staring at the sun

"I'd like to buy stamps for Europe."
"Inside or outside?"
"Eeeeh, Europe."
"I know, but inside or outside?"
"Outside of the Netherlands, inside of Europe."
"Ok."

The lady is handing me a set of 5 stamps for Europe. Looks good. I pay. But wait, something is wrong...

"This is a bit strange. This is 4x 77 cents and 1x 75 cents."

The lady is looking at me like I'm an alien.

"What?"
"It's not normal. There should be 5x 77 cents."

She seems to be really puzzled. But I have the impression that it is more about why I have a problem with it than because of the bizarre fact that on a printed set of stamp-stickers one stamp has a different value than the others.

"Oh, maybe they put an old stamp on it."

An old stamp?!
The guy next to me is really interested in what is happening. He explains like it is the most normal thing in the world:

"You will have to buy extra stamps for a few cents."
"What?!!"
"You will just have to buy extra stamps."
"But when I buy stamps for a certain purpose I just want to use them and not buy extra ones!"

The lady behind the desk makes a smart comment:

"But it's only five cents difference."

Five?! I look at her and it must be obvious that I don't understand what she is saying...

"Would you like to have another set?"
"Yes, please!"

She is handing me another set of stamps and I'm very relieved that it is a regular one. Shaking my head I leave the store.

Labels: Leben

Ok, today is blogging day. This post actually dates back to November 1st. My friend Marco indirectly reminded me of it by announcing on Facebook today: "The Facebook cheat: "Press up up down down left right left right b a enter, and then click... " Why that reminds me of this post, you will find out once you listen to the song below.

Alright. On the day I came up with the idea of writing this, I was sick, had a cold, and all kinds of aches. Basically I felt like I couldn't do anything. Even listening was rather difficult. Still I was longing for some background music that might help in believing that everything was not so bad or at least would be alright some time soon.

So I chose for the soundtrack of the movie "Juno". I must have been looking for some naiveness or whatever... Somehow I remembered it as being easy.

It turned out to be more complex than that. Right, starting to listen to it, it mainly sounds sweet. But there seems to be more to the woman who is singing a lot of the songs, with the voice of a teenager. Well, but probably you already know Kimya Dawson and the Moldy Peaches, the band in which she used to play together with Adam Green, the singer/songwriter hero of the alternative music scene*.

Anyway, check it out yourself... For the more bitter version of Kimya, see "You're so nice, you're so smart". Below you get the nice side... Because I am still fascinated by these weird characters who are incredibly famous...



*) To take part in the hype: Adam Green will play in the small hall of the Paradiso on February 10 and 11, 2010. Ticket sales start on November 21. I bet it's gonna be sold out.

Labels: Soundtrack