The first time on a bike

On the bike!In Spain driving a bike is not nearly as natural as it is in Holland. There are very few bike lanes and if you are one of the lucky few with a bike you will find yourself on a dangerous spot. Other users of the roads are not used to bikes and they just don’t take into account there might be bikes around. In Holland it cannot be more different. Here you are the king of the road on your bike. Everyone knows you are there and you can drive everywhere on your bike.

It was a good moment to introduce Alex to this great concept. Together we drove a few laps and Alex did quite enjoy it. At first he had to overcome some of his anxiety, because we were going quite fast, but he got the hand of it quite fast en even enjoyed himself. Still, it was his first time and after a few lats he started asking for mamma. Still, the bike seed has been planted and now the biker in Alex can start to grow.

In the news, thanks to Angelina Jolie

Ana in the news!
Who would have thought it possible that Ana would be the main news in the local papers thanks to Angelina Jolie. Ana does research and screening for generic markers related to breast cancer. A topic that recently became world news thanks to Angelina. The current awareness resulted in interviews, newspaper articles and publications.

Of course it makes me feel very proud of my Ana!

7 rabbits

7 Rabbits in the garden!
7 young rabbits are playing in our garden. The left their nest about a week ago. All seven are as black as the night, which is strange because their mother is red-brown. Clearly they are having a lot of fun in the garden.

Emotion

Mathematics!Emotions are a very personal subject. Writing emotions down on a piece of paper is even more difficult. Still, it seems that it is possible to use mathematics to calculate the emotional values of written texts. In this context I was asked if would agree to allow two texts from my website to be used in an investigation.

The texts the researcher was interested in were the two texts read on our wedding. One text read by my brother Bert and one read by our friend Miguel. Ana and I were both very moved by the texts so clearly there is a good amount of emotion there. I am very curious as to the results but I will have to be patient because the results will probably take a few months.

Bulbflower Parade

Bloemencorso 2013 - Ape!Bloemencorso 2013 - Strawberry!Bloemencorso 2013 - Fish!
Noordwijkerhout is a little town in the middle of the area where loads of flowers are grown. Normally it is a very quiet town and there is not a lot happening, but today there was something to be seen. The 66th annual Bulbflower Parade passes through town. A lot of cars all decorated with thousands and thousand of flowers.

It was very cold, but very nice to see.

iPhone 4

iPhone4!Big changes are usually followed by smaller changes. The same is true for my phone. I used to be very happy with the most basic phone I could find. Less is more in this area. A simple phone like my old Nokia is easier to use, has less parts that can break down, is cheaper, survives a tumbling and will never be stolen.

Thanks to my brother I have switched sides and I now walk around with a computer in a very fashionable design. An iPhone. Now I have access to wassap, facebook, google, shopping, banking, games, and everything a digital consumer might just want or need. I even typed this post on the iPhone. I was always a bit skeptic but I have changed my mind and plan to embrace the new digital era.

10 days

I have been in Holland since April and it has been quite a busy time. I needed to arrange a lot of things and I quickly started my new job. My first impression of Holland was that is was very very cold. Somehow I did not remember the low temperatures.

I underestimated the effect the distance between myself and Alex and Ana would have. The first few days it was very hard to be so far away. Still, in the end we worked out some kind of rhythm were we speak and see each other every day. This way we both stay up to date regarding our lives. Luckily I also have my family and friends close.