i'm freeeeeeee falling

my blood pressure is currently so low, that i keep 'falling' in my bed. you know, like when you have a dream and in your dream you fall, and you wake up in your bed with a bang? it's like that, only i'm awake. it's a peachy feeling. except that it's really annoying.


stop bitching, esther!


okay.

why do i wake up at 5 every morning?

all i really want for christmas is....



SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP



looks like i'm getting it, too. i've got the week between christmas and new year's off from work and we'll be going here. i'm thinking long walks, shopping, great food, 10 hrs sleep a night. of course i have to write a paper, too, but that won't lessen the fun!



both our parents are coming for dinner at christmas, that should be interesting. what else is new... oh, i got a really great gift from maarten's mom for my birthday. art from mozambique. unfortunately, i can't find a link.



in half a year, i'm done with school. if all goes well.... woohoo!

i'm a jolly good fellow

oh, it was wonderful to come home today!


maarten had decorated the house. balloons everywhere! and then i got about 10 presents. all cute. and he had organic brownies! they were fantabulous. going to school this evening was less of a party, but necessary after missing a couple of classes.


is it saturday, yet? i'm going to see anouk for probably the last time. it'll be the end of an era. sniff.

my exciting life

i really did try to make a before and after post of our bedroom, but miserably failed.

why i turned to house makeover pictures as a last resort? because nothing much else has been going on. not that i want to talk about, anyways.

i'm making mixed cd's tonight. my first!

and then i'll go to bed at 9. yahoo!

american jambands and festivals from a dutch perspective

i came across this article and thought it was funny to read about another dutch person's perspective on jambands and american festivals. he's not the best writer, but whatever. i had to beep out the cuss words, because otherwise i can't access my blog at work anymore.



jamband
by jelle kuiper



festivals, you gotta love them. i've seen various festivals but they have one thing in common and that is the constant presence of amplified music. in the bus, backstage, on the often not so inviting toilets or at the catering; wherever you go, you can't hide from the constant pounding of amplified music.



before frolic-punk band A has even finished on the 'main' stage , the singer of frolic-punk band B on the 'other stage' starts with a very loud "WHAT's UP MOTHER*****!!!" never a deafening silence. most people probably couldn't even handle it. i personally would probably think that the pa has died out.



festivals have many similarities yet also big differences. the festivals that i have been to in america, were all weird. and those that i worked at, were almost solely visited by hippies. i have nothing against hippies - i'm one myself - but these are those real cliche hippies.



people that make you think that time has been standing still. and what do these hippies enjoy? jambands. what are jambands? ever been to a 'jam session'? one of those ocassions where music school students masturbate on their instrument for hours? bands, that play as many notes possible, for as long as possible. frankly, that shouldn't be allowed to be called a jam session.



solos, and i don't mean jazz. no, that funky 'put a rug down for the solo' fumbling. dreadful. successfully almost extinct in our country. i was one of the leaders of the posse. and now, i have to listen to the same (or worse) prying again at these american 'jamband festivals'.



bands with names like Cheese String Accident*, Animal Liberation Orchestra and Galactica* play for days in a row. in the mean time, thousands of hippies stand smiling or sometimes laughing with their arms up in the air, completely tripping on hours of solo-ing.



i should have seen it coming when i was on my way to my first jamband festival years ago and our runner proudly told me that band A had played for five hours the day before instead of two.


so, here's my tip for the last dutch jammers. america is the promised jamland! you can even play at hundreds of festivals throughout the summer. okay, our jammers will have to do something about their appearance. they usually look like a couple of math students. i think their instrumental skills is a matter of overcompensating.



so let your hair grow and buy a cliche hippie outfit. sandals and a tie-dye shirt, don't eat too much meat, juggling is a plus, smile plenty and onto america!



*this guy obviously has a problem with names.

sinterklaas was great. we were with six and had all made 'surprises' and poems. my 'surprise' was a board game called "highlights in the life of esther". of course, they had to give me some sh*t about the fact that maarten & i have been engaged forever, and still not married. so one of the assignments in the game was that i had to ask him to marry me. you had to have been there, but it was a hilarious moment.



we all had maarten's tomato soup and stuffed bread for dinner. simple, but yum. after that we had a four hour discussion about practically anything you can discuss, so i was pooped after that. and now my cold has gotten worse, so that's awesome. really, because it's not like i'm swamped with work and school. bitch, moan.



in better news: my work decided to close between christmas and new year's. one week off! woo! can't wait.