Yesterday, amid the hustle and bustle of finishing up the MBA, I slipped into a parallel universe for an hour. You see, way back when, when I was even younger than I am now, I managed to get not just one but two degrees focussed on book history. Books are one the biggest passions in my life, if not the biggest. For reasons I've never really understood, I never ended up working in publishing, but ended up being a consultant. But the passion never died. So imagine my surprise when Jeremy at Penguin (*waving*) invited me over for drinks last night! That's one opportunity I couldn't pass up, so I headed over to Brick Lane and had a quick drink (Sundowners was waiting so I couldn't stay long) with Jeremy and some other folks (I'm so sorry, I'm so crap with names). And it was like a parallel universe, in which people are passionate about books and literature. It reminded me of exactly how much I love books and how much I love talking about them. (If you're in London and a literature-buff, you might enjoy the London Lit Plus festival about to start, something I found out about last night too). And to top it all off, they even gave me a few books (see pic on the left)! Thanks Jeremy, I had a blast :-)
On the way back I did my Superman act and quickly changed into my Class Gift T-shirt to head to the last Sundowners. It was a nostalgic affair, it was wonderful seeing so many of my classmates, but also weird that this was the last one. Sundowners was followed by dinner and drinks at the Windsor Castle which was packed. At least I enjoyed every single minute of it and have some great memories!
Now it's back to the 'laatste loodjes' (sorry, it's a Dutch saying, I have no idea what the English translation is, maybe something like the last bits and bobs?). I have plenty of work left on a part-time project I'm working on, need to figure out what shoes to wear to graduation, find wings and a halo for a skit tomorrow, work my way around some appointments today, go to a farewell party... Darn, I have a charmed life!
As an encore, here's some Jerry Lee Lewis (actually it's my favourite Lewis song). One of the books Jeremy gave me is Nick Tosches' Hellfire, about Jerry Lee Lewis. I'm a big fan of fifties rock 'n' roll, so this is a treat!
How about "nuts and bolts"? or crossing the t's and dotting the i's. Maybe not a literal translation, but conveys a similar message. I love languages, though nowhere near as much as you!
Posted by: Farhan Lalji | Friday, 29 June 2007 at 05:14 PM
Nog steeds druk je verandert ook helemaal niet
Hoelang duurt de opleiding nog of kom je niet meer terug
Posted by: Kees Bruinekool | Sunday, 01 July 2007 at 08:40 AM
F: I love the expressiion crossing the t's and dotting the i's, I think that's the closest to what I can think of would be a good translation for laatste loodjes.
Kees: Ik ben klaar! Gisteren twee weken geleden ben ik afgestudeerd, en vorige week woensdag ben ik begonnen met werken, hier in London. Voorlopig nog geen plannen om terug te komen, London bevalt nog veel te goed! Hoop dat alles goed is in Almere en bij Nuon.
Posted by: Natasja | Saturday, 21 July 2007 at 12:06 PM