You may call me old-fashioned, resistant and even think that I’m just being naïve or uninformed of what’s going on out there. But I prefer to describe myself as insusceptible: which is one of the most precious characteristics I appreciate about myself.

How long can we cope with boredom? Two or three days? Maybe a week or a bit more? I think that any of these options may be more than enough to acknowledge that being absorbed by tedium is one of the most frustrating feelings one can have. Now imagine one whole year.

I've recently written about a deception which has made me down so much. A sweet friendship has been broken. Like porcelain, you can re-attach those pieces although it will never look the same again. No matter how much time goes by, such flaws will always evoke a fragile bond that has fallen apart.

It doesn’t matter how old and wise we become: being disappointed by a friend will always hurt as much as those first life deceptions when we still nurture the virtue of innocence. I think I'm still shocked by that bitter taste that comes after the tears.

I'm learning to cherish and love Amsterdam again. It's a difficult statement to admit, but I have lost that ebullience which made me want to be nowhere else but here. For a long time I have struggled to praise this place through the same sparkling eyes that once made me fall in love with it.

Not many friends of mine are as enthusiastic about wine as I am. Upon further reflection, none of them are, unfortunately. It took me a lot to conclude and admit that, but the last of the mohicans was gone, after a friend’s painful relationship break up.

After a few hours walking on the cold fields at a distant vineyard, in Northern Holland, I was absorbed by a strong yet peaceful energy that mostly reveals itself when close to nature. Then, I find it hard to avoid thinking that a simpler lifestyle endures to fulfill us so much more.

I’ve never understood the pleasure of reading digital books. It seems odd to think that reading through a screen can be more amusing than having the physical work in hands. It sounds almost outrageous when I hear comparisons that attempt to claim the effect on the reader is the same.