Hobbies in Holland

Last update on Sunday, 18th December 2005 by Robert

As former software engineers some of our hobbies are of course related to computers. PC's, a GameCube and a few Gameboy Advances or Gameboy DS are capable of entertaining us for some considerable time.

[picture]

Then there's card- and boardgames, a major hobby of ours. For example, on the right is Robert playing Kolonisten van Catan. Every now and then (most recently in September 2005) we host game evenings: each Wednesday friends come round to play a variety of games.

Books
Books are also a favourite passtime. Most of our reading matter is in English, and most of it is in the Science-Fiction and Fantasy genres. Our favourite authors include Terry Pratchett, David Eddings , Piers Anthony, Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven, Arthur C. Clarke and less well known authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien.

Trips to England almost invariably include a shopping trip to Forbidden Planet (which has now moved to larger premises on Shaftesbury Avenue). I carry the shopping basket, Sarah fills it. All we need now is a third team member - to pay...
I also read a fair bit which is (supposedly) work-related: software engineering (though that is now a thing of the past), strategic management, new product development, process improvement, change management, creativity, "soft-skills" etc. The work of people like Watts Humphrey, David Teece, Crosby, Larry Putnam and Ware Myers, Edward de Bono, Gerald Weinberg and Tom Gilb has been inspiring.

Music
Another of our interests is music - mostly listening to music that is. Robert does play the piano, and Edward (says he) wants to play the tuba, but more often than not listening to music is what we end up doing. Nowadays that also means online radio: Last.FM style.
When Sarah and I met each other, we merged our CD collection. To our surprise there were only 4 CD's double, despite a large overlap in taste. Of course, I had some more exotic CD's in my collection, including several by Tom Waits, but barring a couple of exceptions like those we seemed to enjoy each other's tastes in music.

Besides popular artists like Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, and The Beatles (to name but a few), our CD collection features a host of less know artists. Take Pauline Taylor for example: her CD "Pauline Taylor" is often in Robert's car and is probably one of his most played CD's.

Food
Though we don't spend ages in the kitchen, we do like food and cooking. Even Edward and David regularly help out with cooking: Edward helps with "Balti Beef and Chick Peas", while David does "Sweet and Sour Pork". We recommend Pat Chapman's cook books, particularly "Fast and Easy Curries". Below is one of Robert's creations, "Oriental Chicken Stir Fry".

[picture]

Home