Thursday 29 July 2010

Cologne here we come!

One of the best weeks of my life was when the "Gay Games" were held in Amsterdam back in 1998. It was the world upside-down with gays being in the majority almost everywhere in the city, a great and liberal atmosphere, everybody in the mood for love and friendship - in short: paradise.
Some of my friends were so enamored with the Gay Games that they flew to Sydney in 2002 and to Chicago in 2006 to re-live the experience. I didn't do that, but now that the Gay Games are just a 2.5 hour train ride away I decided to see if the atmosphere of friendship and love can be re-created in Cologne. At least 20 friends from Amsterdam will be going so if nothing else, we will have a nice weekend partying with the Germans.

Sunday 25 July 2010

Be careful with your passwords....

One of my friends was asked by his parents to book some theatre tickets on-line for them. After a few days, the parents received two envelopes from the theatre: one containing the tickets for the show they wanted to see, and another one with a letter as follows:
"Dear Mr. XYZ,
Thank you for booking tickets at ABC Theatre Internet booking service. For future reference, hereunder you will find the details of your registration with our on-line booking service:
user name: XYZ@hotmail.com
password: FistFuck69
We are looking forward to seeing you on-line again soon!"

Tuesday 20 July 2010

Slick suit

As soon as winter is over every year, RO starts asking for a barbecue and last Sunday was the day. Many of my friends live in inner city apartments without decent gardens, so when summer comes my garden is a popular place for outdoor activities. Some 25 friends showed up, and it seems the expression "fashionably late" can be replaced by "fashionably early": I had said in the invitation that the party would be between 3:30pm and 12:30am and at 3:30 sharp the first guests arrived and by 4:30 almost everybody was stuffing themselves with salads, meats, and drinks! I had bought (amongst others) 150 beers and 8 bottles of white wine, and ofcourse everybody chose the white wine so now I am left with a 100 beers...... All in all I think the party was successful and we had a nice time.
Yesterday during lunch break I saw the most beautiful young man in a slick suit walking in my direction. I looked at him (from a corner of my eye, I thought) and when we passed each other he smiled and said "hello". Half a minute later I looked over my shoulder and he was doing the same thing! Oh my god, he is in his late 20's and so beautiful, he must have been joking or what.... Anyway, he probably works close to my office so who knows I will see him again. One can always dream....

Tuesday 6 July 2010

Bad planning

I will be leaving today on a business trip to Lagos, Nigeria. It is of course not the nicest destination in the world, but I normally never mind going somewhere for the first time, just to have a look and see a city with my own eyes. This time however the planning is particularly bad - at the time the semi-final is played tonight I will be queueing for immigration and customs at Lagos Airport. I hope they have TVs in the arrivals terminal but I am not too optimistic. Fortunately I am scheduled to be back from Lagos on Saturday so I will be able to see the finals here. Now the Oranje team "just" has to beat Uruguay to reach the finals....

Sunday 4 July 2010

Brown socks in sandals

A quiet day at home today, watching some Tour de France, working a bit in the garden, and doing admin before going to EL's birthday party in the early evening.
Talking about birthdays. I had a small BBQ party with my family last Sunday which was nice. I was honoured that my nephews and nieces still joined their parents for the party - after all they are in their late teens and early 20's now and normally people that age are not so interested to visit an old uncle! The weather has been hot and sunny for the last week so perfect for a day outside in the garden. On my birthday itself I just worked and went home a bit early, and watched football in the evening. The big party for friends (another BBQ) will be in two weeks time.
Yesterday my brother celebrated his birthday and I went for a few hours before joining my card playing group for another BBQ at HA's place and a few rounds of card games. I noticed that both my brother and ER were wearing brown socks in sandals - now if you know me you know I am not a fashion queen but compared to them I have some taste! Must be the difference between living in a big city compared to having spent all your life in a small provincial backwater.