LATE-NIGHT POOL

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

13:13 Meer Mees
Just in: New pictures of Aldje and Rad's baby

Happy in the bath: Mees already knows what's good.
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11:47 grumpy old man
This morning I was gathering my christmas balls to bring them to the studio. I offered them to Mel and Oskar, who have kids of all ages and therefore a christmas tree and all that. Not only I want to clear all unnecessary junk from my small apartment, I am also making sure I completely erradicate xmas from my life, since I find it is an evil concept disguised as something good (a trademark of the christian faith) and since it makes a miserable night for a majority of the people anyway. Right?

So I bend over under my bed/platform/storage space to retrieve the dusty balls and I look at them and I go: Awwww - the mere sight of the darn shiny balls brings back all those cozy greedy materialistic pleasurable moments of childhood... I had so many great christmases then... visitors! twinkling lights! lego! the visible woman! a toy saxophone! more and more and more lego...

So I get up again with the balls, and find myself thinking Get a grip on yourself! and then Omigod, you *are* becoming the grumpy old man who hates christmas! The Grinch!

YES, I AM. SO WHAT?

This does sound like the Golem talking to the Golem, doesn't it? I guess I really need to get back to the gym.
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Saturday, December 18, 2004

13:43 translated

I was having my morning coffee at Coffee Connection - a newspaper in Arabic had been left behind on the counter by a previous customer - I talked to Assaf, the Israeli barista, about the great Arabic typography - he said that he happened to have a Hebrew newpaper in his bag - I started browsing the Hebrew newspaper and came across the ad for Ocean's Twelve - which happened to be also visible right in front of me, at the tram stop - click - voilà.
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Saturday, December 11, 2004

17:53 Mees Mens is in da house

Formerly known as Baby Mens, the baby of Aldje and Radboud has landed last Wednesday in Amsterdam! He is called Mees, Mees Mens, and is an incredibly boyish boy. Gabrielle and I passed by today and had the pleasure to witness the nativity scene: a totally happy proud dad, taking care of the flow of visitors and playing excellent music, and a mom that looked at the same time all buzzed and mellow, high really, holding her baby in bliss. We're all happy.
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Tuesday, December 07, 2004

11:20 times two
this morning on the phone Jos said: "well, you *are* Sodom and Gomorrah, all in one", which I found very, very complimentary.
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Saturday, December 04, 2004

08:19 Integrated Living
I'm taking part this weekend in the workshop that kicks off the Integrated Living project, in which designers and professionals of the care and housing sectors are asked to work on innovative design solutions for the homes of mentally handicapped people. Yesterday, after a round of introductions, we went on a tour of several locations in Amsterdam, including a rather sci-fi residence for young and mildly handicapped people. Living there is a right, not an obligation, and the waiting lists aren't small. The kids showed us around the facilities and their private quarters. One of them - Angeline, a girl in her early 20's - was asked about the main reason why she found it important to live there. She replied that the received guidance and training on difficult issues such as dealing with money.

!

Throughout the day I noticed that it is hard for me to accept a clear distinction between us, the normals, and them, the handicapped. I am surrounded by such greatly disturbed friends and family members, myself included, and we all seem to get by somehow.

One interesting remark about this distinction was made by the director of the housing organisation during her presentation. Her numbers showed an almost equal amount of caretarkes and 'clients'. Someone asked: "how must it feel to have all this people around taking care of everything, all the time?" to which she replied: " Well, I also have lots of people taking care of me all the time; we all do. Each of us naturally creates and mantains such a support network. The people living here have difficulty doing this on their own, and that's what we offer them".
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