Tag: myself

Broken Machine

Hola everyone.

I know I said that I’d do some kind of series about my trip to Paris, but something really important happened today. So important that I just have to break in the series. Today is the day that Nothing But Thieves released their new album. You can probably guess it. I’m shook.

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Nothing But Thieves – a band I’ve now known for over a year. A band I fell in love with the second I listened to their music. And a band I’ve been following ever since, especially after getting the chance to see them live last year at Reading and experiencing their amazing show. And now, after nearly two years or so, their new album called “Broken Machine” is finally out. And I can tell you, I’ve waited for quite a while for this and now that it’s here, it’s completely blowing me away.

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During the last few weeks, they have actually already given the world bits and pieces of the new LP. A new single, another one, an acoustic version and then even two more songs. And they were all mind-blowing. But now that I’m able to listen to the album in full, it really feels like a complete piece. A piece of art. So, without further ado, here’s the track list and some bits of my opinion:

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  1. I Was Just A Kid
    • I would say that this is seriously the perfect beginning of the album. It shows their way of combining good, old rock n’ roll with some new indie tunes and of course Conor Masons mind-blowing voice (he’s the lead singer). I actually froze while running up the stairs because I was so shocked while listening to it for the first time.
  2. Amsterdam
    • This was the first new song they released and for me the perfect representation for what they are capable of doing. It has the most amazing intro with a beat that really sticks to your memory. And then it gets louder and faster and better. It just pops.
  3. Sorry
    • I present you the second single and definitely my favorite song of the whole album. I was so blown away when I first listened to it, I actually couldn’t stop playing it for over a week. I’ve probably listened to it more than a hundred times. It’s so good, no joke. Also, there’s an acoustic version available, which sometimes – depends on the mood – is even better. I love it.
  4. Broken Machine
    • For me, this is the one song you would never expect to hear from this band, especially not the intro. It’s kind of weird, really mechanical (HA), and then turns into this rock song with Conor’s voice in the background. And the lyrics are amazing, no wonder it’s the title track.
  5. Live Like Animals
    • If I had to choose, I would actually say that this one is the one song I enjoy the least. I don’t really know why. It’s probably the guitar chorus. But apart from that part, the song is crazily good. I just adore Conor’s voice so much.
  6. Soda
    • This song is what you could call the ballade of the album. It’s really chilled compared to the other songs and really calming, despite the guitars in the background. And somehow the lyrics are kind of depressing (“I don’t wanna be myself”), but I think that just adds the special touch to the song.
  7. I’m Not Made By Design
    • This is the kind of song I can already imagine being the craziest when played live. The guitars are powerful, Conor is giving everything with his angelic voice and the beat is amazing. It’s the perfect getting-hyped-up song.
  8. Particles
    • Apart from Sorry, this is basically the one song to fall in love with. When I first listened to it right after midnight – of course I waited for the album to be released to listen to it right then and there – I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know about you, but for me this song is literally perfect. And let’s not forget Conor’s vocals and falsetto parts. You can really hear his classical vocal training, his voice is so strong. And moreover, on the deluxe version of the album, there’s a piano version of this song and it’s even better than the “normal” version, at least for me. And yes, I cried. Just listen to it, you’ll see. You’ll tear up too. God, Conor’s voice, it’s giving me goosebumps. I wish I could bury myself into this song. Seriously.
  9. Get Better
    • This is the perfect bounce-your-head-to-it song. It’s kind of upbeat, but also a little bit slow and chilled back. It’s a mix of both. And for me yet another song that perfectly reflects the kind of style of music they are heading to or living for right now.
  10. Hell, Yeah
    • Hell. I think this song is literally about hell – “it’s just a little bit warmer”, “it’s just like home”. Somehow quite funny to me as a lyrical piece, but not when you listen to it. Right at the beginning, there’s just Conor’s voice and an acoustic guitar and he sounds hurt. You can hear the hurt in his voice. So I strongly believe that there’s so much more to this song than hell, literally. Nonetheless, this one is amazing, but that’s not really a surprise, is it?
  11. Afterlife
    • This one here is the last song on the “normal” version of the album and with it’s title, it’s fits, really. It has this kind of Amsterdam vibe to it and it’s also a little bit more calming. And for me the best last song they could have chosen.

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When you get the deluxe version of the album, there are four more songs waiting for you to listen to them – Reset Me, Number 13 and the acoustic version of Sorry and the piano version of Particles, which I’ve already mentioned. Reset Me is kind of a punch in the face after Afterlife. It’s rough, fast and loud and exciting. So exciting. And Number 13 is simply cool. It’s bouncy, pure old school rock full of amazing, rough vocals and great guitars and beats. And it combines like five types of music in one. It’s hard to describe, so I guess you just need to give it a listen to hear it yourself.

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So, guys, there you go. That’s the new masterpiece called “Broken Machine” by Nothing But Thieves. And it really is a masterpiece. I’m so proud of this band and of what they achieved. They really grew together with their music and especially Conor gets better and better with every single new song, every single new show. It’s actually quite sad for me that they are little bit underrated and kind of still a secret in the music universe, but I’m sure that this will change dramatically after this release. Thank god they are going on tour this winter already and I’ve got tickets to see them. I would never be able to wait much longer for the moment I get to listen to the songs live. Because if Nothing But Thieves are anything, they are the kind of band that is even better live than on the studio versions. And that’s hard to manage, trust me.

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So, yeah, if I can give you anything, it’s the advice to give this band a listen, seriously. You won’t regret it. But I guess you’ve already noticed that I’m really hyped for this band. God, I love them. And to end this post on something exciting, I’ll leave some videos for you to watch down below. Please enjoy. And I wish you all an amazing weekend and hope that you enjoyed this post. And please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, of course. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

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Monet`s Garden

Hola everyone.

As following my previous post about my trip to Paris together with my mum, I thought I’d turn this whole experience into a little series of posts to share the whole beauty of the city with you guys.

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And before heading straight for a haul or something like that, I thought I’d share one of the nicest days with you – the day my mum and I visited Claude Monet`s garden and house in Giverny. I found out about the possibility to visit this magnificent place while sorting out the to-do-list for Paris. As soon as I saw it, I just had to visit it. Especially as Monet is one of my favorite painters due to his pastel color scheme. Thankfully my mum was up for it right from the start, so that was fixed.

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We got to Giverny by the direct train from Paris and then took a shuttle, I think it took us about one hour and a half to finally end up in front of Monet’s house. Unfortunately we had to wait quite some time, but it could have been worse, because even the streets and other houses of Giverny looked so beautiful, flowers blooming everywhere, the sun lighting up the walls. But that was nothing compared to what was waiting for us beyond the stonewalls of the garden.

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Guys, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful garden than that. I can now fully understand Monet’s love for gardening and plants and painting. That place was and is so beautiful, of course you’d want to capture that in some way. Every centimeter is covered in plants, flowers and pots of colorful blooms. It’s crazy. And the house is so cute, with it’s light pink walls and green doors and windows. And don’t even get me started on the interior, it’s breathtaking. And the view from the windows on the first floor, oh my god.

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What I loved the most was the calming feeling it brought to me. I mean, Paris is a buzzing city and in comparison to that, the garden felt like a oasis. Like somebody turned off the whole world. At one point my mum and I sat down on a bench in front of a small river floating through the garden, eating a croissant and just enjoying the moment. It was so beautiful, I don’t know how to describe it any better. I guess you have to experience it yourself to really be able to feel it.

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And for me as a photographer, the place felt like heaven on earth. I think I could have spent the whole day there, maybe even two, just taking pictures of every plant, every  single corner of the house and every magnificent leaf. I loved it so much there and I’m so freaking happy that we took this little journey to get there. It’s really unbelievable to be able to stand at the same place where once Monet himself stood while creating one of his breathtaking works. I’m still shook, to be honest.

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And without further ado, I think I’ll leave the rest to all the pictures I took. I hope you like them as much as I do. And of course the post overall. If you have any questions or want to talk, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below. And if you ever get the chance, I can just strongly recommend you guys to visit this garden. You won’t regret it, I swear. And until then I wish you all an amazing week and, as always, thanks for reading. x

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Paris

Hola everyone.

I’m baaaack. Yeeeeeey. And oh my god guys, I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing Paris was. God, I love this city so much.

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First of all, the architecture is so freaking beautiful. I mean, the whole city feels like a huge museum. There are so many sightseeing points and even when there’s no palace, historic building or gallery near you, all of the residential buildings are literally breathtaking. The whole city is so romantic, you can really feel it in the atmosphere. And we had the cutest apartment ever. Seriously. It was one of three rooms in a huge building that all belong to one big apartment complex. It felt like we were actually living in Paris, in our own little, cute flat. We had to climb the coolest and narrowest spiral staircase ever to get to our own room. And the most amazing part was the little french balcony we had. I immediately fell in love with it. And I can tell you, having breakfast in the middle of Paris on the cutest balcony ever while looking over the city and watching other people starting their day while the sun is shining in your face is literally the best way to start your own day. I miss the balcony, I really do.

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Apart from that I seriously, overly fell in love with the city. It’s beautiful, cute, historic, really damn elegant and it just glows. If I had to describe it in one word, I’d probably say decadent. The whole city is pure decadence. Every day we would walk around long after midnight, strolling around the city and looking at the buildings glistening in the city lights. I can’t decide when Paris is more beautiful – at daytime or at night. It’s such a tough decision. And I think I took like about 800 pictures, most of them are photographs of buildings. Paris really drew me into the whole street photography stuff and I just let myself fall into it. So please excuse the massive amount of pictures (right down below).

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But what did we do? Actually, I think we had the perfect mix of everything. We pretty much walked around the whole day, we didn’t even buy a card for the metro. I think mum is still a little bit “mad” at me for dragging her around all day and night. But hey, this way we literally saw everything. We visited museums, of course took a look at the most important sights like the eiffel tower – which I absolutely love -, we went shopping, enjoyed the amazing food, sat in bistros and watched people walk by and live their lives and just spent time in Paris, basically. Oh and we drove to Giverny for one day to visit Monet’s garden and house, you know the famous painter. He’s one of my faves and when I found out that you could actually walk through the garden where he painted his famous works, I just had to put it on our to-do-list.

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What I also loved is the amount of art and culture that is packed into the city. Literature, art, music, photography, fashion – all in one single place. It’s crazy. And all the famous people who lived there, like Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald or Picasso. You can really sense the history while walking the streets of Paris and even more so when visiting the most amazing places like the historic bookshop Shakespeare & Company or the Café de Flore. That’s one of the things I enjoyed most on our trip. Every few minutes mum and I basically had to stop and google things we just came across to know more about the city and it’s fascinating history.

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Oh, and another really mind-blowing thing happened. Now that I can’t decry it because it already happened, I can finally tell you that me and my mum seriously got our tattoo appointments in Paris. Yes, I know, how freaking crazy is that? I still can’t believe it, no joke. Let me tell you the little story of how we got an appointment that actually would have never been one. A few weeks before our trip I stumbled across the artist Carin Silver who works at a tattoo studio in Paris called Les Maux Bleus. You can probably guess what happened afterwards. I actually had the wish of getting a new tattoo done for quite a while now and when I saw that Carin even specialized in doing exactly what I dreamed of – flower bouquets and thin lines – I completely went crazy. Unfortunately I had to wait quite a while for a reply and after some mails the studio told me that she was completely full the week we would visit Paris. And yes, I was sad. Really sad. So, after a few days we were already in Paris, at 11 pm at night, right in front of the eiffel tower. Did you know that it sparkles at night for 5 minutes? It’s so damn beautiful. Anyways, after sharing that amazing moment, mum and me realized that my phone was blinking, meaning that I had received a text. It was a mail. From Carin. Telling us that she had found literally the perfect appointment for us both. I couldn’t believe my eyes. And I still can’t. I now have the most beautiful flower bouquet on my right arm and I couldn’t be happier with it. But I’ll tell you more about the appointment in one of my next posts.

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So yeah guys, that was my trip to Paris together with my mum. Actually I took so many pictures and we had so many adventures, I think I’ll split the whole week in Paris in a  few different posts. That’s why I thought I’d limit this post to a summary of the whole week and leave the rest for the pictures. I hope you enjoy them and this post. Oh and please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. And until then I wish you all an amazing weekend and, as always, thanks for reading. x

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Writing

Hola everybody.

You know, I love writing. I’ve always loved it. Since being a little kid, I’ve dreamed about being an author, earning money by writing stuff. And now that I have my own blog, did actually publish my own book and am now working as a journalist, I kind of thought about how it feels for me to basically write.

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People have always told me that I seem to get completely lost when writing. And I think that’s true. I tend to get fully caught up in the idea I have in my head and then the words just keep streaming. It’s crazy. Especially when a topic is very important to me or when I have a lot to say. For example, let me write a text about how I think that YouTube isn’t stupid or a waste of time and you can watch me get lost and write on and on and on.

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But apart from all of my blog posts and the articles I write, I think that writing an actual story is the most captivating thing ever. I’m currently working on a story and when I’m writing, every aspect, every little thing about the storyline, the people, just everything, keeps coming up. Things I’ve never thought about before starting to write, before laying my fingers on the keyboard, are suddenly there, in my head. And then on the paper. The whole story forms itself in my head. And I can clearly see it in my mind. Like, the people, the streets, everything how I imagine it to be. And I’m there, watching everything and then writing it down. This may sound crazy to you, but that’s seriously how it is. How incredible is that?

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If some of you are writers like me, you’ll probably know what I’m talking about. It seems like I’m not the only one that experiences the writing process like this. Oh and please, if you do, don’t hesitate to leave a comment. And if you don’t, the same. I’m so interested in hearing your opinions and thoughts.

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Last weekend we visited my grandmother and I kind of strolled around her house and then found the coolest thing ever – my mums old typewriter. Of course I had to take it with me. It’s now placed on the table in our office and it’s literally the most amazing eye-catcher. It makes me feel like I’m a real author – although I don’t even use it. It just gives me the feeling. Oh, and if you’re interested, I left some pictures down below.

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So guys, that’s actually everything I wanted to tell you. I loved the thought of sharing my passion for writing with you and I really hope you enjoyed it. And as already mentioned, please don’t forget to leave your comments down below to. Oh and I won’t be posting anything for the next week as me and my mum will be in Paris for a little mother-daughter trip. I’m already so freaking excited, I can’t wait to get there. And of course I’ll take my camera with me, so stay tuned for some nice pictures. And until then I wish you all a nice weekend and, as always, thanks for reading. x

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Being an optimist

Hola everyone.

You know, sometimes the world can be quite a shit place. And at times like these it’s more important than ever to keep spreading love, staying positive and focusing on the good sides of life and the world. That’s the life of an optimist.

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I just had a conversation with my friend about this topic, due to the recent events in the USA (Trump, war, Charlottesville). And to be honest, it left us both pretty speechless. And just to mention it, we’re in 2017. Racism, sexism and homophobia and so many more things shouldn’t be a thing. And especially not praising a man who brought so much hate and death into this world. Actually, I don’t even know what to say. It’s really sad that I have to say anything at all. Hating on other people because of their skin color, their race or their origin. That’s just ridiculous. Seriously. If you want to hate on someone, hate on things like racism and nazism. For real. Can we please all just calm down for a little bit? We’re all the same. We are all humans, we all breath the same air and we’re all going to die. Why create differences that aren’t even there? Why? And don’t even get me started on Trump and this insane idea of a war. Please, just stop. Honestly.

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Sorry, but that had to be said. But what I actually wanted to tell you is how important it is to stay positive. And how you can all actually manage to do that if the world is slowly breaking apart. I know it may sound stupid, but sometimes there’s no other way than going back into your own, safe bubble and staying there for a while. I would probably have a depression already if I didn’t love my bubble so much. I mean, some of you may say that’s quite ignorant, but here’s why: you know, if I see people getting hurt and people doing the most stupid and insane things that make me speechless, I can stay mad for the whole day, of course I can. But I’m sitting here, in the middle of nowhere, not able to do anything that would really change the situation immediately. All being mad does is create more anger. And the world doesn’t care if you’re mad. Sorry to say that, but there are greater problems.

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So I try to kind of safe the planet in my own ways. I retweet important stuff on Twitter, talk to people about important issues I really care about, I make sure more people see that change is needed and most importantly, I try spreading happiness. I try spreading love. And by doing that, I may or may not make somebody smile or make them feel better and that makes the world a better place. Even just a little bit. I try doing what I love every single day. Because if I keep doing that, other people will follow me and maybe, one day, everything will be a little bit better. At least that’s what I’m hoping for.

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I know it’s hard guys. I know at times like these it’s easy to loose all hope. But we can’t let that happen. Never. Because then all the sadness, hate and anger will win. And we don’t want that, do we? So, please, keep being happy. Keep being good. Keep doing good. And keep love in your hearts.

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I know this post turned into something quite deep, but I just had to talk about this important topic, because, as I said, I try to keep doing what I love and try to spread some positivity and help and love and happiness. I hope it works. And that you enjoyed this post. Please don’t hesitate to talk to me if you want to chat or anything else. I’m here. And until then I wish you all an amazing week. And please stay positive. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

Short Update

Hola everyone.

You know, sometimes there’s just nothing going on. That’s how it is with me right now. So, because I have nothing extremely incredible to tell you guys, I thought I’d just give you all a short update on what’s happening now and in the next few weeks.

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First something exciting. I recently found an amazing tattoo artist in Paris (Carin Silver). I love her style and right now I’m dreaming about getting a small flower bouquet on my forearm. The best thing is that we’ll be in Paris in two weeks – I. CAN’T. WAIT. – and getting a tattoo in Paris from such an amazing artist would be just mind-blowing. I already got in contact with them, I just don’t know if I’ll really be able to get an appointment. That’s why I’m stopping myself from getting too excited. Because I don’t know what I’ll do if it doesn’t work out. And it will be even worse if I get even more excited than I am already. So, guys, please wish me good luck on that. I really, really, REALLY want to get that tattoo.

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And apart of being totally excited to fly to Paris with my mum, I am also recently planning my next trip. The trip to Amsterdam with my friend. I think I already told you guys about that, but now that we’ve booked the flights and the hotel, it’s getting so real for me, I’m going absolutely crazy. I seriously can’t believe that we’ll be there for the Amsterdam Dance Event and see Martin with his show. That’s such a dream come true.

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Oh and besides that, nothing much is happening actually. I’m still working until the start of September and then I can finally relax for about a month. I know I always say that I like going to uni, but honestly, can the summer just please last for another couple of months? Seriously. I don’t even want to imagine sitting in front of my laptop again, pushing information and facts into my head I’ll forget a week afterwards. But oh well, the things you do to make your dream of being able to do something more, something bigger with your life come true, am I right?

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So guys, that’s basically it right now. My days consist of going to work, writing articles for the magazine I’m working for and mostly worrying about the possibility of a tattoo appointment in Paris. I’ve been staring at my phone for the last couple of days, like such a weird person, waiting for an answer from the tattoo studio. God, I’m praying that it will work out. Please let it work out.

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But enough of me, what’s going on in your life? I hope you’re all doing well. Oh and I wish you all an amazing weekend. And although it’s not much, I hope you enjoyed this post. I’ll see you next Monday. And until then guys, as always, thanks for reading. x