the mirror gang - part VII

Auch... the adrenaline was killing me
In the car, in my bed and everywhere in between, every two minutes I repeated my swearing
I guess you can imagine I slept little... very little...

For days I screamed out the name of that magazine at random... and pressed the imaginary button like a twitch
In the mean time a shortened Holiday Season passed, including family dinners and friend gathering on New Year's eve *all on which I had to put up a poker face though simultaneously informing people to watch the show... especially on Thursday... - "why on Thursday? will you win?" - "just watch :)"*
Thank God it was a hell of a week: moving out, family dinners, New Year's Eve, New Year's, first days at the new job (starting with a reception :)) and then it was already Thursday again...

... two new recording days...
*thub thump thub thump*  ...heart beat accelerating at the thought | stomache butterflies awakening before the thought even came te my mind | could barely eat a bit ... *thub thump thub thump*

... all feelings I was familiar with... not in this context though...
... felt like I was in love... with a quiz   O_o   really...

One teeny tiny problem: I had started working, so after the recordings on Thursday that probably wouldn’t end before 11PM, I would have to catch a train, get home and first thing in the morning, would have to wake up again to get to work   *OUGH

Less than 6 hours of sleep   * hell… 3 days after New Year’s… didn’t think so

Since sleeping over at S.’s was a problem – pity, cause it would have been fun (maybe even too much joking around and chattering so the sleeping over to spare sleeping time would pretty much miss its point) – I started looking for a ride home.

Ahaa... 45 minutes from door to door sounded better than one hour and a half...

Okay, problem solved... nah... OK... almost... merely had to find a victim to drive me...

The other teeny tiny problem: I wouldn’t get there in time...

though the recordings wouldn’t start before 5PM, we had to be there at 3.30PM...

and I couldn’t leave work before 4PM...

“It’ll be OK for those two days if you’re an hour late, but do your best to arrive as soon as you can,” Ch.-from-the-crew had said.

So Thursday afternoon I checked the distance from my work to the recording studio. 

Google maps says 30 minutes walk...

*challenge accepted*   I’ll make it into 15  ^_^

At 4 o’clock – after making sure my newborn colleagues would watch – I sprinted out to the current love of my life   ^_^   ... the quiz

(just for the record, I failed for the 15 minutes... took the wrong turn... and underestimated the slope of the hills (Brussels ‘s not as flat as I  had hoped))

All out of breath and gasping as if my longs were about to pop out of my body, I finally arrived at 4.20

“C.! You’re here! Perfect!” R.-from-the-crew smiled. “You can relax, don’t worry!”

Friendly face #1: thank God for R.

Friendly faces #2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were waiting downstairs. West-Flanderss’ BJ., pregnant Soph, teacher Da. and of course Maggy, S. and D. smiled when I plumped on a chair panting for breath.

“You made it!” they said happily.

“Thir...ty... minutes... up... hill... in... less... than... twenty,” I exhalend while making slicing movements at the height of my throat.

“Would you like a drink?”

“W...a...t...e...r...”

Two minutes later I was rehydrated and recovered.

Let the quest for a ride home begin...

Not to mention... let the next two episodes turn out well (for me AND my friends)

TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part VI

Suspense, suspense, suspense...

Even two months later I can still feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins...

*watching the episode again is quite helpful too :)

After every question there was more and more and more adrenaline, nerves, stress, butterflies, ... and some other things messing with my head and body

7 questions had passed - I had 3 of them correct (one was whispered into my ear by about 99 others) - when the show host took a breather *which I did literally... blew out some stress... shook the adrenaline out off my hands*

Restart... 

The next two questions went great - quick reaction, right response - that smoothly even, cause already after those two another breather was taken

I was on fire!   *focus* *concentration* *fixation*   500 points was the goal

"90 points for you Jo.,   *focus, you're doing great C.*   but 380 for C.   *concentration, calm down C., you're gonna make it*   ... which   *fixation*   means..."

... and all of the sudden J. pressed his button by accident

I bursted into laughter

*that was funny :D*

Okay, next one for 110 points...   ^_^ *I know the answer!*   but too late... :(

For 120... ^_^ *I know the answer!*   but again too late... :(

For 130... ^_^ *YES! I know*   ah craaaap!!!

"Let's take another breather... 380 for you C. and 450 for Jo."

The "oh's" and "ah's" I heard in the room spoke for themselves... the suspense was deadly

Last question would decide... either it would be Jo or it would be me

The host started: "in what magazin did the news anchor from national TV pose in bikin..."

^_^ *I know the answer!*   I pressed the button to answer...

... a fraction of a second too late...

Jo.'s light coloured blue

I swore out loud and uncensored   *damn! D A M N*

I knew it was over; Jo. knew the answer   *DAMN! damndamndamn*

It was over, I missed my chance...

Maggy and S. yelled "oooh" in defeat and shrugged their shoulders out of disappointment   *aaaww, how sweet :)*

"We'll hug later!" they said.

I congratulated Jo. and met D. when I left the recording room.

"You'll have another chance to win! I'm sure of it!" he said and put his arm around me.

I grinned "let's hope so" and smiled.
I caught Maggy smiling my way, and I smiled back

A little while later I said goodbye to my friends. I hugged S. and wished her a happy new year   *it was still December, FYI*   and said "see you next week" with a smile.

Some goodbyes later I found myself hugging the boobs guy... 

... that's when I met N., a happy, cute and honest little puppy
*N. if you ever read this, don't... no wait... do! believe my words! you're absolutely and truly adorable ♥

I looked for D., but he left already

I hugged Maggy... a long hug that gave away a friends-for-life-feeling
Right before we let go of each other she said    "say..."

*oh ow... I knew what was coming*

She held my shoulders and looked me in the eye: "... is something going on with you and D.?" with her eyes sparkling of curiosity

*darn :s I was right

"I... eeehhmmm... don't... know..." suppressing and totally in vain trying to swallow a smile.
"YOU LIKE HIM!!!!"
"I... mmm... y e a h... okay, maybe I like him a little bit"
"I knew it!! I knew it! I have a sixth sense for those kind of things"

*ooouuugh, please don't let it be that obvious*

"Do you think it's mutual?" she asked
"I have absolutely NO idea!" I said
"You know... his body language is quite open to you as well... so maybe..."
"We'll see," I said and put out my tongue

Nonetheless... I did drive home with a huge smile on my face
If it wasn't for the amazing experience, the butterflies or the new friendships, maybe the 'ha! eat that loser!'-feeling towards my ex

no... it were the new friendships... or the experience... or probably the butterflies...

TO BE CONTINUED

@ work - part III

every once in a while you're witness to a mass-gathering of national proportions (that is Belgian size).
last week: front row seats to the massive demonstration of the trade unions

the demonstration had been announced weeks in advance; a 'strong' signal to the government was expected; all colleagues even received an e-mail including a form to fill in if access to the building would be denied by the demonstrators   *0_o   say what?*
btw, meeting point for a couple thousand demonstrators: underneath our window

a couple of hundred became a couple of thousand became a couple of ten thousands.
the avenue was coloured in red, green and blue

and those couple of ten thousands brought along the good many noise
whistles, small firework, smoke bombs, drums...

in particular the fireworks were startling... and omnipresent
cause there the explosion for one, than the noise from the explosion, that same noise bouncing off our building, the building across the street, the tower next to ours, and the six other buildings on the avenue...    *very annoying
my colleague wanted to go down and - in her own words - scream like an old lady would do (including swinging a walking-cane I imagine) "stop it! stop it! stop it!"

after another 30 minutes of whistles, small firework, smoke bombs, drums... I went to the bathroom
finally... a noise-insulated room... silence...
I was so into that sound - the delicious sound of silence - that I kept on hearing that sound of silence when I came back

... wait
... have I gone deaf? O_o

"have I gone deaf?" I asked my colleagues
"nope, they left"

lovely... !

couple of hours later I got on the train... conveying quite a lot of those demonstrators
:( no peaceful trainride for me
... but I was offered a beer by one of them

... nice guy :)

the mirror gang - part V

They announced 'the six' and when I got up, D. and Maggy woow'ed *he winked and smiled*, S. made a 'come on'-fist and I felt the radiating pride of my mum brightening the room.
I looked to D.  *healthy stress - or butterflies? - knodding up my stomach*, pulled up my eyebrows out of an 'I'm just a liiiiiiitle bit nervous'-impulse, sighed and went down

I experienced the rest of the episode intoxicated with joy, a victorious high, or like I was alone in the room... or more like "Oh MY GOD, signing up for this quiz was one of the best decisions of my life!"
I do remember the show host asking me questions about my job and my hobby to massage people   *O_o  really? that's what you wanna know?*   and me focusing on repeating all questions in my head to remember the answers for the finale...

*the finale... would I get there...?

Somewhere along one of many short breaks I heared the entertainer asking the public who was there to cheer me on. Besides my parents obviously, I saw in the corner of my eye Maggy's arm shooting up in the air   *OMG! how unbelievably sweet is she!!! <3 :="" a="" br="" feeling="" fussy="" gave="" gesture="" good="" like="" me="" nbsp="" silly="" such="" that="" warm=""> I felt like being a match for the entire world
*I smiled... there the happy butterflies showed up again :)  ...I'd really love to keep her as a friend*

The suspense was building up; some questions I missed, others' I knew the answers to, yet for others I had to try my luck or they were subject to faith
*oooooh... will I make it? I felt confident, the feeling in my stomach told me it would be fine... but still... oooooh the excitement*

And then the redeeming words: "And the finale will be: C. and Jo!"

:D  ^_^  :D :D
*OW YEAH*

Surprisingly calm I heard the applaus, the "come on, C.!"'s, saw thumbs and crossed fingers and felt how my newborn friends sent me all their good vibes and hopes and how they granted me this victory.
*again, would I make it?*

I had met Jo. once before at the preselections. And I remember thinking 'he's a potential winner'. Don't know why, but I was quite sure back then... actually convinced!
*no worries, C.! You ROCK, you go girl!!   you can and WILL make it*
I could feel the sweet taste of victory...
I was all smiles
I would make it :)
I would make myself and all of my family and friends - who I would order to watch - soooo proud (or happy cause I would really have to buy them a drink)

The lights came *more about 'the lights' later on* and the finale started....

TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part IV

"Don't you hate it when people ask you 'how come you're still single'?' I asked S. "Like the show host yesterday with Maggy..."
"Oh! Unbelievable! Like being single is supposed to equal being sad and lonely," S answered.
"Uhu! I'm a happy single and I feel great!"
"Yeah me too!"
"What about that guy?" *no, being a happy single doesn't equal not checking handsome fellows ^_^
"No, he was with the married men yesterday. So that's absolutely NOT done. And he has one too many tattoos. Besides I'm going for the Eddie Vedder-lookalike behind the camera." S. chuckled.
"He girls!"
"Hey Maggy :)"
"What's up?"
"S. found her hero! The Eddie Vedder-lookalike."
Maggy looked up, checked the guy, waited one second and said with a smile: "he's all yours..." :D

Just in case you're wondering: no we weren't allowed to talk during the recordings - we did of course but that's for the editors to worry about *hehe* - there was a short break - something technical...

D. wasn't in the running anymore (he dropped out right before the finale) *aww, pity D.! :(*
Maggy had started socializing with N. - the biology student that got a reputation as 'boobs man' in the first episode (there had been a question about real and fake boobs and co-show host, famous radio-DJ and embodiment of talent Sam had come to interview him: "N., why am I standing here with you?" - "Don't know... probably because it's about tits?" he had answered, leaning on his right elvow, with a big smile on his face and his eyebrows going up and down :) *hence the reputation*)
And I was signing to teacher Da. and Bj. how they were doing...

I was scoring surprisingly well! It was nice to be good for once :) *ok, I know, second episode and all... but still :)
I looked at D. and saw the disappointment in his eyes. I smiled at him and mimed: "you'll have another chance to win! I'm sure of it!" - "Thx! Let's hope so :)  How did you do?" - "Quite OK!" I said, with a feeling of relief.  We both smiled.  I saw Maggy looking our way and waved at her.  She grinned.


Next theme would be: film and TV   *yihaa*
Categories: how to spend an evening out (dancing, going for a beer, TV-night, reading, movie...)   *we should be daaaaancing, yeah! (DUH)*

After dinner (quite OK, but not too warm institutional-kitchen-food), I went to change my dress.
In the bathroom I heared some screams and little applauses. 'Good timing, C.! Disappearing right when they announce the new 6'   ... typical...
When I entered the waiting room again, Maggy caught my eye, jumped up and screamed: "C.!!!! YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!!!"

O_O

.... :D

I think I remember the earth stopped turning for second: *me??? one of the 6??? camera on my face??? finale maybe??? about film and TV???   ON NATIONAL TELEVISION?!!!! *

^_^

So I went up and got my hair styled, my make-up done *heaven :)*
*For once I'll admit, I looked pretty darn good (maybe a bit too much red on my lips, but still)*
My red dress was approved (by one of the most famous stylists of the country)   *yeah!!*   as were my green earrings   *particularly happy and proud about that :)*   and I went to get 'miced up'.
"Lose the earrings," the technician said though, "they'll disturb."
*aaawww :(*

A glimpse of pride of my parents - especially my mum :) though they didn't really know what to expect - and I went in ...
"Little applause for a pretty red dress"   ... o_o
*The entertainer was warming up the crowd - or trying to... Dude, really... you need a red dress to have people applaud? Are your jokes that bad? Why don't you tell a good one? ...Oooh, C., you shouldn't have thought that (a bad joke would be the best he would tell all month...)*

I sat down in front of D.
"Hey C.! Lots of good luck!!! You'll rock!" he smiled.
*aaaawwww... what a teddy bear ♥ :) *

There we go...

TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part III

MY GOD!!! that was fun!!!
All the way, I drove home with a huge grin on my face and when I arrived (ca. 00.30 AM, I think) I wasn't even the tiniest bit tired.
Too much adrenaline... O_O   - another cue for the rest of the month
That was Thursday... tomorrow I would take my parents to cheer me on.

Friday morning already I was eager to go back... 5 more hours
... okay, I'll survive...
Although... I was irrevocably addicted... already :)
I started to pick out my outfits for that day... since my quiz resolution had been 'a different outfit for every episode', that is: 19 different colourful outfits *Hell YEAH!*
Choice of the day: a green and a red dress

let's go fancy ^_^

At arrival I checked the list for the 6 lucky bastards of the day - that as well already had become a habit, almost kind of a biorhythm... like checking your mail when you get home, or rolling over in bed 3 times after your alarm went off -   and   *OMG! yihaaa!*   I smiled instantly when I saw D.'s name   :D
Funny actually how you can be that happy for a person you've known for two days. But then again, I was screaming out my joy when Maggy won... and I had known her for only one day   ^_^
*wow... 'our table' is off charts!!!*
I went to our table and out of pure happiness I cried out "hey!! you're here!"
Despite the fact she won the day before and didn't have to come back, Maggy was there to cheer us on!
*aaaawww... how sweet!*
I ditched my parents in the waiting room and went back my newborn friends - hey... there my parents... I can see them more than often :)

When the gay stylist-for-the-common-people came to check on all of us -colourwise- Maggy and I started wondering how the gay stylist-for-the-TV-people would dress up D., since he's a kind of prototype for casual
- t-shirts, hoodies, sweaters... not at all sloppy, but definitely not suit-up Barney-style...
When Maggy asked "did you put D. in a shirt?" and the gay stylist-for-the-TV-people said "of course", I still couldn't imagine what that would look like...
*I only pictured D. as a full-size doll being played with and dressed up by the stylist :D
Still... I was pretty curious...

Anyway... theme of the day: money *crap, don't have any... this will probably not be my best game*, categories of the day: employment status
"He, we're again almost right next to each other!" S. said.
I smiled... fun was guaranteed   ^_^

In the recording room S. and I were having fun - again separated by statue of silence (another one this time)
*I gotta say, it's a challenge, an animated conversation with an obstacle in between the conversationalists...
Anyway, the 6 lucky bastards came in - a cue to start - no, wait 5... D.'s missing
*strange... not exactly the type of person for whom make-up and hair styling takes a lot of time...
Ah! There he i....

... aaawwwww...

THAT's    what he looks like in a shirt!!!
... with his sleeves rolled up...
ô_ô
... hmmmm...

I signaled him good luck - quite an understatement, cause I probably looked a bit retarded holding my fingers crossed in his direction, squeezing my eyes and with a huge grin on my face - and went back to chatting with S.
When we were waiting for the recording to start the excitement was burning a hole in my stomach *wow, seriously addicted to this quiz... or was it something else...?*

TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part II

*bad auditive quality intro of Paradise by the Dashboard Light (aka my cell phone ringing)
a girl from the crew calling me a couple of days later to ask about my experiences of the first recording day
... "awesome!!!" had been my response :) "that test run was a hit!" - "that's nice to hear, we enjoyed it as well"


a month had passed since then
one including Christmas, Christmas shopping and even snow (and an awesome selfmade snowman, with fancy tie and hat), and of course New Year's preping
and I almost forgot... the Maya-2012-New Age-earth's gonna go boom-fuss...

but nonetheless the only thing I was looking forward to were for the real recordings to start
I was looking forward to the quiz, the settings, the atmosphere, the colours (since we had to brighten up that boring decor - of course I was highly pleased... finally a place to exploit my knack for colours *yihaa) and obviously... the people :)
Da., the all dialect speaking teacher; BJ., the funny West-Flanders dude; Soph., the pretty pregnant girl; Mi., the cute, oh so sweet 17 year old gay (one of many)...
... and of course Maggy... and D.

at arrival I checked the list of potential winners of the day (six of 100 people who could win a sum of money and a ticket to the finals) which   *OMG O_o :D :D :D yihaa*   included   *no, not me*   MAGGY!
*all right babe! you go girl!*
I didn't quite know her back then but even so, I was really excited for her!

Btw, theme of the day: sex and relationships
Categories of the day *oooow ^_^ interesting* relationship status...
Quick check on my seat of the day (we moved a lot!), when I heared "ah, we're almost right next to each other!"
That was the moment I met S., a witty, sharp girl and equally awesome gal!
I gotta say, it was a pity we weren't actually sitting right next to each other; we'd have even more fun than we already had. Unfortunately there was another woman in between us... or better a silent barrier... could have easily been a statue... quite boring... -_-

Anyway... the relationship status
One of the first announcements of the producers had been: "This will probably be more than just a quiz. Friendships will be made, alliances will be forged and who knows, maybe even love affairs or babies!"
Wiley minxes! Clustering single men and women! Put-up job! That was their intention! This is better than a dating agency... definitely more efficient :D

So single ladies S. and me started "judging". First of all the counting: 10 single women, 16 single men...
... Math was in our advantage

... only theoretically though...
... a quick count of the gays turned our odds...
... A LOT!
... only 8,5 left   *gay radar alarm for one guy, though he denied firmly*   :D

... a further elimination of "too short", "too old" and "too young"   *no, we're not picky, we know what we want*   left us with... 0

O_o

"I guess we'll have to look for our companion somewhere else, C." S. said.
"Guess you're right," I answered.

ok... a less severe elimination left me two PC's (Possible Candidates): a guy with a beard and black glasses...
and D. ...

TO BE CONTINUED


oh btw! almost forgot! Maggy won!!! *you rock, sweetie!!! OW YEAH*
little wave and celebration to Maggy
 _|°__---/°°°°--___---/°°°`---,___,--°°°°-___

also... wondering if there was some "judging single ladies" going on with tha boyzzz...
*of course there was :p *