the break up

i'd never broken up with someone before. if you can call it a break up. after all, we were only together for a brief period of time, and even then, didn't see each other all that much...

i felt terrible, because although i didn't think it would be the end of the world for him, it's never really nice to be told it's not going to work. but in fact, he barely seemed to care. most of his response were 'fair enough', and when i asked him if he could think of a way to fix the problem, he couldn't come up with anything. he didn't like my solution either, so that was it.

but let's face it, we had nothing in common. which is funny, really, because he has so many thing that i want in a man. but if you have nothing to say to each other, there isn't much point, is there?

physiotherapist gone AWOL

i woke up with a terrible shoulder pain the other day. i was barely able to move it. and i was going bowling the same evening. so i decided it was time to see my physiotherapist. i called once, twice, three times, and more. noone answered. as i was going to walk by a little later, i decided it'd be easier to drop in and see if he had time to see me. except that when i got there, everything looked closed. not only that, but all the name plates of the people working there had been taken down from the door. shit.

i knew there had sometimes been problems with the physiotherapist who holds the lease of the place, so i thought they must of have had a huge argument and left. oh well, all that meant was that they'd all be in a new place now. all i had to do was find them. i looked my guy up on the internet, but he was still listed at the address and phone number he's always had. most of the others, on the other hand, had all moved. had he decided to stop work? had he moved? this was terrible: i've known M. for nearly 20 years, and changing physiotherapists was not on my list of things to do. so i decided to see if i could track him down.

i called the first of his colleagues listed in a new place, but he wasn't there. the second guy answered, but didn't seem to understand my question. what did i mean by what's happened to M.? i explained but he said he was still at the old place, but he seemed to recall they'd gone on holidays for 2 weeks. weird. first, the 'they', seen as three of them were now elsewhere. that'd mean only 2 guys left for that huge place. and taking down everyone's name plate, when not everyone had left... i guess i'll find out next week...

une petite mise au point s'impose...

ce n'est vraiment pas la fin du monde, mais je sens qu'on va devoir en parler quand même, mon homme et moi...

l'autre soir, je lui demande s'il a des plans pour jeudi. non, me dit-il. alors je lui parle du concert que donne un de mes potes, auquel je vais ce soir-là. ça pourrait être intéressant, dit-il avec un grand sourire. sauf que le lendemain, je reçois un email de sa part m'informant qu'il irait jouer au poker jeudi soir, dans mon quartier, et me demandant si ça me dérangerait qu'il passe la nuit chez moi? euh, non, pas du tout. sauf que moi, je vais toujours au concert et que même s'il n'avait pas confirmé derrière, j'avais un peu compris qu'il viendrait avec moi...

green facts 4

it is still common practice, in a lot of supermarkets all over the world, to hand out plastic bags to shoppers. apparently, the average time of use of such a bag is 20 mns and it is rarely reused thereafter. when you also know that it takes 400 years for such a bag to decompose...

apparently, there's an area of waste the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean, between San Fransisco, Japan and Hawaii. it's called the North Pacific Trash Vortex, and is made up of 80% of plastic and weighs about 3.5 million tons. if that wasn't bad enough, floating plastic desintegrates into very, very small particles, microscopic even, and is thus mixed up with zooplankton, the basis of the marine food chain, and causes poisoning. whales and turtles are also at risk, as they both feed on jellyfish and that, apparently, nothing looks more like a jellyfish than a plastic bag...

21 roses

is what i got on valentine's day! don't think i've ever received an actual bouquet of roses before... luckily, they are not red (and therefore incredibly predictable). suitably impressive, then.

hvad gør' man så?

min bedste veninde ville ikke tale med mig lige for tiden. grunden er, at hun ikke har det så godt: i sommers blev hun syg, og det endte med, at det hele var pga arbejdet. det startede med, at hun havde ondt i maven, men som tiden gik, blev det mere og mere et problem bare at tænke på arbejdet. da vi så hinanden, diskuterede vi selvfølgelig, hvad det skete mens hun ikke var der. det var ikke kun mig, der kom op med emnet, og det er derfor, det ikke gik op for mig, at hun nu slet ikke kan tåle, at tale om det.

det ved jeg så nu, men det er øjensynligt blevet til, at hun nu også kommer til at tænke på arbejdet når vi ses - og det betyder, at hun så helst ikke vil se mig. og det er hårdt. sidste år, på samme tid, fejrede vi at vi havde kendt hinanden i et år. nu føles det, som om jeg ha'r slået op med en kæreste, og det er bare svært: vi så hinanden i fredags, sammen med to andre venner, og selv om jeg måske ikke opførte mig som jeg plejer, syntes jeg ellers at det gik rimelig godt - hun så ud til at ha' det godt og hun smilede for første gang siden før Jul. jeg sendte hende så en email dagen efter, for at sige, at jeg var glad for at se hende smile, og at jeg håbede at vi snart vil ses på tomands hand igen. hun har ikke svaret. det var nok for tidligt.

problemet nu er 1) at jeg savner hende rigtig meget og at 2) vi snart skal på ferie sammen i udlandet, men hvis hun ikke kan klare at se mig, så kan vi jo ikke ta' afsted - jeg ta'r i hvert fald ikke afsted alene. so now what?

Wales-Scotland

i can't believe i missed last week's games, especially the one where Wales beat England! this is a very early start to the 6 Nations Tournament, and i had no idea it was already on... anyway, i did see yesterday's Wales-Scotland game, the beginning and end of which were really good, and the game generally fine, too. end score: 30-15. well done, Red Dragons!

follow Columbus

this is technically my friend T's picture, but i took the same one (i just don't use digital), so i don't think she'll mind. it was taken in Barcelona, a wonderful weekend four of us spent together. last night was the first time we saw each other together again, and it was really nice.

here we see Columbus showing us the way to follow. forward is the way! the Chinese new year has just started, so let's go forward too!

on the boat

i was starting to feel the strain of a not-so-good week yesterday. luckily, it was a gorgeous sunny day, so i went for a short walk along the lake. and saw the mini ferry-boats that cross it. and took the first one for a short but nice and relaxing ride. there is something incredibly soothing about being on a boat, especially when you're sitting barely 30cm above the water. the perspective on the town is amazing, it looks so different. and yesterday, i was the only one on the boat, apart from the 'captain', which made it even better. next time i'll choose the boat that goes the furthest, though - that way i can spend more time on it!

32

it was time to turn 32 yesterday. a couple of friends had descended from Scandinavia, so i took them out to dinner - fondue! four of us gobbled up melted cheese and bread before meeting up with other friends in a local bar. it was really nice. nothing big yet enjoyable. and i got lots of present - totally unnecessary, but very nice nonetheless!