Photography.

I've written about it before, my biggest hobby: photography. I enjoy the time I spend in the park, because it's my time.

But there's so many people calling their pictures 'photography' and they actually think they're good photographers. I don't consider myself a photographer because there's a lot for me to learn, but I do call my pictures 'photography' because the words photos and pictures don't attract as many people as the word photography does.

I want people to watch my photos and I want them to let me know what they think of it. Negative or not, I can learn from what they have to say.

 I'm saving up to buy a better camera because tbh this one was 180 euros and it's not as good of a quality that I wanted. But I didn't have a higher budget else I would've bought a better one right away. This is a good camera to start with but now that I'm planning on studying photography I realize I need a new camera so I can get better.

I'm quite proud of a few pictures I took. And the local TV station displays my photos when I send them, with my name up there so it's good and free advertisement. I got asked to photograph on the Bluesfestival in my hometown. Of course I said yes because it's an event I go to every year!

I wanted to say I realize I'm not as good as official photographers so stop nagging about that. I enjoy taking pictures and I enjoy that people enjoy them. I'm still learning and I'm willing to learn everything about it when it makes me better. I hope I can discover a lot more about photography, especially portrait photography. That is my least favorite thing but that's probably because I'm not really good at that. Thanks for reading and for now I just promise I won't post a blog for at least one day, haha. I just got inspiration.

Lots & lots of love.

P.S: if you have a comment (negative or positive) about my pictures, don't be afraid to drop a comment underneath this. You can do it anonymously and you can also put your name in there. Your choice!

Photo's from the past.

Sometimes I open my photobooks. Just because I love the pictures that are in it. They make me smile & realize I've had an amazing time growing up. As you can see, I was quite crazy. And I think I still am.. I'm quite sure actually. I have a lot more pictures but I can't upload them all even tho I'd enjoy that.

Growing up.

Lately I've noticed a lot of my old friends have a boyfriend and they are planning on living together or getting married. Then I think about myself.. I don't see myself getting married. Living together, that's fine but I don't want to get married. The idea of getting married just makes me ill. It has no use, if you love each other you can do that without a ring on your finger. Nothing really lasts forever and getting married makes it harder to get seperated.

But I mean, so many people my age (20) are having serious relationships, some of them for over 4 years already. Some people my age are getting married already and some might even have children really soon. That's weird to me because I can't imagine being married or having children at my age. I have a lot to figure out and finally I have the time to make up my mind. I don't need all that on this age. I really don't. I'm not afraid of growing up because I'm already doing that.

Having a family at the age of 20 seems unreal to me. That's just not realistic for me. I feel like I'm just starting my life and I'm just starting to discover other things in life than school and some of that other shit that "counts" when you're a teenager. I need my space and I need my time. I know who I am and what I stand for, but I've just figured that out and I'm still getting used to it. I love it tho. It feels so good to finally know what I can do and who I am.

I wonder if those people ever got a chance to discover theirselves and what they're made of. Right now I don't even want to get married, never ever. It's such bullshit but if you have children I can understand it. I don't want children either. I don't know why, it just does't seem 'something' for me even tho I get along with children quite well. But I still have a couple of years left to make the choice if I want children or not. And then we still have to see if I can HAVE children, because as you know, not every woman can get children.. It's a blessing (I don't believe in God and I hate religion but still) when you can have them.

Ah well, I guess the future will tell. We'll see, it's not the time yet.

These thoughts I share.

We seem to have grown in our thoughts & behaviour
We have tried, learned, lost & won
But now you’re trying to get back..
Get back to the old days.
I find it hard to let your love in
To let your love take over & steal my heart
I am not the only one that changed
You seem to have grown a lot along the way
Time has done you well
Now that I’ve almost got what I always wanted
I don’t seem to want it anymore
It’s a little too late & my mind has changed
I like who I am and I like who you are
But I just don’t see us together
Not to day, tomorrow or ever.

Young. How Young? Neil Young.

laughing my ass off because of the title. I'm sorry for laughing at my own jokes but it's all I do actually. Ok so the subject of this "quick & short" blog is Neil Young. Obviously. Why? Because he has been my hero since I was a little Michelle. My dad is a big fan of him and he infected me with that. I'm thankful for that because Neil now means a lot to me. He's very inspiring. He went through a lot but still held on and became a great human being who cares a lot for other people. His protest songs are the best ones out there and he's a really funny guy. When he got brain surgery, my world kind of crashed. Luckily everything went alright and 4 years later I got the honour of seeing my hero in concert. That is now almost 3 years ago. I really hope I get another chance to see him because he's not getting any younger. He will always be my number 1 artist of all time. I don't believe in God or anything like that but I do believe in the strength of music and that is really powerful to me. Neil always makes me happy and if he doesn't, he makes me think about things I've never thought about before. Not a lot of people my age know Neil Young (or his music) and so I think I'm lucky for knowing it. Neil Young also made the bond between me and my dad stronger. So did Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rory Gallagher and other blueslegends who got us into blues. Each year me and my dad visit the Bluesfestival in my hometown. That's always special for me, cause not that many people have that bond with their parents.

The upcoming gigs.

As you might have noticed: I love music. I recently blogged about my upcoming gigs. The first one is a fact, the second one is nearby. Here's the list I previously blogged about:

Go Back To The Zoo - Gavin DeGraw - Rammstein - Bluesfestival.

Go Back To The Zoo was last tuesday and it was a great first gig of the year! A great start of my musical year. It was a sneakpreview of the new album that's coming out in April and I'm telling you guys: I'm looking forward to hearing all the songs again because they're good! They played at Rotown, which is a very awesome cafe that gets turned into a really cool venue really quickly.

I have something exciting to tell (well, I think it's exciting): another gig has been added to the list. Greg Holden in Rotown! I don't know if you know him but I know I do. He's a singer/songwriter from the UK who now lives in NYC. His song "The Lost Boy" got really popular once it got picked up by dutch DJ Eric Corton who was busy with Serious Request (an event to raise money for charity). The Lost Boy got a lot of airplay since then and a lot of Gregs shows in Holland have sold out already! Rotown hasn't, but it will sell out and I'm glad I got a ticket already. Today, me and my younger sister decided she's gonna come with me. She's having a hard time. When she was little, a hole in her tympanic membrane was discovered. Last year she got surgery and everything went well until she got an infection in that same ear. Now there's a hole in her tympanic membrane again and she needs  hearing aid. It was either new surgery again or hearing aid. She shouldn't be making this choice at her age. It's unfair. She's only 14 years old. She deserves a night out and definitely to one of her favorite singers: Greg Holden. It's her 15th birthday the day before his gig in Rotown so that's nice. Check out his songs :-) He's really talented!

The Gavin DeGraw gig is coming up and I couldn't be more excited. It's going to be awesome together with Anita and Krijnie, as always. More gigs might be added soon, you never know. This saturday I'm going to see my aunt who will be performing with her choir. I'm not that much into choirs but it's my aunt and I've never heard her sing before.

An Idiot Abroad.

It has been a couple of days since I wrote a blog. I didn't know what to write about but now I know. I've been looking for the books by Karl Pilkington (An Idiot Abroad) for a while now and all of a sudden I remembered a website that probably sells the books. And I was right! I ordered 'An Idiot Abroad' and 'Happyslapped by a jellyfish'. That second title is the most awesome title in the entire world. I am looking forward to reading the books. Probably gonna laugh my ass off but reading this will be worth losing my ass.

A couple of months ago I saw a preview of 'An Idiot Abroad' while watching Discovery Channel. I thought 'this show is made for me to watch' and so it was. This 'idiot' is Karl Pilkington. And he's funny as heck. I'm really looking forward to see An Idiot Abroad 2: The Bucket List. It isn't on in Holland yet. That sucks and I hate watching online. One thing that is hilarious about this show also, is the laugh of Ricky Gervais. That man is a genius.

I haven't bought one single book in my entire life because I don't like reading. I don't think it's relaxing and I find it very difficult to concentrate on all these tiny letters. The reason why I bought these books is just because I'm becoming a fan of the Idiot, Karl Pilkington. I expect the books to be hilarious and I promise, I will read them more than once. They're coming in 3-4 days.. I hope 3. The sooner, the better.

Summer days.

I know I'm early but I didn't know what to write about. So I'm gonna write about the summer.

Last summer was great even tho the weather wasn't. I had a lot of fun, more fun with my family than with friends because most of them live too far away but yet it was good for me to spend some time with my family. Me and my grandma like to go cycling. The picture above is my bike, standing on the place we always go to during summer, to watch boats and enjoy the aftternoon or evening.

I always look forward to the summer and the older I get the more moments like that mean to me. Me and my grandmother get along very well.

We went to 'Kinderdijk' recently. That's where a lot of mills are. I took this photo when we walked towards the mill which you can watch on the inside.

Grandma on her bike. It was quite windy and sometimes rainy but we were there at the right time cause right after we got home it started raining harder. It gets very dangerous there when a thunderstorm comes. About 4 people have died there.. Because of thunder. It's all open so when there's thunder you're screwed. You better lay down or cycle/run for your life.

To get there, we had to cycle to the boat, get on the boat, get off board and cycle some more.

When we got back we also visited my aunt because it's on the route back home anyway.

I had an amazing day and we made it a tradition. So this summer, we'll go again.

Vidauban.

My uncle and aunt have a house in Vidauban, France. It's beautiful and we've been there 3 times already, with the entire family. 2006, 2008 & 2010. This year we're not going and I totally dislike that but I understand. If we'd go, my mom or dad would have to stay home and look after our pets. That wouldn't be fun also.

This was taken on the 2nd day there. It was fun and amazing to do this with a part of the family.

This day was actually pretty sunny and that's why my dad and cousin decided to take a dive in the pool.

OH HAPPY DAY

But the 3 times we went, we had an amazing time. Mainly because of the great weather and the things we were doing. We went shopping in St. Tropez and we also went for a walk in the mountains, to a little chapel. The 3rd time we went, we didn't have really good weather like the 2 times before but it was still great to be together with the family.. My cousins weren't there but luckily the rest of the family was. We also went to St. Tropez in 2010, and just my luck: there was a harley davidson meeting. I happen to be in love with Harley Davidsons.

The thing I love the most about these holidays is the fact that my family was there.

Funny thing is that this is my dads family, but my moms family is actually part french. So my mom, me and my younger sister are a tiny part french also. How awesome is that.

Those are the moments I cherish.