Interesting Dutch Fact #1

In the Netherlands, most people get an extra month's salary every year. It's called vakantiegeld (vacation money). From what I understand, this extra money -- meant to help folks pay for their vacations -- is an expected and normal benefit in most places of employment. Vacations are an extremely important part of people's lives here in the NL -- taking a 3 or 4 week holiday each year is not out of the ordinary. Plus, there are all of these "extra" national holidays (at least, they feel extra to me!): The day following Christmas, the Monday after Easter, Ascension Day (which this year fell on a Thursday), and the Monday after Pentecost are, for instance, holidays. No one works, and nothing is open.

Good Quotes: Food

I ate and drank slowly as one should (cook fast, eat slowly) and without distractions such as ... conversation or reading. Indeed eating is so pleasant one should even try to suppress thought .... How fortunate we are to be food-consuming animals. Every meal should be a treat and one ought to bless every day which brings with it a good digestion and the precious gift of hunger.

--Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea. Penguin Books (1978), p. 7.

Note from Jackie: I actually enjoy conversing and eating simultaneously ... but sometimes, food tastes so good that it seems best to sit in silence and do nothing but taste. "Drink water when you're drinking water," I once heard a speaker say. Don't make a grocery list in your head, or analyze a problem you are dealing with, or wonder how you are going to get everything done today. Just drink the water.

Doing one thing at a time is a spiritual discipline perhaps lost on our generation of multi-tasking, efficient people. I know it's often lost on me.

One More Question Re: Aesthetics

Hello folks! I tweaked the Polderpalooza Palette a bit more, and I think I finally got my colours coordinated. Tell me ... to your left, do you see a whole bunch of links in the newly-greened area of your screen? (There should be 21, in case anyone's counting.) These links should show up all the time now since I changed the background color to green. Yes? Is this working???

New Colour Scheme

Hey faithful readers -- I have finally gotten around to workin' with the colour scheme of this here blog, and I have a question for you all. Namely: are all of my links showing up now? Thanks for your most valued input as I seek to make your blogging experience as aesthetically pleasing as possible!

Snip, Clip, & Style

I cut my hair.

Or, to be more accurate, my friend Loes cut my hair. Instead of reaching 3/4 of the way down my back, now my hair reaches one or two inches below my ears.

Those of you who know me well will realize that this is a BIG DEAL.

I love being a shorter-haired person! Long hair was fun while it lasted (for the past 12 years or so). But the times, they are a-changin'. Oh yeah.