Happiness

Only the unhistorical person can be truly happy, a wise man once wrote.[1] Being unhistorical means to be able to let go the past and the future completely, to live in and think about the present only.

The more I think about it, the more it seems to be true. Thinking of the happiest moments of my life, I did not realise my happiness until those moments were over. Such a shame. When I think about those moments, I know they are over and I can never relive them.
Thinking about the past has never made me happy, even if it was a happy past.
If I had been conscious of my happiness in the moment of happiness, I probably would have been less happy. Thinking about the moment you’re in instead of living it is never good. Also, knowing that you are happy now makes you realise this cannot last forever. So, also thinking about the future does not make me happy. Even if it’s a happy future –looking forward to something too much usually results in disappointment.

Which makes me wonder if I am happy. I believe I am. That is, in general. I can honestly say that I am generally happy. I am generally happy with my life, my environment, my friends, my family, my past, and I am generally optimistic about my future. Still, moments of true happiness are rare. In the contrary, often I just feel sad. Even though I am generally happy. And when I think of it, I am constantly rethinking past events, thinking about should haves, thinking about future events and conversations in the greatest details. This occupation makes me confused rather than happy, and I know it.

In theory happiness is easy to achieve. All you have to do is let go of the past, don’t expect too much of the future, and enjoy the moment of now as much as you can. So if it is so easy in theory, why is it so incredibly hard? Maybe it is possible to be happy with being sad. Maybe being happy constantly is so unsatisfying that it does not make happy in general.
I just need to find the right balance.

[1] Nietzsche, Friedrich. 1874. Vom Nutzen und Nachteil der Historie für das Leben : zweite unzeitgemässe Betrachtung.

Two weeks in the Netherlands

Gonny van Oudenallen is an interesting woman. As a member of the Lijst Pim Fortuyn, the right winged populist party we inherited from its in 2002 murdered leader, she was the first person on the list to succeed Margot Kraneveld in the Dutch parliament, after Kraneveld announced to leave the LPF and the parliament immediately. However, the LPF did not wish to include Van Oudenallen, because she has been corrupt in her earlier career. Van Oudenallen did not give up; she decided to claim her place in parliament anyway, with or without the LPF. She started her own party: the group Oudenallen. She knows very well how the system works, in in this case she does not need to go through the normal procedures of starting a party. Not only this, she insisted on getting her place in parliament immediately. Three months before the elections in November of this year. Why? So she has the right on quite some money the coming years.

So Gonny van Oudenallen arrived in parliament. If it was not clear yet she only did this for the money, she made it very clear with her stupidity. She did not recognise ministers and to the leader of the Green Left party, Femke Halsema, she said: "if you like trees and animals. you should move to Australia." Halsema could only laugh in response, although I'm sure she could have cried as well.

Gonny van Oudenallen is corrupt. She did the worst possible job in three months parliament. She only did this for the money. And with all her money, she also manages to hold a social house in Amsterdam. So she is not that unintelligent at all. We all know about this, but we cannot do anything about it. All we can do is pay her....

That is Dutch polics for you!
I had a great time watching all the year overviews on television this christmas holiday. I missed most of it, and seeing it all in a row shows how ridiculous Dutch politics has been... the Prime Minister who was desperate for attention on a skateboard; the minister for justice who made the news with his own rap, (yes, a rap!) one minister who took away Dutch citizenship from another politician, who was forced to move out and lives in America now... like Femke Halsema I could only laugh in response... although I could have cried as well.

Crusade in Jeans

What if your favourite childrens book of all times would be made into a movie?

Me and book movies have a love-hate relationship. The movie images never look like the mental images I made of the characters and the story myself. I cannot fully enjoy the movie, because while watching I am comparing every little detail to the book. I know changes are necessary, but most of the changes I have seen are not. The book is always better. Period.

Still I can never resist watching the movies of books I've read.

When Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek (Crusade in Jeans) by Thea Beckman was adapted for the screen this year, I hesitated shortly. Thea Beckman is my hero. She wrote about 30 novels for children, most of them historical and long. Perfect for little book and history nerds like me. Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek is a classic. Written in 1973, translated in 15 languages, and still reprinted over and over again. Mine is signed by Thea herself, and I have read it many times.

So would it be a mistake to watch this movie?



Of course I watched it, the day I got home for christmas. And I have to say: it was not that bad! A few big changes, but explainable, except for the ending, that was different and dissapointing, but the main line of the book was very well translated. The movie is in English, obviously to sell it abroad, but I believe this has not happened yet... dispite the fact that no one less than Emily Watson plays a big part!

Ok, the story: 16 year old Dolf uses a time machine to go back to a lost football game. He ends up in the middle ages, the year 1212, in the middle of a childrens crusade just departed from Keulen (Cologne?).
Obviously, Dolf sticks out. He doubts much, not in the last place God, and the promise of the leading priest that the sea will split for the crusade. Also, he has a 'troubadour in a box': his i-pod (in 1973 his special thing was his watch...) He risks being charged with herecy, but fortunately he does much good too. He 'breaths a boy back to life', he knows how to make gunpowder, he teaches the kids football, he knows its important to separate the sick kids from the healthy, he manages to bake everyone bread in a night... a miracle, this 'Rudolf from Rotterdam'.
The priests leading the crusade are a bit dodgy... as it turns out they plan to bring the children to Genua, not Jeruzalem, to sell them as slaves... Will Dolf be able to stop this? And will he make it back to his own age? Watch or read it yourself!

Thea Beckman always based her novels on historical facts. Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek is full of interesting facts and teaches children a lot about medieval customs, but the main subject, a childrens crusade, is in fact based on a legend, occurred from historian's errors.
When little 10 year old book nerd Aletta gave a presentation in school about Thea Beckman, she discovered confusion exists because of the latin word 'Pueri', which means child in classic Latin, but in Medieval Latin it was used in the meaning of 'poor people' as well...

It doesn't matter. This is the book every kid has to read. In fact, seeing this movie made me want to re-read it right away! The story is interesting, exiting and moving. The crusade leads the children from forests, through the mountains, to the ocean... the sights of the movie are beautiful, the characters are beautiful, the story is beautiful. I almost got the feeling back I had when I read this book as a kid.

Almost. The book is always better.