That time of the year again

So. Soon it'll be November once more. Time to write? Sure.
BUT

This year is special.
1. I now have a social life, and each weekend of the beautiful month of November seems to have already been taken. Oh yes, and I work every Tuesday. And I have this wonderful boyfriend. Hmmmm...
2. I'll be writing my MA thesis as well. (Well, MA equivalent. The BA/MA system will only be implemented for my studies in 2008.) And I want to finish *that* beautiful piece of work until the end of the year. Hah.
3. Number 2 should actually be Number 1. Or should it? Hm.
4. This year, I want to write in German, so my mother can actually read what I produce. How could it be harder to write in my mother tongue? Well. Words are longer, for example. Takes more typing to get 50.000 of them. Plus, I'm not that used anymore to write long texts in German. But hey, everyone needs a challenge now and then.

Anyway, it will be an interesting few weeks. Not just the 4 weeks of November, but all of the coming ones. I have 9,5 weeks for my thesis. Can I do it? Will I do it? Stay tuned.

1 year!

Whoops!
I just realised that I started this blog over a year ago. Way to go!
And it's been a great year! It hasn't made me the world's greatest blogger, but still, writing sometimes, and reading other blogs a lot of the time is good. :)

I'll be gone for a week now because we're (we being my family and my sisters boyfriend, mine can't come, meh) going on holiday to Croatia, where I've never been before. One week of lying on the beach (no sandy beach, but one with stones, yehaw) and reading non-stop, except for eating or swimming, at least that's how I'm imaginging it. ;)

Fun!

Last night I finished the seventh Potter book. Finally!
Very interesting to see which of my predictions came true, and which didn't. ;)

Last Saturday, one of my friends married. She's the first from my class at school to marry...actually, the first of all my friends to marry. It was pretty much perfect, as I knew it would be, knowing her. Maybe I can add some pictures later, when I managed to get some from those people who actually took some good ones.

Yesterday, I met with my friend Kris, who spent the last ten weeks in northern Australia, doing research. And it was sooo much fun! I will have to get pictures from her as well, to show what we get up to when we're let loose on the world.

I really need more pictures on this blog. And yep, that means I really need to get my notebook fixed. Someone give me a kick?

There and back again

Hello all!
I'm back from the Study Sphere!
Today I had my big big English literature exam, the whole lot, from Middle Ages til now. 40 minutes of high-octane talking. But it's done. The big evil exam that I have been fearing for years is over. And I did really well, amazingly.
So I'm here, briefly. Because...today, finally...I was allowed (by myself) to buy the new Potter novel, and will be reading the same for the rest of the evening (though hopefully I will show another effort of restraint and will not read through the night as I usually do, to spare my boyfriend the annoyance :P).
So, yay to me, and yay to at least a couple of days of not doing anything for uni. Then it is paper time, then it is diploma thesis time. Go me!

Friends and football

I received a letter today from my friend Kris, who is currently doing research in northern Australia. (Thank you!)
For some reason she sent a football card. (Let me know why at some stage, eh? Not that I'm complaining or something. ;D) And lookie, it is a golden one! Very pretty, considering. It shows the (previously unknown to me) "Gold Trio" of Shane Tuck, Kane Johnson and Brett Deledio. I think their club is the "Richmond Tigers".
Now, if I had any idea at all about Australian football, maybe this would be even more exciting. Maybe someone who reads this knows them?
Also, do people actually collect these cards? Is there any chance this little card will make me rich and sponsor my lazy student lifestyle until I get very old and die?
Probably not.
Well, better hope my prof really wants to keep me at my current post as he said he possibly would yesterday. (Oh please, please, yes!)

************************

Oh yeah, I also found this nice quote today:

"You make a living by what you get.
You make a life by what you give."
-Winston Churchill

Postcards

I have this strange urge to send postcards around the world.
So if anyone who reads this wants a/some postcard(s), or a letter with postcard included, or anything like that, let me know! Else I might soon subject the world to random acts of letter-writing!

Also, if randomness attracts you, why not try this?
Send a Message in a Bottle!

Nr. 25

I have now been 25 years old for a week.
Do I feel older? Do I feel worse? Do I hear my bones crack whenever I walk?
No, I don't feel older. I feel pretty good.
No, I don't feel worse. I feel so much better than last year.
Yes, sometimes I do hear my knees make funny noises, but they have done so for ages. :P

The last year, or let's say the last 11 months, have been so exciting, so much fun! So much has happened that it is almost incredible to believe, and all of it "just" because I finally got out of a non-working relationship. All the friends I've made! All the things I've learned, I've done!

I remember very well last August, when I finally made the cut, and started on GYS, and then suddenly got into contact with all these wonderful people. Some I only emailed with for a little while, while we were preparing our respective packages, but some people, well... I still read their blogs. I still admire what they do, and how they do it. I'm still in some form of contact with them.

I got reintroduced into the world of crafting, and even though it hasn't made me a crafter so far, because I have too many different interests (and loads to study) to be so in any serious way, I now have lots of ideas, lots of beautiful books, some plans, and - which is probably most important - I learned so much about the possibilities that are out there.

I also spent a lot of money on Etsy, but well, it was (mainly) money well spent. ;)

I want to thank everyone who has made a difference, and I think that is everyone who reads this blog.

And, well, although I know it is gushingly, cloyingly oversweet etc, I am happily in love. Next weekend it will be three months (13 weeks, exactly), and for a girl who, for ages, though that noone else (but her very weird first boyfriend) would ever love her, and that she could probably never find anyone nice ever, and didn't deserve to anyway etc etc, this is fantastic. This is amazing. This is so unbelievable that yes, I am counting the weeks, and yes, I do mark certain events in my calendar, and yes, I do post this on my blog even though it's probably silly.

I guess sometimes you just have to be a little silly.



Thanks everyone!

Another test...

I guess it IS pretty obvious by now that I love taking tests. And today I found an especially nice one on Carolyne's blog. Took some time, but the results seem to be quite good, so here they are.


You can also read the full text here. I especially like the part about how I relate to others, since I currently don't see myself as much of an artist - seeing as I don't to anything but read and meet people these days. No crafting etc...nothing. Oh well. *shrugs* :)

Another seven weird things about me

Wohooo! Life has been very exciting lately!
What with "meeting potential in-laws" (as we like to say here, as a joke), ie meeting my boyfriends family (which are all very nice), my mum's 50th birthday (huge party!) and another big big exam done (only one left now, yeah!)...oh, and all those other small things in between...it's been busy. :)

Anyway, kwoozy asked me (a while ago, too, ahem) to write about another few strange things about myself. Now, I hope I don't repeat myself...

1. I have this little thing about closing doors. When cabinet doors are left open etc I have this wild urge to close them - and will close them, too, if nothing speaks against this. I don't just do this at home either but at any home I visit as well.

2. The same goes for things on standby. I hate things on standby. I want to switch them off. So normally that's what I do, although I have a little more self-control here when it comes to other people's stuff.

3. I love cleaning up other people's rooms. Not my own, that one is always a toughie, but with other people's spaces - no problem! Fun! (And no, sorry, you can't rent me.)

4. I usually change my bedsheets every Sunday. This may seem a little much (which is why I hereby call it weird), but ooooh, I sleep so much better! And mhhhhh, fresh sheets!

5. I get ever so slightly annoyed when someone reads faster than me. Reading a lot is one of the things I was always proud of. Now lately this hasn't been working out so well (because I suddenly have so many other things to do, like actually meeting people!), and when I noticed a short while ago that my boyfriend just read those books away like nothing I got a very strange nagging feeling somewhere that I should be the one reading like that. Oh well. My time will come again. ;)

6. This also only started happening lately...sometimes I call people to talk about something specific, but as soon as they answer the phone all that is forgotten and we just talk about whatever. Then 5 minutes after we ended the conversation I suddenly remember what I had intended to say. (This also happens with emails sometimes. Or with wanting to do something specific at the PC, switching it on and then promptly forgetting about it. Annoying!)

7. When swimming, I don't like, and never have liked, to do the crawl. And why? Because I'm afraid that I will not be able to breathe properly. Or that I will breathe in water. Or that...well, whatever.

Hey, I guess I actually managed seven new weird things! Yay! :)

Gone with the wind

I'll be gone for the weekend.
Not that I posted regularly lately and need to alert my readers that I am gone for a few days lest they worry for me. No, not that.
Still, I will be gone. I have been invited to go somewhere else. Haha!
For today I have been invited to dinner. And the rest of the weekend I will be staying at a beautiful little town with beautiful woods and parks and I will be going for walks, reading, swimming, maybe even having a barbecue. Wohooo!
I wish everyone out there a weekend just as lovely...may the sun shine for you and may people around you be kind etc etc. In short, have fun! I know I will. :D

The Golden Compass

Now, some may know that I am an avid reader of (almost) all things fantasy. And three of the books that I discovered in the past few years, and which I heart and love and have read twice already, make the His Dark Materials Trilogy.
These books are now being filmed. Film no.1 will be shown in cinemas come December. And to celebrate it all, they have made a homepage (with trailer!).

If you know the books, you will know about daemons. And this page also allows you to generate your own daemon. But! To have it reach its final form, you need your friends' input.
So, if you want some fun, go here, make some guesses concerning my personality, and watch my little daemon transform.
I've already gone from hare to ermine to ocelot, and I'm really excited to see what it will be in the end. :)

I made things!

Well, I have no pictures to prove it, but last week I both finally put the finishing touches to the scarf I finished knitting ages ago...my first self-knit scarf, btw - AND I made myself a skirt. A skirt that is no good at all for cycling (I tried), and not so good for my usual (fast) walking speed, but...a skirt. A nice, summery, non-black (hooray!) skirt. With elastic band inserted. Wohooo! Now, if I hadn't managed to break the needle on my mum's sewing machine when trying my luck with denim, I might have more to post. But alas, that is the fate of the unlucky sewer. More skirts soon, hopefully. :)
And pictures, too...once we finally get over this computer crisis that hit this household in the last two months. :P

Etsy Post: T-Shirts

Soooo, since I still don't have any crafting or refashioning news (though some may be posted soon), and I don't want to go on blabbering about how nice spring is, and I have been wanting to do this for ages - here is my second post about the wonders of Etsy shopping! The first one, if you remember, was on earrings, this one will be about T-shirts. Because I love t-shirts, and people on Etsy make lovely T-shirts! :)

First, here are the ones I bought during my autumn shopping spree (all pictures taken from the respective shops!):


















This is the wonderful Biorythmic Tee from Supastarr. It's white and pink and very cool. ;)
Supastarr are a lovely couple who, afaik, own a bookstore, and make these great screenprinted shirts in their spare time. And boy, what great shirts (and other stuff) they make!














This second shirt here is called the The Darkest Tree Tee. It is nice and long and short-sleeved like the first one, but I wanted to show the print in detail...isn't it simply amazing?
The shirt is black and the print is a sort of metallic pink, which just looks amazing. If I could wear it all the time, I probably would!

This final one...yeah, I have no picture of the shirt itself. But this is the fantastic print that is on it! I found this one at Lushbox.
For a literature student like me, this has got to be the best shirt ever. ;) I wore it to uni once...you should have seen the face of my prof when he noticed. :D
It's also white and nicely long and short-sleeved.






Now, after these three shirts, it seemes I caugh the t-shirt bug, because my spring shopping spree yielded the following:

Three more from Supastarr, because I just loved the first two so much! Plus, just look at them. They're fantastic. ;)


















This one is called Curly Tree, and I love all things spirally and curly, so I had to make it mine!
I also like trees. Trees are nice.
Unfortunately, the shirt arrived just when our weather turned warm, and I haven't had a chance to wear it yet. Maybe soon, when April turns nasty (as it should, being April).


















This is, obviously, called Read to Me. Can you guess how much my fellow bookreading and bookcrossing friends loved it? Can you guess how much I love it?
Also, yesterday someone read to me. (Without any prompting from the shirt.) Can you guess how much I really really like it now?


















And finally, my very much loved "Be a hero" shirt. What a great colour! And of course I like the print. Dare to be different, I say. ;)

But, I did not only buy shirts from Supastarr. I also bought a couple from another shop I had been lusting after, namely Ahpeele. Another lovely couple that makes the most amazing shirts - with Asian inspired designs, this time.
I can honestly say that, if I had the money, I could (and probably would) buy all the shirts (and hoodies) they have on offer.


















This one is dark grey with black print. The print wraps around the shirt...I have no idea how they do it, but it looks amazing. I love the length as well...and am very thankful that I can get shirts in this wonderful length from Etsy whenever I want to. The ones they sell at H+M etc always are sooo freaking short! :P


















And here, the last one (for the time being!). I ordered this one in black, but received a white version...which turned out to be great! The white one is soooo much better for spring. :)
The print on this one is really colourful! <3
(And also wraps around the shirt, and amazes me every time I look at it!)

So, of course there are other things I bought on Etsy that I haven't posted yet, but still, the next post should be about something I made myself, right? Well, fingers crossed and all that. ;)

***
Oh, and because someone asked - I probably should buy myself a cat, yes, and I would, but, eh, for all my love of cats etc, I am allergic. So I live off cat pictures on CuteOverload and the two tabbies my best friends call their own. My own cat...well, if a miracle happens and the allergy disappears. But right now...sadly not.

Huh

So, another two weeks and more have passed, and I didn't post anything new.
Well. Crafting is down to nil at the moment. Swapping also. Refashioning also (although I am not buying anything new either).
What is up is reading. What is up is meeting with people. What is up is cleaning up my room and throwing old stuff out.
Not too bad, I guess.

I had my big exam last week and I passed. Only sort of average grade, but hey, for only one week of studying, and that in a very hole-y way (none of the three books necessary for the exam were read completely), and being dead tired (exam at 5.30pm after a day of working, and getting up at 6.30am, ugh), I think I did ok. I expected much worse. ;)

So now, Easter holidays, and on Tuesday I made my flat look more like a flat again, and less like a battlefield. I did my ironing. I threw some stuff out that should have been thrown out ages ago. I cleaned the bathroom. Wohoo!
Yesterday I started reading. Yesterday was for fun, tomorrow I will start reading for uni, and as much as possible. What about today? Hm. Well. More reading for fun, I guess. ;)

The most remarkable thing about the past week? Saturday. Where I spent about 9 hours talking with someone I didn't know very well. I guess now I do. At least a little better. ;)

Well, no pictures is no fun, so here another lovely kitty picture that I found on Cute Overload. Enjoy!

Happy

I just looked up a word in my favourite online dictionary.
Apparently, what I am currently "suffering" from is called 'spring fever' in English. Sounds suspiciously like hay fever, but hey, the dictionary must know, right?
Anyway, it's a strange thing, but...yeah. Words fail me right now. (Especially because I'm dead tired!)

I still had no sleep, and I need to get it now. 48+ hours with only 6-7 hours of sleep to them? Not good. Not good at all. But the papers are now finished, and I'm FREE....
...to study for my big Linguistics exam.
But oh, it feels like such a joy nevertheless.

And I'm happy. Did I mention that before? Happy, and curious what will happen next. Oh, the fun of it all. :D

Can you tell my ability to concentrate is miserable?

I just did another personality "test". HA!

Your Hidden Talent

Your natural talent is interpersonal relations and dealing with people. You communicate well and are able to bring disparate groups together. Your calming presence helps everything go more smoothly. People crave your praise and complements.

What's Your Hidden Talent?

Life is poetry, love is...love poetry

Don't worry if the title of this post isn't making much sense to you - it's past 3am, as I'm having myself a nightshift - I need to hand in this paper by 12am today, and only started writing last evening, ie, about 5 hours ago. That's me, superorganised. :P

Anyway, I just found this beautiful poem by e.e.cummings and thought I would let the world know.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

——————————————————— i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

I also found a different one by a woman poet on my professor's handout for the lecture today, but forgot to take my copy home - it was so beautiful it gave me the shivers. Luckily I just found it online. It's was written by Christina Rossetti some time during the Victorian Age.

When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree.
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on as if in pain.
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

And then there is what U2 say, and their words should not be forgotten either: Love, she moves in mysterious ways.
Aye, she does.
:)

Still no pictures

Last week, the family PC broke down. Since then, I've been using my fathers laptop, since mine is not yet connected (maybe in one or two weeks, yay!). But I'm not going to put any of my pictures on this laptop, sorry.

Anyway, here's what I'm currently doing:

Uni:
Writing paper no.3 (of 5) which should have been finished ages ago. Anyway, I only started writing today and got half of it done, other half tomorrow and that's it.
Anxiously waiting for next week, where my first day at work will take place. Woot!
Trying to figure out whether I have enough credits or whether I will have to take any courses this semester after all. If the latter, ARRRRGH, as registration started last week. If not, YAY for me!
Worrying about how I will finish my papers and study for my exam on the 12th of March - which is also the day the papers have to be handed in.
Wondering whether the two weeks after the 12th will be enough study time for the big Linguistics exam

Refashioning:
Finished scarf no. 1 Monday last week, and now have to find the time to block it and add the fringes.
Putting together a sort of style book from magazine cutouts that I have been hoarding for ages - some of them for almost 10 years!
Collecting ideas of what I can do next - make top from felted jumper, sew skirts from (cheaply!) bought fabric, embellish T-shirt?

Other:
Meeting new people and laughing at myself for the (very latecoming) discovery that there *are* interesting men alive on this world - and marvelling at the sudden wealth of possibilities.
Thinking about what to send to my next swap partner, which should have been a February swap, but will be sent in early March it seems.
Spending too much time in front of computer screens and too much money on books.
Oh, and I just overcame one of those crises that happen when you wonder what the future will bring, or if it will indeed bring anything. And feeling bad about myself and feeling like crap. Yeah. All over now. :D

I will spare you the kitty pictures today. ;)

:(

Yesterday I was alerted to the fact that an online bookstore in Austria was having a 1€ per book sale on certain English books. I found many nice things there, and amongst them, a book called "Wallpaper in Interior Decoration". Now, how could I not put that book into my basket?
But today, even though I registered and all that, my basket was empty. I had to fill it up again. But the wallpaper book had sold out in the meantime.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! *cries*

Weekend Fun

This was one exciting weekend, as I've been out and about all the time!
Saturday was the "Go to Vienna to collect ten boxes full of books"-Day. We (=me and three friends) drove up to Vienna in this cool orange "thing" - well, it was a car, I just have no idea how to call this sort of car in English. Sort of like a pickup truck, but with the back covered. Weeell, maybe I'll manage to get a picture.
Anyway, we went over the mountains and far away, picked up another friendly fellow, acted like stupid tourists when driving throught Vienna ("Ooooh, look, that store! Ooooh, look, cute building! Ooooh look!"), then carried those (large, heavy) boxes downstairs and into the car, and then went for something to eat and collecting yet MORE books. Yeeehaw!
When we returned late at night, I had two large boxes of books and a filled-to-the-brim backpack to call my own. Only problem: When, oh when will I read all this stuff?

Sunday was a bit easier: Me and my family (sans le sister because she's in India still, of course) went skiing, wohoo. Had been two years since I'd last used those skiis. Of course, all the snow was artificial, BUT ooooh, the view from the mountaintop! We had totally blue skies and sunshine, and oooh, how beautiful! I could just have stood up there the whole day long!
But no, down the mountain, and up the mountain, and all that jazz - sometimes I think skiing is actually quite stupid, but hey. ;) What was nice was that apparently skiing skills don't fade anymore, meaning that I can get down a mountain in pretty good form and without falling over even once! Hah, when did that last happen?
On the whole, very cozy, as I had throughout the day: two hot chocolates, one hot lemonade, and tea. (And cake.)

And to include yesterday - yesterday I didn't want to study, as I was tired and a little, hm, stretched. You know, that feeling when too much has been going on lately and you just need a little peace. Of course, I did some stuff (loads actually, compared to "normal" days), but nothing too exciting. Collected a few things from uni, took two packages to the post office, and - HIGHLIGHT - went to the fabric store. Just wanted to buy the one fabric that I didn't dare buy the last two times I was there, but because I still kept thinking about it, I did. And then, heh, I bought three other ones as well. My plan is to make at least three of these into skirts, and the fourth fabric was on sale for about 1€ per m, so hah. Anyway, I reckon three skirts for 20€, that's nothing! If I went to a shop, I would get maybe one for that price, and not in funky fabrics like the one I bought. ;)
No pictures right now, but I'll post them at the latest once I get sewing, which will hopefully be Sunday.

Did I already mention that our living room is going to be all empty by Saturday noon? If not, I should mention it again. O_O

Swap break

I wanted to do this anyway, but apparently I need to post notices about it, since I received another request just yesterday.
So: I will finish the swaps I am currently in, and then no more until probably autumn. I need my head as free as possible for studying and thesis writing and *gulp* work.

I noticed in January and these first two weeks of February how much these things distract me - yesterday I almost couldn't sleep because my head was so full of things I needed to get done, for uni, for swaps, for myself. It only got better after I got up and did some of those things. Then today, I did some more of those things. And there is still a lot to do.

So, I think I have two or three more swaps to do, and then I shall write my literary heart out.

And again, I feel the need to post something irresistibly cute, please bear with me. I've had this picture saved in my folder for ages - I think it came from Cute Overload - and it now deserves some attention. It is called "Giggling Kitten", and I would love to feel as happily cuddly or cuddely happy as this kitten looks.















I <3 kittens! Loooove!

Package from Singapore!

This is the package that I received from Melissa in Singapore. I think it arrived the day after Meshell's, but my parents didn't take this one away from me (not fast enough, hehehe) so I could open it immediately. :)

And here are the goodies she sent:

First of all, she sent these three pieces of clothing, which are just fantastic: two red tops and a beautiful satiny skirt.














What has become very apparent though is that girls in Singapore must be slim people indeed. So, the skirt will be subject to my refashioning "talents" sooner or later.

Then there's some other bits: A great magazine, Asian print fan (with it's own box!), Asian print small box, some colourful ribbons - and some Anime stickers, one of them Sailor Moon! Wohooo! (My childish heart just adores Sailor Moon.)















Then, more funky stuff! Check it out, a cheongsam bottle "dress". Melissa first wanted to send me a cheongsam for myself to wear, but, well, there was none in my size (ahem, see above), so she sent me one to cover up a wine bottle or somesuch. Fabulous idea!















Also in the picture are some glass coasters with flower pattern, a foto CD with pictures of her city on it - again, fantastic idea which I shall have to steal - a beautiful necklace and some great sparkly earrings, and some snacks. You probably can't see it properly, the little tin is full of Wasabi peanuts *screaaams* oh, how lovely those will be! (Haven't tried them yet.) The other pack were (yeah, were) marshmallows with chocolate centre. Oh yumm! I wish I would have had some more willpower so I could have kept some of them for toasting, but nooo, they were gobbled up pretty quickly. :P

Here's a closeup of the jewellery:















And then, Melissa sent this truly massive amount of postcards. My favourite is probably the large blue one. :)
















Thanks again for everything Melissa! It was great swapping with you! :)

So, this was the second package I received before Christmas, which means I've finally caught up on my swap posting! Or have I? Nooo, not yet, not completely. But I'll keep that last one for a bit yet. ;)

Meshell's Amazing Christmas Package

And it deserves the capital letters!
Finally, I will post about the big package that arrived 5 days before Christmas and which was kept unopened until Christmas Eve.
Now, I took several pictures of the package, and always left something out. Things that I forget to photograph in the first session I put into the second, where I forgot things I had used the first time around. So I'm just going to post all of the pictures and will leave you to figure out what has changed in each of them. :P

I opened this package after I had opened all my other presents, and it was just so lovely. Everything was individually wrapped, with those lovely little stickers and cards on everything, oh, I loved it! It was so nice to try and guess what might be inside - most of the time I had no clue.
Needless to say, I love it all to pieces!

So, without many more words, here are the pictures. There's some blue things for Blue Me, and some pink things for Pink Me, and some other things that are just as good! If you're bored, tell me how many differences you find between the pictures! :)































































































































And now repeat with me:
"It is all so gorgeous, Meshell, thank you SO much, you are the BEST!"
Ok, go.

"It is all so gorgeous, Meshell, thank you SO much, you are the BEST!"

(I could say more, but I think I said most of it in that long letter I sent her :D)

Hahaha!

I had to put that cheerleading smiley into my header, for a short while at least. Isn't it cute?
(If it annoys you to death, hit Esc and don't refresh. :P)

I'm currently trying to cheer myself on to get some things done that should have been done ages ago. Maybe this will mean blog posts. Maybe this will mean I will finally do my ironing, after not doing it for many many weeks.

I'm also currently trying to cheer on my new found "study mate" or whatever I should call her, who is trying to work while I am at home cursing (and nursing) my stomach that decided to play ill today.

And then I'm cheering for my sister who should by now have reached the end of her first day in India, where she's going to be for three weeks. I hope she's well and had a good nights sleep after the long flight. I wish I had my life organised in a more sensible way, then I could be on holidays as well. Hmmmm...

Evidence

Just so you know I wasn't kidding you about the knitting...














This is what I got done on Wednesday and Thursday - no knitting today as first I wildly overslept, then I did some actual uni work in the afternoon, and in the evening I spent my time searching the internet for stuff etc. :P

On the right, the scarf I started with, simple garter stitch. I folded it at the top because I just discovered a strange mistake and probably have to rip those last few rows out again. But no worries. ;)
The yarn is half cotton, half some sort of artificial stuff (Laneacril I think it says on the label, never heard of that one so far). It will hopefully be a nice scarf for late spring/early summer, or those cold rainy summer days we sometimes get. (Sometimes = the whole of last August, for example :P)

On the left, a very nice and slim GREEN green scarf done in 2x2 rib stitch. I will *try* to wear that with my dark blue spring jacket once the time comes, but I'm not usually the one for bright green, so we'll see. This is half wool, half acrylic.

These two will have to feature for my Week 1 Wardrobe Refashioning (WR) project; and then on Sunday hopefully I'll get to sew a little. :)

(Just to mention, I also did some sewing yesterday evening, but can't show you yet for certain special reasons...)

Oh no! New obsession

Some people may already know the sad story about me and knitting. I was supposed to learn it in school (in first grade of highschool I think), but the project we did was so completely stupid and useless that my parents had to force me to do every little row. Then I guess a few years after that I once asked my mum to show me, although I can't really remember that. Then, last winter, before Christmas, I asked my best friend to show me again. Alas, two weeks later and I had forgotten again, or just become totally frustrated, I forget which.
Now, last year, I promised my mum a handknit scarf for Christmas - which she is yet to receive. Therefore (and for other reasons), I made it one of my personal goals (not resolutions :P) to learn how to knit this year. Still, nothing happened.
But! On Tuesday, during my sadly very short swap shopping trip, I went to buy some wool for my swap partner, and lo and behold, there in the sales bin was this beautiful variegated ball of yarn. I couldn't resist. I argued with myself about the futility of buying yet *more* yarn without being able to knit, but well, the sale won me over.
And yesterday evening, what did I do but steal some knitting needles from my mum, get out my lovely new (Christmas present!) Stitch'n Bitch book, and finally learn to cast on!
As it turns out, that seems to have been one of the things that kept me from knitting for years, as all the helpful people showing me how to knit always hurried through the casting on part like madwomen. :P
The second problem seems to have been the needles. I had always used those aluminium needles before...but yesterday I grabbed a pair of bamboo needles, and I LOVE them. I now already have around 40cms of pretty garter stitch scarf, and would have another few cms of pretty rib stitch scarf if I hadn't tried to do that one with those aluminium needles again. :P (Need more bamboo!)
Anyway, yesterday night, I almost couldn't stop with this knitting business, I was so excited about it all! I only put the things away when I started cursing at the aluminiums needles and frogged (such a lovely word!) the rib scarf for the third time in a row.

Seems like knitting has got me at last. And now I won't stop. If you don't hear from me again within the next two days (as I want to post some happy pictures, finally!), call the police, or maybe my mum, and tell her to rip those needles out of my hands! ;)

I hate colds

Sooo, I've managed to catch another cold. Bah. There I go wishing for colder weather so we can at least pretend it's winter...cold weather I get, and my tissue usage rate rockets again. *sighs*
Yesterday, I had to get up way to early for "holidays", that is, 7.30, which I managed to make my "normal getting up time" for the whole of January - I'm so proud of myself. Still, yesterday, it was hell, as I could feel that my head wasn't working properly. Anyway, went to uni, did the work I had to do, met Kris for tea and huge bowl of salad which was lovely, and then tried to do some swap shopping, which turned into half swap, half "for me" shopping, but I had to give that up after around 30mins and went home. And when home, I was just about to make me some lovely ginger tea when my brother asked me to take him to training. I did, too, ain't I the best sister ever? Anyway, straight afterwards, I took myself into bed (that was around 6.15pm), and fell asleep at around 7pm.

Now, I haven't done any refashioning yet, of course, but I just remembered - I did dream about it! In my dream, I had made this great skirt out of an old bedsheet (that is not really in my possession but hey, who cares when dreaming?), and my sister was totally admiring it but told me not to cut up anymore of my bedsheets. Hah.

And after 12 hours of sleep (7pm tp 7am, insaaaaane) just now I saw the two beautiful skirts Meshell has already made, and thus am now wondering whether I should go ahead with my "drink tea and watch movie while cuddled in a blanket" plan, or whether I should get out the sewing machine instead. Hmmmm....

Life!

On Friday I discovered that one of the wonderful new friends I made here in Graz since summer has a blog of her own. And apparently she is very good about it and posts almost every day, about what is going on in her life. For me, who has turned into Miss Lazy Poster, this sounds fab! So I guess I could write a bit more about my daily life and stuff as well, instead of taking a break with posting until I can get myself up from my laziness to take the relevant pictures for "big" posts.
So, forget the pictures for a moment. Here is what happened on Friday and Saturday.

Friday - lovely. I went to uni quite early on (9am?) because I had to hand in a paper. Thankfully I tried to take it out of my bag before walking in to the secretary's office, because - and this is a nice indicator of how fuzzy my head can be sometimes - I had packed the folder in which I wanted to put the printouts, but -wait for it - I forgot to pack the printouts! O_O
Yeah, that's me. I forget things. Then I shake my head about myself. Then I tell the story to everyone I know, until I can laugh about it. *sighs*

Anyway, the next things I had planned was meeting two people for coffee/tea - after each other. Insane? Maybe. Or an indicator of how little time I had during the rest of the month for meeting with people (for tea/coffee). So first I met with Kris (the one with the amazing daily updated blog) in my favourite coffee shop and we talked about soooo many things, especially old books we had and old toys we played with. As it turned out, she had always wanted to have some of those Princess of Powers dolls - of which I had had plenty, and which I had used to make up the most fantastic stories. Fun!

I guess I could have kept on talking with her for ages, but then I had to take this 3min walk over to the next café to meet coffee-drinking-friend number 2. I'd never been to this lovely café before, but I fell in love immediately. Hidden away in a tiny little street, comfy chairs, lovely tea and cake, great decor...and pink restrooms! PINK! OMG!
Friend number 2 is the one good friend I found amongst all my colleagues from uni. Since she has finished her MA and is doing her doctorate right now, I could fill her in on many new things that are transpiring at our department, like the three professors who are going to leave us come summer. I guess we talked for another two hours or more. Wow!

Next I had planned to maybe go into town to shop for swap stuff, but then decided to go home instead. And once home, I decided to read. And read I did! For the rest of the afternoon. About 200 pages, which means another book finished, wohooo! I like "holidays"*. :)
*It's not really holidays right now, it's called "lecture-free time", indicating that we should keep on studying - which I will, of course, on Monday. I'm being good. (and I'm overusing the word "indicating" right now, sorry!)

Anyway, then I took a bath in the evening, and then spent 3 hours watching this wonderful DVD: Jim Henson's The Storyteller. A series made in the 80s (I think 1987/88), consisting of 25min episodes, each telling an old fairytale. There were 9 episodes on that DVD, and I just couldn't stop watching! Sooo lovely.
Afterwards though, I went to sleep of course. That was at 3am. ;)

Saturday, I then slept until about 1.30pm. At least I was entertained during that very long time by the weird dreams I had. :P
The afternoon I spent sewing two patches onto my sister's pair of jeans (I'm being a nice sister right now) while watching my brother swim to two additional gold medals (he had already won three medals in the morning, one gold, one silver, one bronze - he's good, ain't he?) at the Styrian Hall Swimming Championships, or however that should be translated into English. (There's the summer championships, which take place outside, and the winter ones - the ones right now - taking place inside.)
And the rest of the evening? I met some lovely BC friends for dinner. (BC=Bookcrossing)
First we had dinner, and the best paella I ever had (also the first one I ever had, but I could taste with every bite that it was exceptionally delicious!), and talked for 2 hours, then three people left, and Kris and me stayed for another 2 hours just talking and talking and talking. Incredible how long a cup of tea can last.
Anyway, I came back home shortly past midnight, and I was so HAPPY. I still am. Life is good. :)

So tomorrow, or rather today, I will catch up on some sewing, and in the afternoon/evening I will go visit my best friend and we will sort out our photographs and put them into albums. Doesn't sound very exciting, but it's been on my internal to do list for YEARS (yep, they deserve the capital letters), so when I manage that today I should feel even better. :)

I hope everyone who reads this is also doing well! May all sewing machines be repaired and running well, the sun shining moderately and not too hot, the ice melting in other places, and good feelings all around. *stupidly feels like she wants to hug everyone*

Oh yeah, for those who have no clue what I mean by "Princess of Power", here is a very cheesy cartoon picture I found (so I have at least one picture with these many words!). Meet She-Ra, twin sister of the mighty He-Man, and some of her friends:

Six weird things about me...

...and a few extra.
I wanted to do this anyway, but then Dy went ahead and tagged me as well, so I guess that means I've got to do it NOW. ;)

So, read, and have fun. Please laugh, else it's tragic. :P

1. As a child in primary school (and maybe up until the age of 12 or so) I was convinced that I could fly. I would sit on my bed, suddenly feel like I would soon take off (weird, eh?), and then think "Just a little more now, just a little more." or "I'm flying I'm flying!" - alas, it never worked. :(

2. I used to dance. Latin American dances, like Cha-Cha, Samba, that kind of stuff. I used to be in a formation. I wore sparkly dresses full of sequins. I wore fake fingernails with sparkly crystals on them. I wore fake tan on my face and bright red lipstick. I think this entry alone would fill the whole list! O_O

3. I sometimes talk to myself - although, reading what other people have written, this is probably not that weird anymore. It just gets bad when I do it in traffic and complain about other drivers. And especially bad when I'm on my bike and people walk by. :P

4. I LOVE video games! For me, this is not weird, but other people might just think it is. I was playing Super Mario obsessively in primary school. Then I played loads of Tetris. Then, my once boyfriend got me into RPGs. The boyfriend is now gone, but the RPGs remain. I haven't been playing lately, but I sooo want to again.
(I'll add another weird thing to this one, so I don't end up with a list of 23 points...as a kiddo, I had a major crush on Luigi. As an older kiddo of around 18, I had a major crush on someone called Squall. Neither of these really exists.)

5. I had a time in my life when I would avoid anyone I knew at uni, like old school colleagues etc. If I saw any of them, I would take loooong detours. It was freaky.
I still avoid other people sometimes, but I think I have reduced them to a) people asking for donations b) people selling street magazines and c) my ex, who doesn't turn up anywhere anyway, thankfully - and the first two only when I really don't want to be bothered.

6. There was a time, for about 6 months or so, when the best friend I had was an Australian guy I had never met and only talked to online. I mentioned him before on this blog, I think. He saved me from what could have been a major crash (depression was looming - I had my hair cut really short and dyed red and looked very odd and wrote poems that still break my heart).
He'll probably never read this, but hey, let's trust to chance a bit: Hey Chug! *waves*
(His real names was a different one.)

7. Another one for good measure: I hate to find a parking space in a location where there are hardly any available, for example IKEA on Saturdays or the city centre on almost any day. I regularly freak out during such times, and if there should be someone in the car beside me, they better be very calm and relaxed people and prepare for some shouting, cursing, and possibly tears.

8. And maybe just another one, so Dy doesn't feel weird with her 8 points: I once went to an Apokalyptica concert. Apokalyptica play Heavy Metal on cellos. Guess what I was wearing? A very cute babyblue top. That's me. Always in black, but not for ze concerts. *shakes head at herself*

9. Oh, and I just thought of another one. I think my eyes are weird. Basically, they're blue. But sometimes, they are bright blue, and sometimes, they are a dark greenish blue. I suppose this has to do with weather and light and such. Still, looking at pictures of myself, it seems like my eyes always change. Weird! ;)

I *suppose* there would be more, but let's just leave it at that, hm? Thankfully, noone of my family is currently around, so they can't add anything...

10. I just thought, why not make it ten, actually. You may agree with me or not, but I think this is one of the best pictures ever. It still makes me laugh after months and months. Am I weird, or do you all like it as much as I do? Whatever, I will soon put it on a t-shirt.

Here we go again - Wardrobe Refashion 07

Soooooo....
I received my invite today, posted my introduction post, and I guess this means I will now, once again, post my pledge. I'm taking it for 4 months this time, as the 3 months I did last year weren't much of a problem. With my new sewing books and some more time on my hands, I think I'll actually have some nice things to show this time. :)

Well, here we go:

I, Barbara, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 4 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recylcled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings!
Signed Barbara ;)

And now everyone who reads this sign up as well! ;)

(By the way, they moved to a new address - Clicky here!)

Crossed fingers and toes succeed!

I'm still shaking my head about it with some bewilderment, but - I GOT THE JOB! Wohoooo!

On Tuesday I received this email from my professors secretary that he wanted to see me Thursday morning. "What now?" I thought, but hey, if I would get an aswer earlier on so that I could at least stop worrying about it, OK.
So I went, and he asked whether I had changed my mind since last week, and I just said "Well, I thought about what you said for a long time, but I'm sure I can manage everything." - and he said "Ok, then let's try. " :D I know, doesn't sound terribly enthusiastic on his side, does it? I guess he takes these kinds of things very serious, and laughing and smiling all the time while explaining my future duties would hardly have been fitting. :P SO not to worry. I'm sure he thought a lot about what he's doing - and I'll just prove it to him that he made the right choice. :)

Anyway, I will be working Tuesdays from March onwards (or rather, I'll probably be starting on February 27). I'll actually be employed by my uni. How fun is that? :D
The most fun will be my own office hour. (Yeeees, I will have my own office hour. LOL!) As in, I want to go to the first session of the lecture I'm "responsible" for, introduce myself and tell students to come to my office hour if there are any problems. That's my idea, at least. And I'm already laughing about it, even though (or because?) I can't even imagine that right now. Me + office hour = unbelievable. :D
My colleague will be the girl I might have mentioned - the one who is much much better at the theory stuff than I am. I know her a little, since we already had several courses together, and she's very nice.
I could go on blabbering forever, but I guess I better don't. I'm just really really excited. My first real job! At my uni! With my professor! Yay! And if I will spend half my time in front of the copy machine, so be it! ;)
I'll keep you updated about things go...

...and I shouldn't forget to send a huge THANK YOU!!! to all those lovely people who wished me luck and told me they were sure I would get the job - it was sooo lovely to have some people put their confidence in me when I really didn't have much of it in myself. You're the best. :)

Waiting

I had a talk with my professor on Friday. He said he'd already considered me for the spot - but he wasn't too sure about my theoretical knowledge - whether I would be able to explain literary terminology to other students.
Now, I know this is ony of my weak points, because I lost out on a lot of things during my studies because of, hm, private life interfering. My non-love of secondary literature, which only now is becoming a definite interest in secondary literature, may have "helped" as well.
Anyway, he said he'd let me know by the 30th, as that is when I will be seeing him in his office hour to discuss my thesis.
This means I have about one more week to do what I can to convince him that I CAN handle my terminology.
This means I have to apologise to everyone who is still waiting for certain posts, emails, packages etc. which I feel bad about, but I have to try. Not just to get the job, but because his opinion is quite important to me, and if he says that I could improve on that part of my knowledge, then believe you me, I will try to do so.

I felt like I needed to end this post, and begin my few days absence, with something nice and bright, so please enjoy this lovely picture of a kitten, which I just got off Google Image Search:

Exams are nothing compare to this

After some encouragement from some colleagues who currently fill the post but will be away form Graz by next semester, I have just sent an email to my thesis-supervising professor that I would love to work as his study assistant. Wanna know how long it took me to type that email? Long, very long, with many pauses in between.
So, tomorrow I will have two courses with him. And let me tell you, I will be far more nervous etc than for any of the presentations or exams. I was last Friday when I had first intended to ask him (he had to leave straight after class *curses*). I was for the last few days when I thought about writing this email. I was just now, while writing it, and then even more while hovering over the "Send" button - and tomorrow I will probably freak out somewhat. *sighs*

This would be my first job ever, except for the one 3-week work placement I had way back when I had just turned 18 - and the au-pair stuff, if that counts. My first job. Pfffff. O_O
I hope I hope I hope hope hope he has noticed how much more work I do ever since last March. I hope he thinks I can do it. I hope I can do it. I hope I will do it. I *so* would love to get that job! What could be better than working at your own department while writing your thesis? Getting to know from the inside the system that you were part of for more than 5 years? Properly getting to know the people, the professors, the secretaries, the librarians, all the people you've walked past, talked to, listened to for all these years? And working for the professor who is supervising your thesis and has been responsible for so much improvement in how you study etc?

Fingers crossed, eh?

More quizzes!

Hm, ages ago I did this quiz on "What yarn are you?" I think the result is still here on the blog somewhere.
Anyway, I just was made aware of two new ones to try. So I tried - and here are my results.

Your Power Color Is Blue

Relationships and feelngs are the most important things to you. You are empathetic and accepting - and good at avoiding conflict. If someone close to you is in pain, it makes you hurt as well. You try to heal the ones you love with your kind and open heart.

What's Your Power Color?

Yeah, who would EVER have thought that my colour is blue? *feigns surprise* :P

Now the other one I sort of answered looking back, because I stopped drinking coffee last autumn. So there was a lot of substituting "Chai Latte" for "coffee" and thinking "If I would still be drinking coffee..." - well, you get the idea.

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

And with this, I am afraid, I cannot wholly agree. :P
I don't exclusively have strong ideas about what I like. Sometimes, yes; but at other times I'll just go along with whatever.
I'm not completely girly girly at heart. In parts, maybe (see my latent love of pink).
I mainly drink my Chai Latte on my own, to relax and stop thinking about things. (although, of course, good conversation isn't a bad thing, I just don't explicitly prefer it.)
And - I'm not really easy to please. Sorry. In some areas, yes, probably in almost all areas, but in some others, uhoh, no.

So, maybe I shouldn't answer quizzes that are concerned with things I don't really do/eat/drink/whatever. ;)

Edit: Ok, I thought about this some more. Maybe I AM easy to please, or at least appear to be so. I am definitely easily amused. I generally like people without much ado about it. I easily go into excitement mode over pretty things. And maybe some other stuff, too. Does that mean I'm easy to please? You tell me.

Oh luck! Oh joy!

Ok, so after training yesterday, I was somewhat calmer again, a little more settled after talking to a few people etc. And today, after a shaky morning (still didn't know what was happening with my friend) and a presentation that went so much better than I ever would have thought, I was even calmer. I guess I'm ok again now, still a lot going on but I'm back in my "I can manage" state of mind, instead of the "OMG FREAK OUT!" state of mind. *phew*

Soooo, I got this package from Etsy today (more *later*, ahaha, this might be my favourite word, bad B), and went to leave my feedback, and, as I usually do, clicked on the pictures on the front page which I liked, and searched through the shops that I thusly found. And I guess I made the luckiest buy ever. EVER! Wohooo!
Not that I have the money, or somesuch, but with something like this, what can I say? Look at that picture:











See that bag? It is chockful with jewelry items that the respective artist made (before she got into glass bead making) and never sold, so now she is giving away this whole bag filled with necklaces, bracelets, earrings and whatnot, for this minimal amount of money! You probably wouldn't believe it if I told you how much.
As she says in the entry, one could take these things apart to have some beads to play with, or give them away as presents, or whatever. Well! What can I say, except that I will certainly have hours of fun when this little package arrives next week!
(And I will have to post a massive entry for this, so you can see all the goodies!)

Oh yeah, and I also bought this amazing glass bead in her store, check it out:

















Not sure yet what I will do with this, but the gorgeousness of it all just overwhelmed me. Soft blue! Soft lilac! Something that looks like mother of pearl! Seashell spiral pattern! Love! <3

And after this happy little interlude I'll write a few notes for tomorrow's class and then I'll be off to bed! *tired*

More exciting news soon, I promise! :)

Ayeeeh!

Ok, so I started to write this blog post yesterday about my two most recent swap packages and all sorts of other bits, but of course, I didn't get far with it yet, and now all is chaos again. :P

Today I took my best friend first to the doctor and then to the hospital, she has to stay there tonight so they can check what's actually wrong (some sort of evil infection).
I got up at 6.45am because of that, which I am just not used to, thank goodness I started getting up earlier (ie 7.30/8am) last week or I never would have managed.

I had one 1h-long office hour visit today (professors know far too much, you know? Input overflow :P), and a lecture, and am now trying to put all the bits and pieces of my presentation together for tomorrow.

Then a colleague just called about this other course and would I do this and that tomorrow, please? As she can't reach the other girls - geez.

And then there is this report I should have handed in today, or should at least tomorrow, hah, and another presentation on Wednesday, and the first exam on Thursday, and I basically don't know where my head is right now.

It felt so nice last Thursday and Friday, after those respective presentations were over, but, as I realised yesterday, that was just because I had completely forgotten about that report thing. :P

Well, whatever, I'm going to Aikido practice now and hope that it will sort of calm me down again, and then I'll just dig in for a few more hours.

And then, in a few days, when I have avoided another premature heart-attack (hah!) I will tell you about the wonderful thread packages I will be sending out soon!

Seven things

As I was reading through Meshell's archive to cheer me up when uni started again after the holidays, I came across this fun list, somewhat like the list of fours I did a while ago. Here goes...

Seven things to do before I die
1. Travel the world.
2. Write a book.
3. Own at least one cat.
4. Have children/a family.
5. Learn: how to knit, crochet, sew properly; and proper Italian, some French and some Japanese.
6. Work in my dream job(s).
7. Learn how to eat healthily and look after myself properly.

Seven things I cannot do
1. Sew straight lines (working on it)
2. Repair a computer (or build one from scratch *sighs*)
3. Learn how to budget money properly.
4. Stop eating chocolate.
5. Stop putting English words into German conversations.
6. Stop saying "lol" and "rofl" when talking to people.
7. Get to bed and sleep at the right time (getting to bed is OK sometimes, but falling asleep hardly ever is)

Seven things that attract me to my mate
We-ell, this one I can't answer right now. ;)

Seven Books I love
1. Each and every Terry Pratchett book.
2. All Harry Potter books (just no. 5 I didn't like that much, but maybe I need to read it again)
3. The Lord of the Rings
4. The Last Unicorn (finally read in Christmas holidays, oooh <3<3<3)
5. The Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde
6. Eucalyptus - Murray Bail
7. Clear your clutter - Karen Kingston ;)

Seven Things I say
1. "Lol."
2. "Uaaaaah." *yawns*
3. "I am SO looking forward to when this is all over." (overused right now)
4. "Guess I'll do it tomorrow."
5. "I'm tired."
6. "Why me?"
7. "Have fun!" (My way of saying goodbye, hilarious when I say it without thinking to my mum as she goes to work - she's always saying "Thanks" with this "Yeah right" intonation...)

Seven Movies I Loved
1. Amelie
2. The Lord of the Rings movies
3. The Harry Potter movies
4. Sliding Doors
5. The Last Unicorn (so lovely when I was little, so entirely different when I watched it two weeks ago)
6. Most Disney movies (especially the older ones)
7. Kill Bill

Seven People To Tag
Whoever cares to do this, please do so (and let me know!)

WordCraft Challenge 1

You may wonder what this is about.
Well, last night, when I gave up writing the report I wanted to write and had already made several things out of pure frustration (pictures in a few days, maybe), I organised the little box with all my threads in it. You know, embroidery thread, that sort of stuff. I had lots of these, and all mixed up in one big mess. So I sorted through that and tidied it all up and put it nicely into one of those clear plastic storage boxes I bought at IKEA earlier this week.
But here's the point - in one of those small paper boxes that I never really opened, because my mum (or grandma even? Probably my mum) had bought those, I found a massive amount of blue thread in two shades. And then, I also had way too much orange and yellow. So I decided to offer some to anyone who could need it. But not just like that.
First, here's a picture of the thingies:













There's 13 DMC 793 (a sort of medium blue, it looks brighter in the picture because of the flash), 7 DMC 791 (dark blue), 2 Anker 0386 and 4 Anker 0332.

But why WordCraft? And why Challenge?
Well, I thought, wouldn't it be fun if crafty people who wanted some of these had to write something to get them? (That's the kind of thing I come up with at around 4am :P)
And I thought, Yeah - let them write poetry!
So, if you are interested in any of these, then please leave a comment, in which you should write which ones of these you are interested in - and a humorous limerick (limericks are always humorous :P) about either yarn, or general crafting. Like this, for example:

There was this one girl in Graz
Who was interested in all the arts
She read books quite a lot
but then often forgot
And so only remembered some parts.

Or

There was this collector of thread
who avoided going to bed
So she stayed up all night
had ideas not so bright
And let others suffer for that.

(Ok, forget that last rhyme :D)

Anyway, the idea should be clear, right?
You can post as many as you want - you have until next Sunday (the 14th).
If too many people want too much thread, I'll see what I'll do about this should the question arise - after all, I'm not so sure whether people are really wild about these thingies or not.
If this is a success though, and I get lots of funny poems to read, I might continue this - with buttons, for example, or ribbon, or whatever. So, get to it!

New Blogger

I just moved my blog to the new and improved Blogger - I think nothing bad should happen because of that though. :)

Things not mentioned, but not forgotten

This post is mainly about swaps I did with some wonderful people, but never got around to post about, because uni life set in and steamrolled over me.

Lori was one of the first people to ask me for a swap (the second one, actually). We said we would do a "Surprise Swap", and after I had collected together a few things, I decided on a theme for her: Roses/Flowers. I got some rose soap and rose paper cutout thingies (no idea what to call the stuff), dyed and painted some flowery design on a little tote bag, etc etc. I should post pictures about it but they're hiding away somewhere right now...

Anyway, when I received Lori's package, I had to laugh. Check the picture closely to see why:














YES! She sent me some rose soap as well! And rose paper! And rose scent bags! Ain't it just fantastic? No idea how we managed to think so much alike!
As you can see, she also sent loads of other stuff - a Rolling Stone magazine (never yet had one in my hands before, fun!), a Stephen King novel (without knowing that I had read some of his books as a wee teenie, but not this one!), some great beads and other fun stuff. The one thing that isn't in the picture is the lovely windchime she sent, all pinkish-purple fun - and it's not in the picture because it's hanging in my entry hall, and I didn't want to take it down.
So much fun, Lori, thanks again! And whenever I'm sick of life again, I'm sure your blog will cheer me up. :)
(Check it out, people, and you'll want to live on a little farm in the middle of nowhere as well! I know I do everytime I take a look at it.)

I think next in line came Carolyne from Adelaide. Now, Adelaide holds a special place in my heart every since I mad a very good online friend there, who has since disappeared, but I still heartily miss him. This fascination with Adelaide led to a general interest for Australia, and, in time, to the topic for my thesis - and me being able to make another friend, here in Graz, over our shared interest. So, as you can see, Adelaide, to me, is special, even if I've never been there (YET!).
Carolyne is an interesting person, for me. Working in what I would call hard science, analysing writing samples etc - whew. And then, on the side, she makes the most beautiful things. Check out this picture:



















See the bag? Click on the picture, please, to see the larger version, and look at the bag again. Isn't it great? I wore it for the first time to the opera, to see Carmen, and have the pictures to prove it (check the GYS site if you want to see them), and I'm longing to be able to use it again. I had it hanging up in my room for a couple of weeks after I received it, because I just wanted to look at it all the time. :)
Well, Carolyne also sent other things - loads and loads of wonderful beads, a great big t-shirt that, despite Carolyne's doubts, has already been in use several times, then a nice magazine with many many projects inside *fingers itching to make something*, some great chocolate (those FruitChocs were a true delight), and some nice stickers and touristy stuff, the kangaroo now sitting on my bedside table with some other nice things (a little touristy elk from Norway I got from my sister, a little angel figurine I received several years ago from my brother, and, since a few nights ago, another little kangaroo, from Perth).
Carolyne, thanks again! I loved and still love everything you sent!

And then there was Charlene, from Berkeley, CA. I asked her for magazines and look what she sent me:



















Magazines! And what great ones! First, the Japanese craft mag, fantastic, with things easy enough for me to make, lovely! Then, BUST, which I'd only heard about in whispers among the blogs I read, and wondered what was so great about it - then I looked through it and I think I understand now! Great to get this chance to check it out (without even asking for it specifically). And lastly, this really interesting music magazine. Never read a music magazine before, what fun!
But the magazines of course weren't everything. She also sent some great fabric, and some stickers, and...Ghirardelli chocolate! Oh, Ghirardelli Square, how I miss thee! I spent one afternoon of my life there, and what fun it was! So many things! So many lovely things! And great weather! One of the best days of my later school days, I'd say. (And the best thing I bought, ever: Chocolate pasta! My family was a little startled over that one when I brought it home!)
Again, thanks Charlene! And I'm still extremely sorry about the item that I sent you and which broke! (And I haven't forgotten about the recipes I meant to send you, they're just terribly late...I hope you don't mind waiting a few more weeks.)

So, these were my autumn swaps that I never posted about and had the worst moments over because I felt such a lazy thing, not to post about all these great things I received!
There's still two swaps I haven't written about, which I received just around Christmas:
One from Meshell in Perth, and one from Melissa in Singapore. But I'll post about them soon, as there are so many nice things to show you, and it would be a pity to let them suffer for publicity as long as the other packages did!

As a final picture, another one from my stay with my friends - on the afternoon of the 31st, we drove around the area a bit, and did some walking, and geocaching (google it if you have no idea what that is, or wait for me to say more about it, hah). It was my first time, and much fun! I took this picture about 30mins before the sun was setting. This is Burg Güssing, in the south of Burgenland, the most eastern province/county/whatever of Austria. My friends are thinking about getting married there. I hope they do, it would be fabulous. :)