Thankfully, I haven’t gained any weight back in the meantime, nor did I have more problems with the weight exercises. No, the real kicker was my stamina and my heartrate. Holy crap. I saw some numbers there I NEVER want to see again.

Bad Lannie! No more laziness for you! *looks stern at self*

In other news, for the ones that would like to see me in action while playing bass, here are a few pictures for your amusement. Don’t you just ADORE my fluffy bass strap? I drooled over it the day I discovered the bass I wanted to have — on my birthday. Didn’t buy it then, because my Rebel came with its own bass strap. Also, Tijs made fun of it.

But then! Olli gave me a present for Sinterklaas – the fluffy bass strap. And even though Tijs still makes fun of it (he thinks it’s too christmassy), I completely utterly adore it, still. It’s also mighty comfy *nods*
So what do YOU think of it?

- I went to bass guitar practice and worked on my borked technique (I let go of my strings too quickly, it seems).
- I lazed in the sun with a book and got my first bit of tan while Bodhi was running up and down the garden. It’s great to look somewhat healthy again. Yay! I don’t look like I’m a week dead anymore!
- I went to the vet with Bodhi, and it all went flawlessly. He got his shots and is in perfect health. He’s growing well and is bound to gain quite a few more kilos although he seems to have pretty much reached his full height.
- I played Final Fantasy 13 and fought my way through the Fifth Ark (damn that took long), whooped Cid Raines’ ass (while feeling the dude had a point, I felt sorry for him. also, he wasn’t all that hard of a battle for me – I did well enough, took me three times to beat him) and then proceeded to get my ass handed to me by two Eidolons in battles after one another (screw you Bahamut, screw you Alexander). But then the kicker came when I entered the great planes of Gran Pulse and Olli dared me to go and attack the incredibly huge monster (think the eliphaunts in LOTR) that was stomping around there and minding its own business. I poked him with my sword a little so the battle would commence, and then the beast took one step…. and killed me unceremoniously with over 10,000 damage. It was frigging HILARIOUS!
- I cleaned the bathroom (always an adventure )
- And Olli and I jammed together tonight, and now the tendons in my lower arms (not to mention my poor callused fingers) are telling me how much they hate me.

Wasn’t that exciting?

Next up: The Great Laundry Offensive!
But that’ll be tomorrow.

STUPID LANNIE! I keep forgetting how awesome it is to play bass. While I am still able to play “Resolve” by the Foo Fighters (and make it sound cool), my technique completely went to shit. So I’ve scheduled in some more lessons to work on that, and I need to practice. Feel free to tell me to go practice, oh awesome people of the internet. I will appreciate it.

In other news: it’s Easter Weekend, and that means that a bunch of us is going to hang out in Gent and drink Belgian beer. I am muchly looking forward to that. Bodhi is with the inlaws, and doesn’t seem to miss us much because he’s BFF with their dog Luna. So nothing to worry about, we’re just going to have fun

Wendy and I tried to purchase tickets for the Snow Patrol concert(s) today, but lucked out. The website just maxed out and when I finally got somewhere, the tickets were already sold out. I’m incredibly bummed about it. Not because I feel sorry for missing out on Snow Patrol, not particularly. I’ve seen them three times by now, I think? Yeah, three times. And while it was excellent every single time, there’s not that burning need anymore. I just wanted to do it for my mom. My mom is this huge Snow Patrol fangirl and I thought it would be brilliant to take her with me. I was all ready to pay for the ridiculously expensive tickets of E47,50 for her. And then we lucked out

To cheer myself up, I got me a ticket for the Gaslight Anthem in July instead. Not for my mom, because I don’t think she even knows they exist (come to think of it, she might even kind of like them), but because I like them. Sometimes they remind me of the Killers, when they were still awesome.
“The Backseat” is one of the prettiest songs I heard last year.

In other news, I’m learning how to play “Resolve” by the Foo Fighters, and “Not An Addict” by K’s Choice on my bass guitar and I’m terribly excited about it. I’ll keep you updated on how it goes!

Although at the moment I have a bit of a break, listening to All That Remains to inspire me. Go Jeanne go!

Soon enough, I might even play along with the band

But first and foremost, here’s the stuff that’s really on my mind the past couple of days:

- Puppies. Now that I’m working home at least one day a week, have a day off every fourteen days, and Olli is flexible with his working hours and only in the office twice a week, Olli wants to fulfill one of his lifelong dreams. He would really, really like a puppy. And he has his eye on a very cute one as well. We’ve only seen pictures and youtube vids of him, but he seems totally adorable and cheerful and playful. He was born this September, so he’s past the real tiny puppy stage, but he is still really young.
And while this puppy is completely adorable and on one hand I would love to have him, all of my ‘hell no responsibility’ alarms are going off in my head. It’s the same alarms that are still going off in the question whether I’d want to have children… a loss of freedom, having to care for something. Making time for a new addition tot he family. Sure we have our bunny Charlie, but Charlie’s fine if you give him enough food on Friday night and you come back on Sunday morning. He’s fairly low maintenance if you don’t want him to be. And of course you’d have to walk him, make time for him, etc etc. I think I could do that if I wanted to. However, the question is, do I really want to? Because I’m not a dog person. I don’t dislike them or anything, and some of them are downright adorable and sweet, but I don’t know the first thing about taking good care of them, and what it all entails.
Olli does, however, so I guess we could figure it out. Bottomline is that I just don’t know. I have no frigging idea if I would like it, I have absolutely no image in my head on how it would be. And in that regard, it’s all the same like having a child, I suppose.
It all kind of scares me. So I don’t know. Anyone got any advice?

- Social gatherings. So far the past few weeks I’ve been able to organise really spontaneous dates on Friday evening. Last week I suddenly got Brenda, Wendy and Lie together for tapas on the shortest notice ever (less than 24 hours), and this week I threw out my nets over Twitter and got both Mieke and Kat interested for drinks in Amsterdam. The boys had band business to do and I didn’t feel like staying home, so I got myself two lovely ladies to spend the first part of the night with, and afterwards Olli, Tijs and Derek came sit with me in the pub. It all worked out rather splendidly, if I say so myself.  I had a really good time!

- Bass playing. I’m going to see whether with the aforementioned working from home day, I can squeeze in some more bass lessons. I notice that I just don’t get around to playing enough, and I do always practice before my lesson. So maybe I just need to force myself a little more… because I always come home from my basslesson with my head full of music and enthusiasm, and it just peters out during the week. I need more practice, more calluses and more flexibility in my fingers.
Oh, and perhaps a new bass guitar. Turns out that bass guitars have a battery in them as well, for connection to your amp or something. My Rebel’s battery was empty, so I played with the bass of my teacher. Oh. My. God. It played so lovely!! Its strings are close to the neck so I didn’t have to press this hard, but most of all, it had a slender neck. It really sucks to have stump fingers like me when you want to play bass.
However, with this bass I could reach everything, and it played so much better. Needed to feel like that too, because I’d been totally messing up my exercises from the book until that point. When we started jamming a bit, I felt like a true bass hero.

There’s more on my mind but I just can’t think of it right now. These are the most important bits anyway

1) Where did you begin 2009?
in the livingroom of our old apartment in Rijswijk, surrounded by friends and champagne.

2) What was your status by Valentine’s Day?
Married

3) Were you in school (anytime this year)?
Nope. I’m done with that for a while I hope.

4) How did you earn your money?
By working

5) Did you have to go to the hospital?
No

6) Did you have any encounters with the police?
No

7) Where did you go on vacation?
Because we bought a house, we didn’t really go on vacation. Our vacations were, just like last year: Dessel, Belgium – for Graspop Metal Meeting. And in August we went to Biddinghuizen, The Netherlands, for Lowlands festival.

8- What did you purchase that was over $1000?
Our couch, for starters. And also a lot of money on other furniture, of which the couch was the most expensive, I think. We spent a lot of money this year!

9) Did you know anybody who got married?
Johanna’s sister Elina. We ran into her last night at her wedding party.

10) Did you know anybody who passed away?
No

12) Did you move anywhere?
Yes, to Nuttyville. Buying and decorating and going to live in the new house was a HUGE thing this year. We’ve been settling in and making ourselves comfortable ever since.

13) What concerts/shows did you go to?
Enter Shikari @ Melkweg (23 January)
Dragonforce @ Melkweg (29 January)
All That Remains @ Melkweg (13 February)
Sabaton/Hammerfall @ 013 (27 February)
Graspop Metal Meeting @ Dessel, Belgium (26 June)
(notably: Slipknot, Parkway Drive, Trivium, All That Remains)
A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise @ Biddinghuizen (21 August)
(notably: The Prodigy, White Lies, Lily Allen)
In Flames @ Melkweg (16 November)
Enter Shikari/The Prodigy @ HMH (23 November)
Gare du Nord @ Paard van Troje (28 November)
Biffy Clyro @ Melkweg (18 December)

14) Where do you live now?
Nootdorp – near the Hague in the Netherlands

15) Describe your birthday
Tijs and Aurélie came over to hang out and wait for midnight together. We had booze and laughs and talkes and we watched some movies. It was nice <3
The actual celebration was a shared one with Olli and Brenda a couple of days later. We had a BBQ and sat in the garden till 4am. Lots of fun!

16) What have you done in 2008 that you’ve never done before in your life?
- Signed up for bass guitar lessons
- Played the bass guitar
- Celebrated Halloween
- Drive around in a company car
- Get a parking ticket (see above )

…that’s not that many achievement points this year I see! Oh well.

17) What has been your favorite moment?
I have a couple. But just sitting in the garden with my laptop in early spring, while Olli was drumming in the garage, and realizing how UNIQUE that was, was a pretty damn good moment. The other moment was Brenda and me walking back to the others after the Slipknot concert, I think. Hand in hand, weaving through 30,000 people, breathless and happy.

18) What’s something you learned about yourself?
I was re-established in my knowledge of the fact that I shut down when I’m not feeling happy. I sleep like shit, I drift through life in complete escapism, and try not to think. But meanwhile it’s eating away at me and all creativity and sharing open-ness comes to a screeching halt.

19) What lessons in life did 2009 teach you?
Whatever plans you have for your life, forget it. It always goes differently, and people and goals change. But there is nothing wrong with that.

20) Any new additions to your family?
Only if you count the Popmundo kids

21) What was your best month?
August. Two weeks of freedom, beach, BBQ and Lowlands festival.

22) What music will you remember 2009 by?
The Prodigy, Disarmonia Mundi.

23) Who has been your best drinking buddy?
Olli, Lie and Brenda. I’m not going to choose.

24) Made new friends?
Hmmm…. nope! I’ve been thinking but I can’t think of anyone who’s here this year who wasn’t there last year…

25) Favorite Night out?
The last night of Graspop Metal Meeting. When we boozed it up and danced in the Metal dome till 4 in the morning because we didn’t want the festival to be over. We had SO much fun!

26) Will you end this year with the same mate you started it with?
I hope so, haha

27) What are your plans for Christmas?
chilling out, eating food, visit the parents & inlaws, having dinner with friends.

28) What are your plans and hopes for 2010?
I think I’m going to continue on the note of last year, I liked those resolutions. In 2010 I will be doing things I like with people I love, having a great time. Is there ever anything else? Love, music, friends…. and just plainly HAVING FUN.

So now it’s time for the 2009 AWARDS

Band of the Year:
The Prodigy. Damn, they blew my mind twice, at Lowlands and in the Heineken Music Hall. It was an igniting of a fondness, now blazing like fiery love.
Funnily enough if I check my last.fm I’ve listened more to Disarmonia Mundi and Enter Shikari. But that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Album of the Year:
Not Killswitch Engage or Enter Shikari, although they were excellent. I think the album that I’m growing to love the most at the moment is Biffy Clyro’s “Only Revolutions.”

Movie of the Year:
A tossup between “District 9″ and the surprisingly excellent “Paranormal Activity”.

Festival of the Year:
Graspop. Hands down. The music was generally better, as was the atmosphere. Oh, not to mention the beer and the logistics. So yeah, graspop.

Festival Concert of the Year:
The Prodigy@ Lowlands 2009.
Blew my mind. It was seriously so good, I had expected to have a good time, but this pushed all my buttons. It was relentless energy, a raging crowd, and (rawr) Keith! Runners-up: Slipknot, and Trivium at Graspop.

non-Festival Concert of the Year:
I’m going to stay consistent here, but this award ALSO goes to the Prodigy & Enter Shikari at the Heineken Music Hall. And of the two, the Prodigy was the best. I danced the hardest at Prodigy gigs this year. Gig-wise, 2009 wasn’t outstanding, but I’ve had a lot of fun times. And the Prodigy wins, hands down.

Musical Disappointment of the Year:
The Editors – “In This Light And On This Evening”. I liked you, Editors!! I loved you, even. What have you DONE?!

Best TV Series of the Year:
Lost was consistently so good, I can’t wait for the last season to start. It was a disappointment to see every episode end. Honourable mention & discovery of 2009: Supernatural. AWESOME stuff. ]]> http://www.lannie.net/journal/2009/2009-questionnaire/feed/ 0 http://www.lannie.net/journal/2009/i-just-feel-like-the-only-one-that-deserves-you-the-one-that-deserts-you/ http://www.lannie.net/journal/2009/i-just-feel-like-the-only-one-that-deserves-you-the-one-that-deserts-you/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:17:37 +0000 Lannie http://www.lannie.net/journal/2009/i-just-feel-like-the-only-one-that-deserves-you-the-one-that-deserts-you/ Just so you know, I still love my rebel
Been bassing a bit and I’m about to go to my bass guitar class. My fingers are already numb, so I think that after tonight I’ll have blisters. The funny thing is that I don’t care. Maybe I’ll bass some more tomorrow. I totally should! Practice makes perfect, right? I’ve been practicing too little.
Lessons have been often rescheduled and/or cancelled, and I can’t seem to find energy to actually sit down for it.
It’s stupid, because when I’m doing it, I’m having heaps of fun! It’s a bit like writing my Nanowrimo story, I suppose… just low on energy in general. Once I’m busy, I’m loving it… but to actually sit down and DO it is a wholly different story.

WTH Lannie, hobbies are fun! *shakes her head and laughs*

You can find what I’ve written today here!