I will miss you, Utopia

This weekend was the last edition of Utopia, a most wonderful and intimate Science fiction convention. Which was held every year in Scheveningen. After 8 years the organisation felt it was better to stop at a its high.

I personally feel a kind of sadness, i have loved Utopia from the beginning, the atmosphere was so relaxed and intimate. I have met many new people, and sometimes got reacquainted with old friends.

What made this convention stick out for me was the fact that it had these little extra's for the people that either bought VIP tickers or had a number under 75 weekend ticket. Among the extra's was a champagne party with the actors present, and a cocktail party also with the actors. For me those were special moments, not only so much because i had the change to speak to someone who's performance i admired, but because of the tone it set for the rest of the convention. It gave the convention a flair that i have not yet seen in other SF events. What i will also miss dearly is the before and after gatherings with the people i became to deeply care about.

I know Utopia can never be replaced, but what i do hope for the future is that we as an Utopia bunch can hold on to our dear memories, and maybe, just maybe see eachother in other settings. Not to recreate what was Utopia, but to create a new way of sharing our hobbies, passions, dreams and interests.

With thanks and kindness to:
- The organisation of Utopia
- The new & old friends i've met, and grown to be fond of

Cailin

Nerve wracking

Hi everyone,
It has been awhile since I was last able to update this blog. And a lot has happened, and is going to happen I can assure you.

For starters I have been in the hospital for a week last June, speaking of the element of surprise huh. What should have been just a routine check up, turned out to be staying at hotel UMC-U for a week. The food was better then it used to be, the service was absolutely excellent, although there we're some minor communication flaws. Anyways I'm sorta back on track again, and my health is getting stronger by the day....or would it be week. I'm even back to work again, I started off for halve days, but will enter a manic week from tomorrow onwards.

Wednesdays the 11Th of July we will have a public transport rally, the meaning of this rally is to see how public the buses are for people with disabilities, and by disabilities i mean all of them. People in wheelchairs like myself, people with bad eyesight, deaf people (geez almost wrote dead people there for a sec) obviously they don't need public transport anymore. And in the mean time we also test buses on accessibility for mothers/fathers with prams. This all came about when i was comfy in the hospital.

the second thing coming up this week, is me and my boss going on a work trip. which will be quite a travel, when I'm back I will certainly tell you if I liked it :-)

And next week and this will be the nerve wracking part, I will have my first job evaluation, for me it feels like doing my exams all over again, and boy I hated my exams. I still remember getting in the classroom as stoned as can be, as I managed to smoke a gigantic spliff on forehand. I think I better not repeat the stunt for my job evaluation.

FEDCON

This week was as hectic as usual, but the workshop project I'm organising for our volunteers is almost ready, and we have quite some participants as well. This is the first time i organise an event like this, on this scale with workshops that are actually fun to go to. At least i think the format is a lot of fun, and as i do know the teachers, i know their presentation will be great fun as well. But before it all starts on the 6Th of July, i first go on Holiday, destination FED CON Bonn Germany, a large sci fi convention. This years guest are really promising, and i know i will have good crack partying :-) FED CON will be held from the 8 till the 10 of June this year, and i will surely write about all my adventures when i get back.

Pol(y)-tics & organisations

I hate the politics and dirty games that goes on in organizatoins that should concentrate themselves on fighting for the rights of in this case people with dissabilities. People that are absolutely great for the organization get fired, because the person at the top can only think of his own dirty politics and securing his possition.

We are not here to secure the possition of one man, we are here to make sure people with dissabilities get the same rights as all other people, to be able to particapte in society without restrictions. With restrictions i mean that a lot of us still cant travel by public transport, no idea what public stands for, as atleast 10% of hour natoins people cannot use it, and with restrictions i mean that its still darn hard to find a job, and on the other hand our government brings in polish people because there's so much work to do. How come if there is so much work, i had to look for a job for over 2 years. Sorry for sounding so synical, but im pretty pissed off about the whole situation.

I absolutely adore my job, but i just hate to see, that a head of an organisation that technically isn't even part of our organisation is able to fire a good collegue. Just because we co-work together doesn't mean we are part of the same organisation

Hectic Days

Today at the office was manic, I had a dozen meetings no exaggeration, in preparation to the day i have to organize for our volunteers. We are holding a few workshops which all have to revolve around one central theme. It's great to be able to organize this, don't get me wrong. It's great to be able to put so much creativity in this, and we have a wonderful team. It's just a lot of work considering i just started with the job iam in now.

Anyways, I'm rambling, Besides this day for our volunteers, I'm also organizing a team building day together with a colleague, this all next to my ordinary duties as Network coordinator. I'm sure both days will work out fine in the end. Today i noticed we have quite a lot of registrants already, which i find really cool :-)

I will keep you guys posted though. Oh by the way the volunteer day will be held in July, and i still need to find a suitable location in Holland which is accessible for people with disabilities. If you have any tips let me know!

Welcome

Hi there,

Welcome to my blog. For all my Dutch friends, i chose English because i have a lot of non Dutch speaking friends. So i hope you don't mind.

This blog will be for everyone interested in what I'm up too these days. The topics you will find here are:

- Star Trek and sci fi in general
- My work
- What occupies my mind?
- My travels
- Everyday stuff

Greetings CK