From Murakami’s The City and Its Uncertain Walls:
Zijn moeder was van nature meegaand en ze rekende het tot haar voornaamste plicht om geen moeilijkheden te veroorzaken.
His mother was compliant by nature, and she considered it her first duty not to cause trouble.
Such a Murakami sentence.
Unexpected crossing in the fields around Krommenie.
I saw Otoboke Beaver in Paradiso last Thursday, July 4th. Arguably the most innovative band in the world.
A fat man in a light blue coat zipped up to the top, arms crossed on his stomach, lies snoring.
His glasses slant. He smacks in his sleep.
Amazing how he always wakes up in time for his destination.
I would love to see this local shopping guide for Amsterdam, or, say, Randstad.
Great idea!
They stand talking to each other on the platform. Both: short-cropped, brittle hair, winter coat on over the suit, the jacket, longer, sticks out from under the coat, a large packed backpack on their backs.
I get off the train and walk to the steps. In front of me walks a man with silver-gray hair. He is wearing a black nylon jacket, black pants with a crease, black cotton sports socks, and those solid Ecco shoes.
He confidently holds his thick computer bag in his hand. He must have brought home a lot of papers.
He reminds me of someone. Taut. Inflexible. Straightforward. An architect.
The next day, he walks past me again. Usually, he is all in black, as I just described, but this time, he is wearing a deep, dark brown suit.
Awesome video by Epic Spaceman on shrinking to atom level without getting disoriented. (Via kottke.org)
I finished Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. A very good book that reminds me of multiple books for multiple reasons: Nick Cave’s The Ass Saw the Angel (alcoholic boy and the atmosphere) and Salingers Catcher in the Rye (a dive into the adolescent mind), for example.
Demon is the son of a junky mother and a father that died when Demon was still young.
The boy ends up in child care and lives with foster parents who are only interested in the allowance that comes with the care. He finds his loving grandmother, who finds a better home for him. The boy is talented in sports and drawing. He has some luck but makes the wrong decisions and ends up addicted to pills himself and with a girlfriend who is addicted to any substance, including heroin.
Will-power and friends try to drag him out of a downward spiral.
My, what a read!
The lady is always already on the train when I board. She has an iPad on her lap. Earbuds in her ears. She plays Candy Crush. Always. The full hour the trip takes.