Today, 15 March, is the Ides of March. The phrase “beware the Ides of March” comes from William Shakespeare’s play in which a soothsayer advises Julius Caesar to be cautious about the Ides of March, the day on which he was eventually assassinated.

There are historical references to suggest this wasn’t literary embellishment on Shakespeare’s part. According to Greek biographer and essayist Plutarch, on the fateful day Caesar is said to have passed the seer who foretold of his impending doom and joked, “The Ides of March are come,” implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled.

The seer responded, “Ay, Caesar; but not gone”. Remember it’s not over till it’s over, folks.

March 15th is also the date on which, four years ago, the Netherlands went into Covid lockdown and the single weirdest period any of us will ever live through began.

Some things I did this week

• Went to Malaga with Ann. We yomped up hills, looked out at the sea, stumbled across an excellent photography exhibition in a bullring, went to a hammam, ate slightly more tapas than was strictly necessary and had a good old catch up
• Prepped for an event I’m MCing for Poppulo here in Amsterdam next week. We’ve a hugely experienced panel lined up and I’m really looking forward to it.
• Helped a client understand options and timelines for their future roadmap
• Began working on delivery of a pilot intranet with internal teams and a vendor. Lots to do but great to see it happening
• Took a quick trip down to Brussels

What I’m reading

Not much – again. Must do better.

The hotel review no one asked for

The Malaga hotel I stayed in was SO close to perfect, including:

• Power sockets by the bed
• A decent hairdryer
• Full size glasses for water
• No germ-laden strip of fabric across the bed
• Bathroom with actual walls and a door

Just a few minus points for baffling light switches, no combination of which actually made the room light enough to see properly.

The campaign for hotel design sanity continues.

Connections

I was quoted this piece on traditional Dutch ‘brown cafes’, in which I refuse to name my favourite one in case other people go there and ruin it. But it prompted me to take my visiting mate Peter there for biertjes, comms chat a stroke of the pub cat.

You know you’re in a proper kroeg when there’s carpet on the table but not on the floor.

Something I learned

The Ides of March wasn’t originally associated with ominous warnings. In the Roman calendar, the Ides, occurring in the middle of the month, was primarily known as a deadline for settling debts. The March ides was also associated with the festival of Anna Perenna, a goddess of the year (hence “perennial”) who was celebrated with picnics, drinking, and revelry by common people.

So, before Caesar’s assassination, the Ides of March was more akin to a day of financial reckoning and festive celebration rather than a day of foreboding.

A reminder, if you need one, to pay your credit card bill (then go and get yourself a nice drink).