Quick Stats:
Just the Essentials
for the Concentration-Impaired in the Fast-Food Age
| Birthdate | 12 July 1962 (which makes me 48) |
| Birthplace | Victoria, Canada |
| Citizenship | Canadian, British and Dutch (yes, all three) |
| Marital Status | Married to Hans Groen (biblically since 1986, legally since 2001; together for over 24 years). He is the sanity in my life, and I am the insanity in his. |
| Currently Residing In | Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
| Places I've Lived | Victoria (Saanich), Calgary, Toronto, Amsterdam, Vancouver see the locations on Google Maps |
| Education | B.Sc. (Computer Science and Mathematics), University of Toronto (Grad 1984) |
| Languages | English, Dutch (but I can order a vodka-tonic in any language) |
| Interests | dance (especially the Dutch IntroDans group, and Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo) |
| Hobbies | choreo-step aerobics, in-line skating, astrophotography (see my Hobbies & Interests page) |
| Favourite Urban Centres | Amsterdam, Berlin, Edinburgh, London, New York, Pevensey Bay, Urbino |
| Favourite TV Shows | I essentially stopped watching broadcast television a few years ago, when I realised it was taking up too much of my life. But my favourite shows were: Star Trek (especially Voyager), Third Rock from the Sun, Black Adder, The Vicar of Dibley, and the early series of French & Saunders. The best comedy ever made is, in my opinion, Yes Minister. When no-one was looking, I liked to watch Touched By An Angel. |
| Dislikes | violence, injustice, hypocrisy, team competition sports, people who think Amsterdam is the capital of Copenhagen, and the Conservative (a.k.a Reform) Party of Canada (which are actually covered by “injustice” and “hypocrisy”) |
| Favourite Actors | Matt Damon, Dirk Kummer |
| Favourite Comedians | Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders; Stephen Fry |
| Favourite Authors | E.M. Forster, Oscar Wilde |
| Favourite Pop | New Wave and House in general, Talking Heads, Kate Bush, Marc Almond, M-People, KD Lang, Madonna... oh, the list is too long! |
| Personal Anthems | I Will Testify To Love (Wynonna Judd - Touched By An Angel) Make Your Own Kind Of Music (Mama Cass Elliot) Mixed Up World (Sophie Ellis Bextor) (If God was) One of Us (Joan Osborne) Psalm 23 (composed by Howard Goodall, performed by Christ Church Choir Oxford) |
| Desert Island Music | Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major |
| Favourite Bars | Amstel Fifty-Four in Amsterdam ARC in Amsterdam The Dufferin in Vancouver (sadly, now closed) Freud’s in London Las Jornadas on La Gomera Stiller Don in Berlin Havana in Amsterdam (sadly, closed for renovations, and never re-opened) |
| Favourite Drinks | Campari-Grapefruit: (adaption of a recipe from Bar Las Jornadas, Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera) Pour 2 shots Campari over a few blocks of ice, and fill with freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice. Margarita: (recipe from La Margarita in Amsterdam) Combine in a blender: 1 shot each of fresh lemon juice, Rose’s lime cordial and Triple Sec, 2 shots of Jose Cuervo gold tequila and 5 blocks of ice. Serve in a glass with a salted rim. Long Island Ice Tea: (recipe from Freud’s in London) Combine 1 shot gin, 1 vodka, 1¼ triple sec, ½ white rum, ½ tequila, and ¾ fresh lemon juice in a shaker with ice; shake well; pour into a large glass using a strainer to remove the ice; add coke until the mixture turns the colour of tea; then fill glass with ice; and stir. Amazingly, it tastes like ice tea, but leaves you (almost) too lame to order a second one ;-). |
| Films I Recommend | Lilies Coming Out Maurice Being There Torch Song Trilogy Dr. Strangelove District 9 Talented Mr. Ripley Le Fate Ignoranti A Room with a View |
| Books I Recommend | The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde) 10/10 You Are Not a Stranger Here (Adam Haslett, ISBN 0-099-44364-3) 8/10 Eats, Shoots & Leaves (Lynne Truss, ISBN 1-86197-612-7) 7/10 Birdsong (Sebastian Faulks, ISBN 0-09-938791-3) 8/10 The Future of Freedom (Fareed Zakaria, ISBN 0-393-32487-7) 8/10 Are You Experienced? (William Sutcliffe, ISBN 0-14-027265-8) 8/10 |
My Life Story
I was born in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, Canada; raised in Saanich; and I moved to Toronto at the tender age of 17 to study Computer Science at the University of Toronto. During the summer months, I worked within PetroCanada’s computer department in Calgary; and during the study-year, I worked for the University’s Computer Services department (UTCS). I always planned to move back out west after graduation, but I ended up accepting a job-offer from Concord Scientific Corporation in Downsview, just north of Toronto. Later, I went to work for Hiram Walker Resources (HWR), in downtown Toronto. In 1986, however, I met Hans, and all my plans changed! Hans was completing his Masters degree in Canada. We met at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church on Huron Street in Toronto. At the same time, HWR was being taken over, so I had five months’ severance pay in my pocket, and with British citizenship, I could live and work anywhere in Europe. When it came time for Hans to return to The Netherlands - only four months after we met - I picked up everything and went with him. My mom died about six months after I moved to The Netherlands, but the rest of my family - my dad, three brothers, a sister, their spouses and zillions of nephews and nieces (geesh, you’d think my family was a bunch of rabbits!) - still lived on Vancouver Island. With seven weeks vacation in The Netherlands, plus statutory holidays, I managed to visit them about once a year and still have enough time left over for travelling elsewhere. In fact, I saw some of my family more each year than they saw each other. Speaking of travelling, we especially love the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands. When not lounging around on beaches, we enjoy cycling vacations, and (rail)road-trips. We’ve gone on two long (800 km) cycling vacations in the South of England, and one in Italy. Italy is one of the most beautiful, and surprisingly rugged, countries in Europe, especially if you get off the usual touristy path as we did by bike. Another great, rugged vacation, was when we walked from the west to the east coast of Scotland, through the Highlands. One of the most memorable railroad-trips we’ve made, was from Amsterdam via Berlin and Prague to Krakow, one of Poland’s jewels: it was, in many respects, a magical and haunting trip back through time. In The Netherlands, I worked for NCR in various positions, including Developer and Architecture Consultant; then as Development Consultant for Microsoft; then as Manager, Development for Amsterdam Software Consulting. Taking a turn from a commercial to a more public service-oriented career, I then worked as Head of Computer and Network Services for the Academic Medical Centre of Amsterdam (AMC). From 1995 through 2005 in Amsterdam, Hans and I had a penthouse flat on an island in the harbour of Amsterdam. We attended the Oude Kerk (Old Church) in the city centre, led at the time by Sytze de Vries, a remarkable minister who has a very rare gift for language and liturgy. In 2005, we moved to Vancouver, Canada, where we lived for three years. We lived in the area of Vancouver known as Mount Pleasant, facing northwest, overlooking False Creek. The superficiality of sermons and lack of thoughtful discourse in most churches in Vancouver made it difficult to find one where we felt comfortable, but we felt most at home at St. Paul’s Anglican Church of the West End where the congregation was diverse and open, and they did some really relevant social outreach work. I worked at the University of British Columbia (UBC), as Director, IT Infrastructure, and served on the Board of BCNET. I was very fortunate to get a generous amount of vacation (six weeks, plus the days between Christmas and New Years, plus 12 statutory holidays) so we could get back to Europe to visit friends and do our clothes shopping, and to La Gomera to escape the grey and soggy Vancouver winter. After three years, we decided to move back to Amsterdam. Read more about The Canada Experiment. We moved back in the Summer of 2008. There were a lot of ‘moving logistics’ to deal with - finding a temporary apartment, moving in, buying a new place, moving in (again), etc. - but we also found time to just enjoy being back in Amsterdam, biking and going to step-aerobics classes, reconnecting with friends, etc., and we travelled by train to London, Hamburg, Berlin, and Gdansk. In November 2008, we took possession of our new home, located just east of Central Station. We repainted the whole place, renovated the kitchen, toilet/WC and bathroom, and build in some closets into the master and guest bedrooms. With Christmas in-between, this ended up taking until April! Watch this space for updates! |
