back home

Melissa is watching the awful Spirit, my mum started playing "20 questions" the minute we walked in the door and apparently I got two more rejection letters while I was away.
On telly today a guy was commenting on one of his favourite 80s, the Pets with It's a Sin. The bloke mentioned how he'd always wondered about the relationship between Neil and Chris. Were they twin brothers? Cousins or....?
Sorry. Made me laugh. But then I am strange.
Been listening to the Eurovision 2003 CD again. "Vise Nisam tvoja, nisam"
Frederic and I are playing minesweep on MSN.
We embarrassed the poor lad yesterday by making too much noise while he was out (we were wrestling) causing his neighbour to shout at us to be quiet. His neighbour is also his landlord. And a baker. But I think he's forgiven us. If not I'll let him win this game.

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Oh Ostend Oh Ostend

Here we are in the epicentre of the Flemish coast, sorry Belgian coast. A lot of British (English) people, a lot of seafood (mmm) and a lone mosquito that kept me awake most of the night. Had fun watching the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest (the one with Dana International and Imaani) and reading a Joke van Leeuwen book. A kid's book. Very good kid's book.
Right now we're off to do some browsing, oh and -the weirdest thing- I got through to the next round in last Fridays selection. I've got another interview on Monday in an asylum seeker's center in the middle of nowhere. Brrr.

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we're off

to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Frederic.
Off to stay with Frederic for a few days in Ostend (bad weather courtesy of Belgium), but no fear, he's got an internet connection.
Meanwhile I'm listening to Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) singing "Planet Schmanet Janet"... fabulous. Bring it on, Rocky Horror!

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Elmo

Pet's youngest daughter is turning 1 in a few weeks, so Melissa and I got her a fabulous (if I may say so myself) bath toy. Something pretty similar to this: , only instead of "Submarine Elmo" it's "Motorboat Elmo". The fun thing is it's a wind up toy so that should account for hours of bathtime fun. Of course Zoe is more interested in the fascinating Winnie the Pooh wrapping paper... Next time I get something for a baby, it'll be a wrapped cardboard box!

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Brussels by noon

Brussels today. Selection for another job. Turned out to be a much more serious selection than I'd thought. I'd expected about 50 people taking standardized tests and then possibly being through to the next round. No sirree... they skipped round one and went straight to the last round.
Only about ten of us, a strange written part ("name a goal you haven't accomplished and the circumstances surrounding that") and an interview. Which I didn't expect and thus didn't dress for. Oops. Interview went pretty badly, especially when the woman (the big boss) commented on my chewed off fingernails.
Ouch.
But then the job doesn't really suit me. Can you see me organising activities? Me as a kind of holiday rep for asylum seekers? "Come on guys, let's go play football!" For one, I detest football. Secondly, hardly a hint of psychosocial work and lastly me, a figure of authority? "You there, gentlemen twice my age from a culture that sees women as inferior to men, I'm telling you to go do the dishes. Yes, me, the 22-year-old woman with the pierced nose."
Nah... not my kinda thing.

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hm

Had a job interview today. First of all, the shock of being invited somewhere was so great I nearly had a fit. Second of all I realised the poor man (who'd left the message on my voicemail) had heard my cheerful voicemail message (I sing in it... don't ask), so in a panic I quickly changed it just in case someone else would ever phone to invite me for an interview.
The interview went really good, or so I thought. I was shocked to discover they're not as scary as I've imagined them to be for the past 5 years. Problem? The job needs a car. Ergo I need a car for the job. Ergo I need a driver's license. Problem? No money. Need a job to finance learning to drive. And I need to drive for a lot of jobs.
Aaaaaaaargh. Cash donations welcome ;o).

Need to put some haloscan thingie on here so people can bitch and moan on my blog. I miss you guys!

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WANTED

Studio/small flat
Rent: preferably none, or very little.
Overjoyed if accompanied by job.

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The excitement

watched the end of Season one Buffy yesterday, in between the worst bouts of a migraine attack. We were planning on visiting Le Feux de Perrie in Ostend, but alas... Our plans for today, checking out the Gentse Feesten to find out what all the hype is about (and counting the drunken people we meet along the way, obviously), won't work out since we were kept awake most of the night by at least 6 mosquitos. Bodycount so far? 5 dead. Their corpses hanging on the wall and book rack as a warning to their friends and family. Very American Warfare. Piglet was bitten four times, Melissa twice as far as I know. She's still sleeping off the exertion of hunting the beasts down.
Saw LA Confidential. Was good. VT4 has the annoying habit of showing some good films after their bout of crap "choose your own film". Why annoying? Because it's VT4 and they interrupt five times for commercials. At that time of night you also get the "sms date" commercial with a blonde bimbo licking her index finger in what they think is an erotic way.
By the way, tonight you can choose between the excellent Jodie Foster in Little Man Tate and overrated Brooke Shields in an undoubtedly bad dyke flick. Of course we're rooting for the dyke flick!

Ruby Wax hung out with Liza Minelli and her husband yesterday. Apart from the fact that Liza kids herself into seeing alcoholism as a "disease that has nothing to do with willpower, it's purely to do with chemicals in the brain" (denial anyone?), her husband is such a disgusting wannabe-heterosexual that it's frightening. He loves the cameras big time and loves showing off his money. Highlight of the night, the celebrities invited to his birthday party who didn't even know who the party was for...

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babies

I went to see my 7-week-old neighbour yesterday.
She's gorgeous.
I want my own baby. Sperm donors apply here please.

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pro porno

Apparently a christian organisation in Holland has started a "stop porn" campaign. Now if there's one thing I hate it 's christian organisations but their adversaries at the website "geen stijl" (no link, thank you) seem to be much of the same yet in another direction. Statements to have Volkert V.D.G. hanged because he "only" got 18 years don't sound like the kind of people I want to hang out with.

Why am I not adorning my site with a "pro porn" button? Well apart from my dislike of the statements at said site, straight porn is not exactly positive towards women is it. It shows women like wanton, brainless sluts who only want one thing out of life, and that's to be taken by men. Any man. As many men as possible. They're only there as recipients of sperm. I know I'll get the whole so called "progressive" horde on my neck, but it's degrading for women. Oh no, Piglet goes feminist. Feminism is so un-pc.
The role of porn in sexual delicts is still unclear, there's no reason to assume porn will cause sexual delicts (of course not) but porn does have a few (immediate, probably short lived) effects.
Men who've just seen porn believe more than other men in so called Rape Myths ("she wanted it, why else would she have worn that skirt", "if a woman says "no" she means "yes" otherwise she could have pushed me off ") and agree with more sexist and mysogynistic statements. Even if this is just for a few hours, it's still bad.

So no. I'm not 100% pro porn. I mean, watch it if you will, I don't care. But as a woman, how can I find straight porn good?
Maybe everyone should just watch gay porn. At least that's woman friendly. Or people could try and write porn that 's as positive towards women as it is towards men. But then would straight men watch it?

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hayfever

Hayfever must be the most awfully mundane allergy you can have.
You fill in a medical form and under allergies you put "hayfever" and you can just imagine the nurse snorting at your answer "tsk...crybaby".
Wouldn't you rather be able to say... "If I eat nuts, I die" or "I'm allergic to ants. If I'm close to one I break out in hives and have to rush to the hospital". Everyone's got bloody hayfever! Where's the sympathy! Where's the distinction! Where's the coolness factor sweetie. Where's the Casualty visits? Where's the interest?
I demand a new interesting problem!

All this challenging of my inner-Edina to say that they're repeating the last Series of Absolutely Fabulous on BBC2 on Fridays. Don't miss the episode where Saffron's Play goes in production...
"The last Mosquito that bit me had to book into the betty ford clinic" (patsy)

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well that's nice

Waiting all night for a storm that doesn't show up, talk about rudeness. At least it could call in advance "sorry, I think I'll head for Germany, no need to unplug your computer". Bloody cheek. The weather is dismal today. I think it's nature's revenge for all our whining about the hot weather. Or for the fact that we (as Belgians) can only talk about the weather because it's the one defining thing in this country. What else would we talk about??
I need to get to Ghent one of these days because The Missus (alright, alright, my sweetheart) needs a new, not-girly, bag. Can only be found in the H&M close to the Korenmarkt. When does the festival start again? You know... the one where the whole country goes to live in Ghent because there's lots of beer...?

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update

Still Waiting.

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silence

Piglet is quietly waiting for the thunder and lightning.
Shhh.

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zelfmedelijden

Even een aanval van zelfmedelijden te verwerken gekregen bij het horen van een oude vriendin die al twee halftijdse jobs te pakken heeft gekregen. Het meisje in kwestie had ook "een graad" (zo noemen we dat als je onderscheiding hebt), een prachtig resultaat op haar stage. En ze kwam van de "juiste" (lees: katholieke) universiteit. Ik had net 0.5% tekort voor een graad en hoewel mijn stageresultaat niet slecht was, komt het niet in de buurt van het hare. Ze heeft ook lef. Ze is goed, kortom.
Soit. Ik overleef het wel, mijn bui van zelfmedelijden en twijfel. Hoewel dat laatste moeilijker te verhelpen zal zijn.

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White Trash TV

Don't you just love it! Oh the trashiness of it!
Saw a bit of "Cheaters" yesterday for the first time in my life. The story goes like this, when you suspect the love of your life to cheat on you, you can enlist the "help" of this tv program, who'll promptly send private detectives after your sweetheart, will fill the house with hidden cameras and invent nifty catchphrases for on TV such as "Whilst Maisy is keeping her hands busy with the new born baby, suspect (!) Tyler has other things to do with his hands....". Then of course comes the confrontation where the two camera crews + "security" crew ring the suspect's bell and that "suspect" finds out (s)he's been followed around for weeks at the order of their other half. Meanwhile said other half sees what the light of their life has been up to. On video. In close up. Sometimes naked.
Fun for the whole family!
The other half in question told his fiancée he had to work hard to keep a "christian spirit" and had to ask god to keep him from murder. Charming.
Of course the presenter keeps an attitude of high-moral disappointment "you know Suspect X, the hardest thing was not seeing the pictures, but seeing your fiancés face as he saw what you were doing with his best man". As if he's not the biggest twit of them all by presenting a program like this.
I can't help but wonder what would happen if your suspicions about your other half turn out to be false. "Dear Suspect, your husband/wife had you followed around for weeks because they thought you were cheating, turns out they were wrong. Well done for being such a good citizen and sorry for the invasion of your privacy."
Days like these make me miss Jerry... maybe I should rent out the highlights on video.... "talk to the hand cos the ears ain't listenin"

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oh fuck


Threat rating: High. The Bush administration is
concerned that it may not get a second term.
Therefore, we are going to change the rules so
that each Democrat vote only counts as 0.2
votes because Democrat is a shorter word than
Republican


What threat to the Bush administration are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Damn.. I just wanted to be Morally Deficient. I didn't want to be a bloody democrat. Democrats are basically just republicans in bad suits. Apart from the ones in the West Wing. But that's fiction people...
*sighs*
Bugger it all.
The test is a good laugh though, take it.

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scared

My life is at a crossroads. It's time for the real world, the real life. No more planning, no more "later...", no more "I'll do this and that". I have to do it and I have to do it now. No more time for hopes and dreams. It's cutting time. I have to do what I planned to do for some 12 years and I already know that most -if not all- of my dreams and plans are impossible to achieve. That's why they're called dreams. Because they're never reality.
It's a good thing I already know this I suppose, but the prospect of living the real life. With a job, and money and even a place of my own is scaring the living daylights out of me. It's something that appeared to be forever in the future. Something to strive for but never to be achieved, so that you can keep dreaming about it. Once you've got to forsake dreaming in favour of doing, there's only one outcome, a certain amount of disillusionment. Which undoubtedly I'll get over.
But still... I'm scared. I am.

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older people

Setting: a bus, ten past six pm.
Woman: I'm gonna call Paula tonight, tell her Lea had a good time
Man: u-huh
Woman: Paula always calls me so it's about time I called her back
Man: I don't have to call my sister
Woman: No you don't have to
Man: I haven't got any left
Woman: No, you can't call them can you. Lea said to me "I had a great time" she said so I'm gonna call Paula and tell her.
Man: Yeah. Haven't got any sisters anymore. Hehe.

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update

My parents have quit smoking. No ashtrays visible, no gasmasks necessary when walking into the house. It's scary. I'm walking around on eggshells so as not to invoke the famous nicotine-detox temper.
They smoke(d?) a lot, so I don't hold much hope that they'll stick to it. But I have to say that with two days, they've exceeded my expectations so far. Which makes me feel rather ashamed for doubting them in the first place.
Is the world coming to an end?
Why did no-one inform me?

My hormones are all over the place for some reason. Could someone call them back and keep them in check please?

Been to De Slegte and spent too much money there. For the non-flemish, that's a second hand book shop and like all second hand book shops you can find real gems there. Ended up buying Katia's birthday present (only 6 months late) and two books for me, including one by a former professor of mine. Already homesick for the student days...

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wijze raad van winnie the pooh

Als je de weg naar huis zoekt en je vindt in plaats daarvan een zandkuil, probeer dan naar een zandkuil te zoeken. Op die manier weet je zeker dat je hem niet vindt, wat een goede zaak kan zijn, want misschien vind je iets waar je niet naar zocht, en is dat nu net waar je wel naar zocht.

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GIRL!

GIrl!
I wanna take you to a GAY BAR
I wanna take you to a GAY BAR
I wanna take you to a Gay Bar GAY BAR GAY BAR
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

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aye it's true

I've graduated. I'm a psychologist. A real one.
"Licentiaat in de psychologie".
Master in psychology. More or less.
Scary stuff.

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First performance!

THE BULLET IS THROUGH THE CHURCH TO SAY IT IN IN FLEMISHSPEAK. yes, it's finally happening. Les Mystères des Moustaches featuring DJ Mel I Sa und der blauer Vogel will exclusively perform during the gaylesbi songfestival in Antwerp in November. They'll bring the Pall Oskar hit "Minn hinsti dans" or "my last dance" for the undoubtedly ecstatic audience.
"The song is an ode to pall, who happens to be a personal friend of mine" said de perrie "it'll also give me a chance to shine in all my glory, in my leather trousers and bare chest and nummy piercings and and... . Well, we'll need to hold auditions for the part of the leather sofa" (candidates can always send in their CV and motivational letter to Les Mysteres).
Le Feux de Perrie said it himself, he'll shine. A bitter pill for Le Vent who saw her chance to sing the lead pass at the heavy protest against the organisation's first choice of "you may be in love"?
"No, no of course not. Les Mystères are a team and you give each other chances. I'd have loved to shine as the big black diva during "you may be in love" but le Feux burst into tears at the mere thought (though he did do this in a very manly way) and Dj Mel I Sa didn't like the song all that much either. Der blauer Vogel had connected his participance to the chance to fondle mister De Perrie. So I did the noble thing. I'll get my chance" Said the very sporty, beautiful, intelligent and charmismatic Vent de Lowe.
DJ Mel I Sa let it be known that she's relieved the choice for Minn Hinsti Dans remained "the song is the ideal opportunity to show ourselves from our most intelligent -and horny- side, we couldn't let it pass. Besides, I didn't like the Japanese mumbling during You May Be.
You heard it here second fans, on Piglet's fan blog!

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Red Dwarf

Cat: "I'm hungry! I'm hungry! Somebody feeeeeeeeeed me!"
Lister: "Cat, Rimmer's father just died."
Cat: "oh, but I was thinking chicken."

Cats always have their priorities cut out for them. This little snippet from last night's Red Dwarf came back to me as I was reading the paper when the cat jumped on top of it, in the middle of my article.

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Videography

People do strange things when they're bored. As for me I got out my old Buffy tapes yesterday and watched a few Season five episodes. Much Willow/Tara goodness thank you very much.
Apart from that I decided to have a look at the Pet Shop Boys official video collection from the 80s, called Videography. Haven't watched that since I was about 15. The masterpieces of It's a Sin, Opportunities (let's make lots of money) and Domino Dancing on my TV to analyse with my -finally- mature brain. Oh dear. The homoerotica on that tape make it impossible to understand why it only got a "12" rating. It also makes it impossible to understand why anyone anywhere could have ever thought the boys to be in the closet. During "it's a sin" (set in a midieval monastery) Guard Chris leads Convict Neil (see photo)

by the chains tied to his wrist and waist. Very straight. Or what to think of the RoughBoy Chris versus PoshBoy Neil images in every other video...
My love for the boys is growing fonder every day.

It's rainbreak in Wimbledon. Again. I'm scared shitless of Serena. And I just choked on a sip of Red Bull. So indulge me in my Pet Shop Fascination.

photo taken from www.petshopboys.net

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oh dear oh dear

Not that I want to take over Mister Vandamme's hobby of Berlusconi-bashing, but this is rather funny. Just heard on the radio that ickle fascist Silvio repied to some criticism by calling a socialist German member of parliament a nazi. A nazi I tell you. This is a good way towards intereuropean relationships.
What strikes me as even worse is the ominous BBC forum that has quite a few people agreeing with Silvio. Mainly Americans of course. But also a certain Alec, from England, who says Berlusconi is just shunned because he doesn't agree with the French and Germans who apparently want to "rule" Europe. Oh Alec, have you got the slightest clue who Berlusconi is or do you only read the Sun?

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lazy lazy lazy sunday morning

I can't remember which song this is from but I know I must have it in my CD collection somewhere. Oh dear. Just remembered. It's from Snow. Remember Snow? Eminem meets Vanilla Ice, the bloke who had a hit with Informer back in 1992 or 93. Oh the shame of it. I was so crazy about the song I went and bought the CD right after.
Kill me now or kill me later?

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oh dierbaar belgië

American tennis commentator with an irritating voice: "It looks like we might have another Venus-Serena final, for the umpteenth time."
*hoists Belgian flag over her shoulders*
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Self-rightious twits!

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Awakens from Hibernation

Urgh. Good morning all. Still not completely recovered from exams I think.
Went for lovely meal at Spikey's and Mr Vumpire's on Saturday. Well, the company was brilliant and they tell me the food was scrumptious. Always wanted to use that word, scrumptious. I wouldn 't know since I'm afraid of all food that doesn't emerge from a toaster.
Le Feux de Perrie is obsessively working on the first Mysteres hit. Buy it. Now! Or when it comes out at least.
Held a Bad Girls Marathon.
Melissa lost her shit job at the supermarket since they found out she's going back to school in September and jobstudents are cheaper. Positive side, we can see as much of each other as we like. Negative side, we can't *afford* to see as much of each other as we like. Plus the woman gives me hickeys. Not handy.
Littlemoose made fun of Severus yesterday. I am not amused.
Read in Harry Potter 5. Still don 't want to finish it... even though I know what follows. I don't want to read it.
Tired.
Mum came into my room this morning with a cut out from the jobshop (werkwinkel). Cheers mum. No pressure eh. No matter how many times I tell that woman I'll take it at my pace, there's no stopping her. One of these days I fear I'll have a nervous breakdown.
REM on the radio... that should keep me happy.

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