LIFE ONLINE

Since moving back to Cape Town, I really miss having a good selection of furniture on offer. Living in Germany made me take weekend trips to IKEA for granted. As long as slow-walking couples, dreaming of imagined futures, and toddlers with tantrums could be avoided, life was good. I now also miss my weekend trips to flea markets or buying cheap second-hand furniture online.

Goodness me. Lifestyle products are expensive in Cape Town. I long for the sleek, clean lines of a Swedish-inspired design and I promise I won't laugh that it's mass-produced and a mere facsimile, at a shop whose brand pushes a fictitious Swedish lifestyle. 

Most of all - I miss online shopping. It's best summarised by a conversation with my brother:

TO RETURN

The Weary One 

By (the most awesome!) Pablo Neruda

The weary one, orphan 
of the masses, the self, 
the crushed one, the one made of concrete, 
the one without a country in crowded restaurants, 
he who wanted to go far away, always farther away, 
didn't know what to do there, whether he wanted 
or didn't want to leave or remain on the island, 
the hesitant one, the hybrid, entangled in himself, 
had no place here: the straight-angled stone, 
the infinite look of the granite prism, 
the circular solitude all banished him: 
he went somewhere else with his sorrows, 
he returned to the agony of his native land, 
to his indecisions, of winter and summer.

HAMBURG ALWAYS IN MY HEART

My friends and brother made me the most beautiful farewell video to the most beautiful Alt J song. Yes, can you tell I am slightly obsessed by this band?

FREAKSTOCK 2014 // NEULAND

Freakstock was like meeting a family you never knew existed. It was a refreshing experience.

WHAT ON EARTH IS FUSION JAZZ?

Mmm, yes.

You could have asked me the same thing a few months ago and you would've met a blank stare.

Luckily, my former housemate, a jazz trombonist himself, in Hamburg introduced me to some funky jazzy tunes. The genre aims to free jazz from its stuffy image of old men, cigars and gloomy underground bars. Fusion jazz is really, for everybody! Pioneering this movement is the band Snarky Puppy (check out my favourite song).

Check out my former housemate and his band, Cam Buma Project, here. I took some snaps at their last gigs. They are pretty cool.

POEM: PIECING YOU TOGETHER AGAIN

NICE ONE, NORINA!

My friend Norina has a most beautiful voice, heart and soul. I could listen to her playing the guitar forevermore. Here I recorded a little bit of her singing "Your love never fails" at Freakstock. 

COOL WORSHIP BAND

Just can't get enough of this worship band at the moment: øusia. Once you see a band performing live, it changes the entire experience when you listen to their music at home. You can picture them when you close your eyes...

RING A DING DING!

Last month, my brother and I photographed our first wedding together. The day was a sunny, 30-degree event, filled with laughter, adrenaline and bee stings.

I used the awesome Canon 5D Mark II with the stunning 50mm and 85mm lens. My oh my...that camera is a beautiful beast! Jenny and Matthias are such a sweet couple and willing to try out so many locations, which made the day a beautiful occasion. Here are some of my favourite shots.

LÜTJENSEE

Sometimes life is about grabbing a moment or an opportunity. I’ve learnt in the past months to just show up and life will present an awesome gift for you: like a hot day at a cool lake in the forest. And then it’s about making the most of the moment – and jump in and go swimming with your clothes on because you forgot your bikini. It's not always about being prepared and feeling super. It's about those little imperfect moments. That’s life.