Howdy,

I'm tired. Absolutely knackered. shattered. all the above. I haven't seen the sun in over a week, and I've been told it doesn't grace Amsterdam until May. How fantastic. This is no medium to rant in, so I won't rant. I'm just pooped.

Living three separate lives is exhausting, but I guess at 23, its sorta the time to do it. I want to focus on one, but I don't know which one yet, so soldiering on I go. I get a break in a little over a week, with a jaunt down to Switzerland to see some friends. That will be nice.

So over the weekend, I met a crazy dude with my friend Farhad. I'm going to try and explain him, but it's one of those 'you had to see this man in person' people. He just sat next to us at Bagels and Beans on the Kinkerstraat in Amsterdam, and proceeded to wield off wikipedia-esque bullshit like it was a white house press conference. Here's a short list of what this mastermind told me.

1. John Lennon is from Hamburg and still alive.
2. His sister is from Dusseldorf
3. You can make the following from pine cones; tobacco, pot, hash, beer, cigars and peanut butter.
4. He built sets for Budweiser at the Montreal Jazz Fest.
5. He worked for 20 years in Paris as a glass blower.
6. My friend Halliday should change her name for fears of getting kidnapped by people looking for a holiday.
7. The owner of the Hilton chain has black hair and isn't named Hilton
8. Fats Domino played in a forest called Brabant in Holland and he had sex with his wife while it was happening.
9. I look like a pianist.
10. He once saw a movie in Ohio at a theatre modeled after one in Amsterdam. He took the 'flybus' to get there. (my friend Nikki from Cincinnati sparked this one)
11. He knew John Lennon 40 years ago in Germany (this one could be true)
12. There is some sort of correlation between the way a pine cone grows and the way a pineapple grows. (he had two pine cones in his pocket. God know where he got them in Amsterdam, a city bereft of Pine trees)
13. He does not drink, but he smokes and enjoys a fine smoke-gar.

I'm sure there was more. It was great. Puts a smile on my face thinking about it. I'm still pooped. Back to the essay. HAPPY SINTERKLAAS.

Oh, yesterday my friend Jared said at his canteen at the Conservatory van Amsterdam, the lunchlady's were serving them in Blackface to celebrate Sinterklaas. What a magical holiday.

Here's pics of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piete, cause the sun is out for four minutes and I'm in the holiday spirit.