Sharing banality on the Internet
and then feeling alive again.
Even in paradise there is sometimes rain, rarely thunderstorms and storms - but it does happen. The question in life is whether you have to shout against it on the beach or find a dry spot somewhere and wait for it to pass.
On this almost wonderfully spring-like weekend (when will it finally be May?), the celebration of life drives me to Dresden. There, a "Hipp Hipp Hurra" and "Today it can rain" are shouted at a precious person.
Music
I am accompanied by the kangaroo. Marc-Uwe has allowed the superpower Spotify to make ALL his audiobooks available for free listening. This evokes teenage car journeys, smiling family faces, a little straightening of the so typically cross-hanging family blessing.
Other Inspirations
In Dresden, you are traditionally greeted with a piccolo, the sun is shining and you wander through the Neustadt district. It really is just SOOO beautiful! And it gives you a very familiar feeling - you've spent a lot of time here and you feel safe with the person who is celebrated into the sky at 12 o'clock.
You sit down in Bar 100, talk about monster trucks and being a midwife, about Formula 1 and podcasts, swap maudlin stories about this wonderful person - and as if Dresden knew what date it was, there are bombastic fireworks reflected in the windows of the buildings in the courtyard.
You are also whisked away to Moritzburg Castle - a film location for the Cinderella film that everyone always watches at Christmas - and then sing
Music
‘Kiss me, hold me, love me’ very loudly
Other Inspirations
Even in the pouring rain, it has its charm - with the lake and the forest all around. We still have ice cream and snuggle up together in our cosy home and watch the
Movie
‘The Shadow’. A Viennese thriller production, and it was really exciting and very entertaining. 8 out of 10 stars - and that for a German-language production.
Other Inspirations
We have pizza with salmon and asparagus (not to be recommended), and a wonderful, cosy girls' evening draws to a close.
In the morning, there's a walk along the Elbe, which we accidentally fall into - which turns into more worry than laughter.
And then we are travelling again - once through Leipzig to Halle an der Saale. The great eastern route, still accompanied by the kangaroo.
26 May
It's still stormy in Halle - both at home and in terms of the weather. And yet we wanted to play table tennis so much. But miraculously, the wind calms down when their best friend joins them, and they lose a lot of table tennis without getting too worked up about it. Then they sit down by the river and have dinner. (Who actually still says ‘dinner’?) A nice end to the day on the balcony on the 4th floor in the really very quiet hall, a sleepless night - and we're travelling again.
27 May
The S3 to Wittenberg Lutherstadt is a very comfortable train with a spacious seating area. The regional trains could learn a thing or two from this. It's grey when we arrive in Berlin, but the storm seems to have passed.
After just three minutes in the flat, Telekom is at the door (they seem to know where they can sell expensive contracts to whom at the front door - keyword: fibre optics). Sometimes I'd also like to be an anti-capitalist kangaroo ...
You meet for coffee and a stroll in Treptower Park and walk through Plänterwald, discover pairs of squirrels, falcons, and owls (not bad for a Berlin afternoon), talk about the sense and nonsense of relationships, shared flats, passion for a job - and just a job. Just everyday topics. And then retreats to his four walls.
There they cook lasagne.
Music
‘Take Good Care of My Baby’ Radio.
Chill Mix - Superpower Spotify.
Movie
The cliffhangers in ‘Your Friends and Neighbours’ are very good and very mean - and there are more than eight episodes.
Ewan McGregor's electric motorbike documentary Long way up through South and Central America is my new go-to film.
28 May
Notting Hill was released in cinemas 26 years ago today. Happy birthday - a great reason to get the classic film out of the VHS library again.
But before that, we listen to musicals, cook lasagne and get on with our bourgeois duties - phoning banks, for example.
Music
Nothing can really go wrong with the Mamma Mia soundtrack.
Other Inspirations
After these duties have been fulfilled, the nurse's job comes calling. This is a new and entertaining job that I have taken on for extremely unpleasant reasons. With flowers and snacks, however, you can try to make the life of the injured person a little more comfortable. Lasagne is also known to have a very Italian healing value.
As a young person, you are very rarely confronted with the importance of your health. But when you do, you start to think about it. Take care of yourself, go to the doctor and listen to your body - otherwise you're gambling with four weeks of bed rest in a one-bedroom flat and relying on your friends to love you very much at a time when everyone's doing something insanely busy.
Despite all this, it's great to spend time with patients - perhaps because of the personal relationship you've built up over the years. It does taste a little bitter to have to watch someone suffer. Nobody is immune to that, even if it's not about me at all in this situation.
When I get home, the bedroom is turned into an office - because that's where the TV is.
Movie
I WANT A PROVIDER THAT ONLY SHOWS MUSICALS.
Then I'll cancel Netflix. Immediately.
Tick Tick Boom is one of my all-time favourites. The story is so intriguing, fantastically acted, the music is a 12 out of 10, all the Easter Eggs that hint at the Broadway stars that pop up throughout continue to be fun to discover, and this film is like a kick in the ass to stick to your passion. If it pleases just one person, it can change your life.
Unlike La La Land. Although I think both Ryan and Emma (Emily) are fantastic - and especially the chemistry between them - this film is such a big disappointment. But the music is quite good.
Again, different from Notting Hill.
What a 10 out of 10. It starts beautifully, it's funny, charming, without trying to do too much. Julia plays herself - and yet somehow she doesn't. Everyone immediately falls in love with Hugh Grant, with his travel bookshop and the blue door. I only want to make films like this.
29 May
Completely super-inspired by Tick Tick Boom, the hit musical marathon enters a second round. It's a tragedy that you can't find Fame on any streaming platforms.
Furthermore, I await my actors with a certain nervousness, which in principle only gets worse the longer the Berlin public transport system prevents them from entering my flat. When the doorbell rings, after a brief hello, I sit down on the balcony and read through my second script. Exciting - and yet: sentence by sentence, this story comes together and needs to be retold. Both fit like a glove (what an aggressive saying) - both in character and together.
To celebrate, a Little Red Riding Hood is decapitated and an Aperol is served in a favourite bar.
I have my cast! I'm going to write a shooting schedule now and cast the little other roles. Fun fun fun.
We'll be baking muffins this weekend, attending a music festival, and spending Sunday on Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin style.
See you next week,
Bussi Baba