r v l . c o m

Resisting my natural instinct to stay indoors and apply software patches all weekend, I allowed myself to be lured to a large piece of grass in Central Park, for a picnic with some new friends (and one old friend, figuratively speaking).
Thankfully there was enough alcohol, access to ice coffee, just the right ratio of [...]

Taking advantage of a nice weekend in what’s left of summer, we (David, Rick, James, Matt, et moi) went to Coney Island this weekend; lured by the promise of hot dogs and shirtless-people-watching.
It’s about an hour from Manhattan/civilisation on the subway and has a St.Kilda feel to it (for my australian readers). The Coney Is [...]

On Saturday, 19 July 2008, four intrepid and ill-prepared bargain hunters set out into to the wilds of Brooklyn, on a new-Ikea-store fact-finding mission.
As we boarded the (disappointing non-plastic) Ikea ferry recently launched to take shoppers from Manhatten to the spanking-new Ikea Brooklyn, there was a distinct sense of adventure, sea-sickness and sweedish-meat-ball-anticipation in [...]

Lured by the promise of seeing the Wonder Woman outfit in the flesh, James, Matt and I made it along to the Met today.
The superhero exhibit was fantastic, although it was more about fashion that was inspired by superhero’s than the characters themselves. So I did feel a little sorry for all the kids running [...]

In true Ryan-style, I’ve almost burnt every bridge in Amsterdam. And with all the canals here, that’s quite an accomplishment! Despite this, I’m at least attempting to have a farewell mini-borrel (Dutch for ‘party’, see - I know a few words!)
My farewell drinks: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=13042442758
Everyone is invited, (otherwise my rent-a-croud bill is going to be astronomical) [...]

A few photos below from my weekend with Rebecca, whom I have know for almost 20 years! Way to make me feel old Rebecca; thanks a lot.
Thanks to my superhuman skills of persuasion, I managed to convince her to mount a rental Oma-fiets, which allowed us to see a lot of Amsterdam in a short [...]

…freaking out about a 13-day wait time at the Amsterdam US Consulate for a Visa “interview” appointment and thinking this could throw a major spanner in my relocation timeline
…glad that I finally went to the Van Gogh museum, and doubly-glad that I bought tickets online, thus saving a good hour of queuing
…happy to have played [...]