2014 in Review

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

1. Erasmus — De lof der zotheid (2014-10-16—2014-12-22)
2. Charles Vess (et al) — The Book of Ballads (2014-09-23—2014-10-15)
3. Neil Gaiman & Eddie Campbell — The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains (2014-09-17—2014-09-21)
4. Stephen King — Mr. Mercedes (2014-08-12—2014-08-28)
5. Douglas Adams & John Lloyd — The Deeper Meaning of Liff (A Dictionary of Things That There Aren’t Any Words for Yet) (dates unknown)
6. Bradley P. Beaulieu — The Flames of Shadam Khoreh (The Concluding Volume of The Lays of Anuskaya) (2014-06-25—2014-08-11)
7. Bradley P. Beaulieu — The Straits of Galahesh (The Second Volume of The Lays of Anuskaya) (2014-04-19—2014-06-25)
8. Neil Gaiman — Fortunately, the Milk (2014-04-06)
9. Neil Gaiman — Odd and the Frost Giants (2014-03-06—2014-03-07)
10. W.F. Hermans — De donkere kamer van Damokles (2014-02-27—2014-04-18)
11. Bradley P. Beaulieu — The Winds of Khalakovo (The First Volume of The Lays of Anuskaya) (2014-02-13—2014-04-14)
12. Richard Matheson — I am Legend (2014-02-06—2014-02-12)
13. Jeanette Winterson — Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (2014-01-29—2014-02-06)
14. Neil Gaiman and Yoshitakia Amano — The Sandman: The Dream Hunters (2014-01-28)
15. Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter — The Long Earth (2014-01-07—2014-01-27)
16. 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

1. 2014-10-18 — Le Bal des Vampires, Théâtre Mogador, Paris, France
2. 2014-09-28 — Vellamo, De nieuwe bibliotheek, Almere
3. 2014-04-18 — “De passie: De Matthäus Passion meets Jesus Christ Superstar”, Theater De Flint (Stadshal), Amersfoort
4. 2014-04-05 — Daniël Lohues, “D”, Stadsschouwburg De Harmonie, Leeuwarden
5. 2014-03-06 — Wende, “Last Resistance: The Theatre Sessions” (tryout), Theater De Flint, Amersfoort
6. 2014-02-17 — Dream Theater, “Along for the Ride World Tour”, Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam
7. 2014-01-18 — 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

1. 2014-07-25 — The Fault in Our Stars (Euroscoop Maastricht)
2. 2014-03-20 — Elton John: The Million Dollar Piano (Pathé Groningen)
3. 2014-02-26 — The LEGO Movie (3D, Pathé Groningen)
4. 2014-01-24 — 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

1. #20: Find the perfect place to live, and live there.
2. #67: Read the books on my list of 40 books to read before my 40th birthday before my 40th birthday:
   26. W.F. Hermans — De donkere kamer van Damokles
   27. Erasmus — De lof der zotheid
3. #89: Visit all occupied inhabited Waddeneilanden: Terschelling
4. #92: Visit the Louvre in Paris
5. #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.

1. Zandfoort aan Zee
2. Noorden*
3. Leeuwarden*
4. Amersfoort*
5. Formerum, Terschelling
6. Maastricht
7. Paris, France

Museums, Zoos and Other Cultural Attractions

1. 2014-11-02 — Drents Museum, Assen
2. 2014-10-20 — Musée de Louvre, Paris, France
3. 2014-08-25 — Artis, Amsterdam
4. 2014-08-02 — Teylers Museum, Haarlem
5. 2014-08-02 — Burgers’ Zoo, Arnhem
6. 2014-08-02 — Nederlands Openluchtmuseum, Arnhem
7. 2014-08-01 — Museum Flehite, Amersfoort
8. 2014-07-26 — Museum aan het Vrijthof, Maastricht
9. 2014-05-30 — Wrakkenmuseum Terschelling, Formerum
10. 2014-05-29 — Natuurmuseum en zeeaquarium, West-Terschelling
11. 2014-05-18 — Eisenga Planetarium, Franeker
12. 2014-02-26 — Het Nederlands Stripmuseum, Groningen
13. 2014-02-22 — Natuurmuseum Fryslân, Leeuwarden
14. 2014-02-22 — 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

1. Sneakily getting married.

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.