There are many things I'm not good at. Handling food is one of them. Eating fruit is another one. Smoothies seem to combine these two skills in a way that makes me question why I ever thought making smoothies was a good idea in the first place. Anyway, once I got the idea into my head, it had to happen. I was going to try and make some banana smoothies. Which, I soon noticed, came with this jumble of chaotic thoughts.

200ml of yogurt, a tablespoon of honey, 1,5 bananas, a little cinnamon and a little milk. Throw it into a bowl, mix it into mush and done? That's idiot-proof! Better yet, it's Envy-proof!


*Splush*
Ew. It does sound better than a banana falling onto the floor, but... ew.

Am I doing something wrong? Why is it making this weird sound? It never does that when I make something else. What is this?! MOOOOOOOOOM! HELP ME!

So the mixer's okay, which means I can absolutely destroy these bananas and mix all the yogurt and make it into the biggest smoothiest mess the world has ever seen. YASSS.

This is nice and all, but shouldn't my smoothie remain, like, in the bowl until I'm done? Seriously, there's yogurt on my freaking forehead. That's not good, is it?

Banana is great and stuff, but does this work with other fruits? How about mango? Wait, I don't like mango. It tastes like puke. No wait, that's papaya. I always get the two mixed up. Sooo... mango. Would that work?

Done. It's a bowl full of masterpiece. A bad-looking masterpiece. But it's the smoothest smoothie I've ever seen. But it looks... disgusting...
I'm gonna drink it anyway.

So this bowl of puke-like stuff is huge, the glasses in this house are small and I'm probably the clumsiest person on this planet... Should I just pour it? I'm just gonna pour it. Not this quick though! Shit! Now it looks like a war zone anyway...
This is actually pretty good. The bit that did end up in the glass, I mean. No wait, this is more than pretty good. This is fantastic. Just as good as those banana smoothies I drank all the time when I was in Costa Rica. And those had better, fresher bananas, which means... I'm the Queen of Smoothies! All hail my superior smoothie making skills!

Since I have decided to be healthy and stuff, I drink smoothies more often now. You'd think my thoughts would change after a while, but let me tell you this: my thoughts are this chaotic every single time!

Anyway, the exhibition is on the second floor of the Stadsfeestzaal, a super fancy-looking shopping mall with loads of gold and pretty staircases. Not the place you'd expect a street art exhibition to take place, but that contrast adds a little something to the experience in my opinion.
There are over 80 pieces on display, curated by Steve Lazarides. Don't worry if that name means nothing to you, the guy was Banksy's agent and honestly, that's all you need to know. It's not like it's suddenly all about him. No, this exhibition is just about art, just the way I like it: photography allowed, thought-provoking and set in a perfect atmosphere.

I arrived quite early, which was a good thing, because loads of people rushed in about ten minutes after I'd entered the first dark room of the exhibition. That probably sounds weird, me calling it a dark room, but let me explain: of course there are lights aimed at the art, but the rooms in which the art is at display are quite dark. The walls are decorated with dripping paint or completely covered in prints of art work. Pretentious as this remark may sound, I feel like this all added to the feel of being out on the street, discovering street art the way it should be discovered.


Now here's the thing about the art: it's awesome, but you probably already know that. Banksy is a phenomenon, even my mom knows his work. In a regular exhibition however, I wouldn't think about the art I'm looking at. I took art history classes in high school and every time I had to think about the meaning behind a painting it went a little like: "This painting means a lot. The artist uses [insert color] as a symbol for [insert morbid idea] and the composition shows us that [insert completely made-up life lesson]." Usually I just wrote down a load of nonsense, because a Michelango just doesn't spark my interest. I like to think about the state of the world, politics, society and how it demands us to conform to it (yes, I know I'm weird). Banksy's work is ideal for that.


Do I need to say more? The art speaks for itself. If you don't like rats it's might not be your cup of tea though, since Banksy enjoys painting rats. I could give you an in-depth analysis of his choices and all that stuff, but to me that's not important. The most important thing for me was that his art, besides making me think about our society, also managed to inspire me. Before I visited the exhibition I'd spent an hour ranting to my friend about how I don't like the way society pushes me down career paths and into certain behaviour. I don't like how we are made to follow the rules and view the world through the same lens as everyone else. Street art offers me an escape from those things. Banksy's shown me I can use it to make my voice heard. If vandalizing is a way to change the world, make it a better looking place and maybe change a few people's minds along the way, then maybe I should give it a shot.

So yeah, all the pretentious words aside, I definitely enjoyed it a lot. Still there's one thing I didn't like all that much: I took my time to see all the art, took pictures and even vlogged in the middle of the exhibition, and after all that I was still done with the entire thing within an hour. Oh, and you know those fancy picture books they usually sell in a museum? I couldn't find one at the gift shop. That made me quite sad, but I bought one when I came home, so no real problem there. Besides, small as both gift shop and exhibition may be, they'll fill you with so much creativity you'll want to pick up a spray can right away. That more than makes up for the lack of a fancy picture book, I'd say.


One last thing before I leave and let you wonder if I'm really going to vandalize my hometown because of an art exhibition: if you ever get the chance to see Banksy's work at display and you are in any way interested in street art, don't doubt, buy a ticket and GO!

In December I got the ambitious idea of sharing my geekiness by doing comic book reviews on this blog. In January I posted my first review. So far so good. Then I asked if people wanted to see reviews of certain comic books they liked. I regret asking, because that's how I ended up writing this review. Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, it's going to be a heavy post...

So... The Killing Joke. Not an easy one to review. Let me just start with the basics. Remember my review on Miss Marvel? How fun and (mostly) light-hearted and bubbly that comic book was? Well, The Killing Joke is the complete opposite. It's dark gritty and focuses on one of the most memorable villains in the DC Universe (and every other universe as well if you ask me): the Joker. Yes, we do get to see Batman, but the Joker is definitely more important here.
There are multiple Joker origin stories, but The Killing Joke is the origin story to many, which makes up about half of the plot of this comic. We get a bit of an insight in his life before he became the Joker, and let me tell you this: it all explains so much. When I was a kid, the Joker seemed like an impossible caricature to me. Now that I'm an adult (okay only by law and not by maturity) I still have questions about the character, but The Killing Joke managed to answer all of them and only raised one new question. You see, just before he became the Joker, he lost everything: his job (which he gave up to become a comedian), his wife and his unborn child. That's all pretty traumatic, but seeing that he had a high function at a factory that works with chemicals I wonder why he didn't ask his job back, since there probably aren't all that many people who could fill that position. He could've prevented ending up like this by simply trying to get his job back.
So that's the Joker part of the story, which is by far the most interesting part of the book, because it also plays with our concept of sanity and insanity. Since I've been so focused on this guy, you might start to wonder where Batman sweeps in to kick the Joker's ass. Batman's plotline didn't impress me all that much. Basically the Joker shoots Batgirl and kidnaps Commissioner Gordon to a weird ass lunapark. Of course Batman chases the Joker to save Gordon. Along the way he has some deep thoughts about the destructive relationship between himself and the Joker. You can probably tell by my tone that this part didn't interest me as much as the Joker's origin story. But put these two story lines together and you've got a plot as solid as I've ever seen one!
To be honest, the story was about the last reason why I picked this comic book up though. In fact I don't think I would have read it if my mom hadn't found a Dutch copy at the local thrift shop. Yes, a Dutch copy. That's part of the reason why I felt weird reading it. All due respect to my native language, but it doesn't work very well in comic books, at least not in my opinion. And look at this. What does that even say? It looks so messed up...

Okay, moving on, because I doubt any of you guys will face that language problem, so let me move on to something I love: the art. The art of The Killing Joke isn't just art, it's Art with a capital letter A. Every line, every shadow, every detail is perfect. Sometimes the colors make a page a little monochromatic, but believe me when I say it serves a purpose. It's not just the cover that looks great (which by the way has the German word for 'joker' on it right on the lens of the camera) no, the entire book is filled with gems like this one.
If the art hadn't been simply gorgeous I don't know how much I'd have liked this book. You see, besides the Joker's origin story this comic book focuses on the fine line between being okay and being insane. It's a pretty heavy topic, but I have to say it was handled well, even thought it made me uncomfortable as eff most of the time. I guess this is also one of the reasons why The Killing Joke is actually a graphic novel and not a comic book. So sorry for calling it a comic book the entire time. Apparently comics that handle such a heavy topic are graphic novels. Another reason why it's a graphic novel is probably the symbolism that's supposed to make you use your brain a lot, of which it has plenty. Take these panels for example.
First time I read it (I've read it thrice now), I had no idea what this was supposed to be. Then I realized: Batman on one side, the Joker on the other; the line between sane and insane disappears. Apparently this is the most famous theory on these panels, but I don't think a lot of people will come to this conclusion upon first read. It took my dad and me multiple discussions to figure out if this could be it, or if we were just horribly ignorant and wrong.

All in all I'm impressed every time I read this book, but also feeling a little uneasy. It's an interesting read, beautiful as well. But would I recommend it? Well, it depends. If you want to know more about the Joker, then yes. If you're new to the comic book world, this isn't the best place to start.

Sometimes life is shit. You're failing your classes, your friends don't have time for you and you can't do anything right at home. Before you know it you're hating on everything. Before you know it you're stuck with a negative mindset. Since I'm easily sucked into these downwards spirals of negativity, I decided to start a Happy Jar to remind me of all the good and fun things in my life. One year ago I put the first happy memories in it. Now, in 2017, I'm a bit stuck in my negative mindset. It's time to open my Happy Jar and snap out of it.


I first heard of Happy Jars when I'd only just started blogging. Coincidentally I got a jar of peanut butter that Christmas, so when all the peanut butter was gone it became my Peanut Butter Happy Jar. Since I've started anew in January of 2016, I've collected this heap of memories.
I fold them all into half, then into half again. That way I never know which memory I'm going to look at when I take one out. It's great to let a happy memory take you by surprise.
I write my happy memories in Dutch, which is actually quite weird for me since I usually write in English. Because of this switch in language it'd be pointless to share some pictures, but here are the translations of a few of my favorite memories.
10 January 2016: Had cheesecake. Nuff said
1 November 2016: Got my first paycheck ever!
4 January 2017: Talked to Shubhaish on Skype :D
I usually don't write more than a few words, a few lines at the very most. I don't need more than those few words for the memories to come rushing back to me. Because of this the scraps of paper in my Happy Jar are very small. The few pieces that are bigger are these.
Some quotes stick with me, though I'm not as much of a quote person as most other bloggers. Yet sometimes a few words motivate me to no end. When that happens I try to make them look fancy. Whereas the memories bring me happiness, the quotes give me motivation.
Since December I've also been adding pictures to the mix. Pictures capture moments better than my words ever could, which is why I started adding them to my Happy Jar.
Most of the pictures are selfies Jerneja and I took when we met up in Slovenia. I've also added a picture of my high school friend and me from when we went to see Bill Bailey in Amsterdam back in September. My happiest memories always have something to do with the people I care most about.
Then there's one last thing left in my Happy Jar. They're the most recent additions: tweets. That may sound silly to some of you, I know. But sometimes when someone tweets me a compliment or quotes my tweet, I just feel so happy and appreciated. It would make no sense to keep the tweets away from my Happy Jar. They make it so much more diverse and personal.

Once I've gone through all the items in my Happy Jar, I always find myself smiling. No matter how bad my day, my week or even my month is, the memories and pictures in the jar always make me happy again. A year from now I hope I can open my Happy Jar to many many more happy memories and share them with you guys again.

Yes, you read that right, I'm officially back! For those of you who've missed me: don't worry, I won't disappear the way I did ever again! For those of you who didn't notice I was gone: I was gone, but now I'm back! Minus a boyfriend, but with a plan for the future and a lot more optimism. Now I'm getting ahead of myself though. Let me fill you in on the details of what happened, where I've been and what's going to happen on Lost in Translation from now on.