About Me

This blog is for telling the stories I like to tell, for pointing out things that I like, and for saying what I need to point out.

If you are considering studying in the UK, as I am doing now, do visit the Tips page. If you're ready for more of my writing, read the Leicester Adventure page to see what I have done with my life in the year that I spent at this fabulous university. If you truly want to know what I think of a very wide range of topics, read my Opinions, or my Writing page for some of my poetry. If you want to know more about me, stay here and read on.

I am currently working on a PhD in English Language at the University of Leeds, investigating what language newspapers have used since 2007 to describe cases of corporate fraud - I do so because language use can tell us a lot about what people think about a topic, even if they do not explicitly express these opinions, and I think that people have started to think differently about corporate fraud since the start of the global economic crisis. Since people's opinions are extremely important in democracies - they dictate rules and regulations and can even forge and alter power relations.

Last year, I studied Criminology at the University of Leicester, writing my dissertation on the reporting of tax evasion by large multinational companies in the UK over autumn 2012. Before this, I studied Social Sciences at Roosevelt Academy, now UC Roosevelt, in Middelburg, the Netherlands, writing an Independent Research Project on the threat of the Italian mafia to the Netherlands, based on a report by the prosecution service. 

I aspire to be a university instructor, and I'm planning to supplement my studies by doing an LLM in Criminal Law and a BSc in Economics some day. However, my current short-term goal is to upgrade from 'provisional PhD' to 'permanent PhD' at Leeds. 

I did not start any of my adventures until I was 18 and moved to Middelburg. That wasn't because of sudden freedom - my parents were never quick to forbid anything. It was more because I became increasingly bored of myself. I developed a fear of being average, of being 'just like everyone else'. My adventures are hardly the stuff of legend, as they are on a more psychological, philosophical level - they are explorations of the things I like and of things I find. 

Of course, many of the things I like and find are still very much mainstream, but every once in a while I stumble upon something different.

Things I find interesting include language and power, media representations of crime, crime and economics, crime and politics, criminal law and justice, ancient Egypt, the Napoleonic era, vampires, discussing time travel, discussing morality, tulips, lasagna, vintage clothing, pocket watches and high heels.

I'm a big, big fan of Doctor Who, but only since I started properly watching in January 2013. The first ever episode I watched was 'School Reunion' way back in the day when my friend cast me in her Doctor Who fan-film, and I saw 'The Angels Take Manhattan' on 29 September 2012 when I moved to Leicester, but it wasn't until I started watching episodes on iPlayer when I was getting bored when writing my essays at Leicester that I discovered I really liked the show. Since then, I have watched pretty much every episode currently in existence (including most of the reconstructions), and I went to the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Celebration in the ExCeL in London in November 2013.
My favourite Doctors are, in order of favourite, Two (favourite Doctor at first sight), Five (he took a while to grow on me), Ten (because, well, David Tennant), and Four (because jelly babies).

I like Oscar Wilde and William Shakespeare because they are outrageously funny and clever.

I like Rembrandt, Rubens and Ruysdael, because in their paintings even the light tells a story; I usually dislike modern art except for that one I saw in Lille once that was six life-sized urns in bright colours.

I like epic sagas, like The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Harry Potter - Latin was one of my favourite secondary school subjects because of the stories. 

I like film, TV, novels; I like things that are weird but still make sense. 

So if you're willing to join me on my Adventures, happily read on!