A little late, but here it is:
*Being positive about not winning Nano - and managing to achieve the goal I set myself, even though I only set it on the evening of the 29th, when I had 16k, and it was to reach 20k. A big hooray for far-off cheerleaders, ones never met in person.
*Fresh snow - it feels like this will be a proper winter once again, after all those half-hearted ones we had for the last few years. I had to stop going by bike a day earlier than I had planned, which is quite amazing.
*The celebration of tea
*Beautiful afternoon sunlight
*The snow lasting so much longer than it usually does - beautiful!
*My teeny-tiny scar healing up lovely and well.
*Dressing up as the Tyrant of Sogo (from Barbarella), and only being asked what kind of costume I had on after about 4 hours - guess I wore it like I walked around like this every day. Truth: 0, Goth: 1
*Finishing "Iron Council", and thinking about it, and turning my initial slight disappointment with how it ended into some kind of sad happiness.
*More reading
*Loads of Big Bang Theory - even though we're watching it all for the second or third time (in some cases), I still love it completely. I do talk along to some of the scenes, because I know them so well, but not too many to make it annoying. ;)
*Lots of chocolate and gingerbread etc for 4th and 6th of December, and not all of it has been eaten yet (success!)
*Our last roleplaying evening was hilarious. I've never experienced the like. We were in hysterics at the end. Haven't laughed this hard for months.
*Being a team with my boyfriend against the strange rumours that seemed (or seem?) to be flying around
*Going out twice in a row; much fun was had by all.
*Knitting with beads, so pretty. :D
*The beautiful concert we attended on Tuesday - a guitar orchestra that a friend of mine plays in. They have an annual Christmas concert, always with some special guests in the second half. The first half is usually classical music, the second more funky (tango and the like). Last year they had this kind of surreal Christmas special at the very end, but I suppose everyone was far too baffled by it for it to be repeated (which was a little sad, but well). Anyway, we both loved it.
*RED: I can't even remember what the last movie with live actors was that I saw at the cinema - I was jokingly saying "Avatar" yesterday. ;) Anyway, not quite what we expected it to be like, but fun and charming nevertheless. Machine gun-toting Helen Mirren FTW. ;)
*Partaking in a game where I had to guess my identity (which was stuck to my head - sounds strange, but yes, it works) - and my first secret identity was "Barbamama". I'm sure there's someone reading who will find this just as hilarious as I do.
A good mix of excellent times and annoying times in the last 10 days, but hey, let's concentrate on the good things. That's what this is all about, after all. :)
Donnerstag, Dezember 09, 2010
Mittwoch, Dezember 01, 2010
5 years ago...
...I won my first Nano.
And apparently, I was much more hilarious than I am now.
I was just reading around my first blog, Live from London, a little, and even though I know it was me who wrote that, a younger, very different me, I had to grin at myself quite a few times. How wonderfully witty I was!
Please take a look if you want some funny observations on London, studying abroad, or myself.
And apparently, I was much more hilarious than I am now.
I was just reading around my first blog, Live from London, a little, and even though I know it was me who wrote that, a younger, very different me, I had to grin at myself quite a few times. How wonderfully witty I was!
Please take a look if you want some funny observations on London, studying abroad, or myself.
Tea Diary
Because there is hardly anything better than a nice cup of tea when it's cold outside, and I've always loved opening my advent calendars, I once again got myself Sonnentor's Tea Advent Calendar this year. So, starting on December 1 (ie today), I will be having a different cup of tea every day, and, because I love them so much, will write about each of them.
At the end of the time period (which should be December 25, if I have internet access then), I will post my completed list of yummy tea experiences, which will be as much a celebration of great tea as it will be a reminder to myself as to what I liked and what I loved and what I could possibly leave out in favour of even better tea.
Todays tea is called "Thank you", which fits my feeling of thankfulness for having a cup of tea by my side while watching snowflakes whirling past my window. I almost forgot what it feels like to have a proper winter...
At the end of the time period (which should be December 25, if I have internet access then), I will post my completed list of yummy tea experiences, which will be as much a celebration of great tea as it will be a reminder to myself as to what I liked and what I loved and what I could possibly leave out in favour of even better tea.
Todays tea is called "Thank you", which fits my feeling of thankfulness for having a cup of tea by my side while watching snowflakes whirling past my window. I almost forgot what it feels like to have a proper winter...
Montag, November 29, 2010
Good things list IX
Okay, before it is forgotten again, here is my list for the past two weeks:
*Going dancing with my boyfriend, plus my sister and her boyfriend.
*Then going to a concert with them the next day, kebap eating and lots of weird conversations
*We finally made it to Vienna! I delivered books. I got some books. We went shopping. We visited the Christmas market. We ate hot dogs and sweet pretzels and marvelled at the decorations in the trees.
*Lovely food on Sunday.
*A long night of sleep from Saturday to Sunday.
*A PhD party on Friday. Lightsabres were involved. Wheee!
*Snow! And I can still go by bike, because streets are wet, but not icy.
*Deep red nailpolish the colour of sparkly cranberry sauce.
*Spicy tea.
*Two diploma celebrations in one day, filled with coffee, prosecco, wine, song and dance. (Not kidding here.)
*New boots! I finally found some that fit.
*Two 2-day workweeks coming - this one and the next.
*My mum ordering us a big box of cider
*My parents giving us a box of yummy apple juice, directly from the farmer...we've been buying there for years, it's so good.
*A relaxing bath while listening to Thursday night TV - hilarious.
*Finding time to read, and read lots.
*Innocent smoothies now being available in 750ml tetra paks and not just the teeny-tiny bottles anymore. How I longed for that day! And not it is here...and they are so good, and much cheaper if bought by the pak, and I love love love them.
* A professor promising to bring chocolate to class next week. No matter how bizarre the class sometimes gets, nothing beats chocolate gifts.
*Speaking of that class - squid pictures. ;)
Considering I was ill and had miserable migraines before that, I guess that list ain't half bad. ;)
*Going dancing with my boyfriend, plus my sister and her boyfriend.
*Then going to a concert with them the next day, kebap eating and lots of weird conversations
*We finally made it to Vienna! I delivered books. I got some books. We went shopping. We visited the Christmas market. We ate hot dogs and sweet pretzels and marvelled at the decorations in the trees.
*Lovely food on Sunday.
*A long night of sleep from Saturday to Sunday.
*A PhD party on Friday. Lightsabres were involved. Wheee!
*Snow! And I can still go by bike, because streets are wet, but not icy.
*Deep red nailpolish the colour of sparkly cranberry sauce.
*Spicy tea.
*Two diploma celebrations in one day, filled with coffee, prosecco, wine, song and dance. (Not kidding here.)
*New boots! I finally found some that fit.
*Two 2-day workweeks coming - this one and the next.
*My mum ordering us a big box of cider
*My parents giving us a box of yummy apple juice, directly from the farmer...we've been buying there for years, it's so good.
*A relaxing bath while listening to Thursday night TV - hilarious.
*Finding time to read, and read lots.
*Innocent smoothies now being available in 750ml tetra paks and not just the teeny-tiny bottles anymore. How I longed for that day! And not it is here...and they are so good, and much cheaper if bought by the pak, and I love love love them.
* A professor promising to bring chocolate to class next week. No matter how bizarre the class sometimes gets, nothing beats chocolate gifts.
*Speaking of that class - squid pictures. ;)
Considering I was ill and had miserable migraines before that, I guess that list ain't half bad. ;)
One more, yeah
(I started this on Friday, and am finishing it on Monday, so the "getting up" etc stuff refers to Friday.)
I haven't posted anything for so long, I now need three posts in a row. Well, whatever.
A friend of mine posted this meme, then another did, so I think I might also give it ago.
1. What time did you get up this morning?
10 past 8 - my boyfriend woke me at 6.45 or something, but I ignored that fact as best as I could. Worked out marvellously.
2. How do you like your steak?
Organic and medium. And eaten very rarely so it feels really special.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. Becuase as I just mentioned previously, I love birds.
4. What is your favorite TV show?
Don't watch much TV, and much less TV shows. Of all time? Probably the original Start Trek when I was age 6-8. Now? House is sometimes quite nice, when I catch it. Scrubs as well. Family Guy...I've watched too much of that by now. Does Galileo count? Avatar-The Last Airbender was nice, but I'm not sure whether it's running somewhere right now. Meh. Really not much of a TV show watcher.
5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Here in Graz, and...Irish west coast or San Francisco or London or Adelaide, though I haven't visited the last one yet. I guess what I really need is my personal bat cave and my personal crazy modes of transportation, so that I have a base plus a huge range of action. ;)
6. What did you have for breakfast?
Mhh, bread with that chocolate-apple spread we bought in a tiny store in Italy on our last holiday.
7. What is your favorite cuisine?
I don't know. Something freshly made, with a good amount of veggies? That applies to a lot of things, just not typical Austrian cuisine, now, does it. :P
8. What foods do you dislike?
A lot less than I did during various stages of my life. Hmmm...chestnuts, maybe? I adore the smell, and sometimes I eat them, but I do not really love them. Yeah, that's the worst I can currently say about any kind of food. Success!
9. Favorite Place to eat?
Die Scherbe in Graz, for casual eating, San Pietro, also Graz, for fancy eating, and Wagamama (I've only been in London) for my dream food place of all time - honestly, a day before I left London, I stuffed myself so full of their food, even the serving staff was amazed. I need to go back. Need to. It's been five years! *cries*
10. Favorite dressing?
Kernöl - I cannot argue with what my friends are saying. I also like joghurt-based dressings though.
11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
A totally rad deep blue bike which is waiting for a name to match its brilliance.
12. What are your favorite clothes?
Hmmm, wide-legged jeans, a tee layered over a cami, a cardi over that, some kind of scarf. Skip the tee or cami if it's warm. The cardi only if it's really hot. Anyway, layers. Yumm.
Also, long flowy dresses which need nothing else to look great. Apparently, there is a hidden rule that I can only ever own one of that kind. *shrugs*
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
San Francisco, so Kris can show me all the wonderful SF places she discovered. London, Ireland, Australia. Bali. Honestly, give me a plane ticket anywhere and I'll go. ;)
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
It's always either completely empty or completely full because I tend to drain glasses in one fell swoop. ;)
I guess this would be one of the philosophical questions where a free refill would fit in perfectly, as an idea.
15. Where would you want to retire?
Ummm. Somewhere warm, I suppose. Or Ireland. But who knows? Maybe, once I get to that age, we can go to the moon? I'd like that. (And yeah, I know that's not exactly the warmest place available.)
16. Favorite time of day?
Hmmm. On summer days, around 3.30pm. And then again around 6pm. In winter...hmm, late mornings.
17. Where were you born?
Graz. I'm still here. Boring? I think not.
18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Figure skating. *crazy laugh*
19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
I do not like questions like these...meta-questions, in questionnaires like this, are boring. And silly. And stupid.
22. Bird watcher?
Not dedicated, with looking glasses and notebooks etc, but, as should be apparent by now, I love birds, so when I see some, I watch them. I even do not shoo the pidgeons from our balcony all the time, because, yeah, sometimes, I like to watch them. They are insane, but I still watch them.
23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Haha. Night. Though I would prefer to be more balanced. Mornings are nice, too.
24. Do you have any pets?
Some spiders and other assorted insects, who choose to live in our apartment. Crazy pidgeons on the balcony.
So no, not really. I borrow from friends.
25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
Snow!
26. What did you want to be when you were little?
Like my mum. *more crazy laughing* Okay, a pharmacist, I suppose. My parents thought I would be a goldsmith. I built lots of interesting Lego houses with neat floor plans (architect?).
I am now none of these things. At least I still write stories with zombies in them. :D
27. What is your best childhood memory?
Hmmm. The general carefreeness. Lots of good things going on back then. :)
28. Are you a cat or dog person?
Both. I can have neither, but I love cuddling/adoring other people's.
30. Always wear your seat belt?
Sure.
31. Been in a car accident?
Yep, once while on my bike (nothing happened), and once shortly after receiving my driver's licence (did some minor damage to the car in front of me). That's it.
32. Any pet peeves?
Some. People shouting. If someone starts a sentence and takes ages to finish it. Car drivers who don't look out for bikes. Really slow drivers. People in my building holding up the elevator while chatting. Some others as well, but I don't want to dwell on this too long.
33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Something with salami and lots of cheese, I guess.
34. Favorite Flower?
Orchids are nice. So are dandelions. So is lilac. So are sunflowers. So is wisteria. So is lavender. So are daffodils. So are...
35. Favorite ice cream?
It used to be apple-cinnamon. These days, I'm not sure. One of the best ice creams I ever had was in Rome, I think it was cinnamon-honey. But there's so many lovely ones! I switch between them all the time.
36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
I go to the old McD most of the time the rare times I do eat fast food, but I also love Subway - the sandwiches are lovely. Other than that? Not much choice around here.
37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
Not at all. I guess all the panic and drama and whatnot during the learning process must have been worth something.
38. From whom did you get your last email?
Nanowrimo.
39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Amazon/Waterstones. And there are several stores on Etsy that would do the same to me.
40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Buy huge cheese hot dogs for me and my boyfriend at the Vienna Christmas market last Saturday, because I was so happy about everything working out so well that day. Plus the crazy happy dance I did after I delivered the books. Heh.
41. Like your job?
Most of the time.
42. Broccoli?
Cauliflower?
(And yes to both.)
43. What was your favorite vacation?
They were all quite nice, except the one to the USA, where all sorts of things went wrong wrong wrong.
I suppose the one to Ireland, the one to Southern England, and last year's expedition to Italy rank quite highly.
44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
My boyfriend. Hot dogs last Saturday; as for real dinner - Eckstein two weeks ago. Both yummy.
45. What are you listening to right now?
My colleague talking on the phone.
46. What is your color?
Black, blue and purple.
Whenever I wear teal, my mother and my boyfriend say (and have said) that this is my colour. If, by public agreement, I do have one, I suppose it is that. *shrugs* (I do like it, too.)
47. How many tattoos do you have?
None yet. Maybe one day. I'm thinking about several possibilities. During my latest Zelda craze, I thought a Triforce on the back of my hand would be great. ;)
48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
None. I never liked playing tag.
49. What time did you finish this quiz?
12:18
50. Coffee Drinker?
Sometimes, but while I enjoy it, I tend to suffer for it in the evening.
I haven't posted anything for so long, I now need three posts in a row. Well, whatever.
A friend of mine posted this meme, then another did, so I think I might also give it ago.
1. What time did you get up this morning?
10 past 8 - my boyfriend woke me at 6.45 or something, but I ignored that fact as best as I could. Worked out marvellously.
2. How do you like your steak?
Organic and medium. And eaten very rarely so it feels really special.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. Becuase as I just mentioned previously, I love birds.
4. What is your favorite TV show?
Don't watch much TV, and much less TV shows. Of all time? Probably the original Start Trek when I was age 6-8. Now? House is sometimes quite nice, when I catch it. Scrubs as well. Family Guy...I've watched too much of that by now. Does Galileo count? Avatar-The Last Airbender was nice, but I'm not sure whether it's running somewhere right now. Meh. Really not much of a TV show watcher.
5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Here in Graz, and...Irish west coast or San Francisco or London or Adelaide, though I haven't visited the last one yet. I guess what I really need is my personal bat cave and my personal crazy modes of transportation, so that I have a base plus a huge range of action. ;)
6. What did you have for breakfast?
Mhh, bread with that chocolate-apple spread we bought in a tiny store in Italy on our last holiday.
7. What is your favorite cuisine?
I don't know. Something freshly made, with a good amount of veggies? That applies to a lot of things, just not typical Austrian cuisine, now, does it. :P
8. What foods do you dislike?
A lot less than I did during various stages of my life. Hmmm...chestnuts, maybe? I adore the smell, and sometimes I eat them, but I do not really love them. Yeah, that's the worst I can currently say about any kind of food. Success!
9. Favorite Place to eat?
Die Scherbe in Graz, for casual eating, San Pietro, also Graz, for fancy eating, and Wagamama (I've only been in London) for my dream food place of all time - honestly, a day before I left London, I stuffed myself so full of their food, even the serving staff was amazed. I need to go back. Need to. It's been five years! *cries*
10. Favorite dressing?
Kernöl - I cannot argue with what my friends are saying. I also like joghurt-based dressings though.
11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
A totally rad deep blue bike which is waiting for a name to match its brilliance.
12. What are your favorite clothes?
Hmmm, wide-legged jeans, a tee layered over a cami, a cardi over that, some kind of scarf. Skip the tee or cami if it's warm. The cardi only if it's really hot. Anyway, layers. Yumm.
Also, long flowy dresses which need nothing else to look great. Apparently, there is a hidden rule that I can only ever own one of that kind. *shrugs*
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
San Francisco, so Kris can show me all the wonderful SF places she discovered. London, Ireland, Australia. Bali. Honestly, give me a plane ticket anywhere and I'll go. ;)
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
It's always either completely empty or completely full because I tend to drain glasses in one fell swoop. ;)
I guess this would be one of the philosophical questions where a free refill would fit in perfectly, as an idea.
15. Where would you want to retire?
Ummm. Somewhere warm, I suppose. Or Ireland. But who knows? Maybe, once I get to that age, we can go to the moon? I'd like that. (And yeah, I know that's not exactly the warmest place available.)
16. Favorite time of day?
Hmmm. On summer days, around 3.30pm. And then again around 6pm. In winter...hmm, late mornings.
17. Where were you born?
Graz. I'm still here. Boring? I think not.
18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Figure skating. *crazy laugh*
19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
I do not like questions like these...meta-questions, in questionnaires like this, are boring. And silly. And stupid.
22. Bird watcher?
Not dedicated, with looking glasses and notebooks etc, but, as should be apparent by now, I love birds, so when I see some, I watch them. I even do not shoo the pidgeons from our balcony all the time, because, yeah, sometimes, I like to watch them. They are insane, but I still watch them.
23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Haha. Night. Though I would prefer to be more balanced. Mornings are nice, too.
24. Do you have any pets?
Some spiders and other assorted insects, who choose to live in our apartment. Crazy pidgeons on the balcony.
So no, not really. I borrow from friends.
25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
Snow!
26. What did you want to be when you were little?
Like my mum. *more crazy laughing* Okay, a pharmacist, I suppose. My parents thought I would be a goldsmith. I built lots of interesting Lego houses with neat floor plans (architect?).
I am now none of these things. At least I still write stories with zombies in them. :D
27. What is your best childhood memory?
Hmmm. The general carefreeness. Lots of good things going on back then. :)
28. Are you a cat or dog person?
Both. I can have neither, but I love cuddling/adoring other people's.
30. Always wear your seat belt?
Sure.
31. Been in a car accident?
Yep, once while on my bike (nothing happened), and once shortly after receiving my driver's licence (did some minor damage to the car in front of me). That's it.
32. Any pet peeves?
Some. People shouting. If someone starts a sentence and takes ages to finish it. Car drivers who don't look out for bikes. Really slow drivers. People in my building holding up the elevator while chatting. Some others as well, but I don't want to dwell on this too long.
33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Something with salami and lots of cheese, I guess.
34. Favorite Flower?
Orchids are nice. So are dandelions. So is lilac. So are sunflowers. So is wisteria. So is lavender. So are daffodils. So are...
35. Favorite ice cream?
It used to be apple-cinnamon. These days, I'm not sure. One of the best ice creams I ever had was in Rome, I think it was cinnamon-honey. But there's so many lovely ones! I switch between them all the time.
36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
I go to the old McD most of the time the rare times I do eat fast food, but I also love Subway - the sandwiches are lovely. Other than that? Not much choice around here.
37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
Not at all. I guess all the panic and drama and whatnot during the learning process must have been worth something.
38. From whom did you get your last email?
Nanowrimo.
39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Amazon/Waterstones. And there are several stores on Etsy that would do the same to me.
40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Buy huge cheese hot dogs for me and my boyfriend at the Vienna Christmas market last Saturday, because I was so happy about everything working out so well that day. Plus the crazy happy dance I did after I delivered the books. Heh.
41. Like your job?
Most of the time.
42. Broccoli?
Cauliflower?
(And yes to both.)
43. What was your favorite vacation?
They were all quite nice, except the one to the USA, where all sorts of things went wrong wrong wrong.
I suppose the one to Ireland, the one to Southern England, and last year's expedition to Italy rank quite highly.
44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
My boyfriend. Hot dogs last Saturday; as for real dinner - Eckstein two weeks ago. Both yummy.
45. What are you listening to right now?
My colleague talking on the phone.
46. What is your color?
Black, blue and purple.
Whenever I wear teal, my mother and my boyfriend say (and have said) that this is my colour. If, by public agreement, I do have one, I suppose it is that. *shrugs* (I do like it, too.)
47. How many tattoos do you have?
None yet. Maybe one day. I'm thinking about several possibilities. During my latest Zelda craze, I thought a Triforce on the back of my hand would be great. ;)
48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
None. I never liked playing tag.
49. What time did you finish this quiz?
12:18
50. Coffee Drinker?
Sometimes, but while I enjoy it, I tend to suffer for it in the evening.
Freitag, November 26, 2010
Help me name my bike
I've been looking for a name for my bike for ages. Not just for the current one, but for the one before that as well. I never had any good ideas. I called the previous one "Laguna" for a while, because it was blue, but it didn't really fit. I tried to call my current one "Ai-Khanoum" ("moon woman" in Uzbek), a term I wrote down in an exhibition and have been longing to use for something, but it's also not quite the real thing. I'll have to use that phrase for something else...
Anyway. I was reminded yesterday that a friend of mine is calling her bike Epona, which is pure genius (at least to me). Riding home later, I thought about names along those lines, and finally came up with some ideas:
*Highwind 7 - Highwind because of the FF airships, and 7, because Cid Highwind in FF7 has got to be the best FF airship pilot ever, right after Setzer from FF6. Also, 7 is one of my favourite numbers.
*Empyrea - I'm currently playing Dragon Quest 8, and one of the most beautiful things in this game, one which I have just come across, is the Godbird Empyrea. She can travel between worlds, she teaches you how to fly, and of course she is beautiful. ;) I really love birds, although hardly anyone knows this about me. Well, now you do.
*Nautilus - Hmm, maybe. I just came up with this one. Would be fitting, I guess.
*Other FF airship names: Dreadnought (evil :P), Enterprise (lol), Nautilus, Invincible, Falcon, Lunar Whale (another favourite, oh my, the fun that was FF4 :D), Blackjack, Shera, Ragnarok, Hilda Garde, Prima Vista, Red Rose, Fahrenheit (I didn't even remember the name of the FF10 ship... :P), Celsius, Strahl. Oh dear. What a crazy list of names.
Funny, I thought more FF airships were called Highwind, but it's only the one in FF7. What an impression that must have made on me. I need to listen to "Sending a dream into the universe" right away...
So, I think I prefer the two top options. Now, tell me what you think. Also, have any other ideas? My bike is deep blue, so "King of Red Lions" is NOT working. Just thought I'd mention it.
;)
Anyway. I was reminded yesterday that a friend of mine is calling her bike Epona, which is pure genius (at least to me). Riding home later, I thought about names along those lines, and finally came up with some ideas:
*Highwind 7 - Highwind because of the FF airships, and 7, because Cid Highwind in FF7 has got to be the best FF airship pilot ever, right after Setzer from FF6. Also, 7 is one of my favourite numbers.
*Empyrea - I'm currently playing Dragon Quest 8, and one of the most beautiful things in this game, one which I have just come across, is the Godbird Empyrea. She can travel between worlds, she teaches you how to fly, and of course she is beautiful. ;) I really love birds, although hardly anyone knows this about me. Well, now you do.
*Nautilus - Hmm, maybe. I just came up with this one. Would be fitting, I guess.
*Other FF airship names: Dreadnought (evil :P), Enterprise (lol), Nautilus, Invincible, Falcon, Lunar Whale (another favourite, oh my, the fun that was FF4 :D), Blackjack, Shera, Ragnarok, Hilda Garde, Prima Vista, Red Rose, Fahrenheit (I didn't even remember the name of the FF10 ship... :P), Celsius, Strahl. Oh dear. What a crazy list of names.
Funny, I thought more FF airships were called Highwind, but it's only the one in FF7. What an impression that must have made on me. I need to listen to "Sending a dream into the universe" right away...
So, I think I prefer the two top options. Now, tell me what you think. Also, have any other ideas? My bike is deep blue, so "King of Red Lions" is NOT working. Just thought I'd mention it.
;)
Good news everyone!
(Or just good stuff in general.)
1. It is snowing. I declared a few days ago we would most likely only get snow by January. Not so. November 26 it is!
2. A friend of mine coined the term "Nochvember" ('noch' is the German word for 'still', it still being some time before Christmas madness really starts). I currently have slight troubles not saying/spelling it like this all the time.
3. I missed last weeks Good Things List, but this only means the next one will be a wonderful double-issue dose of happiness.
4. You know that work is a nice place when you stay 20minutes longer, already in your coat, chatting with your colleagues about fun stuff from knitting to meditation to music to snow to Bookcrossing. It is rare that this happens, but I love it when it does.
5. I'm currently listening to Zoe Keating. Don't know who she is? Well, I haven't yet let you know my decision concerning the October and November CDs.
October became Elvis Costello&the Attractions' "The best of the first 10 years", where I discovered that all the songs I so far knew from Mr. Costello were the darker ones, and somehow, the album is much more happy rock'n'roll (if that's what it is, I am not well versed in music categories) than I had anticipated. Anyway, nice.
And November then became the option I had spontaneously forgotten about when I put the question to you...namely, cello artist Zoe Keating. Apocalyptica being one my favourites for ages, I guess it should come as no surprise that I love cello music. It runs in the family. It even runs in the not-quite family (ie my boyfriend). Even my most depressed anime hero ever (Shinji Ikari) plays cello. *shrugs*
Therefore, I will not heartily recommend you visit her homepage and listen to some of the tracks you can stream from there and enjoy yourself. Maybe buy her EP (it's just 4$). Or just listen. No matter what, I swear it will make you happier. :)
6. Lindt now has caramel&fleur de sel chocolate. Finally! Thanks Lindt! It's rare that I envy the USA something, but reading all about caramel and salt pralines etc etc for the past few years, and not finding anything like this over here...well. I hope this stays in their programme.
7. And, yes, I almost forgot this - last night I was taking a bath, and while I was happily soaking away, I heard a TV commercial saying that innocent smoothies were now available in the large packs as well (and not just the teeny tiny bottles). I think my boyfriend must have really wondered what I was suddenly so excited about, because I started laughing madly, and shouting "Oooooh yes! Finally! Yeeehaw!" and other such stuff.
Innocent smoothies saved my life during my stay in London, and they are amongs my fondest food memories, right next to Pret sandwiches and the wicked marshmallow hot chocolate they sold right in front of the library (quite devious of them, yes, but I loved it).
1. It is snowing. I declared a few days ago we would most likely only get snow by January. Not so. November 26 it is!
2. A friend of mine coined the term "Nochvember" ('noch' is the German word for 'still', it still being some time before Christmas madness really starts). I currently have slight troubles not saying/spelling it like this all the time.
3. I missed last weeks Good Things List, but this only means the next one will be a wonderful double-issue dose of happiness.
4. You know that work is a nice place when you stay 20minutes longer, already in your coat, chatting with your colleagues about fun stuff from knitting to meditation to music to snow to Bookcrossing. It is rare that this happens, but I love it when it does.
5. I'm currently listening to Zoe Keating. Don't know who she is? Well, I haven't yet let you know my decision concerning the October and November CDs.
October became Elvis Costello&the Attractions' "The best of the first 10 years", where I discovered that all the songs I so far knew from Mr. Costello were the darker ones, and somehow, the album is much more happy rock'n'roll (if that's what it is, I am not well versed in music categories) than I had anticipated. Anyway, nice.
And November then became the option I had spontaneously forgotten about when I put the question to you...namely, cello artist Zoe Keating. Apocalyptica being one my favourites for ages, I guess it should come as no surprise that I love cello music. It runs in the family. It even runs in the not-quite family (ie my boyfriend). Even my most depressed anime hero ever (Shinji Ikari) plays cello. *shrugs*
Therefore, I will not heartily recommend you visit her homepage and listen to some of the tracks you can stream from there and enjoy yourself. Maybe buy her EP (it's just 4$). Or just listen. No matter what, I swear it will make you happier. :)
6. Lindt now has caramel&fleur de sel chocolate. Finally! Thanks Lindt! It's rare that I envy the USA something, but reading all about caramel and salt pralines etc etc for the past few years, and not finding anything like this over here...well. I hope this stays in their programme.
7. And, yes, I almost forgot this - last night I was taking a bath, and while I was happily soaking away, I heard a TV commercial saying that innocent smoothies were now available in the large packs as well (and not just the teeny tiny bottles). I think my boyfriend must have really wondered what I was suddenly so excited about, because I started laughing madly, and shouting "Oooooh yes! Finally! Yeeehaw!" and other such stuff.
Innocent smoothies saved my life during my stay in London, and they are amongs my fondest food memories, right next to Pret sandwiches and the wicked marshmallow hot chocolate they sold right in front of the library (quite devious of them, yes, but I loved it).
Mittwoch, November 17, 2010
Nano - Halfway Update
Hey everyone...
Let me tell you, this is not what I expected this Nano to be like. I wrote much the first day, quite okay the next few. Then I was already behind by day 4. Then two people close to me told me that maybe I should focus a little more on work and my PhD instead of going crazy again and writing until 4am and all that stuff that I usually do every November. I defended myself and said something about me not doing any proper writing all the rest of the year and whatnot, and that this was my time, and...
And then I wrote nothing for almost a week. Not a word. And not much in the days immediately before that break. And then, yesterday, I was, what, around 17000 words behind wordcount at halfway point, (ie I should have had 25k, and I had 8408...hahaha).
But today I decided that I really felt shitty about not writing. I felt hollow and sad and like it didn't make any sense. This was not the November feeling I was used to. Novembers should rightfully be filled with a crazy sense of purpose. Nevermind the 'crazy' part. That's what it is partly about. Though 'purpose' does also sound nice, doesn't it?
So I just wrote 4000 words, and tomorrow there will be more.
I cannot not write, now, can I?
Let me tell you, this is not what I expected this Nano to be like. I wrote much the first day, quite okay the next few. Then I was already behind by day 4. Then two people close to me told me that maybe I should focus a little more on work and my PhD instead of going crazy again and writing until 4am and all that stuff that I usually do every November. I defended myself and said something about me not doing any proper writing all the rest of the year and whatnot, and that this was my time, and...
And then I wrote nothing for almost a week. Not a word. And not much in the days immediately before that break. And then, yesterday, I was, what, around 17000 words behind wordcount at halfway point, (ie I should have had 25k, and I had 8408...hahaha).
But today I decided that I really felt shitty about not writing. I felt hollow and sad and like it didn't make any sense. This was not the November feeling I was used to. Novembers should rightfully be filled with a crazy sense of purpose. Nevermind the 'crazy' part. That's what it is partly about. Though 'purpose' does also sound nice, doesn't it?
So I just wrote 4000 words, and tomorrow there will be more.
I cannot not write, now, can I?
Montag, November 15, 2010
Good things list VIII
Some time soon, I will post something else besides these lists again. ;)
*Last Monday was a great day at work, because I had a lot of easily manageable tasks to do, which could all be finished on the day. Very satisfactory.
*Finished another scarf. One more item to cross off my to-do-list. Yay!
*Seems I was quite lucky in both the family and Bookcrossing secret santa draw. :)
*Some great talks this weekend with my boyfriend.
*Going out for drinks on Saturday quite spontaneously.
*Tasty tasty dinner Sunday evening courtesy of my boyfriend's parents, who gave us their voucher for this really nice restaurant that I'd only ever had coffee at before...mhhh.
*Celebrating a friend's birthday, and her being all happy and excited both because I made it to the party, and about the gift I had chosen (so nice when it works out with people you haven't know for very long)
*And said party being fun, filled with good food and lovely people
*Sunshine, so much more sunshine than there was in October - at least that's what it feels like.
*Foggy night streets - yep, I like them just as much as the sunshine. They are the best thing about November weather.
*There's some fun social outings already planned for the next few weeks.
It could probably be longer...but what really made this week for me were Saturday and Sunday evening. Progress. :)
*Last Monday was a great day at work, because I had a lot of easily manageable tasks to do, which could all be finished on the day. Very satisfactory.
*Finished another scarf. One more item to cross off my to-do-list. Yay!
*Seems I was quite lucky in both the family and Bookcrossing secret santa draw. :)
*Some great talks this weekend with my boyfriend.
*Going out for drinks on Saturday quite spontaneously.
*Tasty tasty dinner Sunday evening courtesy of my boyfriend's parents, who gave us their voucher for this really nice restaurant that I'd only ever had coffee at before...mhhh.
*Celebrating a friend's birthday, and her being all happy and excited both because I made it to the party, and about the gift I had chosen (so nice when it works out with people you haven't know for very long)
*And said party being fun, filled with good food and lovely people
*Sunshine, so much more sunshine than there was in October - at least that's what it feels like.
*Foggy night streets - yep, I like them just as much as the sunshine. They are the best thing about November weather.
*There's some fun social outings already planned for the next few weeks.
It could probably be longer...but what really made this week for me were Saturday and Sunday evening. Progress. :)
Dienstag, November 09, 2010
Good Things VII
I'm really late this time...
*My boyfriend's back, and I mean really back. Not just from the business trip.
*I sucessfully finished my fast, and it was a great experience.
*Nano was off to a good start.
*Sushi two evenings in a row. Yumm.
*'Sofa day' on Friday, just eating delivious food, watching great movies, chatting, playing some videogames side by side, relaxing.
*Only one day at work, yay!
*Good chats with friends.
*Cinema - despite all I could say about the storytelling, 'Legend of the Guardians' was as beautiful as expected from the trailer, and that is, in some way, all I really wanted.
*Finished one more scarf, and am close to finishing another. Also, knit a hat in two days, which I wear all the time now.
*Lovely things in the mail.
*More nice autumn walks.
*Cleaning up, which means a better looking apartment, finally.
*This blanket in progress...based on a drawing by M.C. Escher.
Have a great week everyone!
*My boyfriend's back, and I mean really back. Not just from the business trip.
*I sucessfully finished my fast, and it was a great experience.
*Nano was off to a good start.
*Sushi two evenings in a row. Yumm.
*'Sofa day' on Friday, just eating delivious food, watching great movies, chatting, playing some videogames side by side, relaxing.
*Only one day at work, yay!
*Good chats with friends.
*Cinema - despite all I could say about the storytelling, 'Legend of the Guardians' was as beautiful as expected from the trailer, and that is, in some way, all I really wanted.
*Finished one more scarf, and am close to finishing another. Also, knit a hat in two days, which I wear all the time now.
*Lovely things in the mail.
*More nice autumn walks.
*Cleaning up, which means a better looking apartment, finally.
*This blanket in progress...based on a drawing by M.C. Escher.
Have a great week everyone!
Dienstag, November 02, 2010
Need a little more weird in your life?
We may have just the products you need.
Check these out:
Hyperbole and a Half's "Shower Products for Men", now animated
Alan Moore's "The march of the sinister ducks" (no kidding)
Bauhaus' "Who killed Mr. Moonlight" (which I will count in, since I find it incredibly weird that I'm only listening to this now, and have not done so, say, 20 years ago)
Enjoy!
Check these out:
Hyperbole and a Half's "Shower Products for Men", now animated
Alan Moore's "The march of the sinister ducks" (no kidding)
Bauhaus' "Who killed Mr. Moonlight" (which I will count in, since I find it incredibly weird that I'm only listening to this now, and have not done so, say, 20 years ago)
Enjoy!
Sonntag, Oktober 31, 2010
Good Things VI
I'm home alone and it feels *really* strange, but there's such a lot of good stuff this week...amazing!
*It's the 31st, so in a few minutes it's November 1st, and everyone who has been reading for a while knows what that means.
*This is a good thing even now, and has been some other moments this week, because a) looking forward to it makes me SO happy and b) I've been thinking a lot about my story, which was great. Nice ideas for part 2, and good things I want to change about part 1 to make it much much better.
*I've been drawing every single day for the past 5 days or so. Every day. And it's not half bad. Much better than I expected it would be. Which makes me HAPPY. I'm feeling so much better now than I did in the past few weeks. I did the right thing in concentrating on a few nice and creative things.
*My magazine arrived, and has been all...no, more than I expected. Another one is on the way, hopefully it will be here soon. Talk about inspiration. *thankful*
(I'm calling it 'my magazine' and not by its name right now, because I still see it that way...mine mine mine...and I feel that it somehow saved me from the lingering darkness, somehow.)
*I'm doing a kind of fast this weekend (until Tuesday), which I've also been looking forwards to for a long time. Already feel much better. Yay!
*Two gorgeous walks with good music in my ear, and memorable sights, even though I've walked those paths often before. Mhhh, autumn.
*Watching loads of nice movies. Mary Poppins, anyone?
*Knitting...finishing some stuff and having great ideas while doing so.
*Meeting my parents today, drinking great tea (jasmine), visiting graves and talking (yep, even that can be nice).
*Lots of emails from my boyfriend, who is away on business for the first time. But man, those emails crack me up. ;) <3 <3 <3
*Thursday...two amazing lectures, taking part in a demonstration against government craziness, talking politics with my sister, and good evening TV...nice!
*Messing up at work, yet somehow avoiding disaster...phew!
*Colleagues admiring my mad notetaking and minutes-writing skills. Yeah, I *did* take all of that down, thank you very much.
*Unintentional Styrian salad at Sägewerk (rocket, green peppers, feta, boiled egg)
*There is so much amazing music surrounding me right now. *happydance* And it's time to order my October/November cds as well...yumm...
*Sunshine...and warm weather...I know it will be over again come Tuesday...but right now...so nice.
*Setting up long-held projects, which feels great.
*Dragon Quest has been kind enough to afford me much fun, much-needed diversion, and some memorable moments. I'm even 'borrowing' an idea for my Nano novel. Now go and call videogames a waste of time.
*Looking forward to Thursday.
*5 minutes to go.
*Start crazy mode.
* :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
*Right here, right now, Feli loves everyone. *grouphug* ;)
*It's the 31st, so in a few minutes it's November 1st, and everyone who has been reading for a while knows what that means.
*This is a good thing even now, and has been some other moments this week, because a) looking forward to it makes me SO happy and b) I've been thinking a lot about my story, which was great. Nice ideas for part 2, and good things I want to change about part 1 to make it much much better.
*I've been drawing every single day for the past 5 days or so. Every day. And it's not half bad. Much better than I expected it would be. Which makes me HAPPY. I'm feeling so much better now than I did in the past few weeks. I did the right thing in concentrating on a few nice and creative things.
*My magazine arrived, and has been all...no, more than I expected. Another one is on the way, hopefully it will be here soon. Talk about inspiration. *thankful*
(I'm calling it 'my magazine' and not by its name right now, because I still see it that way...mine mine mine...and I feel that it somehow saved me from the lingering darkness, somehow.)
*I'm doing a kind of fast this weekend (until Tuesday), which I've also been looking forwards to for a long time. Already feel much better. Yay!
*Two gorgeous walks with good music in my ear, and memorable sights, even though I've walked those paths often before. Mhhh, autumn.
*Watching loads of nice movies. Mary Poppins, anyone?
*Knitting...finishing some stuff and having great ideas while doing so.
*Meeting my parents today, drinking great tea (jasmine), visiting graves and talking (yep, even that can be nice).
*Lots of emails from my boyfriend, who is away on business for the first time. But man, those emails crack me up. ;) <3 <3 <3
*Thursday...two amazing lectures, taking part in a demonstration against government craziness, talking politics with my sister, and good evening TV...nice!
*Messing up at work, yet somehow avoiding disaster...phew!
*Colleagues admiring my mad notetaking and minutes-writing skills. Yeah, I *did* take all of that down, thank you very much.
*Unintentional Styrian salad at Sägewerk (rocket, green peppers, feta, boiled egg)
*There is so much amazing music surrounding me right now. *happydance* And it's time to order my October/November cds as well...yumm...
*Sunshine...and warm weather...I know it will be over again come Tuesday...but right now...so nice.
*Setting up long-held projects, which feels great.
*Dragon Quest has been kind enough to afford me much fun, much-needed diversion, and some memorable moments. I'm even 'borrowing' an idea for my Nano novel. Now go and call videogames a waste of time.
*Looking forward to Thursday.
*5 minutes to go.
*Start crazy mode.
* :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
*Right here, right now, Feli loves everyone. *grouphug* ;)
Freitag, Oktober 29, 2010
The thankfulness virus
For the past few weeks, I've been writing those little lists every week, of good things, things that make me happy, that I am thankful for.
Of course I am not the only one doing this.
I just found this story, and it is beautiful.
I've been reading this blog for a few weeks now, and it's a good almost daily reminder to be thankful for the little things, or the weird things, or the things that at first don't even look that amazing.
There is, of course, much more like this out there, but these are a good starting point.
Also, yesterday, I watched 'Willkommen Österreich' (which I normally don't), and Matthias Lanzinger came on. Hearing him talk about his experience (of having his left lower leg amputated after a skiing accident around 2 years ago), and his responses to the questions put to him, for me really drove the point home that a positive outlook on things can be inredibly powerful.
It's an easy exercise to try. Give it a shot, and let me know what happens. :)
Of course I am not the only one doing this.
I just found this story, and it is beautiful.
I've been reading this blog for a few weeks now, and it's a good almost daily reminder to be thankful for the little things, or the weird things, or the things that at first don't even look that amazing.
There is, of course, much more like this out there, but these are a good starting point.
Also, yesterday, I watched 'Willkommen Österreich' (which I normally don't), and Matthias Lanzinger came on. Hearing him talk about his experience (of having his left lower leg amputated after a skiing accident around 2 years ago), and his responses to the questions put to him, for me really drove the point home that a positive outlook on things can be inredibly powerful.
It's an easy exercise to try. Give it a shot, and let me know what happens. :)
Donnerstag, Oktober 28, 2010
Montag, Oktober 25, 2010
October's CD of the month vote-thingie
Here's the story...some time at the beginning of the year or so, I decided that I wanted to acquire more CDs. I had been living off music lent to me by friends and forgotten about my own favourites. So...I managed to do this for two months (one was Jamie Cullum - The Pursuit, the second was Tori Amos - Abnormally attracted to sin), then I was out of my job and I guess I just forgot about it.
Then, last month, I suddenly remembered. And to catch up, I got myself two CDs at once (Apocalyptica- 7th Symphony, Joanna Newsom - Have one on me, which is one of the best things ever, since it's actually three cds in one box for the price of one, and all three are amazing...amaaaazing). Oh, and my boyfriend bought ("for us", yeah right) the EP of the cute young girl singer we saw at a concert and who I immediately fell in love with (I still haven't posted about that concert, have I? Grah.)
But, this month, I still have to order my CD of the month...and I already have so many ideas, I need a bit of help.
My current possible choices are:
1) Binder+Kriegelstein - New weird Austria (or any of theirs)
This was the main band of said concert, and they were so much fun! Also, who can resist a CD title like that? I didn't buy one straight at the concert because, yeah, you guessed it, I had already got myself 2 CDs that month, plus I couldn't decide which one to get. So, hm. But this was idea #1.
2) Something Elvis Costello. I know about four songs by him, but all of them I really like. So, maybe I should give him more of a chance. (I just checked, and I think "Imperial Bedroom" would be my #1 choice here.)
3) Something Dresden Dolls.
4) Ohhh, there was something else, but I can't recall right now who it was. Maybe I'm imagining things, anyway...
So, uh, let's call it three possible choices, which have several sub-choices. I'm currently leaning towards Elvis Costello, but let me know what you think. :)
Then, last month, I suddenly remembered. And to catch up, I got myself two CDs at once (Apocalyptica- 7th Symphony, Joanna Newsom - Have one on me, which is one of the best things ever, since it's actually three cds in one box for the price of one, and all three are amazing...amaaaazing). Oh, and my boyfriend bought ("for us", yeah right) the EP of the cute young girl singer we saw at a concert and who I immediately fell in love with (I still haven't posted about that concert, have I? Grah.)
But, this month, I still have to order my CD of the month...and I already have so many ideas, I need a bit of help.
My current possible choices are:
1) Binder+Kriegelstein - New weird Austria (or any of theirs)
This was the main band of said concert, and they were so much fun! Also, who can resist a CD title like that? I didn't buy one straight at the concert because, yeah, you guessed it, I had already got myself 2 CDs that month, plus I couldn't decide which one to get. So, hm. But this was idea #1.
2) Something Elvis Costello. I know about four songs by him, but all of them I really like. So, maybe I should give him more of a chance. (I just checked, and I think "Imperial Bedroom" would be my #1 choice here.)
3) Something Dresden Dolls.
4) Ohhh, there was something else, but I can't recall right now who it was. Maybe I'm imagining things, anyway...
So, uh, let's call it three possible choices, which have several sub-choices. I'm currently leaning towards Elvis Costello, but let me know what you think. :)
Good things V
I can't quite believe I'm already on round 5...time passes quickly in Feli-Land right now...
But there have been some *really* good things this week!
*Meeting my sister three times in a row! (Coffee on Thursday, party on Friday, crazy Starcraft-LAN-Party on Saturday)
*Having quite the action-packed weekend in contrast to our usual "Stay at home and be exceedingly lazy"-routine (party on Friday, crazy Starcraft-LAN-Party on Saturday, Brunch Sunday lunch, family birthday affair Sunday afternoon)
*Being late for said brunch because we thought Daylight Savings Time ended this weekend (actually, next week. Whoops.) and our friends being really amazingly cool about it (and then sitting and laughing with us for 3 hours straight)
*Two scarves from my to do list finished
*Sunshine and fallen leaves and falling leaves and some of the best that autumn has to offer
*A professor that I only ever took one lecture with remembering my name (while others that I took several seminars with have continually forgotten that I even study what I study...or that I have already graduated and am now a PhD student...or...*sighs*)
*I SO love my cultural studies lecture, it's beyond belief (random Elvis Costello reference)
*Lending my new Apocalyptica CD to my sister, and borrowing three older ones from her in return. Score! :D
*Headphone Commute music mixes. I admit that this took me by surprise, but these were extremely helpful since I discovered them last weekend. Extremely helpful. (I mostly listened to 'Modern Classical' and 'Oceanica', but 'Dream Scores' is also quite nice, as are some of the others, though I haven't by far listened to them all.)
*Girls Night on Wednesday, with so much delicious food, yum...I mean, chocolate cake with melty chocolate center, served with what I assume was walnut (or some nut at least) ice cream? Arrnomnomnom.
*Not getting ill. Honestly. I thought I was done for once again when Monday rolled in, but I just slept an impossible amount of time, and was saved. Hah!
*One of my secret project thingies arriving. Yay! More on that later.
*A fictional character wearing a t-shirt with a print reading "Come to the dork side"
*Sitting in the sun, reading uni stuff, leaves rustling around me
*Feeling less tired. Still occasional bouts of inner exhaustion, but less so, I think.
*Only one more week until Nano!
*And gratuitous Monday morning good thing: Raining outside, ginger and lemon tea inside!
Good list, that. :)
But there have been some *really* good things this week!
*Meeting my sister three times in a row! (Coffee on Thursday, party on Friday, crazy Starcraft-LAN-Party on Saturday)
*Having quite the action-packed weekend in contrast to our usual "Stay at home and be exceedingly lazy"-routine (party on Friday, crazy Starcraft-LAN-Party on Saturday, Brunch Sunday lunch, family birthday affair Sunday afternoon)
*Being late for said brunch because we thought Daylight Savings Time ended this weekend (actually, next week. Whoops.) and our friends being really amazingly cool about it (and then sitting and laughing with us for 3 hours straight)
*Two scarves from my to do list finished
*Sunshine and fallen leaves and falling leaves and some of the best that autumn has to offer
*A professor that I only ever took one lecture with remembering my name (while others that I took several seminars with have continually forgotten that I even study what I study...or that I have already graduated and am now a PhD student...or...*sighs*)
*I SO love my cultural studies lecture, it's beyond belief (random Elvis Costello reference)
*Lending my new Apocalyptica CD to my sister, and borrowing three older ones from her in return. Score! :D
*Headphone Commute music mixes. I admit that this took me by surprise, but these were extremely helpful since I discovered them last weekend. Extremely helpful. (I mostly listened to 'Modern Classical' and 'Oceanica', but 'Dream Scores' is also quite nice, as are some of the others, though I haven't by far listened to them all.)
*Girls Night on Wednesday, with so much delicious food, yum...I mean, chocolate cake with melty chocolate center, served with what I assume was walnut (or some nut at least) ice cream? Arrnomnomnom.
*Not getting ill. Honestly. I thought I was done for once again when Monday rolled in, but I just slept an impossible amount of time, and was saved. Hah!
*One of my secret project thingies arriving. Yay! More on that later.
*A fictional character wearing a t-shirt with a print reading "Come to the dork side"
*Sitting in the sun, reading uni stuff, leaves rustling around me
*Feeling less tired. Still occasional bouts of inner exhaustion, but less so, I think.
*Only one more week until Nano!
*And gratuitous Monday morning good thing: Raining outside, ginger and lemon tea inside!
Good list, that. :)
Mittwoch, Oktober 20, 2010
Sonntag, Oktober 17, 2010
Good Things IV
Interestingly, even this week, there are good things to post. Just goes to show, life is good, after all, once you start looking at it the right way.
*First of all, two amazing videos which cheered me up immensely right now.
Hip Hop Medley, done by Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon
I think the voice impersonation is pretty great. :)
and this for full-on nerdiness. The original music clip can be heard at the end. Good stuff.
*Magazine backissues (I didn't think I would find any of them at all - and now two of those babies are on their way here. Can't wait. Will talk more about them once they're here)
*Other magazines (which cost as much as a paperback, but are still good value)
*A spontaneous 'Tour de Hartberg' after delicious salad, while singing "Das alles ist Hartberg" as off-tone as possible
*Lambchop and lamb chops
*Deescalating spontaneous family 'discussions', even better since it wasn't my own family. Success!
*Zotter hot chocolate - heals the heart, honestly!
*Parties and fun people
*Delicous egg-free muffin success
*Friends who are still friends even after spontaneous emotional combustion
*Doing useful stuff in the office, and thus driving off that "What am I doing here?" feeling
*Parties, and more parties, and seeing happy people being rewarded for their hard work
*Perfect chai latte last Monday
*My brother
*My sister
*Fixing the birthday present fiasco of two weeks ago
*The back massage I just received this evening
*...and I suppose there's more, but let's leave it at this right now.
*First of all, two amazing videos which cheered me up immensely right now.
Hip Hop Medley, done by Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon
I think the voice impersonation is pretty great. :)
and this for full-on nerdiness. The original music clip can be heard at the end. Good stuff.
*Magazine backissues (I didn't think I would find any of them at all - and now two of those babies are on their way here. Can't wait. Will talk more about them once they're here)
*Other magazines (which cost as much as a paperback, but are still good value)
*A spontaneous 'Tour de Hartberg' after delicious salad, while singing "Das alles ist Hartberg" as off-tone as possible
*Lambchop and lamb chops
*Deescalating spontaneous family 'discussions', even better since it wasn't my own family. Success!
*Zotter hot chocolate - heals the heart, honestly!
*Parties and fun people
*Delicous egg-free muffin success
*Friends who are still friends even after spontaneous emotional combustion
*Doing useful stuff in the office, and thus driving off that "What am I doing here?" feeling
*Parties, and more parties, and seeing happy people being rewarded for their hard work
*Perfect chai latte last Monday
*My brother
*My sister
*Fixing the birthday present fiasco of two weeks ago
*The back massage I just received this evening
*...and I suppose there's more, but let's leave it at this right now.
Montag, Oktober 11, 2010
Good Things III
A little late, but here it is:
*Taking walks both Saturday and Sunday, just as the sun is setting
*Cheshire Cat moon
*Cultural Studies lectures. YES!
*Finally feeling somewhat like a proper PhD student, with a plan.
*Seeing so many pretty things, and not spending money on them
*Lots of movies, again (The Dark Knight, Strings, some other stuff)
*Strings (Yes, it deserves a spot of its own. Stunning. Beautiful. Haunting. I will never forget this. For some weird reason, it reminded me a little of The Dark Crystal. )
*Knitting, and reading, and getting things done
A shorter list, but there's some really important, weighty points in there which made life noticably better. :)
*Taking walks both Saturday and Sunday, just as the sun is setting
*Cheshire Cat moon
*Cultural Studies lectures. YES!
*Finally feeling somewhat like a proper PhD student, with a plan.
*Seeing so many pretty things, and not spending money on them
*Lots of movies, again (The Dark Knight, Strings, some other stuff)
*Strings (Yes, it deserves a spot of its own. Stunning. Beautiful. Haunting. I will never forget this. For some weird reason, it reminded me a little of The Dark Crystal. )
*Knitting, and reading, and getting things done
A shorter list, but there's some really important, weighty points in there which made life noticably better. :)
Samstag, Oktober 09, 2010
Dealing with workloads
One thing that constantly makes me sad is how I never seem to find the time to do the things I'd really love to do - properly work on my PhD, write more, do some photography, sew, learn some more Italian, all that. When, once again, I realise that this is one of the things making me unhappy, I usually make some sort of plan.
Right now, I've decided to:
- finish things (especially concerning knitting and video games - and odd combination, I admit) before starting new things.
This also means I probably won't be buying myself a PS3 and FFXIII for Christmas after all, but more likely...a new digital camera which can take nice macro shots etc. I have an SLR, but I bought it just shortly before digital photography started to take over, which is why I never use it these days. The digital camera I do have is around 5 years old and doesn't really manage close-ups all that well.
It also means I will write a 'to finish' list further down.
- delegate the playing of video games to the weekends or to evenings after 9pm. I should manage, since I can still distract myself with my trusty GoogleReader, timestealer extraordinaire.
- finish the whole freelance job I got from the office I work at until the end of October, so I can, once November rolls around (you're guessing what comes now) fully and concentratedly take part in NaNoWriMo once again, and not be distracted by too much work. It is, after all, the only month in the year where I allow myself to feel (and act) like an author, so far, and as that, it is sacred. ;)
- do some reading for my PhD, if only a little bit, every day. Again, I should manage that, since I finally have some sort of plan. Mwahahaha.
Sound good?
*****
So, here is what I 'need to finish', knitting and gaming-wise:
Knitting:
The jumper I started way way back when I finally properly taught myself how to knit. That was 3 or 4 years ago. I really need to finish that.
The mittens that were supposed to be my sisters birthday present in...wait for it...2008. Well, I had intended to give her fingerless gloves, had one finished, and then she said she wanted mittens. Hm.
The scarf for my soon-to-be-graduating friend (next Wednesday, actually). This has top priority right now. ;)
That other scarf which is very pretty colour-and-pattern-wise, which I will also gift to a friend, though I have yet to decide between two.
That big red fluffy monster. I seem to create lots of big fluffy monster scarves. Well, so be it.
The beautiful linen scarf I started when it was too humid for anything else. Also to be a present, and I know for whom.
The grey scarf where I couldn't figure out the instructions, but will make it my own way. Hooray for self-sufficiency.
My beautiful beautiful Alpacino Scroll Lace Scarf. Plus a matching hat. Yes. But the hat only after everything else is done.
The mittens which were supposed to be a birthday present, but will now be a Christmas present. Ha.
That's a lot, huh? December will be so much fun.
Games:
FF9 (my second playthrough, stuck at the end of CD 3 of 4. Grah.)
FF12 (I started this two years ago, right after I graduated...my graduation present to myself. I ordered it right after I had my exam. And now? Stuck in the last quarter of the game. Again. Neverending story of my gaming life. Grah.)
The Wind Waker (My third playthrough, and, same old, same old. All that is left is to assemble the Triforce and go and bash Ganon. But do I do it? No! Because...)
...Dragon Quest VIII (I bought this two weeks ago, in GameStop. It was on my wishlist for ages, then sold out and only attainable for loads of money. And then I find it, by chance, for 10€. And it is so. Much. Fun. Pretty and Cute (with a capital C) and funny. *sighs*)
and maybe also
Zack&Wiki (which my boyfriend and I started to play together, but haven't for a year or so)
And maybe when that is done (or I have officially given up on any of these and put their boxes back into hidden storage), and only then, I will allow myself to spend inordinate amounts of money on being able to play FFXIII, no matter how pretty it is and how much I already know of the plot because my curiosity got the better of me (plus I can interpret soundtrack titles pretty neatly by now).
So, that's it. Once more, a plan. This should be fun. :)
And now I'll go back to my, hm, let's, for the fun of it, call it freelance gig. ;)
Right now, I've decided to:
- finish things (especially concerning knitting and video games - and odd combination, I admit) before starting new things.
This also means I probably won't be buying myself a PS3 and FFXIII for Christmas after all, but more likely...a new digital camera which can take nice macro shots etc. I have an SLR, but I bought it just shortly before digital photography started to take over, which is why I never use it these days. The digital camera I do have is around 5 years old and doesn't really manage close-ups all that well.
It also means I will write a 'to finish' list further down.
- delegate the playing of video games to the weekends or to evenings after 9pm. I should manage, since I can still distract myself with my trusty GoogleReader, timestealer extraordinaire.
- finish the whole freelance job I got from the office I work at until the end of October, so I can, once November rolls around (you're guessing what comes now) fully and concentratedly take part in NaNoWriMo once again, and not be distracted by too much work. It is, after all, the only month in the year where I allow myself to feel (and act) like an author, so far, and as that, it is sacred. ;)
- do some reading for my PhD, if only a little bit, every day. Again, I should manage that, since I finally have some sort of plan. Mwahahaha.
Sound good?
*****
So, here is what I 'need to finish', knitting and gaming-wise:
Knitting:
The jumper I started way way back when I finally properly taught myself how to knit. That was 3 or 4 years ago. I really need to finish that.
The mittens that were supposed to be my sisters birthday present in...wait for it...2008. Well, I had intended to give her fingerless gloves, had one finished, and then she said she wanted mittens. Hm.
The scarf for my soon-to-be-graduating friend (next Wednesday, actually). This has top priority right now. ;)
That other scarf which is very pretty colour-and-pattern-wise, which I will also gift to a friend, though I have yet to decide between two.
That big red fluffy monster. I seem to create lots of big fluffy monster scarves. Well, so be it.
The beautiful linen scarf I started when it was too humid for anything else. Also to be a present, and I know for whom.
The grey scarf where I couldn't figure out the instructions, but will make it my own way. Hooray for self-sufficiency.
My beautiful beautiful Alpacino Scroll Lace Scarf. Plus a matching hat. Yes. But the hat only after everything else is done.
The mittens which were supposed to be a birthday present, but will now be a Christmas present. Ha.
That's a lot, huh? December will be so much fun.
Games:
FF9 (my second playthrough, stuck at the end of CD 3 of 4. Grah.)
FF12 (I started this two years ago, right after I graduated...my graduation present to myself. I ordered it right after I had my exam. And now? Stuck in the last quarter of the game. Again. Neverending story of my gaming life. Grah.)
The Wind Waker (My third playthrough, and, same old, same old. All that is left is to assemble the Triforce and go and bash Ganon. But do I do it? No! Because...)
...Dragon Quest VIII (I bought this two weeks ago, in GameStop. It was on my wishlist for ages, then sold out and only attainable for loads of money. And then I find it, by chance, for 10€. And it is so. Much. Fun. Pretty and Cute (with a capital C) and funny. *sighs*)
and maybe also
Zack&Wiki (which my boyfriend and I started to play together, but haven't for a year or so)
And maybe when that is done (or I have officially given up on any of these and put their boxes back into hidden storage), and only then, I will allow myself to spend inordinate amounts of money on being able to play FFXIII, no matter how pretty it is and how much I already know of the plot because my curiosity got the better of me (plus I can interpret soundtrack titles pretty neatly by now).
So, that's it. Once more, a plan. This should be fun. :)
And now I'll go back to my, hm, let's, for the fun of it, call it freelance gig. ;)
Donnerstag, Oktober 07, 2010
Lots more wool
My massive haul from last week's 2nd visit to my closing-down favourite yarn store.
At least my massive purchases made the owner laugh. ;)
This are, well, hm, around 30 or so balls of yarn? Thankfully I spent today organising some things, so I could safely stow them all away. And I have no cats. Although that might actually have been fun...same picture, but the caption would have read 'Spot the cat'. Burrowing somewhere under soft pink linen and parrot-coloured fun. Hm. :)
At least my massive purchases made the owner laugh. ;)
This are, well, hm, around 30 or so balls of yarn? Thankfully I spent today organising some things, so I could safely stow them all away. And I have no cats. Although that might actually have been fun...same picture, but the caption would have read 'Spot the cat'. Burrowing somewhere under soft pink linen and parrot-coloured fun. Hm. :)
Mittwoch, Oktober 06, 2010
Geekdom reaches new heights, citizens warned to stay inside
I just ordered myself a necklace, simply because, when I saw it, I shouted out 'Triforce!'
*shakes head about herself*
If I'm not really careful, next time I'll be buying a boat. :P
*shakes head about herself*
If I'm not really careful, next time I'll be buying a boat. :P
Sonntag, Oktober 03, 2010
Good things list II
Let's see what this week has offered:
Getting crazy nicknames at work while my colleagues were sick/on holiday (stuff like 'saviour' etc were used, weird, but funny, too)
Mentioning I had a sore throat and a colleague walking up to me 2 minutes later, offering me her three tea packages to choose from
Buying lots and lots and loads of yarn and not feeling guilty about it
Drinking a drink called 'Julia', which, in combination with a healthy dose of laughing, made abovementioned sore throat (plus extra headache) go away for at least one full workday.
Meeting old friends, and new friendly people
Laughing a lot. Like, really a lot.
Messing around with beads, and thus creating a birthday gift that made someone happy
Receiving Postcrossing postcards, cute, funny, crazy, amazing.
The more recent version of The Incredible Hulk movie (watched just now), which is so much better than the first attempt.
Skype phone calls
Joanna Newsom
Finding great uni courses to attend, yay.
Family dinners, helping out in the kitchen - yes, that was a good thing, really!
My cousins, and how they're slowly growing up...they're entering an exciting phase of their life now (they're 11).*
Knitting colourful things.
Driving through the countryside with my new Apocalyptica CD on
Yummy food, and then a nap afterwards
Being thankful, even if not everything is well and good. Being thankful for what is - is good enough.
*I know, it's going to be just as exciting for their parents. ;)
Getting crazy nicknames at work while my colleagues were sick/on holiday (stuff like 'saviour' etc were used, weird, but funny, too)
Mentioning I had a sore throat and a colleague walking up to me 2 minutes later, offering me her three tea packages to choose from
Buying lots and lots and loads of yarn and not feeling guilty about it
Drinking a drink called 'Julia', which, in combination with a healthy dose of laughing, made abovementioned sore throat (plus extra headache) go away for at least one full workday.
Meeting old friends, and new friendly people
Laughing a lot. Like, really a lot.
Messing around with beads, and thus creating a birthday gift that made someone happy
Receiving Postcrossing postcards, cute, funny, crazy, amazing.
The more recent version of The Incredible Hulk movie (watched just now), which is so much better than the first attempt.
Skype phone calls
Joanna Newsom
Finding great uni courses to attend, yay.
Family dinners, helping out in the kitchen - yes, that was a good thing, really!
My cousins, and how they're slowly growing up...they're entering an exciting phase of their life now (they're 11).*
Knitting colourful things.
Driving through the countryside with my new Apocalyptica CD on
Yummy food, and then a nap afterwards
Being thankful, even if not everything is well and good. Being thankful for what is - is good enough.
*I know, it's going to be just as exciting for their parents. ;)
Sonntag, September 26, 2010
Good things
Sometime in the past week I read this here, and thought, well, interesting - that does sound a lot like concepts I heard of before (visualisation, writing lists of what you're thankful for every day etc), just replacing the universe at large with the internet (or so it seems at first glance).
Essentially, it's not much different though...defining clearly what you like, what you want, and putting it on 'paper'. Writing things down, and thus making a clear choice, is very often the core exercise of these things, it seems.
Well. Sometimes earlier this year I bought myself a beautiful notebook (because I love beautiful notebooks, and an excuse to buy a new beautiful notebook is beautiful in itself), and tried to write, for every day, one page of positive affirmations for the day in the morning, and one page of things I was grateful for that day in the evening. I kept that up for maybe two weeks, then added it to the row of beautiful notebooks bought for beautiful reasons, 1/50 filled with beautiful things, sitting on my shelf. Hm.
I feel like this is a waste of both beautiful notebooks and beautiful ideas.
From today on, I'll be doing something different. I will collect a weekly post, filled with things I was grateful for that week - I can keep track of them by simply adding things to a draft version of the post. At the end of every week, I'll have a beautiful summary of all the good things that happened during the past seven days, and, who knows, by posting this, maybe more good things in the future.
I only started this post on Thursday, but here are the good things I remember best:
*The whole of Monday afternoon/evening - receiving my Caterpillar mug, talking for ages, shooting crazy pictures, being high on caffeine (in the best possible way)
*The amazing weather we've been having - September is my favourite month of the year. The skies are clear and bright bright blue, there is sun, it's neither too hot or too cold, a slight breeze is easily found when you need one, and I don't feel silly wearing scarves anymore. ;)
(Oh, and I can knit again. Even during the day.)
*Taking a deep breath and meeting with friends after all the stress I put myself in doing my freelance work for friends and job-people.
*Seeing my sister again after her month-long travels, and helping her and her boyfriend move in together. I am grateful for her gratefulness. She was sooo happy and excited. As was he. Teheee. :)
*Starting on my cultural studies reading while sitting in the late afternoon park, with couples and relaxed people playing games everywhere around me.
*Finishing some things, like blocking two scarves which have been lying around for the whole of summer.
*Talking about some more serious things than daily routine, DSA or whatever with my boyfriend...sometimes it's hard to get to that level when we hardly see each other, but I managed to provoke ourselves into doing it. ;) (
Nothing bad, no 'serious' talk of whatever, just getting below that everyday surface level...)
*Gaining more and more confidence concerning my half-formed ideas of seriously going freelance.
*Winning cards for a concert, attending that concert with my boyfriend, and having a blast - goosebumps and hilarity so close together. Loved it.
*Going out in my new miniskirt, and getting compliments. Hm.
*Loads of new yarn!
*Starting a new pattern, which is intriguing and beautiful.
*Yarn and bead and all other kinds of craft stores.
*Zelda
*Cuddling in the dark
*Sleeping in
*Watching midday comedy after waking from aforementioned long long sleep
*Delicious lunch, delicious dinner
*Beautiful sunsets
I think that's quite a nice list. :)
More of that, please. ;)
Essentially, it's not much different though...defining clearly what you like, what you want, and putting it on 'paper'. Writing things down, and thus making a clear choice, is very often the core exercise of these things, it seems.
Well. Sometimes earlier this year I bought myself a beautiful notebook (because I love beautiful notebooks, and an excuse to buy a new beautiful notebook is beautiful in itself), and tried to write, for every day, one page of positive affirmations for the day in the morning, and one page of things I was grateful for that day in the evening. I kept that up for maybe two weeks, then added it to the row of beautiful notebooks bought for beautiful reasons, 1/50 filled with beautiful things, sitting on my shelf. Hm.
I feel like this is a waste of both beautiful notebooks and beautiful ideas.
From today on, I'll be doing something different. I will collect a weekly post, filled with things I was grateful for that week - I can keep track of them by simply adding things to a draft version of the post. At the end of every week, I'll have a beautiful summary of all the good things that happened during the past seven days, and, who knows, by posting this, maybe more good things in the future.
I only started this post on Thursday, but here are the good things I remember best:
*The whole of Monday afternoon/evening - receiving my Caterpillar mug, talking for ages, shooting crazy pictures, being high on caffeine (in the best possible way)
*The amazing weather we've been having - September is my favourite month of the year. The skies are clear and bright bright blue, there is sun, it's neither too hot or too cold, a slight breeze is easily found when you need one, and I don't feel silly wearing scarves anymore. ;)
(Oh, and I can knit again. Even during the day.)
*Taking a deep breath and meeting with friends after all the stress I put myself in doing my freelance work for friends and job-people.
*Seeing my sister again after her month-long travels, and helping her and her boyfriend move in together. I am grateful for her gratefulness. She was sooo happy and excited. As was he. Teheee. :)
*Starting on my cultural studies reading while sitting in the late afternoon park, with couples and relaxed people playing games everywhere around me.
*Finishing some things, like blocking two scarves which have been lying around for the whole of summer.
*Talking about some more serious things than daily routine, DSA or whatever with my boyfriend...sometimes it's hard to get to that level when we hardly see each other, but I managed to provoke ourselves into doing it. ;) (
Nothing bad, no 'serious' talk of whatever, just getting below that everyday surface level...)
*Gaining more and more confidence concerning my half-formed ideas of seriously going freelance.
*Winning cards for a concert, attending that concert with my boyfriend, and having a blast - goosebumps and hilarity so close together. Loved it.
*Going out in my new miniskirt, and getting compliments. Hm.
*Loads of new yarn!
*Starting a new pattern, which is intriguing and beautiful.
*Yarn and bead and all other kinds of craft stores.
*Zelda
*Cuddling in the dark
*Sleeping in
*Watching midday comedy after waking from aforementioned long long sleep
*Delicious lunch, delicious dinner
*Beautiful sunsets
I think that's quite a nice list. :)
More of that, please. ;)
Freitag, September 24, 2010
Goodbye yarn
After hearing rumours a few days ago I cleared things up for myself today - my favourite yarn store is closing down. There are many memories attached to that store...childhood memories of yarn shopping with my mum for my next fall sweater...my mum getting me my very first yarn to knit with there (which I still have somewhere...hm)...and in the past few years, a lot of happy time spent browsing their yarns by myself, thinking about projects to make for friends. Their yarns were sorted by colour, which was sooo pretty. Still is, of course, but things are selling out fast now (everything is half price right now).
I talked to the owner, and I fully understand why she's taking this step - rent has gone up far too high. And she won't be opening a new store somewhere else, because she decided she wants to take things more easily. She's moving to Carinthia, and will most likely be holding weekend courses for things like wool dying with plants etc, and she gave me her phone number so I can check up on what's going on, so if everything works out right, I'll some day be learning to dye my own wool (yay, finally!) at some beautiful place surrounded by green stuff. (Another of her reasons to stop - she wants to get out of the city...another notion I sometimes understand all too well.) But still, my yarny needs will have to be filled by the other (three?) yarn stores we have.
Anyway...I didn't get what I came to buy, because everything red and violet had already completely sold out...so of course I had to buy some other stuff. Lots of other stuff.
That's 18 balls of yarn right there. And I'm probably going back Monday. Yeeehaw!
I talked to the owner, and I fully understand why she's taking this step - rent has gone up far too high. And she won't be opening a new store somewhere else, because she decided she wants to take things more easily. She's moving to Carinthia, and will most likely be holding weekend courses for things like wool dying with plants etc, and she gave me her phone number so I can check up on what's going on, so if everything works out right, I'll some day be learning to dye my own wool (yay, finally!) at some beautiful place surrounded by green stuff. (Another of her reasons to stop - she wants to get out of the city...another notion I sometimes understand all too well.) But still, my yarny needs will have to be filled by the other (three?) yarn stores we have.
Anyway...I didn't get what I came to buy, because everything red and violet had already completely sold out...so of course I had to buy some other stuff. Lots of other stuff.
That's 18 balls of yarn right there. And I'm probably going back Monday. Yeeehaw!
Donnerstag, September 23, 2010
Green
Apparently, there do exist...bright green Innocent smoothies!
Amazing, just like all the others - and not just the colour.
Little side note: I think Innocent smoothies were all that helped me stay healthy during my Erasmus stay in London, and the ensuing diet of toast with cheese, potatoes with cheese, and hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream (which they sold right next to the library...pure evil). I only had a toaster and a microwave to cook with, otherwise I would have eaten differently of course. But yeah, those smoothies (and maybe the occasional sushi takeaway) definitely saved my life. ;)
Back to the green theme...look what was finally blocking a couple of nights ago:
The colour is hard to see in these, I know. One day I will have a better camera.
Anyway, the pattern is Cinnamon Grace*, and I did it in Fyberspates Nef Sock.
Knitting this was dreamy, the yarn is 70% alpaca, 20% silk and 10% cashmere...I literally couldn't stop knitting, I didn't want to let go of the stuff.
Taking pictures while wearing it...yep, those are really great pink socks, courtesy of Sue**.
And here, finally, a decent picture of the colour...I *do* believe this is the exact colour of spring, but it hasn't been confirmed yet.
The pattern has a picot edge, which for some reason turned out funny when I did it (I had the same edging on my Fetching mittens, and everything went fine there, so...no idea). Instead of little nubbs (picots, yeah), I got little...loops. Hm. I think it looks sweet and funny, but still, I wish I knew what I did wrong. Any ideas?
*I called my version 'Green Meadow', because, honestly, not much cinnamon in there. Spring! Not winter. ;)
**Who I think had/has a really niceblog, but I lost the address. :P
Amazing, just like all the others - and not just the colour.
Little side note: I think Innocent smoothies were all that helped me stay healthy during my Erasmus stay in London, and the ensuing diet of toast with cheese, potatoes with cheese, and hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream (which they sold right next to the library...pure evil). I only had a toaster and a microwave to cook with, otherwise I would have eaten differently of course. But yeah, those smoothies (and maybe the occasional sushi takeaway) definitely saved my life. ;)
Back to the green theme...look what was finally blocking a couple of nights ago:
The colour is hard to see in these, I know. One day I will have a better camera.
Anyway, the pattern is Cinnamon Grace*, and I did it in Fyberspates Nef Sock.
Knitting this was dreamy, the yarn is 70% alpaca, 20% silk and 10% cashmere...I literally couldn't stop knitting, I didn't want to let go of the stuff.
And here, finally, a decent picture of the colour...I *do* believe this is the exact colour of spring, but it hasn't been confirmed yet.
The pattern has a picot edge, which for some reason turned out funny when I did it (I had the same edging on my Fetching mittens, and everything went fine there, so...no idea). Instead of little nubbs (picots, yeah), I got little...loops. Hm. I think it looks sweet and funny, but still, I wish I knew what I did wrong. Any ideas?
*I called my version 'Green Meadow', because, honestly, not much cinnamon in there. Spring! Not winter. ;)
**Who I think had/has a really niceblog, but I lost the address. :P
Montag, September 20, 2010
Happiness molecules...
...surging in clouds around friends are infective in the best possible ways.
I'll probably move over to Wordpress some time soon, but for now I'll still post here...a little list of happy things. :)
1) A short while ago I finally received the present I'd made myself for finishing my on-the-side training. It deserves a post of its own, but here's a teaser...the prettiest packaging I've seen so far:
2) I babysitted the cutest, cuddliest, purringiest (hm...) cats you could imagine for a few days, which was great - I can't have my own (allergies, bleh), so sometimes 'borrowing' some kitty cuddling from friends is just the thing, plus they were really cute, and I got to be in this lovely flat with a great view and full of great books, and did I mention the cats were really cute?
Anyway, for all my 'pains' in taking care of them, I received a present. A Giant Flying Mug (forget those saucers) which will destroy all the buildings that ruin *my* view. Mwahaha.
I know, it looks so cute and harmless, but just wait for when I unleash its (solar-powered) superpowers!
Here it comes now...watch out!
Arrr! Nom nom nom...
(It IS called the Very Hungry Caterpillar...)
Hehehe.
3) I also did something very out of character or out of my comfort zone, whatever - I went and bought myself a miniskirt. Why is this out of character? Because for years and years, I believed I needed to hide my legs. Crazy mindset for a twenty-something, huh? I bought shortish (ie knee length) skirts sometimes and then didn't wear them. Pffff. Then I went out last Saturday in a dress, and looked at myself in mirrors, and decided I was being ridiculous.
So today, off I went and bought myself an equally ridiculous 5€-skirt. Yep, the scarf cost me more...
(I know it's just a black tube and I could SO make it myself, but the thing is, I never do, do I? At least not until I finally find a place to set up my sewing machine...)
And the scarf is totally made of WIN - because, lookie, it has two sides! I mean, two differently printed sides! *love*
4) If my SuperMug should fail me, my knitting can still take over..
Die, stupid high-rise!
Or be trapped forever in my yarn-over-labyrinths! Mwaha...
Okay, no more coffee. For, hm...well, at least today. :P
I'll probably move over to Wordpress some time soon, but for now I'll still post here...a little list of happy things. :)
1) A short while ago I finally received the present I'd made myself for finishing my on-the-side training. It deserves a post of its own, but here's a teaser...the prettiest packaging I've seen so far:
2) I babysitted the cutest, cuddliest, purringiest (hm...) cats you could imagine for a few days, which was great - I can't have my own (allergies, bleh), so sometimes 'borrowing' some kitty cuddling from friends is just the thing, plus they were really cute, and I got to be in this lovely flat with a great view and full of great books, and did I mention the cats were really cute?
Anyway, for all my 'pains' in taking care of them, I received a present. A Giant Flying Mug (forget those saucers) which will destroy all the buildings that ruin *my* view. Mwahaha.
I know, it looks so cute and harmless, but just wait for when I unleash its (solar-powered) superpowers!
Here it comes now...watch out!
Arrr! Nom nom nom...(It IS called the Very Hungry Caterpillar...)
Hehehe.
3) I also did something very out of character or out of my comfort zone, whatever - I went and bought myself a miniskirt. Why is this out of character? Because for years and years, I believed I needed to hide my legs. Crazy mindset for a twenty-something, huh? I bought shortish (ie knee length) skirts sometimes and then didn't wear them. Pffff. Then I went out last Saturday in a dress, and looked at myself in mirrors, and decided I was being ridiculous.
So today, off I went and bought myself an equally ridiculous 5€-skirt. Yep, the scarf cost me more...
(I know it's just a black tube and I could SO make it myself, but the thing is, I never do, do I? At least not until I finally find a place to set up my sewing machine...)And the scarf is totally made of WIN - because, lookie, it has two sides! I mean, two differently printed sides! *love*
4) If my SuperMug should fail me, my knitting can still take over..
Die, stupid high-rise!
Or be trapped forever in my yarn-over-labyrinths! Mwaha...Okay, no more coffee. For, hm...well, at least today. :P
Freitag, Juli 02, 2010
28
It's my birthday!
Consequently, there might be a surprise present later on today.
It's because of a bet I made, three years ago.
That's the way things go.
For now, the sky is growing lighter, birds are singing, I celebrated the beginning of this day,
and now better go sleep a little.
Consequently, there might be a surprise present later on today.
It's because of a bet I made, three years ago.
That's the way things go.
For now, the sky is growing lighter, birds are singing, I celebrated the beginning of this day,
and now better go sleep a little.
Freitag, März 05, 2010
Since I'm already at it...
Yet another list of books.
I'm currently digging through all those printouts etc which I stuffed into folders years ago and which just languish there, hidden away and of no use to anyone. Among them I found this list of
"110 Books to Read". I have no idea when I printed this, or where I got the whole thing from, but I'll post it here nevertheless. Let's see how much I know from this one.
(Bold=Read it, Italics=I've heard about it, Smaller font= On my shelf and waiting to be read, Rest= I dunno)
1. The Hobbit (JRR Tolkien)
2. I Feel Bad About My Neck: And other thoughts on being a woman (Nora Ephron)
3. The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield)
4. Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
5. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
6. Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living (Robert Arbor)
7. Amelie: Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain (The French Film Guides) (Isabelle Vanderschelden) - Only saw the movie, lots of times
8. To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
9. The Hours (Michael Cunningham)
10. The Country Life (Rachel Cusk)
11. Everyday Traditions: Simple Family Rituals for Connection and Comfort (Nava Atlas)
12. Going Home to the Fifties (Bill Yenne)
13. On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection (Susan Stewart)
14. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine (Rozsika Parker)
15. Forbidden Journeys: Fairy Tales and Fantasies by Victorian Women Writers (Nina Auerbach)
16. The Future of Nostalgia (Svetlana Boym)
17. Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England (Judith Flanders)
18. The Element of Lavishness: Letters of Sylvia Townsend Warner and William Maxwell 1938-1978
19. Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience (Yi-Fu Tuan)
20. The Poetics of Space (Gaston Bachelard)
21. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
22. The Dress Lodger (Sheri Holman)
23. The Confessions of Max Tivoli (Andrew Sean Greer)
24. Girl in Hyacinth Blue (Susan Vreeland)
25. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
26. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
27. Eat, Pray Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
28. The Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger)
29. The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame)
30. Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
31. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
32. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)
33. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
34. A Town Like Alice (Nevil Shute)
35. Anne of Green Gables (LM Montgomery)
36. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
37. I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith)
38. Conversations with God (Neale Donald Walsch)
39. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
40. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
41. The Secret History (Donna Tartt)
42. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
43. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
44. Sophie's World (Jostein Gaarder)
45. The Diary of a Nobody (George and Weedon Grossmith)
46. Flowers in the Attic (Virginia Andrews)
47. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
48. My Sister's Keeper (Jodie Picoult)
49. Magician (Raymond E. Feist)
50. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
51. The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
52. Mao's Last Dance (Li Cunxin)
53. Girl With a Pearl Earring (Tracy Chevalier)
54. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (Jung Chang)
55. Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
56. A Passage to India (EM Forster)
57. The Old Wive's Tale (Arnold Bennett)
58. Portrait of a Lady (Henry James)
59. Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie)
60. Chocolat (Joanne Harris)
61. Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier)
62. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
63. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See)
64. I am a Cat (Natsume Soseki)
65. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles (Haruki Murakami)
66. Geisha, A Life (Mineko Iwasaki)
67. Geisha (Liza Dalby)
68. Autobiography of a Geisha (Sayo Masuda)
69. Matthew Flinder's Cat (Bryce Courtenay)
70. A House for Mr. Biswas (V.S. Naipaul)
71. The Secret River (Kate Grenville)
72. Falling Leaves (Adeline Yen Mah)
73. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (John Boyne)
74. The Other Boleyn Girl (Philippa Gregory)
75. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Harriet Jacobs)
76. Little House in the Big Woods (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
77. Cloudstreet (Tim Winton)
78. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
79. The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
80. My Place (Sally Morgan)
81. My Brilliant Career (Miles Franklin)
82. For the Term of his Natural Life (Markus Clarke)
83. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (Frederick Douglass)
84. The Constant Princess (Philippa Gregory)
85. The Rules of Survival (Nancy Werlin)
86. Hattie Big Sky (Kirby Larson)
87. Lady of Hay (Barbara Erskine)
88. Mystic River (Dennis Lehane)
89. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M Aurel)
90. My Family and Other Animals (Gerard Durrell)
91. Rose Cottage (Mary Stewart)
92. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)
93. The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
94. 1984 (George Orwell)
95. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
96. Remembering Babylon (David Malouf)
97. Jitterbug Perfume (Tom Robbins)
98. Into the Woods (R R Smythe)
99. The Nanny Diaries (Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus) - I actually started reading it but couldn't stand it :P
100. A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)
101. The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life (Laurie Notaro)
102. Candy and Me (Hilary Liftin)
103. The Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls)
104. Ex Libris (Anne Fadiman)
105. Holes (Lois Sachar)
106. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
107. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
108. A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle) - This is the first in a trilogy, for some reason I've got book 2 (unread) on my shelf, I'd like to read all three though
109. Teaching a Stone to Talk (Annie Dillard)
110. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
While typing this I noticed that the list can't be all that old, since some books on it only came out a few years ago. Also, I think I remember where I got this list from, but it's no help, since I don't know where that person got it from. ;)
Anyway, quite an eccentric selection.
What does this tell me?
First, that I know a lot more books than I have actually read. Only to be expected, I think.
Second, that there are loads of intriguing books out there that I would love to read. I've been trying to accept the fact that I'll never be able to read everything I'd like to read over the last few months, so I know...I know.
Third...I'm still far too intrigued by lists like this one. ;)
Do you have lists like this one? Or are there other books you'd highly recommend? (Highly enough so that a girl swamped with Bookcrossing books would be able to squeeze them in?) Please share!
I'm currently digging through all those printouts etc which I stuffed into folders years ago and which just languish there, hidden away and of no use to anyone. Among them I found this list of
"110 Books to Read". I have no idea when I printed this, or where I got the whole thing from, but I'll post it here nevertheless. Let's see how much I know from this one.
(Bold=Read it, Italics=I've heard about it, Smaller font= On my shelf and waiting to be read, Rest= I dunno)
1. The Hobbit (JRR Tolkien)
2. I Feel Bad About My Neck: And other thoughts on being a woman (Nora Ephron)
3. The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield)
4. Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
5. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
6. Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living (Robert Arbor)
7. Amelie: Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain (The French Film Guides) (Isabelle Vanderschelden) - Only saw the movie, lots of times
8. To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
9. The Hours (Michael Cunningham)
10. The Country Life (Rachel Cusk)
11. Everyday Traditions: Simple Family Rituals for Connection and Comfort (Nava Atlas)
12. Going Home to the Fifties (Bill Yenne)
13. On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection (Susan Stewart)
14. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine (Rozsika Parker)
15. Forbidden Journeys: Fairy Tales and Fantasies by Victorian Women Writers (Nina Auerbach)
16. The Future of Nostalgia (Svetlana Boym)
17. Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England (Judith Flanders)
18. The Element of Lavishness: Letters of Sylvia Townsend Warner and William Maxwell 1938-1978
19. Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience (Yi-Fu Tuan)
20. The Poetics of Space (Gaston Bachelard)
21. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
22. The Dress Lodger (Sheri Holman)
23. The Confessions of Max Tivoli (Andrew Sean Greer)
24. Girl in Hyacinth Blue (Susan Vreeland)
25. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
26. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
27. Eat, Pray Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
28. The Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger)
29. The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame)
30. Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
31. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
32. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)
33. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
34. A Town Like Alice (Nevil Shute)
35. Anne of Green Gables (LM Montgomery)
36. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
37. I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith)
38. Conversations with God (Neale Donald Walsch)
39. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
40. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
41. The Secret History (Donna Tartt)
42. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
43. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
44. Sophie's World (Jostein Gaarder)
45. The Diary of a Nobody (George and Weedon Grossmith)
46. Flowers in the Attic (Virginia Andrews)
47. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
48. My Sister's Keeper (Jodie Picoult)
49. Magician (Raymond E. Feist)
50. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
51. The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
52. Mao's Last Dance (Li Cunxin)
53. Girl With a Pearl Earring (Tracy Chevalier)
54. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (Jung Chang)
55. Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
56. A Passage to India (EM Forster)
57. The Old Wive's Tale (Arnold Bennett)
58. Portrait of a Lady (Henry James)
59. Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie)
60. Chocolat (Joanne Harris)
61. Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier)
62. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
63. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See)
64. I am a Cat (Natsume Soseki)
65. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles (Haruki Murakami)
66. Geisha, A Life (Mineko Iwasaki)
67. Geisha (Liza Dalby)
68. Autobiography of a Geisha (Sayo Masuda)
69. Matthew Flinder's Cat (Bryce Courtenay)
70. A House for Mr. Biswas (V.S. Naipaul)
71. The Secret River (Kate Grenville)
72. Falling Leaves (Adeline Yen Mah)
73. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (John Boyne)
74. The Other Boleyn Girl (Philippa Gregory)
75. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Harriet Jacobs)
76. Little House in the Big Woods (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
77. Cloudstreet (Tim Winton)
78. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
79. The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
80. My Place (Sally Morgan)
81. My Brilliant Career (Miles Franklin)
82. For the Term of his Natural Life (Markus Clarke)
83. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (Frederick Douglass)
84. The Constant Princess (Philippa Gregory)
85. The Rules of Survival (Nancy Werlin)
86. Hattie Big Sky (Kirby Larson)
87. Lady of Hay (Barbara Erskine)
88. Mystic River (Dennis Lehane)
89. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M Aurel)
90. My Family and Other Animals (Gerard Durrell)
91. Rose Cottage (Mary Stewart)
92. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)
93. The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
94. 1984 (George Orwell)
95. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
96. Remembering Babylon (David Malouf)
97. Jitterbug Perfume (Tom Robbins)
98. Into the Woods (R R Smythe)
99. The Nanny Diaries (Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus) - I actually started reading it but couldn't stand it :P
100. A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)
101. The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life (Laurie Notaro)
102. Candy and Me (Hilary Liftin)
103. The Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls)
104. Ex Libris (Anne Fadiman)
105. Holes (Lois Sachar)
106. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
107. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
108. A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle) - This is the first in a trilogy, for some reason I've got book 2 (unread) on my shelf, I'd like to read all three though
109. Teaching a Stone to Talk (Annie Dillard)
110. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
While typing this I noticed that the list can't be all that old, since some books on it only came out a few years ago. Also, I think I remember where I got this list from, but it's no help, since I don't know where that person got it from. ;)
Anyway, quite an eccentric selection.
What does this tell me?
First, that I know a lot more books than I have actually read. Only to be expected, I think.
Second, that there are loads of intriguing books out there that I would love to read. I've been trying to accept the fact that I'll never be able to read everything I'd like to read over the last few months, so I know...I know.
Third...I'm still far too intrigued by lists like this one. ;)
Do you have lists like this one? Or are there other books you'd highly recommend? (Highly enough so that a girl swamped with Bookcrossing books would be able to squeeze them in?) Please share!
Recently read
I finished "Howl's Moving Castle" yesterday, and I immensely enjoyed it. I bought it several years back, right after seeing the Miyazaki movie, but of course it languished in several bookshelves until now. (Except, of course, my boyfriend read it immediately.)
Well, the day after starting to read it I just HAD to rewatch the movie, to see how it tied in with the beginning of the book. It's so lovely when things are slightly different in the movie, and reading the book alongside to figure them out.
The second half of the movie then wildly differs from what happens in the book, probably because the "foreign world" of Wales would have been too weird for a Japanese film. ;) I liked it though, it was a good specimen of "people from a different world experiencing ours". It wasn't overdone, and had some nice touches, like Sophie thinking its an issue of life and death with the computer games.
For some reason, my boyfriend didn't like the ending of the book either (we both had some problems with the rather sudden ending of the movie, even though at least I should be used to it by now when watching animes), but I loved it. Everything is nicely solved, again without being overdone or overexplained, and I was completely happy.
I absolutely loved the way Sophie's magic worked, because you had to keep your eyes open to notice it. Great work.
And I like the style of writing...nothing is overdone, or overexplained, you have to keep thinking. Also, it somehow jumps along like a little girl with her skipping rope. It's always upbeat and funny and fresh and enjoyable. Never ever boring - really, there are no boring bits in this book. I wish I could write like that.
I think our (me and my boyfriend's) joint favourite character has to be Calcifer. He's beyond cute in the movie, and very funny in the book as well.
By the way, my cover looks like this - really lovely. And so fitting!
Well, the day after starting to read it I just HAD to rewatch the movie, to see how it tied in with the beginning of the book. It's so lovely when things are slightly different in the movie, and reading the book alongside to figure them out.
The second half of the movie then wildly differs from what happens in the book, probably because the "foreign world" of Wales would have been too weird for a Japanese film. ;) I liked it though, it was a good specimen of "people from a different world experiencing ours". It wasn't overdone, and had some nice touches, like Sophie thinking its an issue of life and death with the computer games.
For some reason, my boyfriend didn't like the ending of the book either (we both had some problems with the rather sudden ending of the movie, even though at least I should be used to it by now when watching animes), but I loved it. Everything is nicely solved, again without being overdone or overexplained, and I was completely happy.
I absolutely loved the way Sophie's magic worked, because you had to keep your eyes open to notice it. Great work.
And I like the style of writing...nothing is overdone, or overexplained, you have to keep thinking. Also, it somehow jumps along like a little girl with her skipping rope. It's always upbeat and funny and fresh and enjoyable. Never ever boring - really, there are no boring bits in this book. I wish I could write like that.
I think our (me and my boyfriend's) joint favourite character has to be Calcifer. He's beyond cute in the movie, and very funny in the book as well.
By the way, my cover looks like this - really lovely. And so fitting!
Mittwoch, März 03, 2010
An ancient meme
I just found this meme somewhere in a blog post 4 years old. I think I did it once before, but decided to do it again to check out the difference. The idea of this meme is to mark all the items read as bold, and then add four recently read books at the bottom. So here goes:
The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby – F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) – J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story – George Orwell
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
The Hobbit – J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
1984 – George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) – J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) – J.K. Rowling
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5) – J.K. Rowling
Slaughterhouse 5 – Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons – Dan Brown
Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Book 1) – J.K. Rowling
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) – J.K. Rowling
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
American Gods – Neil Gaiman
Ender’s Game (The Ender Saga) – Orson Scott Card
Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens – Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement – Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Dune – Frank Herbert
I think this is looking pretty good! A few of the unread books are standing on my shelf waiting to be read, and as for the rest...well, some day. :)
As for four books I recently read:
The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby – F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) – J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story – George Orwell
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
The Hobbit – J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
1984 – George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) – J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) – J.K. Rowling
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5) – J.K. Rowling
Slaughterhouse 5 – Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons – Dan Brown
Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Book 1) – J.K. Rowling
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) – J.K. Rowling
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
American Gods – Neil Gaiman
Ender’s Game (The Ender Saga) – Orson Scott Card
Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens – Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement – Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Dune – Frank Herbert
I think this is looking pretty good! A few of the unread books are standing on my shelf waiting to be read, and as for the rest...well, some day. :)
As for four books I recently read:
- Howl's Moving Castle (Dianne Wynne Jones) - I'm reading this one right now, I've got about half of it done. It's great! (I had to watch the movie again yesterday just for the fun of it.)
- At the Mountains of Madness (H.P. Lovecraft) - This was fun, reading a classic of horror literature (I suppose that's what it is). It was quite silly as well, and still I was a little scared reading it. Great suspense.
- The Debutante Divorceé (Plum Sykes) - Absolutely not what I usually read, but a friend gave it to me to register for Bookcrossing, and I was slightly depressed and couldn't sleep...the only right time for absolutely mindless stuff like this.
- The Scar (China Miéville) - I love this author. He writes great fantasy with beautiful and intriguing language, and he has the most amazing kind of ideas. My favourite of his so far has to be UN LUN DUN though. Can't breat that one (he illustrated it himself!).
Montag, Februar 15, 2010
Feburary, the Finishing Month
I am now, for the first time in my life, officially unemployed. ;)
Somehow I managed to get a sponsored course which will start next week. Since autumn I've done a 1-weekend-a-month-course to become a trainer in adult education, and my couselor got me this fulltime-ten-weeks course on becoming a trainer for teaching immigrants reading, writing and speaking skills. I'm really happy about this - it forms a beautiful synergy with the other course, it checks with my desire to help people and my love for language, it will bring me into contact with other cultures, especially those easily neglected (I'm guessing Eastern Europe etc).
Still, I'm anxious about the future. I've never been one of those people with one clear goal/obsession/path in life, and several wishes, ideas, desires are warring to be heard. I definitely worry too much. ;) I guess it's all nice and easy, I just can't quite see it yet.
Why the title of this post?
Well, since I am now unemployed (with still enough to do though ;)), I decided I'd finished a few long-postponed projects. Clearing out my wardrobe. Mending some clothes. Putting my finances in order. Getting rid of loads of stuff. Finishing some knitting projects (I even joined a Ravelympics Team for exactly that purpose - Team WIP :D). Stuff like that.
So far, it feels quite nice.
I finished a scarf that was supposed to be m boyfriend's present for Christmas. Christmas 2008. Geez. Though I must admit it went through a couple of transformations (initially it should have been a hat).
I cleaned up one of my cupboards.
I wrote some important administrational emails, all to do with money stuff.
I am currently registering loads of books I'll never ever read (I have to remind me of that time and time again - I will not ever be able to read everything, not even just those things that appeal to me) for Bookcrossing. I ripped them off my shelves during one of those later night "I've got too much stuff! Can't breathe!" - crises. Not to worry, I am not throwing out books I spent hundreds of euros on. Most of them are donations to BC (lots from my boyfriend this time!), another load I bought for 1 euro each.
I got started on my wardrobe and it is already looking so much better.
After tomorrow, fasting time traditionally begins, and I'm thinking about what 'll give up until Easter time. Since I feel that fasting is not a religious thing, but a natural preparation for the new cycle of life beginning in spring, I feel that this year I should honour this special time in some way. The above (getting rid of stuff and finishing unfinished stuff) is part of this honouring.
Somehow I managed to get a sponsored course which will start next week. Since autumn I've done a 1-weekend-a-month-course to become a trainer in adult education, and my couselor got me this fulltime-ten-weeks course on becoming a trainer for teaching immigrants reading, writing and speaking skills. I'm really happy about this - it forms a beautiful synergy with the other course, it checks with my desire to help people and my love for language, it will bring me into contact with other cultures, especially those easily neglected (I'm guessing Eastern Europe etc).
Still, I'm anxious about the future. I've never been one of those people with one clear goal/obsession/path in life, and several wishes, ideas, desires are warring to be heard. I definitely worry too much. ;) I guess it's all nice and easy, I just can't quite see it yet.
Why the title of this post?
Well, since I am now unemployed (with still enough to do though ;)), I decided I'd finished a few long-postponed projects. Clearing out my wardrobe. Mending some clothes. Putting my finances in order. Getting rid of loads of stuff. Finishing some knitting projects (I even joined a Ravelympics Team for exactly that purpose - Team WIP :D). Stuff like that.
So far, it feels quite nice.
I finished a scarf that was supposed to be m boyfriend's present for Christmas. Christmas 2008. Geez. Though I must admit it went through a couple of transformations (initially it should have been a hat).
I cleaned up one of my cupboards.
I wrote some important administrational emails, all to do with money stuff.
I am currently registering loads of books I'll never ever read (I have to remind me of that time and time again - I will not ever be able to read everything, not even just those things that appeal to me) for Bookcrossing. I ripped them off my shelves during one of those later night "I've got too much stuff! Can't breathe!" - crises. Not to worry, I am not throwing out books I spent hundreds of euros on. Most of them are donations to BC (lots from my boyfriend this time!), another load I bought for 1 euro each.
I got started on my wardrobe and it is already looking so much better.
After tomorrow, fasting time traditionally begins, and I'm thinking about what 'll give up until Easter time. Since I feel that fasting is not a religious thing, but a natural preparation for the new cycle of life beginning in spring, I feel that this year I should honour this special time in some way. The above (getting rid of stuff and finishing unfinished stuff) is part of this honouring.
Dienstag, Jänner 12, 2010
What happens next...
My current employment will end with the end of January. Despite all the usual stuff I will do because of that (meeting with a counselor of the national employment agency, applying for unemployment pay, writing loads of job applications) the bios of all those oh so successful people around me - or, right now, the job application received here at the office from someone three years younger than me but with loads more experience and expertise - made me think about collecting a portfolio of all the skills I've learned through my life, looking at that and feeling a bit better about myself. We did something like this a year ago at a workshop I visited, so I guess I'd better dig out the lists from back then and bring them into a nice, readable, appealing form.
I will apply for all kinds of things, from internships at newspapers and museums to actual jobs at libraries to whatever else comes to mind (I've got a list set and ready). Hopefully I can do some kind of training sponsored by this beautiful country I live in (since I had to pay for my current education to be a trainer in adult education all by myself, thanks a lot :P).
Some time soon I will also post all the things I knit for Christmas presents etc, and maybe some other pretty or at least happy things as well. :)
Grey and cold as it may be here in Graz, I hope you all had a great start into the new year. :)
I will apply for all kinds of things, from internships at newspapers and museums to actual jobs at libraries to whatever else comes to mind (I've got a list set and ready). Hopefully I can do some kind of training sponsored by this beautiful country I live in (since I had to pay for my current education to be a trainer in adult education all by myself, thanks a lot :P).
Some time soon I will also post all the things I knit for Christmas presents etc, and maybe some other pretty or at least happy things as well. :)
Grey and cold as it may be here in Graz, I hope you all had a great start into the new year. :)
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