So recently I asked my fiancé (*ripley4O77) if he thinks I write too many journals here on dA and he replied that he thinks it's perfectly fine and nice if a deviant writes out regular journals in order not to seem like a dead account. But he also mentioned that I might write too many features and the like and too little "personal" entries, so it makes me look - I quote literally - "like a machine". lol
I love featuring people and will probably never stop doing it that much but how about a slightly more personal feature? One of deviations that have a certain meaning to me and will come with a little story of my life. I won't guarantee that it's interesting though.



Let's see, where do I start....
It must have been two years ago in summer, when I was still working at a local company that produces semi-conductors. My job was mainly a lab one; putting a chip in the socket, starting the test software, waiting for a certain amount of time, saving the results and then repeating it with a whole assortment of other chips under specific conditions.
The lab rooms were usually rather small and all the machinery in it produces a lot of warmth. In summer time combined with a non-functional air conditioning that can get close to unbearable. Sometimes I was lucky enough to get the task of evaluating and interpreting the results of a measurement which was more often than not done in an Excel Sheet on the computer, meaning I could comfily sit at my desk in a room that DID have proper air conditioning. (so much that I got a horrible cold once in summer lol)
BUT this one summer I was stuck in the lab for weeks, having to check the functionality of chips under the influence of extreme temperatures. The periods when I had to cool the socket down to -25°C (-13°F) were pretty much okay since the ice that would accumulate and having to remove it kinda cooled me down a bit but then the periods of having to raise the temperature to about 120°C (248°F) were hell.
Now one thing most of us who had to work in the lab for a little longer than just a few minutes did, was getting our mp3-players and listening to music.
And now you also have to know that I didn't just hate the heat in the lab there I hate summer in general. The blistering heat, the bright sun...it gives me headaches, makes my eyes water and gets me extremely annoyed.
So one day when it was especially bad and I had to wait for a test run to finish I scanned through the music collection on my mp3-player for songs that reminded me of winter and the cold. Considering that I'm a huge black metal fan, especially atmospheric and symphonic stuff I was actually quite lucky and found some songs that fit. And believe it or not, it really helped.
Once back home I sat down and created a whole playlist with songs that fit this theme and named it Dark Days. Yes, thus the journal title. Soon the playlist was filled with bands like Wardruna, Wongraven, Elffor and Summoning. (those are youtube links to give you a vague idea of the playlist)
Ever since this playlist has kept me company on those unbearably hot summer days when I wished nothing more than to drown myself in a field of snow or stroll through a cool and misty forest.
The following winter I joined dA and soon created a folder in my favourites with the same title as my playlist, thus enhancing the musical experience with some visual impressions. It is filled with dark landscapes bathed in mist or embedded in snow or anything that makes me think of winter, autumn, rain and the blissful cold they bring.

So long story short I'd like to feature some of those works.
_{(best enjoyed while listening to one of the above mentioned bands )}







The full collection can be found here:
Dark Days