As 2006 draws to a close, I can't help but reflect upon the past year. A lot of people actually don't know this, but I was without a job at the beginning of the year, after having been fired due to budget cuts. Not to sound too cocky, but I know for a fact that I was one of the better employees of the whole department, so the lay-off wasn't justified in my (and others') opinion. At first, I regarded it as a minor setback, but after being rejected for tons of other jobs (even mundane ones), I was really starting to lose my self confidence. It took me 27 years and a lot of effort to build up that confidence, and it was threathening to crumble down in a matter of weeks.

The reason I heard over and over again for being rejected was because I was too passive. I was really pissed about that. I know I can be quiet and reserved at times, and I know that's the way things works, but why do people think that they know how I am after a 45 minute interview?

But lucky for me, I was asked for the same job again soon afterwards. My pride was telling me not to go back, but I really needed the cash, and to be honest, despite the mismanagement going on there, I was really happy working there because of my colleagues. Going back turned out to be a good decision, as it gave me the opportunity to acquire a much better position within the company. So now I'm a reporting analyst for 5 months, which I enjoy doing very much.

And now because of that, I'm able to buy an apartment. I had doubts about buying at first, since I'm not sure what I'll be doing or where I'll be over a couple of years, but now that I've actually took that step, it really feels good. Buing definitely beats renting. I expect to move to my new apartment around New Year, and I'm really looking forward to it.

So basically I went from having no job and no confidence at all to having a great job and apartment and feeling pretty damned good about it in less than a year's time (seems like so much longer ago). It was by no means a perfect year, since I still have several unresolved issues, which I'll keep to myself for the time being.

But still, as Frankie probably would have said: "It was a very good year".

While browsing at my favourite bookstore the other day, I came across several books on the Gospel of Judas. My attention was immediately aroused, since I've been fascinated by the person Judas for several years now. I've never really agreed with the canonical Gospels, which depict Judas as a traitor to Jesus. My personal theory was based on the assumption that Christianity would never have reached the heights it did had Jesus never died as a martyr. Which leads to the logical (?) conclusion that Jesus, and his favourite disciple, concocted the whole plan together.

Not that I'm an expert on this subject. My knowledge on religion is rather limited, so I don't pretend to know the truth. My opinion is based in large part on gut feeling; the whole "Judas as traitor" theory just never clicked for me. Correct me if I'm wrong, since again, my knowledge on this is shaky at best, but I thought that Judas was the disciple with the most faith in Jesus initially, and that Jesus also considered Judas to be the disciple who most understood his messages and lessons.

I was actually pretty disappointed that my theory was in large part reflected by the Gospel. I never imagined that my ideas were completely unique, but now the whole theory is apparently a huge story in the religious world and is the source for tons of books. I was actually hoping that someday I'd be able to work out the whole theory into a plot for a novel, but now the whole idea seems much less special than first. I guess that doing so now would require me to ask for permission, or else I'll be accused of plagiarism. Ah well, it's not as if the probability of me actually writing the novel was great in the first place, so I guess the loss isn't that big.

Anyway, I think I've done enough babbling for the moment, so I'll just leave it at this :).

It's been waaaayyyy too long since I last updated my blog, but I guess I've been lacking the inspiration and energy to write.

Anyway, I bought an apartment last Thursday, so that's pretty exciting. It's not official yet, still have to sign the papers and handle all the financial and legal stuff, but nothing which is a potential dealbreaker I think. Here are some pics taken from the broker's website, you just have to think away all the furniture :)