Hello! In the old days this post at the top of my LiveJournal & Dreamwidth would be called the "comment-to-be-added-post", these days it's a sticky post; I make a new one every year:)
My journal is not locked; you are welcome to read all my posts. I am a hermit, but I do like to interact here with fellow fangirls or passers-by and I encourage you to comment on any of my posts at any time. (I especially love responses to my artposts; it's NEVER too late to tell me what you think of those *grins*)

If you find my journal's dark background hard on the eyes:

you can watch any page on LJ and DW in your own journal's style by adding ?style=mine behind the url.

or if you add ?format=light, you get the standard lay-out with the white background.

(If the url already contains a questionmark, use an ampersand (&) instead:)

Also: I made a step-by-step post on how to back-up your LJ [DW]

Despite my occasional use of harsh language and posts about sensitive or personal subjects, I chose to not put an age warning on my journal. I will not censor what I choose to share online. I'm a green left voting atheist woman, HEAR ME ROAR!

I was an active participant in several fandoms, as a moderator and artwork creator; there are links in my sidebar if you want to explore any of the fancommunities I played in:)
If you're curious about my creations, you can check my Artmasterlists, that are also on top of my LJ & DW. I made so many fanworks over the years, I had to split the list in two:
Artmasterlist 2010-2018 [DW] | Artmasterlist 2019 and beyond [DW])

To remind myself there is more to life than being online,
I keep my booklist at the top of my LJ. That's ironic, Alanis.

( What I'm reading in 2026Collapse )

Happy Reading! ~ J.

What I read in 2025 [DW] / 2024 [DW] / 2023 [DW] / 2022 [DW] / 2021 [DW] / 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016 / 2015 / 2014 / 2013 / 2012 / 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008
My old archive of alphabetized book reviews / Readingcommunity thej2bee LJ

This is my ArtMasterlist from the moment I started playing in the Supernatural Fandom:) Mostly RPF, but there are also a couple of SPN works, as well as some outings to other fandoms. Enjoy!

Masterlist of artsy creations, part 1:
( 2010Collapse )
( 2011Collapse )
( 2012Collapse )
( 2013Collapse )
( 2014Collapse )
( 2015Collapse )
( 2016Collapse )
( 2017Collapse )
( 2018Collapse )

Uh, oh, the post got too long:-D Click here for My ArtMasterlist from 2019 onwards!

( Artwork notesCollapse )

J.

Ha, it finally happened; after nine years my original Artmasterlist got too long for one post! So this is where my fanart adventure continues from 2019 onwards:)

Masterlist of artsy creations, part two:
( 2019Collapse )
( 2020Collapse )
( 2021Collapse )
( 2022Collapse )

J.

This was my sort of comment-to-be-added-sticky-post for 2025.
Now it's just a list of the books I read this year.
You can find my current reading-list on top of my LJ and DW:)

( What I read in 2025Collapse )

Happy Reading! ~ J.

What I read in 2024 [DW] / 2023 [DW] / 2022 [DW] / 2021 [DW] / 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016 / 2015 / 2014 / 2013 / 2012 / 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008
My old archive of alphabetized book reviews / Readingcommunity thej2bee LJ

Last week I went on an international worktrip to Zadar in Croatia, a country I never visited before. When I was traveling Europe back in the 1990s, Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia and that whole area was in the middle of a civil war. (Croatia declared independence in 1991 and the last occupied areas were restored in 1995).

My Dutch colleagues and I flew into big city Split and from there drove to Zadar, which is about 170 km to the North. On the way we stopped at Vransko Jezero (Lake Vrana), a nature reserve, where we spent the late afternoon bird-watching before driving on to our hotel.
On Sunday I explored the old city centre of Zadar with my British colleagues and we caught the ferry across the Zadarski Kanal to climb to a viewpoint in Preko, on the Ugljan Island. Back in Zadar we saw one of the most amazing sunsets EVER.

The conference took up most of the time from Monday to Friday and it was dark early, but I did manage glimpses of a few more of the famous sunsets. During the week I had to present quite a few briefs. I had a side meeting with the delegate from Sweden on Monday evening, but on Tuesday evening we all got to go into town for a guided walking tour in the dark. On Wednesday I swam in the -very cold- seawater pool, just before the fancy hosted dinner. Best thing on Thursday was the green apple icecream I had for dessert. On Friday I went to a supermarket, that's always exciting in another country ;-).

After a very fruitful week we traveled back home on Saturday, with a short stop at the Krka river viewpoint for a final goodbye of Croatia.
I made tons of photos, here's a selection (check out the sunsets!!!).

( Day 1: Travelday(s) from the Netherlands to CroatiaCollapse )

( Day 2: Exploring Zadar and the ferry to PrekoCollapse )

( Day 3-7: Workweek breakfasts, lunches, and dinnersCollapse )

( Day 8: Views while traveling back homeCollapse )

What a wonderful week!

J.

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/588279.html [ comments]
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In between travels and work I do still participate in Land of Art. (In case you missed it, I posted Challenges 1, 2, 3 and 7 in May.)
I'm currently in the middle of a whole bunch of Autumn challenges for Phase 24, which I will share at the end of the year. I had to hand in Golden Tickets for challenges 11 through 14 due to lack of time, but below are all the graphics I managed to make during the Summer months!

( Challenge 16 - 20in20 IconsCollapse )

( Challenge 17 Finding Easter Eggs: Coloring pagesCollapse )

( Challenge 18 Working at the Zoo: BookmarksCollapse )

( Challenge 19 Fandom Actor Association: GifsCollapse )

( Challenge 20 Heading to the Top: HeadersCollapse )

( Challenge 21 To be Continued: FanmixesCollapse )

( Challenge 22 Oceanic Waters: Sigtags (Gifs)Collapse )

J.

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/587781.html [ comments]
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In my second week of Summervacation (about a month after my first), I traveled to Germany for a few days. First to Wuppertal, where I wanted to ride the Schwebebahn, the oldest electric elevated railway with hanging cars in the world, built between 1897 and 1903. On my way back I planned a stop in Duisburg to climb Tiger & Turtle, an art installation rollercoaster staircase! In between I spent time reading on the train and in the bath. I also visited a sculpture park. Of course I made a ton of photos (about 800), here is a selection to share all the views from up high :-)

( Day 1: Traintravel to WuppertalCollapse )

( Day 2: Schwebebahn! Suspension Train!Collapse )

( Day 3: Sculpturepark WaldfriedenCollapse )

( Day 4: Tiger & Turtle rollercoaster staircaseCollapse )

The End.

J.

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/587738.html [ comments]
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A travelpost unrelated to work! I scheduled two separate weeks for my summervacation. For my week in July, I wanted to travel to Spijkenisse in the South-West of the Netherlands, to visit The Bridges of Europe, an applied arts project by Robin Stam (2011-2013) who actually built the non-existing bridges that are featured on the backsides of Euro banknotes. When I checked out if there was anything else worth visiting nearby, I found a watertowerhotel in Dordrecht (the oldest city in Holland, 1120) from where I could explore wetland area The Biesbosch, that was also on my wishlist!
I had a lovely couple of days; I read on the train, cycled around on my rented bike, went on ferries and boattrips, and was spoiled with views and bubblebaths. On my way back I stopped in 's Hertogenbosch, birthplace of 14th century artist Hieronymus Bosch (aka Jheronimus or Jeroen), so I got some culture in as well. Here is a massive picspam of all the things.

( Day 1: Eurobridges in Spijkenisse & Cycling in DordrechtCollapse )

( Day 2: Whisperboat through the Biesbosch wetlandCollapse )

( Day 3: Bubbelbaths, more cycling & Walking through the wetlandsCollapse )

( Day 4: Art & Food in 's Hertogenbosch (Hieronymus Bosch & Bosche Bollen!)Collapse )

The End; for now it's back to work (But there will be another summervacationweek in September:-)

J.

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/587350.html [ comments]
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The only creative community I'm currently involved in is no longer at Livejournal:
Land of Art has moved to Dreamwidth!
Good thing I have already been (t)here for years as well ;-)
If that is the incentive you wanted to join in, come on over! Phase 24 continues for all of 2025 with new challenges to create graphics every couple of weeks. Fandom is optional. With your graphics you collect points for yourself and your team (and you can also earn Golden Tickets, which you can use when you want or need to skip a challenge)

Go here for FAQ!
Should you decide to sign up, please mention my name (so I score 5 points for me and my team SteamPunk)
You can apply for a team here!

Due to travel (for work) I missed a few challenges and I handed in Golden Tickets for a couple of them as well, but here's what I made so far for Phase 24:
( Challenge 1 - Signatures HereCollapse )

( Challenge 2 - Stocking HolidaysCollapse )

( Challenge 3 - Hide & SeekCollapse )

( Challenge 7 - FrenemiesCollapse )

Challenge 15 - Promotion
A demo on combining images into a graphic, featuring The Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Come over to play in Land of Art!

J.

Want to see more of my graphics? I did a big artpost on these at the end of last year: Phase 22 + 23

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/587073.html [ comments]
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In my previous posts about this businesstrip to Abu Dhabi in April I already showed some glimpses of the food I enjoyed over there. I didn't even get to try all the delicious things that were served, because it was a LOT! There were massive fancy buffets for breakfast and dinner in the Al Rimal restaurant of the hotel, lunch was served at the conference hall and that buffet was just as enormous. There was so much food on offer, there were even platters full of pretty bites during the morning and afternoon breaks. I was spoiled for choice!
This picspam includes photos of my filled plates, once or twice I started munching before I took a picture, so there are some half full plates as well :-D I often went for seconds (and yes, that means extra dessert(s) too). I was surprised with some treats in my room, and below I included dinner at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam (did not eat my greens). The midnight meal on the plane there is missing, because I was eating that while half asleep. I did save the passionfruit cheesecake dessert and had that for breakfast upon arrival at around 7 a.m. ;-)

There are over 100 photos, so I didn't add any comments, the hover-over text shows the date and time of each meal. Enjoy!

( ALL the food in Abu Dhabi, April 2025Collapse )

J.

Previous Abu Dhabi picspams:
Day 1: DW / LJ
Day 2: DW / LJ
Workweek: DW / LJ
Summary in ten photos on my Instagram

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/586986.html [ comments]
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This is a relatively short picspam to give an impression of my work week. It was a very succesful week; I had a lot of proposals to present, and I'm happy to say all of them were approved, yay! (Just a majority of votes is not enough, you need a consensus of all nations. We have a lot of technical meetings to streamline proposals all through the year, but decisions are made at these biannual in person meetings. One of my proposals required finetuning at three of these meetings to finally get full approval!).
In between work we were spoilt rotten with great food and facilities. At the end of each workday, a whole bunch of my international colleagues and I would meet up at the outdoors pool, where we'd hang until closing at 7 p.m. Then we would get dressed and spend the evening at the restaurant for scrumptious buffet dinners. Some chose to sit outside, which was too warm for me; I prefered the indoors section. Different colleagues would join me every night.

I must say this eating arrangement inside the hotel made for a very relaxing week, as we didn't have to have discussions every evening about where and when to eat and with whom and how to get to the restaurant. (There were three other restaurants in this fancy hotel, but most of us chose the included dinnerbuffet;-) There was an abundance of food from all over the world, including very fancy desserts; everyone could eat whatever and how much they liked. There will be a bonus foodpost for the finale of my trip to Abu Dhabi.
Photos below are a glimpse of food and work, an eveningwalk to the mosque and views from the plane home.

( Abu Dhabi, Workweek April 2025Collapse )

This was the final travelpost, but I will share some photos of the hotelbuffet later!

J.

Part 1: DW / LJ
Part 2: DW / LJ

Summary in 10 photo's on my Instagram

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/586722.html [ comments]
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Day two of my worktrip to Abu Dhabi started with a citytour with a small group of international colleagues. First stop was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, where we spend some time walking around outside and inside. After that, we were driven to and through the citycentre and visited the Heritage Village (where I had briefly been yesterday, see my day 1 picspam in DW / LJ). We also went to see the fancy Emirate Palace Hotel and the trip ended in a dateshop, where everyone bought a bunch of treats before we returned to our own hotel and spent the rest of the day in the pool and at the beach. What is my life?

Below are 46 photos day 2, if you want to see a 10-image summary of my whole week, see my Instagram post :-)

( Abu Dhabi, Sunday 13 April 2025Collapse )

To be continued!

J.

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/586352.html [ comments]
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Well, hello! Checking in with a picspam, because I've been on another amazing businesstrip! I went to Abu Dhabi for work and was fortunate enough to start with a weekend to explore this capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Here's day 1: I took the local bus into town, quickly figured out the place isn't made for walking outside, so I got on a Hop On/Hop Off bustour to see ALL the things :-)

( Abu Dhabi Saturday 12 April 2025Collapse )

To be continued!

J.

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/586185.html [ comments]
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Went on a worktrip to England for two weeks(!) in January, I visited London and Windsor on the weekend in between. I already posted a short impression on my Instagram, below is a picspam of all the food in between and after work plus a full report on all the sights on the weekend. The first week was mostly me an my UK colleagues preparing for the second week when delegations from all over world came over to nerd/work together;-)

I traveled by Eurostar train which still required a transfer in Brussels, Belgium on the way to London (due to renovation of the customs building in Amsterdam), but is going directly from England to the Netherlands on the way back. From my hometown the best connection is through Rotterdam.

( Day 1: Travelday NLD Home to GBR WorkCollapse )

( Day 2: 1st workdayCollapse )

( Day 3+4: worklunches and take-out dinnersCollapse )

( Day 5: a Saturday in LondonCollapse )

( Day 6: a Sunday afternoon in WindsorCollapse )

( Day 7-12: International workweekCollapse )

J.

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/585907.html [ comments]
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This was my sort of comment-to-be-added-sticky-post for 2024.
Now it's just a list of the books I read this year.
You can find my current reading-list on top of my LJ and DW:)

( What I read in 2024Collapse )
Happy Reading! ~ J.
What I read in 2023 [DW] / 2022 [DW] / 2021 [DW] / 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016 / 2015 / 2014 / 2013 / 2012 / 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008
My old archive of alphabetized book reviews / Readingcommunity thej2bee LJ

I was going through my blog and journals (as you do this time of year;-), and I noticed I completely forgot to share the stuff I made for Land of Art in 2024. My year was mostly filled with work and travel (which was also mostly for work) but I did manage to squeeze in some creative times. So I figured for my end of year post, I'll just picspam y'all with my graphic designs.

But first, to round up this year properly, here's what I did since the previous journal post in October, with links to my photos on Instagram:

I had a quick weekend in London for a play that was cancelled last minute (but I found another one to at least make the most of my weekend in November)

I built a cabinet for my renovated shower

I went on another businesstrip to England as well, where I didn't really go sightseeing, but did discover a lovely outdoors pool that was decorated for Christmas in December

I celebrated Sinterklaas with my family

Now, without further ado: all the fanart graphics I made this year!

Land of Art Phase 22 - Summer 2024
I handed in Golden Tickets for Challenge 1, 9 and 11. I missed Challenge 3 and Challenge 14 was a puzzle challenge, so no artwork for all of these.

( Challenge 2 - Stop & StareCollapse )

( Challenge 4 - TechniqueCollapse )

( Challenge 5 - Hide & SeekCollapse )

( Challenge 6 - If You BelieveCollapse )

( Challenge 7 - That's New to MeCollapse )

( Challenge 8 - Mother's DayCollapse )

( Challenge 10 - The Scenic RouteCollapse )

( Challenge 12 - Call Me DaddyCollapse )

( Challenge 13 - All About That BaseCollapse )

( Challenge 15 - Show Me the PainCollapse )

Land of Art Phase 23 - Autumn 2024
This phase was supposed to last through December and into 2025, but was cut short because everyone is too busy with work. Team challenge 3 is moved to the next phase, challenge 7&8 were not posted. Since LJ reached it maximum of 15 cuts, I'm combining the 6 challenges into two sets.

( Challenges 1 & 2 & 4Collapse )

( Challenges 5 & 6 & 9Collapse )

That's all! Wishing everyone all the best for the holidays :-)

J.

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It's been a busy month; after the two week renovation of my toilet and shower, I went on another international worktrip. I flew to Bucharest, Romania for a one week conference (where I presented three proposals and three briefs!). Beforehand I had one day to explore the old town and in the middle of the week we got a tour of the Parliamental Palace where we had our meeting. Other than those sight-seeing photos, there is a lot of food in this picspam, enjoy! ;-)

( Day 1: Travel and a jacuzziCollapse )
( Day 2: Strolling through Old Town BucharestCollapse )
( Day 3: Climbing to the ConferenceCollapse )
( Day 4: A traditional Romanian soupCollapse )
( Day 5: A Tour through the Parliament PalaceCollapse )
( Day 6: Ate my lunch vegetables!Collapse )
( Day 7: Final evening at the FountainsCollapse )
( Day 8: Flying homeCollapse )

The End.

J.

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/585091.html [ comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)

On Sunday September 1st, the third day of my long weekend in the South of the Netherlands, it was finaly time for the main event: Bloemencorso Zundert 2024! (More about its history and the preparations for this event in my previous post. [LJ

( Getting thereCollapse )

Here we go!
I combined photos of each float from all the three times they came by to show them from all angles. The first passing was from 13:45 (quarter to 2 p.m.) until 15:15 (quarter past 3 p.m.), so it took all floats an hour and half to pass me by. Second and third passing of the parade went quicker, the last float on the way to the exhibition site passed at 18:30 (6:30 p.m.)

There were also a couple of musicbands in between the floats, but I didn't get any good photos of those unfortunately; they put on a great show!

( Let's go watch the Flowerparade!Collapse )

What a great weekend!

You can find my videos of the flower floats in my YouTube playlist: Bloemencorso Zundert 2024.

J.

Previous visits to Zundert:
2016 [LJ | 2018 [LJ].


X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/584787.html [ comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)

The goal of my long visit to the South of the Netherlands was the Bloemencorso in Zundert; a yearly parade of flowerfloats. These are organised all over the Netherlands, but Zundert is the oldest (since 1936!) and biggest corso (20 floats) every first Sunday in September. Every neighbourhood (or hamlet) of Zundert has been working for months to build their own dahliafloat. On the Friday before the parade, they start putting on the fresh flowers; it's a community effort to get all the floats ready for the Sunday Parade.

I visited the Bloemencorso in Zundert before (in 2016 [LJ and 2018 [LJ].
This year I signed up for a corsotour on Saturday, where you get to hear about the history of the event and you visit two construction sites, to take a closer look at the finishing touches on the floats! Come join me :-)

( Visiting flowerfloat construction sites!Collapse )

Up next will be my photos of the flowerparade. If you can't wait I have already posted my videos at my YouTube, here's my playlist: Bloemencorso Zundert 2024.

J.

X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/584553.html [ comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)

For my most recent long weekend off, I started planning in April when tickets for the Flowerparade in the small town of Zundert went on sale; I've been to this yearly festive event before (in 2016 [LJ and 2018 [LJ] -it's on every first Sunday of September-, but it's a long daytrip from where I live, so this time I wanted to treat myself to a hotel nearby, in Breda. I added extra days before and after, to also have an opportunity to explore that city in the South of the Netherlands. I did a boat trip around Breda and discovered an artproject with murals all over town, so even before the main goal of my visit, my cameras were doing overtime, heehee. I came home with nearly 1000 photos, haha!
I'll start with a picspam of my days in Breda and will share my Flowerparade visit later.

If you can't wait to see the Flowerparade, I have already posted a couple of videos of that over at my YouTube. (I will be adding more to the playlist Bloemencorso Zundert 2024 soon!)

( Day 1: An afternoon in BredaCollapse )

( Day 2: Cyclingtour MuralsCollapse )

To be continued.

J.

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