wHO iS tHIs MIsSgiEN, aNYwAy?

EvErytHinG U nEvEr WAntEd tO kNOw aND U dId NOt rEaLIze U DidN'T!

wHO i aM

I am Gien, which is short for Regina, which means 'queen' btw. I do not know what my parents expected when I was born, but with a name like that, you're bound to disappoint them. (I'm kiddin': my parents are very proud of me) Gien is pronounced with a Dutch "G" (if you're not Dutch, don't even try - everyone will think you caught a cold). I'm 36 years old, live in Nijmegen with my family: my son Thomas and my husband Geert. If you follow the links, you will see, they both have their own webpages. You can read more about Thomas at his own website. Geert has his miniture painting website: Grt's Mini Matters.
I was born in Wolfheze, a small town on the 'Veluwe', probably the greenest part of all the Netherlands - the forest was right outside our backdoor. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. All of them are married and have children aswell. All of them are on the Internet aswell, but only my sister-in-law, Micheline, has a homepage too: Micheline's Crowded House on her very own domain: micheline.nl. A couple of years ago my mum (well over 70 now) went online! I'm so proud of her! ;-).

On August 11, 1998 I had heart surgery and now I walk around with a clicking piece of metal in my heart. Everyone around me was quite nervous, but personally I did not worry too much: the AMC (Amsterdam Medical Centre) is the best hospital in the Netherlands en worldwide famous for it's heart surgeries. Why worry, then? I am happy that I did have the surgery, though: my son is very active and I am sure I could not have kept up with him if I was still sick.

WhAt I Do

At this point I am not working, although my health is much better: it's hard to find a job at the moment.
Thomas is at a special school, which took me an hour to bring him and get back home again... so that's 2 hours a day I spent on him going to school. Since he learned how to ride a bike, we cycle to school together.
I gave up my job at the SOVS where I worked for a year jn December 2002, to be able to be at home in the afternoons, when Thomas is at home. The SOVS is a pressure group for soccer supporterclubs in the Netherlands. I was responsible for the website, the magazine and did some administration. It does give time to work on my website more often, that the good site of it all...

For three years I worked for the first Dutch Internet Service Provider for the public: XS4ALL. In February 1999 one of our co-workers died without a warning. This is to show the world that I will never forget him!
I started working at NetlinQ Framfab in August 2000, where I built websites after all the other departments did their bits: like a construction builder puts a house together from all different parts, a webbuilder builts website from all different parts made. Although I do have my own website, I have noticed I have a lot to learn in HTML, javascripting and css. Once, I'm sure, I will have that all under controle...
As I moved to Nijmegen in February 2001 I stopped working at Netlinq's at that time.

In my spare time -if I have any- I like to surf the web, participate in newsgroups, study, go to live concerts, listen to music, see a movie (preferably sci-fi, fantasy or historical), expand my website, make crossword puzzles and play with my son. Not necessarily in that order, by the way.
Since a couple of years I have a weblog, which recently got it's own domain: missgien.nl and I also have an archaeological newslog with dutch articles which is updated daily.
As soon as I can I turn on my computer and check my mail - I have to admit: I'm an Internet-junky. I think it's the greatest 'invention' in communications since the radio! Ever since I got into the internet I started making homepages, learning HTML while doing it. No books, no courses, no teachers, just me and my two cents. I even added a little JavaScript every now and then, like on top of this page: the photo. Check it out if you have not already!

WhERe i cOMe FrOm

I was born in the small village Wolfheze (near Arnhem) on March 31, 1965. Here I spent the first 20 years of my life. Then it was time to leave and for over 10 years I lived in the most wonderful Dutch city there is: Nijmegen. For over 20 centuries people have lived in Nijmegen. Even before the Romans created "Novio Magus" some 2000 years ago, old celtic tribes lived on the banks of the river, we now call the 'Waal'. And now I am happy to have returned here after living in Amsterdam for about 4 years. Amsterdam is too crowdy, too violent and too big for a country girl like myself. My favourite Dutch singer/songwriter happens to be from Nijmegen as well: Frank Boeijen. Nijmegen has a lot to offer to a young girl who just moved into town, as I did when I was 20 years old. The Place To Be for a live concert is, without a doubt Doornroosje. Another place where I spend lots of time is at the Paraplufabrieken, Plu for short. Go, and have a look. ;)

I'm glad to announce, that in the spring of 2001 me and my family returned to Nijmegen. Amsterdam is simply no city for a little boy to grow up. According to my opinion there's way too much violence (both verbal and physical) and the city is highly overcrowded. So, I'm very happy to have returned to the city that makes my heart bounce and I feel a lot happier here!

WhAt I BeLIevE In

For a long time I did not believe in anything, whatsoever. I was so full of everything religious that I simply turned my back on it. But since the beginning of 2002 I've grown more and more interested in wicca, witchcraft and the Mother Nature Cult. I do believe that the World is all we can depend on, the World, which I prefer to call "the Mother" gives us everything we need, but still people seem to want to abuse her more and more. I still do not own a car, I still try to live a "green" as possible and I have been going down the witches road, not for a long time now. And it feels good, it gives me confidence. And to me, that's the main purpose of religion: getting in contact with yourself.

wHAt mUsIC i LiKE

And so we return to the music again. I love several kinds of music: blues, rock'n'roll, jazz. That kind of stuff. My favourites are: Guy Forsyth (I do anything to see him play live, except for flying the Atlantic), Dwight Yoakam and Loudon Wainwright III Unfortunately, so far I only saw him live once.
I also love to listen to music of Dutch singer/songwriters. I already mentioned Frank Boeijen - as I lived in the city whIch is his hometown, I am fortunate to see him perform live regularly. Sometimes he steps into a bar and starts to play there, just for fun. To Thomas one of his cd's is special: Jazz in Barcelona. I used to play that one a lot while I was pregnant. Still do now I come to think of it.

Then there is Boudewijn de Groot. I heard Boudewijn's music when I was a little girl: my older sister had a few of his records, so I was more or less brought up with his music. When he was young he was known for his protest-songs. A very special one is: Welterusten, mijnheer de President (Good Night, Mr. President) in which he asked the President of the USA how he could sleep while thousand of American boys were fighting in Vietnam.
Last but certainly not least: Herman van Veen. Herman is one of a kind. He sings, performs, made several tv-shows for adults as well as for children and an occasional movie. He loves children and that shows in everything he does: for 25 years he was a good-will ambassador for Unicef.

WHy i DoN't OwN a CAr

I do not like cars. I think they're filthy and dangerous. They, among other objects, destroy our planet. I do ride with someone, every now and then, but basicly I find that there are way to much cars on this small planet. And having more than one car in one family is totally over the top, in my opinion. I ride my bike, take the bus, metro or the train and get where ever I want - although it does take more time to get where you want to go. Well, that gives me the time to read all those books that are waiting to be read. I am a member of Greenpeace because those guys do what I do not dare: take the risks in action against polution.

I feel the same about planes. When I lived in Amsterdam, during the 5 minutes walkto the metrostation in the morning with my boy at least 2 planes flew over, preparing to land at Schiphol Airport. Most people do not even think about the dirt that those machines produce, less how much noice they make and how many people are bottered by that noice. As I write this, I get angry again because of so much ignorance. Or do they just don't care....?
NO TIME TO WASTE

wHaT i TAke fOR fuN

Smoking is bad for your health. Everybody knows that, and so do I. But it is so damn good that I just cannot resist a nice cigaret. I tried to quit smoking three times now. The longest period was 4 months, than I started all over again. After that I took two more efforts, but now I have come to a point that I have accepted that a good smoke is simply part of my live. That goes for weed as well. I used to have a joint in the evenings, preferable when I take my bath. I do not do that so often anymore.

As if that is not enough (duh!) I like to have a beer every now and then. But if you really want to give me a treat, I prefer Dutch jenever or a smooth Irish whiskey. There is nothing like it in the world. And you know what? It's good for the heart! ;-)

WaTchINg Tv

Yes, I do like watching tv, although it seems that the quality reduces while the number of stations increase rapidly. Too bad for it an awful waste of money.
My favorite show was Ally McBeal. It is the only show that I really do want to see: the humor and the sadness make it so real! Unfortunately the show is over...
Apart from that I love to watch Jamie Oliver's cooking program: Jamie's Kitchen. He has this great cooking book, called 'The Essence of Cooking' which inspired me enormously!
As for other TV programs: I really do like 'University Challenge' on the BBC. To me the challenge is not in knowing the answers, but understanding the questions! Jeremy Paxman isn't exactly a slow speaker, especially in the last 5 minutes...
Last but not least I try to see as much of Discovery Channel as I can, as well as National Geographic Channel: especially the archaeological programs have my interest.

Finally, of course, I watch historical, fantasy or scifi movies and miniseries. If they are worthwhile they end up on my videoshelf and/or on the moviepart of my website.