sloebertje's New Writeups

June 2, 2009 (log)

2009-06-02T13:22:48Z

I took the bike to work today. Halfway through the trip I saw on the dike on other side of the road, brotherly munching grass together, a goat. And an ostrich.

Yeah.

Menstrual cup (thing)

2008-09-02T05:44:42Z

I've been using a menstrual cup for about a year now, and I'm really, really happy with it. I would like to share some of my findings and experiences here, and hopefully convert some of you!

If you're squicked out by female body parts and the stuff that comes out of them, this writeup might contain too much information for you. Then again, if you're squeamish about such things, a menstrual cup might not be the thing for you anyway. Or you might be a man, in which case the whole point is moot.

All the information in this writeup comes from either my own experience, or from women talking about their menstrual cup on the internet. I can't remember all the sites I looked at, but just google "menstrual cup" and no doubt you will find them too. Whenever I mention "women" or "other people", that is where I found them.

Types of menstrual cups

The cup I use is a Mooncup, a silicone version of the Keeper mentioned above. It is shaped like an eggcup on a stem and made of clear…

Meet me at the Main Stage: a Belgian nodermeet at Rock Werchter (idea)

2008-06-02T14:43:47Z

After a few years of Lowlands and one year Sziget, my boyfriend and I have decided that this summer we're going to see how our neighbours to the South manage at organising a music festival. We will be going to Rock Werchter 2008. And we would like to meet you there!

When?
Rock Werchter will be from 3-6 July.

Where?
The festival is in Werchter, in Belgium, near Leuven.

Why?
Because noders rock. And festivals rock. So this should be a great combination! The lineup is awesome: Radiohead, Beck, dEUS, Counting Crows, Kaiser Chiefs, Sigur Rós, Slayer, R.E.M., Lenny Kravitz and quite a few more. So even if you're not sure about the noders, the music should be enough reason!

What?
Now I have no clue if any noders have even heard of Rock Werchter, let alone if they plan on going there. For this reason, and also because I've never been there myself, my plans are rather vague. There should be…

Everything as a second language (idea)

2008-04-24T16:57:41Z

Some time ago rootbeer277 asked us ESL noders to help him with a project, the result of which you can see above. He'd made a list of questions for us to answer and I guess most of the others just answered the questions... I thought it was a fascinating subject and something I'd like to write about at a bit more length. This is what came out. The piece is still mostly structured around the questions that were asked.

How I got to speak English

My mother tongue is Dutch. I started learning English when I was in the fourth grade of primary school (I was 9 years old). This was rather early, even for the Netherlands where everybody comes into contact with one or more foreign languages in school. English lessons in primary schools weren't standard then (perhaps they still aren't) and pupils would usually learn English in their two final years of primary school, i.e. in fifth and sixth grade. However, I was in a so-called combination class: half of the class was fourth…

burqini (thing)

2008-02-28T12:17:51Z

"Burqini" is a contraction of the words burqa and bikini. The term is used to refer to a certain type of swimming garment that has come into the news recently in the Netherlands.

The burqini was designed by Lebanese Australian designer Ahiida Zanetti under the company name of Ahiida. Ahiida is an Australian company that designs and produces swim- and sportswear for Muslim women. (Actually the name Burqini is a registered trademark and it should not be used for similar swim suits that are made by other companies. The Dutch media seem not to know or not to care - although the local spelling boerkini might not fall under this prohibition). The clothes made by Ahiida are designed to be functional as sportwear, while still adhering to the Muslim ideal of modesty. Thus, a burqini consists of long pants and a long-sleeved tunic that reaches to mid-thigh. The tunic can be tied to the pants on the inside, so that when swimming or diving it won't creep up and expose any body…

Snackbar (thing)

2008-02-05T10:28:53Z

Every country has its own form of fast food, food that you eat when you have no time or inclination to cook, when you are in a hurry, when you feel like nothing will do but a big helping of grease and meat and starchy foods. Britain has its fish and chips shops, Turkey has the döner kebab. Mexico has the taqueria and just in case the local cuisine had nothing to offer, the USA have exported their fast food restaurants all over the world. In the Netherlands, we have the snackbar.

Snackbars come in many shapes and sizes - and they may be called different names, as well. To be recognizable as a snackbar, an establishment should at the very least serve fries to take out - most of the rest is optional. In its most simple form, a snackbar might be just an old caravan with a hole in the side and some deep-frying facilities. A snackbar like that is very likely to be called a "snackkar", snack cart. On the other end of the spectrum, a snackbar might have actual places…