Thank You!

I've been writing this blog official since April-May of this year and even though I've completely negligent about updating consistently, people keep visiting (mostly thanks to Google's great SEO for Blogger) and so I want to say thank you to everyone who has found this blog and taken a moment to read it.

I have some great posts coming up surely as I've bought a new batch of books in Amsterdam, (I've updated my Reading Table for those interested in seeing what I'm reading), have written perhaps a book (134,000 words now need editing), and am planning on moving to Amsterdam by September 2012 where I will hopefully open up a successful pop-up / living room restaurant with a charitable twist (meaning I'm going to serve lunch on Monday and you pay or don't pay as you want).

In the meantime for people who read my blog regularly, you deserve better, and you're going to get it. I'm back in France, wishing I was in Amsterdam, but ready to get down to business. Thanks for putting up with me again, I've just been very introspective lately and writing other things.

I shall put myself in the corner and think of how to tell you the craziest story EVER. I've yet to put it into text, but have had to tell it to: my boyfriend's mother, the friends who gave me their apartment in Amsterdam, Amsterdammers I met after the "Debbie" incident occurred, my boyfriend, some of my friends in France, and a total of five Amsterdam police officers...

So stayed tuned, but be sure to flog me for my lack of attention to this blog on your way out.

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Amsterdam & Big Decisions

Okay, so I've made a major decision. In 2012 (probably in August or September) I'm moving to Amsterdam.

Now before you think this is a rather rash decision, keep in mind I've been finding it hard to vacation anywhere besides Amsterdam for the past six years. Ever since I spent four months there, living in an apartment I rented from a friend who rented it from a friend who owned a yoga studio (and only used the three bedroom flat I sub-subletted on Saturdays for magic mushroom tea parties), I couldn't stop coming back.

It's not the drugs. I like a puff. It's great for menstral cramps, migrains, and for hangovers. Still even when I lived in A'dam for four months, I actually started treating marijuana like other people treat alcohol. Not every day, sometimes too much, but in a sort of situationally dependent moderation.

Now that the weed issue is cleared up, let me tell you why I was standing on a bridge spanning the Keizergracht about a week ago crying my eyes out. I didn't want to go home this time.

It was raining and the wind was pretty brutal and it was cold and my hair was so wet it was dripping. And yet I still knew I wanted to move to Amsterdam.

So from time to time I'm going to talk about it if only because relocating is a fairly interesting topic and I haven't been an expat maybe since I went to the US for school (and then stayed so long I was no longer considered an expat anymore).


I'm going to start by getting my neighbour to help me with my Dutch (I have a year afterall, I should be learning more Dutch every day!), make plans, find out information, and when the time nears find an apartment.

I can't help it and I know my Dutch friends think it's a bit hilarious, but ik hou van Amsterdam.

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I've been a very bad blogger...

I haven't published a new post in 8 days, which is pretty damn impressive considering how much there's been to report, but the problem is the thing I most want to write about needs clever disguising in terms of changing the names up as to protect the innocent and those who work with this particular innocent who may or may have not given birth to Monsieur Redacteur. See, what I mean by being in need of clever disguising? It might take me a little time to figure it out, but this is a story that must be told.

It's Monday and I would love to go to the Noordermarkt, but the weather is quite crappy (again). This past Saturday was the only truly "sunny day" this trip. But I want to write anyways, so who cares about the weather? I have seen and done everything, the only thing left is to make sure I get the things I ordered like the Wonder Woman Chronicles from Henk on Zeedijk and a melodica I ordered from the music store.

The thing is coming here the way I do is a lot like living here and when I'm on my own I don't do any of the touristy things, but I do admit I tried to take a paddle boat that you can rent around the canals, but got stopped by the bridge on the Lijnbaansgracht that could probably could decapitate you and is really great to see people ducking in their boats to clear. Other than that, I did nothing touristy whatsoever this trip.

So as you say in Holland, but by rolling the r's - sorry. I have been a bad Amsterdam tour guide for this trip as well as a bad blogger, but I have however finished about 1/2 my novel.

And given that's what I planned, to work on my novel, I'm pretty damn happy at the sight of all the printed pages stacked up.

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