Mirjam > Recent Status Updates

Got myself this "little" treat at the Naturalis giftshop. It won't fit in my bookcase, but that's a problem for future me. I'm halfway through and I love it: the gorgeous illustrations, the fun facts, and the way it doesn't just teach me about trees, but history, culture, and tree folklore as well.

"Na hun bezoek aan de Exposition Universelle in Parijs, in 1899, met de schitterende toren ontworpen door Gustave Eiffel, besloten de stadsbestuurders van Praag tot de bouw van hun eigen Eiffeltoren 'in het klein'."

LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER

ASR (holding hands emoji) Erica Feberwee (holding hands emoji) me -- putting digits in the wrong order while translating.

I'm going to Prague this summer and I've already got a list of places to visit based on the first 50 pages alone. Cheers, mister Brown!

More British micro-aggressions against the French!

I can remember one morning around this time bringing Lord Darlington coffee in the breakfast room, and his saying to me as he folded The Times with some disgust: ‘Frenchmen. Really, I mean to say, Stevens. Frenchmen.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘And to think we have to be seen by the world to be arm in arm with them. One wishes for a good bath at the mere reminder.’
‘Yes, sir.’

Given today's geopolitics, it's just so comforting to read about British/French micro-aggressions!

“And you said nothing [to your maid]?”

“Would it have been better if I had? I thought she would go into hysterics—she’s French, you know, and easily upset—I wanted to think over the best thing to do.”

"oh no a Lethifold's got me I'm suffocating"

me and the gang faking our own deaths to get time off for the Zandvoort GP

"Though highly finished and including a number of new gimmicks such as an inbuilt Warning Whistle and Self-Straightening Brush, the Twigger 90 has been found to warp under high speeds and has gained the unlucky reputation of being flown by wizards with more Galleons than sense."

The Tesla of the Potterverse!

"The [Chudley Cannons'] club motto was changed in 1972 from "We shall conquer" to "Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best."

The Ferrari of the Potterverse!

Whoopi Goldberg once said: 'I don't want somebody in my house', and she couldn't be more right about that -- as this book demonstrates.

Actually amazed by how unlikeable the MC is. In a good way! More YA should have selfish, obnoxious, clever yet hopelessly naive, snotty, self-serving but also tortured-about-it girls as main characters, tbh. It makes for a nice, refreshing change, and it leaves so much room for growth. Can't wait to see how it all unfolds!