Yesterday, while going through my Google Reader listings (handy for keeping track of lots of websites without having to remember to visit each and every one) I saw a news story with the title: Horse genome unlocked by science.
I know the word genome; I know how to pronounce it. However, now that I’m trying [...]
Archive for the ‘oddities’ Category
A Horse Is A HHHorse
Posted in oddities, tagged Dutch, language, NaBloPoMo, news, oddities on November 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Siren Song
Posted in oddities, tagged Utrecht, sirens, noon, Monday, warning, NaBloPoMo on November 2, 2009 | 12 Comments »
We’ve been here for almost a year and a half at this point, but it wasn’t until last month that I finally learned about the loud siren I hear occasionally. It’s an incredibly loud siren, and I remember being startled by it the first time I heard it. However, there was no screaming in the [...]
Foto Vrijdag 1.2
Posted in arts, cultural, entertainment, oddities, travel, tagged photos, weather, photo friday, kasteel de haar, castle, Halloween, Pinocchio, clouds, eerie on October 30, 2009 | 6 Comments »
I’ve been a bit slack on sorting through all my Kasteel De Haar photos, but I figured I’d post a couple here in honor of tomorrow being Halloween. The fantastic clouds and light we experienced Sunday, along with the castle setting, made some of the photos look like they were scenes from old horror films.
One [...]
Penguins, Herring & Mayo
Posted in oddities, tagged food, Opus, cartoons, Bloom County, herring, mayonnaise, humor on October 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I saw this today and laughed. Either Opus is Dutch or the Dutch are existential penguins; both are probably fairly buoyant and quite fond of herring and mayonnaise.
I’ve always been fond of Opus. Maybe my affection for him and his quirks explains why I’ve felt so at home — so gezellig — here in the [...]
Late-Night Laugh
Posted in oddities on September 25, 2009 | 8 Comments »
Usually, when woken up at 2 a.m. by an argument taking place outside your bedroom window, laughter is not the reaction you would expect to have. Fortunately, it’s the reaction G and I had this morning.
We were both woken up last night/this morning by an argument involving three or four people, although only one or [...]
Canine Family
Posted in oddities, tagged dogs, funny, oddities, photos on August 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I think this may be the best thing I’ve ever seen, while walking through any city. Even better than bumping into James Earl Jones one Monday morning in Manhattan. We saw them yesterday while we were out along the Oudegracht, enjoying the botenparade (boat parade) that was part of Culturele Zondag (Cultural Sunday). At first, [...]
Another Visitor
Posted in neighborhood, oddities, pets, tagged cats, neighbors, photos on June 24, 2009 | 2 Comments »
(you may need to click through and view one of the larger sizes to see this best)
Giovanni and I were in the kitchen this afternoon when he suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye. It seems we’ve had another visitor of the feline persuasion. This cat, who we think lives in the [...]
Found Objects
Posted in oddities, tagged oddities, photos, things on June 18, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Odd things I’ve found recently:
While prepping a bunch of carrots in order to make this recipe, I noticed the odd man out of the bunch. I’ve seen too many “evil twin” episodes of the X-Files recently to be completely comfortable with this discovery. That said, I’m very comfortable recommending the recipes found on [...]
Just Your Average Saturday
Posted in arts, cultural, oddities on May 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Giant penguins and strange robot-type figures — just your average Saturday in Utrecht!
Well, your average Saturday in Utrecht during the Festival aan de Werf. We arrived for the tail-end of it last year, which means we’ll be celebrating our one-year anniversary here soon. Next week, in fact!
Far-Travelled Trash
Posted in oddities, pets, tagged flowers, NYC, oddities, photos, Pippo on May 19, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Pippo and I went for a nice walk this morning. The sun was shining once again, after four or five days of grumpy weather, so it seemed the perfect time to do a bit of wandering and get a bit of exercise. Pippo, ever the dirty hippie, had to stop and smell every flower, [...]









