Blog entry

What If?

Dear fellow man*, What if it’s your sister? Your daughter? Your wife or girlfriend? Or let’s for argument’s sake make it your mother, ‘cos we all have one of those. What if these women, who are dear to you personally, are the subject of lecherous locker room talk? About whom you colleagues wonder out loud […]

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My writing year 2021

In the years (or rather, decades) I’ve dreamt of my first novel*, I didn’t expect I’d end the year that dream came true with a predominant feeling of intense relief that it was over. Whatever 2022 brings, it’s one step ahead through simply not being 2021. That’s the painful truth of debuting in a corona […]

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Pop And The Pirates on DSF

My flash SF story Pop And The Pirates appeared on Daily Science Fiction last Wednesday. Retirement, asteroids, and space pirates! Since my story notes were accidentally omitted upon publication, I’m including those here (you may want to read the story first): While it may not be immediately obvious to the casual observer, this story was […]

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No More Doing The Right Thing

What are y’all cheering about? In the final two weeks of Trump’s presidency, people and organisations are falling over their own feet in their haste to abandon, block, disavow, impeach, or resign. I’m mystified. Trump hasn’t changed. His actions haven’t changed. His words haven’t changed (except that he’s lost his megaphone). He was ALWAYS this […]

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Awards Eligibility Lineup 2020

It’s that time of year again, the time when awards nominations are made, and every speculative fiction author posts their publications in the past year. I have no illusions about getting nominated for anything, even if only because most of what’s appeared in 2020 was flash. Nevertheless, here’s my 2020 lineup. Most of these stories […]

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TomTom Sees Me, And Raises

The whole sordid story: Goodbye, TomTom, and Good Riddance | TomTom Sees Me, And Raises This may actually become a customer service blog post series to rival the epic scope of my classic UPC iParcel tale. (To fully appreciate this current post, read the previous one about TomTom first.) As a follow-up to the tragedy […]

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TomTom map, zoomed out to Moon level

Goodbye, TomTom, and Good Riddance

The whole sordid story: Goodbye, TomTom, and Good Riddance | TomTom Sees Me, And Raises This may actually become a customer service blog post series to rival the epic scope of my classic UPC iParcel tale. (To fully appreciate this current post, read the previous one about TomTom first.) After twenty-two years of continuous, loyal, […]

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Mad Max Beyond the Corona Testing Station

Last week, I went for my corona test. In The Netherlands, one is required to take the test if one has any cold or flu symptoms. And while my clogged nose is seasonal only in the sense that four seasons take us around the year, my slight sore throat at the time seemed to be […]

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Now available: a Rubik’s Cube solution booklet!

My pages about solving Rubik’s Cube are among the most popular on the site. By popular demand, I’ve created a downloadable PDF version of these pages. If you prefer to work from a paper version, get yourself the PDF and print it!  

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Six Million Dutch Don’t Believe In Childbirth

It’s a miracle I’m not pounding my head against a wall, moaning in despair. Bas Roelman, a journalist for Trouw newspaper, published today about a report by marketing research firm Motivaction, claiming that a majority of the Dutch believe in miracles. Upon reading that, I sat up in shock: are the straits of Dutch superstition […]

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