Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

I love listening to music. I love re-discovering a song that I've known for years, that I've heard so many times, and then reading the lyrics properly and seeing the song in a whole new light. I love the way a song brings back memories of good times, of bad times, of fun times, of sad times, of people and of situations. I've got songs I associate with people, songs I associate with experiences, songs I just love because they brought me comfort or joy at one point in my life and listening to those songs reminds me of the tough times or the happy times and the fact that I lived through those experiences and survived -That I  came out stronger and more sure of myself, with new knowledge and experiences to add to the story of my life. One of my friends loves finding songs and song lyrics online that express her feelings. Whether she's been through a break-up, she's happy, she's sad - anything, she finds a song that matches her mood. I love that about her an...

Enjoying the change in my priorities lately. Watching the soccer comes first. No matter what.  (Well, except for sleeping, eating and drinking!)  Aah, it's good to be Dutch and mad about soccer! And I have to say WOOT WOOT to New Zealand for their 1-1 score... I am totally proud !!!!!

Watched the movie Evan Almighty  on TV the other day. Loved the movie's message about ARK - how Acts of Random Kindness make the world a better place. What an amazing message. So simple yet so true! Also loved the underlying message to trust in God, love your family, do what is right instead of what is profitable or will make you "successful", and most of all, to believe in yourself and to not let anyone tell you you're crazy or wrong when you know you're doing the right thing. It's a family movie, a God-accepting movie, a funny movie and a slightly sarcastic movie all in one, and I have to say I just love that combination. Dogma was a similar movie - one not afraid to challenge conventional Western ideas about God and religion in order to tell a story that is deep, meaningful and religious in nature and yet still appealing to the average viewer. I'm not always a big fan of pro-Christian movies as I often find that them to be 'preaching' ...

Dit zal zeker niet de eerste of de laatste random ramble zijn over voetbal. Ik ben nou eenmaal voetbal gek, en een EK of WK is voor mij net zoiets als Kerst voor anderen - ik ga er helemaal in op, draag oranje, versier mijn huis, en geniet volop van de sfeer en de gezelligheid. Wat ik ook fantastisch vind is dat de problemen tussen supporters van verschillende clubs even bijna weg zijn. Het is niet meer een kwestie van stad tegen stad of de ene helft van het dorp tegen de andere helft, het is wij allemaal samen tegen de rest van de wereld. Of ik nou voor Ajax ben of voor Feyenoord of PSV, een Jood of een Kakkerlak of een Pisvlek word genoemd - het maakt eventje gewoon niet uit. Wij zijn allemaal voor Oranje, voor ons team van onze jongens, en voor welke club ze normaal spelen maakt eventjes gewoon niet uit! Lees alles over het WK 2010 in Zuid Afrika op de website http://www.southafrica2010.nl/ en ik hoop dat jullie allemaal net zo veel plezier zullen hebben als ik dit WK!...

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...

Home by chance on a Wednesday night, I happened to come across an ad for a TV program that looked interesting. I decided to see if the show would deliver what it promised, and BOY, did it ever. I'm not really one for cooking, and much prefer a simple meal to a fancy occasion with more cutlery than I know what to do with. Well actually - I do know what to do with the cutlery, I simply choose not to use that much cutlery and to go for simple, easy and non-pretentious. I’m also not a big meat eater. This comes partly from personal preference, partly from religious reasons, and partly from living a good few years without the money to afford meat as a regular part of my diet. I'm not a strict vegetarian, however when given the choice do prefer non-meat to meat. The TV show was a cooking show that took celebrities along to the places their food comes from. Tonight’s show saw two celebrities visit an organic farm, a deer-breeding facility where they fed and petted two gorgeo...

I've got a feeling this is going to be another random ramble. There have been goings-on in the world at large and in my personal world that I've wanted to write about. The plane crash of a great number of Poland's officials for instance. The ash cloud hanging over Europe after a volcano erupted in Iceland. People I talk to. Things I'm reading about.  In the end, I didn't write about any of these things. They mattered, I followed the news, read more about things that interested me, however didn't feel I had enough to say about any of these things to write an opinion piece about them. A general recap definitely, however a well-researched and thought-through story, argument, anything - no. Life is going on. It's going well. I'm doing well. Coming to terms with several things, learning new things about myself, learning new things about life. I'm also starting to realise that some people I thought of as good friends maybe aren't such good f...

I'm reading, or rather, listening to, "An Echo in the Bone" by Diana Gabaldon. It's the seventh novel in the Outlander series and the first of the books I'm listening to instead of reading. It's strange not having my nose in the book itself, however I'm enjoying the new experience of listening to it. In short, the first six books in the Outlander series:

One definite plus of being away from the place I've called home for the past 8+ years is the opportunity to see which friendships stand the test of time... and distance. The people I spent a lot of time with in New Zealand, are they still people I want to spend time with, talk to, stay in touch with, while I'm over here? There are some friends I catch up with a few times a week. We talk, even if all we talk about is something completely random. We make the effort to stay in touch, and while I can't speak for their motivations for staying in touch, I know why I do. I care about them, I want to know how they are, what's going on in their heads, in their lives. Talking to them makes my day better, makes me happier. There are friends I only talk to once a month. Some of them good friends. While at home I'd see them two or three times a week, we don't have as much to talk about these days as we did then. Talking to them less doesn't mean I care about the...

I've had the first verse of Simple Plan's "Welcome to my Life" as the description at the top of my blog for some time now. The lyrics fit me, somehow, sometimes. They describe someone feeling lost and alone and unsure of who they are and what their place is in the world. The lyrics describe how I feel sometimes. They are also more than I am, and less than I am as well. I'm not always down or depressed, I'm not always lost and searching. Certainly not. There are times when I know exactly how I feel and why, what I want and how to go about achieving my goals. There are times I'm sad and times I'm happy, times I know I'm on the right track and other times when I feel like I've completely lost the plot and the meaning of life seems to elude me. Don't we all have times like that?! Do you ever feel like breaking down / Do you ever feel out of place / Like somehow you just don't belong / And no one understands you / Do you ever wanna run a...

Wow, another interesting day in The Netherlands. The weather pulled a very Kiwi "Four seasons in one day" (pop-culture reference to the song by Kiwi band Crowded House) stunt today - rain, hail, wind, grey skies, a bit of sun, then blue sky and lovely sunshine - had it all and enjoyed, well, none of it actually. If only the sun had been shining a bit earlier, then my backyard would have been a lovely spot this arvo. Ah well, at least the flowers got watered eh... On a completely unrelated note, I was about to switch the telly off a few minutes ago when I heard an interesting sentence. Due to financial problems in this lovely country the government is trying its best to find ways to save money. One way that has been suggested is the reintroduction of compulsory military service. Whoa hold up WAIT THIS IS INTERESTING  my brain told me, yet the compulsion to log on to Facebook and play some games got to me. Good thing pretty much every newspaper is online today, as it m...

Watched the news earlier and saw the report on the bombings in the Moscow subway. Or well, bombings - suicide missions actually. Thirty-eight people killed and many wounded because two women felt the need to make a point. And what was the point about? It seems about the exact same thing so many bombings and attacks around the world have been about: terrorists trying to what, prove a point, scare the world, get support for their cause? The one thing I just really don't get here is WHY people, human beings just like you and I, feel the need to kill other human beings, innocent ones at that, to help further their cause. From what I've read on newspaper websites so far no-one has claimed responsibility for this latest attack yet, however apparently Russian authorities believe there is evidence that these attacks were commited by people from the North Caucasus region. According to CNN.com, "Our preliminary assessment is that this act of terror was committed by a terroris...

While checking some information online that had been going through my head for most of the morning, I came across a reference to the TV programme "The Big Bang Theory". I'd seen a few episodes of it now and then, however never really got into watching it regularly. I'd been thinking about a friend of a friend of a friend who has a child with hearing problems. I'd never met the child and only ever met his mother twice, however we talked about the hearing problems when we met due to my background in (studying) Early Childhood Education. We talked about possible causes both physical and psychological and she then went on with her life and I with mine. It's a while ago by now, however something I read recently reminded me of this woman and her child. Not knowing much about either the mother or the son and having no idea as to whether the hearing problems were physical or psychological, we only discussed general options. I decided that to satisfy my curiosi...

I'm interested in what makes people tick. What moves people to do what they do, why they act a certain way, what the reasons are behind certain behaviours. I study and learn about things like sociology, anthropology, psychology, psychiatry, counselling and religions to help me further my understanding and learn more about these topics. This is organised study, going out to learn about a specific topic at a certain time - deciding to go out and learn about something that interests me. Last night I ended up watching a program on TV about teenage girls who are anorexic, so thin that their bodies can become permanently damaged. While in no way something I aspire to, it was very interesting to watch and fits right in with many other things that I find interesting and enjoy learning about. The program featured girls as young as fourteen or even eleven with a personal target weight of under 30 kilos wearing clothes suited for children much younger than they are. Girls whose periods ha...