Journal · By theme
First times
Every note filed under first times, newest first. The full Journal holds the rest.
September 2026
On Knowing Who You're Writing To
How to know the companion you are writing to is real: one name kept steady, verification that runs both ways, and the one thing a screen cannot copy.
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August 2026
August, and Turning a Year
On the month I keep open on purpose: a diary without names, the appetite that follows the counting, and the dark coming back a few minutes a night.
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August 2026
The Hotel Bar, Chosen Well
The room where an evening actually starts, and the three things I look for before I sit down. On the hotel bar as the honest beginning of a first night in Amsterdam.
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July 2026
A Dinner Date in Amsterdam: Where I Would Take You
The city takes eating seriously and lights itself beautifully after dark. How to choose the table, the neighbourhood and the pace for a first dinner date, by someone who sits on the other side of it.
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June 2026
What a Good First Message Contains
Four bones, two examples, and the mistakes that end conversations politely. Written by the woman who reads every message herself.
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May 2026
Why Screening Makes the Evening Better
What screening is, what it is not, what happens to your information, and the part nobody tells you: it changes the texture of your own evening.
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February 2026
For Couples: The Conversation Before the Invitation
Three questions to answer together, one rule about jealousy, and how to write to me once you have. The best shared evenings are decided at home first.
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Read enough?
Then write the note.
A date, the hours, the city, a line about yourself. Everything the notes above explain begins with one message.
The Journal will still be here afterwards.