Ocean Living Rules Supreme

Not a lot to say, just a few pictures from my after school bike ride through the dunes. I took my regular route towards Monster, just tried to get a few different shots.

One of the many different walk/run paths through the dunes:
There are usually two different paths; one for biking (fietspad - on the right) and one for pedestrians/runners.

The ocean is just a couple of hundred meters away...
My trusty (rusty) companion. Amazing how many miles I have gotten out of this bike. Pretty good deal...
Some of the greenhouses along the way. The really huge ones are in a different area of the country though.

One of the quieter beaches. It's about 10K from Den Haag, most tourists don't make it out here.
Dutch version of Baywatch:

The not-so-pretty sight of Europe's largest port (Rotterdam) in the distance.

And just for Riley:

Swearing - 'Linguistic Art Form' Or Just Laziness?

I've been thinking about this for a while and the untimely demise of George Carlin seems as good an occasion as any to pick this up again.

For as long as I can remember I've been fascinated with language. Just the sheer awesomeness and variety of it. Language and speech are such wonderful and varied tools of communication. The innumerable ways language can be used, celebrated, and manipulated just boggle the mind...

The obsession got worse once I decided to be a linguistics major...Well, and the fascination shows no signs of decreasing any time soon.
I love books, magazines, newspapers, blogs. I appreciate tricky crossword puzzles, wordplay, a clever comeback, memorable quotes.

You get the picture. I should probably write about language more often, just because the subject is so extensive and fascinating, it makes my head hurt. It feels like my thoughts on language are very crowded and unstructured in my mind. Maybe writing some of them down would help untangle the weird web of words.
(Yes, I appreciate alliterations, too. Ha!)

So swearing:

I vaguely remember writing a term paper on swearing and taboo words years ago. Of course, the paper is nowhere to be found. I think it was on the relative 'offensiveness' of certain swearwords. Some are absolute no-gos. Others are probably acceptable. It all depends on context and audience. Hmm. Good place to post this:

(I don't like the collage-video, but the audio portion is great.)

Well, what's my point? I love swearing. I think it adds color and expression to statements. There are not many things more satisfying than a passionate rant littered with swearwords. To me, at least.
Also, from a purely scientific standpoint, no word or expression can be 'bad' or 'unacceptable'. It's all society and associations superimposed on the language...

Of course, language and communication are always 'in context'. So I cannot ignore the fact that there are other people listening and evaluating what I say; people judging me on the way I choose to express myself.

Which brings me to the dilemma: Is swearing a flawed way of communicating after all? Is the frequent use of cuss-words a sign of mediocre language skills? A sign of laziness? Crudeness? Vulgarity? Lack of taste?

I think it could be in some cases. It could be a sign of subpar linguistic expression if you can't reign your swearing in. If you use the same set of words and phrases with everybody; be it your boss, a judge or your brother. The beauty of language is that it's so diverse. Language can be beautiful or coarse, direct or indirect, delicate or sturdy.

That said, I want to be able to use the whole array of words. To forgo all swearing would be censoring myself and it would cut out a significant chunk of the communication tools at my disposal.

Sometimes I want to swear. Loudly. Or mutter a curse under my breath.

So to sum this up:
Fuck, yes. It's an art.

Soccer Mania

It's over. Damnation.

It sure was wonderful to see the whole country being excited and hopeful about the Euro-Soccer Tournament this year.
The Dutch are crazy about their national soccer team and seem to have an inexplicable love for and fascination with the color orange.

I had planned on taking some pictures of the symbols of pride displayed all over, and I took a few...After the devastating loss (Yes, I was a little sad, too...) on Saturday, some of my Dutch neighbors have taken their flags and decorations down, but I might still get lucky...

Here are some pictures of a quite uniquely adorned car and the obligatory little flags outside a local restaurant:

Oh, and when visiting my aunt and uncle in Germany two weeks ago, I was just about to tell them how ridiculously obsessed the Dutch are, when I say this:

Yes, flags galore. In windows, on cars, on bikes.
Guess we all love soccer and a little colorful craziness. It's a good thing, too.

Saw a car with a Turkish-flag flying proudly from its window while I was out running today. Yea, enjoy it while you can...Wednesday. 8:45PM. Game on.

And Now For Something Completely Different....

I know my mom reads all the crap I post here. Which is normal I guess, seeing as she is my mom and HAS to be interested, haha.
But in addition to having to sift through the random thoughts, she also has to do it in a foreign language.
Torture x2, ey?

So, thank you, Mom. Looking forward to July.
Can you believe these are 23 years old?


[Oh, and one of these days you'll figure out how to post a comment, too...]

Loyalty

I'm a big believer in loyalty. Loyalty in all areas of life. Loyalty to family, partners, friends, co-workers, bosses.

This loyalty-complex might be one of the reasons why I'm often considered too private or 'bottled-up'. For example, I just don't like talking about boyfriend-problems with other people. I consider that a breach of loyalty. In a way even after a relationship is over.

Anyway, I've been thinking about loyalty in the work environment lately.

I work as Administrative Assistant (yea, glorified secretary, I know...), and in that position I get a lot of information about teachers, students, parents, etc. I have an excellent relationship with my boss and we joke about and share a lot of 'inside information'.

We have almost 70 staff members, and naturally I get along great with some (who I actually consider friends) and not so great with others. I try to stay professional at all times (even though the urge to gossip is definitely there...) and my primary loyalty is to my boss, as we are the "administrative team".

My problem with the whole work-loyalty is that I often have to defend or execute decisions that I don't agree with. Or cover up for mistakes I didn't make.
Not a fun part of the job.
I do voice my opinions to the people who make the decision, but as the 'office face', I stick with the 'party line'.

These loyalty issues are all small-scale, I realize, but they made me re-think my dream profession:
Well, one of my dream professions, I think I'd love his job, too:


[They were both characters on The West Wing, a TV show I couldn't get enough of. CJ was the Press Secretary to the President of the United States; Toby was the main Speech Writer.]

Would I be able to be the face of an organization/administration even if I'd disagree with some policies and decisions?
Is it always a good thing to keep up a united front?
When would it be time to cut my losses, leave, and write a tell-all book like Scott McClellan? (Who was on Talk of the Nation yesterday. Excellent show.)
And would I write a book like that? Or would I stay loyal? When does loyalty become an excuse for cowardice and when is it time to demonstrate dissent?

Aaah, my head is about to explode...