Amanda Blog and Kiss

What was that I was saying about Dutch people at their worst?

Fuck.

We heard about this while we were out and about town but had to wait until we were back home to read the news.  I’m pretty sure that few celebrating in town today knew this happened in Apeldoorn (nearby Amsterdam), judging by the festivities still in full swing.

Way to wreck a party.

Prettige Verjaardag Lola!

Ol’ miss Googly Moogly eyes herself!  Happy Birthday Lola!

Now we’re off into the streets to celebrate Queen’s Day and see the very worst side of the collective nation of the Netherlands.  They’re so mean when they drink!

Wish us luck!

I actually miss blogging when I am not able to do it, and these past few days I haven’t been able to do it!

It’s the result of working a few part time jobs at once and the upcoming Queen’s Day festivities here in the Netherlands, so until I have more time I will leave you with this tidbit:

Someone searched for “pets for amanda” and got to my blog.

So fess up.  Which one of you is going to surprise me with a puppy?  I’ll make it easy for you, any one of these will do:

a cavalier crossed with a chihuahua- ears the size of its head!

Another cavalier to add to my collection- this one black & tan.

Or hell, why not? a mini Lola!

I’ve been running at the gym a lot lately, and I’ve been on something of a quest to find the perfect running songs.  Songs with beats that match my perfect running pace.

One of my friends is a classical singer, so she listens to opera and things like that when she runs.  Dave listens to trippy instrumental post-rock.

These are all fine and dandy for them, but I need something that I can sing along to in my head, and something with a beat I can match with my feets.  AND something that can put a smile on my face when it comes on, because when running for an hour a girl needs to smile to get through it.

Things that work: ‘Poison’ by Bel Biv Devoe.  ‘Intergalactic’ by the Beastie Boys.  ‘Radio’ by Alkaline Trio.

And this:

I save this song for the last push of the hour, when I’m sweaty and tired and don’t feel like going any longer.  This song comes on and gets me through it.  My feet find this beat and then it’s cake walk, my friends-  I’m sprinting towards the finish line.

And then I bring a chair into the shower with me and recreate this famous scene:

In the space of the last half hour, my friend and I have lobbing messages back and forth on Twitter, blog comments, email, and SMS.

Ah, technology.

I’m going to go send him a message on facebook now, just to complete the circle.

…this most definitely would have been me.

Afterwards they did the Charleston.

Updated: Wha-hey would you look at that! She’s wearing FUR!  I swear I am really blind sometimes.

In that case, this most definitely would NOT have been me, but the idea of a pet piglet is still kind of appealing.  Shall we just say that this would be my faux-fur lined coat?

…and I would have been halfway decent!

OK now I really have to run!

A lovely weekend to all!

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Three Years Ago Today: I was ruminating on spending Easter as an adult in a foreign country.

I just got tagged to play a photo game from Ev’Yan over at Apricot Tea.

Apparently the rules are that you must take a photo of yourself at that very moment, without checking your hair, putting on makeup, or changing a thing.

Yikes!

So here I am, fresh from the shower, hair still drying, face raw from a salt scrub and lotion, wearing naught but a cami that will eventually go under my dress.  I promise I would have been sparkling and on my way out the door in full readiness for public viewing had I seen this just 20 minutes after!

Not the Full Monty!

Ev’Yan you got me good!

May this be a reminder to me to always look my best, despite the fact that I work a lot from home.

On another note, I found Ev’Yan’s blog in my (constant) perusal of fashion blogs, but what really captured me and made me a regular reader of Apricot Tea is not just her impeccably cute and classy style, but also the fact that she is vegetarian, her husband is a raw vegan and motivational guru, and they are both compassionate and clearly have a fantastic love story (both in their past and still in the making).  Oh, and here she blogs about poop!

A girl after my own heart, in oh so many ways!

OK! To continue the game, I tag the following people to do the same thing!

Tenakalaz

Veggiemacabre

Thought for Food

Lying for a Living

Our Little Apartment

aaaaaaaaaand last but not least

Bacon Is My Enemy

I’m not a fan of singing reality TV shows, and I promise you I don’t watch them (or do I?), but this video has stormed the internet and the news on TV. I probably wouldn’t have paid attention had it not been for the song itself: ‘I Dreamed a Dream‘ from Les Miserables.

(Whoops, I think I just lost any male readers I might have had.  Here male readers- here is a post about sex that you can go and read until this one is over.)

If this doesn’t warm your heart then you are a cold, cruel bastard and deserve to die a slow death of 500 kittens licking you with their tiny sandpaper tongues (trust me, far worse than it sounds).

Take that cold, cruel bastard.

I received the ‘Les Miserables’ DVD for Christmas in 1998, and come summertime had probably watched it over 5 dozen times, usually when I was alone in the house so I could sing along at the same time, belting out the lyrics as loud as I could, pretending for just a few hours that I had any sort of singing talent whatsoever.

This one song in particular was the one I always fastforwarded to. It is sung by Fantine just before she sells all of her hair for 10 francs and turns to prostitution to support her daughter, nearly ending up in jail but taken instead to hospital where she dies, never seeing her daughter Cosette again.

I know! Bad day for Fantine!

So when I heard Susan Boyle singing this song, actually getting up there on stage and belting it out with such fervor and talent, I couldn’t help but cry. The song always makes me tear up to begin with, but something about the way Susan Boyle sang it in the face of such negativity as she walked on stage just makes you want to run up there and hug her.

And then go and punch each and every person in the audience who made that face as she walked on stage and introduced herself, judging her book by its cover without even giving her a chance to prove her talent.

I don’t know….maybe I’m just a big sap and prone to emotional crying at the drop of a hat, but still. Still! Three cheers for triumph in the face of adversity!

This is the version from the DVD that I had. This is Ruthie Henshall singing. She has the single most fantastic voice, and I seriously just don’t know how she doesn’t break down into tears every time she sings this.

Maybe it’s the coffee, or maybe it’s the fact that I just worked out a good solution with my bosses to a long-enduring problem with my work*.  Maybe it’s because the Imagine Fantasy Film Festival just hit town, or maybe it’s just something in the air.  Whatever it is, today I feel really good.

This good, in fact.

Always a crowd pleaser.

* The work thing. Starting on Tuesday I will be working what could be considered 3 part time jobs, for the combined total pay of about half of one full time job. Huzzah! That doesn’t add up, but I’m still keeping positive.

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Two Years Ago Today: I was having nightmares.

(drum roll please)

“blow me, suck me, eat me raw amsterdam“

Wow, I’m touched. Honored even.

I’d like to thank my friends and family who all made this possible, and of course God.

Thanks big guy.  This one’s for you!