If you are procrastinating on getting things done, just plan to write a newsletter on your Wednesday off from work. Start procrastinating on that and get the other things done. Half the day is gone, I'm just now starting this newsletter. But my income tax is done, I picked up my package with my eye drops at the parcel pickup point, restocked 3 months' worth of toothpaste, and got my doctor-prescribed vitamins.
March has been a month. Someone came to work to see how I do my job and to make sure that my deafness does interfere with my daily communication. Can't risk it that I'm lying about being deaf and the difficulties it creates just to get "free" hardware and software to transcribe speech to text. But they emailed me saying they are approving my request, so yay! Now to see how long it will take to receive a kit.
I finally went on a trip. Since the summer almost two years ago when I ended up in the hospital, I haven't gone anywhere. My anxiety levels about getting a spontanous internal bleeding have been too high. But therapy, EMDR, and a talk with my doctor have helped. I booked a kind of last-minute three-day trip to Paris the first week of March.
My super short travel video:
I went with minimal plans. Walk around with my camera, buy good-quality tea, macarons, and go to Muji. I had more places on my list, but I really wanted to take it easy and also have downtime at the hotel. I met up with friends who live in Paris for dinner and lunch to catch up on the latest.
One of the best parts for me was the train ride going there. Assuming it goes smoothly, of course. I treated myself to business class to avoid the hoi polloi. After zero travelling the past two years I wanted to travel relaxed and with some luxuries. Like comfy and roomy train chairs with food and drink catering.
Thus, I found myself on a very early Wednesday morning in the Eurostar business class lounge at Rotterdam Centraal, surrounded by business people, all men of course. I brought my own food from the deli and drinks because I did not realize that access to the lounge also includes free drinks.
Once on board, I was assigned to a four-seater, which was a bummer because I did not get the window seat. But other than that, it was a pleasant 2.45-hour-long trip. They served breakfast and high-quality tea. Everyone was silent and busy working on their ThinkPad business laptops, while I was busy looking at them all hard at work.
I stayed at the same hotel in the 13th arrondissement as I did two and a half years ago. The neighborhood is much more alive now than during the pandemic. It's a non-touristy neighborhood, so you get a more real image of Paris than the tourist image.
Awesome things about Paris:
The things I did not like about Paris:
My friends and I agreed that the Olympics are going to be dramatic. Even in "low" season, Paris is at almost full capacity. Add about a million extra people, and it's going to be insane. I read that thousands of cops from other countries will be helping out the French police during the Olympics.
Some days I miss Paris. I miss my quiet hotel room, watching House M.D. with French subtitles, drinking tea courtesy of the hotel while eating Krispy Kreme donuts. Yes, Paris now has a Krispy Kreme shop at Les Halles. FYI.
Just being away from everything. No work bothering me on WhatsApp. No worrying with grocery, cooking, cleaning. I didn’t even take my iPad with me. Just French cable tv and my e-reader to pass time when not outside.
Close to my apartment, a French/Belgian bistro has opened. When I saw it finally opened I was all excited. Until I saw the menu and then I got sad. The menu came straight from the early 00s. No, I do not want a Russian salad or onion soup. The chef there really did not want to stress his brains and creative cooking skills. Quelle déception.
Last week I went on a group photowalk in the city centre of The Hague. I took a chance and went outside my comfort zone meeting with about 15 strangers. Although someone I know also ended up going. I wrote about the walk on my blog with photos I took and with a photo a fellow photographer took of me.
During the walk, we hanged out in a popular street full with food places. It's 17:15, work is done, and people are heading home or to dinner. I spot a guy in a suit walking towards us with another person. I should let you know or remind you that I'm bad at recognizing people on the streets, even if I know them. So I'm standing there thinking, "I know that guy, I know that guy. It's Baudet!”. The famous racist conspiracy-believing politician in The Netherlands. And then I almost got murdered by an electric bike riding way too fast. Baudet and his companion went to El Gaucho for dinner because he’s a mens men. Now you know.
The joy of living in the governmental capital of the Netherlands: playing the guessing game of identifying familiar faces on the street. The last time I saw Mark Rutte last year, I recognized him because of his running shoes, no lie. I remember what he wears better than what his face looks like in real life.
I watched the "3 Body Problem" series on Netflix. It's a sci-fi series based on The Three-Body Trilogy books. I never read the books, but the series is very good. They altered the characters from the book to fit the screen format, and according to the reviews I read from people who did read the books, it was done well.
Hannah Gadsby has a new show on Netflix. Which is the result of all the drama with Dave Chappelle’s transpobic stand-up a couple of years ago. The new show is called "Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda." Hannah gathered a group of genderqueer stand-up comedians for an hour and 15 minutes of performances. I really liked some of them, especially the last one by Alok.
I still haven't finished "The End of Loneliness." I keep rereading books, and I also read Huib Modderkolk's newest book, "Dit wil je echt niet weten" ("You really don't want to know this"). I wrote about his previous book once, and recently about his documentary on cyberwar.
I have been writing this newsletter religiously for 9 years now. Writing and taking photos are things I have done for so long just for the fun of it. I don’t have many followers and likes, but just the joy of doing these things is what keeps me going. And of course those who text and email me after reading the latest one. Thanks! 😀
Till next… -Darice
p.s.
In all my 23 years in The Netherlands I never had anything with the Eurovision song festival. Zero, nada. But this year thanks to a sign language translator who sigend the Dutch song of this year and because the song lyrics are also good. I’m finally rooting for the Netherlands to win. Check it out on YouTube. Joost Klein - Europapa
p.p.s.
I also wrote about my tea obsession and tea shopping in Paris.
I posted some Paris photos on Instagram. I need to find another place to post them because not everyone uses Instagram.