Thursday 16 October 2008: part 2 - Sarah was confused. Her photo for the 15th is in post before this one and here is the one for the 16th...

Sarah says:

Proof I was in and out of Frankfurt and looking so tired! The bookfair was great though!

Thursday 16 October 2008: heidi is tired and so is Sarah in yet another hotel room late at night in a German city...

Sarah says:

So tired in that photo in a hotel room in Frankfurt...

Heidi says:

I am tired. Can you tell?

The last nights, our little Yma wakes us up in the middle of the night, because her little lamp went out. We have to hop out of our bed to put it on again, but then we are awake for at least an hour... I am now building up a big loss of sleep, and that is something I struggle with... I start to look like a corpse... :)

Wednesday 15 October 2008: Sarah is Heidi's shrink nuts herself and it's one couch of crazies today...

Sarah says:
bye bye! Frankfurt needs me! I leave you with a nutty grin. In case my plane crashes, remember me this way! :-) You'd think the more I travel the less paranoid I'd become. But I just see it as increasing the odds that something could go wrong! Strange! See you here late tomorrow or Friday!

Heidi says:

I am a little bit lost today (and the two passed days too). I'm tired, feel not perfectly happy, feel like I'm out of balance... Fall, maybe?

To make my (and your) day a bit better, these are pictures of Yma of last Sunday. My sweet baby...

Tuesday 14 October 2008: Heidi and Sarah (Meg and Jack White in red and black) are finally together in a photo again after what seems like ages!

Sarah says:

Life is busy these days on all fronts. Heidi and I don't have time or simply forget to take photos together! So here you have one above - very up close! Looking straight at ya! Heidi and Sarah love you! Don't forget that ever!

I'm off to the Frankfurt book fair tomorrow! On the road again! The weekend will be here sooner than I know it! Time is flying way too fast! I wish things would slow down a bit but that's how it goes I guess and I prefer being busy to not being busy so all is well!

Monday 13 October 2008: If Sarah were the praying type she'd be praying now. Instead she's voting. It's her duty. She's hopeful. She's scared...

Sarah says:
Since I don't pray, I'll hope! I have a lot to hope for! We all do. On so many levels...

Please don't look the other way! Vote! Get out and vote! Even if you don't like either candidate! Vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (for Obama please :-)

Sunday 12 October 2008: Sarah cooks up something special for y'all!

Sarah says:
I wanted pumpkin and there happened to be a recipe with pumpkin in the Saturday newspaper so I got the stuff I needed and made this on Sunday. It's just a chicken fillet with some spices and red pepper surrounded by slices of pumpkin covered in a little bit of light cream and put in the oven for 30 minutes with some sea salt and black pepper and olive oil as well as marjoram, oregano and nutmeg. Very tasty!
You know you want some right now!
As for Post Secrets, well my daughter told me she doesn't want my body when she grows up because my butt has no shape. She actually told me she would choose Heidi's body if she had the choice! Nice one kiddo!!!! But I understand! I think I'd choose Heidi's body over mine any day as well, which is sad, but true. I just hope my kid grows up healthy and happy. She apparently wants hips but she doesn't want a fat or a shapeless butt. This - the mind of the 9 year old - hence the below Post Secret picks of the week!

Saturday 11 October 2008: Sarah forget to mention who she was sitting next to on the plane from Brussels to Berlin - the founder of Seychelles!

Sarah says:

You never know who you might end up sitting next to on a plane! On my way to Berlin from Brussels, I sat next to a really interesting and friendly man who I only realized after we got off the plane and he gave me a book and his card was Sir James Mancham, the founder of the Republic of Seychelles! On the plane, before I knew who he was, we were talking politics and about the past, present and future of America. He seemed very well versed and politically-minded. He did mention Seychelles - but I didn't realize he had said he was the first president there and had his power taken away in a coup d'état. Every time we tried to talk, the pilot or stewardess started making an announcement so I didn't catch everything that was being said. He just seemed like a very kind, smart political, peace-wanting and loving person. Now that I have read a lot about him, I know a lot more of course. He gave me one of the books he wrote, which I plan to read soon. I'll stay in touch with him! It's rare when you get to meet someone who wakes you up to some topic and gets you learning about a place you hadn't known much about before. In looking up more info about him, I discovered that he knows a guy I interviewed once via my fascination with and absolute love of the artist Gottfried Helnwein. When I worked as a journalist in Pine Plains, New York, I came across the Pine Plains house that had all these posters of paintings by Helnwein. I was such a fan that it just blew my mind to be in this old house with all these paintings I loved - so I had to know why the paintings were there! After some journalistic searches and another strange connection that came up - I found the guy who owned those posters. He had a house in Pine Plains and one in NYC and he knew someone I knew at the United Nations. Anyway - I wanted to know more about this Helnwein lover so I arranged an interview with him and met him both in Pine Plains and in NYC. He was so friendly and informative and it turned out he came from Austria and knew Helnwein well apparently. To make a long story short - in searching for more info about my plane companion - Sir Mancham, I found that he knows the Helnwein connection guy with the posters in the Pine Plains house too and that together with him, he went to Helnwein's castle in Ireland and stayed there!! It's such a strange small world. I have to write to my new contact from Seychelles and find out more. Life can be so freaking interesting and it just goes to show you that you should never be shy and should always talk to the person you are sitting next to on the train or the plane!

And last but not least, this morning with my crazy friends Steven and Tilly, we made a visual map of all of our big life plans, which now also include a boat trip to Seychelles, so that we can eventually turn some of our far-out shared dreams into realities. We have a lot of complex plans to try to follow-through on and our plan map will change daily - but it's a start at least and all we know for sure is that it has to start with seven sunny days in June and end with a lot of men overboard and a final definition of what makes something interesting! All I can hear in my head right now is my grandma May's constant phrase: "nothing is boring!" -- I'm afraid she is right! Life is full of good stuff to get your head around and bite your teeth into!

Friday 10 October 2008: Sarah spends her final day in Berlin finsihing up work and taking a little tour before catching her last ever Tempelhof plane.

Sarah says:
I really have to return to Berlin for a holiday and properly see so many of the sites I have passed by so many times, including today on a quick bus tour just to get a little more of a taste of this marvelous city before I got my plane back to Brussels. Above you can see that quite stunning Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

What a site to see. Very tasteful and very moving. There is so much history in Berlin it's painful and amazing and the country has gone through so much change.

Above I got a wave from the guy at Checkpoint Charlie! I don't there was much waving going on back when the Cold War was in place! Berlin is full of stories and challenges. I want to know more. I NEED to go back and explore.
And above and below, my last goodbye at Tempelhof airport. I'll miss it when it's gone!
And below - the biggest news is that THERE IS A STARBUCKS IN THE BRUSSELS AIRPORT AND I HAD MY FIRST MOCHA FRAP IN A VERY LONG TIME AND ENJOYED EVERY MINUTE OF IT AND TOOK THIS PHOTO ESPECIALLY FOR MY BROTHER NSM!

Thursday 09 October 2008: Sarah has a other good day in Berlin at work and at play at work and at rest with a mask...

Sarah says:
Above you can see Alfie. He's somebody I have seen at music trade fairs for years but have only had the pleasure of working with in the last year. He's a lovely guy and now Heidi can see him too as she is in contact with him regularly. He's waving to Heidi in the photo.

There above and below you can see Kortrijk's Piet Goddaer, stage name Ozark Henry, performing at a club in Berlin. I ran into Piet on the train the day before on our way to the Brussels airport heading for Berlin. Of course I have known Ozark Henry's music for years and that he lives in Kortrijk part of the time - but I had never met him before. It was great meeting him. I had a nice time talking to him and got excited to hear he'll be performing in New York city this coming Thursday the 16th of October. The gig will be at Googies Lounge starting at 9:30 pm. It won't be a long gig so if any of you New Yorkers out there go, make sure to be on time! It would be great if you can go. The music is really good stuff and you'll probably have a good evening! Googies Lounge is located on top of The Living Room at 154 Ludlow in NYC between Stanton and Rivington. In Berlin Piet had to perform using a keyboard. It sounded fine but hopefully at the gig in NYC he'll be on a piano. Anyway - all y'all NYC people reading this, hope you enjoy the gig if you go!

There above is a live shot and there below is a typical Face The Day star-fuc*er shot with me of course! I always have to get my stupid head in there! :-)
And there below, some more star-fuc*ing, but this time with Johan Verminnen, who you just have to love, the legend that he is and has been in Belgium since the 1970s! He was kind enough to let me take a photo with him. Last week a photo with Marc Dex! This week a photo with Johan Verminnen! I'm really becoming a true Belgian!!!! I have to say all these famous Belgian singers are as nice as can be and are very down to earth, which is nice...
And finally below you can see me in all my tired glory after a long day and night - in a mask, trying to clean the dirt out of my pores back at my hotel at like 2 am!

Wednesday 08 October 2008: Sarah has a good first day and night in Berlin!

Sarah says:
Got up at 5am and got the 6:45 train from Kortrijk to Brussels airport but had good company on the train so the ride went fast as did the plane ride and I was in Berlin before I knew it at my favorite airport in the world - Berlin Tempelhof! I'm so glad I got to fly in and out of that airport one last time before it closes this year shortly at the end of this month. Hitler, the psycho-sicko, evil-doer had big plans for this airport, which could seem like reason enough not to like the airport at all. But you have to see this airport and o read all about it via the link above or a google search. It's quite an amazing place with quite an amazing story. I took some last photos of it. I hope the building remains as a museum or something so the history gets preserved there.

After I arrives, I headed to my hotel which was on the total East side of Berlin, dropped my bags and then took the lovely S-bahn all the way West to the Popkomm expo hall. It's a fantastic S-bahn ride and I really enjoyed it twice each day. You go from one side of the city to the other and at night I timed it just right with the sun set so the city was basked in an amazing red glow. I love Berlin so much. It is a city that fascinates me. I never have time to explore it as whenever I have gone it has always been for work. I really must go back for vacation and check out every hook and corner of it. Every time I'm there I fall more in love with it.

I worked hard all day and had a good one. Headed back to the hotel to eat and to get ready to go out to gigs (also working) in the evening. I went to the Belgian night and saw Sharko and Mintzkov. I'm not much of a fan of either though Sharko interest me because I saw him play once with Zita Swoon and it was the best Zita Swoon concert I had ever seen and actually the best concert I had ever been too that Sharko is forever linked to that experience even though I don't really recall his concert. He seems like a character though. After him, I left and went to check out some Swedish bands at another club and liked one singer so much I bought her CD. Can't remember her name right now though! And then I returned to the Belgian night and watched Mintzkov. I have mixed feelings about Mintzkov. When I hear them on the radio, I confuse them with Deus sometimes because of the voice - even they aren't nearly as good. It bothers me each time I get fooled because they aren't Deus. They probably aren't trying to be Deus either but something about them comes off like they are - even the body movements of the singer sometimes. But what do I know and who cares. Deus is a great band so I see no harm in wanting to sing like, sound like or act like Deus. But there is only one Deus so it would be best for Mintzkov to somehow shed that comparison. How? I have no idea. But it works against them - not for them, if you ask me - which you didn't. With all that said, they do have some serious potential. There is no doubt about that! They have power? They play really tight. They bop around with so much good energy. They sound good. And most of all, they play like they really mean it and are totally dedicated to it, which is always nice to see. BUT -- for my tastes - they need some more time to mature. There is something so very "chiro-achtig" about them -- they have this youth-club quality about them. They seem too young to be real. As much as they appear to really mean it, it also looks very much like an act - like they are acting -playing the role of fun-loving party people-cool-loose band and it misses some art or something. They have the package. The music isn't bad at all. But for the moment, they lack the depth and the soul. I guess that will come with time and if it does, they have tons of potential.
And there I am above after the gigs, after a long day - tired and worn out like a hag!

Thursday 9 october 2008: empty again... busy busy busy...

Heidi says: I'll be back!

wednesday 8 October 2008: empty face but full day!

Heidi says: read the title...

Tuesday 07 October 2008: Happy Birthday Rebecca! Heid and Sarah look like they are up to no good while in fact they are very innocent...

Sarah says:

Interesting photo. It looks like we got caught doing something we shouldn't be doing! Meanwhile, it was just business as usual. All very innocent. I started hair-removal again tonight! Now that the summer is over and there's no chance of having tan skin or bleached hair (not as if there ever were the chance in dark, rainy Belgium this past summer!), it's time! I'm ready! I absolutely love the results and think it's 100% worth it! Problem is it's pretty addictive. You start here end don't know where to end. It's just so cool not to have to even think about shaving or waxing or bleaching or sugaring! If I could afford it, I'd never stop! It's also starting to hurt less, which is great! The hairs are going away or getting thinner so they don't burn as much as they are being lasered away!

So now that you know all my secrets, I am off to Berlin till Friday night for Popkomm - the indie music fair. I love Berlin and I like this fair a lot because I get to work hard all day and then see gigs all night. I never really get to see any of Berlin itself though - and that's a real pity. One day I'll go there for pleasure and not for work. It's seems like a fantastic and fascinating city. The first time I stayed on the west. Last time in the middle. This time east. You'll see photos from the next few days Saturday on here probably! Heidi can hold down the fort until then!

Monday 06 October 2008: Heidi and Sarah happily and proudly welcome the best singer in Belgium Marc Dex to Face The Day!!!!

Sarah says:

Heidi will fill you in on the lovely Belgian charm singer Marc Dex in the photo above with us! Seriously, he's such a friendly, warm guy and was nice enough to let silly Heidi and me take a picture with him! I can't pretend I know his music well though I certainly have heard a lot about him and I have heard some of his songs in Dutch. But I am now officially a Marc Dex fan! Your turn Heidi...

Heidi says:

Ik werd vandaag fan voor het leven! Ziehier de beste zanger van België, die net 65 is geworden en die een nieuwe plaat de wereld in stuurt en daar ook een feestje rond bouwt op 02/11/2008, met Rode Loper en al! Leve Marc Dex!

(wat zie ik er moe uit... )

Sunday 05 October 2008: Sarah mets up with ASG and TSG in Antwerp in the bloody hardcore mennonite rain at the Rubens' House with no red shoes!

Sarah says:
We went to Antwerp to meet up with ASG and TSG! It was GREAT to see them but the rain SUCKED!!! We went to the Rubens' House, which was cool, and to a couple of cafes just to escape the rain and we had lunch at WAGAMAMA!!!! Crap weather. Nice day!
Don't they look nice up there!!! We found out today that we'll spend some days in Christmas week with them in Germany! It sounds very cosy! We can't wait. We can also discuss our plans to become hardcore Mennonites further - just one of the many discussions of the day....
And there above you can see my Post Secret pick of the week. Pretty obvious! I know! Makes me worry that my kid's lovely childhood will lead her to a terrible adulthood! Life is always out of balance like that. What's bad turns good, what's good turns bad. What seems bad at the time, leads to something great later. What seems great at the time, leads to something horrid later. It's both a win-win situation and a no-win situation! Life oh life oh life...

Sunday 5 October 2008: Radio Modern with a Twin Peaks feeling

Heidi says: This is the strangest Radio Modern party we've had so far. It was in the casino of Knokke, and had something Twin Peaks like because of the venue but also the people who were there. It was strange but that didn't make us stuck to our chair. We still danced our asses off with de kletsekop and each other. :) And of course, important to mention, we saw the lovely PDM Big Band perform again! Always a treat!

Saturday 4 October 2008: Heidi is practicing and Sarah sees life through a choco-koek!

Heidi says: I have a new hobby. Every friday night I am going to the hairdressers' school. I don't have the intention to become a real hairdresser, but I want to know all about hair. The reason for this is that I want to be able to make real retro hairstyles, and I will only be able when I know the basics. Yesterday we learned to put roles in hair, to make curls. The first step to forties and fifties hair! Look how happy Lindsey Weir and I are. One extra very nice detail about this course: I am doing it together with my best friend Katrijn!!! Finally we have a fixed weekly date!


Sarah says: The picture explains itself, doesn't it? Need I say more?

Friday 03 October 2008: The big news today? Sarah's haircut of course! Another shallow day at Face The Day!

Sarah says:

It's the weekend - yet another weekend! Time flies. Life feels so busy. Too busy. But it's busy mixed with lazy. Too lazy. It's weird. I have lost my whole sense of time since my husband starting working at his new job and having much later hours. I have these hours after work with just my daughter, which are nice because I love spending time with that lovely little light of my life - but which also have a certain emptiness about them because they no longer include my husband. There's no real "family" time in our lives lately and I find myself really missing that. We will find it back again! I am sure of that. We have to. The first months of any sort of change are the roughest ones to get through. I long for a few months from now when we are back in pace with each other and our home feels like a family lives in it and not just three people in their own worlds. My husband is out tonight and I'm home with my kid. She'll go to bed soon and then I'll fold laundry that's been piling up for a couple of weeks. It'll feel lonely. It'll feel empty. I'll make it feel a little better by putting some good music on and maybe calling an friend from The States afterwards - but still it will feel like something is missing. I know what's missing - my husband. I miss him a bit. Not in any sort of dramatic way. Nothing like that. I just long for a game of Yahtzee with him and my daughter - and for a real homemade meal that we sit at the table and eat together. In time we'll find all that again. Anyway - the news of today was my haircut! I like it!

For some reason I can only get this hair photo to save sideways! Oh well! Another view for once!

Heidi says: my big news? None actually :) Nice weekend ahead. Tomorrow we are going to a Radio Modern retro party in the casino of Knokke. I can't even express how much I long for that! Dressing up and dancing, meeting old friends! Aaaah, can life be sweeter than that?
Yesterday, I went to the lindy hop lesson with my sister in law Sandrine. She started three weeks ago, with her partner, but he couldn't make it this time so I replaced him to keep her company. I was very sweet. The teachers Genevière and Didier (Apollo Swing) were genuinely happy to see me, and it felt like coming home. It made me think of a couple of years ago, when Nico and me and Katrijn, Alexander and Wout used to go to the lesson every week. We had so much fun! Yesterday, it felt like that time wasn't gone yet. We could snap into it just like that. Tomorrow night we will. We will dance our ass off! Hehe...

Thursday 02 October 2008: Heidi and Sarah are facing the day with faces...

Sarah says:
This was supposed to be a photo of a very pretty rainbow behind us but the rainbow and the pot of gold disappeared and all we were left with was Heidi's face facing this particular day as my slits-for-eyes watched on!

In other news, I'll be having a haircut tomorrow and it's high time! My hair is thick and needs to be shed. I am greyer than ever, which means even more so after the haircut. The question is always there - to dye or not to dye?! I'm waiting for the answer till the day Heidi finishes hairdressers school. She's taking a hair cutting course every Friday night and when sh says the word, she can choose my hairstyle and dye my greys!

Wednesday 01 October 2008: We'll skip flashback 1st of the month this time and just celebrate the first birthday of our office!!!!

There we are! Heidi and Sarah of Sound Performance Benelux at your service for one whole year already! We are happy and proud and ready to go into our second year with lots of energy!!!

There we are above today with our 1 balloon to celebrate birthday number 1! And there we are below one year ago today plus one day on the 2nd of October 2007 in our first ever office photo. Sadly we forgot to take a photo exactly one year ago today, which is rare. We must have been too busy setting up our office that day. Now we have a full year behind us! We are still so full of enthusiasm! It's been a challenging but great year! We rarely, if ever, mention work on here. But today we can and we must! This has been an intense year for Heidi and me!

And there above you can see that Sound Performance Benelux is in a celebrating mood right now!
And finally, there above, you can see my favorite Post Secret pick of the week, a little late! I look at it as a metaphor for how I am feeling right now. I didn't study what I am doing for work now. I never knew I'd be doing this! I studied journalism. And here I am, on a different path and feeling more accomplished having set up a functioning office in Belgium no less than I have felt in any other job. I felt great when working as a journalist and getting my articles out and my name on them and when I took my first great basketball front page picture for the newspaper. I felt fantastic when I taught people English and watched them improve so much. But this is different. I am doing stuff I never imagined I could. And I can. I don't mean to toot my own horn at all! I remain very humble. Today it just feels good and different. Tomorrow life goes back to normal. Normal ain't bad either...