I've been preparing tomorrow's journey for over a week now: tickets, insurance, appointments.

But, as always, the night-before is a busy one. Daniel and I went to do some shopping (got a power converter for the States), and we had dinner together in Subways, to get into an American mood. The rest of the evening I've been packing my suitcase, and I'm ready to go now!

I've packed everything now and I'm leaving to Schiphol. The most convenient way is to take the Zuidtangent.

It's not the fastest connection (the train is), but I don't have to transfer, which is nice because of the suitcases.

This morning I went to the VU. There was an application I had to make, but the forms are not available electronically. The student office opens at 10:00 o'clock, so I basically spent the whole morning to fill in a single form.

This application has to be sent within 6 weeks after my official graduation date, thus before October 13th. A copy of my graduation bul is required -- which I obviously don't have as my graduation is October the 15th. Marvellous system.

Today I spent a lot of time on my thesis, which is completely finished now. I wrote an abstract and printed 25 copies. This afternoon I brought them to a bindery shop, where they put a plastic front foil, solid back and a coil bind. It really looks nice!

The final, complete version of my thesis is also online (in PDF): A Survey of Co-Design Ideas and Methodologies.

Daniel is staying here a few nights, which is nice. In the mean time I am preparing for the two big events coming up: this Friday I'll fly to Washington and after that there will be my graduation.

I'm going to Washington because Sasha is working there 2 months for the World Bank. I'm very happy for her, but two months being separate is long so I'm glad I can spend 10 days there.

I'll come back in the Netherlands the 14th; one day before my graduation party. A few days ago I sent out the invitations, and I am getting some really nice responses now. I'm sure it will be a great event.

Yesterday evening Daniel and Jean-Paul came for a drink. It had been a while since I saw Jean-Paul. It didn't feel like that however since he is a frequent visitor of this website. He told me the price of a business-class ticket to Washington... it's about 8 times more than I paid for mine.

I feel a bit better now, the headache is still there but less severe. I think I have some kind of cold, so I'm taking it easy and eating extra healthy.

My father was in Haarlem yesterday, so he took me by car to Middenmeer. He also brought 2 suitcases (a big one and a small one) which I'll use next Friday when I'll go to Washington.

I feel a bit weak -- yesterday afternoon I got a headache and my head is spinning a bit now. A relaxing weekend will do me good.

We played one game of Steden & Ridders yesterday. I won.

The last two days I've been quite busy. The most important was arranging my plane ticket to go to Washington. My plane is scheduled for next Friday; I'm looking forward to it a lot.

I also sent the invitations for my graduation, October 15th. Of course all regular readers are invited -- the invitations should arrive today or tomorrow.

I found my bike back!

I didn't know I lost it until this afternoon -- I thought I had left it at Chess, but it wasn't there when I wanted to go to the supermarket with it. It wasn't at home either, so I went to the shop walking. And there it was!

It's nice that it's possible here to leave a bike (with only a single lock) for a week in the big shopping street.

For a long time I've been interested in American politics. Especially now the elections are approaching (about a year to go), I enjoy reading about the candidates and the campagnes.

A great Dutch website I recently found is Amerika.nl. It's a website that accompanies Dakota, a magazine. The site is an initiative of Frans Verhagen, who's online diary is probably the part I like the best -- sharp observations and strong opinions. Not that I always agree with his view, but it's a pleasure to read: "Essentially Sharon told Bush: Fuck you. And Bush said: thank you, Ariel."