Have a Break

These last weeks I have found out that actually I am getting rather addicted to KitKat's... It all started a month or two ago, seeing a friend eating the chocolate-crunchy-biscuit and thinking... hmm.. how did that taste again? And it all ended at sneaking out the office around 11 (and round 15 o'clock again if the need was really high) to go to the shop and buy a KitKat. And although Joris brought a 5 kg bag of Chocotoffs (oh my all time favourites!) back from Belgium, still the KitKat-temptation has not dissapeared.... Don't you just love chocolate! ok and now time for a break... time for a...

back in town

after their week in the highlands, Joris and Wendy returned to Edinburgh today - leaving Ruud behind at Prestwick Airport for his travel back to Belgium. Today I granted myself a little bit of an extended lunch break and I went to have lunch with Joris and Wendy in the Baxter's Shop in Ocean's Terminal with view over the Forth... very nice indeed, although my motivation to work this afternoon has gone down... but it is Friday, so a few more hours and the weekend can begin!

practicalities...

after a convenient bank holiday yesterday, I experience my monday-morning mood on a Tuesday. only advantage is that the working-week will be over sooner!

Joris, Wendy and Ruud left the house this morning round 6 o'clock (i guess, because - of course - i was still sleeping) to go on their trip to the Highlands with as target the Orkney Islands. Pity that i cannot join them (no holidays left) but fortunately the nice sun in town here in town eases this feeling a little bit. Had a bit of a crazy weekend, with - i seem only to recall - lots of eating and parties...

Did a lot of thinking as well this weekend and, step-by-step, the big "masterplan for the 2005-2006" is shaping itself... but before I give away too much clues about what might happen, I need to figure out some more practicalities to make this plan work...

J-Day

J-Day today... The weather-gods are celebrating with me the return of Joris on this beautiful Island this morning by giving us a clear blue sky, but rather cold temperatures (feels more like a nice december-morning or so). Joris will be accompanied by Wendy and Ruud. Tonight I arranged to meet up with Joris's old collegues in Alli's restaurant.... Monday is bank holiday here so probably we will go out on a excursion somewhere in the highlands... hurray!

Funky Monday

Although still not having slept enough the last weekend, I feel rather chirpy and lively this morning. And that for a Monday-morning! Great! The nice sunshine outside might be a bit of obvious reason, but also perhaps - and more certain - the fact that joris will be back by the end of the week!

Although it is a pity that last weekend I had to say goodbye to my new (but rather short-term) friends Sarah and Karlos, who stayed with me since I was in Belgium. I will see them later this week one more time before they leave to a big trip around the world... It was great to have those two young enthusiastic, nice people around me. Not that it has been quieter now, because Alexander and Ellen are visiting me and also their company is very much enjoyable! Saturday night we ate out at Erawan's and yesterday we did a sight-seeing tour in the Highlands (Loch Lomond, up to Callander, through Stirling and back to Edinburgh) - Which reminds me that i will try to put a little movie online soon from my new rock band where I - very surprisingly - play the jumping-guitar!

I also managed to put some pictures online from my Joris' Bday party, some weeks ago already. if you click on this incredibly cool picture (?) you will be brought to the pics and hopefully have a good look&laugh!

private dancer...

it's been a quiet week this week. I enjoy the company of my two guests who are currently living with my, untill sunday. It's Sarah from Australia and Karlos from Barcelona, they're a couple and untill two weeks ago they had been living in a youth hostel here in Edinburgh. I discovered that a lot of people live for long periods in a youth hostel and if you work a couple of hours per day for the hostel, you can live there for free, which i think is a very clever idea.
But as a couple they longed for a bit of private space, which in the dorms in the hostel is a very precious and rare item. And the good thing with them living in my flat is that our time-schedule is very different, so we are not together all the time and we all can have our own time in the flat, but can enjoy a talk in the late evenings together.
The weeks ahead will be filled with sociality as well, with the arrival of Alexander and Ellen on Sateruday, a one-night-sleep-over from Emilie next week and of course the long-waited-for arrival of Joris on Friday the 16th! Hurray!

Musicality

well it has been a very quiet weekend; highlights? friday-night chat with Rosa from Spain, saturday-night at alli's restaurant and sunday the fireworks to celebrate the end of the festival. For that occassion we were invited by a customer of the restaurant to one of his empty office-buildings on the very prestigious Charlotte Square where there supposedly should have been a "designer garden" from where we could watch everything. Supposedly i say because, when we arrived in the building, being late already, we ran up the stairs and up and up and up... untill we found... nothing! no garden, not even windows with good views on the castle... so running back down, on the street up to princess street... I returned home rather quickly after the fireworks and watched with Sarah and Karlos the movie "Gattaca" starring Ethan Hawke and Jude Law... very good movie!

plans for this week? : i am doubting wether to buy a small cheap-mini-keyboard in able to play a bit or to buy a guitar... mini-keyboard would be to "throw away" but would at least keep me going, but a guitar would teach me something new - although i would also have to cope with the frustration of not being able to play on the same level as my piano-skill... i will decide tonight because i need to play again! so if you read this : a small poll : guitar or mini-keyboard?