Category Archives: Davis

Special – Another Davis – Lion Hearts X

Contents

Ten years Another Davis
Magical realism in reality
The battle
Multiverse
The Davis house
The Magical-Realistic Earth
Lion Hearts previous parts


DOWNLOAD LEEUWENHARTEN DUTCH Part I-X pdf
DOWNLOAD LION HEARTS ENGLISH Part I-X pdf

Ten years Another Davis

Nine previous Lion Hearts blogs have been published. I haven’t followed a timeline in years, cross my heart and hope to die, but I realized a few months ago that Rob and I have a ten-year Another Davis anniversary on May 30, 2024, and this should not go unmentioned. After all, on May 30, 2014, he was found physically deceased behind his computer. As a result, he had left Groningen and, based on my findings, moved in with me in Another Davis. For convenience, I will omit the quotation marks around Another Davis in this blog. The perfection of the cosmos remains awe-inspiring, as Lion Hearts Part X, ten, now coincides with this ten-year milestone from 2014-2024.

May 30, 2014. And still May 29, 2014, in Davis, California. I felt it, even without knowing. An icy hand had gripped my heart. And then the knowing came too, when Jan Willem Nienhuys emailed me. J. Hennekam said that, in her view, Rob had not died on May 30 but on the evening of May 29, 2014, and that was Ascension Day. Despair set in, the search for Rob on the other side. Finding him too. The marriage with my ex, fraught from the start on January 6, 2005, was officially ended by the court on April 8, 2018, but I had been alone since the first half of 2017 when my ex suddenly left the house and immediately entered multiple relationships. I suspect that he mentally detached from me definitively on the day of Rob’s death. My ex is not clueless and likely sensed that it was over. It was certainly not clear to me in 2014. But Rob came and stayed. Looking back at who I was in May 2014, I can say that Rob might have been right when he mused aloud to me on June 12, 2012, “I certainly don’t think we are destined for each other or anything like that. I don’t think we have much in common and if we were close to each other, we might end up arguing within a day.” I was indeed far too immature (a late bloomer). Only after Rob’s death did we truly develop a good understanding. I see our failure before May 2014 primarily as my ‘fault’. For instance, I now feel much more relaxed about whether or not one ‘must’ be 100% vegan. I also understand that skeptics do not accept what they consider excuses from people who claim to have out-of-body or near-death experiences, about why they failed to provide evidence (such as reading normally invisible sequences of numbers placed high above the operating table, specifically set up to prove that consciousness can exist separately from the physical body). After all these years, the need to be right at all costs no longer interests me. What matters to me now is my love for Rob and our shared skeptical and relational interests, because yes, they were and are abundant. Only when he entered his new state of being did Rob acknowledge the depth of our connection and decided not to leave me alone. And should all this turn out to be different (which would give me infinite sorrow, which fortunately is not possible since existence would then be finite), the love I now feel from Rob remains the same. After his passing, Rob enveloped me in love and support, swathed me with endless patience and warmth, steering me away from a marriage that had completely derailed me. I finally began to see that a good relationship is supportive and can only succeed if both partners hold and propel each other with the greatest imaginable love.

Magical realism in reality

Another Davis began very early in the Lion Hearts blogs. Rob and I organically ended up there after his passing, but it was Rob himself who, from the very beginning of our contact, essentially introduced it. This began with his story and explanation of magical realism on February 25, 2006—the world in which all events almost magically align, everything has meaning and purpose, wondrous yet still real things happen, and nothing is coincidental. (See Lion Hearts III and Lion Hearts IV)

Rob Nanninga, February 25, 2006: “I can still remember one time in a dream where I saw the solution to a puzzle in an adventure game. That was quite handy because then I could finally continue with the game (the solutions were not available on the internet back then). I have also had a precognitive dream, which many might consider convincing evidence of precognition. I became somewhat superstitious for a while after that, but that gradually faded away. After that, I only entered into a sort of paranormal trance once. That was during a short vacation in Bruges where I attended a multi-day fairytale congress with two others. That week resembled a magical realist novel. A lot of surprising things happened and miraculous coincidences occurred that were all interconnected, as if nothing happened by chance. Just like in a good novel, I could detect foreshadowing, symbols, repetitions, reflections, parallels, leitmotifs, and double meanings everywhere. Although this was naturally due in large part to my own creativity, the events certainly lent themselves much better to such an analysis than usual, so much so that it also caught the attention of my travel companions. After I pointed out the common thread to them, they could follow it well.
It was during this visit to Bruges (a real fairytale city, but somewhat bourgeois) that I decided to write a critical book about parapsychology. I told this to an American first. Right after that, I went to the book fair in Frankfurt to buy some recent professional literature from the US, which at the time took months to arrive if you ordered it from a bookstore. Among other things, I bought the book “The Psychology of the Psychic.” It had a chapter on coincidences that appealed to me greatly. After that, I didn’t experience many meaningful coincidences anymore. Or did I? On the day I had my manuscript duplicated at the copy shop to send it to publishers, unexpectedly, the American showed up at my doorstep, whom I hadn’t spoken to since Bruges.”

Download Psychology of the Psychic (chapter)

Rob was/is an extremely well-read person, and you could tell, in my opinion, from all his emails. Anyone who, like me, reads the relevant chapter will discover that the authors indeed provide very solid counterarguments regarding things considered ‘too coincidental to be chance.’ The explanation often lies in the fact that people only want to see the success stories and not all those other cases where things just went about their ordinary course without divine peculiarities. It remains Rob’s strength that he keeps things open, even in this email to me, as he ends with yet another very nice case of ‘improbably coincidental.’ Although I have few of these kinds of emails from him in which he discusses his own ‘paranormal’ experiences and things like magical realism, they provide a pleasant segue for me to establish a simple definition of magical realism in reality. I choose to fill this in, trusting that Rob and I are an entangled pair and are on the same page, with the term ‘synchronicities.’
In this blog, I want to introduce the ‘new’ value of magical realism for real life, not just as value in magical realist novels.
Magical realism as an existing value in reality is based on ‘very strong coincidence’ and synchronicities. Very strong coincidence refers to events that seem to coincide or happen in a remarkable way without a clear cause or connection. These could be situations where different events are interwoven in a surprising manner, or where something unexpected occurs at a moment that is particularly relevant or significant. It can also refer to events that seem extremely unlikely but still happen. Synchronicities are events that occur simultaneously in a meaningful way, without a clear causal connection, but are perceived by the individual as related or meaningful. With what I consider a good example of synchronicity, I begin this blog: At the moment of Rob’s passing, I officially knew nothing, but in exactly the same timeframe that Rob passed away, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a profoundly negative mood where everything seemed completely black and meaningless. “Very strong coincidence” and “synchronicities” have a strong overlap, with the difference being that synchronicities involve strong coincidences happening at the same or nearly the same moment in time.

A few examples of situations that can be considered “very strong coincidence”: I strike up a conversation with a complete stranger during one of my bike rides, and we discover that we were born on the same day, in the same year, and even in the same place.
Examples of synchronicities: You’re grappling with a particular problem, walk past the bookshelves in the library, and a book falls out that contains exactly the answers you need. Another example: You’re considering making an important decision and suddenly see a car with a license plate indicating something like “YES” or “GO AHEAD.” Rob Nanninga actually had a nice example for this in his book “Parariteiten,” but managed to ‘explain it away,’ and it speaks to his credit that he made a reservation expressed in the sentence: “In this case, it could be that…”


Download Parariteiten

These examples of magical realism illustrate how meaningful coincidences can occur, where events are mysteriously and seemingly unrelatedly connected. My idea about this ‘new’ scientific value (yes, I dare), is that it is increasingly happening, or rather, people are becoming aware of it, when they are alert and look up more for answers and beyond a linear concept of time. This brings the idea that we may live in a matrix into play as well.

I’ve now let AI assist me for a moment, and I must say: AI is very helpful in this case.

My question to AI was:

How are the idea of living in a matrix (simulation, life as a kind of game, hologram idea, etc.) and the phenomenon of synchronicities intricately intertwined, if they are at all?

AI was not shy in their response:

“The idea of living in a matrix (simulation, life as a kind of game, hologram, etc.) and the phenomenon of synchronicities can be intricately intertwined in the following ways:

  1. Control and Programming:
    • In a simulation or matrix theory, it’s assumed that reality is controlled and programmed by a higher intelligence or advanced technology. Synchronicities, also known as meaningful coincidences, can be seen in this context as programmed events deliberately embedded in the simulation script by this higher intelligence to facilitate specific experiences or insights.
  2. Meaningful Patterns:
    • In a simulated reality, the experiences and events of individuals could potentially be consciously designed to form certain patterns and meanings. Synchronicities can be interpreted as indicators of these patterns, reinforcing the illusion of deeper meaning and connectedness in life.
  3. Consciousness and Perception:
    • The hologram or simulation concept suggests that what we experience as physical reality is a projection perceived by our consciousness. Synchronicities can then be seen as moments when consciousness ‘notices’ certain connections or symbols within the simulation, making it seem as if these events are meaningfully linked.
  4. Information Exchange:
    • Within a matrix or simulation, information can be exchanged in ways that may not be possible in a ‘real’ physical world. Synchronicities could then be examples of unexpected information exchanges or ‘glitches’ in the simulation that stimulate awareness and growth.
  5. The Role of the Observer:
    • In both simulation hypotheses and synchronicities, the observer plays a crucial role. The idea that our perception influences reality aligns with quantum physics and the observer effects often associated with synchronicities. This may suggest that the matrix is influenced by what its inhabitants believe and perceive.
  6. Existential Questions:
    • Both concepts raise existential questions about the nature of reality and our existence within it. They suggest that there is more than what we perceive with our senses and that our experiences are part of a larger, perhaps intentional design. Synchronicities can be seen as clues that encourage us to look beyond surface reality.

This intertwining provides a framework for understanding synchronicities within the context of a simulated or holographic reality, where such experiences can be meaningful as ‘bugs’ or ‘features’ of the matrix that give us a glimpse of the underlying structure of our reality.” (As per AI)

AI suggests here, simplified in my own words, that our world might be the creation of a very high intelligence and that synchronicities are built-in game elements meant to help us delve deeper into our reality. And I asked another question to AI:

Do you think there could be a meaningful connection between the existence of synchronicities and the possible existence of a Multiverse?

Here too, AI was not shy to respond: “There could be a meaningful link between the existence of synchronicities and the possible existence of a Multiverse. Synchronicities are often seen as meaningful coincidences that defy logical explanations, suggesting that there is a deeper connection between events, beyond our usual understanding of cause and effect. The concept of a Multiverse, where multiple, perhaps infinite, parallel universes exist, could provide a framework for understanding how such seemingly unlikely events could occur. If these universes occasionally intersect or influence each other, that could explain why synchronicities occur. However, this is speculative and remains a fascinating subject for further exploration in both science and philosophy.”

I want to summarize this for my readers who might be leaning back in their chairs, a little startled, with: “There is so much more.” 😊 But again, in my own words: In moments of cosmic rift, the different versions of the multiverse intersect, leading to very strange and stubborn coincidences, synchronicities. An example: that book falling off the shelf, and it happens to be the perfect book for your problem, is caused by the tear in the Cosmos from the other you who just pulled that book out of the shelf and dropped it. With this blog, I hope to stimulate serious exploration of these ideas.

Rob became inadvertently more concrete, clearly leaning towards the multiverse idea, when I introduced him to the movie “Another Earth” in 2011, which he then watched himself, and from November 8, 2011, jokingly began signing some of his emails with “Bor” instead of “Rob.” (See Lion Hearts V).

The battle

For the writing of this blog, I naturally had to revisit all my previous Lionhearts blogs. There I stumbled upon my own intimate revelations, both about my marriage to my ex and much more about the intimacies between Another Davis Rob, the lions, and myself. I hadn’t forgotten these, but apparently, I had parked them in a far corner of my mind. I must say: this now brings me, in 2024, to a new sense of embarrassment. I’m not going to retrospectively withdraw some of the very explicit confessions; what’s the point with the Internet Archive, and some people have already read them anyway? Perhaps I’ve become more Americanized, more prudish, if you will (not in actions, but in the thought that you shouldn’t lay everything on the table). Also, now being 56 years old, I might be a bit calmer and more cautious. Well, what’s done is done? Or perhaps not, wink wink, in the multiverse worlds and versions? Every disadvantage has its advantage: with the richness of details, it serves as a living and breathing brain on which I can rely solidly as my years begin to count. Perhaps there are also people who appreciate that I was so explicit.
Desperately, I wondered how I could ever continue on Earth without the physical Rob. The answer was: “I can’t.” The answer still is: “I can’t.” Rob was already during my marriage, when he was still physically on Earth, my only beacon of hope. I hadn’t even realized that all those years since 2005, when I virtually met Rob, but this became painfully clear on Ascension Day 2014. Life tries to coax me time and time again, my body cells want to survive, my body whispers escape routes and ideas to me so it can survive itself. The dramatic event with the two Henryk Vogels is one of them (see here, here, and here). The immense sorrow over Rob is still there and is greater than all the tricks human nature wants to play on me. Our love is greater. But life kept clinging to me, and still does.
The past ten years have been inhumanly heavy, especially in terms of loneliness, and no, I’m not exaggerating here. Due to the disruptive effect of my marriage with my ex, I have become unaccustomed to engaging socially and physically, and progress in this area is only happening in micro steps. Sometimes it seems like I don’t even want it anymore. I also struggle quite a bit with my body, especially at night. Although I wrote earlier this year that I had “stopped taking paracetamol,” I must now retract that statement. Yes, I was so proudly abstinent for five months because of nighttime stomach pain, but it turned out that quitting didn’t bring relief. On the contrary, the discomfort in and around my stomach area seemed to worsen. Possibly, the damage or hypersensitivity is simply irreversible. And the annoying pulsating of the vein in my left temple usually stops when I take paracetamol. Overall, it seems that especially my head greatly appreciates the substance.
The ten years between Rob and me were a constant eruption of love, that was the other side. Rob, the skeptic, continued the adventure with me from Another Davis, as best as he could. Certainly, he too has fought a battle. The effort on both sides is immense. I dare to say all this in the blessing that comes with the idea of the quantum entangled couple. After all: we don’t even have to ‘try’ to reach each other, we are already together without visible or invisible lines. Breaking our quantum entanglement would, I think, only be possible if the shared core of love were no longer there. Iopt out on that one, and I hope Rob does too. This was and is a relationship that has gone through all the ebbs and flows over the past ten years.

And time and time again, when I was at my wit’s end, the flame beneath my earthly despair and loneliness began to flicker, encouragements came, and still come: “Hang in there!” Let me give a few examples. I’m completely in love with the new inner crew Rob Nanninga lion “Surprise” with his beautiful soft mane, his attentive and lightly ironic, heavenly eyes. I’m head over heels for all the inner crew Rob lions, and the infatuation strikes again and again. And last March, my mind made a beautiful connection: the lion had literally arrived like a ball, and another word for ball is “Orb.” That word is itself a skeptical wink because “orbs” in photos are often seen by paranormal believers as spirits or energies. Suddenly, the word Rob rolled over to Orb, and then I immediately had a new name tag made for Rob Surprise Lion. My mind then continues to play with the name of the new Rob lion: Surprise Orb, Supreme Orb, Sublime Orb, Superb Orb, Super Orb, Stunning Orb…

Another morale booster this year was when I Googled the name “Roelof Hendrik Nanninga” once again. And Google said, “Pop!” A new discovery once again highlighted the healthy, skeptical, resistance-offering power of the Nanninga force. Not Rob, but likely a relative of his with the exact same name and location in Groningen, popped up. A Dutch resistance hero who had hidden weapons for the Germans, was subsequently arrested and imprisoned by those same Germans, but fortunately lived to tell the tale when he was liberated by the Americans in 1945! Given the age, he could have been his grandfather or a brother of a grandfather. It seems too coincidental that someone with the exact same name and also located in Groningen was not related to Rob. Such new pieces of information, like when I managed to dig up Rob’s media appearances at the Beeld en Geluid institution, provide fresh fuel for my Rob-flame.

Pseudo-skeptical, unbelieving, and disapproving scoffers and deniers came and lingered. I pay no further attention to these individuals, but I still want to mention them once. Nevertheless, our love triumphs. Surprise! We are still standing. After ten years. And as far as I’m concerned, we will always continue to do so.

Multiverse

I recently replaced my iPad Pro, unfortunately just a bit too early for the latest version (secretly, I’m a bit annoyed, perhaps replace it early). After that, I subscribed to an Apple TV subscription again because: free for three months. And as the first thing, after binge-watching the entire Harry Potter series, I randomly clicked on Apple Originals and watched those. And indeed, there, with iron determination, Apple also presented quantum physics and cosmic insights. The Apple Originals 2024 series “Dark Matter” and “Constellation” revolve entirely around this theme, and so do the Apple Originals 2023 series “Crowded Room” and the movie “Ghosted.”

Two screen-photos of the Apple Ghosted movie and I added the cat in the fridge.

Nothing happens by chance, it seems time and time again. That’s precisely what I’ve been preoccupied with since the beginning of the Lion Hearts blogs: trying to determine ‘where’ Rob is now, if he still exists, and how our relationship extends so far across the universe and even beyond the universe. I’ve delved into highlights of quantum physics several times in my Leeuwenharten blogs, such as in Lion Hearts VII, quantum entanglement like with Schrödinger’s cat, the multiverse idea, and the (quantum) entangled pair.

“The idea of a second, twin or Counter-Earth is not the same as the concept of a Parallel or Multiverse world. The two concepts do have in common that they both suggest that strange things are going on in our universe, and that there’s much more than meets the eye. ” Lion Hearts V

“My impression of the existence of “astral”, parallel, multiverse worlds is that together they enable a continuum. One world is attached to the other, and together the worlds form an infinite “DNA” strand, through which people also travel, creating an eternal link of interlocking possibilities. ” Lion Hearts VI

Hot stuff! Just to be clear: I know very little about quantum physics, and the cheese not even vegan, as I’ve been eating some goat cheese occasionally lately (that’s new, I hadn’t done that until around 2023). I’ve been assisted by AI in the following piece of text, and I’m putting it forward not only for you but also for myself. I haven’t fully grasped everything yet. But then again, who has? Hopefully, someone with a sharp quantum physics mind can build on it in a positive way.

Can we continue to exist? Can different parallel worlds coexist, as proposed in the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics? In this interpretation of quantum mechanics, all possible outcomes of a quantum event become reality, but in separate, parallel universes. This means that there may be versions of us that continue to live in other universes while we may be dead in our own universe. Although life and death are absolute states within a single universe, the multiverse offers a perspective of a kind of continuity of existence. What is the influence of the observer, and is the observer actually the key? In the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics, the observer plays a crucial role: the state of a system (the superposition in which something is indeterminate, both dead and alive) is only determined by observation. This reminds me of the process of reading books: as soon as you open a book and continue reading, the characters ‘come to life’ again, in a unique way for each reader. Think also of the classic “Die Unendliche Geschichte,” which introduces this principle in a grand manner: as soon as you open the book, the story comes to life and ‘continues’. Michael Ende says something that I imagine aligns with the role of the observer in quantum physics. He suggests that the book belongs to no one and is different for everyone (see the last image in the gallery). So, the observer determines, in line with the Copenhagen interpretation. Although the many-worlds interpretation is less dependent on the observer for determining outcomes, the observer experiences only one of the many possible outcomes in a specific universe. This concept of the multiverse makes us contemplate the infinite possibilities that may surround our existence.

You could simplify this principle even further to just one single unit: Love. As long as there is Love, the subject of that love is also alive. But I don’t mean this only theoretically, but truly alive and breathing. And because this is a blog, I can simply say this without having to prove it under laboratory conditions. Now that the phrase “laboratory conditions” comes up, I want to revisit what I said earlier about the difficulty of proving the existence of out-of-body experiences, in which I myself did not succeed sufficiently. If indeed a multiverse exists, it could be that you project into the ‘wrong’ multiverse, preventing a conclusive match with the version where you are physically present at that moment. Only an out-of-body experience with clear consciousness in exactly the same multiverse would then have a chance of success. Believe me, I’m not secretly trying to convince skeptics, I’m simply presenting it as a thought, a possibility. But this is not fantasy. Rob is truly present. His influence is felt day and night, as seen in my previous blog Syncblast 2024. I even believe that Rob not only protects me but also my bike, the Trek 7.3 that saw the light of day on Monday, June 3, 2013, and that I have been riding for over 10 years now: the red bike that faithfully accompanies me. Another lucky ten-year anniversary!

Yes, I believe that Rob’s influence extends so far, and much further. The (pseudo)skeptics, like Pepijn van Erp, haven’t dared to challenge me regarding the Leeuwenharten blogs. Oh yes, he considered it (tell me it’s not true, Van Erp), he was already working on it. But they can’t win this battle because love conquers all. Always. Strange things happen in this regard as well, things that make me think that the cosmos and Rob are not exactly gentle when it comes to protecting me, because they do. The stakes seem to be extremely high.

The Davis house

This house where I’ve been living since October 2011 is a laid-back and, as far as I’m concerned, magical-realistic house. As seemingly? easily as my ex walked out the door here in 2017, that’s how attached I am to this house.
In this house lived my housemate Jocelyn. When my ex left, I found myself in an acute financial attention situation. I started looking for housemates, and Jocelyn was the first to walk in here as a candidate through a Facebook advertisement. From the summer of 2017 until the beginning of the pandemic, I had housemates. I immediately liked Jocelyn. She stayed for two years to complete her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at UC Davis. Then she left back to Los Angeles, where her family lives. We didn’t keep in touch. But then there was a surprise here. A snippet from her email, which I received on March 9, 2023: “[…] I always thought you were a cool and interesting person despite us not talking for a while. And over time my appreciation for the experience at the house has grown, as well as an interest for Dutch culture. I made a friend from the Netherlands and we like to share things about each other’s cultures and have even sent gift packages with things like snacks/foods from our countries. (It turns out I’m not the biggest fan of licorice…) In fact, I am making a trip with my brother to Europe later this month, visiting the Netherlands, Belgium, and France for 1 week.” I even received a postcard from the Efteling, where she had been. She didn’t know that this meant something to Rob and me because she hadn’t read my blogs. All of this was such a surprise to me that, as far as I’m concerned, it falls under magical realism. Suddenly, I also knew who I could leave my concrete belongings as well as my digital legacy to, see my previous blog for that. It all fell into place; she has even started learning the Dutch language, she knows me and the house, and she’s also a Leo by zodiac sign. When she left as a housemate, she gave me a small plastic lion. It now sits by a portrait of Rob. Since mid-April 2024, she has been living with the Dutch friend and his parents to explore how the match works. She’s quite a talented artist, as seen in image 1, and in image 2, a photo of her visit to Bataviastad:

When I asked Meta AI to depict Another Davis and described it in just a few sentences, I had to endure a lot of junk results. But suddenly, a stroke of luck appeared, as almost always happens with me. A house that seems to have been sawed in half, with a small part on the left to refute that idea. First, a “Huw” flashed through my mind, and then a “Hey!”. I live in the right half of a teal (blue-green) colored, wooden duplex house with a slightly sloping roof, as seen from the street. But I absolutely didn’t ask Meta AI for this! The next day, I saw even more striking details in this coincidence: the exact color of my current house, the lawn as I have it in my front yard, even the coniferous trees, like the coniferous tree in my front yard, were correctly placed in the background in the AI image. This AI representation came with complete magical realism straight from the cosmos to me. And I can assure you, AI isn’t there yet, they can’t read minds if you describe your desired house in five sentences. I hadn’t used the term “duplex house,” only “house.” But that’s how it is: Rob also lives in this house, in the ‘counterpart’, which would make this house one (and not the duplex part of my nice earthly neighbors Tamera and Syed). The magical realism between Rob and me was already there with our addresses in the Netherlands: Rob lived at Westerkade 20 in Groningen and I at Weststraat 20 in Scheveningen.

The magical-realistic Earth

I would like to conclude this blog with a vision of all the worlds that exist. It will undoubtedly come across as science fiction, but who knows, perhaps Rob and I are close to the fire. I believe that human civilization on Earth has various possible futures, in what I call the ‘multiverses.’ I now put quotation marks around the word ‘future’ because, given the above, time is not linear but rather an infinite series, a ‘ball,’ of possibilities. One possibility is that humanity will completely destroy itself, with wars already happening but on a global scale and even more devastating. The other possibility, which I hope for and consider equally likely, is that humanity will become wiser and make every effort to save what can be saved. In that case, I predict a world imbued with magical realism, where ‘synchronicities’ play an increasingly significant role, and wondrous events are observed worldwide through the perception rifts in the cosmos, which are also demonstrable to science. In my expectation, these perception rifts will become larger and more numerous, thinning the veils between the multiverse worlds and beckoning a unity of worlds. The progress in studying the strange leaps of quantum physics and the growing interest in it, in my opinion, send a clear signal in that direction.

Courtesy Eline Hulspas. Lightly edited by me

Although I’m not a fan of repetition, I’m going to repeat this song that I already shared and discussed in “The White Raven“. The emphasis here is on the parts in bold:

When the desert sun has passed horizon's final light
And darkness takes it's place...
We will pause to take our rest.
Sharing songs of love,
Tales of tragedy.

The souls of heaven
Are stars at night.
They will guide us on our way,
Until we meet again
Another day.

When a poet sings the song and all are hypnotized,
Enchanted by the sound...
We will mark the time as one,
Tandem in the sun.
The rhythm of a hymn.

The souls of heaven
Are stars at night.
They will guide us on our way,
Until we meet again
Another day.
When the dawn has come
Sing the song,
All day long.

We will move as one,
Bear the load
On the road.

The souls of heaven
Turn to stars
Every single night
All across the sky...
They shine.


Lion Hearts previous parts

Part I – Rob Nanninga – Who took (t)his picture?
Who took (t)his picture?
Drawings I made
Who took (t)his picture, continued
Question answered
More photos of Rob Nanninga
Footnotes
Part II – Lion, Where Are You?
Cuddly lions
Devastated even before I officially knew
Looking for Rob after he passed away
The other end of the universe
Finding Rob
Footnotes
Part III – Rob Nanninga, The Lion
How we met
The Rob-Constantia connection
The fallout and Rob’s passing
Astral Wanderwege
Astral cycling
Astral Blitz
Magical Realism
Astral Wanderwege, continued
The astral Peter R. de Vries
Finding Rob, recap
Astral Wanderwege, continued
The magic (intermediate) final
“Stenny” & “Parameter”, A FOK Story In 9 Images
Footnotes
Part IV – Lion Hearts
Intro
Plush lions
The amazing Whiskers
Plush lions continued
Turning point
The jealous lion
The Rob Nanninga lion quad
Caring for the lions
Cycling and seeing Rob
Rob in my dreams, role-play
Rob’s photo and the drawing I made
Magical realism, the lion ring of God
Rob’s music and Darkwood
Rob in my out-of-body and related experiences
Rob’s healing influence
Lion hearts
Stats and “raps”
Meanwhile
Rob Nanninga lion art in collaboration with Neural Painter
Footnotes
Part V – The Roar
Part I: The Roar
Part II: Roaring Events
Raptures: Orgasmic Outbursts
Out-of-body and dream related events
The wish-you-were-here-song
The enclosing
The sudden swoop
Koningsdag
Rob emerging
Air-jumping Lions
Moving in with Rob
Pepijn
Rob in the air
The not-vegan, whistle-lollipop
Erect tail
Getting through
The shepherds
Striking things named separately
Funny positions
Music and love songs
Seeking Vice versa
Dense shaped
Healing effect
Getting better all the time
Kissing skills
Astral eroticism
Rob traveling to me!
Footnotes
Part VI – Steppin’ Out With My Baby 🕺
Part I: “Steppin’ Out With My Baby, Can’t Go Wrong Cause I’m In Right”
Another Davis
Let’s get physical
On the crook side
Part II: Robs en Constantia’s Steppin’ Outs
Raptures
OBEs and related experiences
Footnotes
Part VII – Quantum Entanglement
The magic-realistic Live Photo in Davis-Ivy Town
Quantum Entanglement
Snert particles!
New media files!
Gallery Space and Quantum Entanglement
Footnotes
Part VIII – Ascension
(2019-)2020
Gym blues
Plans for the Netherlands
Magical Realism continues
Robbert and Stan
Robbert
Stan and Alan
Edibles
The Brakes
Future
Rob Nanninga quotes
Gallery 2020
Footnotes
Part IX – Wanderjahre (Journeyman years)
2021
Lion 10!
Gallery
Aviator in town,
A tribute to the Night Witches, “Unknown Soldier” and to Darkwood:
Family, mother
Miracles and other wonders
Gallery continued

Disclaimer: The following can be seen as a quest and thus also as an encouragement and stimulus for others to conduct similar research into understanding our reality, which, I dare say, is infinitely more complex and deeper than it appears to the human eye. My blog is therefore not intended as the bearer of a new dogma.

Syncblast

Regarding the visual lion updates, I had left off with the treasurer Rob Treasure Lion. Since then, two more lions have been added to the Inner Crew. Rob Traveler Lion has an irresistible “Who, me?” look in his eyes, saying, “Madam, why are you looking at me like that?” before devotedly falling into my arms. Rob Fierce has a striking fiery glow in one of his eyes.

Rob and I are on a journey together. In my impression, Rob, through his transition, didn’t suddenly know more than me; we discovered things together. Through the search for a soulmate, where I unexpectedly ended up with two Henryk Vogels instead of one, the focus shifted from music to the ideology of Darkwood! Call it an afterglow. And we also stirred up the life of the second Henryk Vogel.

Although these Wanderwege seem like errant paths, I get the impression that Rob, I, and our involved friends unintentionally made quite a precise push in a game of dominos. Both regarding Darkwood and its namesake. Are these Irrwege, in fact, unfathomable moves of the Cosmos intelligentsia? Speaking of which, my other soulmate, Cees van der Sloot, who called me “the great awakener” in Utrecht back in the 1980s, is also active again. Rob and he have undoubtedly met each other by now.

With regards to my intercontinental stay in Europe-Dresden, on July 29, 2022, I decided not to use cannabis candies and tablets anymore, and since then, I haven’t taken them at all. Sometimes I still crave them, but I have reflected on their influence on my judgment. Looking back, I realize that I let the situations with Darkwood and the two Henryk Vogels persist for far too long. Although it is difficult to prove, cannabis use may have played a role in this. Both Vogels turned out to be comparable catastrophes for me personally, which is why I have decided to end my quest for a soulmate involving both Rob Nanninga and myself. The truth is that I never want anything or anyone to come between Rob and me.

After quitting cannabis, I noticed that my body tends to want to gain weight. I had lost weight to under sixty kilograms, as seen in the White Raven photoshoot. During the photo session, Mayumi Acosta had to adjust my jacket because it was too loose: “Have you become even lighter?” Since then, I have gained approximately 4 kilograms and need to be a bit mindful to prevent further increase. I quite enjoy the light feeling, especially when it comes to clothing; it’s very pleasant.

The master photographer Mayumi Acosta recently announced that she and her husband will be emigrating to Innsbruck, Austria, this year in October 2023. For that reason, I quickly booked one last photoshoot with her. Below, you can see the beautiful result!

I still greatly enjoy cycling and hiking, and this spring there was a renewed surge of activities as the temperature and nature in California are always at their best during this season. I am still living off the meager alimony, which will end next year, and my savings, some of which are invested in cryptocurrencies. Currently, I am still unemployed. My ex-partner gave me quite a scare with a serious skydiving accident (which was his hobby: jumping out of planes, now even as an instructor and guide, and he had just started pursuing his pilot’s license before the accident). For me, true love doesn’t end with a divorce, and although I have no contact with him anymore (he seems to actively avoid it), I was still able to convey my wishes for a speedy recovery to him through Instagram and email. He has been in rehabilitation for several months now.

Since early May 2023, I have definitively said goodbye to Twitter. I started feeling increasingly uncomfortable there due to the influence of Elon Musk. For me, Twitter has actually been a major disappointment from the beginning. I invested a lot of time and attention into it, but I always received little response, respectful communication, or appreciation in return. As Mr. Wonderful from Shark Tank would say, “Take it behind the barn and shoot it.” I am beginning to understand this life philosophy better: that it is better to acknowledge when something is clearly not successful. This seems to also apply to the “My Diaries” website that I launched, which generated so little interest that I have closed it for now.

The skeptical movement in the Netherlands, under the “leadership” of Skepsis board member Pepijn van Erp, and with the continued failure to intervene by board member Jan Willem Nienhuys, has dealt a final blow to everyone, including myself, when it comes to respectful Dutch skeptical discussions. It seems that respect is no longer a priority for them. Van Erp’s aggressive approach towards those with different views has caused a true battlefield. Unfortunately, I have not been active with Skepsis Netherlands for years now. But Rob Nanninga is always there, and his love and healthy skeptical influence cannot be taken away from me.

Joran van der Sloot, who plays a significant role in my Robbert van den Broeke-Stan Pluijmen blogs, will be in America to be tried for his extortion of Beth Holloway. I remain hopeful that he will finally tell the truth, but he will, of course, need to provide evidence to support it, otherwise, no one will believe him anymore.

To date, there have been no changes in my pursuit of not growing old. The anticipation and driving energy behind this are building up significantly, and I feel the pressure increasing. I have identified three private roads to the heavenly feast, but the word is with the Cosmos.

NEW DIARIES WEBSITE LAUNCHED!

Check it out! 

My Diaries website of Constantia Oomen

Weekly new diaries and/or diary selections are added. The first 13 integral diaries have been launched along with 2 specials.

December 2013

Added on: 12/17/2013 02:12 pm

After a year, an update. 

– We still live in Davis.
It turns out that our initial choice was the very best too. After checking out San Francisco and surrounding area, like Hercules and San Rafael, and visiting lots of other places, we have concluded, there’s no place like… Davis. It’s safe and peaceful, we have enough living space with three bedrooms, 1.5 bathroom, a large kitchen, very large living room and garden, there is beautiful nature, mountains in the near distance, lots of space for me to bike on a flat subsurface, an Army of Love in our garden with a steady growing amount of birds and a small army of Squirrels.

Our feathery buddies in our front- and backyard include:
Anna’s Hummingbird, Scrub Jay, House FinchMourning Dove, Robin, Cedar Waxwing, American Goldfinch, Dark-Eyed JuncoRed-breasted Nuthatch (they sound like Zebra Finches!), Mockingbird, White-crowned Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, Red-shafted Northern Flicker And more!

* I will continue to update this list when I have more names of loyal birdie visitors. 

In Davis, additional: Turkey Vulture

Regular busy birdie day in our backyard (iPad photo), Mourning Dove in bird feeding trough and next to it

Regular squirrel day in our backyard (iPad photos)

Junco in our backyard

Hummingbird in our backyard and on our Hummingbird swing

 

Anna’s Hummingbird in our front yard

Red-shafted Northern Flicker in our Silk Oak

Squirrel in our backyard

Detail of squirrel in our backyard (all photos by me)

Davis is a perfect starting point for trips to San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Los Angeles, San Diego etc.. We have all the stores we need here in a very close proximity and at our doorstep: Trader Joe’s, Co-Op, Wholefood, Grocery Bargain Market, Nugget Market, Costco… and a lot more. Furthermore, UC Davis is all around us: an intelligent, vivid sphere to live in, with fantastic annual events like UC Davis Picnic Day (check out my clips of that on my YT Channel).

– We visited San Diego in the Summer of 2013, and I have to admit that San Diego maybe is even more beautiful than Northern California. We discovered a lot of new birds out there, like the Great Horned Owl. This fantastic bird has filled me with a desire to live there too. So let’s keep that in mind!

– Jeroen has an even better job now, as Programmer V. Before that, he was a Programmer II and he just leaped forward with three steps at a time. In his free time, he has become a real computer game boss, always eager to explore new ways to shape his programming skills.

– I have stopped working at the German Language School in Sacramento.

– We bought a Glock 19 mm, and have practiced thoroughly at the Gun Range in Sacramento. We both like shooting! Did you know all the Glocks, whatever the size, are the same price? At this time: $499 (without tax).

Constantia with her Glock 19

– We have bought an Open Wheeler game seat, because we love to race indoors. My favorite race program is called: Test Drive Unlimited, I really love to race (virtually) on Hawaii and Ibiza in a Bugatti Veyron. That has become my favorite car too. Maybe own one one day?

–  Speaking of Hawaii, we definitely want to go there as soon as time will allow it. Another travel plan consists of the direct California Zephyr train trip from Davis to Chicago (and maybe return by air plane).

– My eye sight continues to get worse (thanks, dad , love you anyway), and I have far worse eyes than any of the other family members including dad Joris: left: -9.25, +2, right: -7.75, +2

– After a very late start (getting my driver’s license in 2009), I am a pretty good driver now and it’s one of my new favorite things to do. I have a lot of catching up to do, here in beautiful America. Everything I missed doing in The Netherlands, I do here in California. Another example is the bath tub: we didn’t have one in Scheveningen, and we do have one here. So for a long time, I often was taking two bath tubs treats on one day. Now, I go in the bath tub once a day, almost always with Epsom Salt, taking facial very aromatic masks etc.. I simply can’t get enough of the bath tub.

– After quite some years not reading that many books (though listening to audiobooks), I have picked up reading, and read a lot now. Always with my contact lenses removed, because of my troublesome multifocal sight, I can’t read with lenses, even when they are multifocal. Without my contact lensens, I have to hold the book really close to my eyes, or wear my old pair of glasses, which still works pretty good.
Since discovering Nelson DeMille, I find it disappointing to read other authors like James Patterson and Mary Higgings Clark, but I do okay Karen Rose (she can write nerve wracking). Nelson DeMille is a great teacher for me, and I absolutely love his wit and very keen, intelligent humor and observations. I ony avoid his latest book “The Quest”  that turns out to be a reprint of a much older book of his, but then with more sex in it; it has very bad reviews, and I don’t want or need my very high opinion of Nelson destroyed by one possible misstep. I can only thank him for fueling the sacred reading light with new oil.
My reading location is foremost: the bath tub.

Nelson DeMille’s books and audiobooks (iPad photo)

– The weather in Northern California is ab-so-lute-ly amazing. Every day is a sunny day, with endless blue skies. First, I had to get used to that every-day-is-a-holiday feeling because of the sun here. Now we are used to it, and when there are a couple of clouds, we consider it ‘bad weather’ and stay inside. Yes, you get spoiled very fast.

– I laugh up my sleeve diabolically (yes, I know I’m bad) when acknowledging some Dutch stuff, like the terrible weather, the terrible incestuous bad TV shows, the problem with ‘bontkraagjes’ (though that object itself isn’t funny at all), or the fact that they consider an Euro Jackpot of 10 million to be large. (we have a Mega Millions Jackpot today (December 17)  of $636 million) .
Everything seems so small now in The Netherlands. Of course, we have some good memories there, but we are very happy to be future USA citizens (we plan to become US citizens in 2016, and I will vote for Hillary Clinton then).
I do have to admit, I reclaimed some European food stuff, like Bertolli pasta sauce, things they don’t make that well here in the US. Once in a while, I order something at the Dutch Store in Michigan. Why not have the best of both worlds, huh? But the US has a lot to offer for us vegans, like a very good range of vegan pizzas and marshmallows.
A little late (but better late than never) I discovered Trader Joe’s, and they have the good bread here (without the unhealthy long list of ingredients of average US bread), containing no sugar or high fructose corn syrup (this is an ingredient I have learned to avoid). Much like the great German bread in fact. Trader Joe’s is truly a perfect store with good prices for very good and pure food.

At Trader Joe’s they have American ánd European food of high quality and good price – Belgian Endive

– We love the TV Show Shark Tank.

– I have truly discovered e-Bay and Amazon (and more of course),  and order a lot of necessities and not-necessities online; only food I buy in our direct surrounding area, but even some food products I buy online. Stuff from all over the United States of America is shipped to our J Street in Davis.

– Yes, I still have frequent out-of-body experiences (and related experiences), and lately, all the more. I am very thankful for that, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

– In January 2014, Jeroen and I will be been married for 9 years already and even years longer than that together.

Jeroen and me, me reading the iPad book and he controlling the computer game – iPad photo by reversing camera (and with help of mirror)

– I have biked a lot, it keeps me in an overall good shape, both physically and mentally. More than 12242 km (7606 miles) since February 17, 2011.

– Emigrating was a little easier for Jeroen than it was for me; of course, he’s younger and I think age is of importance (let’s be real). In retrospect, I can see that I was a little more fearful than he was, but it turned out that the fear was unnecessary. I felt a little bit of the outsider the first year in Davis. Jeroen quickly found his way around; I took a little longer to drive without the TomTom and feel assured to do so. That kind of stuff.
Everything is different here, and people are different. There is a lot more reason to smile here, and so people do, and I had to refind my lighter self, but I think I am getting there real fine.

Furthermore, there was some adjusting for me to do regarding the very warm nights in the Summer and some chilly nights in the Winter (we have a wooden house here, with a different heating system than in The Netherlands), but I have adjusted to that with a great – made in Texas – bed fan in the Summer, and a ‘new’ body that adjusted to Californian standards. Actually, the Summer of 2013 wasn’t nearly as hot as the Summer of 2012, and the bed fan wasn’t needed that desperately. Jeroen didn’t have a problem with Californian temperatures, not even with the hot nights.
There were some challenges concerning cockroaches in our backyard in the Summer, but that ‘problem’ too, I have addressed. You just have to keep your garden very clean and remove bird and squirrel food every evening very conscientiously.  It wasn’t difficult, we just had to learn.

Summarized, immigrating does require flexibility, but if you have that, it is very rewarding and an immense boost for your body, brain and spirit (assuming you have made the right choice like we did, choosing the country and State that’s right for you).

My happy feet while writing this

Great Horned Owl

Immigrated! Children’s Book!

Added on: 10/24/2011 07:10 pm

Immigrated on: World Animal Day, Tuesday, October 4. 2011
Left Thousand Oaks on: Thursday, October 13. 2011
Moved in new house in Davis on: Friday, October 14. 2011
Official lease start date: Saturday, October 15. 2011
Written on: Monday, October 24. 2011

Dear you.

How have you been doing lately? I know you all have been dying to hear something from me , and I feel very ashamed that it took me over 5 months to write a new blog.

You Dutch people must feel awkward that I’m writing in English now. I could write it in Dutch too, but maybe I’m a little bit too lazy for that, I’m not sure.

Besides that, guess I always want to do things thoroughly and writing in Dutch feels like I’m not doing it thoroughly. But I hope you can all understand my English?

The update is a big one: Jeroen and I have immigrated to the United States of America. I wrote about Jeroen winning the DV 2011 Lottery, and thus winning Green cards to live and work in the U.S.A. We started out in Thousand Oaks, which is near L.A., and  it seems like paradise to us, because of its fabulous trees and views. Keith and Amber were there to assist us in our first steps on American ground, and they did that in an unprecedented manner.

They made sure our start in the U.S.A. was as smooth as it could be.

We then had to find out where we wanted to live and considered the following places: Thousand Oaks, Walnut Creek and Davis. The first is like I mentioned: a very pleasant place with the most beautiful trees I have ever seen and very friendly people. But the neighborhood is not as accessible as we would have liked it to be, for Jeroen and his potential customers, and for me to educate and instruct in German and/or Out Of Body Courses! Also to me it is very important to be able to bike, and in Thousand Oaks I would have been the exception, and I’m not good in biking uphill! Biking isn’t common throughout the U.S.A. and the main reason is that the hills and mountains make it impossible. Bikers are like stray wild, they are outlawed in a way and not safe at all. Only in some places, you can bike.

We looked around in Walnut Creek, but felt the people there were not outgoing at all (except from the nice lady that showed us an apartment): they didn’t look at us, didn’t greet us very friendly etc.. This was very different in Thousand Oaks!) The traffic in Walnut Creek was very confusing and not relaxed too. We didn’t feel welcome in Walnut Creek!

It was a more than a 6 hour drive from Thousand Oaks to Walnut Creek (it’s in San Francisco East Bay area), and it was already in the late afternoon, but we decided to drive up to Davis the same day and we arrived there late. The sun was already setting and in the last light of that day, we arrived in Davis.

Then, the magic hit me, it truly did!

We were driving through this very friendly little city, where all the houses are some way or the other covered with (kind of low) trees. It’s like a fairy tale  city: a lot of houses lying in what almost seems to be a sort of forest. Anyway: this is what it looks like in the evening and at night. The houses (many of them with no floors) are all very different, but ‘equal’. It seems all people are equal here, for the houses do not differ that much in size.

I (inwardly) had the strangest sensation  – I’ve never had before – that everywhere I looked, bubbles of energy were rising from the houses and trees, upwards to the sky. Like this whole city was just sparkling and bubbling with energy. The energy here was and is very much alive! I guess I perceived the astral version of the city.

I wouldn’t have noticed it like this, when we would have arrived there in the daytime.

We arrived so late because we took the ‘wrong’ way, by accidentally avoiding toll ways; this was a set up by our Tomtom.

We chose that option, because we were confused about it, and then had to drive two hours from Walnut Creek to Davis, instead of one, when you do want take the toll way! (and pay a $5 bill for it).

But this was good, because now I got hold of the astral sight of the city, and it was our first acquaintance with Davis. To me it seemed it took forever to get to Davis; time was crawling by the minute as Jeroen was driving to Davis, instead of flying, but hey, we arrived at exactly the right time.

We ate some good vegan pizza and hit the Wifi in the Pizza restaurant. We by then – disappointed about Walnut Creek – had in fact already decided to live in Thousand Oaks (and Davis was just a curiosity, though I picked it out in The Netherlands as the best possible spot, because of its geographical location and it’s flatness, so I could bike), but while we were sitting there, eating and WiFi-ing, I said to Jeroen: “We seriously need to consider this city, I am not sure about it, it  could be something.” Jeroen agreed. After sleeping a night over it in Walnut Creek (where we stayed in a small hotel), Davis started to grow on us, and the next day, we decided to visit it again, to check it out again now during the daytime, to make sure what we felt being there. We drove up there again (now in one hour, not two).

And then things really changed fast. Again, we saw people biking everywhere, the same friendliness in everybody’s faces, we heard very clever, bright, verbal word jokes and conversations on the streets and on the terraces, I felt that sparkling energy in the houses, in the trees, in everything. We saw how open and just bursting with energy this little city is, and then Thousand Oaks was overruled by this little giant.

We decided to look for a house in Davis! So we did and we found it. We were looking on Craig’s List and couldn’t find what we were looking for (we looked at some houses by driving around), but then I changed the settings in Craig’s List to houses with a rental price under  $1600, not under $1500, what Jeroen had set. And: there it was and popped up: our house. it wasn’t even $1600, and why it did pop up suddenly now, i don’t know, but there it was. Our eyes started to shimmer and we both said: let’s go there now to check it out. We did and fell in love! It’s the most lovely house, at least twice as big as the apartment we had in The Netherlands, with front, side and back garden, car port, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bath rooms (with 1 bath), a huge kitchen with extra kitchen island and a very large, and very bright living room. Tiles on the floor everywhere (I am allergic to carpet, and most houses in the U.S.A have that, and because of it were not eligible), and screen doors and windows everywhere. The kitchen  is brand new.

The house has a washer, dryer, a very big refrigerator and even a dishwasher.

In the front garden, there is a robust, straight, healthy and friendly pine tree and in the back garden there are four lovely trees. One of them is located in the middle at the back, and is offering shade against too much heat and sunshine.

This was just perfect and we applied for it immediately. We succeed (we had to pay two months of deposit, instead of one), and we could move in that same week on Friday. We were in Walnut Creek and Davis on Saturday till Tuesday. We got back in Thousand Oaks on Tuesday and left that Thursday again, where we stayed in the very good Econo Lodge hotel. The next day (Friday) we got the key to the house and then we had our own house!

Two strange things happened while being in Davis. We hadn’t even signed the lease yet, but after checking out the house on Sunday and doing some shopping, Jeroen returned (with me ) to the Econo Lodge and I then felt he was driving the wrong way when he drove up the parking lot of the hotel. I expected him to drove up to ‘our’ house, this was spontaneously and unwilled, it just came over me!

Another strange thing happened the next morning. I woke up early in the hotel and thought I was already in our new house (again: we hadn’t even signed the lease yet) and thought I heard guys shoveling the branches and leaves that were piled up in front of the house (not the hotel!). They do that here: people makes bunches of their garden leaves and put it on the street and then the local authorities come to pick it up. I thought a) I was in the house already (it felt like ours already!) and b) I ‘heard’ shoveling of leaves and branches.

But none of the two applied, though they applied in the Cosmic sense of the word! Because later that day, I discovered, the leaves and branches, that were there the evening before, had been indeed picked this early morning, for they were gone now! So it seemed not only my spirit was already living in this house, I had actually made some kind of out of body observation that was true. This all gave me the pleasant impression everything was going as ‘foreseen’.

It did, because the house owner actually approved us for the house and Jeroen didn’t even had to show proof of his income (we had to pay extra though: one month more deposit, in general you only pay one month deposit) and we could move in, after bringing the cashier’s check (you pay with them here).

We are very happy in our new home and garden. We started gardening already and are attracting birds by feeding them and hanging a Hummingbird feeder in the tree and planting flowers. Yes, there are Hummingbirds here in Davis, we saw them several times already, not yet in our own garden.

There is one downside, and that is that I miss my Zebra finches I had in The Netherlands very much. We had four very old Zebra finches males (two of 6 two of 9 years old). I just couldn’t take them to the United States, because of the very long flight and quarantine (1 month), they wouldn’t have survived that. I struggled for over a year what to do with them, to whom to bring them to, etc.. Finally, we brought them to a very large outdoor aviary, the most beautiful we ever have seen. They arrived there on May 18. 2011, but three out of four have passed away after some weeks and months. It was too much for them and my heart is broken by it, because we, in all nine years we had the finches, never lost one single Zebra finch male. Now they were not with us anymore, they died, one after the other. They were very well taken care of (let there be no misunderstanding) and in the most beautiful aviary, but obviously the impact was too heavy after all. Only one, our little, clever rascal Theo(dore) survived, and the latest news was that he was in excellent health and the chief boss of the aviary. I hope he still is.

So that will be the burden I carry around: our leaving The Netherlands was too much for our 4 Zebra finches veterans. Yes, they were very old, but I’m sure they could have reached the age of 10- 12 years and still had some years to come for them. I feel guilty about this, and I forever will.

Davis is the best thing that could happen to us, and we are very thankful to our American friends Keith and Amber, because they were there for us to offer us their hospitality in the first ten days. We are living in Davis now and picking up our lives here. Jeroen has changed his name to “John”, because Americans just can’t pronounce “Jeroen” (his baptismal names are “Jeroen Johannes”, so this suits him fine) and I have changed my name into my real name “Constantia” because all Americans, reading, speaking and writing that name, spontaneously complimented me on it, they think it is so beautiful, pretty, etc.. So I then thought: well, let’s abandon my nickname “Sten” then, and return to my own baptismal name. Welcome to America, John and Constantia!

We have a new used car, it’s an Audi 4, and we were very lucky to get hold of it (again, thanks to Keith). John is very happy too with our new house and everything, he’s all excited just like me. He will continue to be the “IT Guy” and I will be looking for teaching or instructor jobs, maybe in my own living room, because it is so big, I could give my OBE course in it, like I did in The Netherlands. But in The Netherlands I had to rent a course space in Rotterdam – in “DJOJ”- , but I have the best course room here in my house. With the adjacent kitchen and kitchen island and, the garden as the place to chill out during the course, it could be the best course space I ever had.

Of course this is a big adventure and we are not sure if we are going to make it here, but we definitely don’t want to return to The Netherlands, because we both have outgrown it. We love the Californian climate, the wideness of the country, the thousands of bird species, the squirrels that are as big as cats, the friendly people, the shops, the delicious, outrageous good tasting vegan ice creams. Davis is a dream for bikers too: in this little city, almost everybody bikes, and my bikers heart is jumping up with happiness every time I see this or every time I bike myself in Davis… Davis is magic with it’s so many friendly sports fields and playgrounds, it’s environmental concerns and bikes.

There is some serious astral stuff going on in Davis too (beside of the fact I am there now ), because Charles Tart lives in Davis. He was a good friend of Robert Monroe, the pioneer in out Of Body Experiences and wrote the foreword to his book. Charles Tart writes about Out Of Body experiences and I guess he paved an astral way for me in Davis.

Still, I am not finished, because my children’s book Through Heaven is about to be published. I virtually met Daniël Benjamins, who is an Apple programmer, and he offered me to make iPhone and iPad apps out of my book. This book has been waiting for more than two years, and somehow, the timing wasn’t right, because I just could not get it done, and people who were offering (financial) help, withdrew or were not heard from again. But maybe, this was meant to be. Now it will be an American-Dutch delivery, so there will be four apps: for iPhone: ThruHeaven and DoorDeHemel and for iPad: ThruHeaven and DoorDeHemel.

For the American version Andrew Maggiore stood by me, he’s the best American translator and reviser ever.

What’s up with the ‘ThruHeaven’ name? Well, in the iTunes stores the names of the apps can only be about 12 tokens long, so we had to abbreviate it. But that wasn’t a problem, and I owe the domains http://www.thrubooks.com and http://www.thrubook.com for a long time already, so I must admit I’m a bit of a clairvoyant.

As soon as they’re out, I will notify you and of course, I hope you will buy them. They are very cheap, only $1  /  0,79, so this will be the bargain of the year, if you are looking for some serious and beautiful astral soul food for you and your kid(s).

More photos: most of them taken with iPhone

Look close, that’s Jeroen (John) on top of the rock.

Our house and garden.

Emigration USA Continued – Green Cards!

Added on: 10/24/2011 07:10 pm

I have been waiting to write the next US blog until Jeroen and I had more certainty about our emigration. That moment has now come. Where will I start, well, let me think…

May 14. 2010 Jeroen got the announcement he was selected in the DV 2011 Lottery of the US Government. This is a Lottery by which means you don’t win money (well, for the time being that is), but you win the right to live and work in The USA. Because only about 2.5 % of the Lottery participants wins, it’s kind of a big deal. To us it was and is!

I always had that magic thing going on with the US. Sometimes it just killed me (figuratively) that I wasn’t there. You can call it ‘homesick’. Yes, I’m Dutch, but that’s the way I felt about it. Then Jeroen and I visited America (Washington, Oregon, California) together in 2009 and he too fell in love with this country. It was the second time we entered the US Lottery and this time we got it all right. Jeroen did, and because we are married, I was the lucky ‘Appendix’ and am allowed to travel with him. Then we had to wait for a year! Jeroen had lucky number 252##, which meant that we were not among the first ones to have the emigration interview at the American Embassy in Amsterdam (they start in October each year). I calculated we would have our interview around May 2011, and May it was.

Even though you have won, you still have to meet the requirements, legal, medical, financial and educational or ‘work experiencial’. The US government would only be looking at Jeroen to meet up with their requirements (because he was the winner), so he would have to be the one with the right papers. (But we needed both to be in good health, that was the one requirement for me). I started assembling things, paper works, and made a very neat and smart folder for Jeroen, which was ruined by the way during the visit at the Embassy, because the lady at the desk asked me to rip all the relevant pieces out of the folder. The folder that I carefully put together in a year’s time, was then a mess in about ten minutes. But hey, it served its purpose. (and I will reorganize it again)

So we had our interview May 17. 2011. We had our obligatory medical on April 28. 2011. I was nervous about it all. I am a real stress chick, fortunately Jeroen isn’t. They wanted to screen us in all relevant ways, and so they did.

We had our X-ray taken, and it went okay. The lady who had taken my X-ray photo, told me she worked with an uncle of mine for three years. She started by asking: “Are you related to Janus Oomen?” Because both my grandfather and an uncle of mine go by that name, I replied: “Yes, which one…?” I didn’t even think about a cousin of mine who’s name is also “Janus Oomen”. Then she told me it was Janus, the internist, and I could confirm that particular Janus Oomen was my uncle. She said: “Tell him I said hello”. It’s a small world. For this X-ray photo’s you had to undress your torso and even my bra had to come down.

Then we had to see the assigned doctor, that is Dr. Schulte, both Senior and Junior. They took our blood samples and examined us. Dr. Schulte Junior wrote down a few of his favorite German songs, when he heard I was a German teacher. That was very kind of him, because he saw I was nervous and he tried to reassure me there was nothing to it. Here is that note (I wrote the last word ‘Collateral‘, that was a movie he suggested too):

We turned to be in perfect health, though my heart beat and blood pressure were significantly higher pure out of stress. I know this to be true, because we had a preliminary medical checkup at our own doctor, just to see how things were standing (to be prepared). In this preliminary I had a blood pressure of 100-65, but at Dr. Schultes, it was significant higher (148-…)… and my heartbeat at the preliminary was 70 (if I remember correctly), and now it suddenly was 88. Jeroen was a lot easier going and his heart beat was a sporty 60 at both medicals.

But everything fell within the norms, so we didn’t need to worry and our blood came out healthy as well.

Then yesterday, D-Day… We got in the car at 10 PM which turned out to be way too early, for when we arrived in Amsterdam, we had to wait for hours (it was at 1.30 PM). I wanted to go early, to exclude the possibility that we would be too late. Oh oh you stress chick… After some walking around aimlessly, we sat down in the “Vondelpark” in Amsterdam, and the birds were singing so beautifully in the three.

Oh wait, let me tell you about the ‘signs’ around the medical and the interview. After Jeroen and I had our medical, I found this little horse on the street:

I looked up the meaning of ‘horse’ and found this: “As a Native American symbol, the Horse symbol meanings combine the grounded power of the earth with the whispers of wisdom found in the spirit winds. The Horse has long been honored has helper, messenger, and harbinger of spirit knowledge to the Native American. Considered wild and an emblem of freedom, the Native American sees many potentialities in the symbolic nature of this noble creature.”

(Source: http://www.whats-your-sign.com/horse-symbol-meanings.html) Well, that was a nice cosmic sign, thank you, Cosmos!

Then, before the interview at the Embassy, we bought a little something in the AH shop. There I saw this little rabbit, just standing on his own, at the beverage department. I took it to the checkout and wanted to pay for it, but then the lady at the pay desk said: “This is not from here!”, and she allowed me to take it for free. You maybe think: well, what’s the sign in this one? Then you have to read this passage in my biography: “As a toddler, my favorite toy was my stuffed rabbit. The cuddly animal was inextricably linked to my chubby arm. When I lost it, it was a great tragedy and I kept crying until I had a substitute back in my arms again.”

Yes, my first and most cherished toy was a stuffed rabbit with pink ears, it was my first ‘guardian angel’ and of course, I still feel that magic something when I see rabbits with pink ears. So, I now had this little small version as our good luck charm for today. I still have the old rabbit, here’s a photo: (his ears are not that pink anymore, but they used to be)

And here the one I found May 17. 2011 in the AH:

But there was a third sign. As we were sitting on a bench in the Vondelpark, this man walked past us twice, who looked like Keith. You sure will be asking: who in heaven’s name is Keith? Well, Keith is our contact in the United States. He is a veterinarian and lives in Thousand Oaks. We got to know him in very strange and in fact incredible way (too long a story to tell right here). Keith is our mail address for correspondence of the US government, our green cards will be send to his address. You had to give an address before / during this interview for this purpose. So, there was this man passing us by twice, and we both agreed he looked a lot like Keith, and we thought that was very nice.

Then the interview. There was some very strikt security around and in the US Embassy in Amsterdam at the Museumplein 19.

We had to leave our bags and cellphone behind. Even the folders we had to take inside were carefully examined. The handsome and friendly black security guard opened the folder with my paperwork and diplomas (I brought it with me in vain, because they had no interest whatsoever in my diplomas), and he kept staring at my first ‘diplomas’. You need to know I put my diplomas in there chronologically, and so I started with – please don’t laugh too hard at me – my gymnastics and swimming certificates of the Elementary School. He kind of looked with that disbelieving glance and then burst out laughing and said: “Wow, you still have that. That is so cool! I haven’t got mine anymore.” So, a little bit embarrassed, I laughed with him and he let us through, after the standard security drill.

Inside, there soon was a long line of waiting people, all for different Visa wishes and appointments. I got the firm impression we were the only ones there for winning the Green Card Lottery. Then this thing with Jeroen’s folder started. Frantically I was getting all the stuff out the nice lady at the desk (behind bullet-proof glass) asked from us. She examined everything carefully (birth certificates, marriage certificate, diplomas, work experience, financial support) and scared us a little, by telling the documents that were on my name didn’t count (like the ownership documents of our house and saving accounts that were on my name). Fortunately we had a job offer on Jeroen’s name, (with a dollar amount on it) and the audit of the value of Jeroen’s business in the Netherlands. We had nine work recommendations for Jeroen, but it took me so long to get them all out of the folder, the lady said: “Just take the three most important ones.” I guess this was just a little bit of a overkill (all these recommendations), so Jeroen chose the three most important ones. Finally she wanted our U.S. passport photos. Then she asked us if we brought the stamps too. Yes, we did, and she told: “You are the first ones who have this.” You need to take stamps for a registered package, because they will send you things and they want you to provide the stamps.

After this, there was this long, long waiting. More than a hour later we were called and we stood at the desk again. A handsome young US consul (dark hair, dark eyes), made us swear we tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth and raise our right hands while we were doing this (the swearing). So we did. Then he asked Jeroen some things, and we were (nervously) excited but oppressing this. He was quickly but seriously going through Jeroen’s diplomas and work experience, and examining it. We were getting pretty nervous at this time, because he had that very serious look on his face. But more and more, a smile came over his face and it lighted up his intelligent face. Then he said the magic words: “Your visas have been approved!” We told him that we were very happy about it and he then replied he too was happy about it. He told us our passports with the green card entry stamp would be returned to us in about four days. With these Green Card stamps you are allowed to stand in row with US citizens the moment you get off the plane and when you need to check in. You’re no tourists anymore with the Green Cards. After this “POE” – Point Of Entry – they will send the actual Green Cards within two-three weeks (it could be more) to the given address (that is Keith’s address in our case).

With a light and enlightened step we walked away. We did it, wow, we did it!

Now we have to carefully start planning things. Of course, we already have given it a lot of thought: where to start, what to do and how to do it, but now we really can. We will start at Keiths in Thousand Oaks, California, for he was so kind to offer his home as our first place to stay (for a week or so). When I have more relevant news, i will continue this blog.

Thanks for reading!