Exposure

So... That's a while ago... Last few days I wasn't too active around here. Why? Well... I dunno. Can't say I am that busy.

I have to finish my latest two courses before my internship. I'm doing philosophy (Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Nietzsche and so on) and one latest law-course. The rest of the time I'm trying to find a subject for a paper. I've to write one (only 30 pages, so not a too big issue) directly after my internship. It's convenient to have a subject before that internship starts: If I can manage to get a subject before April, and sacrifice summer holidays, it will be possible (but an awful job) to finish my study in September.

So.. that for my study. For the rest I'm looking around for a new sport. I liked (well, I still like) rowing a lot. I love it, actually. But the rowing club in the city I live in is nothing for me. They haven't any other guys of my age, or at least other guys of my age that want to row as fanatic as I want.
It is hard to find a sport that suits me. I'm not so talented with ballgames, so volleyball, soccer, tennis etcetera won't do. I can't manage to react to the ball the way I should. Like my eye don't understand what's going on. Anyway, I'm thinking of swimming right now. Maybe I should give it a try. Or windsurfing, but that requires a bunch of money (board, sails) and loads of space to store the equipment. Don't have that both. So.. swimming seems the best option so far.

Last weekend me and my friend went to my parents. We had a really good time. I helped my dad with his website. He is member of a foundation that maintains a small 19th century house that is nowadays a meeting-centre for bridge clubs and choirs and things like that. That foundation wants a website. And not that I'm such a good web designer, but I can do some simple things to make it a workable non-time consuming site, now their budget is more or less zero.
We went to the building to make some photo's for the website. We were planning to use his digicam, but when we arrived he discovered he hadn't any place left on his memory card. Too bad. So we used my cellphone. Its 2 mp camera and Photoshop can do a lot for website-pics. I am SO glad I have this unit. It really helped us out here. (and yes: this nice little house on the right is in fact the place I'm talking about)
In spring or summer, we've planned to do another photoshoot, when the trees around the building have leaves again...

Here in Holland, it's customary to complain. About the weather, about our gouvernment, about the weather, about the trains getting late, about the weather, about the prices in the supermarket, about the weather, about the €uro, about the weather, about Europe, about almost everything. Dit I mention the weather?

Isn't that weird?
The fact that we all are complayning about those futile things (the weather, the price of a 2 litre bottle of Diet Coke, the fact that foie gras is'nt at stock in the stores) says me that we have it all very, very good.

In a materialistic point of view, that's true. But when we start looking socially and morally, we're not there yet. Now, at this point I'm not going upon the barricades for some alternative weardness, but we are bothered in the Netherlands about the general feeling that everyone is doing it all just for themselves and nobody is bothered by the wellbeïng of others. And most people here are complaining about that as well...

I'm bothered. And I know I can't break iron with my bare hands, I can't change the whole community in my own. But I've the feeling there's something to change. The last few months, the Dutch public media is changing. In the last months, two initiatives started. One, called 'clubvan100.nl' is a community of people who can help and people who need help. Everyone has some talent, and in the community all those talents are used to solve problems of others within that community for free. Like an exchange of services to and fro.

The fact that those things are happening, make me feel like there's something to change. The opinio gerneralis that individuals can't change anything gets broken down.

That's a good thing. It's pragmatic: No one has to change his/her life dramatically to enrole into such an initiative. Just those small things like doing the grocaries with your 85y/o neigbour... I mean: don't you need grocaries yourself?

No, It isn't that bad in Holland. Life's good to begin with, and the negative spiral of egocentric thoughts is getting toppled down. It's getting better and better, step by step...