Monday, December 19, 2005
Bliary time
Haven't written too much of what's happened with me since last weekend, so I'll try give a day-by-day account, if I can remember.
Monday: Nope, too long ago. Watched quizzes at night. May have played squash.
Tuesday: I'm convinced something happened. Oh yes - I had my first proper meetings with my judge, ex-president Meron. In the first one I put my phone numbers in his cell. In the second, he asked me for an oral briefing on the two decisions I'd written. Went well - he said it was a very good briefing. (Actually, I think that happened on Monday). May have played squash.
Wednesday: Went bowling for Eric's farewell. Started out none-too-impressively, finishing bottom of my group with a 75, but ended off with a 109, topping not only my group but also everybody. Gave me a fair amount of pleasure, which is silly really as I've never exactly sold myself as much of a bowler.Still, it's nicer to have the pins fall down than not, and it's the nature of the game that one pin that doesn't fall is inordinately frustrating because it makes such a difference to the score. Afterwards, to Wicked Wines for a drinkypoo.
Thursday: I definitely played squash, taking 5 games off an opponent who had beaten me 4-1 the previous week. I find I've actually improved a fair amount just in the couple of weeks I've been playing again. Still a long way from where I was, but I'm enjoying it. Unfortunately, both of my squash partners are leaving so I'll have to advertise for new ones. Afterwards, Harris's farewell at Savannah, at which I surprised some Irish friends with my knowledge of Foster & Allen (the next night I surprised a guy from Michigan with my knowledge of Saginaw - it doesn't take very much, I guess). Then we went to another bar where I got hit with a massive wave of stupidity and started drinking tequila, which made
Friday: Horrible. Yuk. Ecch. I want to forget the whole day, at least before about 6 o'clock. Not only did I arrive late, but I found an e-mail asking me to write an urgen decision. They wanted me to think!! How dare they! I wasfeeling very slow. But I wrote it and it was fine and it all worked out alright. That night we had a party at our house which I initially felt like like a hole in the head, but it ended up being a lot of fun. Went out to De Koninghoek for more farewells, which was enjoyable, then home.
Saturday: Woke up, watched football (a better victory), moped around town trying w/o success to get my lock busted and tickets for the evening. Pre-concert, cocktails and canapes at Laurel, with some excellent cheese. Then to Paard van Troje to see Canadian sensation Broken Social Scene. Actually, our crowd from the ICTY were the only ones to really see them as a sensation - we constituted a fair proportion of the crowd and were the only ones dancing. Indeed, we got a shout out to that effect. The band, a 10-piece, were possibly the ugliest I've seen since Iron Maiden, with all possible varieties of mustache, but their music, especially the more upbeat stuff, was very good. When they finished, we saw the sheer panoply of weirdness that the Dutch regularly receive (which probably explains something). Room 1: an old Dutch man declaiming what may have been poetry or something about modern Russian history, with a fey guitarist and an even feyer keyboardist noodling away in the background. Room 2: The Hank and Lily Show, which was of course transvestite cabaret, with a guy dressed as a cowboy in a scary futuristic metal mask wandering on and off stage and another man with a walrus mustache watching from the wings. Room 3: Millionaire, who are the single worst band I have ever heard. Heavy metal circa 1988-vintage: extremely loud, incredibly unpleasant. The only point of this music that I can figure is that it's made for people who hate the worldand want confirmation that all that is in it is hateful.* So we wnt to the champagne party held by the hitherto unknown Reuben and Micah. Oodles of fizzy wine, which made one feel quite bubbly.
Sunday: Lunch with Mike, then I bought a Sunday Times, read it, squash with Eric, pasta at home, bed.
Fascinating, eh? (These Canadians are becoming infectious.)
* Do you think it's unusual to have a sentence with four 2-letter words in a row? I do. Or do I?
Monday: Nope, too long ago. Watched quizzes at night. May have played squash.
Tuesday: I'm convinced something happened. Oh yes - I had my first proper meetings with my judge, ex-president Meron. In the first one I put my phone numbers in his cell. In the second, he asked me for an oral briefing on the two decisions I'd written. Went well - he said it was a very good briefing. (Actually, I think that happened on Monday). May have played squash.
Wednesday: Went bowling for Eric's farewell. Started out none-too-impressively, finishing bottom of my group with a 75, but ended off with a 109, topping not only my group but also everybody. Gave me a fair amount of pleasure, which is silly really as I've never exactly sold myself as much of a bowler.Still, it's nicer to have the pins fall down than not, and it's the nature of the game that one pin that doesn't fall is inordinately frustrating because it makes such a difference to the score. Afterwards, to Wicked Wines for a drinkypoo.
Thursday: I definitely played squash, taking 5 games off an opponent who had beaten me 4-1 the previous week. I find I've actually improved a fair amount just in the couple of weeks I've been playing again. Still a long way from where I was, but I'm enjoying it. Unfortunately, both of my squash partners are leaving so I'll have to advertise for new ones. Afterwards, Harris's farewell at Savannah, at which I surprised some Irish friends with my knowledge of Foster & Allen (the next night I surprised a guy from Michigan with my knowledge of Saginaw - it doesn't take very much, I guess). Then we went to another bar where I got hit with a massive wave of stupidity and started drinking tequila, which made
Friday: Horrible. Yuk. Ecch. I want to forget the whole day, at least before about 6 o'clock. Not only did I arrive late, but I found an e-mail asking me to write an urgen decision. They wanted me to think!! How dare they! I wasfeeling very slow. But I wrote it and it was fine and it all worked out alright. That night we had a party at our house which I initially felt like like a hole in the head, but it ended up being a lot of fun. Went out to De Koninghoek for more farewells, which was enjoyable, then home.
Saturday: Woke up, watched football (a better victory), moped around town trying w/o success to get my lock busted and tickets for the evening. Pre-concert, cocktails and canapes at Laurel, with some excellent cheese. Then to Paard van Troje to see Canadian sensation Broken Social Scene. Actually, our crowd from the ICTY were the only ones to really see them as a sensation - we constituted a fair proportion of the crowd and were the only ones dancing. Indeed, we got a shout out to that effect. The band, a 10-piece, were possibly the ugliest I've seen since Iron Maiden, with all possible varieties of mustache, but their music, especially the more upbeat stuff, was very good. When they finished, we saw the sheer panoply of weirdness that the Dutch regularly receive (which probably explains something). Room 1: an old Dutch man declaiming what may have been poetry or something about modern Russian history, with a fey guitarist and an even feyer keyboardist noodling away in the background. Room 2: The Hank and Lily Show, which was of course transvestite cabaret, with a guy dressed as a cowboy in a scary futuristic metal mask wandering on and off stage and another man with a walrus mustache watching from the wings. Room 3: Millionaire, who are the single worst band I have ever heard. Heavy metal circa 1988-vintage: extremely loud, incredibly unpleasant. The only point of this music that I can figure is that it's made for people who hate the worldand want confirmation that all that is in it is hateful.* So we wnt to the champagne party held by the hitherto unknown Reuben and Micah. Oodles of fizzy wine, which made one feel quite bubbly.
Sunday: Lunch with Mike, then I bought a Sunday Times, read it, squash with Eric, pasta at home, bed.
Fascinating, eh? (These Canadians are becoming infectious.)
* Do you think it's unusual to have a sentence with four 2-letter words in a row? I do. Or do I?
