Yesterday marked the start of the traditional Dutch Book Week, an event to promote buying books. To start things off, all writers of a certain name and fame met for drinks and dances at “The Book Ball”, leaving the ones that were not invited grudging about why they had to … Continue reading
Every history student knows about those moments when imagination takes over. Of course we should work empirically; every statement should be based on reliable sources. But sometimes it just cannot be avoided that wishful thinking takes over. I experienced one of these moments when I did some research on the … Continue reading
On Sunday the 28th of April 1912 the Flemish city of Gent buzzes with activity. About 150 local associations parade through the town with flags and banners. Their destination: the house of the writer Virginie Loveling. There the 75 year old woman takes a seat in an open carriage … Continue reading
So about three months ago my Facebook news feed fucking exploded because of this: Fifty Shades of fucking Grey coming out on fucking Valentine’s Day next year, such a perfect date for a movie based on a the first novel of a trilogy that basically romanticizes abuse. For those of … Continue reading
“[A] whore isn’t inferior to a housewife” As many people might know, the Netherlands are infamous for a couple of things: windmills, cheese, tulips, wooden shoes, our drug policy, and, of course, our red light districts and affiliated sex industries. Eccentric as this might all sound to a non-Dutch person, … Continue reading
The Catctus’ Prick Since I’m in the midst of moving, and my Cats blogs tend to take up a lot more time than I have at the moment, I decided to give you readers some variety the coming weeks. So in between putting stuff in boxes, taking stuff out of … Continue reading
