Amsterdam, jesen 2012.

20.11. 2012.

spinozastraat 5

Of course, the place itself is not that important, as it is most likely that any place in Amsterdam that is not in the Red Light District will be neatly arranged, beautiful, and clean. I mean, within the ring. I don't know what is happening far in Sloterdijk or such areas, and I have no desire to know.

As I was driving to my designated place, I was, of course, more focused on the streets I was taking, on the surroundings, on the buildings, than usual. And then I was thinking how this 'enjoy the moment', 'look around yourself' and all those sentences are mantras of our time. What happened and when did we start to make ourselves seize the day? those are the thoughts that passed through my head as I was driving. I was also thinking that it is fall – not that I ever think about the fall – the leaves on the ground and in the trees, however, were too flagrant and luxuriously yellow not to notice them, and as I was rushing through the streets with my bike, I was thinking how it is usual that people think about the leaves falling in autumn, but how I never thought about it. In my usual mode, I went further with my thought, thinking how maybe this whole frame – of getting somewhere, I don't know exactly where in Amsterdam – almost made me reflect the fact that it was autumn, although, as I already said – I don't care much about it. I mean, it was nice, but, I am a child of Oscar Wilde – and we admire culture, not nature.

I was also incredibly hungry as I didn't make lunch trying to clean my place for the upcoming big dinner. of course, it is more than likely that in the end not many people will come (this was a habit) so i wasn't getting too excited, but I still wanted it to be relatively clean. I say „relatively“ as real cleaning would take three-four days, of course.

i was surprised how warm it was, in spite of yesterday's clear warnings about the icecold winter that is ahead of us, and this made me enjoy the ride more.  I was also thinking how I was feeling good today for no particular reason (maybe bcs of the dinner I was making for 10 people), and how yesterday I felt shitty for no reason, and was it a question of ovulation, and if it was then I am really having symptoms of PMS twice a month which is quite impossible.

I was thinking all of that and also how I liked my neighborhood but was not attached to anything in particular. again, like last year, I felt like a visitor in Amsterdam, a passer-by that has no more intrinsic knowledge about the city than any other average visitor.

Actually, I really liked the place that I was assigned, as it was right by the river, and the view from the house was of course amazing, there was a big tree full of yellow leaves right in front of Spinozastraat 5. and I was amazed that I reached Sarphatistraat, i thought I didn't cycle that far.

on the way back, it was already dark and I was actually focusing on avoiding the police as I (again??) forgot my lights. it's not my fault that I have to put the lights on and off like a robot because people are going around steeling lights. it's not my fault that I think it a drudgery to take them off and on until the end of time...

that was it. I must say I was more focused on the path itself than the goal of the ride, but then I was more interested in why this has become such an important thing, then the ride itself. that's me, what can I say? maybe I like it that way.

ah, yeah, one more thing, I was also thinking to check who Spinoza was...I didn't know he was Dutch. Or, I remember vaguely that someone told me he was one of the only important people from the Netherlands. Wikipedia says he was one of the most important philosophers of the 17th Century,of rationalist philosophy – leading to Enlightment. That's quite interesting, as I was reading Jane Austen's novels that were all about the reason and rationality, and I have also been thinking quite a lot about the consequences of rationalist philosophy and the age of reason on our age. so, spinozastraat, spinoza's street is quite nice and cozy, and wouldn't mind living there. but so many streets in amsterdam are cozy and I wouldn't mind living there. spinoza, rationality, the dutch, order, cleanness, clarity. Amsterdam.