Tuesday 31 March 2009

Bubbles

1. a loud person expressing mostly empty words. People that talk too much but say too little. I was confronted today with two ladies that we work with that are big bubbles. For some reason, they have charmed my bosses (they ain't pretty) and they have cheated us for a lot of money. Am I the only one who is seeing their true motives? I almost said "hey, bitch, fuck off" to one of them today and was barely able to keep my professionalism. They know they can't charm me and they hate me for it. Hehe.
2. a speculative scheme that comes to nothing, or in other words: the economy in countries like the US, Iceland, Ireland and Dubai. After the bubble -caused by living beyond their means- deflated, what are the governments trying to do? Inflate the same bubble with government money all over again. It might even work for a while, but someday the enormous government debt will have to be paid back. At which time the _real_ economic crisis will start. Fasten your seat belts.
3. to display irrepressible activity or emotion. It is Spring, the flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, and Life Is Good.

Friday 27 March 2009

Bush vs. Obama

The attractiveness of Westerners

Interesting news from China: Chinese women are losing interest in foreign men as the financial crisis hits western wallets. A survey by matchmaking website Hongniang.com showed that before the "Lehman crash" of September 2008, 72 percent of Chinese women married to foreigners were happy with their lot, but that figure has since dropped to 54 percent. And the proportion of Chinese women who say they would be willing to marry foreigners has slumped from 43 percent to just 17 percent.
These statistics are probably true for gay men, too. And I expect that thirty years from now, rich old Chinese men will be coming to Western gay bars to pick up cute blond boys. The world is changing.
By the way, 90 kg. Ahead of schedule.

Happy ending

Am I the only one who saw the title of this article, and was thinking: I never knew that the allmighty was providing those services?

Sunday 15 March 2009

A beautiful, full life

I received the sad news that my next-door-neighbour passed away in hospital yesterday morning. Last weekend, suddenly there was an ambulance, a bit later a firemen's truck arrived, and a bit later I saw that the firemen got her out of her second story bedroom window and into the ambulance. Her daughter said she didn't know how bad the problems were, but when I saw her (her bedroom is right next to mine) she looked very weak. Earlier this week I heard that she was "slowly getting better", but on Friday the news was worse and she passed on Saturday morning. She was 89 years old and as far as I know she led a full and happy life. When I moved into this house she was already 73, and she and her husband (who died 3 years ago) were such a fun couple. They had 6 children and I don't know how many grand- and great-grand children, and it seemed they were all visiting every day. There was a non-stop stream of visitors to their house, and when I popped in for a quick chat or we had a neighbourly talk "across the hedge" she often offered some food or fruit. She was also full of stories including some about men that had wanted her when she was young. She will be missed.
Her passing also reminded me of what SO said when he and RE were visiting last week. SO raised the topic "what will we leave behind when we are gone" and after joking that he must have a mid-life crisis we talked about it more seriously. RE and I agreed that there is no real need to leave anything behind: if you have a good life, and you try to be good to some other people, that's basically enough. But SO wanted to leave something more tangible so he is thinking about volunteer work, "doing something meaningful for the world".
I hadn't met the gang for two weeks and I made up for it on Friday night. Was happy to see PA and MC who were visiting from Germany, RO introduced his new boyfriend LA and told me about all the drama of their relationship (mainly caused by LA's ex-bf), and I talked with a Taiwanese tourist who said he "loves Amsterdam because everybody always smiles". Maybe he spent too much time in the gay bars and not enough time in supermarkets, offices and public transport.......

93 kg

On schedule.

Tuesday 10 March 2009

Love is in the air

Spring has arrived and love is in the air:
1) RO is head over heels with his new found lover. We (as in: the gang) haven't met him yet, but RO can't talk about anything else. Apparently the object of his desire is attached to someone else so it is not an easy love. I have known RO for almost 10 years and this is the first time I have seen him like this. And this is the same RO that was indiscriminately fucking every slim Asian man that he could lay his hands on. ;-)
2) Sgboy writes that he is totally and completely in love. Good for him! And this is the same sgboy that was indiscriminately fucking every bald man that he could lay his hands on, and if he couldn't find a bald one a man with hair would do, too. ;-)
3) TO from Moscow visited Amsterdam for the 4th time in a year. I spent time with him on Friday and Saturday, but decided to keep a distance on Saturday evening and Sunday as I am afraid he is developing "feelings". He is handsome and nice, but I will never fall in love with him - the chemistry is just not there.

As for me, after all this time I am still feeling the same butterflies for the sweetest man in the world that RO and sgboy must be experiencing for their new loves......

Friday 6 March 2009

Uncle

Yesterday I had this minor traffic incident on my bike (a young guy had to stop for me as I had priority, and he wasn't happy and shouted something that included "ouwe" (Dutch for "oldie")), and I was reminded that in Singapore I was called "uncle" once (yeah, just once fortunately). And now I read this: "IN THE past 10 years, there has been a trend among service staff to address men over 50 as 'uncle'. I find this very offensive. We all know that 'auntie' and 'uncle' are not terms of endearment when used to address strangers in Singapore. If anything, they have come to denote someone who is old, less-educated, dull, slow-witted, nit-picking, loud, uncouth, parochial, uninformed, pedantic and clumsy, among many more negative traits. Time to do everything I can to look 10 years younger!

Thursday 5 March 2009

Slimming down

OK - it is time to slim down again. Last time I was really slim was in 1996 after TR, my American bf dumped me. I lost 12 kg in about 3 months and went from 94 kg to 82 kg. After I slimmed down, TR knocked on my door to have another chance but 1) he couldn't believe his eyes how much weight I'd lost; and 2) I didn't want him back. Ha!
Now last week I was 95 kg and I must be able to bring it down to 85 kg. (of course 82 would be nice but I am a bit older so let's try for 85 first, ok?) Ten days of exercising and watching my calorie intake got me to 94 kg today - so if I can keep this schedule and lose 1 kg during every 10 days, by mid-June I should be at 85 kg. Just in time for the Sitges trip. Watch this space!

Tuesday 3 March 2009

Slumdog Millionaire

I watched Slumdog Millionaire tonight. I am not going to give you my review as I am sure you have all seen the movie and have your own opinions. Just two things: the movie reminded me why I don't like India. I have been to a lot of poor countries and I have seen misery everywhere - it is just that in India so much of the misery is man-made. And secondly one must admire Jamal Malik for all he does to be reunited with his lost love. An example to follow.

Monday 2 March 2009

Research that I would love to do

Who says that economists are boring? Surf to this page, and you are guaranteed a nice read about where the consumers of porn can be found in the US. Of course, the Journal of Economic Perspectives doesn't call it porn but "adult entertainment", but I am sure the researchers had a great time anyway.
I learned a lot from reading this article. Did you know, for instance, that Canada used to have a special visa category for would be adult-entertainers, "who had to demonstrate their skills"? I would have loved to be an immigration officer in those days......
And also Utah has a significantly higher percentage of consumers of porn than other states. Those Mormons seem to need inspiration for breeding so much.....