Johan's Blog

Why write a review for a mediocre fantasy duology? Because the story reminded me of a much better fantasy trilogy I once read. Read more…

Books Books, fantasy, review

This is the first book of the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett. This series is about a young girl who wants to become a witch and is part of the discworld series. Read more…

Books Books, fan, fantasy, review, Terry Pratchett

Again I wasn’t able to expand my roaming range due to the weather. We had another 2 cold spells with snow and temperatures below freezing, and a lot of dark, cloudy, windy, rainy days. Again not a lot of good photo opportunities, but I managed to take some good bird pictures. Read more…

Pictures birds, canon, oostende, ostend, photo, powershot

Do you know that feeling of being completely absorbed by what you are doing? Being on a roll, concentrating so hard that you are no longer aware of your surroundings. Then (part of) the job is done and you kind of wake up from this trance, becoming more aware of your surroundings, realizing that 3-4 hours have passed, and suddenly feeling the pressure in your bladder. Over the years, has it become easier or more difficult for you to enter this zone? Browsers with 5 open tabs, Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, word processor, spreadsheet, Skype, Google Talk, Yahoo! or Live messenger, … When was the last time you have experienced this trance like productive state? I am experiencing it now. Read more…

Mac OS X blogging, GTD, Mac OS X, review, software

The third article in the series of pictures from the past month. I wasn’t able to expand my roaming range in January; I am still more or less bound by the city-bounds of my hometown Ostend. Nothing spectacular happened in January. We had two cold spells with frost and snow, making it impossible for me to go out with my bike, and a lot of cloudy days without good photo opportunities. Read more…

Pictures birds, oostende, photo

It was called in as a robbery. So you can imagine Sergeant Sue Smith’s mood as she watches the video footage of the heist being carried out by a band of Orcs and a Dragon, and realizes that the robbery from an online game company is actually a robbery in an online game. Things aren’t to get any better for Sergeant Sue Smith as the consequences of this robbery start affecting the real world outside and bodies start showing up. Read more…

Books Books, Charles Stross, geek, review, scifi

I have been a discworld fan since I read my first one some 15 years ago. Terry Pratchett is one of the maybe a handful of writers of which I keep on rereading the books, some even for the 5th time. I keep on discovering new jokes and references. For those not familiar with Terry Pratchett’s work, his books contain lots of references to contemporary society, economy, politics, computer networks, Shakespeare, the press, religion, movies, TV-series, Taoism, … While rereading his work, you sometimes discover new references. Read more…

Books Books, discworld, fan, fantasy, review, Terry Pratchett

The second article in the series of pictures from the past month. That makes it official, it’s now a tradition. Read more…

Pictures birds, oostende, photo

This is a first for me; starting a kind of photo diary of the past month. Some of you who follow my blogs will know that I have Myalgic Encephalomyelitis aka Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). If you want to know more about this disabilitating disease, visit my blog ‘Life with ME/CFS‘. This disease can affect people in different ways; some people can still have a more or less normal life and go to work, while others are bedridden. Some ME/CFS patients are bedbound, some are homebound and I am more or less citybound. On an average day I can go anywhere in my hometown Ostend using my bicycle. Read more…

Pictures ME/CFS, oost, photo

This was my tryout blog and I learned a lot from it. But as I felt the need for a personal blog I decided to revitalize this blog after 6 months of inactivity. Read more…

Personal blogging, ME/CFS