Good stuff and bummers of 2010

Now that the year is coming to an end, it is time for the usual ‘good stuff and bummers of 2010’! I like to look back on the year that has passed and reflect on the most important things that have happened. Also, I don’t want to forget which new music, movies, art etc. I have discovered.

Study and work

A lot of important things have happened this year, the most important being my graduation from the university. I enjoyed the last stage of my study the most, because I finally got to do ‘real work’ in the form of an internship. I liked my internship a lot: it was all about writing! For four months, I was completely immersed in the news. I read everything news-related on internet, followed half the world via Twitter and was active on social networks myself. It almost became an obsession. The first thing I did when I woke up was grabbing my phone to check the latest news on Twitter. It created a lot of unrest in my mind; there is only so much stuff a human being can keep up with. I consumed too much information, it made my head spin at times. It was fun to try, but in the long run it is not for me. As soon as I was done with the internship I dropped Twitter and started using my phone a lot less often. I’m only active on Facebook right now and that’s fine. I also don’t keep up with the news as much anymore, it takes too much time and most of the news is negative anyway. I still believe that later on in my working career writing has to play a big role, but I don’t think the journalism branch is for me. A real bummer was that I found a great job at a magazine about all things Apple, but I turned it down because of the travel time. Taking that job would have meant a 60 hour work week and a job is never worth that for me. Work is important and I think everyone (especially women) should be able to provide for themselves, but I don’t want to sacrifice everything. I love my friends, my orchestra’s, sports, reading and relaxing too much! Right now, I’m in a job that is not the greatest per se, but I earn a relatively good salary whilst I don’t feel that my work is taking over my life. It works for me…for now. I do value a good career and next year is definitely going to be important in that aspect, but as of now I am already learning a lot of things…about myself mostly. I used to think that a job should be your dreamjob, or else you shouldn’t do it. But now that I’m in a job that isn’t that dreamjob, I look at things differently. Work is what you make of it for the biggest part. My goal is to play an important role in my team, to stand out, to learn how the company works, to see opportunities. I think I am on my way to achieve that.

As for my study, I finished it, but alas I can’t be proud…It took me five years to finish a bachelor that should have cost me three. Taking four years would have been justifiable, but five…I can’t even justify it to myself let alone to the world. In retrospect I can say a lot of things about it: reasons, wisdom about myself I know have but back then didn’t….It’s all useless. People tell me to be proud of it: “you have finished it, haven’t you. Well then, be proud!”, but it doesn’t work that way. When I finally got the message that I could pick up my graduation paper, I felt nothing. Really. The only thing I maybe felt was relief. I sort of want to get my masters degree, but I dread my own laziness and procrastination when it comes to studying. I’d have to think damn well about it, and of course save money before I can actually do it.

Arts

My new year’s resolution for 2010 was to dive into the world of art. That certainly succeeded! I followed a course on the history of art where we had to read Gombrich. I also followed a course about classical music. I bought a museumcard, so I could visit museums for free. All in all: I learned a lot more about paintings, sculpture and the history behind it. I ‘understand’ art a lot more now. I can value it more as well. It was a great discovery, because at first I was only into music. Now that I dove into a world of art that I didn’t yet know, I feel my life has become richer in a way. The next project is going to be: movies. I haven’t seen a lot of the so called classics, but really want to. The thing with movies is that I don’t really see the value in them per se, but I used to have the same feeling about paintings and that changed as well. Who knows, in a few years I might know a lot about movies!

But…Music was my first love, so what has 2010 brought in that respect? Well, a lot! As I mentioned before, I followed a course about classical music on the university. I wrote about it before. During this course I really immersed myself in classical music. I don’t think in any period before or after, I got to know so much new music in such a short period of time. It was great! I spent whole evenings exploring new classical music and reading about the composers and the compositions at the same time. The greatest discovery during that course was Mahler. I had to listen to his fifth symphony and it made a great impression on me. I decided that I wanted to listen to his other symphonies as well and I’m still in the process of discovering those. The conductor of my orchestra helped me a great deal by lending me lots of his cd’s and dvd’s. As of now, I’ve listened to Mahlers 1st, 2nd, and 3rd symphony a lot. The moment when you listen to a great piece of music for the first time is something really special. It can make you shiver, cry, and smile at the same time. A little glimpse of heaven. Ah, if it wasn’t for music I wouldn’t want to be here. Music is such a great comfort.

Then there is my other music-preference: metal! In that respect 2010 wasn’t such an extraordinary year. Back in 2007 my (then) boyfriend gave me lots of cd’s and tips for bands to listen to so I know the basics. I don’t really keep up with metal as much anymore, when it crosses my path it’s great, but when it doesn’t I am happy to listen to the old records that I love. The real highlight of the year was the new Agalloch album of course. My favorite albums this year: Alcest – Eccailles de Lune, Fear Factory – Mechanize, Agalloch – Marrow of the Spirit, Burzum- Belus.

I went to quite a few concerts this year, metal and classical. The most extreme was going to Romania for Agalloch of course. But it was worth it! It was without a doubt the best concert this year, especially the one in Bucharest. Second place goes to the Fear Factory gig on 5 december. I went completely crazy and my neck hurt for two days after the concert.

Travel

I did travel quite a bit this year. I went to Romania to see Agalloch! It was such a great trip, but way too short! I love seeing the band and loved to see Milla and Nik even more! Great friends don’t have to live around the corner. I wanted to go to Romania as well because one of my ex-boyfriends was originally from that country. Matter of interest. Aside from Romania I also went to Rome, to see all the great historic treasures and art. I went to Austria as well, for a week of hiking in the mountains. And last but not least: Scotland! That was just awesome. Great landscape, great people, and who would have thought, great weather! I really want to go back there.