film.

The movie is filmed in black and white.  There are several possible explanations for this.  One is that they wanted to continue the style of an old Horror Movie.  Another is that they had an argument over what Bela Lugosi (the original Dracula) would look like in color.  It didn’t matter.  I thought it worked either way.

But then thing I love best, is that it’s FUNNY.  But it’s very subtle.  You have to be watching and listening.  I’m sure I missed some of the jokes.  But that just means I’ll have to watch it again!

Have you seen this movie?  What did you think?  What should my next Im-Dub-it movie be?

Word of the day: directeur - director

MAY FLOWERS!

What's the first thing you think of when I say Holland?
Ok not the windmills.  What's the second thing?
That's right! Tulips!

A couple weeks ago, Lily and I decided to head on over to the most touristy thing in the Netherlands...the two month flower exhibition known as "The Keukenhoff."  This is one of those things that, if you're visiting Holland while it's there, you should go.  If you live in Holland, chances are you've never been there in your life.  Or if you have been there, it was when a friend was visiting.
Anyway, we bought our overpriced tickets, got on the bus and headed over.  And as luck would have it, we ran into our friend Nicole from CS events on the bus.  She was going by herself, but we were so happy she could join up with us!
Well it was HUGE!  Garden upon garden of flower after flower.  Mostly bulb flowers (because that's what Holland is famous for.)  Bulb flowers are special because they only bloom for about two months of every year.  So in the end of May, all the flowers get cut down, and the bulb hibernated for another ten months before poking it;s pretty flower head out again.  But I think this post can best be described with pictures.  After all, I took a bunch of them.  You can click on them to make them bigger.  I promise none of them have been photoshopped.  Maybe a couple were cropped, but that's about it.  And yes, it's true what you're thinking...the place smelled amazing!
First let's start with this picture...

When we got there a guy seemed to hone in on us (I think because we spoke English) and asked us to take his picture.  Then he volunteered to take ours.  We said ok, but then realized there were no real flowers in it.  What there were, were mountains, which is about as far from "Dutch" as you can get.

Then we'll move onto the non flower-y things.  Like streams...

And Japanese awnings...

And bridges...

And statues...

And chickens...

And hedges...

And...the Flintstones?

And let's not forget snack time!

Ok now the moments you've all been waiting for...FLOWERS!!
First, the theme was "From Russia With Love."  But this was the only thing that indicated that...

Rows and rows of flowers upon flowers...

Every year they add new "breeds" to the  show...these are some of this years awesomely named ones...

I just like the names of these ones...

And now some fun with closeups...

 Lily with the lilies!

Aw dead flowers make me sad...

Hello Mr. Spider!

And no trip to a cultural tourist trap would be complete without traditional Dutchiness...

Now for a game we invented...find flowers to match your shirt!  Lily already knew which one she was looking for...

Nicole and I started off well!

Then I found one that matched both my shirts!

But we finally settled on a winner!

What a lovely day in Holland!  I'm glad I got to experience it, even if it's just this one time.  And no day would be complete without one more group shot...this time with flowers!

Word of the day: bloemen - flowers