How to put a Week of Work in 2. Days
and enjoy a Trip to the UK afterwards.
A weekend you've been eagerly waiting for. The weather forecast says 30 degrees, all you've planned is to lie in the sun, and at a certain point it's easy to have a sit-down. That's life, as Sinatra once said...
Book
This weekend I finally finished The Perfect Storm, and I can say the following:
I hate it. I like it. I like it. God, I hate it. This book only exists in two extremes! Why? The first part is about fishing itself, the history of it, the great losses it has already suffered. It's about families that fall apart, about pubs that fill up in the morning and where the emptiness that comes after you're back on land is filled. The second part is about how the sea behaves when the worst comes to the worst. How big the waves get, how the wind force relates to the sea, what happens when ships slowly break up in a storm. You might think that this intensity is enough - but no! It's then about the rescue operations that have to be initiated when the ships don't make it through the storm, it's about helicopters that don't make it either, it's about successful and unsuccessful rescue operations, sailors who don't manage to be rescued. It's an incredibly real book, too well written to really enjoy, because you're in the storm, on the deck of a fishing boat, in the water, and in a helicopter. Intense! But I don't know if I can recommend it.
Movie
Of course, this film exists NOWHERE!!! I'm in a rage again over these stupid streaming sites.
Book
Views by Marc-Uwe Kling is available as an audiobook on the superpower Spotify. Curious as I am, I tested his skills in the thriller genre: it's amazing. This book is gripping from minute one - it's so close to the action that this aspect alone is very creepy, and he has a very detailed ‘view’ of the whole artificial intelligence story. I am very creeped out by what he has written and give this book a 9.6 out of 10 stars.
Other Inspirations
This weekend was under the star of reunion. You meet a loved one again after two months and your heart is opened. This is then briefly put to the test when all the efforts of the previous week vanish into thin air as one of the participants in the opera has to cancel. So be it, thinks the heart, and opens up again at the small Müggelsee lake as it looks at all the boats and eats carrots with hummus in the sun. The evening is spent in Kreuzberg, with pizza and Prosecco. Another short trip to the small Müggelsee and...
Movie
The Americans in the evening make us forget the entertaining frustration of the show that didn't take place.
16 June
Berlin needed to recover from all the sunshine and decided to pull over the cloud cover and cure itself. Fine, Berlin, unfortunately I can't do that.
Things have to be prepared - and in such a way that you can get through the upcoming long weekend without stress and a ‘Shit, I forgot’. You've been up since 9am, made yourself a smoothie and a salad à la Emma (that's a 10 out of 10) to deal with the after-effects of the weekend and to concentrate, manage to meet a friend for a coffee for half an hour and decide at 10pm that you've had enough.
Conclusion of the day: A day like this can happen, but it shouldn't become a habit.
Movie
This is Us is slowly becoming an evening habit, but it hit me hard when the episode about Jack, the father, dying came on. I actually assumed that this would be cleverly told, that every season ending would be another teaser, another piece of the puzzle - but no: spoiler - in season two you find out. I'm lying in bed sobbing and am completely surprised by the emotional reaction (effects of a really long day).
To get myself back on track, I watch The Long Way Up, a motorbike documentary about Ewan McGregor and his friend who want to ride through South America on e-bikes. It just triggers the desire to get back on my motorbike.
17 June
I'm disappointed that Co-Stars hadn't predicted anything...
I sit in front of the computer in the morning after yoga and take part in an acting workshop. Prepared. The workshop lasts exactly 1 ½ hours - not a minute longer, that doesn't fit into the plan. The van is packed. You have exactly 1 hour and 50 minutes. The hope of finding some unstressed fun in it dies away with a constant glance at the clock - no, you don't want to become that person. No, no, no. It's a great relief to tick the box at this point too: The next one is the 10th episode of the 2nd season of our Muss man gesehen haben - podcast, which makes this the 30th episode in total: Bastian, champagne is on! As always at this point, we have a guest, my wonderful friend and colleague Merlina Parot, who has brought along her favourite film La Boum. I'm enjoying working on the podcast more and more, even though it does require a lot of concentration. After 1 ½ hours of podcast recording (not a minute longer), the doorbell rings. There's no time for coffee and a chat today.
We are rehearsing the scenes for my short film, and as I realised with this experience, rehearsals are sometimes the be-all and end-all. The director's ideas are not immediately realised by the actors, let alone immediately shared. Rehearsals are also taken lightly - the idea of meeting up with like-minded people for more Aperol and doing a bit of writing on the side is too great. God, how I wish I could have done that. After two and a half hours, we're getting closer to the point, have the first rehearsal shots on our mobile phones and dismiss the actors to then work on the long-forgotten cabaret:
work on the long-forgotten cabaret. It lay in a drawer for a year until the singer to whom it is dedicated pulled it out. It's about a gay singer who comes from a small town in Brandenburg and dreams of the big stage, but unfortunately gets bogged down in the rut and not looking beyond the horizon of the society that lives there. It is a bird of paradise, trapped in the body of a woodpecker, living the life of a sparrow. At the end of the day, at 9 pm, my head was smoking.
Content for this day?
A train journey to Schöneweide accompanied by AJR.
You didn't leave the office to work 12 hours instead of 8. Working on two projects is allowed, working on five is forbidden from now on.
You spend the night for the first time behind a petrol station somewhere between Wolfsburg and Hanover - exhausted, tired, and annoyed that you still thought you could make any claims so late at night. I think the main cause of disputes is pure exhaustion. Because it makes you very, very sensitive. And thin-skinned. Another lesson learnt.
18 June
‘Think of a good reason’ - Co-stars.
Nope, no sleep was possible. Petrol station romance only exists in Kerouac's books, in road trip movies, not in real life. We've done that now, too.
We set off for Belgium with a bad McDonald's coffee (9 fucking euros).
Music
This journey is accompanied by:
- Fest und Flauschig (the first 15 minutes)
- Spotify's Chill Playlist ,
- Spotify's Indie Playlist,
- the audiobook Superfans - Pat Flynn,
- Spotify's Upbeat Playlist,
- and a lot of silence.
But the sun is shining in Belgium. Sun helps with heavy minds. Reconciliation takes place - on a campsite built around three lakes. I have to mention that the Dutch language is one of the most beautiful languages, and hearing children speak it makes you want to sit down at your Duolingo again.
Soya burgers are for hardcore vegetarians; I'm more of a fan of patties with vegetables. But that's just my opinion.
It's 9 pm when the lights go out. That's it for today. Thank you, you beautiful world.
19 June
‘There is no such thing as, ’the one" - Co-stars.
This is the star of my day today. A fantastic excitement for my companion, who has the following buzzing around in his head:
“There's a guy sitting in his parent's basement somewhere, created an app that he connected to ChatGPT, and makes naive teenagers believe the shit it screws up. I don't want to hear from some stupid app about how relationships should be with the people I like.” - Partner in Rage is very funny.
She's right. But the app is still fun - perhaps for these reasons.
I'm on my way to Calais, listening to my Guilty Pleasure albums (Train and Say Anything), and I'm not very enthusiastic. That's how it is sometimes. You can't share everything. The traffic around Antwerp is terrible - not just in terms of congestion, but also the signposting: if possible, please avoid it!
And then you arrive in Calais and take the train under the North Sea for the first time.
It's different from what you might expect. There's a train, you get on it, then it's dark for 40 minutes, then you get off again. You don't sit in a tunnel made of glass, in which the train passes through with large windows, and you can marvel at the splendour of the sea (if it were that deep, it would probably just be dark).
Anyway - ticking things off your bucket list makes you happier bit by bit.
You reach the White Cliffs of Dover and are greeted by the sun's rays and a mighty castle on the cliffs of England, with the ferries to France on the right. For reasons of good taste, you listen to Louis C.K. programm from the Beacon Theatre until you move into your campsite. You park Ben on the hill, look down at the sea, the sandy beach, and a bunch of kids playing rugby, frisbee, and cricket in between. As beautiful as the landscape is, it's hard to stop for a moment with all the clamour.
The campsite is a 15 out of 10 star, down on the beach, you get the feeling you want to put down roots here.
There's a campfire burning at your feet while the stars take up their positions in the sky. You can hear the crackling of the wood, the sound of the wind, the waves of the sea. How good you have it. How perfectly content such moments can be - so small and yet so significant.
20 June
“Communicate openly about all things, even when it hurts” - Co-stars.
Children's cries work very well as an alarm clock substitute. They run their laps diligently, throwing balls back and forth. There's yoga, coffee, and scrambled eggs before you leave this place of beauty.
A family party weekend is on the cards.
I really like the southern English accent.
Fish and chips for lunch. See you next week.
Bussi Baba, sincerely, Emilia.