Referendums
I spent part of this afternoon thinking about referendums while walking through Amsterdam with Yuri, which was probably not the subject he expected me to bring up beside a canal...
Power & Society
ECLIXAR
digital diary
Journal.
fragments of quiet intelligence
There is a manner in which certain things ask to be written, not so that they may be found, but because to exist in silence, for too long, eventually becomes insufficient. It is not urgency. It is something closer to a necessity that makes no noise, waiting patiently until it discovers the proper form. This archive was born in such a way.
Not as a diary. Not as a blog. Not as something that is updated merely for the sake of appearing alive. It is a place where certain thoughts come to rest, those which do not dissolve, those which return, those which insist with the silent obstinacy of things that truly belong to you...
Every article is a scene. Every word, a frame of something that would not have remained, had it not
been writtenFrom the archive.
Power & Society
Democracy When the Result Is Not What Was Expected
I have been thinking about democracy all day, partly because of the referendum and partly because of the reactions I have been reading since the result became clear. It is...
Power & Society
61%
The official result is now clear: roughly 61 percent of valid votes were against the EU-Ukraine association agreement, with turnout above the required threshold. I have been reading the figures...
Power & Society
Nee
The No vote appears to have won, and I am sitting here watching the reactions with a mixture of interest and curiosity about what happens next. I know the final...
Power & Society
Ukraine / EU
I spent part of today trying to separate the actual EU-Ukraine association agreement from the enormous collection of arguments surrounding it. That is more difficult than it sounds. Some people...
Power & Society
Referendum Loading
The referendum is two days away, and I have been reading more about it during every available break. I know this is not the most relaxing way to spend a...
Power & Society
Europe
I spent part of this afternoon reading about Europe, which is not unusual for me lately. The referendum here in the Netherlands is coming on Wednesday, and I have been...
Beauty & Art
Tulips
I spent most of today looking at tulips, which is probably the most predictable thing an Amsterdam resident can do in April. They are everywhere now, in flower shops, markets,...
Personal Diary
April
April began with me opening the kitchen window and immediately deciding that the weather was trying to make a fool of me. The sky looked beautiful, pale blue above the...
Journey & Time
Bonus Day
I woke up this morning and remembered that February had given us an extra day, which seemed like a generous gesture from a month that is usually in such a...
Journey & Time
The Sky Above the Canals
Four years ago tonight, Yuri and I slept in this apartment for the first time. I have been thinking about that all day, partly because the date is easy to...
Personal Diary
Vrijdag
Friday arrived with rain, a cold wind and a strong temptation to remain in bed. I was standing in the kitchen at seven-thirty, holding coffee and looking at the weather...
Why?
Because every thought leaves a trace. If something moved you, disturbed you, softened you, or made you think, leave it here, quietly.