The Life Of A Random Dreamer

Warning: spoilers ahead. Read this review on GoodReads here . I didn't know I dreaded re-reading this book until I read the first word. In fact, when I saw the book on the curriculum for my English Literature course I was very happy to have a good excuse to read this beautiful book again. When I turned to the first page, I was excited. While reading, however, I realized maybe I shouldn't have been quite as excited. I realized a lot had changed in the three years since I last read it. I remember feeling happy after I first read the book. Not only did it have a beautiful form with all those illustrations, but it also had a beautiful message. Then, the book felt like a story, nothing more than that. But in the meantime, before reading it the second time, I've had to let go, just like Conor. Well, maybe not JUST like Conor; I didn't have to let my mom go, but still, I had to let go. And, as you will learn while reading the book, letting go is not easy. Not easy at a...

When I was little, my parents used to have a car that had two windows in the roof, one above the front seats and one above the back seats. I spent many car-rides trying to decipher the shapes in the clouds and wondering what secrets the stars were holding. Sometimes I would even childishly wonder why the moon was always following me - I might have even called her my friend once upon a time. I don't know when I stopped thinking of her as such - was that before or after we got another car? Would she accept my friendship once more if I asked her? I must admit, I still sometimes puzzle whether she really is following me or not, as naive as it sounds. I truly hope I'll never lose the bit of childish wonder I have nestled deeply in my heart, but at the same time I'm afraid I will. I guess I should really befriend the boom again before it's too late.                       ...

Hey everyone, Here I am again, talking to you. About meat. Or actually, about less of it. See, together with some friends I have started eating less meat in the last year. One of my friends has actually been a pescatarian for about three quarters of a year now! I'm really proud of her and just, respect. I don't think I can ever make that step to not eating any meat at all. However, I did start eating less meat. When I actually cook just for myself, I cook without using meat. I will either go for meat substitutes, like vegetarian "burgers" and stuff like that, or I skip the meat altogether, opting for a more bean-based dish. Honestly, the only times I do eat meat is when I eat something someone else made for me. For example, when I go home during the weekends, my parents usually cook and they cook with meat. Why did I start eating less meat? Well, as I said, last year my friends were trying to eat less meat, which made me curious about vegetarian options, but not...

Hi everyone, Wow, it has been a long time since I wrote a post on this blog.  Almost one and a half years, I guess. Believe me or not, but I have tried to start a new post every once in a while, but it just never seemed right. I never could think of something to write and even if I did manage to write something, I never could make myself hit the publish button. But here I am. I can't make any promises that I will write blog posts regularly from now on so I won't do that, but please remember that I do still realize this blog exists. So, what has been happening in my life the last one and a half years? Well, I'm still studying - almost halfway through my bachelor degree, unbelievable! And I still live in the same apartment. So, no major events in my life have really happened yet, not counting me getting my driver's license (for which you have to be 18 here). But they most definitely will: I am currently awaiting a confirmation on my application to study abroad the fi...

Dear readers, This week I was talking to my uncle about my new study and he pointed out that I was glowing. This made me realize that moving out was really good for me. I'm not sure what has been better for me, the act of moving out or the fact that I am now doing something that I really do. Maybe it's a combination of the both. This September I started my bachelor education at a uni in a city 2 hours driving from my hometown. This might not seem like a lot, but in the Netherlands you could be at the other side of the country in 2 hours. This meant I had to move out, in order to live closer to the uni. In the beginning of this year, I was aching to move out. I think I would've gone crazy if I hadn't moved out when I did. I now go home in the weekends. Not only is the train ride very relaxing for me (it's like a ritual), I actually like coming back home. On Thursday evening I actually look forward to seeing my mum the next day and drinking a relaxing cup of tea....

Hi everyone, Time for a weird story: how I got a fake diploma.Or well, not really, but still sort of. On Thursday June 16th, I got a call that I passed all my exams and would therefore graduate from my secondary school. Awesome! And I got great marks as well, just not enough to graduate cum laude (with honour). Well, whatever, my grades were still great. On Monday June 23rd however, I got another call from school. If I still wanted to graduate cum laude ? Yeah sure. All I had to do was redo my arithmetic exam and score at least 85% for that.  So, I redid that test on July 5th. The only problem was: the graduation ceremony was planned on July 6th, but ,y school would receive the scores of my test on Thursday July 7th. Whoops.. what do we do now? Well, I still got to go to my graduation ceremony, but I wouldn't receive my diploma until the next day. What did they hand me instead? A list of my grades at that point, printed on the same kind of paper as the other d...

Dear sweet readers whom I am very thankful for, I felt the urge to write to you today after having processed the horrible things that happened in Orlando this weekend. As Tyler Oakley rightfully pointed out in his recent YouTube video , the people who were shot this weekend were all in places that should have felt and been safe and the fact that they actually weren't safe is so horrible I can't find the words to express. I hope that none of  you lost someone that was very dear to you, but if you did I am very sorry and my thoughts are with you. I know writing that doesn't solve anything, but I still hope it gives a little comfort. Neither Christina Grimmie, nor the 50 people in that gay bar deserved to die this weekend and I truly believe that the world has lost very wonderful people. These people died doing what they loved and/or celebrating whoever they loved and I sincerely hope that wherever they are, they can keep doing this. I hope that they still had a happy ...

Even before I actually turned 18, I knew it would happen. I would have to learn how to drive. I don't know why, but I already felt that my parents would give me driving lessons for my birthday. After my exams I would start, I told them. Well.. I finished my exams last week. I never felt ready to actually drive, and I don't think I ever will be entirely comfortable in a car, but my apprehension towards driving has subdued a little today. This afternoon my mum told me to put on different shoes - I was wearing platform wedge heels - and guided me towards her car. She drove me to an almost empty parking lot and turned off the car: it was my turn to drive now. She explained a few things to me and before I knew it I was sitting behind the steering wheel. I had a few start-up problems, but as soon as I actually got the car to drive, it actually went okay. I even made turns and switched on to second and third gear. I was terrified, but also felt strangely powerful. It felt good to ...

Heyhey!  So, I decided I didn't feel like doing homework and learning yet, so here's a new post! I honestly didn't know what to write today, so I just googled some tags and I just picked one that looked fun to do, so here is the 100 questions tag. (I don't know who made this tag, but just so you know, it wasn't me...) Let's begin! BONUS JONAS QUESTION: something that happened to you in middle school. Well, there is no 'Middle School in the Netherlands, so I can't really answer that question... 1:Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? My closet has slide doors and when I'm in bed, I look at the side of my closet, so I can't see if they are open or not. So, sometimes they are open and sometimes not. I never really bother to look. 2:Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel? I think I would do that, if I woul...

Hey guys! At some point this week I realised how blessed I am by having a pet. I have a dog, named Koen, and he always seems to cheer me up or make me less stressful. I don't know how pets do it, but petting them or even walking them makes my mind clear and makes me happy. I'm not going to lie to you, sometimes I regret having a dog for a split second, like when Koen just keeps barking or when I have to walk him, but it rains really hard or it is freezing cold, or that rare occasion that we have an accident and I end up having a wound. But then I remember how much I love my dog and how many times he makes me happy and that regret disappears right away. For the ones of you who wonder what kind of dog I have, I have a Beauceron, or French Shepherd. My dog is a sweetheart, but he can be pretty stubborn, which means he can be very determined to get what he wants. And we might have spoiled him a lot, which means he prefers to have a little bit of milk in his water and he doesn...

Hey, Again, I'm sorry for not posting. I guess I just keep forgetting to post and if I do remember, I have no inspiration. But now I know what I want to write about, so here we go. I went to Amsterdam yesterday. With school, don't worry, I didn't take any wild spontaneous road trips. But yeah, Amsterdam. We went to visit the Palace on the Dam with the Latin/Greek section of our school (a total of 5 students). In the palace there are a lot of artworks about Greek/Roman stories, so it was interesting for us. I want to talk about the free time we had after visiting the palace though. Because I used that time to visit Waterstones and the American Book Centre. At Waterstones I finally got a copy of 'All I Know Now' by Carrie Hope Fletcher (and I am extremely happy because of that), but at the American Book Centre I stumbled upon something that blew my mind! Of course I had heard about the concept of 'A Blind Date With a Book' before, but I never saw it ...

Hey everyone, First of all, I guess I should apologize for not uploading for so long. My life has been very busy and whenever I tried to start a post, I couldn't finish it somehow. I'm very sorry, but  here I am now! So, about a week ago I read this book called 'Fangirl'. The book is written by Rainbow Rowell and I could really relate to it. The book is about a girl called Cath, she and her twin sister Wren go to college for the first time and while Cath just wants to sit in her room and write fanfiction, Wren wants to go out and 'have fun'. Now you may wonder why I want to talk about this. Well, while reading the book I just kept comparing Cath with myself (and Wren with my stepsister). I mean, when I'm not at school or at work I am probably at home, reading or watching films (probably Disney).  I even write sometimes to (like I am now), but I never really write stories. And I sometimes feel like all my stepsister does is go out (which of course isn...

Hey guys, GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! So, grab the cake, light the candles, warm up your voices, because it is time to PARTY! Okay, let's be real here, the party isn't going to be very wild... I mean, the main visitors are my grandparents. But yeah, a birthday means preparation, so yesterday I baked a cake (or well baked... it is a chocolate mousse pie, so there wasn't that much baking involved). Still, a lot went wrong, so I probably looked like this: Oh well, at least there is cake now! But yeah, I'm very excited!! I mean, I know what most of my presents will be, but still! There just is something magical about birthdays, don't you think? Toodle pip!!

Happy first day of March! Finally! One of my favourite months has arrived! And I do not only love this month because my birthday is in March. No I love this month because spring begins in this month! I can already sense the first signs of spring! The days are getting longer, birds start chirping songs to wake you up again and the flowers start growing. Today, I noticed these cute purple flowers that grow every March and to me, they indicate the beginning of spring and the ending of winter. And boy, am I glad that it will take at least 9 months before we will get another one. I can't wait to see all the animals getting babies again, I mean who can resist baby sheep right? And oh in May there will be baby birds! And all the cute flowers that will bloom again, EEEEEK! I love it! And, of course, my birthday is in two weeks. Although I am excited for my birthday, I don't look forward to getting older. Because getting 17 means that I will have to pay bills in just one year!...

A few days ago I saw a movie poster for 'Boy 7'. This originally is a Dutch book, but it has been translated into many languages, including English. Now it has also been made into a movie. The movie is in Dutch, so if you don't speak this language you might not be able to see the film. Lucky you! I decided to watch the trailer later that night, and by this time I was extremely excited. Boy 7 is one of my favourite books - dare I say my favourite book. So can you imagine my excitement? Well that was shattered the second the trailer started. Nothing in the trailer happened in the book or is just plain wrong. The main storyline is probably the same, but all the details are wrong and that infuriates me! When the trailer ended I was so mad that I felt like throwing the hard cover version of boy 7 in the director's face and scream 'READ THE BOOK' and then storming away. And now every time I see the trailer on TV I want to throw the book at the TV. This book is m...

Hey Guys, So today I found out that I'm not good at celebrating birthdays. Or, well, it's not so much the birthdays I'm bad at, but the birthday parties. When we celebrate birthdays in the Netherlands, we invite our whole (direct) family, all our family-friends and all the friends of the person whose birthday it is. Most of the time, the friends of the birthday boy/girl come over on another day as the family and family-friends. As I'm typing this, my stepsister celebrates her birthday, which means everyone is packed at the living room. I was there too, sitting on the couch, listening to all the stories that are told. But then it hit me: I don't belong in this crowd. All the conversations around me were about parties and stupid, drunk, decisions. First of all, I don't go to house parties or clubs, and second of all, I don't drink booze. Not because my parents don't allow me, but because I just don't want to. So listening to stories about bein...

Hi guys! I just realized that I desperately need the Christmas Holidays. I am longing for those two weeks off! I can't wait for the moment the "days until the next holidays-counter" on my phone says 0. The fact that it currently says "11 days" breaks my heart. "Why are you so desperate for the holidays, Laura?" Well, aren't we all? Besides the fact that Christmas is coming, I think we all need some time for ourselves: no work, (almost) no responsibilities, just some time for yourself. Some time to watch films, read books and drink hot chocolate. Oh, and did I mention read books? I have so many books I still need, and want, to read! (Okay, some books are for school and I'm not particularly waiting to read those, but still)  Also I want to just be able to sleep 'till 10.30 or something (my body isn't able to sleep much longer than that, even though I really want to). And to meet up with all my friends and have movie nig...

Hello lovely readers! So, it is officially December now, which means that Christmas is coming! I'm very excited for Christmas, as it is the first 'real' Christmas I'll celebrate with my family. Why is real in quotation marks you ask? Well, because we of course celebrate Christmas in the Netherlands, but never the  kind of Christmas with presents. In the Netherlands we'll have a nice Christmas Dinner and listen to Christmas songs, maybe watch a re-run of "Home Alone". I could hear your mind spinning: "Why don't they get presents on Christmas in the Netherlands?" you ask yourself. Allow me to explain. You know Saint Nicholas as Santa Claus, well we know him as Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas doesn't bring kids gifts on Christmas, no he gives them presents on his birthday: December 5th. So Dutch kids will already have had their presents when Christmas comes around. But this year, we have decided to celebrate Christmas instead of Sinterklaa...

Hey! Before I will describe the drama of family trips to you I guess it might come in handy if I told you something about my family. So, my parents are divorced. My mum has had a boyfriend for about 6 years now and my dad has had a couple relationships but he is currently single. My step-dad has three kids and my mum has two kids, my little brother and my. So, in order of age, we have my step-dad, my mum, my step-sis Larissa, me, my little stepbrother Dylan, my little brother Marco and my little stepsister Elise. This amount of people can, of course, not fit in just one car, so when we go on a family-trip, my grandparents come along. Now, let's tell the story then. Today we went to the Apenheul, which is a zoo in the Netherlands that almost only has monkeys. It takes about an hour drive from my home to get there, which normally wouldn't be a problem, but with my family, it is. To be honest, I don't think my granddad should be able to drive his car on the highway. He h...