9.30PM and another 1000 words while I was waiting until I could rinse out hairdye I’ll put them up when I’ve got the chapter done, or  a good ending point for this thing. Because right now it’s 2K of getting to know Kalinka.

7.30PM: I have more & more love for Write Or Die. That running timer is doing wonders for my output. It really forces me to produce and keep producing. I just wrote 1000 words in 20 minutes. Awesome. I’m going to share it with you here, btw… as soon as the chapter is done. For now, just know that I’m the proud owner of 35058 words written in my nanowrimo file

4PM: Chapter seven is done. It’s a sad one though… and it brings me to 33877. The Write Or Die website helps me a lot, it really forces me to produce. Also, I have a bit of plot again, so for a little while longer, I know where I’m going.

1PM: For your enjoyment, this is chapter six of which I wrote the most yesterday, up till 29.5K. I did 1K today so far, but there’ll be more forthcoming. For now, here’s chapter six. In which stuff happens that was unplanned, because from here on I have no plot anymore
Wordcount: 30603

You can read what I’ve written HERE!

Oh man, what can I say? Lowlands was bloody brilliant. The weather was beautiful - the perfect festival weather that’s not hot enough to scorch and dry and warm enough to make it lazy and chilled out… the music was alternating between nice and gorgeous… the spirits were high and I partied more than I thought possible. I got to that point that I ended up using reserves that I didn’t really think I had.

But to start at the beginning… here’s a story (with pictures!) of the awesomeness that was Lowlands. *t all started on Thursday of course. Olli and I did some last minute poncho and grocery shopping, cleared out the computer room for the electricity dude, and then loaded our stuff in the car and left at about 3-ish. Of course we ended up in a traffic jam of doom before we could even be let onto the camping terrain, do we didn’t arrive until after 6pm. From there on the long trek to the festival began, because they’d dumped us on the parking lot in the most backward of places. But we were in good spirits so we didn’t care. In the end we had to wait only a little bit for the rest of the group to catch up with us - time we spend wisely with beers. We also ran into Jos at some point and hung out for a while, eating Tijs’ lovingly prepared egg sandwiches and drinking some more beer before we would brave the line before the entrance. That took the better part of another hour and thus it came to be that we entered Lowlands at about 8.30pm. Which means that the campings were full to bursting by that point. It was quite the bitch to find a space to set up camp, but we managed eventually. Shortly after Nathalie and Marijn arrived as well, for which we begged a spot from our way too antisocial oversized campingplace of our neighbours. But soon enough our tents were standing proud and tall.
I met up with Rick as well, and took him and Nathalie to meet up with Jos so they could actually see face-to-face. We had a fun time at Jos’ camp chatting the night away and I think I went to bed about 4-ish eventually.

Friday dawned bright and early - with brilliant weather that we had not expected but loved muchly. Lie arrived around 10-ish, glad that we’d set up her tent for her already. And after waking up Olli it was time to go to the festival terrain! The festival kicked off with Henry Rollins, who did a sketch/speech on life and lowlands in general, during which I mostly lazed around in the grass soaking up sunlight. Quickly thereafter though, it was time for Killswitch Engage!! What a way to start off a festival, hehe. It was a lot of fun. Not mindblowing, but full of energy and fun and shouting the lyrics along on top of your lungs and sharing brilliant grins with other fans. I had the camera in my face a few times as I was standing way in front before the stage, so maybe I was on tv as well. Anyway, after the concert I emerged dripping with sweat and doped up on adrenaline, so the festival was off to a good start.
We goofed around a bit, checked out the festival terrain and the market, and then Lie and I went to see The Wombats, which were a lot of fun! Exactly as I expected, just lots of cheerfulness, good gig, and everybody going crazy during “Let’s dance to Joy Division”
After this we roamed the festival terrain some more, Olli, Lie and me. Lie got a spray tattoo of moons and stars on her arm, we had cocktails, Olli bought me an Editors t-shirt and we generally had a good time Then we caught up with the others again to go and see Junkie XL but it was so bloody BUSY there, that the others went elsewhere and Lie and me ending up with the two of us. It was a great show, though. Although by then I was so knackered and my feet were aching up a storm, so we didn’t make it too long.
Already I’ve completely forgotten what we did that first night after Junkie XL, isn’t that horrible? I think we went back to the tentcamp to chill out for a while, but the bad thing is that I remember going to bed at 4-ish once again, but it’s already fading what we did that night. Oh wait, now I do. We went to watch the sneak preview movie! It turned out to be Hellboy 2, which I thought was not all that good. It had some pretty pictures though, and I have to cut the movie some slack because I exhaustedly slept through the first forty minutes of it. It might have been really good in the beginning and I missed it

Saturday was bloody brilliant. We started the day off with a fun gig of Korpiklaani, who were terribly cheerful. After that we had a few beers in the shade with Jos and his friend. After this we checked out Volbeat and N*E*R*D in the Alpha tent, which were great as well. I do admit that by this time I was pretty inebriated and slept through parts of NERD while lying in the grass. I did hear how they got the audience to sing along, which was cool too see.
After this most of the group went back to the tentcamp. Olli, Lie and I chilled out at the Lima tent. Then it was already time for dinner, and then…. Underworld! They started off a bit slow, I have to admit. But once they got going,it was a real party. I danced myself into a sweat, but once I heard those first notes of “Born Slippy”, I suddenly had gooseflesh all over my arms. That was SO beautiful. Also, they had balloons. The concert took place during a lunar eclipse, which was very visible outside the tent and looked really cool.
We went back to the Lima tent to chill out for a while and played bongo’s for shits and giggles (which you could do there) and regained our strength, until Lie proposed we go and check out the Alpha DJ’s - who were pretty much DJ’s playing good music in the Alpha tent. Best. Idea. Ever.
I thought at that point that I was completely spent after Underworld, but the opposite turned out to be true as they started to play music from bands ranging from Flogging Molly to System of a Down to the Fratelli’s and the Foo Fighters. They even played that song from the movie Blade - the blood party song. I believe it’s by Orbital. And of course the Chemical Brothers. Needless to say, it fucking rocked. I was completely wasted with fatigue, but I couldn’t stop dancing. We had a lot of fun!
When that was done, it was about 2.30am and we stumbled back to our tents.

And then there was the Sunday. The day started a bit later, because it was slightly overcast so we didn’t cook out of our tents. That was good, because I had some sleep to catch up with. Olli, Lie and I bragged about the awesome party in the Alpha tent during breakfast and then we went to the festival terrain, where we mostly boozed up the whole afternoon during We Are Scientists and Danko Jones, who both sounded good. Oh, and the boys played Rock Band and performed (surprisingly) well Eventually we moved to the Alpha tent to watch Gogol Bordello (which sounded like a lot of fun!) and back to the Grolsch for the Fratellis, who were pretty boring.
After this the group kind of split up. Olli, Lie and I opted to go and watch Tricky perform, also because the clouds started drifting in and looked damn worrisome. We figured that when it would start raining, at least we’d be in a tent. That turned out to be a great plan, because the torrential downpour that started soon after was pretty devastating. What once was nice festival terrain turned into a mudpool. By that time Lie was going home, so Olli and I went with her to the camping to pick up her stuff and bring her to the Kiss n Ride, where Sjoerd would pick her up.
And after that I said my goodbyes to Olli as well. He would go and check out Sigur Ros (which apparently was bloody awesome), and I was aiming for a spot in front at the Editors gig. Je ne regrette rien. I walked out with misty eyes and full of love for the world. “Escape The Nest” made me teary eyed… and the rest was either a party or beautiful. They played so tightly, were sympathetic, played all my favourite songs, and I was right in front of it. It was in popoterms literally a perfect show. When they announced their last song I was hoping for “Fingers In The Factory” and nearly fell over when they started playing those first notes. So they ended it with a party. And I walked out in a daze, all partied out, all satisfied. Not half-horny like after Killswitch, but just very afterglowy and wanting to hug people.
So afterwards we went back to the camping, hung out at the tentcamp for a while, but I was so exhausted that I went to bed pretty early. And that concluded Lowlands.

The Monday started out rainy, but we had enough of a dry patch to fold up our tents and then spend our last Lowlands coins on a very decadent breakfast. And then we went to the car, and drove home through new rain. And it’s been raining on and off ever since. Lowlands is definitely over.
But man, it was beautiful. I had a great time <3

Oh Lowlands how I love you, let me count the ways…
- Brilliant sunshine & perfect festival weather
- Editors live in concert - “Escape the nest”
- goosebumps during “Born Slippy” at the Underworld gig, despite being drenched with sweat
- rocking out at Killswitch Engage
- all the other interesting gigs like Gogol Bordello and stuff
- blowing bubbles
- beer
- laughter
- weird conversations with random people
- and those brilliant smiles exchanged with random strangers because you both fucking LOVED that concert.

There’ll be a whole report, plus pictures… but that’s later. First I have an online life to catch up with. And sleep. That too.

I’m terribly cheerful today

Because the electrician mister is going to drop by to do his electricity stuff in our computer room while we’re off to Lowlands, we’re currently clearing the place - before we’re going to be off, that is. The weather looks still full of temperament and large clouds and azure skies… very curious how it’s going to be I stocked up on a gazillion poncho’s, so we’re all prepared.

I love those last minute e-mails and PM’s and text messages that you exchange with friends, right before we leave. *laughs* I just reminded everyone not to forget their tickets. Yes, I learn from my mistakes… I’m still fucking traumatized over missing AILD last year because of that.

Lowlands here we come!

I’m not going to say that my life is magically turned aright again… but right now, I’m really happy.

I have a glass of apfel, I’m chatting on Popo, Olli is also playing around at Popo (and actually giggling at the moment because of the ukulele stuff that he’s totally into right now) and we are listening to bootlegs of the Editors (seriously if they perform this well on Lowlands as they did on Werchter this year… then my festival is already complete! FUCK what a show, it’s incredible). I just finished my first week at the new job and I feel happy, ready to tackle the weekend, next week, ready to rock out at Lowlands.

I’m not going to say that my job is the best thing in the world, because I know it won’t be. But it’s enough, and it’s fun, and the people are fun, and I think I could be happy in it. It’s just all okay. And that’s such a damn relief.

You are a sleeping lion in your bed
I will not wake you
You’re the moment
Love has passed
We all must learn to hate you
You’re a memory from before
Please don’t let me forget you
You’re the wolves at my door

In that moment you realise that
something you thought would always be there
will die
like everything else

These thoughts I must not think of
Dreams I can’t make sense of
I need you to tell me it’s ok

~”When Anger Shows” by the Editors.

Just wanted to share… because I think these lyrics are beautiful and haunting, and their guitar riffs stay with me all day, if I’m in the mood. I remember Steph from Popo telling me about them, that he was so happy he got tickets to their gig in the HMH in Amsterdam. In that time they were on Kink FM rather regularly and I’d labeled them as ‘nice’, but I hadn’t really paid attention so far.

From that moment I started listening to them more earnestly and once I saw the video of “Racing Rats”, I kind of fell head over heels in love. “An End Has A Start” is a gorgeous album, although I have to admit that the first half is stronger than the second half. The first six songs every note strikes true - I mean, there aren’t many bands that make me cry, and these guys have.

I’m really happy I’m going to see them at Lowlands. I’ll make sure I’m either stoned or drunk or horribly emo at that time, and I’m not going to care about anything or anyone and completely indulge. Am secretly hoping for a Snow Patrol @ LL06 experience… that’d be nice. But if that doesn’t happen, I’ll always have that terribly vulnerable moment under a full moon on a January morning in Den Haag. That’s lovely already.

During the Soilwork concert at Graspop I twisted my right knee in a way it shouldn’t be twisted. It was achey and painful, but it was near the end of the concert so it was pretty much okay. Walking didn’t hurt, neither did sitting… just the whole jumping/bouncing/dancing thing did. I didn’t think much of it until I was partying my ass off during the next great gig I saw, which was In Flames. By then my knee started protesting a lot louder, and I remember very clearly that I told myself not be such a whiney bitch and just party. So I did. And I had a great time, and jumped and danced and partied.

Well, you reap what you sow. Owie!
Especially getting up out of chairs hurts something fierce.

I think it’s a good thing I’ve been sick & sleeping the past weekend so my poor knee has gotten some rest. As far as the sickness goes, it’s pretty much cleared up now. I can walk for more than five minutes before being completely out of breath now. Am still having a heavy cold and coughing my lungs out, and climbing stairs is not fun… but that just needs time. I’m pretty much okay again

I’m really enjoying my time off. I’m not doing much but recuperating heavily, which is a blessing beyond all blessings.

Man, I don’t even know where to begin. Do I ever? Graspop was fucking great. The weather held up brilliantly, the bands I came for didn’t disappoint, the beer tasted heavenly (thank God for Maes beer, best festival beer EVER), no hangovers - can I please go back??

Let’s just start at the beginning, I suppose

We arrived at the festivalterrain on Thursday evening around 8 or 9 or so, after surprisingly few trafficjams given the fact that we left Den Haag at 5.30pm or something. The longest trafficjam was in Dessel itself, waiting to be let onto the parking. It was all in good fun though. Our tentcamp was built up quickly, and we had a few celebratory beers before going to sleep at some point.

In the morning on Friday it initially rained a little, which we mostly avoided by snoozing in our tents for a little longer. Then came the beer - we had to drink it before our coolbox would stop working and the beer’d get warm, right? So we drank beer. But eventually we went to the festival terrain and the weather cleared up beautifully and brilliantly. By that time I had quite a bit of beer in my belly, I have to say. I was pretty damn sloshed by the time we arrived at the festival terrain and the sun was burning down on us while we had to stand in line for fucking forever to get our drink tickets.
Eventually I sat down in the shade somewhere and kind of passed out/slept for a while, before Olli came and brought me a fruit cocktail which sobered me up and saved me from a heatstroke. Still, it was all in good fun We kind of watched Saxon, which failed to impress me, there was a bit of rain in between, and then Def Leppard and Whitesnake, who didn’t fail at all! It’s at moments like this that you realized that as a child of the eighties, you know a lot more Whitesnake songs than you thought you did, and they performed really well! It was a good start of the festival.

Saturday brought more bands that were interesting! There was drizzle rain at first, but since it was still really damn warm nobody cared. It’s interesting to walk around in your t-shirt and have it rain upon you and not being bothered. Anyway, we checked out the metal market, where Derek bought a t-shirt of a band called Alestorm which we’d never seen before but we liked in concept (scottish pirate metal, how can you go wrong?). Volbeat had cancelled, which was a shame. But the good news is that because of this Sabaton could play a little longer. And DAMN did they deliver. Had a great time. The singer is terribly charismatic and they’d never played for such a big crowd before. The crowd in turn loved them, which exhilirated the band - it was a great symbiotic thing going on there, and the enthusiasm was terribly infective. ‘Prima Victoria’ especially - such a great time
After this Olli and I went back to the camping to chill out for a while, while the rest went to check out Sonata Arctica and Iced Earth. Not really our cup of tea. We missed out on Korpiklaani though, but figured we’d catch them at Lowlands anyway. Because the sun was burning down on us again at this point, Olli and I set up the partytent and sat smugly in the shade for a while, before going back to the festival terrain with Brenda in tow. (In the end the partytent didn’t last long though, the wind tore the thing apart while we were gone - good thing that Tijs and Kat were in camp at the time O_o) Anyway, we lazed around on the festival terrain with beer and chats, and then it was time for the Kiss gig. By this time there were many people makeupped as Kiss, which was funny to see. The beer made it more funny, I had to admit. Marco and Derek joined up with us to watch the show, which was… a disappointment. There was about half an hour of drum- & guitar wanking, ten minutes of chatting to the audience, and about fifteen minutes of actually playing their hits. They played ‘Strutter’ and ‘I Wanna Rock & Roll All Night’, which was fun, and they had fireworks, which is always a winner with me… but the reason I had a good time at the Kiss gig was not because of Kiss but because of us being quite intoxicated
Back at camp after the show the good times continued, and we went to bed at 3.30 am or something, after severe cases of the giggles.

Sunday, however, promised to be the best music day of all. At least, for me. In the morning we checked out some band that because of reschedules and cancellations I never caught the name of, but was pretty decent. The weather was once again bloody gorgeous to the point where I had to walk around with my longsleeve draped over my poor tortured sunburnt shoulders. I also bought a new hat, and I drank beer. Apocalyptica didn’t really do it for us from the distance we were standing. The sound wasn’t all that good with the wind and all, and by now I’ve seen them a gazillion times so it wasn’t really anything new.
But then it was time for Soilwork! Oh, Soilwork, how I love thee, let me count the ways… This is a youtube clip of the actual gig, which just shows how much everyone was enjoying it. My only beef with the show was that it lasted only 45 mins, but it was incredibly hot in that tent so I don’t think I would have survived if they would have played longer. They did however play ‘As The Sleeper Awakes’ which just totally made my festival. Also they played ‘Exile’, ‘20 More Miles’, ‘Stabbing The Drama’ and ‘Nerve’, which was freaking awesome. They played tightly, they managed to get a definite rise out of the audience, and I was soaked with sweat to my underwear. I am SO looking forward to their gig in November <3 Much love!!
Then after some time at the camping and some muchly needed drying up the sweat, it was time for In Flames - the other band I came for. They played 90% stuff of the last two albums, which I appreciated muchly. In the beginning we hung back for a while at our usual spot, but Derek and I decided to say fuckit and go to the front, where the sound was a lot better and the show was as well. Stuff definitely gets lost in the distance, I think. Anyway, Derek and I rocked out and had a great time. I’m looking forward to THIS gig in the fall as well.
And then, knackered as we were, there was still Iron Maiden coming up in a two hour (!) gig. Now, I’ve never really been a fan, but I have to hand it to them, they’re awesome on stage. I really, really liked their show. We were pretty close in front for the first part of the show, but after an hour and a toiletbreak I watched the rest in the back. I was pretty damn tired at that point.
The last night in camp was quiet - we were all completely tired after a long day of partying and rocking out, so we went to bed relatively early.

And that concluded Graspop Metal Meeting.
I learnt a few things during this festival:
1- Maes beer is the best festival beer in the world.
2- The atmosphere at a metal festival is great.
3- It helps that there weren’t 70K people, they topped out at 55K, which is better.
4- I’m more of a rockchick than a metal head, it turns out. I’m kind of in-betweenish, I think. At some point I was really wishing for a bit more mellow stuff squeezed in between. All the death metal doesn’t do it for me.
5- Soilwork is love.
6- So is Sabaton.
7- Next time I’m drunk, I have to put on sunscreen when the sun’s shining. A beerbuzz does NOT prevent you from getting sunburnt.
8- Getting free beer is easy when you’re a girl on a metal festival camping. You don’t have to give a shit about decency, though.
9- I fucking loved and needed this.

Oh, and if you’re interested in the pictures, you can find them here

We’re back and we had a fucking blast.
Sunburn and metal music galore! I’m all partied out now
Much love for friendship, Soilwork, Sabaton, and Maes beer.
Pictures and the rest of the stories will follow.

Every cloud has a silver lining, they say…. and it’s true. Or at least in the case of the loss of the dutch football team in Euro 2008. The bright side of this is that multi-packs of beercans with orange wrappings around them are currently dirt cheap. Which is useful, if you want to bring beer along to a festival

Yay!