New Years Eve Road trip

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Germany!

Cologne never disappoints!

Fire crackers and fireworks on the street, Kölsch, super cute German boys, the Ronettes, Knudels and Beef!

Anticipating!

image by Mark Mawson

I am so freaking excited about 2012, I have no idea why.

I just am. I can't stop smiling today.

2011 wasn't a particularly bad year for me. It was actually very good to me.

Weird to think I'm not smiling because the year is over, but because I'm looking forward to the future.

I formed a really strong bond with a great bunch of friends, and I kept my job and therefore my visa to live in Europe.

I travelled a lot, and saw a lot of new places on the planet.

I went home and saw my family and friends and had a lot of nice realisations about my life.

I didn't get slapped in the face with any obviously hard lessons this year, just some gentle reminders.

Here are my resolutions this year:

- Be more responsible. I want my finances to be in check and also my health. And I want to be reliable, so when I say I'll do something, someone can rely on me to do that. Turning up on time to things is a good start.

- Quit the social smoking. Blagh. It's going to be tough, but I want to live for a long time and be around to accomplish some great things.

- Lose weight before I go home in March.

- Plan time for exercise and passion projects. (See resolution number 1 to understand why this is important.)

- Be more selective about who I interact with and what projects I decide to take on. It's all about quality and not quantity this year.

BOOYAH!

I hope 2012 blossoms into a phenomenal year!

Happy New Year!! xxx

Yule tide doors

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One neighborhood in Brugge, twenty eight charming doors which sent me swooning.

A night of irony

I gate crashed my friend Amanda's office Christmas party last night.

Well, to be honest, it wasn't just me. It was me and all my friends.

They had an "Awful Christmas jumper" dress up theme.

I wore a new jacket which was kind of woolly. When I walked in, someone Amanda works with said "Ha ha, nice ironic jacket."

My friend and I just looked at each other, in full knowledge this is something I seriously wear normally.

They had karaoke happening, and for every song you sung, you got a free shot.

I sang the Backstreet boys at about 1am, as a duet with another guy.

A group of Swedish girls came up to me after I had jumped off stage and sunk my shot.

"That was the best - Our cheeks are cramping from laughing so hard at you guys!!!"

We rocked that stage.

Perfection

Memories of a beautiful dry and warm Autumn day, strolling and shopping with my sister and brother in the Nine Streets district, when they came to visit.

First video interview

Interview and video direction by me.

Physalia motion design studio: interview from SubmarineChannel on Vimeo.

The Lost Thing

Part of the reason I have been so lax in updating this little platform has been because I have been trying to juggle a few balls in the air.

Freelance writing for a lot of blogs about pop culture and motion graphics and art, the full time job and then blowing off some general steam.

Also, the all-consuming task of working out my next move in the face of a rental contract that's about to end, and the fact that I am turning 30 soon, which means opportunities for working holiday visa opportunities will end very shortly in many many countries.

Do I stay here, do I move on, do I reinvent myself into a total creative and ditch the project management/strategy side to me, what-o-what do I do?!

In terms of moving on, I have often thought about whether I would fare better in London or even risk it all again and move to Berlin.

I decided to try and make an online portfolio of work I have been up to, to try and get myself another job, hoping it may help me present myself better online and be a one-click representation of myself as a writer.

This was instigated recently after Tommy Hilfiger emailed me - the company, not the man himself - after I applied for a creative copywriter job at their European Headquarters. They asked to see my portfolio and I had to send them about 10 links to 10 different articles I had written. I thought an online portal of one singular link might help me convey myself a little bit more professionally.

What was supposed to be a creative portfolio of my writing and copywriting to break into the creative side of an ad agency turned into me into thinking how I didn't really want to fit into one box and wanting to add some considerable projects I had invested a lot of time and energy into as a an advertising strategist. And then what about my cultural journalism stuff?

I don't mind fitting into a few boxes, but I know that companies think you look flakey as an all-rounder. Arent we all supposed to be specialists and not generalists?

Question: "Which side of the fence do you sit on? Creative or strategy? Editorial or conceptual? Video or print?"

Answer: " All of them."

To be quite honest, in this economic climate, I don't think companies can really afford to hire anyone who is good at one singuar thing or specialise in a niche but hey, who am I to comment?

This morning I woke up and someone I had requested an interview with had made a last minute decision to agree to meet me online.

In requesting an interview, I should say, I wanted to do a piece on him for my freelance job, not requesting him to meet me to give me a job.

It was 8.30am when I woke up. He wanted to skype at 8 am (my time).

Not thinking that he would agree to the interview, I hadn't prepared myself the night before.

I mean, I had notes, and a vague recollection of what he did, but I needed some time to brush myself up on his work and research him a little more.

In actuality, I think he's brilliant (and so does the rest of the world) and was certain he was a very down-to-earth and lovely guy.

How would I know? Well, he's Australian for a start, and the way he writes on his website, he seems to be...well... nice.

I logged onto skype and sent him a few messages, but he didn't appear.

"Damn. I should have woken up earlier and checked my email and logged on in time. I am such a noob. A failure at this whole thing. How could you let someone like him wait for someone like you? "

I spoke to my cousin in the meantime, had a bit of a pep talk with her and then he appeared online apologising for not being on time.

I interviewed him and he was lovely. Inspirational.

Who was he?

Shaun Tan, the illustrator and writer of a multitide of picture books (for adults) and graphic novels. Also a painter, set designer and director with a degree in fine arts and english literature.

One of his graphic novels was recently completed into a movie which took ten years to make and runs for 15 minutes.

Shaun told me the main animator was from Adelaide.

He also told me over our one hour interview that he just needed to be flexible and adaptable in his career and just learn on the fly for all the projects that life threw his way. He said he felt like he was getting a little PhD in learning to do what he does as he plays so many different roles.

This year, Shaun and an Australian production team won the 2011 Academy award for Best Animated Short film and accepted the Oscar from Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis.

Watch the video here.

At the end of his acceptance speech, his counterpart Andrew Ruhemann says "This award is for Lost Things everywhere."

Apparently, there's nothing wrong with dabbling. In fact, being good at a few things might ultimately be more than ok.

Far Flung

An Adelaide native is the Restaurant Manager at Noma, the world's best restaurant, located in Copenhagen.
James Spreadbury.

Pretty cool. And even though he works at the World's Best Restaurant, he misses Schnitzels (just like me...)

Beyond the Backyard: James Spreadbury - ABC South Australia - Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Throw those curtains wide

Email exchange

Thursday 11 August 11:30 am
From: LadyGrey@workemail.com
To: DutchMaleFlatmate@gmail.com

I would like to have some friends over for a little get together in the living room/kitchen - 4-5 people? Is this ok? noone will stay the night, just drinking and possibly dancing.



Thursday 11 August 11:34 am
From: DutchMaleFlatmate@gmail.com
To: LadyGrey@workemail.com

Dancing? In the living room / kitchen? Wow. :)
Ok for me. I'll be at home friday/saturday. Out on sunday, back late afternoon.


Thursday 11 August 11:45 am
From: LadyGrey@workemail.com
To: DutchMaleFlatmate@gmail.com

Swing dancing!! We are getting dressed up... will you be home Saturday night? Want to join? Anyway, I am going to put on some hapjes and move the couch and play music from the 1940s.

KIJK MAAR!!

Watch from 2:38

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0BHxhUnokU


Thursday 11 August 12:04 am
From: DutchMaleFlatmate@gmail.com
To: LadyGrey@workemail.com

I think you should quit drinkin alcohol during working hours...


:)

I like to move it, move it.

I wish

a) it was me in this video

b) alternatively me, and the boy in this video, together

c) alternative number 2; I had helped make this video

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Watch it full screen.

Seamless. Amazing. Enviable.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Gogh Crazy

sneaky picture taken by me inside the Van Gogh museum

After two years in Amsterdam, I finally made it to the Van Gogh Museum last Friday.

Initially I wanted to go because I had heard they have this special Friday night programme where bands and DJs play in the foyer.

I went with BFF Laura who who is an aspiring photographer and another friend, M, who is an animator. M has lived here all his life, and never been.

When I turned up a bit later than the others, I noticed the line was much shorter than I thought, but I got to skip it anyway because I have a Museum card (which gets me free entrance for any museum worth going to in the country for a one off purchase.)

We met inside at a one off exhibition they had created which was about Van Gogh's time in Antwerp and Paris. Then we went to get a drink, see the band, and then we went to the first floor where the normal gallery starts.

And we parted ways to explore...

An hour or so later, we met each other again downstairs and we were all visibly excited.

Each of us had never been because we all thought it was this over rated space that only tourists go to, but we all had the same eye-opening experience, on the same heightened level.

It was unanimous between us that Vincent Van Gogh was a genius.

We all had our favourite pieces, and favourite eras, but I was surprised to see that we all enjoyed it, and had the same sense of... enlightenment!

I only got to see the first floor and the basement, but I really need to go back and make an effort to see more of it next time.

Bring it. Just bring it.

I wrote a short piece on one of my friends who is an artist, with his permission, and submitted it to a great arts and trends blog that has decent exposure in NYC and in Austalia.

I love his stuff and think he is exceptionally talented. And a super nice guy.

The blog, Lost in E Minor, picked up my piece and published it late on Sunday night (my time) about 8 hours after I wrote it. (Australian morning.)

Then they tweeted it. To over 10,000 followers.

I tweeted it. To about 150 followers.

Then I told my friend and he put it on his facebook page. ( His art page and his personal page, and he credited me in his foreword, which also drove traffic to my newly updated blog project.)

Then he tweeted it, and then the blog retweeted his tweet to the same 10,000 followers.

Then I put it on my facebook page.

Then his/our friends started to spread the link on facebook.

The friends of our friends picked it up on facebook and share it and one of them works for the Amsterdam city council marketing department, I amsterdam, who are by the way, a phenomenal brand in their own right, especially in the field of social media.

(As a marketer and a consumer and someone who lives in the city, I enjoy their campaigns, and reading their website for what's on (it's also very user friendly) and enjoy interacting with them on facebook and twitter and the like.)

I amsterdam put it on their facebook wall infront of their 25,000 fans.

Call it serendipity, call it synchronicity, call it the power of social media. Whatever you want to call it, I don't care.

The Universe is providing.

The Lost in E Minor blog then agreed to let me write for them regularly for the love, glory and exposure.

Then my phone rang. It was a creative production house called Yellow Submarine, in Amsterdam. They heard about me through someone and they asked me if I would be interested in freelance writing for their regular company newsletters, FOR MONEY.

Of course I am interested!!

Then I got an email saying that a short piece I wrote and submitted for Lomography Magazine is going to be published on July 24th.

O-M-G: It’s all happening.

I just got back from Australia about 2 weeks ago.

Before I left, I told my friend Amber that I was on the brink of something, something that felt good, something that felt real and something that felt right.

I think this is the something.

I am, in a word, floating.

Amsterdam creatives (by Nike)

A weakness for those from the Amsterdam Conservatorium

When I first walked into the Amsterdam Public library, I saw a cute guy with an afro playing jazz on the public piano. The library is right next to the Amsterdam Conservatorium, so I assumed he was a student on a break.

Then I met a few guys from the AMS Con at my local pub, carrying their double bass, trumpets and guitars.

I am, in a word, enamoured by the jazz students (ok, well, boys) that study there.

Here is a video clip of a girl who studied there, who has made it big here, and internationally: Caro Emerald.

Badge of honour

The eve of my 29th birthday.

I'm arranging my catchups, accomodations, flights, and goodbyes on facebook.

Whilst I am perusing the profiles of other people, I think: "I have no boyfriend - I seem to be an emotional retard."

Then I think,: "I have a job with the United Nations - I seem to be pretty freaking awesome."

So I updated my employer information. Just so when I do turn 29, I have something to smile about, and remember how far I have come. (And maybe, just maybe, remind anyone who wishes to know, about how freaking cool I am.)

Because why should your relationship status become the sole something so freaking special to gloat about on the online self publicity machine?

She was right

I worried about coming home so much.

For various reasons.

Anxiety kind of plagued me.

Concerns washed over me frequently.

But Laura gave me some advice I once gave her.

And she's been right so far.

One thing I don't miss about being home

All the media hype about Prince William and Kate Middleton getting married.

I don't care, and I don't want to care.

And nobody in the Netherlands cares.

And it's not on tv.

And even if it was, I couldn't understand it anyway.

I love living in a media free bubble sometimes.

Besides, we gots us a real Queen to celebrate this weekend.

Awkward I - Live in their living room

Concerts in your living room. Your room as a live music venue.
Or in this case, in the living room of my buddies Audrey and Laura.



One minute you're watching a you tube video, the next minute you're eating cookies, and drinking punch with a mixture of strangers, well known music bloggers, and friends watching a dutch guy jam underneath the same overhanging lights you ate Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, and launched your blog under.

Endless cool stuff happens in this city.

Girls! Girls! Girls!

A few weekends ago, I was accompanying my visiting friends Vanessa and Luke to find a money dispensing machine prior to their impending departure.

We were in Leidseplein, a busy bar and cafe area in town, and as I was walking my bike across the square, a photographer asked me if I would pose, there and then, for a picture for an up and coming art exhibition he was having about Amsterdam Girls and their bicycles.

Amstersam was his name an he specialises in taking photos of people in Amsterdam, as reflections of puddles on the ground. Makes sense considering how often it rains here.

I was feeling experimental with my attire that day, and was wearing a new hat that Vanessa had convinced me to buy.

His exhibition has started and I am making plans to go see it this week. Check out the details here.

You can see more of Amstersam's work here and here.