Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

Saw a falling star last night around 9pm. At first wondered if maybe it was an airplane crashing or something, coz it was so bright. Checked the local stations and no reports of crashes, so I'm glad I made a wish! Checked Twitter and am not the only one who saw it... Now just wonder how/where it 'landed'. Gisteravond rond negenen een vallende ster gezien. Dacht eerst dat het een neerstortend vliegtuig was ofzo, omdat het zo fel was en zo dichtbij leek. Heb vaker vallende sterren gezien, maar nooit zo dicht bij! Ziehier nieuws berichtje van RTV Noordoost-Friesland: zondag 20 februari 2011 DOKKUM - Verschillende mensen hebben zondag omstreeks 21.00 uur een vallende ster in de buurt van Dokkum gezien. De nieuwsredactie van RTV NOF kreeg diverse meldingen binnen van het gebeuren. Er werd melding gemaakt van een heldere meteoor, die boven Nederland te zien zou zijn. De vallende ster verscheen om ongeveer 21.05 uur en duurde een seconde of vijf. Er was een nalichtend s...

What's the deal with people who follow you on Twitter and then unfollow you almost straight away? I'll get an email that such and such has subscribed to my Twitter feed, that they are interested in what I've got to say, in what I'm doing or thinking about, in the photos I share... Yet I click on the link to their profile in the email and where it should say "Follows You", it doesn't say that. Which means people followed my account only to unfollow me again almost straight away. Leaves me to wonder: Why do that? I'm not a celebrity or a famous author or a politician or a well-known journalist or anything of the sort. I'm opinionated and straightforward and not afraid to speak up, however that's not unique to me. I speak two languages, call two countries home, enjoy being a citizen of the world, enjoy knowing what it's like to have lived elsewhere, to have experienced life in different countries. Also not unique. I am interested in the wo...

A few days ago I left work with a half-full cup of hot chocolate. Managed to walk a few metres incident-free, then tried drinking and walking at the same time... and of course managed to get a mouthful of hot choc all over my coat! It was dark outside, there was pretty much no-one around. I laughed at myself and just for a 'caught up in a funny memory' moment, had a huge smile on my face imagining what one of my best friends would say about my choc-covered coat. I could hear his voice so clearly, could see the half mocking smile as he'd hand me a tissue to clean my coat. Just for a sec, I was totally convinced we were meeting up after work, just as we used to do. The thing is, he lives on the other side of the world. I haven't seen him in person in over a year. We still talk online, however it's not the same as laughing and joking in person. And yet, as I spilled that mouthful of hot chocolate on my coat I was completely convinced I'd be showing him my coat an...

I'm not usually one to add videos to my blog, I'm more a pictures / photos kinda girl. However, I just HAD TO post a link to this awesome band. Check out Bring Me Home by Square Attic!

I'm looking to buy a new phone. Have been looking around - online, in shops, at phones my friends have. I've pretty much narrowed it down to a list of four. So now what? Ask the nice people at the shop if I can pretty please try each one out for a week?! Fat chance. Still, if only! Guess it's back to asking friends if I can pretty please play with their phones for a minute. Ok wow - that sounds rather dodgy... I'm currently looking at the Nokia N8, the iPhone, the HTC Desire HD and the Samsung Galaxy S. Being female (or just me!), I love pretty colours and pictures. The HTC has the prettiest colours. And NO - I refuse to base an important choice on pretty colours. So, it comes down to statistics. Every cellphone I've ever had was simple, easy and straightforward. It calls, it sends txts and it might even take simple photos. No internet, no eBooks on it (which is what makes some of these phones sound so awesome !!!!!), no music, no Twitter or Facebook or che...

I picked up my very first Marion Zimmer Bradley book about 14 years ago. The Mists of Avalon was an eye-opener for me, and since my first experience of MZB's amazing story-telling abilities, I've made sure to pick up a book written by her at least once a year. Whether she writes about Avalon, Atlantis, Darkover or Truth Jourdemayne's America - I am fascinated, inspired, and awed. I write down quotes from the books, look up more information about things written about in the books, and find myself adding places from the books to my "Places I want to visit" list. Each and every time I read a book by MZB I love it and finish the final page with a feeling of intense pleasure, yet also with deep regret that the story doesn't go on and on and on.

Some photos from last month. Haven't been out with my camera yet this month as I've been working lots of extra hours, however will attempt to brave the cold and the crazy weather and snap some new shots! This is - as one can see - a tree.   I love the way this building looks, as I love the huge glass front. I absolutely love how this picture came out.

I keep promising myself that I'll write more blog posts. Really, I do. Actually intend to write, and even think of stuff to write about. Thing is, when I'm not working, eating, sporting, playing Scrabble and Restaurant City on Facebook or spending time with friends and family, I'm asleep. Yes - really. Turns out working full-time again is really amazing, however it also means I suddenly have about 50ish hours less a week to just blah and think of crazy stuff to write about. I pretty much always want stuff I write to be profound and meaningful and all "I'm making a statement here"-ish, and when my writing is not like that it tends to be filled with really long sentences, and lots of "so yeah"s and expressions like that. The way this post is - if you know what I mean!  The words don't flow as easily as they used to. Might be 'coz I don't speak English on a daily basis anymore. Might be 'coz I think in Dutch when I'm at work...

Alfred J. Kwak Zag net een berichtje van een vriendin op Facebook. Vervang je eigen foto met een plaatje van een tekenfilm waar je vroeger gek op was. Dit om geweld tegen kinderen tegen te gaan. Okay, leuk idee. Goed idee ook. Nu nog een leuk plaatje uitzoeken. En even bedenken wat nou eigenlijk mijn favoriete jeugdserie was... De Smurfen, Ovide, Alfred J. Kwak, Boes Boes, Dommel, David de Kabouter of misschien toch Inspector Gadget... Na wat wikken en wegen besluit ik uiteindelijk toch voor Alfred Jodocus Kwak te gaan. Een mooi getekende wereld, een sympathieke eend en een verhaal met een positieve boodschap. En ja: Ook een jeugdserie met een fantastisch aanstekelijk liedje. Als ik deze dagen - en ik ben nu 27 - een vreselijk rothumeur heb, dan dans ik en zing ik luidkeels "Ik Ben Vandaag Zo Vrolijk." Het is me nog nooit gelukt het hele liedje te zingen zonder minstens een keer te glimlachen!

Been busy working, sleeping, eating and *trying* to maintain a social life as well lately... Interesting task, that! ;-) It's good to have a job again - doing "nothing" was nice for a while, but am mighty glad to be working again! Feels good to have a reason to get up in the morning and to feel like I'm making a difference. Love working at a big and busy company - have met lots of interesting people and am making new friends too. Have also learnt many new things, and must say that it's very satisfying to know I'm actually good at something I enjoy! As with any social situation where many different people spend time together; there were some people I got on with from the first minute and some that really annoyed me from Day One. Of the annoying ones, some that I thought I wouldn't like at all turned out to be really nice once I got to know them, and others turned our to be not nearly as annoying as they seemed... at least in smallish doses ;-) ...

I've been looking for a job for about a month now. Haven't replied to every ad or anything like that; I'm simply applying for jobs that look interesting and feel like they suit me and I'd suit them. Perhaps later on in the game I'll start applying for just about anything, but right now I'm still being picky. I may not have finished Uni, however I am University educated and have half a Bachelor degree - my thinking is at University level, I write good essays, my research skills are ace and I learn quickly. I'd like a job that involves using my brain. I've done cleaning jobs and supermarket jobs and I really enjoyed them, however now I'm looking for a different challenge. So today I applied for a job. I apply for one or two a week it seems - Yup I did say I'm picky. The funniest thing though was when the website had processed my application and it asked me if I'd like to Tweet about applying for a job. Now I may have a blog and a Twitt...

Jennifer Aniston is destructive to society? Oh come ON! Seriously?! Apparently she is, according to Fox News Commentator Bill O'Reilly. I've never heard of the guy, however reading this article about what he said on iVillage.com , I'm curious to see what else he comes up with! According to the article, Mr O'Reilly had a problem with remarks Aniston made while promoting her new comedy The Switch, in which she plays a single mother who gets pregnant through artificial insemination. What Jennifer said? Here goes... Earlier this week at an L.A. press conference, Aniston, 41, reportedly said, "Women are realizing it more and more, knowing that they don't have to settle with a man just to have that child....Times have changed....What is amazing is that we do have so many options these days, as opposed to our parents' days when you can't have children because you have waited too long." The Emmy-winning actress added, "The point of the movie ...

I'm annoyed at Blogger. Just slightly, mind you. I'd like to center the title of this blog. However, no matter what I try, the only way I can find to do so is to add the center tag to my blog title in the editor. Which means that my blog's title is "<" center ">" Random Ramblings "<" / center ">", which just doesn't quite do it for me. I can change the blog description field and center that text, however getting the title in the center... nope. Tried messing around with the html, however as I don't know enough about how *not* to screw everything up, I haven't found the solution yet. Will keep searching and hopefully figure out how to change the blog to my liking without screwing any other page elements up. In the meantime - if anyone knows exactly where to insert a title tag into the html without the tag showing up in the actual title, please help me out here!

I'm currently reading Linda Fairstein's latest book called Legal Legacy. She is one of my favourite authors, and I look forward to reading her books each and every time. For the author's website, check my links on the right. For a description of the book and the characters in it, go there too. In a nutshell, Ms Fairstein writes fiction based loosely on her own experiences as Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan's Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit in New York City. The main character of all her books, Alexandra Cooper, holds the same job. In this book, Alex investigates the death of a woman with connections to the New York Public Library, and the readers get taken inside the amazingly intricate world of the library system, book collectors and antique maps.