If the sixteen-year-old me choose to pursue mathematics instead of graphic design, I could now have been a climate scientist by now, or an astronomer. If I’d stuck with graphic design, I might have had a top-notch portfolio, work that is featured in one of those glossy print magazines. And if I’d taken hockey or […]

There’s this story about a Russian astronaut, the first man to ever go into space. After launching, he’s totally alone in his huge spaceship, of which only a very tiny cabine is habitable. He’s looking at the curvature of Earth, the first ever to look at his home planet. He’s lost in that moment, thinking […]

I wrote 22 articles for BadgerGP, some of them up to 3,000 words. Most of them on historical driver profiles. See all of them here: https://badgergp.com/author/jaapgrolleman/

I was hesitant whether to rate it or not, since it’s such a tough read, 19th century English, which is not my mother-tongue to begin with. But that’s not a flaw of the book, but only a hallmark of the time in which it’s written. But Moby Dick is a gruelling, complex, metaphorical and symbolical […]

I’ve been writing for Virtual Racing School since the summer of 2016, and the fifty articles I wrote have covered many areas of simracing, namely concentration and ergonomics, vehicle dynamics and race preparation. But today’s article I find most honourable, because it covers culture in a way that’s much bigger than just simracing. I interviewed Dr. […]

China’s population of 1.4 billion people uses roughly 80 billion chopsticks per year, for which twenty million trees are cut down. Trees have value because they produce chopsticks, and chopsticks are valued as tools for eating food. Like trees, they’re a means to an end, and are valued instrumentally. When a disposable chopstick is used, […]

A highly personal (and therefore subjective) telling of Chinese history, spanning 1898 to 1934, and also a rare first-hand experience from inside the Forbidden City. Johnston is an intellectual tutor who grows into a surrogate father to Puyi, and talks in rich detail about China’s transition from a monarchy in chaos, to that of a […]

The Japanese satellite Kaguya orbited the Moon for twenty months, from 2007 to 2009. I opened some of its footage on YouTube and randomly clicked halfway the video. The lunar surface was whitely brightened by the Sun, which was in full behind the viewpoint of the camera. Then suddenly the blue sphere of Earth rose […]

To recruit new donors (and thank old ones), the Dutch digital rights organisation Bits of Freedom launched their @freedom.nl email service: totally private and untrackable, unlike free email services. Around this introduction, KesselsKramer developed the ’Web-in’, a twelve hour livestream ’protest’, just like the original Bed-In by John Lennon and Yoko On, along with dozens […]

I helped top simracing (esports) team Coanda Simsport with their online presence, mainly website, Facebook, Twitter & livestreams, helping them increase their fanbase and sponsor value. 2016 year review video: One of many articles: One of many Facebook posts: One of many tweets: