finding the Sweet Spot: Carpe Diem

Last Friday my team lead at the office asked me: "Edje, will you be at the customer on Monday?" My reaction: "Not sure, depends on when my friends let me go on Sunday" Laughter followed.

Sunday (and most of Monday) is history by now. The answer is given. I did not travel 100 kilometres (one way) to visit our customer. They had to deal with me remotely, in a Mickeysoft Teams call with my camera switched off. Surprisingly, I was kinda sharp. Not that it mattered too much since I had some colleagues in the workshop/call who were the specialists, therefore I could easily lay low for most of the session. The no-physical-show question by our customer's program manager, I waved away by stating: "Your conference room is already too occupied, something the little angels told me this morning. I wouldn't have fitted." Chuckles and laughter followed.

What was this Sunday about?

In short: Off-grid time. Seventh Heaven time. Carpe Diem time. Off the world time.

Those who are interested in more than the above synopses, continue reading.

the Longer version

Am not sure where to start, so many little things that happened. But I guess, most of those are not very interesting for you to read.

Like the fact, I lost a bracelet. A gift from an ex. When I put it on just before I went out the door, I thought: "I have to be careful, this one can slip off my arm quite easily."

Or the fact, I found myself at the poor man's gate while my group continued to the artist/backstage entrance. For some reason, I wasn't levelled up. Soon after I entered the festival, a text reached me asking where they could find me. Upon joining the group a wristband was slid on my arm. "Cool, I have a new bracelet!" ...and, I just received the freedom to annoy artists and chill as I pleased on top and behind the stages.

And what about the three large beers I ordered while we only needed two? Quickly we found a third person who was helpful enough to accept a free beer. Nah! All not interesting for you to read.

Like the dining experience we had?

With cotton napkins and shizzle? In the middle of the festival? Reserved table and all, booked upfront. Europizza was the name of the place. But no pizza on the menu. Not even pasta 😆 But we had a great time with the unexpected arrival of a cake. Two members of the group decided to turn a year the day before. I was already quite surprised we were offered a la carte menu when the lady serving us said the artist in our mids was getting his special menu card.

WTFock? 😱 Are we in a ranking system with artists taking a higher position?

Interestingly the artist at our table didn't want to eat. Time for us to dig! Honestly, that dish was the best of all. Not saying the rest wasn't good. For festival food, it was Michelin star level, 100%. All vegi's. Pretty nice flavours. Excellent intensity on the taste buts. Quite nice! Waiting time was a bit long. Bummer. Though it gave us time to greet and chit-chat with more than a handful of peeps from the past. Walking and strolling by our restaurant table. Ravers from back in the days - like 2 decades ago and more - who decided to join the 10th anniversary of Dekmantel festival.

And what about the fact we hardly heard any Techno, while the festival is all about Techno music? Not of interest to you to read about I suppose. Yes, we ended up backstage when Jeff Mills closed the main stage. Techno full on. I was a bit too far out of this world to grasp the music. My focus was on some lighthearted, but also serious talks with some of my friends. We missed Helena Hauff back2back with Marcel Dettman, though we planned to go. But the setting behind a house stage was just too comfortable to leave. Plus the House music was more than decent. DVS1, a Techno king from Europe, played a somewhat experimental House set. Followed by some duo who decided to crank it up a notch. But Helena and Marcel! WTFock! Missed it completely! 😱 Him I heard for the first time in Berghain club in Berlin, years and years ago. He is GOOD. Her, I heard her playing for the first time at this same festival 'Dekmantel', years ago also. Back in time when she wasn't know by anybody yet. Played her set at a tiny stage, tucked behind where most people never came and explore, with a tiny ass dance floor. But what a sound! Speaker system and her sound: a kick-ass combination!

Then this fact. A line with a 1-leave-1-enter policy to this stage 'Radar'. Every year it is the same. Club door policies for one of the stages at the festival. A gimmick, of course. When the evening arrives, the amount of people who want to enter, always outnumbers the amount of people who want to leave. Beats me why. Though I must admit, last year - or was this 2 years ago? - I had an unexpected great time with the closing act. Cal Super and someone else from the UK, back2back, a mix of speed garage, breakbeat and whatever. Full on energy. The crowd going nuts. I followed suit.

Unwinding

Today, somewhere between Seventh Heaven and ground space, all the boards colouring deep red, double-digit dumps, I couldn't care less. Money is nice to have. Good times with friends are much more valuable.

^{a HIVE original}

^(source)