Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

As social media seems to explode about the Supreme Court of the United States of America's (SCOTUS) decision to legalise gay marriage in the US and Twitter can't seem to stop talking about how great the world is, I have to admit that there's this voice in the back of my mind that wants to tell Americans "Welcome to the club! Glad that you finally made it..." For a country that prides itself on its inclusiveness and democratic values, why did it have to take so long to legalise marriage for all people? The U.S. is now among nearly two dozen countries that allow same-sex marriage nationwide: http://t.co/GDlydLBCWW pic.twitter.com/awVwTfyHXi — PewResearch Religion (@PewReligion) June 26, 2015 As the above map shows, there are many other countries where marriage is legal for all couples, regardless of their gender. In fact, both of my countries - The Netherlands and New Zealand - have already legalised gay marriage. According to the data on the website, The...

Well, to say I'm disappointed would be the understatement of the century. Watched the game last night on a huge screen with friends and neighbours. The kids were all playing together, the grown-ups were all watching together, I talked to people I'd never met before and others I've known my whole life. It's amazing how football and the national pride we feel brings people together the way it does. For the duration of the World Cup, it didn't matter whether someone was a supporter of Ajax or Feyenoord or ADO Den Haag; things like race, religion and skin colour didn't matter. What did matter is that we all supported our boys, our team, our country. We all lived, breathed, and wore orange. Our dream to finally win the World Cup didn't come true. Spain won. We did not. We did, however, make it to the finals of the World Cup for the first time ever IN MY LIFETIME. For only the third time ever in football history, and for the very first time since 1978. We r...