I finally got myself a nice large notebook with blanco pages to put in the things I have been collecting.

All the things that were in my head today got out, now I am happy, satisfied, and tired.

Het wordt een lange reis, een lange reis
Het heeft hier flink gestormd vannacht
Maar het klaart al op
Je hoort de vogels weer, je ruikt de regen nog
Misschien een andere keer
Misschien een andere keer
Want we moeten verder
Hoe dan ook tot het niet meer lukt
Tot het niet meer gaat
We zien dan wel weer
Alles op een rij

Ik blijf bij jou tot aan het eind
Zolang deze auto rijdt
Ik ben een twijfelaar
Maar jij nog meer
Dus dat zijn er twee
Ik ben niet meer heel erg sterk misschien
Maar ik maak je aan het lachen
Dus daar moet het dan maar mee

Het wordt een lange reis
De langste reis

Alles is oké
De horizon en het vlakke land
Ik rij en jij leest mijn hand
Ik ben een waterman dus deze week zit alles mee

De grote zon
We stoppen bij een tankstation
Waar de mensen doen alsof het nooit zo is geweest
Ik zie, ik zie wat jij niet ziet
Het is oranjerood en komt ons tegemoet
En alles is nu goed

- Spinvis, De Grote Zon (most parts)

Look what I discovered! A scanner.

grim.

Walked for more than an hour with my dog today. I did that yesterday too. I really missed having a good reason to wander outside on my own. It was a grey day, quite cold, and my dog was very happy to jump in all the mud piles. And since he is white and fluffy, I had to drag him to the bath when we returned.

Grain Filter Time

I edited an old series of photos I took when my dad took me to his working place, the underground in Rotterdam.

This was in the phase when they just finished digging the tunnel and started building the underground line.

I think they work out quite well in black and white and I also added a grain filter.

to be honest, after seeing the example, I came to the conclusion that the low quality in combination with the black background and the grain filter doesn't work out too well, but I want to post them anyway. For anyone who's interested: they are on my facebook as well, in slightly different versions.

Bits & Pieces

A story I started years ago and I don't know what it was supposed to be about.

The image shattered. The dream was ripped apart by the furious beeping of the alarm clock. She sat upright. Sleep gushed out of her eyes, from her whole body. With an angry slam she put an end to this morning-torture. She rubbed her eyes. Grey morning-light was filling up the tidy room. Normally it would have been dark, but she forgot to let down the curtains last night. Every morning the room looked the same. Stylized, wood, tidied. The double bed that was too small with the blankets which were still warm. She shivered and stepped out of bed. Her feet sank into the dust-proof carpet and she walked to the closet and put on her bathrobe. She reached for the doorknob and instinctly drew her hand back again as her warm skin touched the cold steel. Then she entered the hallway.

Sunday morning

It's Sunday morning and I'm slowly waking up.

Back

You know that you moved in with your parents again when you come home from the pub, 

a tiny little tipsy and your mum comes down to the kitchen in her pyjamas to tell you that the awesome melted cheese and ham sandwich you are preparing is VERY VERY UNHEALTHY.

The Noble Art of Exaggerating

Since I have officially returned from Ireland this Saturday and there is no chance I will be able to go hiking or climbing the upcoming weeks, I decided to go for a run.
I cannot say I kickd myself out of bed for it, because I cannot remember my alarm clock going of, but I rose at 12.30 and was then busy with finding out I passed all my modules in Limerick. Hurray!

But back to exercising. After that I pulled on my sporty clothes which I now own due to climbing mountains in Scotland and went out. It did not go too well but anyway, I did it. The thing is, when I go for a run, or actually just do something in general, I have the tendency to really overdo it. So I did not only go for a run, no! I ended up half naked in the living room, doing yoga exercises and eating yoghurt. During that my mind was filled with ideas about smoothies and saunas and those sort of things. Which is dangerous, because I sometimes even almost pass out of the steam when I have a bath or cover the whole kitchen in yoghurt, orange juice and tiny apple pieces when making smoothies.

This urge to exaggerate has always been present, for example, signing up for the chess competition after playing chess two times, writing ten pages of a book and start contacting a publisher. As a ten year old.
But even in my teenage years, I continued this habit; when I wanted to stand out from the group I decided to cover my face in eyeliner and wore so much gothic jewellery I looked like a hedgehog, when I start my freshmen year at University I immediately sign up for the honours course and even in Ireland, I do not just join the Outdoor Pursuits Club, oh no! I decide to climb both Ireland and Scotland´s highest mountain without any hiking experience. And succeed.

The Noble Art of Exaggerating includes diving into something new and make a huge amount of fun of yourself for doing so, and I love it. Now it is time to finish my very healthy banana- yoghurt and polish my nails (another thing I tried to become an expert in, ending up in buying sixty different colours in two weeks and spend hours watching youtube tutorials).
May the Force be with you.

Nevis

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead,

Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.

The changes, the changes are all yours to make,

The mold of your life is in your hands to break.

 I have spend ten days in Scotland, had two days of winter mountaineering training and reached the summit of Ben Nevis. After climbing Carrantuohill in Ireland, this is the second highest mountain of a country I have now climbed this semester. Let's say I have climbed some more mountains who were not made of earth and rocks this semester, but I am now back in The Netherlands and I do not feel so restless anymore. 

The upcoming time I will have a lot of important things to do: start my studies in Utrecht again, find a new job and maybe find a new apartment. Move out with my parents, but first I have to decide if that is financially possible. So, lots of important decisions to make but I am glad to say that at the moment, I feel capable of making them.