Mind Cleanup – “now” vs “before”

There is always one “Mind Cleanup” entry sitting in my drafts folder, where I can dump quick words, quotes and links that I might want to write about later.

What usually happens is that days and weeks go by without me having time or mental space to write. That “now is the moment” feeling seems to be more difficult to find than “before”. I haven’t really pinpointed the exact cause of this or when it changed exactly.

Let’s analyze this right here and now, shall we?

What was different “before”?

• If I count the amount of blogs I have written over the years I see that 2015 was my most fruitful year, boosted by a Blaugust challenge on the one side and the shock attacks in Paris on the other, followed by the rise of Daesh as a political and cultural phenomenon. It was also the year I started my current job.
• 2016 was the year I volunteered at the Roskilde Festival for the first time. In November of 2016 my boyfriend and I moved in together. November was also the month the Agent Orange was elected president of the USA.
• 2017 was a continuation of 2016; dealing with the POTUS situation, finding my feet in my new casa and volunteering at Roskilde Festival again (and writing a ton of stuff about that here).

Let’s reflect

Wow, that little walk down memory lane actually really cleared things up for me.

The reason 2015 was a very good blog year is because I had just come out of a job that had filled my system with pent up frustration, that I was finally able to vent when I left. I know that anger has always been the best fuel for my writing flow. The Daesh attacks added to the momentum as society around me reacted in all the wrong ways to the traumatic events in Paris and the growing threat in the region.

The US presidential race in 2016 and the resulting election of the Drumpf, was a deflating experience. I think I am still coming to grips with the reality of the situation and haven’t regained my blogging mojo since. It may sound like a sorry excuse, blaming the POTUS for my writer’s block, but it makes total sense to me and I think I’m going to stick with it.

An additional factor is my current living situation. I love my boyfriend and I love the house we have together. The one thing I am NOT happy about in our new house is the placement of my desk. It’s too dark and my desk is a bit too small. This has caused me to spend less time on the web with less chance to get inspired by random stories to spin into blogs.

It’s an easy fix, really. All I have to do is move some furniture around, right? Ah, but you haven’t taken into account the lazy-fart-factor! Also, I don’t think I have really admitted how much the desk situation really bothers me until now…

So, the rest of this blog consists of random words and themes that I once jotted down to maybe address in a future mind-cleanup-blog. All though a lot of it has gotten old or is still way too complicated for my current brainspace I have decided to just share them with you, without any further editing:

Newsy Stuff

• Bizarre wildfires in Greece, locals blame authorities
  •  Why would you want to find someone to blame for this?
• Nicaragua riots!
  • Will Ortega allow history to depict him as a brutal dictator, like the one he once fought to replace?
• Stef Blok – Dutch minister of foreign affairs and royal ass-wipe
  • Made “insensitive remarks” earlier this year and somehow didn’t lose his job
  • Worst part: I think he doesn’t even realize how much harm he can do with casually calling Suriname a “failed state” and ruling out the possibility of different ethnicities ever living together in peace.
  • Shame is what I feel. Another win for the racists and bigots.

• Zwarte Piet discussion in the Netherlands
  • exhausting discussion, but I will not back down for my opinion.
  • I am losing friends over my anti-Black Pete stance (or Facebook friends… not really friends, I guess)
  • It’s an open wound in our society and it’s starting to fester. I say; chop off the limb and be done with it!
• Kavanaugh debacle
  • Typical frat boy in a grown up body.
  • What I hate most about him (and his kind):  the aura of entitlement.
  • Ridiculous TV trial.
  • Feels like the nail in the coffin of US credibility.
• Brazil elections
  • What’s up with this twisted fascination / longing that Latin America has for dictatorial type leaders?

Music

Music I’m into right now:

• Maro
• Anderson Paak’s Tiny Desk Concert
• This song and video by Kimbra & Dawn:

 

Greeting St Peter

People who died over the last few months and have made the world a little less beautiful because of it:

• Tante Djirah
  • my great-aunt. And great she was. Pure goodness.
  • Love her and miss her!
• Aretha Franklin
  • RESPECT.
• Kofi Anan
  • I grew up with him at the head of the UN.
  • He was a symbol of eloquence and thoughtfulness.
  • Seeing and hearing him speak reaffirms my belief that political correctness is a virtue and is never synonymous to dishonesty.

 

“The sound of silence” en español

Ahhh, there’s a real chance this song may annoy the hell out of me in a couple of weeks because I’ve been listening to it quite obsessively and for this blogpost I will be dissecting and translating it, which isn’t always beneficial for one’s relationship to a song.

But here we go; the song is by the incredibly talented Jorge Drexler and is called “Silencio”.

The lyrics are really very simple, as is the song as a whole. As a matter of fact, I think this song would be super nice to use in a Beginner’s Spanish course!

So, press play above, and read (or sing) along with the lyrics below.
Todo el mundo intentando venderte algo
The whole world is trying to sell you something

Intentando comprarte
They’re trying to buy you

Queriendo meterte en su melodrama
Trying to pull you into their melodrama

Su karma, su cama, su salto a la fama
into their karma, their bed, their leap into fame

Su breve momento de gloria
their brief moment of glory

Sus dos megas de memoria
their two megabytes of memory

Subirte a su nube
They try to upload you to their cloud

Como un precio que sube
like a prize that rises

Para luego exhibirte
so they can expose you

Como un estandarte
as if you were a banner

No encuentro nada más valioso que darte…
I can’t think if anything more valuable to give you…

…nada más elegante…
…nothing more elegant…

…que este instante...
…than this instant…

…de silencio.
…of silence.

Silencio
Silence

El índice vertical entre la boca y la nariz
the raised index finger, between the mouth and the nose

El eco en la catedral
the echo in the cathedral

La brisa en la enredadera
the breeze in the ivies

Entremos en el sonido hasta el penúltimo matiz
let’s enter into the sound until the penultimate shade

Hagámosle caso al gesto de la foto de la enfermera
let’s follow the gesture of the photo of the nurse

Y cuando el ruido vuelva a saturar la antena
and when the noise returns to saturate the antenna

Y una sirena rompa la noche, inclemente
and a siren rudely breaks the night

No encontraremos nada más pertinente
we can’t think of anything more relevant…

…que decirle a la mente…
…to tell the mind…

 

“Detente!”
“Stop!”

[Hook]

Bésame ahora
Kiss me now

Antes que diga algo completamente inadecuado
Before I say something completely inadequate

No hay que desperdiciar una buena ocasión
We shouldn’t waste a good occasion

De quedarse callado
to remain silent

[Hook]

Y cuando el ruido vuelva a saturar la antena
and when the noise returns to saturate the antenna

Y una sirena rompa la noche, inclemente
and a siren rudely breaks the night

No encontraremos nada más pertinente
we can’t think of anything more relevant…

…que decirle a la mente…
…to tell the mind…

 

“Detente!”
“Stop!”

 

 

I’m new

On day two of the lyrics challenge, I might as well name the Rules that go with the Three day Lyric challenge:

1. Thank the person who nominated you.
   I actually wasn’t nominated, but felt free to invite myself to the party, as Melanie from Sparks from a Combustible Mind kind of gave me permission to.
2. Share one of your favorite song/lyrics one at a time for three days.
   On day two I will be sharing Stevie Wonder’s song “I’m new”, which should be a mandatory addition to everyone’s lives.
   Yesterday I wrote about the lyrics of two songs, which (imo) could be seen as two sides of the same story.
   Tomorrow’s post will be about Silence, pero en español.
   
3. Nominate three other bloggers each day.
   I will follow in Melanie’s footsteps and skip this rule, partially because I don’t really have a following and partially because I think it’s nicer this way (because it paved the way for me to join in).

So have a listen if you don’t know this Stevie Wonder song already and let the lyrics quench your soul’s thirst like a big glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

 

Try to envision you as the oldest living someone, being every night and day all alone
Going through ages and ages, places and spaces with never finding that someone to call your own.

Like a treasure chest of dreams long forgotten, hidden for good in a stolen lost and found
But just when fate was calling quits, love appeared in the midst of despair, came and turned your life around

I’m new.

New like the first day of spring
New like a nightingale that’s just learned to sing
I’m new, new like the very start of dawn
Like a child that’s first born with your love.

I’m new.

You’re standing among a crowd of six billion people, crying out for help, but no one understands
‘Cause much to your dismay, you’ve been taken far away to a land where joy is pain and sorrow’s a happy man

Where an aching heart’s the sign of the mighty and a love-filled heart looks down upon with fault and shame
But at the very instant all was through, lady luck appears, says “love can do” and changed you like a Christian who’s been born again

I’m new.

New like the fresh morning dew
New like a work of art that’s finally through
I’m new, new like a first flight of a dove
So safe and secure with your love.

I’m new.

Love took a long time coming to me
But I’ve gotta say I owe my thanks to him for sending you my way.

‘Cause I’m new.

New, like the first winter snow.
Like the start of forever, with infinity to go .

I’m new.

New, like the birth of the sun
Forever young I will be, ’cause with your love;

I’m new

New, like from a restful night of sleep
New like a starving man that’s had food to eat

I’m new, nothing compares nor can compete
Sharing with you the sweetness of your love,

I’m new.

Ode to Louise

Day 1 of my (own twist to the) Three Day Lyric Challenge.

A song my father introduced me to is a song by Leo Kottke about a lady called Louise. Small town gossip said that “she’d act the little girl” but that in reality she was “a deceiver” and that we shouldn’t believe her, because “that’s her trade”.

The song describes how Louise received gifts from men, whose “intentions were easily traced”, insinuating that she was either stunningly beautiful and would lead men on with her appearance, or that perhaps she was even a prostitute who inadvertently had some male “fans”.

Halfway through the song Kottke describes how people thought it “kind of sad” when Louise was found dead in her room. The song paints a picture of a lonely and misunderstood woman who ended up taking her own life.

Kottke bids her farewell at the end of the song with the words “the wind is blowing cold tonight. So goodnight, Louise, goodnight”.

Leo Kottke’s guitar intermezzo is mesmerizing on its own, but with the lyrics he really tells a tragic micro-history. I am not sure when I really started to see the whole image but when I did, I really felt for Louise.

A second song has recently entered my life that has a similar effect on me. After having given it some thought I realized that it is actually the same story, but this time from Louise’ point of view.

The first time I heard the song it stopped me dead in my tracks and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This had to do with the singers vocal range and the pain he put into the song. It was only later that I learned that it is actually a cover of a Nina Simone song, called “When I was a young girl”.

The song, in the version of Marlon Williams, is over six minutes long and can be summed up by the last 4 lines (which he manages to spread out over two heart-wrenching minutes)

When I was a young girl I used to seek pleasure
When I was a young girl I used to drink ale
Straight out of the ale house and down into the jail house
Straight from the bar room down to my doom

Be sure to listen to Nina Simone’s version too, which is beautiful as well (but less haunting).

Whoever this young girl is, all I can say is: I am sorry the world wasn’t kinder to you. Good night, sweet girl, good night.

Kava-hell-naugh

Did the United States really just allow Brett Kavanaugh to not only keep his job but get a promotion after the ridiculous show he put up in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee?

I wish I could find better words to describe how the hearing made me feel, other than curse words and baffled stares.

My initial reaction is captured by the lady sitting behind Kavanaugh during his statement. She did not only hear and see his sham performance, she was close enough to smell the BS and was honest enough to let her face do all the talking

USA, what are you doing to yourself…?