All Consuming Music

I never thought I'd be listening to Muse (British rock band) or Scorpions (German rock band), but as it turns out, I do. At first I didn't like the loudness (Muse) or the strange voice (Muse and Scorpions), but now I find the music, especially Muse, very compelling. The music draws you in and consumes you wholly. I like to think in terms of 'round' or 'flat' music. 'Round' music is music that just overpowers you, it is all around you in every way. The voice of the leadsinger is thrilling, the instruments are 'full'. In English I can barely explain it, but to visualise it: if you listen to the music of Muse with earpluggs in your ears and you close your eyes, you are just on your own surrounded by music, which wrapps like you like a warm blanket.

Though 'flat' music is not really my kind of music, since it sometimes lacks the comfort feeling that 'round' music gives you, it can also be really good. Sting, for instance, is such an artist. In his case it his voice that gives the song the beauty, not necessarily the band behind the song.

Personally, this is my distinction between bands and solo singers. However, not all solo singers make 'flat' music. Some songs of Robbie Williams (especially his latest one, 'Morning Sun') are 'round' or 'medium-round' songs. Likewise, some band I catogorise as 'flat' music bands (Paramore happens to have been one of my favourite), because their music is good but not as compelling or all consuming as Muse.

And to return to the subject of Muse, here are some of my favourite songs:
1) Neutron Star Collision
2) Sing for Absolution
3) Starlight
4) Supermassive Black Hole
5) Muscle Museum
6) Uprising
And all are fully consuming songs! Enjoy!

Getting Cross over a Cross

At a rather interesting lecture this afternoon, hold by dr. M. Spiering at the University of Amsterdam, we were provided with a hilarious pun. As is often the case with the English language.

Let me give a short background story:
It was a short lecture on the 2000 years of British history. Dr. Spiering gave us the highligts of the British past, dividing it into a Celtic period (before 50 BC), a Roman period (50 BC - 500 AD), an Anglo-Saxon period (500-700), an Anglo-Saxon and Nordic period (700-1066) and the Anglo-Norman period.

He tried to give us a clear explanation of how the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland came into being. Next to that he explained how the nation's flag, the Union Jack, came into being.

And exactly this last part I would like to repeat.

For a long time, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland were seperate entities. England has always been the most dominant kingdom in Britain, and this was once again proven in 1563 when King Edward I annexed Wales and forged a Union between the two. The last prince of Wales was murdered and King Edward I gave this title to his eldest son. Ever since then the monarch's eldest son would wear the title of Prince of Wales. The flag of Wales, which contains a dragon, has never been shown on the flag of England.

The Flag of Wales - the red dragon was the emblem of Owen Glendower

The case was different in 1603. Queen Elizabeth I had died without issue and the next in line for the throne was King James VI of Scotland. This forged a natural Union between the two kingdoms and the merger lead to the new title of King of Great Britian, since all of the island Britain was in the hands of one monarach.

It also lead to a merger of the flags of Scotland and of England. The first Union flag appeared in 1606.

The Flag of England - the Cross of St. George

The Flag of Scotland - The Cross of St. Andrews

These two flags resulted in the first Union Jack, as shown below.

It is starting to become fairly similar to the Union Jack that is used today. It needs only one more element and that is the flag of the Irish.

The case of Ireland is more complex. In 1169 the Anglo-colonists invaded Ireland, in 1175 King Henry II declared himself Lord of Ireland and in 1541 King Henry VIII declared himself King of Ireland. Next to that a parliament was started in 1297 (in both England as in Ireland, but in Ireland only the Anglo-Irish were represented, the natives were kept out). In the end of the eighteenth century the Irish patriots sought military support of revolutionary France. In a reaction the British government forced the merger of the Irish and British parliaments, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britian and Ireland.

Once again the flag was changed and the Irish cross of St. Patrick was added to the Union Jack.

Saint Patrick's Cross, the patron saint of Ireland.

Resulting in 1801 in

The Union Jack!

However, the Scots were not pleased. They were far from pleased, actually. Just like the last merger of flags, the English flag was put on top of the Scottish flag and now the Irish emblem was put (below the English flag, but over) the Scottish flag.

In other words: The Scots were cross over the obscurity of their cross!

Eventually they decided to countercharge the crosses of St. Andrew and St. Patrick, as you can see, the flag is not symmetric.

Heartace Remedy

How to ease the pain of a break-up? With women, it's quite simple: go shopping! There's nothing that makes you feel better than to come home with a new pair of jeans, two pairs of shoes, a couple of earrings and a necklace. To spent money lavishly. To bury yourself in the excitement of entering a store, putting something on that's new and diferent and to feel satisfied when you pay your new items at the cash register. And it helps.

Not.

Heartace can't be solved by shopping or any of the stereo-typical things that are always portrayed in movies and books. It does take your mind off of your pain, but when you come home, you won't feel different. Maybe a bit ashamed about the money you spent, but other than that you're in the same hell as you had been before. Crying your eyes out reliefs you of some stress, but it is truly horrible to be walking around with watery eyes.

The only way to cure you from the pain is through time. It is the simple truth and a very painful one. Who doesn't wish, when you're lying in your bed, having very vivid images of your lover in your head and feeling your heart yearn with desire and love, to have those feelings be ripped out of you? To have the pain stopped. To make the hole in your chest whole again, not broken, preferbably not even bruised, but one piece again. The one and only way to fulfill that wish is through time. Accept the heartace you've got, work with it, break down occasionally if you must, but don't force your way out of the pain. It is okay to drown in your feelings sometimes, talk to some one who can comfort you, make them listen to you for once.

I'm not expert at these kind of subjects. I'm just getting started, really. But there's one thing I do know. If you don't give your heart time to heal, if you lock it in a box. It will break free and come back for you in the end. And then you're in real trouble.

Ringing phones

The phone rang at the last minute. The entire hour had passed before my eyes, I had stared at the clock the entire time. The frustration and the fear I had not allowed into my head forced its way in and I was on the edge of tears.

The phone rang.

Unable to believe my ears, it took me some time to react. But then, as if I had been hit by lightening, I grabbed the receiver and said in a small voice, almost breaking due to the tears

"Hello?"

"Marit, how are you? How are you holding up in there, girl?" My mentor, the man with all the power of the world in his hands, the man who could make or break my day, the man that could send me into euphoria or devastation, was making small talk. I could barly hold myself together and answered a short reply.

"Good, thanks."

"Well, let me see. Just Math, a six*, but other than that you've done an amazing job." He was my saviour after all. I passed my exams, I would graduate, I would go to university next year. My time in high school was over.

Finally.

Six years is a hell of a long time. Six bloody years I worked my behind off for good grades, I made friends, due to some unfortuned circumstances I also lost some, I laughed, talked, ran, walked through that hallway for years and now that time finally came to an end.

Nostalgia. So far (it's been almost two weeks since the previous happened) it hasn't happened to me yet. I've been too happy, too busy to notice any kind of sadness. It did hit me with the force of a bullet that I will go to university next year. I will be a grown up next year, or at least, I have to pretend that I am. I don't think that I'll be sad when I get my diploma upcoming Thursday, I will be happy.

I GRADUATED high school!


* In the Netherlands we work with a grading scale that goes from a one to a ten. A one can be compared to the American F, and a ten can be compared to the American A. And eight or a seven is a B, if you receive a C and you still pass you exams then you can compare that grade to a six. And since I suck at Math, I was pretty happy with my C.

I Present: Our Garden

Months after my parents decided to 'restyle' the garden, it finally looks like something. Our garden is probably seven by eleven (meters, mind you) and almost made entirly out of stone. That used to be different, before the 'wish for room' we had more a backyard than a garden. Lots of plants, grass and little room to walk. Just two places that could barely hold a round table and six chairs, which was always difficult with the celebration of, for instance, birthdays, we had barely room to sit and the people who came over were always devided into two (sometimes even three) groups.

Since the weather is starting to be nice again - lots of sunshine - I've been outside more and I must say that I'm really starting to like our garden! So much room! And the plants in pots make it really cozy. Of course, not everything is stone, at the sides we've got some dirt with still developing flowers and other sorts of plants.

I can't wait for the summer!

Wine, Colleagues and a Fire

Work is a big part of our social lifes. Many social studies have told us that people without a job feel left out, some sort of loser, or at least acknowledge that some part of their life is missing. In the one year I've been working at a restaurant, I've never felt the need to socialize with my colleagues. They were all nice people to work with. All very kind and that opinion of them hasn't really changed.

However, tonight was one of those nights I didn't really feel the need to go home right away after work. There was no one waiting for me there and no one would be 'online' to talk to. So when one of my co-workers asked whether I'd go for a drink with the other colleagues I thought, 'what the heck, why not?!' And it turned out to be the best decision for tonight. Bottles of rosé and white wine were opened and some of the girls I work with were already quite tipsy (negative effect of alcohol on an empty stomach and a tired body). Which reasulted into giving the local McDonalds a run for their money. Everyone was simply attacking the horrid food - complaining every minute how gross the food was, but admitting that it tasted delicious cause they were so hungry.
Because we were no longer on duty, the questions asked were a lot more personal and everyone was laughing a hell of a lot harder when someone said something stupid (again, alcohol on an empty stomach) or if someone just felt the need to share a dream they'd had a couple of day ago (green hands, rings and a tiny small office with loads of paperwork). Because it was my first time to have a drink after work, with the rest of them, they all noticed it and I was, of course, a small target for interrogation. But happily for me, they started off with the wrong question and everyone else had stories to share, too, about their love life.

Tonight I've seen my co-workers in a different light, much more relaxed and that might lead to friendships. If not, I could most definitly say I had a lot of fun talking, laughing and enjoying the fire and beautiful sunset into the Noorderplassen with them. Socializing, we do it all the time and we cannot live without the companionship of others, telling us we are wanted and loved. Work is one big part of that.

Vanished into the air

Computer technology is supposed to improve our lifes. At most points it does. We can be at the other side of the world in only a matter of seconds, we know the latest news, can share thoughts, stories and other personal things without meeting anyone face to face (though I'm not so sure if that's a positve thing) and many, many people rely on the modern day technology, because it is such a big part of our lifes. We don't know how to life without it. Multinationals, other companies and bussinesses excist and survive only because of this technology.

But in the personal zone it is causing annoying troubles - though world wide we've also shared a fair number of technological dissasters, think of all viruses that come along with Internet and everyone's worst fear coming true by hackers getting into high security systems (I've read that 10 milion medical files in the States are 'stolen').
However, these problems can be closer to home. For instance, PC's that don't work like you want them to, notebooks that loose power after only have an hour, photo's that can't be retrieved anymore because the notebook's system is incomprehenisble to the average John or Jane Doe.

This last part is exactly what happened to me today, I figured 'hey! lets watch some photo's from the summervacation of 2006!' We were in Italy at the time and my father had just bought his Nikon D70 Digital single-lens reflex camera, and was using it, of course. The qualitly of those pictures was enormous. They had so much colour (color? O *sigh* the annoying difference between American English and British English!), they were so much brighter and so sharp, every detail was beautifully visible.
Anyway, I wanted to see those photo's, because I remembered there were a couple of nice pictures of me in a nice dress. Yes, yes, I know, I sound a little vain. So you can imagine how utterly annoyed I was when I discovered that those pictues were nowhere to be found! I checked every possible space, but that file was missing.
Usually, my father keeps a copy of all of his photo's on his notebook, and guess what he did not two weeks ago? Precisely, thinking that everything was on the shared drive, he erased all of the photo's on his Notebook. And now, the photo's of me in my pretty dress are gone and since neither of us knows how to get them back, we have no way of seeing them, ever again.

The memories aren't gone, but the specific sight of a certain place are not always correct in our memory, that's why we have pictures.

It's a shame, really.

The Sun is Shining

Right now, I'm in our garden. Enjoying the sun. I'm glad winter is almost over and spring is showing her beautiful face from under the ground. Within a couple of weeks the leafs will be on the trees again, flowers will be blossoming and the sun will be nice and warm. Because, yes, it is still freezing cold outside. My fingerstips are frozen, as I am defying the cold and enjoying the first real strokes of sunshine on my face. It's healthy to be outside, that's what my parents have told me many times over.

Sunlight is good for us. Did you know that children who do not play outside (in the sun, mind you) enough will get O-legs? Apparently this has something to do with the fact that sunligh contains vitamine D and that is neccesary for our growth. Of course, too much sunlight will kill us (skincancer, ring a bell anyone?), so we just need to find a middle ground.

Why am I sitting outsite? Well, I'm kind of horribly white. Seriously, it starts to get creepy. It is almost vampire-white. Honestly, the only thing I'm missing are the teeth (or if you've read Stephenie Meyers version of vampires, the glowing like diamonds) and the unhumanly craving for blood. Oh yes, most significant, I'm not dead. Yet, anyway. If the coughing keeps going on and on like this, I'll cough myself to death. Nice, look out. *Being very sarcastic*
So, to get on with things, I figured, let's enjoy the sun! And, now, my parents will stop complaining about the times I spent in my room. Plus I hoped that the fresh air would give me some inspiration to continue my lovestory (which is called 'Angels' by the way), but sadly, no. I've only added another 400 words to it.

And as the sun is lowering down to the horizon and the minutes are ticking by, I am and always will be a sun person. Give me spring and Italian-summers at anytime!

Curious little thing

There's this curious little thing called time.

Time, apparently, can heal all wounds, will make us forget things and indicates that life has moved on.
In the last month I've experienced the differences in time. Time moving very slowly and time moving akwardly fast. So fast, you start to fear you'll never live.
For instance, I have my finals coming up in May and that's only two months away! Yet, a month ago, I was totally relaxed, 'Oooh! I've got enough time!' NOT! Welcome to the harsh reality of time!

But I also experienced slow time. And no, I wasn't bored. For two wonderful weeks I had done so many things, seen so many people, talked so much in one day that it seemed to last forever. True, I went to bed late and up, somewhat, early, so I probably had five more hours in a day than I usually had, but those week in my memory seem to stretch over a lifetime, rather than just two week. A long sentence, I know, but it is just so strange to live a life that usually has weeks flying by and now, having had two whole weeks which seemed to be months! In a good way, mind you.

Now, life is back to the way it was, a new friend is the only difference, but seriously, I had the time of my life!

What do the pictures tell you?

These photo's are signs of love and yes, I know, this is a feminine subject, I know men shy away from the talks about love, feelings and other 'girly-girl' things, but it is still true. Both of these pictures are signs of love and that is why I like them so much.

This is my first blog and we'll see how it goes. I certainly hope I have the inspiration to post something at least every week. The things you'll probably see on here are the strange workings of my mind. Short stories and poems, stuff like that.

I aspire to be a writer. At this point I'm writing a story, a love story, actually. Many of my friends call it a 'book' already, though I do not consider it one yet, it isn't even finished. I hope that in the future a publisher will like it enough to print it, but until then, I'll post small stories on here, so at least, some people can enjoy themselves!