Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

What if Disney princesses were historically accurate? What would their lives have been like, what time period might they have lived in and what might they have worn? Those faces and dresses we know so well from Disney movies, are they really what real-life Snow Whites or Jasmines would have looked like? Probably not, as this Buzzfeed article explains. Going by clues from the Disney movies about the (possible) era and location the movies are set in, the article examines what several of Disney's more famous princesses really would have worn and looked like. One example: Source: If Disney Princesses Were Historically Accurate | Buzzfeed Snow White from Snow White and the Seven  Dwarfs - c. mid- to late 1500s Germany   CONTEXT CLUES: • Opens with a storybook that is reminiscent of early printing press manuscripts. • The dwarfs’ home is decorated with carved wooden furniture and instruments,  which, along with the mountainsand forest, is typical of the Bl...

#AnneFrank Hatred killed her yet she saw the good in others. She continues to inspire me. https://t.co/vnYGoc1JOC — Nicole M. Verhaaf (@nimavenl) June 12, 2015 Anne Frank would have turned 86 today. Anti-Semitism killed this gifted young writer. #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/UYiK7pizGc — Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) June 12, 2015

Jerusalem is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the most fascinating cities on the planet and has, for a long time, been very near the top of my list of Cities To Visit. Thousands of years of history, religion, culture, devotion, prayer, longing and joy make Jerusalem a complex and inspirational location. How can one resist the beauty of this amazing city?! Jerusalem's Archeological Park – excavations site at the foot of the Temple Mount, revealing thousands of years of the... Posted by ‎ Noam Chen - Photographer | נועם חן - צלם ‎ on Wednesday, 1 April 2015

Tree Branch, Blue Sky | Nimavenl Here's another two photos from last weekend's Photo Walk. Well really, it's two versions of the same photo - the original and the edited version. This is the third time this week I'm sharing photos of tree branches and I'm as happy with this photo (or should that be 'these photos'?) as with the other two. On the 3rd, I shared two photos, as today an original and an edited version . Two days ago (on the 4th) I only shared a single photo - I liked the edited version a little better than the (slightly more boring feeling) original, to be honest.   Am very much looking forward to another Photo Walk this weekend, just not in the same location! Am hoping to capture some urban scenes and landscapes this weekend as well as photos of nature - I love living in a city with buildings that are hundreds of years old and am looking forward to spending some more time enjoying those buildings and learning about their history! Tree ...

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan My rating: 5 of 5 stars I've put this book down countless times since I started reading it, intending to start again from the beginning and take notes. It's almost like I'm afraid that without doing some serious prep work first, I might miss something or not quite understand the historical context of a situation. Yet the book keeps drawing me back in: Looking at it turns into reading a few sentences turns into reading another chapter. The writing style makes the book easy to read, there are plenty of in-text references to ensure I don't need (to take) notes and learning more about the revolutionary Jesus that Aslan describes keeps me coming back for more. "Zealot" bring the Holy Land of Jesus' time almost close enough to touch, which makes it an entertaining, interesting and thought-provoking book. UPDATE: Having read through the Notes section and finished the book, I am even more amazed at t...

Monument dedicated to Alexander Ball . Lower Barakka Gardens in Valletta, Malta. Valletta, Malta A photo posted by Nicole M. Verhaaf (@nimavenl) on Sep 6, 2012 at 2:51am PDT

Following on from the last post, I did some Google research. Normally, I´d research before writing - something left over from my days as a university student no doubt, however today, I wanted to write first and research later. Something about not spoiling the sense of wonder I felt when first reading the article with lots of statistics! Check out this post from the website of the Smithsonian on Gobekli Tepe for some more information. And yes - it´s an awesome website too, and one I´ll hopefully be visiting lots more in the future!

Today it is exactly eight years ago that Pim Fortuijn (Fortuyn) was murdered. I wasn't in The Netherlands when it happened. I heard about it, read about it, was completely dumbfounded by it. The Netherlands is not usually a violent country (well, apart from when it comes to football, perhaps!), we are not usually a violent people. We are competitive, we are easily annoyed, we often grumble about anything from weather to sports to the economy - but we are not a people who assasinate politicians or our royal family or people we don't agree with. Or so I thought. The first time I came across Pim Fortuijn was when I saw him on TV, commenting on the happening of September 11th. I was 17 then, and really not interested in politics. This TV appearance was the first time I heard Pim Fortuyn's name, the first time I saw his face. The first time I can remember anyway. I didn't agree with what he had to say then - something along the lines of how Muslims are bad, Isl...