A sunny Sunday’s walk

Today it was the Open Day at the Gandhi Garden. First i went to the Groene Passage Festival Market. I took home some self made compost from the Spirit restaurant. Also some magazine’s from the ecological Velt collective.

After that i walked past my home and put on a warmer coat. On to the Gandhi Garden next.

It was busy! The Maja Fietsclub performed. The first time i saw them perform, I liked it. Wijnand and Andreas, who both work in the Peace Garden, are the singer and the drummer.

Walking back through De Savornin Lohmanlaan. There is a vegetable garden there. I found it!

Half past five i was home. The sun still shining. One hour later than a week ago. Yay!

Published on March 27, 2017 at 6:00 by
Categorised in: ,
Leave your thoughts

The Hit Factory

In the late 80s, while i was studying at art school, i needed to be extremely frugal with my money. So i stopped buying many things. Records for one thing. In stead i went through the out of the charts box in the record shop. Singles were sold for one guilder. I also felt at the time my taste in music was changing. I was curious about many different music styles, especially the popular ones. Whitney Houston i was fascinated by. I knew she had a lovely voice. I knew she looked gorgeous. Not my taste no. But still. Lovely.

Stock, Aitken and Waterman were not my taste either. But i got into their music a bit. There is fun in their music. Of course. It is written mostly for young girls and boys. They could write a song in a couple of hours. And get a few girls of the street and make them sing it, record a video and yes, have a hit.

I did enjoy Kylie’s music a lot. I sang along with it. Danced in my house on it. And Especially For You, the duet between Kylie and Jason, was my favorite song. It still is.

Sometimes people can write a tune, write words which mean more than usual. I mean, it is more than I’d Rather Jack by the Reynolds Girls. Even though i always enjoyed that song too. Especially For You stayed with me for the last thirty years.

It was a bit weird that i listened to this music while i was at art school. Earlier, at high school and on the Delft University, i was into new wave – now known as post punk. It felt like i was looking for something opposed to the situation i was in. A small token of independence. I even bought the Smash Hits in that time. Reading it in the canteen of art school was not accepted.

The albums and singles i have are in this post. And at the end some youtube clips. One documentary to start with. A bit over enthusiastic of course.

Enjoy!

The Hit Factory Documentary

Kylie Minogue – Got to be certain

Kylie minogue and Jason Donovan – Especially for you

Kylie – Hand on your heart

Kylie – Wouldn’t Change A Thing

Kylie – Never Too Late

Kylie – Better The Devil You Know

Bananarama – Venus

Mel & Kim – Respectable

Mel & Kim – Showing Out

Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up

Sinitta – “Toy Boy”

Donna Summer – This Time I Know Its For Real

Princess – Say I’m Your Number One

Samantha Fox – Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now

The Reynolds Girls – I’d Rather Jack

Published on March 24, 2017 at 6:00 by
Categorised in:
Leave your thoughts

An early spring walk

A walk through the Kralingse Bos. The weather was good today. Sometimes the wind felt a bit cold, but i never closed my coat.

I loved sitting in the park for a while and listen to the birds. A meditation. The drone of the cars rushing by in the distant. Never absent, no. I would like to hear nothing, but here in the west part of the Netherlands that is a hard bit to find. I did close my eyes and heard all the different birds around me. Singing their hearts out. Lovely.

A small yellow flower
White flowers against a blue sky
Trees covered with ivy
Most trees are still bare. Only buds point at the upcoming leaves.
Tiny white flowers
A bit closer up
Cut off tree trunks covered with moss
For around fifteen minutes i sat on a bench. I listened to the birds. Lovely.
Directly opposite the bench i sat on.
Young growth. No idea what type!
Published on March 23, 2017 at 6:00 by
Categorised in:
Leave your thoughts

Inward

Today i felt tired. Not as happy as i usually am. Walking slower. Not as talkative.

Yesterday, Monday, i brought Mieke to the vet. Her dead body. I walked up there with her in an old shoe box. It felt like walking a dead man’s march. After that i went to the Groene Passage and treated myself on a cappuccino and a carrot cake.

It will get better. For now the memories are still so fresh. This little white cat was a part of my life for the last twelve years. Mieke and Muis were pals. Lying together so many times. Me and Muis are together once more.

See you tomorrow.

*hugs*

Published on March 22, 2017 at 6:00 by
Categorised in:
Leave your thoughts

Bagagedrager

In 2002 the first album of the Dutch artist Spinvis was released. I got hooked. The melancholic and intricate music enchanted me.

I’ve missed out on his later albums. I did buy the second one, but it didn’t hook me as the first one. Still, he has a soft spot in my heart. This song, Bagagedrager, is on my MIXtape Spotify playlist. I do love the lyrics of this song. A bagagedrager is the back bit of a bicycle, on which you bind your bag. The part about biking through the white and cold, with the wind blowing through your gloves. Your fingers are cold as stone. And there is always something that paralyses you. Pot or booze. I don’t know what you make of it.

An excellent title.

Beautiful.

Spinvis – Bagagedrager
Je droomt wel vaker van een feest
maar hier ben je nog nooit geweest
iedereen kijkt naar voetbal
en een vent zeurt aan je kop
wat wil die man in hemelsnaam
hoe kom je hier
hoe kom je hier vandaan
en als je wegkomt
waarheen wou je dan wel gaan
hij praat maar door maar jij dwaalt af
dus je weet niet wie de wedstrijd wint
als je luistert naar de wolken
als je luistert naar de wind
je agenda en je zonnebril
wat doen die hier nou
maar je ligt weer in je eigen bed
in je eigen lot
en opeens staat alles stil

een motor draait
de baby huilt
een vogel schreeuwt
de dag begint
en de snelweg suist

tis altijd wat en altijd spijt
van al het geld en alle tijd
op de onverharde wegen
die je naar hier hebben geleid
de ochtenden zijn wit en koud
en hoe je ook je stuur vasthoudt
de wind komt door je handschoenen heen
je vingers zijn versteend
zo is er altijd iets wat je verlamd
en is het niet de wiet
dan is het wel de drank of zo
het spookt maar in je hoofd
het was lang geleden een eeuwigheid
je fietste op de afsluitdijk
ik weet niet wat je er nu van vindt
als je luistert naar de wolken
als je luistert naar de wind
als je luistert naar de wolken
als je luistert naar de wind
als je luistert naar de wolken
als je luistert naar de wind

Lowlands 2012

Theatershow

Published on March 21, 2017 at 6:00 by
Categorised in:
Leave your thoughts

A lovely Wednesday

Work work work. The final bit of the job. I voted as well. I went to the dietitian. Which turned out to be the wrong day for it. I do remember the call, i did change the date in Calendar on my computer. But it wasn’t synced to my phone. So i got the normal warning yesterday and i didn’t think about it and i went. Not realizing it was postponed to next Tuesday.

It wasn’t that bad though. The weather today was extraordinary. Lovely. Sun shining. Fifteen ºC. So i slowly walked back home. Dressed a bit too warm!

More work. Music in the background. I sometimes sang along, sometimes danced a bit behind my computer or even standing in the front room. Yay!

This evening i will watch the results program of the vote today on the Dutch television. I’m curious. I might zap a bit, in between.

Next week i’m fully back here, on ellenpronk.com. Yay!

Published on March 16, 2017 at 6:00 by
Categorised in:
Leave your thoughts

Vote

Today, Wednesday 15 March, it is a general election in the Netherlands. I’m gonna vote for the Party for the Animals, the Partij voor de Dieren.

I hope you will vote too, for the party you like the best!

Published on March 15, 2017 at 6:00 by
Categorised in:
Leave your thoughts

Eight years of silence, again

Two years ago i wrote this post, Eight years of silence.

The eight years were only silent for you. To me they were pretty normal. But i did miss making presents. It wasn’t in the forefront of my mind the whole time, but it did pop up.

Pretty normal. Pretty normal? Really?

Last Friday i spoke to somebody at the garden. Friendship came up. I said it. I have no friends. A surprised look. Not even at the garden? No. I do enjoy working at the garden. Lots. I like the people i got to know through the garden. But they are not part of my own personal life. They are part of the garden life.

I said something about that time in 2006 and 2007. When i stopped trying to keep all the friendships i had together. Stopped trying to work hard on them. Gave up. It felt that my then current friends moved away from me. I didn’t call anyone. Nobody called me. I was playing World of Warcraft. As an escape. A way to keep myself occupied. Busy.

So when a friend called me while i was in a raid, one of the first. Nervous. Trying to be as good as possible. I said to her i would call her back the next day. I did. But i didn’t get a hold of her. She was going to tell me she was pregnant.

I actually planned to go to her once i knew. Once the baby was born. I had bought a gift, a lovely little soft stroking baby thing. But i didn’t go. That present was laying in my cupboard for a couple of years. When the daughter of my sister got a baby, i gave it to her.

We did meet in town around 2010. When i was walking back home from work, on a Friday afternoon. I nearly cried. Slowly we got back to talking a bit more. We are sort of fine now. But it is more superficial. We can get by not seeing each other for years. Easy.

I won’t go into all the details here. This post isn’t about that. It is about what i wrote in my earlier post. Pretty normal. Is that how i felt about that time? Really?

I was all alone. I played a game, i met people through the game. Some i liked. But no one like a true friend. It was a way to pass the time. To not think about things. To not think about my life flowing by me and leaving me unattached.

It felt like my life had stopped.

It didn’t stop though. Of course not.

That sledgehammer moment i had in 2014. I can still feel it. I’m still not sure why it happened then. But i’m happy it did happen. I found back a part of me which i have always loved. The creative part. The happy part. The part i had missed so much over the previous eight years.

It does feel a bit like it couldn’t have gone any other way. I am not sure about that now. But yes, maybe it was like that. Maybe this was the only way for me. To let my work go. With pain in my heart. To find it once more. Happier. More steadfast.

That time in between. That was not pretty normal. It was awful. But i did learn a few things then. I learned to be quiet. I learned to be on my own. I learned a bit of control of myself. A bit.

So now, i am still on my own. I still don’t have many friends. If any. But i do trust myself. I still feel things will turn for the better.

I still do.

Published on March 14, 2017 at 6:00 by
Categorised in:
Leave your thoughts