Even though I’ve been seriously neglecting this website for most of the year (I’m still a write up of a book behind), I’m not about to stop writing up the past year in a series of lists.
So. 2014. In lists.
Books
- Erasmus — De lof der zotheid (2014-10-16—2014-12-22)
- Charles Vess (et al) — The Book of Ballads (2014-09-23—2014-10-15)
- Neil Gaiman & Eddie Campbell — The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains (2014-09-17—2014-09-21)
- Stephen King — Mr. Mercedes (2014-08-12—2014-08-28)
- Douglas Adams & John Lloyd — The Deeper Meaning of Liff (A Dictionary of Things That There Aren’t Any Words for Yet) (dates unknown)
- Bradley P. Beaulieu — The Flames of Shadam Khoreh (The Concluding Volume of The Lays of Anuskaya) (2014-06-25—2014-08-11)
- Bradley P. Beaulieu — The Straits of Galahesh (The Second Volume of The Lays of Anuskaya) (2014-04-19—2014-06-25)
- Neil Gaiman — Fortunately, the Milk (2014-04-06)
- Neil Gaiman — Odd and the Frost Giants (2014-03-06—2014-03-07)
- W.F. Hermans — De donkere kamer van Damokles (2014-02-27—2014-04-18)
- Bradley P. Beaulieu — The Winds of Khalakovo (The First Volume of The Lays of Anuskaya) (2014-02-13—2014-04-14)
- Richard Matheson — I am Legend (2014-02-06—2014-02-12)
- Jeanette Winterson — Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (2014-01-29—2014-02-06)
- Neil Gaiman and Yoshitakia Amano — The Sandman: The Dream Hunters (2014-01-28)
- Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter — The Long Earth (2014-01-07—2014-01-27)
- Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die (edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo and David Malk) (2013-12-17—2014-01-06)
And I’m currently finishing Bradley P. Beaulieu’s collection Lest Our Passage Be Forgotten & Other Stories. Once I moved back to Amersfoort from Leeuwarden, my daily commute was cut in two, and also having a decent laptop at my disposal, severely cut into my reading time. And if you take into account that my bedtime reading habits all but vanished … it’s no surprise that I read less books than before. For next year, I see some possibilities to turn that around, though.
Shows
- — Le Bal des Vampires, Théâtre Mogador, Paris, France
- — Vellamo, De nieuwe bibliotheek, Almere
- — “De passie: De Matthäus Passion meets Jesus Christ Superstar”, Theater De Flint (Stadshal), Amersfoort
- — Daniël Lohues, “D”, Stadsschouwburg De Harmonie, Leeuwarden
- — Wende, “Last Resistance: The Theatre Sessions” (tryout), Theater De Flint, Amersfoort
- — Dream Theater, “Along for the Ride World Tour”, Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam
- — Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam
My streak of seeing something cultural each month ended in April, after 79 months. Something with priorities. Picking a favorite is hard, as I’ve got good memories of all shows for different reasons.
Movies
- — The Fault in Our Stars (Euroscoop Maastricht)
- — Elton John: The Million Dollar Piano (Pathé Groningen)
- — The LEGO Movie (3D, Pathé Groningen)
- — The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (3D HFR, Pathé Amersfoort)
This year’s new list: movies seen in cinemas. The LEGO Movie was completely kick-ass awesome, The Fault in Our Stars was perhaps not as gut-wrenching as the book, but very good in it’s own right.
Tasks Checked Off from My List of 100 Things
- #20: Find the perfect place to live, and live there.
- #67: Read the books on my list of 40 books to read before my 40th birthday before my 40th birthday:
- W.F. Hermans — De donkere kamer van Damokles
- Erasmus — De lof der zotheid
- #89: Visit all
occupiedinhabited Waddeneilanden: Terschelling - #92: Visit the Louvre in Paris
- #101: Officially leave the Roman Catholic Church. After I moved to Leeuwarden, the local parish send me a letter asking me if I a) would like to join their congregation and become a visiting member, B) would like to join their flock but be like the black sheep that only visits once in a while, or C) so long and thanks for all the fish. Well, since you asked …
Next year, I might just need to take a critical look at the whole list, and revise it a bit.
Places I’ve Been
As always, an asterisk (you know, the little *) indicates multiple stays.
Museums, Zoos and Other Cultural Attractions
- — Drents Museum, Assen
- — Musée de Louvre, Paris, France
- — Artis, Amsterdam
- — Teylers Museum, Haarlem
- — Burgers’ Zoo, Arnhem
- — Nederlands Openluchtmuseum, Arnhem
- — Museum Flehite, Amersfoort
- — Museum aan het Vrijthof, Maastricht
- — Wrakkenmuseum Terschelling, Formerum
- — Natuurmuseum en zeeaquarium, West-Terschelling
- — Eisenga Planetarium, Franeker
- — Het Nederlands Stripmuseum, Groningen
- — Natuurmuseum Fryslân, Leeuwarden
- — Fries Museum, Leeuwarden
O, the joys of having a Museumjaarkaart. Even with skipping large parts of the Louvre, it was of course still the cherry on the top.
Speaking of cherries on top:
The list of the-number-one-with-sprinkles,-whipped-cream-and-a-big-juicy-cherry-on-top,-like-seriously-you guys,-best-thing-that-happened in 2014
She’s awesome. She completes me. I luvs her crazy-madly-deeply-do. And then some.
⁂
As for 2015? There’s stuff coming up. Trust me.