Flobits

Last day of 2011. In a few hours we'll kiss the old year good bye and start working on the new resolutions. At midnight everyone will celebrate in their own way: drinking champagne, firing up fireworks, partying, sleeping, karaoke-ing, telling scary stories, watching TV and so forth. This midnight moment reminds me of a story, as true as the reader wants to believe it. Of course, don't try this at home! One day, round midnight, this guy is driving in a remote area, along a field of pumpkins. All of a sudden he got aroused by a strange idea. "A pumpkin", he thinks, "is so soft and squishy inside and there's no one around". This being said, he pulls over, chooses a pumpkin that looks promising, cuts the right hole in it and begins to screw it. He gets so carried away that he doesn't even see the police officer who's approaching him. The cop comes by and says: "Excuse me sir, but do you realise you are screwing a pumpkin?" The

Warning: This post should not, under any circumstances, be read by children under the threshold of not-believing-anymore in Santa, grandparents included. Christmas is gone, we all got our gifts from the loved ones as well as from our employers :D. We also struggled to find the best for our beloved family, friends, acquaintances and so forth. Quite often we get it right, other times we just don't. But, whatever happened, keep it mind that it takes two to make a present a success. It's the giver and the receiver who need to get in tune with each other, as we will see it in this story (of course based on a true one, what else? )

(Previously in Men. Christmas. Presents ) As I said before, nothing beats the experience of two guys in a perfumery.  One with a serene look minding his own business, well tucked in, fully unaware of the whole rush going around, sucking at his own fingers at times, giggling happily whenever he sees a smiling face (mostly female). The other one - my ten-month-old son. Well, I'm in the dragon's lair. What shall I buy there? Plenty of options: perfumes, nail varnish, complexion powder, crayons, creams, the whole enchilada. I start making my short list: perfumes - ruled out, many smell differently on the skin than on the paper stick, varnish - possible, but as a backup, powders - complicated, crayons - wow, together with some nail varnish, that's actually a great idea. So cream it is :D.

I can't talk for others, but when it comes to buying presents I sweat like Mike Tyson at a spelling test. Especially when I have to do this for my wife, particularly for Christmas, specifically 2 days before Christmas. I want her presents to be special, she just wants them to be offered with love, but I'm a man, so I know better :). The presents should not be that expensive, as those have already been bought together. And you can't just go ahead and by a black laptop! Come on, what colour is that for a laptop? Anyway, I need something that's not very pricey, not more than, say, 800 euros :D (kiddiiiiing!)

As Christmas is almost here and you're all busy warming up your voices for tonight's carols or running around for getting the last presents for the loved ones, or unraveling the ultimate secrets of a delicious recipe (be it some dish or a cake), or vacuuming your homes (oops, that should be me actually, lemme hurry up a bit), or queuing up at the hairdresser's (I'm safe here, got a new hairdo, need a towel to comb) or cleaning the bathroom (me again!) or changing some nappies (cooooooomiiiing!!) or constantly checking the facebook for some blog updates (ahem!), but primarily because the brevity is the soul of wit, I will be brief! Before I wish you, my dear friends, all the best in the world, I do have some strong hopes for some people:  I really, really (I mean really really) hope that Mariah got him, whomever he'd be. Please God, it's the only thing she wants! Beg your pardon? You did everything godly possible? Thanks anyway.  Georgie, hate to bring

"Joy to the world, the lord has come, joy to the world...",  The Professor was singing and humming in an obviously joyous voice as he lit up his pipe and began the preparations of calling this an year.  "Almost there", he thought, "a few more test papers to grade and off I go, let the Christmas start". He wished for a white Christmas in the beautiful city of Copenhagen but chances seemed slim.  The test paper was an easy one, he didn't feel like getting anybody in trouble (as he'd done it for the past years, but somehow the buzz was gone :) ). "Given a barometer, how could one measure the height of a skyscraper?". It's trivial for anybody trying to pursue a career, however petty, in physics. The answers were good as well, all indicating the best known method: measure the pressure at the ground level, then at the top, convert the millibars in metres and that's it, we have the precise height. 

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do! And this being said I bought the tickets. However, going in a balloon trip is not as going to the cinema, when you buy the tickets, the popcorn/tacos/ben&jerry and 2 hours later you've had a nice evening already. As the sunny weather in Holland falls on 3 Thursdays, 2 Mondays and  4 Wednesdays, never in the weekend!, you need to align your trip with it. And that explains why all balloons  seem to fly on the same day :)

I am afraid of heights. Always been and ageing doesn't heal it. Au contraire :). If you want a more expensive word for that, I suffer from acrophobia , but it doesn't make me feel any better. Anyway, I've learnt to live with it,  and also started to do some activities to beat the fear. Have I seen any progress in that? Certainly, but I'm still not a big fan of roller coasters and funfairs' attractions that happen at distances higher than half a metre from the ground. Speed, that I can take easily, as long as it stays on the ground. Years ago, in my first Holland's summer, on one of the few sunny days, I saw the first air balloon in my life, a real one that is. Actually, it was a sea of balloons, all beautifully coloured and floating freely in the air, at different heights. Some of them only seemed to be cruising around, you could even talk to the people in the basket!, others soared to greater heights, but all invaded the sky, a joyful fleet greeting a beautif