“I wish my name was Hanny van Arkel. It sounds like the name of a minor character in Pippi Longstocking or something”. “Hanny’s Voorwerp was recently discovered by an amateur astronomist (a primary school teacher) who says she doesn’t even own her own telescope. Now why couldn’t that have been me?!!… I want to do something cool in my lifetime like that!!!” And “She’s really cute for a scientist”…
These are just a few examples of comments on the internet about me. I don’t know who wrote these, but I’m pretty sure I don’t know any of the writers. I have to admit that sometimes it’s just fun – and a bit weird too, in a way – to ‘google’ your name and accidently stumble on comments like these in between the ten thousand plus hits Google comes up with, and realise they’re talking about you… (And yes I know I use the word ‘fun’ a lot, but I’m an optimistic person).
Even more amusing are the messages I get in my inbox. From people I haven’t spoken to in years, from people I haven’t spoken to ever in my life, from kids, from teachers and from friends. One of the many nice ones was Brian May congratulating me and this text from my good friend Richard. Richard and I met at school (to keep it simple, in Dutch we call everything from primary school to university ‘school’) when we were about seventeen years old. He is one of my best friends, even though we are so different in many ways. Together we invent new verbs and I like him for his down-to-earth attitude. Anyway, here’s the translation of what he said:
“I got the Intermediair, a friend of mine had you lying in the old paper bin, I think I’m going to collect you! Sleep well x.”
I’m glad that most of my friends just like what I’m doing and nothing has changed. The cliché is true however that you find out who your real friends are (which is good) and who jealously shouts fame changed you. Sigh. Luckily I stand above such stories and I think it’s only sad if someone doesn’t feel happy enough with their own life. So, carpe diem!
Back to the nice reactions, here’s one more. It’s a (Dutch) letter from ‘the city’ saying they are proud of what I’m doing… And whatever your opinion is, feel free to share it with me by leaving a – polite – (Dutch or English) comment here.
2 Comments
Te gek zeg! Ik zie net je uitzending op uitzending gemist bij de Wereld draait door, wat tof dat je zo’n ondersteuning van je gemeente krijgt!
Ik ben wel een beetje *AHUM* jaloers….
Dag,
Marc
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