This will be this year's final post. I'm a little sorry that I didn't post more than just the books I've been reading for the past few months, but - at least that, at least that.
So here, the final books for this year:
Paul Watzlawick, Anleitung zum Unglücklichsein
Fun in parts, a little sad in others when I recognised which of the things presented I did myself. Eye-opening, maybe not, but a reminder about certain issues, things to watch out for. I also liked the way it was written. Research notes but still easy and fun.
Literatur für AussteigerInnen, Oder wie sich die Welt ohne Auto bewegt
The second of those small green books our local public transport handed out some time ago. Several short stories about how public transport influences/improves people's lives. Actually quite good. Some stories can be downloaded here as audiobooks, for free.
Paul Wilson, Das kleine Buch der Freude
With useful tips like "Go to your nearest ocean beach and take a deep breath" (haha), recommending to drink (yeeees, drinking Baileys might just make me happy, eventually, for a short while, but...really?), and stating thrice that thinking positive thoughts will make life so much better (...what else is new?), this really wasn't that exciting/helpful/great.
Gregory Maguire, Mirror Mirror
I bought this one on a whim from a fellow student. I wasn't sure what to expect. I certainly didn't expect this. Beautiful use of language, very atmospheric, the BEST version of dwarfs I have ever seen and probably will ever see again, and a lovely combination of fairytale, history, fantasy, religion...except for the a little sudden ending a complete winner.
Banana
Yoshimoto, Kitchen, incl. Moonlight Shadow
I listened to the German audiobook a short while ago but decided I also wanted to read it. Right choice, too. So much beauty in so little space. I also really liked the short story that was included. Melancholy, both of them, but also sweet and hopeful.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Nachtflug
Since I previously only knew The Little Prince, this was quite a different experience. Short, beautiful, sad. It felt to me like quite a male book, being about the adventure of flying back in the 1930s and the hard decisions you need to make, the things you give up for that sort of adventure. Brief sentences, very little comfort. Still, beautiful. The last third was quite hard, because you can sense what's about to happen, the whole atmosphere, so well. I can't bring myself to say it was enjoyable, because it was too tense for that, but I liked it, definitely.
Das kleine Kamasutra
One of those tiny, cheap books produced so you can buy them as gag gifts or something like that. Not very good, but at least it took only 30 minutes max out of my life, and now I can give it away happily.
So, I managed to read a few more of the books from the list I posted
in July, but not all of them. Now, what I will do is, I will look
through the remaining 14 (at least I managed 17, so more than half, YES)
and let go of a few of them, but certainly not all. For example, I
started Der gold'ne Topf, but the first few chapters were mainly
confusing and odd, so I'm not really sure I want to continue. But I'm
not just giving away Ficciones or V for Vendetta because there wasn't enough time. I
achieved my goal, I read loads of books, some of which I'd been meaning
to read for ages, and I was able to get rid of some of them as well
(getting rid = taking them to Bookcrossing meetups and zones and
releasing them again). So all in all, the list was a success.
My goal for January is to read all of my Manga Power books (30 of them), and then give them away to make some space on our bookshelves. Should work. I think.
One more month until One Piece 65. Need to keep myself occupied.
Montag, Dezember 31, 2012
Sonntag, Dezember 02, 2012
November Reading
Mary Poppins, Pamela L. Travers
I only had the German version, but I guess it doesn't matter all too much. I had previously only known the Disney movie, and expected something similar - and while some of the elements certainly are there, I was quite surprised at how vain and strict Mary Poppins is in the books. As well as always admiring how fine she looks in any reflecting surface she encounters, she also has a habit of answering questions in a very flippant and unexplanatory way.
Something else that rather annoyed me was that during their little trip around the world, all the people they encounter speak perfectly fine German (and English, I suppose), except for the inhabitants of Africa. I guess 1934 were different times, yes, but still.
All in all, there were some nice ideas in there, but it wasn't all that exciting.
One Piece 63, Eiichiro Oda
Read once more as a refresher, since a lot of background information happened in this volume.
And then...
One Piece 64, Eiichiro Oda
As soon as it arrived, of course. Well, after rereading #63.I love these guys so much. And while they have become quite powerful by now, I trust that Mr. Oda will still find fun adventures for them to have.
The Big Five for Life, John P. Strelecky
Again, the German version. Funny enough, the English subtitle clearly designates it as showing secrets of good leadership, while the German version seems to put it into the general self-help corner. Well.
Ignoring the super-sentimental ending, there were some interesting points in there. A few new tricks to use, a few new ideas to implement. Always helpful, that.
Blaue Flecken auf der Seele, Francoise Sagan
I actually liked this one much more than Bonjour tristesse. A lovely mixture of plot, reflection on writing (of this story and in general) and musings about life. I think I'll be keeping this one.
Ophelia lernt schwimmen, Susanna Kubelka
This one was odd. A strange trip into the 80s, and something completely different than what I expected from reading the blurb. Some of the time, I though I was reading an 80s magazine, with lots of tips on proper diet, beauty tricks, musings on female empowerment, and the odd advice on how to have great sex. Sadly enough, there only seems to be one perfect formula for that, and everything else is a major failure. Right.
Also, the blurb stated that these were to be the aventures of a single woman over 40, and I thought that meant she would have to deal with the typical problems one associates with that age - not looking your absolute best anymore, not being as fit, possibly newly divorced and trying to find your footing in life...but no. Ophelia has a face/body like a 25-year-old, seemingly loses weight by eating buttered baguette (the fact that it's the vegetables that are responsible for all of the good resulst is mostly glossed over), makes any man who comes into contact with her fall madly in love with her just by means of looking the way she does (and not because she's particularly witty or anything), oh, and did I mention she has loads of money and is living in Paris for 6 months on someone elses cost?
Yes, I was disappointed. I expected something completely different. I had been looking forward to this book for quite a while, since when it came into the house, I had been told it was fun and nicely erotic - only to find out that it was neither. Well.
The one good thing I took from this book was one this one sentence: 'Wirf den Krempel über Bord.' (sort of: 'Chuck out the junk.'). Just what I'm doing at the moment.
Geschmacklosigkeiten von A bis Z, Karl Shaw
One of those tiny books you buy as joke gifts for friends. Strange little facts and anecdotes.
Wanted, Eiichiro Oda
Five manga short stories, written before he started on One Piece. Finally had to get them - it's such a long wait until February! Anyway, the quality of the stories steadily improves from Wanted (which he wrote at 16 or 17 years old while still at school) until Romance Dawn (the first version of One Piece). Finally learning about Ryuma, who appears on Thriller Bark in OP, was quite nice. Main insight: Seems like Mr. Oda has always had no small supply of strange and wonderful ideas.
The Last Hero, Terry Pratchett/Paul Kidby
Finally! I have no idea how long I've had this lying around. Very short for a Disworld story, but then there's all the beautiful pictures, of course. And I always love someone tricking the gods when they thought they already knew all the tricks. ;) Loved the ending also - actually, all of them. The thing with the tapestry? Genius. :D
I make that - seven (new) books in a month. Whew. Very good indeed!
I only had the German version, but I guess it doesn't matter all too much. I had previously only known the Disney movie, and expected something similar - and while some of the elements certainly are there, I was quite surprised at how vain and strict Mary Poppins is in the books. As well as always admiring how fine she looks in any reflecting surface she encounters, she also has a habit of answering questions in a very flippant and unexplanatory way.
Something else that rather annoyed me was that during their little trip around the world, all the people they encounter speak perfectly fine German (and English, I suppose), except for the inhabitants of Africa. I guess 1934 were different times, yes, but still.
All in all, there were some nice ideas in there, but it wasn't all that exciting.
One Piece 63, Eiichiro Oda
Read once more as a refresher, since a lot of background information happened in this volume.
And then...
One Piece 64, Eiichiro Oda
As soon as it arrived, of course. Well, after rereading #63.I love these guys so much. And while they have become quite powerful by now, I trust that Mr. Oda will still find fun adventures for them to have.
The Big Five for Life, John P. Strelecky
Again, the German version. Funny enough, the English subtitle clearly designates it as showing secrets of good leadership, while the German version seems to put it into the general self-help corner. Well.
Ignoring the super-sentimental ending, there were some interesting points in there. A few new tricks to use, a few new ideas to implement. Always helpful, that.
Blaue Flecken auf der Seele, Francoise Sagan
I actually liked this one much more than Bonjour tristesse. A lovely mixture of plot, reflection on writing (of this story and in general) and musings about life. I think I'll be keeping this one.
Ophelia lernt schwimmen, Susanna Kubelka
This one was odd. A strange trip into the 80s, and something completely different than what I expected from reading the blurb. Some of the time, I though I was reading an 80s magazine, with lots of tips on proper diet, beauty tricks, musings on female empowerment, and the odd advice on how to have great sex. Sadly enough, there only seems to be one perfect formula for that, and everything else is a major failure. Right.
Also, the blurb stated that these were to be the aventures of a single woman over 40, and I thought that meant she would have to deal with the typical problems one associates with that age - not looking your absolute best anymore, not being as fit, possibly newly divorced and trying to find your footing in life...but no. Ophelia has a face/body like a 25-year-old, seemingly loses weight by eating buttered baguette (the fact that it's the vegetables that are responsible for all of the good resulst is mostly glossed over), makes any man who comes into contact with her fall madly in love with her just by means of looking the way she does (and not because she's particularly witty or anything), oh, and did I mention she has loads of money and is living in Paris for 6 months on someone elses cost?
Yes, I was disappointed. I expected something completely different. I had been looking forward to this book for quite a while, since when it came into the house, I had been told it was fun and nicely erotic - only to find out that it was neither. Well.
The one good thing I took from this book was one this one sentence: 'Wirf den Krempel über Bord.' (sort of: 'Chuck out the junk.'). Just what I'm doing at the moment.
Geschmacklosigkeiten von A bis Z, Karl Shaw
One of those tiny books you buy as joke gifts for friends. Strange little facts and anecdotes.
Wanted, Eiichiro Oda
Five manga short stories, written before he started on One Piece. Finally had to get them - it's such a long wait until February! Anyway, the quality of the stories steadily improves from Wanted (which he wrote at 16 or 17 years old while still at school) until Romance Dawn (the first version of One Piece). Finally learning about Ryuma, who appears on Thriller Bark in OP, was quite nice. Main insight: Seems like Mr. Oda has always had no small supply of strange and wonderful ideas.
The Last Hero, Terry Pratchett/Paul Kidby
Finally! I have no idea how long I've had this lying around. Very short for a Disworld story, but then there's all the beautiful pictures, of course. And I always love someone tricking the gods when they thought they already knew all the tricks. ;) Loved the ending also - actually, all of them. The thing with the tapestry? Genius. :D
I make that - seven (new) books in a month. Whew. Very good indeed!
Dienstag, November 06, 2012
September + October Reading
Lots of uni work mixed with freelance work lately, so it seems I'm back to being a lazy blogger. But here's what I read recently, at least.
September
Grüne Smoothies (GU)
A book on green smoothies, the background on why they're supposed to be so good for you, and lots of recipes - which contain far too many out-of-the-way ingredients for me. So when I make some, I just mix what I come up with myself. So far, lots of successes and only one real failure. :)
The Anti 9-5 Guide, Michelle Goodman
Just as fun and helpful as the second one. I love these. Soon, soon, I'll properly work through them
October
Wishcraft, Barbara Sher
Somewhat dated, which annoyed me a little - I guess for a 30th anniversary one *could* have reworked the text, so that it doesn't give time goals in 1981 as something desirable, and typist as a very likely job you might have as a woman. Otherwise, some helpful tools and a nice, motivating read.
Bonjour Tristesse, Francoise Sagan
I've been meaning to read this forever. Short, sweet, sad.
Nero Corleone, Elke Heidenreich
Same here, except that it's a little shorter, a little less sad, and has pretty illustrations.
Focus on Facts #5 Unsolved Mysteries, Neville Randall & Gary Keane
I don't really know what to say. Theories from the 70s about all sorts of mysterious phenomena (UFOs, Nessie, bird migration...) presented in the form of very dark and nearly illegible comic strips.
Hubert spannt aus und andere Geschichten aus der Business Class, Martin Suter
I loved these the first time around and I loved them just as much now. Very short (because initially published as a newspaper column), very true, and quite witty.
Your shopping list from outer space and other articles, Rewritten by L.A.Hill
Again, a book from the 70s. Four newspaper articles rewritten for English students. Very, very dated, which added to the fun. All the things possible concerning communication thanks to space travel! Laughable now, with the internet, but back then...
Anyway, not very exciting, but I did have *some* fun while reading it.
Die Schrift II, Grazer Autorenkollektiv (GRAUKO)
Surprisingly good. I know two of the writers, one was a student at my department, one was a teacher. At first I didn't expect much from these texts, I don't even know why (small-country smallmindedness, how can something by local authors be any good? haha), but I really really liked most of them.
The Witches, Roald Dahl
Very, very different to what I expected. Very different also to the other Dahl books I read so far. Very sombre, pragmatic, a little like a memoir, and no traditional happy end either. Odd. I always imagined something completely different for this book. I wonder what the film is like. Will have to watch that soon.
J.W. v. Goethe, Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (Fassung A+B)
And now, my exam reading list. I never read this in school, I never read it as a teenager, now I read it with annotations and background info and I'm so glad I did, and did it this way. It may have been overkill to read both versions, since the difference isn't *that* huge, but there is one, and I'm glad I did.
Goethe, Die Wahlverwandschaften
Very, very drawn out and boring. Sorry. Gardening, worried, melancholy people, allusions to alchemy, more melancholy, sadsadsad. If Goethe was sad as a young man, this didn't really make me feel as if he'd gotten over it.
Still Goethe, Faust I
At least we read this one at school. Thanks, lousy literary education, but at least this one! However, I must have forgotten a lot of it, or the annotations explained things I previously just didn't understand, who knows...anyway, it was entirely different to...13 years ago. Who would have thought. :P Anyway, this really made me regret the lack of annotated books on my shelves. I felt like I wasted all my time at university. Really, I did. There I go looking down in people who just watch the movies instead of reading the books (which IS Shameful, capital S), but I hardly ever read an annotated novel, and I must have missed SO much.
******
So, well done October, huh? Maybe I can keep this up until the end of the year - there's still several books on that reading list I pulled together that I haven't touched yet.
September
Grüne Smoothies (GU)
A book on green smoothies, the background on why they're supposed to be so good for you, and lots of recipes - which contain far too many out-of-the-way ingredients for me. So when I make some, I just mix what I come up with myself. So far, lots of successes and only one real failure. :)
The Anti 9-5 Guide, Michelle Goodman
Just as fun and helpful as the second one. I love these. Soon, soon, I'll properly work through them
October
Wishcraft, Barbara Sher
Somewhat dated, which annoyed me a little - I guess for a 30th anniversary one *could* have reworked the text, so that it doesn't give time goals in 1981 as something desirable, and typist as a very likely job you might have as a woman. Otherwise, some helpful tools and a nice, motivating read.
Bonjour Tristesse, Francoise Sagan
I've been meaning to read this forever. Short, sweet, sad.
Nero Corleone, Elke Heidenreich
Same here, except that it's a little shorter, a little less sad, and has pretty illustrations.
Focus on Facts #5 Unsolved Mysteries, Neville Randall & Gary Keane
I don't really know what to say. Theories from the 70s about all sorts of mysterious phenomena (UFOs, Nessie, bird migration...) presented in the form of very dark and nearly illegible comic strips.
Hubert spannt aus und andere Geschichten aus der Business Class, Martin Suter
I loved these the first time around and I loved them just as much now. Very short (because initially published as a newspaper column), very true, and quite witty.
Your shopping list from outer space and other articles, Rewritten by L.A.Hill
Again, a book from the 70s. Four newspaper articles rewritten for English students. Very, very dated, which added to the fun. All the things possible concerning communication thanks to space travel! Laughable now, with the internet, but back then...
Anyway, not very exciting, but I did have *some* fun while reading it.
Die Schrift II, Grazer Autorenkollektiv (GRAUKO)
Surprisingly good. I know two of the writers, one was a student at my department, one was a teacher. At first I didn't expect much from these texts, I don't even know why (small-country smallmindedness, how can something by local authors be any good? haha), but I really really liked most of them.
The Witches, Roald Dahl
Very, very different to what I expected. Very different also to the other Dahl books I read so far. Very sombre, pragmatic, a little like a memoir, and no traditional happy end either. Odd. I always imagined something completely different for this book. I wonder what the film is like. Will have to watch that soon.
J.W. v. Goethe, Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (Fassung A+B)
And now, my exam reading list. I never read this in school, I never read it as a teenager, now I read it with annotations and background info and I'm so glad I did, and did it this way. It may have been overkill to read both versions, since the difference isn't *that* huge, but there is one, and I'm glad I did.
Goethe, Die Wahlverwandschaften
Very, very drawn out and boring. Sorry. Gardening, worried, melancholy people, allusions to alchemy, more melancholy, sadsadsad. If Goethe was sad as a young man, this didn't really make me feel as if he'd gotten over it.
Still Goethe, Faust I
At least we read this one at school. Thanks, lousy literary education, but at least this one! However, I must have forgotten a lot of it, or the annotations explained things I previously just didn't understand, who knows...anyway, it was entirely different to...13 years ago. Who would have thought. :P Anyway, this really made me regret the lack of annotated books on my shelves. I felt like I wasted all my time at university. Really, I did. There I go looking down in people who just watch the movies instead of reading the books (which IS Shameful, capital S), but I hardly ever read an annotated novel, and I must have missed SO much.
******
So, well done October, huh? Maybe I can keep this up until the end of the year - there's still several books on that reading list I pulled together that I haven't touched yet.
Montag, September 03, 2012
August Reading
First of all, sorry for the not-complying-with-my.own-format-format of the comic in the last post, but I really wanted to post it as it was, not just a link. Important stuff.
Anyway, books. I know this blog, for the past few weeks, has seen nothing but "what I've been reading" posts, but somehow that's all I manage right now. Also, I'm so happy about reading stuff! Maybe soon I'll get back into the swing of things, get back my writing mojo, whatever.
August has been interesting. I packed lots of tiny little books from my reading list for my one-week holiday, thinking I would spend enough time lying in bed or sitting on balconies reading. Instead I mostly flopped into bed dead-tired at the end of the day and watched TV with my boyfriend, because it seemed easiest. But I managed two of the books, at least. ;)
Thus, all in all, August looks pretty impressive! Let's just ignore that half of these were really REALLY short...
Elaine St. James - Living the simple life (for the xth time)
Whenever there is some disorder/disruption in my life, I turn to my simple living books. I could just as well add the Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs, because I spent many late hours in its pages during July and August as well, but I'm only putting books in the list which I've read front to back, and this is much easier with the Elaine St. James book. So...for the xth time, yes. Calming.
Know Alls Facts of Life
This is a tiny, tiny book, which a friend of mine rescued from the closeout sale of a local bookstore, about things kids/teens might ask about where babies come from/what's happening to them during puberty etc. I must admit, it was better than expected.
Dr. Seuss - Oh, the places you'll go
I ordered this as a gift for the baptism of my nephew. I hadn't even realised my sister asked for a present of books. I just read a nice story online about how a father gave this book to his daughter at high-school graduation and had collected comments from all her teachers etc in the book throughout her school career. Then I checked out the book. I hardly know any Dr. Seuss books, and I really need to change that. Anyway, I found the complete text online, really liked it and thought it appropriate. So what if he probably won't understand a thing until in about 12-14 years. Maybe I'll try to translate. Not that translating Dr. Seuss is particularly easy, but I can try.
Alina Pete - Weregeek Volume 1 - The Geek Within
Webcomic in book form. Need to read more webcomic. Liked it more the second time around, actually. Now, need to read more webcomic.
One Piece #63
< 3 forever
Roald Dahl - Kuschelmuschel (engl. title: Switch Bitch, 4 short stories)
I might have read this before, but I really couldn't remember properly. Four sort of macabre stories, as expected, with the set-up being more on the 'adult' side, but the whole storie, in the end, really more on the macabre side. Well.
Truman Capote - Frühstück bei Tiffany (tiny book collecting Breakfast at Tiffany's with four other short stories and some comments on the movie)
Yay, I finally managed to read it. In German, but better than nothing. Quite different than I expected. And I don't even know the film. But still. Maybe I'll need to read it in English and watch the movie and thus complete my education about this.
What I really liked was the description of Holly's hair. For reasons apparent to anyone who knows mine.
Michelle Goodman - My so-called freelance life
Makes me jump out of bed full of ideas and shake with fear (of ever going back to an office job) in turns. Very helpful. I also have her first book, which I read some time ago and am just reading again, just for the heck of it. The good thing: I'm not really afraid of what I'm planning anymore. It has worked out for others, it will work out for me. And the book really teaches to be smart about your situation, and if you need extra work, take it. OK.
Audiobooks (in German)
Jim Dodge - Fup (read by Harry Rowohlt)
This was fun. It was very different to what I expected, but one of the funniest things I've 'read' in the past few months. As well as that, I had heard about the peculiarities of Harry Rowohlt reading, but...wow...the 'sipping coffee' was probably my favourite thing.
Banana Yoshimoto - Kitchen (read by Jessica Schwarz)
Maybe one day I will read a Japanese book that is different, but then again, I really like the dreamy, slow pace of the ones I've read so far. This is a prime example. I really need to remember, next time, to get out of the mindset that big things need to happen, or waiting for the big plot etc. This is 'just' a slice of life, a very beautifully written one. Tender, delicate, calming.
Giovanni Boccaccio - Decamerone (novella 5, 16, 18, 20 and 28)
Sadly, I have no idea who read these stories. Highly enjoyable, anyway. :)
So, I count 8 books and 3 audiobooks. Yay! :D
Anyway, books. I know this blog, for the past few weeks, has seen nothing but "what I've been reading" posts, but somehow that's all I manage right now. Also, I'm so happy about reading stuff! Maybe soon I'll get back into the swing of things, get back my writing mojo, whatever.
August has been interesting. I packed lots of tiny little books from my reading list for my one-week holiday, thinking I would spend enough time lying in bed or sitting on balconies reading. Instead I mostly flopped into bed dead-tired at the end of the day and watched TV with my boyfriend, because it seemed easiest. But I managed two of the books, at least. ;)
Thus, all in all, August looks pretty impressive! Let's just ignore that half of these were really REALLY short...
Elaine St. James - Living the simple life (for the xth time)
Whenever there is some disorder/disruption in my life, I turn to my simple living books. I could just as well add the Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs, because I spent many late hours in its pages during July and August as well, but I'm only putting books in the list which I've read front to back, and this is much easier with the Elaine St. James book. So...for the xth time, yes. Calming.
Know Alls Facts of Life
This is a tiny, tiny book, which a friend of mine rescued from the closeout sale of a local bookstore, about things kids/teens might ask about where babies come from/what's happening to them during puberty etc. I must admit, it was better than expected.
Dr. Seuss - Oh, the places you'll go
I ordered this as a gift for the baptism of my nephew. I hadn't even realised my sister asked for a present of books. I just read a nice story online about how a father gave this book to his daughter at high-school graduation and had collected comments from all her teachers etc in the book throughout her school career. Then I checked out the book. I hardly know any Dr. Seuss books, and I really need to change that. Anyway, I found the complete text online, really liked it and thought it appropriate. So what if he probably won't understand a thing until in about 12-14 years. Maybe I'll try to translate. Not that translating Dr. Seuss is particularly easy, but I can try.
Alina Pete - Weregeek Volume 1 - The Geek Within
Webcomic in book form. Need to read more webcomic. Liked it more the second time around, actually. Now, need to read more webcomic.
One Piece #63
< 3 forever
Roald Dahl - Kuschelmuschel (engl. title: Switch Bitch, 4 short stories)
I might have read this before, but I really couldn't remember properly. Four sort of macabre stories, as expected, with the set-up being more on the 'adult' side, but the whole storie, in the end, really more on the macabre side. Well.
Truman Capote - Frühstück bei Tiffany (tiny book collecting Breakfast at Tiffany's with four other short stories and some comments on the movie)
Yay, I finally managed to read it. In German, but better than nothing. Quite different than I expected. And I don't even know the film. But still. Maybe I'll need to read it in English and watch the movie and thus complete my education about this.
What I really liked was the description of Holly's hair. For reasons apparent to anyone who knows mine.
Michelle Goodman - My so-called freelance life
Makes me jump out of bed full of ideas and shake with fear (of ever going back to an office job) in turns. Very helpful. I also have her first book, which I read some time ago and am just reading again, just for the heck of it. The good thing: I'm not really afraid of what I'm planning anymore. It has worked out for others, it will work out for me. And the book really teaches to be smart about your situation, and if you need extra work, take it. OK.
Audiobooks (in German)
Jim Dodge - Fup (read by Harry Rowohlt)
This was fun. It was very different to what I expected, but one of the funniest things I've 'read' in the past few months. As well as that, I had heard about the peculiarities of Harry Rowohlt reading, but...wow...the 'sipping coffee' was probably my favourite thing.
Banana Yoshimoto - Kitchen (read by Jessica Schwarz)
Maybe one day I will read a Japanese book that is different, but then again, I really like the dreamy, slow pace of the ones I've read so far. This is a prime example. I really need to remember, next time, to get out of the mindset that big things need to happen, or waiting for the big plot etc. This is 'just' a slice of life, a very beautifully written one. Tender, delicate, calming.
Giovanni Boccaccio - Decamerone (novella 5, 16, 18, 20 and 28)
Sadly, I have no idea who read these stories. Highly enjoyable, anyway. :)
So, I count 8 books and 3 audiobooks. Yay! :D
Sonntag, September 02, 2012
Freitag, August 10, 2012
July Reading
I thought I'd finally post again, with my July reading list. And yay, it's looking much more impressive than those of the last few months. :D
Neonomicon - Alan Moore
A birthday gift which has been on my wishlist ever since it came out. Combines The Courtyard (which I already own) with its follow-up, The Neonomicon, in one volume. I probably shouldn't have read it right after I received it (ie starting at 2am in the morning), but how could I resist? I admit that The Courtyard by itself is much more dense, intense and chilling than the new story, but I enjoyed some more in-depth information on the Lovecraft stories and how the story played with my own prejudices (yes, I do have some, but at least I'm aware when I encounter them, and then immediately tell myself I'm being silly).
The Gift (1st Book of Pellinor) - Alison Croggon
Birthday gift for my boyfriend, but I had to read it as well. The first chapter got me hooked, but sadly, the first few chapters are also the most exciting ones. A lot of ideas are packed into this without much explanation, some things are mentioned ones and then never again, there is a lot (and I mean A LOT) of landscape description which, at the beginning, was rather charming, but later added only very little, and sadly, it wasn't really offset by an equal amount of action/story progression.
I really wanted to like it, since some of the ideas sound great, but I'm not sure yet whether I'll get the other 3 novels. I could probably hope that some of those neat ideas strung up in the story like a beadnecklace find actual practial use and more in-depth explanation in the coming volumes, but who knows?
Y: The Last Man 1-10 - Brian K. Vaughan (+ various artists)
Oh wow. Complete love. :D
I started reading this a couple of years ago. I only got myself the first volume out of interest, read that several times, then got the second one, and then bought the rest in one fell swoop some time last year, I think. I read up to volume 3, then stopped. Why? I have no idea. This time, I read them all within a few days, and, well...wow. Very unexpected things happening all the time. Nothing that I could have foreseen. Awesome ending. Lots of food for thought. Amazing characters. I have to admit, right through reading and especially the few days after finishing I had a lot of love for Yorick. I will read them all again soon, look more closely at the details, and I think I'll find a lot of new stuff (as it happened with The Sandman books...just volume 1 was amazing when read several times...).
Highly recommended, if you have any liking for graphic novels at all.
Quite ugly one morning - Christopher Brookmyre
Now, I don't really read mysteries/thrillers/whatever, and I don't really watch them, either. I'm not really sure why. I used to blame it on one miserable reading experience in my early teens, which was just bland and silly and offered nothing (I only remember the strangely executed sex scene somewhere in the desert?), and since then I've basically avoided the genre, except for one seminar at uni dealing with detective fiction (Poe, Christie, etc) which I enjoyed. Again, I have no idea why I didn't read more after that course. I mean, I even managed to write two decent short stories after that course, and I had never even thought about writing detective fiction before.
Anyway, one of my friends from university has repeatedly said how much he loves the books by this author, so when I visited him last summer, I borrowed this one, the first. As is usually the case, it languished on my bookshelf until recently, but now that I've read it? Yes, I understand why he likes them. Nice characters, interesting case, social criticism, very good dialogues...very nice indeed. When I visit him the next time, I might just borrow some more. ;)
The Songs of Distant Earth von Arthur C. Clarke - so ein Oxford Easy Reader mit 5 Kurzgeschichten
Something short after the The Last Man intensity/insanity. Not really all that exciting.
Gamekeeper - Guy Ritchie (Andy Diggle, Mukesh Singh)
Nice graphic novel which, after first finishing it, I was really disappointed with (how could it end like that?), and then, when I learned that a second volume is actually in development, forgave completely. Short, intense, brutal (it's Guy Ritchie...of course it is), very nicely drawn, too...I really hope that second volume comes out some time soon.
And then I started Kraken, and had to take a break from that after some chapters, because, phew, it's a little intense. And with all the freelance work, job hunting, house cleaning in progress right now, I couldn't really take it. And somehow, I still can't. So it's waiting patiently beside my bed while I read stuff on clutter clearing and simple living for the xth time, and comics. Heh.
Neonomicon - Alan Moore
A birthday gift which has been on my wishlist ever since it came out. Combines The Courtyard (which I already own) with its follow-up, The Neonomicon, in one volume. I probably shouldn't have read it right after I received it (ie starting at 2am in the morning), but how could I resist? I admit that The Courtyard by itself is much more dense, intense and chilling than the new story, but I enjoyed some more in-depth information on the Lovecraft stories and how the story played with my own prejudices (yes, I do have some, but at least I'm aware when I encounter them, and then immediately tell myself I'm being silly).
The Gift (1st Book of Pellinor) - Alison Croggon
Birthday gift for my boyfriend, but I had to read it as well. The first chapter got me hooked, but sadly, the first few chapters are also the most exciting ones. A lot of ideas are packed into this without much explanation, some things are mentioned ones and then never again, there is a lot (and I mean A LOT) of landscape description which, at the beginning, was rather charming, but later added only very little, and sadly, it wasn't really offset by an equal amount of action/story progression.
I really wanted to like it, since some of the ideas sound great, but I'm not sure yet whether I'll get the other 3 novels. I could probably hope that some of those neat ideas strung up in the story like a beadnecklace find actual practial use and more in-depth explanation in the coming volumes, but who knows?
Y: The Last Man 1-10 - Brian K. Vaughan (+ various artists)
Oh wow. Complete love. :D
I started reading this a couple of years ago. I only got myself the first volume out of interest, read that several times, then got the second one, and then bought the rest in one fell swoop some time last year, I think. I read up to volume 3, then stopped. Why? I have no idea. This time, I read them all within a few days, and, well...wow. Very unexpected things happening all the time. Nothing that I could have foreseen. Awesome ending. Lots of food for thought. Amazing characters. I have to admit, right through reading and especially the few days after finishing I had a lot of love for Yorick. I will read them all again soon, look more closely at the details, and I think I'll find a lot of new stuff (as it happened with The Sandman books...just volume 1 was amazing when read several times...).
Highly recommended, if you have any liking for graphic novels at all.
Quite ugly one morning - Christopher Brookmyre
Now, I don't really read mysteries/thrillers/whatever, and I don't really watch them, either. I'm not really sure why. I used to blame it on one miserable reading experience in my early teens, which was just bland and silly and offered nothing (I only remember the strangely executed sex scene somewhere in the desert?), and since then I've basically avoided the genre, except for one seminar at uni dealing with detective fiction (Poe, Christie, etc) which I enjoyed. Again, I have no idea why I didn't read more after that course. I mean, I even managed to write two decent short stories after that course, and I had never even thought about writing detective fiction before.
Anyway, one of my friends from university has repeatedly said how much he loves the books by this author, so when I visited him last summer, I borrowed this one, the first. As is usually the case, it languished on my bookshelf until recently, but now that I've read it? Yes, I understand why he likes them. Nice characters, interesting case, social criticism, very good dialogues...very nice indeed. When I visit him the next time, I might just borrow some more. ;)
The Songs of Distant Earth von Arthur C. Clarke - so ein Oxford Easy Reader mit 5 Kurzgeschichten
Something short after the The Last Man intensity/insanity. Not really all that exciting.
Gamekeeper - Guy Ritchie (Andy Diggle, Mukesh Singh)
Nice graphic novel which, after first finishing it, I was really disappointed with (how could it end like that?), and then, when I learned that a second volume is actually in development, forgave completely. Short, intense, brutal (it's Guy Ritchie...of course it is), very nicely drawn, too...I really hope that second volume comes out some time soon.
And then I started Kraken, and had to take a break from that after some chapters, because, phew, it's a little intense. And with all the freelance work, job hunting, house cleaning in progress right now, I couldn't really take it. And somehow, I still can't. So it's waiting patiently beside my bed while I read stuff on clutter clearing and simple living for the xth time, and comics. Heh.
Sonntag, Juli 15, 2012
Reading Roll
Since I'm sort of on a reading roll right now, and it feels immensely good, I decided to go through my shelves of unread books (MTBR in Bookcrossing speak) and pull some long-languishing pieces from them, to compile a sort of reading list for the next few weeks. What I've mainly been looking for are shortish things that I can read within a shortish amount of time - and then release (or keep if they are really excellent). This will help with several things: my reading goal for this year [since half the year is officially past, I did a count - I'm currently at 14 novels and 62 manga if I only count up to June, and 17 novels, 62 manga and 11 graphic novels (Neonomicon, 1 volume; Y: The Last Man, 10 volumes) if I add what I've already read in July (which is a lot, as you can see. I'm on a roll!). So, if I count the graphic novels as separate books, I'm at 28 books and 62 manga. If I don't, and count them as one book, I'm at 18 books. If I put graphic novels in a whole different category...well, yeah, 17 is not remotely close to the 26 I should be at. I guess definitions here are quite loose, and I could count them as books if I wanted to, but just for the sake of it, I could try and get to 52 books which are mostly text (even though that might just subtract even more from my 'books' number...grrrr). I don't know. I guess I'll just throw them into one pot, except for the manga - and Ijust realised this was supposed to be just a one-line count of what I've read so far...geez], clearing some space on my shelves, being more at peace with myself (because I really want to know more books! MORE!), getting new ideas for other projects, and who knows what else.
I don't need to read these in a particular order or anything, but I really want to get these read. Here they are:
There's some amongst that list that I've been meaning to read for ages, and some that I don't really care about massively, but have some vague interest in, and some I already started at some point but never finished, and some surprise ones which just ended up with me because they sound fun. I just made a count, there's 31 books in that list. If I manage all of that, I should be well settled for my goal. :)
And I think reading something light and easy will also be quite nice, because...right now I'm in the middle of Kraken by China Miéville, and it is many things, but it's definitely not light, and definitely not easy. ;)
Edit (2/9/2012): Reading them in the summer might have been a bit idealistic/naive. I give them until the end of the year.
I don't need to read these in a particular order or anything, but I really want to get these read. Here they are:
Roald Dahl, The Witches (191 pages)- Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones (174 pages) - I've started this twice but never read the whole thing :P
- Iris Murdoch, A Severed Head (205 pages)
Paul Watzlawick, Anleitung zum Unglücklichsein (124 pages)- Märchen von Katzen (186 pages)
Truman Capote, Frühstück bei Tiffany (147 pages)- Khalil Gibran, Der Prophet (72 pages)
- Herman Hesse, Gertrud (123 pages)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Nachtflug (138 pages)Roald Dahl, Kuschelmuschel (124 pages)Martin Suter, Hubert spannt aus und andere Geschichten aus der Business Class (63 pages)Literatur für AussteigerInnen (89 pages)- Räuber, Mörder, Sittenstrolche (142 pages)
- E.T.A. Hoffmann, Der goldene Topf (128 pages)
- Dorothea Keuler, Undankbare Arbeit (108 pages)
Elke Heidenreich, Nero Corleone (88 pages)GRAUKO, Die Schrift II (64 pages)- H.W. Longfellow, Evangeline (89 pages) - more like poetry, but who cares?
Pamela L. Travers, Mary Poppins (174 pages)Francoise Sagan, Blaue Flecken auf der Seele (191 pages)Francoise Sagan, Bonjour Tristesse (184 pages)- Jim Grace, Stadt der Küsse (256 pages)
- Stefan Grabínski, Das graue Zimmer (369 pages)
- Andrew Sean Greer, The Confessions of Max Tivoli (267 pages)
Gregory Maguire, Mirror Mirror (278 pages)- Garth Nix, The Creature in the Case (109 pages)
Facts of Life (190 pages) - but really tiny ones. ;)Your shopping list from outer space (44 pages) - hahahahaNeville Randall and Gary Keane, Focus on Fact #5 Unsolved Mysteries (128) - ehehehehe
Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero- Alan Moore, V for Vendetta
There's some amongst that list that I've been meaning to read for ages, and some that I don't really care about massively, but have some vague interest in, and some I already started at some point but never finished, and some surprise ones which just ended up with me because they sound fun. I just made a count, there's 31 books in that list. If I manage all of that, I should be well settled for my goal. :)
And I think reading something light and easy will also be quite nice, because...right now I'm in the middle of Kraken by China Miéville, and it is many things, but it's definitely not light, and definitely not easy. ;)
Edit (2/9/2012): Reading them in the summer might have been a bit idealistic/naive. I give them until the end of the year.
June Reading
I just realised, I never made my June reading update. Even though I finally read a little more, again!
It's just two books, I just realised. It felt like much more. I guess it's the stuff I've been reading since the beginning of July which made me think that. Anyway:
Roald Dahl's Incredible Chocolate Box
Neil Gamian, Anansi Boys
Reading Anansi Boys was just so much fun I must have thought that June was much more bookactionfilled than I thought.
Oh, here's the thing - I read the beginning of two books, namely "The Gift" by Alison Croggon and "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch, because I gifted them to my boyfriend for his birthday and, just to check I hadn't given him something silly, I read the first few pages of each of them. I liked them, too. (More on "The Gift" once July is over, I guess.) And after May, where I only, and sporadically, touched American Gods, this must have been quite a rush to my poor dried-up system.
I have to say, I really enjoyed Anansi Boys much more than American Gods, and I don't think that's entirely due to my very, very drawn-out reading of the latter. It was just so much more fun, more compact, and probably also a little easier on me. American Gods is essentially a road movie with a lot of little interesting episodes. Anansi Boys felt more like a really rounded novel, one interesting plot with many interesting characters which in the end all nicely fit together, just like the Pratchett books I used to read. Things which seem disconnected and make no sense at first suddenly interlocking like the perfect puzzle pieces they are. I did not have the same sense of completion with American Gods. I still like it, and it is immensely clever and interesting, and it has Loki in it, but, yeah, Anansi Boys will probably be my favourite son. :P
I can't say much about the Roald Dahl. It's, like, 50 pages, if at all. And it just lists chocolate facts in big, easy to reads print. It's fun for the half hour it takes you to leaf through it. It has excerpts from books and not quite random facts about Roald Dahl. It's nice. And, see, that's really all I can say about it.
Just wait for the July update. That one is going to be MASSIVE. :D *happydance* Oh, I've missed reading so much SO MUCH! :) (ie this much so much, if that makes more sense)
It's just two books, I just realised. It felt like much more. I guess it's the stuff I've been reading since the beginning of July which made me think that. Anyway:
Roald Dahl's Incredible Chocolate Box
Neil Gamian, Anansi Boys
Reading Anansi Boys was just so much fun I must have thought that June was much more bookactionfilled than I thought.
Oh, here's the thing - I read the beginning of two books, namely "The Gift" by Alison Croggon and "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch, because I gifted them to my boyfriend for his birthday and, just to check I hadn't given him something silly, I read the first few pages of each of them. I liked them, too. (More on "The Gift" once July is over, I guess.) And after May, where I only, and sporadically, touched American Gods, this must have been quite a rush to my poor dried-up system.
I have to say, I really enjoyed Anansi Boys much more than American Gods, and I don't think that's entirely due to my very, very drawn-out reading of the latter. It was just so much more fun, more compact, and probably also a little easier on me. American Gods is essentially a road movie with a lot of little interesting episodes. Anansi Boys felt more like a really rounded novel, one interesting plot with many interesting characters which in the end all nicely fit together, just like the Pratchett books I used to read. Things which seem disconnected and make no sense at first suddenly interlocking like the perfect puzzle pieces they are. I did not have the same sense of completion with American Gods. I still like it, and it is immensely clever and interesting, and it has Loki in it, but, yeah, Anansi Boys will probably be my favourite son. :P
I can't say much about the Roald Dahl. It's, like, 50 pages, if at all. And it just lists chocolate facts in big, easy to reads print. It's fun for the half hour it takes you to leaf through it. It has excerpts from books and not quite random facts about Roald Dahl. It's nice. And, see, that's really all I can say about it.
Just wait for the July update. That one is going to be MASSIVE. :D *happydance* Oh, I've missed reading so much SO MUCH! :) (ie this much so much, if that makes more sense)
Mittwoch, Juli 11, 2012
CP 2: Xenoblade Chronicles #2
As promised, some research and actual pictures/videos from the game. I have by now played for around 30 hours and reached/explored what I suppose must be the largest area in the game, although going further might prove me completely wrong. I'm still stunned by the actual size of this world. This is only the third area, after all, and it's huge. I've never seen the like.
Anyway, background information. Very alert ones among you might already have guessed that this game was produced by Monolith Soft, a company founded by former Square employees. They're best known for the Xenosaga trilogy, which, of course, is related to Xenogears, one of those excellent games never to grace the European games market (a source of deep regret for me, as the more I look into it, the more I wish I could have played it/could still play it some day). Previously mostly owned by Namco Bandai, it changed hands over to Nintendo in 2007, which offers the explanation of how I managed to find myself playing an RPG on the Wii (something I really never expected I would do).
At this point I'd really like you to check out the Xenogears OST, and especially the MYTH orchestral album. I got these a couple of days ago, and am deeply obsessed. At least, listen to these two, which are basically the opening and the prologue music of Xenogears. Or just watch the whole opening, really.
I listened to these two on eternal loop, together with this, this and this, the whole of yesterday afternoon, evening, and a large part of night. Insane, but oh, the prettiness of it all. [The day I originally wrote this not being the same I posted this, but...I'm still listening to those songs, hehe.]
Music is also one of the strong points of Xenoblade. The Xenogears OST was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, one of my absolute heroes ever since I played Chrono Chross (listen to the Chrono Chross opening here - honestly, do!), and he apparently supplied some material for Xenoblade as well.
Actually, several composers have done work on the Xenoblade OST, and in comparison to what happened with the Final Fantasy 10 OST (where I felt a harsh contrats between those tracks done by Nobuo Uematsu and those by the others),the result is really quite organic and smooth.
But then, this is not supposed to be a post about music. I just get really carried away with RPG music (and probably music in general). There might just be a separate post about the Xenoblade OST, as I have had deep feelings for that ever since I started playing. Yes, really. I'm in love. ;)
Now, since anyone can just read up on certain facts on the relevant Wikipedia-Pages, here's some of what I think about story, gameplay etc. so far:
1) Story: After the intriguing intro (the end of which gives me goosebumps every time), the story seemed to move rather slowly for me, but that was just due to me just exploring the world and doing missions for *hours* before progressing. It then, of course, got very interesting very quickly. War between two very different races? Magical (?) weapons which suddenly don't work as the heroes thought they should? The pros and cons of seeing glimpses of the future? Wooo! I think it's really going to be a lot of fun, and interesting in a philosophical way as well.
2) Gameplay: Geez, I never thought I'd get really excited about gameplay stuff. I really thought of myself of being there for the story, most of all. I'm not much of a tactician. A lot of the time, I didn't need to be when playing games. But here...The battles move quickly, and a lot of the time you can actually decide whether you want to enter into them or not. I admit that when fighting more than one enemy at once, they get chaotic and a little obscure, but they're still mostly a lot of fun, so I'll forgive them their failings. There's so many features, so many things you can do, and I've only 'collected' half of the playable characters so far. First of all you can choose freely which characters to place in your party (yes, you can switch out your main character with the magic sword :P). You can choose freely which of them to control. Then, you can choose which choice of 8 skills the characters have at their disposal (they learn new ones all the time). You can choose what other support talents they learn in what order. You can choose whether they learn talents someone else has learned. Then, you use those skills in battle in a way that makes sense when working together with your teammates. You can do chain attacks, you can do battle calls to motivate your friends, you can help them up when they fall, you can...it's almost absurd. You can customise your outfits (ie armour and weaponry) to a degree I didn't think was possible. You have so many options, I really do see the replay value here. I think you might need the first playthrough to just get an idea of what's possible, and then have fun with it all during your second playthrough. I don't know. Maybe that's just insane (because, after all, the game is HUGE). But maybe...
3) Harmony system: I admit, this is part of gameplay, to a degree, but it deserves an extra section. The harmony system traces the relationships between the characters in your group as well as those you meet around the world. You first have to make the necessary links, then, doing missions or whatever, you can change the status of those relationships (so far only for the better). In your group, you can improve the relationships by: doing missions together, fighting together, helping each other in battle, having little private talks (at predetermined spots throughout the world, at certain levels of like/dislike set by the game) and who knows what else. It's intriguing, and it's also hugely fun. In, for example, Dragon Age Origins, you could also influence relationships between your characters, but only by talking to them in camp and giving them presents. However, I think the system here makes so much more sense. I mean, helping someone up when they've fallen in battle must surely be worth some sympathy? Telling them they did a beautiful attack or comforting them when they missed must surely be a massive improvement for the relationship? And it is. I love it. (Although, if I've read correctly, you can also give them gifts.)
So, I think this concludes my 'short' introduction on some of the background and some of the features, and the music (tehee). And maybe offers some more explanation on why I love this game so much. I don't really know how that happened, or rather, I do know, but I'm still surprised, awed. Other games I often really just played for the story. This here...I don't know. Words somehow fail me. But since there's a sufficient amount of them already in this post, I guess that's quite alright.
Now go listen to that music.
Anyway, background information. Very alert ones among you might already have guessed that this game was produced by Monolith Soft, a company founded by former Square employees. They're best known for the Xenosaga trilogy, which, of course, is related to Xenogears, one of those excellent games never to grace the European games market (a source of deep regret for me, as the more I look into it, the more I wish I could have played it/could still play it some day). Previously mostly owned by Namco Bandai, it changed hands over to Nintendo in 2007, which offers the explanation of how I managed to find myself playing an RPG on the Wii (something I really never expected I would do).
At this point I'd really like you to check out the Xenogears OST, and especially the MYTH orchestral album. I got these a couple of days ago, and am deeply obsessed. At least, listen to these two, which are basically the opening and the prologue music of Xenogears. Or just watch the whole opening, really.
I listened to these two on eternal loop, together with this, this and this, the whole of yesterday afternoon, evening, and a large part of night. Insane, but oh, the prettiness of it all. [The day I originally wrote this not being the same I posted this, but...I'm still listening to those songs, hehe.]
Music is also one of the strong points of Xenoblade. The Xenogears OST was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, one of my absolute heroes ever since I played Chrono Chross (listen to the Chrono Chross opening here - honestly, do!), and he apparently supplied some material for Xenoblade as well.
Actually, several composers have done work on the Xenoblade OST, and in comparison to what happened with the Final Fantasy 10 OST (where I felt a harsh contrats between those tracks done by Nobuo Uematsu and those by the others),the result is really quite organic and smooth.
But then, this is not supposed to be a post about music. I just get really carried away with RPG music (and probably music in general). There might just be a separate post about the Xenoblade OST, as I have had deep feelings for that ever since I started playing. Yes, really. I'm in love. ;)
 | |
| The place you start - Colony 9. I actually did a piece for the "Travel Writing" homework in my creative writing class this semester on Colony 9. So pretty. So. Much. Fun. |
1) Story: After the intriguing intro (the end of which gives me goosebumps every time), the story seemed to move rather slowly for me, but that was just due to me just exploring the world and doing missions for *hours* before progressing. It then, of course, got very interesting very quickly. War between two very different races? Magical (?) weapons which suddenly don't work as the heroes thought they should? The pros and cons of seeing glimpses of the future? Wooo! I think it's really going to be a lot of fun, and interesting in a philosophical way as well.
2) Gameplay: Geez, I never thought I'd get really excited about gameplay stuff. I really thought of myself of being there for the story, most of all. I'm not much of a tactician. A lot of the time, I didn't need to be when playing games. But here...The battles move quickly, and a lot of the time you can actually decide whether you want to enter into them or not. I admit that when fighting more than one enemy at once, they get chaotic and a little obscure, but they're still mostly a lot of fun, so I'll forgive them their failings. There's so many features, so many things you can do, and I've only 'collected' half of the playable characters so far. First of all you can choose freely which characters to place in your party (yes, you can switch out your main character with the magic sword :P). You can choose freely which of them to control. Then, you can choose which choice of 8 skills the characters have at their disposal (they learn new ones all the time). You can choose what other support talents they learn in what order. You can choose whether they learn talents someone else has learned. Then, you use those skills in battle in a way that makes sense when working together with your teammates. You can do chain attacks, you can do battle calls to motivate your friends, you can help them up when they fall, you can...it's almost absurd. You can customise your outfits (ie armour and weaponry) to a degree I didn't think was possible. You have so many options, I really do see the replay value here. I think you might need the first playthrough to just get an idea of what's possible, and then have fun with it all during your second playthrough. I don't know. Maybe that's just insane (because, after all, the game is HUGE). But maybe...
 | |
| In battle, controlling Shulk. Look at all those symbols! |
3) Harmony system: I admit, this is part of gameplay, to a degree, but it deserves an extra section. The harmony system traces the relationships between the characters in your group as well as those you meet around the world. You first have to make the necessary links, then, doing missions or whatever, you can change the status of those relationships (so far only for the better). In your group, you can improve the relationships by: doing missions together, fighting together, helping each other in battle, having little private talks (at predetermined spots throughout the world, at certain levels of like/dislike set by the game) and who knows what else. It's intriguing, and it's also hugely fun. In, for example, Dragon Age Origins, you could also influence relationships between your characters, but only by talking to them in camp and giving them presents. However, I think the system here makes so much more sense. I mean, helping someone up when they've fallen in battle must surely be worth some sympathy? Telling them they did a beautiful attack or comforting them when they missed must surely be a massive improvement for the relationship? And it is. I love it. (Although, if I've read correctly, you can also give them gifts.)
 |
| Part of the harmony diagram. Those little smiley symbols go orange-yellow-green-blue and then either pink clouds (non-love super relationship) or hearts (LOVE) |
So, I think this concludes my 'short' introduction on some of the background and some of the features, and the music (tehee). And maybe offers some more explanation on why I love this game so much. I don't really know how that happened, or rather, I do know, but I'm still surprised, awed. Other games I often really just played for the story. This here...I don't know. Words somehow fail me. But since there's a sufficient amount of them already in this post, I guess that's quite alright.
Now go listen to that music.
Sonntag, Juli 08, 2012
Last week, next week
I have to admit I had a less than ideal first week in this new decade of life. Things were little hectic finishing some of my work, then I got ill just on time on my birthday, spent 3 days recovering while simultaneously suffering from a heat wave (no fun drinking tea and lying in bed when it's above 30° outside and your flat faces southwest). I then looked forward to getting a new haircut, which ended in something of a desaster. I've recovered now, but at the beginning I was really the opposite of happy. I know that short haircuts have their dangers, but I'd brought photos and all that, so I thought it would work out. Well, it didn't, and I only really noticed when I was home. I then decided to just rebleach my roots and it would look much better already, then wait for a month or so and check out a different hairdresser. Applied bleach, accepted the usual burning sensation - then suddenly had some sort of extreme allergic reaction (which I never had before). Itched, swooned, panicked, washed everything off, took meds. This resulted in my roots not turning blonde completely (hello orange), my face (and hands, and ears) being red and slightly swollen for the rest of the evening (real fun, since we had guests) *and* the next day, and me swearing this was the last time for at least a while that I bleached my hair (which means going back to dark soon).
At least the weekend has been quite acceptable. I've resolved to wear some sort of headband for the next few weeks (pretty scarves etc) to make this haircut work for me (but I still really hope some other hairdresser can actually make it look the way I'd like it to look...and not that it's simply impossible for my hair, or my face, or whatever); and I've got some work done, and I've been to a nice birthday party, and I've made some plans.
Anyway, next week! Tomorrow I'll be starting to write down what I eat again, but I won't be posting this, except maybe in weekly updates. Week #1 means reducing sugar, not yet giving up completely.
Also, tomorrow I'm supposed to start doing my morning pages, and I'm dreading this a little, since I'm known to sleep in as long as possible and sometimes even a smidge later. ;) But maybe I'll actually manage to get up 15 minutes earlier to write them. That would be REALLY great. I've not yet settled on a specific idea for an artist's date, but I'm sure something will come to mind.
There's also a lot of other things to do, nice ones (visiting my nephew, getting to see "Man of La Mancha" as a birthday present), and good ones (doing more freelance work, applying for a grant), and maybe somewhat annoying ones (taking my boyfriend to hospital for a long-awaited operation, nothing terrifying, but annoying nevertheless). And maybe I'll finish some more posts which have been languishing in a half-written state for a while, and *maybe* I'll even find a chance to finally knit something again. We'll see. :)
At least the weekend has been quite acceptable. I've resolved to wear some sort of headband for the next few weeks (pretty scarves etc) to make this haircut work for me (but I still really hope some other hairdresser can actually make it look the way I'd like it to look...and not that it's simply impossible for my hair, or my face, or whatever); and I've got some work done, and I've been to a nice birthday party, and I've made some plans.
Anyway, next week! Tomorrow I'll be starting to write down what I eat again, but I won't be posting this, except maybe in weekly updates. Week #1 means reducing sugar, not yet giving up completely.
Also, tomorrow I'm supposed to start doing my morning pages, and I'm dreading this a little, since I'm known to sleep in as long as possible and sometimes even a smidge later. ;) But maybe I'll actually manage to get up 15 minutes earlier to write them. That would be REALLY great. I've not yet settled on a specific idea for an artist's date, but I'm sure something will come to mind.
There's also a lot of other things to do, nice ones (visiting my nephew, getting to see "Man of La Mancha" as a birthday present), and good ones (doing more freelance work, applying for a grant), and maybe somewhat annoying ones (taking my boyfriend to hospital for a long-awaited operation, nothing terrifying, but annoying nevertheless). And maybe I'll finish some more posts which have been languishing in a half-written state for a while, and *maybe* I'll even find a chance to finally knit something again. We'll see. :)
Freitag, Juni 29, 2012
Good things come in threes (or trees?)
I have three plans, or programmes, or resolutions, which will come in effect within the first few days of July. They are:
1. To once again go through the "Quit Sugar" programme, this time with additional help from my recently purchaced fructose-intolerance book. (My initial programme lasted 8 weeks, I'm not sure yet what the second book recommends.)
2. To work through "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. Summer 'holidays' as determined by university last from July through September, which should give me the 12 weeks needed.
3. To abstain from buying new clothes, yarn, accessories etc for at least 3 months, with some possible exceptions: a new pair of jeans (I have certain conditions which need to be met before I may buy those), a simple black bag large enough to carry all my (uni) stuff in, a bra from a store where they take my measurements (because I'm sick of being unsure of the right size), the yarn my aunt sort of gifted to me at Christmas and which I still haven't bought yet, one instance of perfume in whatever form (solid, spray, whatever; I do have something specific in mind, but I may wait until it's a little cooler to get it), a new pair of sandals should my old one fall apart, maybe a bikini should I feel up to it (as of right now, I don't), possibly new headphones, and maybe some basic black or white shirts for some self-designed shirts I have in mind. Nothing else. I know, this already sounds like a large list for an abstinence period, but my goal is not to buy nothing, it is to be more focused. As I don't buy much clothing etc anyway, I really don't want to waste what budget I have on things I don't really need.
Now, keeping to these three things should make me healthy, wise and rich by the end of the summer. ;)
Haha.
In all honesty, they should really just help me focus my life a little. As I said, this is, once again, a period of change, and I want that change to go in the right direction. (By the way, I'm not complaining about change - at the beginning of the year, I demanded change, I challenged change, and I'm getting it, so...all's well.)
Anyway, back to work!
1. To once again go through the "Quit Sugar" programme, this time with additional help from my recently purchaced fructose-intolerance book. (My initial programme lasted 8 weeks, I'm not sure yet what the second book recommends.)
2. To work through "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. Summer 'holidays' as determined by university last from July through September, which should give me the 12 weeks needed.
3. To abstain from buying new clothes, yarn, accessories etc for at least 3 months, with some possible exceptions: a new pair of jeans (I have certain conditions which need to be met before I may buy those), a simple black bag large enough to carry all my (uni) stuff in, a bra from a store where they take my measurements (because I'm sick of being unsure of the right size), the yarn my aunt sort of gifted to me at Christmas and which I still haven't bought yet, one instance of perfume in whatever form (solid, spray, whatever; I do have something specific in mind, but I may wait until it's a little cooler to get it), a new pair of sandals should my old one fall apart, maybe a bikini should I feel up to it (as of right now, I don't), possibly new headphones, and maybe some basic black or white shirts for some self-designed shirts I have in mind. Nothing else. I know, this already sounds like a large list for an abstinence period, but my goal is not to buy nothing, it is to be more focused. As I don't buy much clothing etc anyway, I really don't want to waste what budget I have on things I don't really need.
Now, keeping to these three things should make me healthy, wise and rich by the end of the summer. ;)
Haha.
In all honesty, they should really just help me focus my life a little. As I said, this is, once again, a period of change, and I want that change to go in the right direction. (By the way, I'm not complaining about change - at the beginning of the year, I demanded change, I challenged change, and I'm getting it, so...all's well.)
Anyway, back to work!
Montag, Juni 25, 2012
Short break
I'll be gone from my suddenly very regular postings for a few days while I finish this semester's exams and
Montag, Juni 18, 2012
Useful finds (and some fun ones, too)
I spent some time on the Lifehacker website this weekend and rambled through their exercise and organisation sections. Here's some things I found:
- Wunderlist and Wunderkit, both by the same (German) company, both free. The first is a task-manager, the second a sort of project manager. You need to register to use them, but once you do that, you can use it from your computer, smartphone (okay, Iphone only so far) or in any webbrowser. I downloaded Wunderlist yesterday and will see whether that helps any in keeping up with things, and if so, I think Wunderkit might also be quite nice for certain projects.
- Sworkit, a website which provides you with a workout for just the amount of time you want. I love that they also offer yoga, which I think I will try sometime this week. Should be perfect for those bursts of "I need to get off this chair and away from the screen for a while". Also free. Plus, since the workouts merely mention what exercise to do and provide a timer, there are links to explanations/pictures/videos of all the exercises used.
- This article on good eating habits for maximum energy during the day.
- This hoodie is one of the most amazing pieces of clothing I've ever seen. Genius idea.
- I have, in the past, sometimes checked out cosplaying pictures/projects online (and when I speak of 'past', I mean both long ago as well as a couple of months ago). However, I did not know there were actual cosplaying groups. Then again, it wouldn't really make sense, knowing how some countries work, for there to be none. So, here's a link to one of them. I know maybe 1% of the characters they show in their pictures, but can still admire the other costumes for pure amazingness.
Samstag, Juni 16, 2012
Fun Finds
I found a few nice things today which I thought I'd mention. These are pretty random, but maybe someone else will find something interesting (or fun) in them as well.
First, this blog (in German) by a woman from Vienna who is abstaining from buying any new clothes for 2012. Now, this idea is not at all new to me, as a repeat participant in the now sadly defunct Wardrobe Refashion, and a generally rare clothes store customer, so I'm wondering a little at the amount of press she's getting. Maybe the idea is still quite new to the greater public? Or this is just the right time for something like this to come along? Or being a representative of Global 2000 helps as well?
Anyway, I've added it to my blog list and guess I will learn a thing or two from following her experiences.
Second, I just rediscovered Dy's blog yesterday, looking through my archives. I thought she'd disappeared from the internet, just like her daughter, but apparently she returned this January, with a new blog. Also a nice read, since she and her husband left Perth some months ago to live the good life on their own ground, raising chicken and all that. Lots of preserving, fish catching, sustainable living going on. Admirable.
Third, these guys make cool things from used firehoses (and share my love of silly puns, I guess). A little expensive, I think, but a nice idea. I especially like the belts. (Short German interview here.)
Fourth, apparently there is a prize given to books which is shared by the author and the translator. Nice! German interview with this year's winner here.
And finally, two pictures.
I think these are quite ingenious. Sadly, no idea who makes them, or if they are made at all.
And - this:
First, this blog (in German) by a woman from Vienna who is abstaining from buying any new clothes for 2012. Now, this idea is not at all new to me, as a repeat participant in the now sadly defunct Wardrobe Refashion, and a generally rare clothes store customer, so I'm wondering a little at the amount of press she's getting. Maybe the idea is still quite new to the greater public? Or this is just the right time for something like this to come along? Or being a representative of Global 2000 helps as well?
Anyway, I've added it to my blog list and guess I will learn a thing or two from following her experiences.
Second, I just rediscovered Dy's blog yesterday, looking through my archives. I thought she'd disappeared from the internet, just like her daughter, but apparently she returned this January, with a new blog. Also a nice read, since she and her husband left Perth some months ago to live the good life on their own ground, raising chicken and all that. Lots of preserving, fish catching, sustainable living going on. Admirable.
Third, these guys make cool things from used firehoses (and share my love of silly puns, I guess). A little expensive, I think, but a nice idea. I especially like the belts. (Short German interview here.)
Fourth, apparently there is a prize given to books which is shared by the author and the translator. Nice! German interview with this year's winner here.
And finally, two pictures.
I think these are quite ingenious. Sadly, no idea who makes them, or if they are made at all.
CP 1: Xenoblade Chronicles #1 Addendum
In all my excitement yesterday I actually forgot one of the main points I like about the game:
6) You get experience points not only for killing enemies, but also for
As well as this, you are rewarded for collecting certain items as well (though with special items, not experience). And - solving certain missions influences the relationship you have with your team mates, the relationship you have with townsfolk, and the relationship some people have with each other.
The main thing is, there are so many things that reward you for playing the game to its fullest capacity, that my (story) progress is understandably somewhat slow. Admittedly, last night it went a little faster, since I'd emptied the first location of most of the currently available missions, but now that I've reached the Knee (as I said, a world being the body of a huge other being is just *really* awesome), I think I'll remain there for a while, and wait with story progression (which is easy, since the game also tells you exactly where and how much further you have to go for story progression - which makes it easy to avoid).
6) You get experience points not only for killing enemies, but also for
- exploring the world and finding new/hidden locations
- finishing certain missions
- gaining trophies
- gaining new talents
As well as this, you are rewarded for collecting certain items as well (though with special items, not experience). And - solving certain missions influences the relationship you have with your team mates, the relationship you have with townsfolk, and the relationship some people have with each other.
The main thing is, there are so many things that reward you for playing the game to its fullest capacity, that my (story) progress is understandably somewhat slow. Admittedly, last night it went a little faster, since I'd emptied the first location of most of the currently available missions, but now that I've reached the Knee (as I said, a world being the body of a huge other being is just *really* awesome), I think I'll remain there for a while, and wait with story progression (which is easy, since the game also tells you exactly where and how much further you have to go for story progression - which makes it easy to avoid).
Freitag, Juni 15, 2012
I've got a birthday coming up *hint hint*
One day, I will make/receive amazing cakes like this. Until that day, I will stare at these pictures with amazement and longing.
Link (he come to town, come to save the princess Zelda - ahem)
(No, sadly no Zelda cakes. An enormous oversight. Maybe it's up to me.)
Link (he come to town, come to save the princess Zelda - ahem)
(No, sadly no Zelda cakes. An enormous oversight. Maybe it's up to me.)
CP 1: Xenoblade Chronicles #1
For a while, I've been hesitating to write about things like this, for reasons I'm not really sure about (since, just think about it, I published my food diary on this blog for several weeks). But I've been blown away so unexpectedly and fully yesterday that I really can't stop myself any longer.
So, this is about videogames.
If you know me personally, you will most likely know that I have played and still play a variety of games, though with a strong bias towards Japanese Role-Playing-Games (and Zelda!). I started with Super Mario Bros., as, I suppose, many others did, I still think Tetris is probably the best game ever developed (especially considering replay value :D), but then, one fateful day, someone handed me a playstation controller for a few minutes, and that was that (the game, back then, was Final Fantasy 7, and I just ran through some tunnels for 3 minutes, unsure what to do with that alien thing in my hands...but that's probably a different story, to be told at a different time).
Anyway. Since I was hit square in the face by something awesome yesterday, I thought maybe I could chronicle my experience with it (haha. Welcome to Bad Pun County!).
Now, the story of how Xenoblade Chronicles, The Currently Most Awesome Thing In The World, entered my life, is somewhat circuitous (yes, I had to look that one up). I'd heard about it quite some time ago, of course. I might even have seen Game One's report on it. But either it was at a time when I was preoccupied with something else (Skyward Sword previews?), or I just thought "Whatever, I will not play any RPGs not developed by SquareEnix because, you know, I'm sooo very open to new things." :P or...it was just too plain expensive for me to try (a consideration which didn't keep me from throwing my money at Skyward Sword, of course).
Enter last Saturday, when I dragged my boyfriend to the nearest electronics store so I could finally get myself a new keyboard (notebook keyboards may sometimes survive water, they will, however, not survive milk). This, of course, included my obligatory walk through the games aisles. I saw something pretty by Daedalic (we're just playing The Whispered World), namely A New Beginning, which looks very lovely indeed, and then I saw Xenoblade Chronicles. At less than half the prize I'd seen it on Amazon, at a third of the prize I'd seen it at other stores. At a prize well below the Final Fantasy Platinum Editions, even. Money you'd pay for a nice paperback.
Here's what followed:
Me: Hey, what? Xenoblade Chronicles for 14,50?*picking it up* Oh wow.
J: What's this?
Me: Uh, RPG, I really don't know much, but, the world is actually the body of a titan, and you have this sword which can see into the future and...wow.
J: Huh.
Me: Yeah, and the world is supposed to be huge, and the pictures I've seen were really pretty...
J: Yeah, for a Wii game, the graphics don't look half bad.
Me: They ARE amazing, aren't they? And it's supposed to be really good, and...
Okay, I guess you get the gist. So, I walk around with the game in hand for further 5 minutes, looking at other things, discussing with myself (silently!) whether I could allow myself to spend any more money this month (or ever). And my boyfriend looks at other games, probably thinking whether he should buy the game for his slightly obsessive girlfriend or not.
And then he notices the Lego Star Wars games, and Xenoblade Chronicles completely loses to that (you know, stuff known to appeal to inner fanboy vs the unknown). So, with some thoughts on whether I won't regret it, I put the game back down and think 'Maybe next month.' And we go home.
And once there, J plays the Lego game for maybe half an hour, is completely disappointed, I put on some music from Xenoblade (thank you, Youtube), and then listen to regretful comments from J for the rest of the evening. Who would have thought.
So, yesterday, when I collected our car from service, I checked out the electronics market next door, only to see that they sold the game for the much, MUCH higher price. And then - because I'd been listening to great game music for 5 days, and J seemed a little down, and whatever else might have come into it, I took the car, drove to the place we'd been to on Saturday, and got the game.
Which pretty much ended my day, because I got stuck immediately. I managed to go to uni, but I have the music in my head for the whole time, and I practically raced back once the course was finished (I did *not* attend the lecture before that, I admit). Then I played until J came home, and made *him* play. Then I waited until he was asleep and played some more. I was lucky to make it to bed at 3am. I could also have forgotten about the time completely and only realised once the sun came up. It's happened before.
So, here we are, and as soon as I finish writing this, I know I'll start playing again.
To finish this, why do I, after only 6 hrs, and most of these spent exploring the world instead of following the storyline, think that this may be (one of) the most amazing games I've ever played?
1) The basic concept is unusual, and awesome: Instead of the world being just another alternative Earth floating through space, it is the body of a dead titan. The village you start out in is at the bottom of its leg. Get your head around that for a minute. I may be (AM) biased,but this is brilliant.
2) The world, from what I've seen so far, is HUGE. I only explored the first area so far, and yes, you heard me right just above, 6hrs. And there will be more yet. And it's *pretty*. There are hidden places. There are all sorts of animals. Which leads to...
3) As I just mentioned - I was able to play, and with gusto, for 6 hrs without feeling any *need* to follow the storyline. Actually, I only chose to progress in the story after the first few auto events after around 4 hrs of running around and doing other things. This is unheard of.
4) It has elements from other of my favourite games: Day and Night rhythms with certain people only appearing at certain times (hello, Zelda!) with the added bonus that you can set the time whenever you please; a huge amount of missions, which combine the hunts from FF 12 with those optional sidequests you get in any RPG; a battle system a little similar to FF12 but with, I think, more fun and less tactics (just a little less...FF12 was just too focused on those); it has a substance called ether (at least in German) which reminds me both of FF7 and FF10, in a way; you can customise weapons and armour with ether crystals (helloooo, Materia!), and the relationships between characters matter a lot (as they do in Dragon Age, which I have not played myself, but watched on as J did, and which I think must be one of the most amazing PC games out there). There's more, I think, but this post is already overlong.
5) It is insanely pretty, and has great music, and the English dub is quite amazing, too. Also, should I wish to do so, I *could* switch to Japanese anytime. Freedom of choice in those matters is one of the best things ever.
Now, I wouldn't be too surprised if this turned out to be my longest post yet. I had to take a break in the middle of writing it and just thought of at least ten other things I'd like to write about, all to do with videogames. So - be prepared. Some sort of dam has definitely broken. The CP posts will follow me through my experience of playing this game, and will talk about other games I'm currently playing. Next up for Xenoblade will be some general background, and maybe some videos.
So, this is about videogames.
If you know me personally, you will most likely know that I have played and still play a variety of games, though with a strong bias towards Japanese Role-Playing-Games (and Zelda!). I started with Super Mario Bros., as, I suppose, many others did, I still think Tetris is probably the best game ever developed (especially considering replay value :D), but then, one fateful day, someone handed me a playstation controller for a few minutes, and that was that (the game, back then, was Final Fantasy 7, and I just ran through some tunnels for 3 minutes, unsure what to do with that alien thing in my hands...but that's probably a different story, to be told at a different time).
Anyway. Since I was hit square in the face by something awesome yesterday, I thought maybe I could chronicle my experience with it (haha. Welcome to Bad Pun County!).
Now, the story of how Xenoblade Chronicles, The Currently Most Awesome Thing In The World, entered my life, is somewhat circuitous (yes, I had to look that one up). I'd heard about it quite some time ago, of course. I might even have seen Game One's report on it. But either it was at a time when I was preoccupied with something else (Skyward Sword previews?), or I just thought "Whatever, I will not play any RPGs not developed by SquareEnix because, you know, I'm sooo very open to new things." :P or...it was just too plain expensive for me to try (a consideration which didn't keep me from throwing my money at Skyward Sword, of course).
Enter last Saturday, when I dragged my boyfriend to the nearest electronics store so I could finally get myself a new keyboard (notebook keyboards may sometimes survive water, they will, however, not survive milk). This, of course, included my obligatory walk through the games aisles. I saw something pretty by Daedalic (we're just playing The Whispered World), namely A New Beginning, which looks very lovely indeed, and then I saw Xenoblade Chronicles. At less than half the prize I'd seen it on Amazon, at a third of the prize I'd seen it at other stores. At a prize well below the Final Fantasy Platinum Editions, even. Money you'd pay for a nice paperback.
Here's what followed:
Me: Hey, what? Xenoblade Chronicles for 14,50?*picking it up* Oh wow.
J: What's this?
Me: Uh, RPG, I really don't know much, but, the world is actually the body of a titan, and you have this sword which can see into the future and...wow.
J: Huh.
Me: Yeah, and the world is supposed to be huge, and the pictures I've seen were really pretty...
J: Yeah, for a Wii game, the graphics don't look half bad.
Me: They ARE amazing, aren't they? And it's supposed to be really good, and...
Okay, I guess you get the gist. So, I walk around with the game in hand for further 5 minutes, looking at other things, discussing with myself (silently!) whether I could allow myself to spend any more money this month (or ever). And my boyfriend looks at other games, probably thinking whether he should buy the game for his slightly obsessive girlfriend or not.
And then he notices the Lego Star Wars games, and Xenoblade Chronicles completely loses to that (you know, stuff known to appeal to inner fanboy vs the unknown). So, with some thoughts on whether I won't regret it, I put the game back down and think 'Maybe next month.' And we go home.
And once there, J plays the Lego game for maybe half an hour, is completely disappointed, I put on some music from Xenoblade (thank you, Youtube), and then listen to regretful comments from J for the rest of the evening. Who would have thought.
So, yesterday, when I collected our car from service, I checked out the electronics market next door, only to see that they sold the game for the much, MUCH higher price. And then - because I'd been listening to great game music for 5 days, and J seemed a little down, and whatever else might have come into it, I took the car, drove to the place we'd been to on Saturday, and got the game.
Which pretty much ended my day, because I got stuck immediately. I managed to go to uni, but I have the music in my head for the whole time, and I practically raced back once the course was finished (I did *not* attend the lecture before that, I admit). Then I played until J came home, and made *him* play. Then I waited until he was asleep and played some more. I was lucky to make it to bed at 3am. I could also have forgotten about the time completely and only realised once the sun came up. It's happened before.
So, here we are, and as soon as I finish writing this, I know I'll start playing again.
To finish this, why do I, after only 6 hrs, and most of these spent exploring the world instead of following the storyline, think that this may be (one of) the most amazing games I've ever played?
1) The basic concept is unusual, and awesome: Instead of the world being just another alternative Earth floating through space, it is the body of a dead titan. The village you start out in is at the bottom of its leg. Get your head around that for a minute. I may be (AM) biased,but this is brilliant.
2) The world, from what I've seen so far, is HUGE. I only explored the first area so far, and yes, you heard me right just above, 6hrs. And there will be more yet. And it's *pretty*. There are hidden places. There are all sorts of animals. Which leads to...
3) As I just mentioned - I was able to play, and with gusto, for 6 hrs without feeling any *need* to follow the storyline. Actually, I only chose to progress in the story after the first few auto events after around 4 hrs of running around and doing other things. This is unheard of.
4) It has elements from other of my favourite games: Day and Night rhythms with certain people only appearing at certain times (hello, Zelda!) with the added bonus that you can set the time whenever you please; a huge amount of missions, which combine the hunts from FF 12 with those optional sidequests you get in any RPG; a battle system a little similar to FF12 but with, I think, more fun and less tactics (just a little less...FF12 was just too focused on those); it has a substance called ether (at least in German) which reminds me both of FF7 and FF10, in a way; you can customise weapons and armour with ether crystals (helloooo, Materia!), and the relationships between characters matter a lot (as they do in Dragon Age, which I have not played myself, but watched on as J did, and which I think must be one of the most amazing PC games out there). There's more, I think, but this post is already overlong.
5) It is insanely pretty, and has great music, and the English dub is quite amazing, too. Also, should I wish to do so, I *could* switch to Japanese anytime. Freedom of choice in those matters is one of the best things ever.
Now, I wouldn't be too surprised if this turned out to be my longest post yet. I had to take a break in the middle of writing it and just thought of at least ten other things I'd like to write about, all to do with videogames. So - be prepared. Some sort of dam has definitely broken. The CP posts will follow me through my experience of playing this game, and will talk about other games I'm currently playing. Next up for Xenoblade will be some general background, and maybe some videos.
Freitag, Juni 01, 2012
May Reading (+Food)
I didn't read much in May. Actually, I read shockingly little. There was the birth of my nephew, there was a wedding which took 1 day plus some extra out of three weekends, there was my sister's graduation, there was an important presentation I had to to, and most of the rest of the time (when I was not at work or not at uni or not working out) was spent cuddled up on the sofa with my boyfriend, playing video games/knitting/watching TV.
At least, I managed to finish one book, late last night: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. The reading process on that one was so stretched out, I really wish I'd done it differently, read it more quickly. But I still managed to enjoy it, maybe not as much as Neverwhere, but still, I enjoyed it.
Since there's a lot of work up for June as well, I have no idea how much reading I'll fit into there. The next book is going to be Anansi Boys, that much is sure.
As for food...the last couple of weeks were sort of disastrous, with me consuming coffee almost daily (previously unheard of), and a sharp increase in chocolate eating for the last few days. After I finished the last bit of the 300g Milka monstrosity I bought on Wednesday yesterday (I'm proud to say I didn't just devour it in one go...), I decided that this would have to be the last chocolate feast for a while. A small epiphany on what was really necessary to make me feel good about myself, you know. And all of those things are free. Bonus!
As for other things - I think that some changes are coming. More later.
At least, I managed to finish one book, late last night: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. The reading process on that one was so stretched out, I really wish I'd done it differently, read it more quickly. But I still managed to enjoy it, maybe not as much as Neverwhere, but still, I enjoyed it.
Since there's a lot of work up for June as well, I have no idea how much reading I'll fit into there. The next book is going to be Anansi Boys, that much is sure.
As for food...the last couple of weeks were sort of disastrous, with me consuming coffee almost daily (previously unheard of), and a sharp increase in chocolate eating for the last few days. After I finished the last bit of the 300g Milka monstrosity I bought on Wednesday yesterday (I'm proud to say I didn't just devour it in one go...), I decided that this would have to be the last chocolate feast for a while. A small epiphany on what was really necessary to make me feel good about myself, you know. And all of those things are free. Bonus!
As for other things - I think that some changes are coming. More later.
Mittwoch, Mai 09, 2012
Food Update
Maybe you're wondering what happened to my "Getting rid of sugar" - resolve.
Well, as expected/feared, Easter turned out to be a little disastrous in the sugar department, and for some reason the weeks afterwards I just ate whatever I wanted, not always the best choices either. Chocolate bars, cake, lots of drinks (all those birthday celebrations because all my classmates are turning 30...), stuff like that.
Of course, that didn't really contribute to my wellbeing. :P
I have now (maybe for the past one or two weeks) started to reduce sugar again, eat more veggies, all of that. Not yet perfectly, not yet really avoiding it, but significantly reduced, yes. And I'm already feeling much better again.
I am currently a little conflicted on how to continue. There is a wedding in May, or rather, there is a hen night and two days of wedding (civil, church). I guess there will be food and cake, and I can't really see myself not eating wedding cake. ;)
June there are several birthdays, with the celebration of my own at the end of it. And I can't really see myself not eating my own birthday cake, either.
So, I guess cutting out sugar as completely as possible will have to wait until somewhere around the beginning of July. Until then, further reduction, and I'll definitely need to find a way to prepare my own lunch for workdays - everything I usually get also has some sugar content, as tiny as it may be.
At least I now have an additional book to help me make the best of it when the time comes. Although cutting out onion and garlic as well (and other things, as the book recommends) for several weeks will not be fun at all. :P
Well, as expected/feared, Easter turned out to be a little disastrous in the sugar department, and for some reason the weeks afterwards I just ate whatever I wanted, not always the best choices either. Chocolate bars, cake, lots of drinks (all those birthday celebrations because all my classmates are turning 30...), stuff like that.
Of course, that didn't really contribute to my wellbeing. :P
I have now (maybe for the past one or two weeks) started to reduce sugar again, eat more veggies, all of that. Not yet perfectly, not yet really avoiding it, but significantly reduced, yes. And I'm already feeling much better again.
I am currently a little conflicted on how to continue. There is a wedding in May, or rather, there is a hen night and two days of wedding (civil, church). I guess there will be food and cake, and I can't really see myself not eating wedding cake. ;)
June there are several birthdays, with the celebration of my own at the end of it. And I can't really see myself not eating my own birthday cake, either.
So, I guess cutting out sugar as completely as possible will have to wait until somewhere around the beginning of July. Until then, further reduction, and I'll definitely need to find a way to prepare my own lunch for workdays - everything I usually get also has some sugar content, as tiny as it may be.
At least I now have an additional book to help me make the best of it when the time comes. Although cutting out onion and garlic as well (and other things, as the book recommends) for several weeks will not be fun at all. :P
Easy work
There are several ways in which to receive new titles.
You can go to university and get a degree, and people (at least in Austria) will use it to refer to you. This can be as easy or hard as your course of study and your disposition towards studying makes it.
You can go into politics and be elected and get a title, and people will generally use it to refer to you, and whether it is hard or not to achieve this, I have no idea.
You can be born into royalty and to most people you will only ever be your title. I suppose getting this is easy, but rare.
You can, I suppose, also get married to someone with such a title and people will sometimes use the same to refer to you or, in the case of royalty, you'll get your own. Again, I don't know how easy or not this may be.
The most interesting, however, seem to be family titles. There are some you are born with (son, daughter, grandchild, sometimes niece/nephew or cousin), some you may later achieve (mother, father). And then there are some you can't do anything about and it is entirely up to other people whether you get them (sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandparent, cousin).
Now, I've been some of these for a long time (daughter, sister, niece, cousin), and I think I know how to deal with them, they are familiar. They have been with me for decades.
Yesterday, I officially gained a new one. One which you have to wait for for a while (30 years? Ok!), one which you can't control (so yes, I didn't suddenly get married), and which I gained without doing any work myself. Still, I can't help feeling happy, and sort of proud, and excited. This is going to be so much fun.
Call me Auntie. Little Leo has arrived.
(Being the game nerd that I am, this is the first thing that came to mind...I'll let you know later what the second thing was...)
You can go to university and get a degree, and people (at least in Austria) will use it to refer to you. This can be as easy or hard as your course of study and your disposition towards studying makes it.
You can go into politics and be elected and get a title, and people will generally use it to refer to you, and whether it is hard or not to achieve this, I have no idea.
You can be born into royalty and to most people you will only ever be your title. I suppose getting this is easy, but rare.
You can, I suppose, also get married to someone with such a title and people will sometimes use the same to refer to you or, in the case of royalty, you'll get your own. Again, I don't know how easy or not this may be.
The most interesting, however, seem to be family titles. There are some you are born with (son, daughter, grandchild, sometimes niece/nephew or cousin), some you may later achieve (mother, father). And then there are some you can't do anything about and it is entirely up to other people whether you get them (sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandparent, cousin).
Now, I've been some of these for a long time (daughter, sister, niece, cousin), and I think I know how to deal with them, they are familiar. They have been with me for decades.
Yesterday, I officially gained a new one. One which you have to wait for for a while (30 years? Ok!), one which you can't control (so yes, I didn't suddenly get married), and which I gained without doing any work myself. Still, I can't help feeling happy, and sort of proud, and excited. This is going to be so much fun.
Call me Auntie. Little Leo has arrived.
(Being the game nerd that I am, this is the first thing that came to mind...I'll let you know later what the second thing was...)
Freitag, Mai 04, 2012
Reading Update
Here's what I've been reading in April (hint - not much):
- I started "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman and have so far read about a third of it.
- I started "Ki im täglichen Leben" (Ki in Daily Life) by Koichi Tohei and have so far read about half of it.
- I started "Powerkurs Japanisch" (Power course Japanese) by PONS, if one can speak of starting a language coursebook. I have so far leafed through it excitedly and remembered some things, but not done anything structured yet.
- I started "Dov'é Yukio?" (Where is Yukio?), a beginners level mini book in Italian - you know, those small books where you only need to have a certain amount of vocabulary and have tests you can do for each (very short) chapter. I so far managed to more or less fluently read chapters 1-3.
What this may tell you is that I went a little wild and dropped a lot of money at the bookstore (I also had to buy some expensive Goethe books for a university course, but *ahem* have not yet started on those...) and that I may finally be getting serious about studying Italian and Japanese. I was in a bit of doubt whether I shouldn't get better at Italian before I attempted to learn a completely new language (completely different to the languages I know so far), BUT as I am currently once again deep within my obsession with Japanese things, and am at this point extremely curious about how Japanese really works and have been trying to figure out things on my own, I thought - why not work at both of them at the same time? I know enough about Italian and have a certain level of knowledge not to be completely clueless (two *new* languages at once might be a little mad, yes) and not to have it interfere with my beginners fascination with Japanese. I think that learning two languages at a different level might also have some positive side effects: maybe being able to read some Italian (as well as understanding spoken Italian and being able to write and speak a little myself) will be a good motivation to get better at Japanese too, for example.
What the reading list may also tell you is that I have been spending my time doing other things, and that is knitting baby stuff. My sister's baby boy should arrive within the next week or so, and after already giving her the two jackets I have finished so far, I am now working away like a madwoman at the beautiful (if I say so myself) green baby blanket I want to give the little boy. Know this - knitting structured patterns, as simple as they may be, still takes much more effort and much longer than plain stockinette. Much more. It is *pretty*, but it just goes on and on and on...
What the list may also tell you is that my mind is all over the place. Again. As if that were unusual, I know, but right now I find it rather unhelpful. Exam on Monday, and I almost can't be bothered. :P Maybe I should just sleep a little more...
- I started "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman and have so far read about a third of it.
- I started "Ki im täglichen Leben" (Ki in Daily Life) by Koichi Tohei and have so far read about half of it.
- I started "Powerkurs Japanisch" (Power course Japanese) by PONS, if one can speak of starting a language coursebook. I have so far leafed through it excitedly and remembered some things, but not done anything structured yet.
- I started "Dov'é Yukio?" (Where is Yukio?), a beginners level mini book in Italian - you know, those small books where you only need to have a certain amount of vocabulary and have tests you can do for each (very short) chapter. I so far managed to more or less fluently read chapters 1-3.
What this may tell you is that I went a little wild and dropped a lot of money at the bookstore (I also had to buy some expensive Goethe books for a university course, but *ahem* have not yet started on those...) and that I may finally be getting serious about studying Italian and Japanese. I was in a bit of doubt whether I shouldn't get better at Italian before I attempted to learn a completely new language (completely different to the languages I know so far), BUT as I am currently once again deep within my obsession with Japanese things, and am at this point extremely curious about how Japanese really works and have been trying to figure out things on my own, I thought - why not work at both of them at the same time? I know enough about Italian and have a certain level of knowledge not to be completely clueless (two *new* languages at once might be a little mad, yes) and not to have it interfere with my beginners fascination with Japanese. I think that learning two languages at a different level might also have some positive side effects: maybe being able to read some Italian (as well as understanding spoken Italian and being able to write and speak a little myself) will be a good motivation to get better at Japanese too, for example.
What the reading list may also tell you is that I have been spending my time doing other things, and that is knitting baby stuff. My sister's baby boy should arrive within the next week or so, and after already giving her the two jackets I have finished so far, I am now working away like a madwoman at the beautiful (if I say so myself) green baby blanket I want to give the little boy. Know this - knitting structured patterns, as simple as they may be, still takes much more effort and much longer than plain stockinette. Much more. It is *pretty*, but it just goes on and on and on...
What the list may also tell you is that my mind is all over the place. Again. As if that were unusual, I know, but right now I find it rather unhelpful. Exam on Monday, and I almost can't be bothered. :P Maybe I should just sleep a little more...
Freitag, April 13, 2012
While my boyfriend was away...
...I have:
- watched One Piece movies 1-10
- watched the subbed version of episodes 1-25 (once again...)
- listened to this playlist almost exclusively
- re-learned how to sing along to the first opening song
- learned some Japanese words/expressions so that sometimes, when I miss part of the subbed text (because I'm knitting or whatever) I still get what's going on
- knit and almost finished two baby jackets
- started on the baby blanket
- bought some more baby clothes
- been invited to not one but two baby parties her friends are throwing for my sister
(4 weeks now...probably...)
- spent time with family members on 6 days
- spent time with friends on 4 days
- eaten out 4 times (burger, Thai, Indian, vegan)
- been to McDonald's twice (which I do not count as 'eating out')
(a ratio which bears no relation whatsoever to my usual life)
- finished no book at all, but started two
- submitted a badly written (I think, because I wrote it in about 10 minutes, and it was the first time I wrote one at all) abstract for a conference taking place here in June
- finally gotten a haircut (first time at a hairdresser in, I think, 3 years)
- cleaned out my wardrobe
- cleaned up our bedroom, including washing the curtains and stuff like that which only ever happens every ice age or so
- gotten badly used to having the whole bed to myself (which leaves me wondering what battles will ensue once my boyfriend returns after two weeks of sleeping in queen and king size beds)
...I have not:
- written my long overdue term paper
- created a photo album for our 5-year-anniversary
- spring-cleaned the whole apartment
- sewn a sofa cover, table cloth and assorted pillow cases
- planted flowers on our balcony
- played one bit of Zelda
- bought a shipload of One Piece merchandise (...)
- done any reading for university (but there's a week of uni-free time left to do so, phew)
- eaten in a very healthy way at all
- been sad and lonely and depressed at all - hah!
- watched One Piece movies 1-10
- watched the subbed version of episodes 1-25 (once again...)
- listened to this playlist almost exclusively
- re-learned how to sing along to the first opening song
- learned some Japanese words/expressions so that sometimes, when I miss part of the subbed text (because I'm knitting or whatever) I still get what's going on
- knit and almost finished two baby jackets
- started on the baby blanket
- bought some more baby clothes
- been invited to not one but two baby parties her friends are throwing for my sister
(4 weeks now...probably...)
- spent time with family members on 6 days
- spent time with friends on 4 days
- eaten out 4 times (burger, Thai, Indian, vegan)
- been to McDonald's twice (which I do not count as 'eating out')
(a ratio which bears no relation whatsoever to my usual life)
- finished no book at all, but started two
- submitted a badly written (I think, because I wrote it in about 10 minutes, and it was the first time I wrote one at all) abstract for a conference taking place here in June
- finally gotten a haircut (first time at a hairdresser in, I think, 3 years)
- cleaned out my wardrobe
- cleaned up our bedroom, including washing the curtains and stuff like that which only ever happens every ice age or so
- gotten badly used to having the whole bed to myself (which leaves me wondering what battles will ensue once my boyfriend returns after two weeks of sleeping in queen and king size beds)
...I have not:
- written my long overdue term paper
- created a photo album for our 5-year-anniversary
- spring-cleaned the whole apartment
- sewn a sofa cover, table cloth and assorted pillow cases
- planted flowers on our balcony
- played one bit of Zelda
- bought a shipload of One Piece merchandise (...)
- done any reading for university (but there's a week of uni-free time left to do so, phew)
- eaten in a very healthy way at all
- been sad and lonely and depressed at all - hah!
Mittwoch, April 04, 2012
March Reading + Food Update
Here's what I read in March:
Midnight's Children (I started this in October, but read only to about page 80 - finished it now)
Things fall apart
Disgrace
A bunch of short stories (Simple Recipe (Madeleine Thien), Swimming Lessons (Rohinton Mistry), Land Deal (Gerald Murnane), Pension Day (Archie Weller), Ismini (Beverley Farmer), Brackley and the Bed (Samuel Selvon), The Man (Austin Clarke))
...these were all for my exam, which went very well indeed. :) And yes, I read those texts above in less than a week. Phew. But it was worth it. My mind went a little funny, reading all those rather sad stories in such a short space of time, but yeah. Life goes on. :)
And then, for something completely different:
One Piece #1-61
... I love them so much. I've been reading them for around 10 years now (I started after watching parts of the anime together with my brother, way back when). As I see it, they will continue for a long while yet, I would guess easily to around #100. I hope they will. They're the best. <3
Thankfully, my boyfriend has joined me in being a fan, and we can now talk about them endlessly. And watch the anime together. And share the cost of the books. Isn't it great when things work out like that? :D
Food Update:
I'm still keeping up my daily lists of what I consume, but one day I just stopped posting them - I wanted to add more commentary but was too tired, and it just continued from there. Maybe I'll post them later just like that, maybe I'll add some more explanation yet, I don't know.
Anyway, I told myself that up until Easter, I would try eating some things containing sugar again to see what that would do, and then after Easter I'll probably go back to eating none, with a book on fructose intolerance to help me some more. At least by now I'm pretty sure my problems are tied to fructose/high sugar in general. A good step in the right direction. :)
Midnight's Children (I started this in October, but read only to about page 80 - finished it now)
Things fall apart
Disgrace
A bunch of short stories (Simple Recipe (Madeleine Thien), Swimming Lessons (Rohinton Mistry), Land Deal (Gerald Murnane), Pension Day (Archie Weller), Ismini (Beverley Farmer), Brackley and the Bed (Samuel Selvon), The Man (Austin Clarke))
...these were all for my exam, which went very well indeed. :) And yes, I read those texts above in less than a week. Phew. But it was worth it. My mind went a little funny, reading all those rather sad stories in such a short space of time, but yeah. Life goes on. :)
And then, for something completely different:
One Piece #1-61
... I love them so much. I've been reading them for around 10 years now (I started after watching parts of the anime together with my brother, way back when). As I see it, they will continue for a long while yet, I would guess easily to around #100. I hope they will. They're the best. <3
Thankfully, my boyfriend has joined me in being a fan, and we can now talk about them endlessly. And watch the anime together. And share the cost of the books. Isn't it great when things work out like that? :D
Food Update:
I'm still keeping up my daily lists of what I consume, but one day I just stopped posting them - I wanted to add more commentary but was too tired, and it just continued from there. Maybe I'll post them later just like that, maybe I'll add some more explanation yet, I don't know.
Anyway, I told myself that up until Easter, I would try eating some things containing sugar again to see what that would do, and then after Easter I'll probably go back to eating none, with a book on fructose intolerance to help me some more. At least by now I'm pretty sure my problems are tied to fructose/high sugar in general. A good step in the right direction. :)
Sonntag, März 18, 2012
Week 4, Day 7
"Breakfast":
1 large cup of Yogi Tea Chocolate with a dash of soy milk
Lunch:
1 glass of prosecco
pork loin filled with dried plums wrapped in bacon [S]
pole beans with butter and salt
Schupfnudeln (a sort of dumpling made with potatoes, not really pasta)
Afternoon:
1 whisky sour [S]
1 piece of tiramisu made with apple sauce instead of (most of) the mascarpone [S]
Evening:
2 more (small) pieces of pork loin [S]
1 slice of bread
some mustard [S]
So, why in the world did I consume so much stuff containing sugar today?
Well, I thought someone's birthday would be a great time to do some experimentation within this experiment. I just wanted to see what sort of effect it would have on me, whether I would notice any change in my constitution.
The result?
I did. And it was/is terrible. Really. As soon as I ate the tiramisu, I developed this lingering kind of fuzzy headache that gradually seeps into the background and just hangs there as a light layer of *duh* over everything you think or do. Then, about 30mins later, I suddenly felt sick. Right now, many many hours later, I still feel worse than I've felt in a long time. Still slightly fuzzy in the head, still a queasy feeling in my stomach. I think the message is quite clear. This is *just* what I wanted to get rid of.
Well, guess now I know.
And it's really rather shocking to be able to observe what sort of state I lived in before doing this without even properly realising anymore. Ew.
By the way, the topic of this week was "Face the demons", but I think I already did that a little earlier. The only demons I'm facing now are some sorrow and regret, both for what I've been doing to myself, and for the fact that some of the things I really love to eat are now pretty much off my list. Apple sauce *sniff* I will always love you. :,,,,(
1 large cup of Yogi Tea Chocolate with a dash of soy milk
Lunch:
1 glass of prosecco
pork loin filled with dried plums wrapped in bacon [S]
pole beans with butter and salt
Schupfnudeln (a sort of dumpling made with potatoes, not really pasta)
Afternoon:
1 whisky sour [S]
1 piece of tiramisu made with apple sauce instead of (most of) the mascarpone [S]
Evening:
2 more (small) pieces of pork loin [S]
1 slice of bread
some mustard [S]
So, why in the world did I consume so much stuff containing sugar today?
Well, I thought someone's birthday would be a great time to do some experimentation within this experiment. I just wanted to see what sort of effect it would have on me, whether I would notice any change in my constitution.
The result?
I did. And it was/is terrible. Really. As soon as I ate the tiramisu, I developed this lingering kind of fuzzy headache that gradually seeps into the background and just hangs there as a light layer of *duh* over everything you think or do. Then, about 30mins later, I suddenly felt sick. Right now, many many hours later, I still feel worse than I've felt in a long time. Still slightly fuzzy in the head, still a queasy feeling in my stomach. I think the message is quite clear. This is *just* what I wanted to get rid of.
Well, guess now I know.
And it's really rather shocking to be able to observe what sort of state I lived in before doing this without even properly realising anymore. Ew.
By the way, the topic of this week was "Face the demons", but I think I already did that a little earlier. The only demons I'm facing now are some sorrow and regret, both for what I've been doing to myself, and for the fact that some of the things I really love to eat are now pretty much off my list. Apple sauce *sniff* I will always love you. :,,,,(
Week 4, Day 6
Breakfast:
2 slices of bread with some vegan bean spread
1 tiny slice of bread with cheese
Lunch:
salmon steak seared in peanut oil
steamed vegetables with some butter, sprinkled with parmesan
soba noodles with sesame oil
Afternoon:
1 large cup of vanilla chai made with soy-rice milk
Evening:
4 mixed cereal crackers with peanut butter
large cup of Yogi Tea Chocolate
2 slices of bread with some vegan bean spread
1 tiny slice of bread with cheese
Lunch:
salmon steak seared in peanut oil
steamed vegetables with some butter, sprinkled with parmesan
soba noodles with sesame oil
Afternoon:
1 large cup of vanilla chai made with soy-rice milk
Evening:
4 mixed cereal crackers with peanut butter
large cup of Yogi Tea Chocolate
Week 4, Day 5
Breakfast:
4 mixed cereal crackers with peanut butter
1 cup of Yogi Tea Chocolate
Midday:
1 cup of herbal tea
Late lunch:
1 kebab (lamb)
"Dinner":
several small sandwiches with butter, cheese, salami, bell pepper etc
1 can of Guinness
1 bottle Gösser
some crisps
I have to admit I have no idea whether any of the things I consumed under 'dinner' contained sugar or not. I'm really not sure how I should handle invitations to other people's places in the future. Bring my own snacks? Eat beforehand and consume nothing while there? Eat only a tiny little bit? I'll have to think about that.
By the way, the two portions of beer, which would normally don't do evil things to me, did result in me feeling sort of odd Saturday morning. I really think I need to be careful with that as well.
4 mixed cereal crackers with peanut butter
1 cup of Yogi Tea Chocolate
Midday:
1 cup of herbal tea
Late lunch:
1 kebab (lamb)
"Dinner":
several small sandwiches with butter, cheese, salami, bell pepper etc
1 can of Guinness
1 bottle Gösser
some crisps
I have to admit I have no idea whether any of the things I consumed under 'dinner' contained sugar or not. I'm really not sure how I should handle invitations to other people's places in the future. Bring my own snacks? Eat beforehand and consume nothing while there? Eat only a tiny little bit? I'll have to think about that.
By the way, the two portions of beer, which would normally don't do evil things to me, did result in me feeling sort of odd Saturday morning. I really think I need to be careful with that as well.
Freitag, März 16, 2012
Week 4, Day 4
Late breakfast:
some goat cheese
1 avocado
some mixed cereal crackers
Snack:
Some salty snacks before dinner because I was reaaaally hungry
Dinner:
Gnocchi with red pesto and parmesan
Some rocket with macadamia nut oil
[VERY tasty]
I still don't know what to pack for uni. Mmpf. I can't really go on being hungry during the day and then eating massive portions for dinner. :P
Also, I don't remember what I had on Wednesday. What I usually do is to switch on my computer when I get home and do stuff on there on and off. The past week, what I do when I get home is to simply plop down on the sofa and grab the next book in the "One Piece" manga series, and read until I go to bed. I have some catching up to do. I'll write more about "One Piece" (and maybe some other Japanese stuff) in other posts, the important thing to know right now is - I have some catching up to do. Oh yes.
some goat cheese
1 avocado
some mixed cereal crackers
Snack:
Some salty snacks before dinner because I was reaaaally hungry
Dinner:
Gnocchi with red pesto and parmesan
Some rocket with macadamia nut oil
[VERY tasty]
I still don't know what to pack for uni. Mmpf. I can't really go on being hungry during the day and then eating massive portions for dinner. :P
Also, I don't remember what I had on Wednesday. What I usually do is to switch on my computer when I get home and do stuff on there on and off. The past week, what I do when I get home is to simply plop down on the sofa and grab the next book in the "One Piece" manga series, and read until I go to bed. I have some catching up to do. I'll write more about "One Piece" (and maybe some other Japanese stuff) in other posts, the important thing to know right now is - I have some catching up to do. Oh yes.
Week 4, Day 2
Breakfast:
Porridge made with oat milk, cocoa powder and coconut chips [which tasted almost like chocolate pudding, yay!]
Lunch:
Noodles with pork and veggies [I have to admit, I have no idea whether there was any sugar in the sauce...I just think that, since there was so little sauce anyway, it couldn't have been much. And if there was any, I will accept that gladly for the chance to have lunch with a friend.]
Evening:
More coconut chips
Late evening:
2 slices of bread with grilled cheese, a handfull of radishes
Porridge made with oat milk, cocoa powder and coconut chips [which tasted almost like chocolate pudding, yay!]
Lunch:
Noodles with pork and veggies [I have to admit, I have no idea whether there was any sugar in the sauce...I just think that, since there was so little sauce anyway, it couldn't have been much. And if there was any, I will accept that gladly for the chance to have lunch with a friend.]
Evening:
More coconut chips
Late evening:
2 slices of bread with grilled cheese, a handfull of radishes
Week 4, Day 1
Breakfast:
1 slice of bread (S) with peanut butter [the bread where I discovered, just as I bit into it, that it had some sugar content]
Midmorning:
1 cup of herbal tea
Coconut chips (I just discovered these - hooray for sugarfree snacks!)
Lunch:
Gyros
Afternoon:
Veggie juice
Evening:
some parmesan
Late evening:
some Finn Crips multigrain
some goat cheese
some cashew butter
large cup of Vata tea
1 slice of bread (S) with peanut butter [the bread where I discovered, just as I bit into it, that it had some sugar content]
Midmorning:
1 cup of herbal tea
Coconut chips (I just discovered these - hooray for sugarfree snacks!)
Lunch:
Gyros
Afternoon:
Veggie juice
Evening:
some parmesan
Late evening:
some Finn Crips multigrain
some goat cheese
some cashew butter
large cup of Vata tea
Montag, März 12, 2012
Week 3, Day 6 and 7
I didn't turn on my computer this weekend and didn't take any notes, so I have no perfect list of what I had these couple of days. I know two things which weren't quite ideal - drinking a glass of Guinness Saturday evening (wine is okay I think but dark, sweet beer I suppose isn't...), and, something I only realised this morning, the bread I had frozen for emergency Sunday "We used up all our bread but need more"-situations contained sugar, but since I just took it out of the freezer I forgot to check the label. :P
Anyway, the rest was fine - scrambled eggs with salmon and onions twice, mixed cereal crackers and nut butters, lots of tea, goat cheese and veggies, that sort of thing. As I said, no exact list, but I know there was no sugar hidden anywhere else.
I also cleaned out the fridge, so there's only good sugarless stuff in there now. :)
Anyway, the rest was fine - scrambled eggs with salmon and onions twice, mixed cereal crackers and nut butters, lots of tea, goat cheese and veggies, that sort of thing. As I said, no exact list, but I know there was no sugar hidden anywhere else.
I also cleaned out the fridge, so there's only good sugarless stuff in there now. :)
Week 3, Day 5
Breakfast:
3 small slices of bread with onion spread
1 large cup of Vata tea
Lunch:
Chicken kebab
Evening:
2 glasses of white wine
some peanut snacks
and if something else, I sadly don't quite remember, since I'm finishing this post on Monday. Maybe some peanut butter?
I think there might have been traces of sugar in the peanut snacks...dextrose, which is, however, not what I'm mainly trying to avoid.
3 small slices of bread with onion spread
1 large cup of Vata tea
Lunch:
Chicken kebab
Evening:
2 glasses of white wine
some peanut snacks
and if something else, I sadly don't quite remember, since I'm finishing this post on Monday. Maybe some peanut butter?
I think there might have been traces of sugar in the peanut snacks...dextrose, which is, however, not what I'm mainly trying to avoid.
Donnerstag, März 08, 2012
Week 3, Day 4
"Breakfast" (more like lunch):
1 large cup of Earl Grey
1 avocado
some goat cheese
3 corn crackers
Afternoon:
1 pack vegetable juice (500ml, mixed veggies) - I buy this one regularly, and it's great for taking to class
Evening:
Spelt 'risotto' with some added parmesan
The last bit of the mixed greens salad
1 large cup ginger tea
I wasn't really hungry today, but still, this may have been a little too little. Need to find something I can suitably pack for uni (and which doesn't need too much preparation).
The headache yesterday just wouldn't go away. Almost as bad as a migraine. Then I went to my local sauna, and then drank another load of water afterwards, and...today it's gone. Phew. It had been bugging me for several days. Nothing is as good as when pain suddenly disappears. :)
1 large cup of Earl Grey
1 avocado
some goat cheese
3 corn crackers
Afternoon:
1 pack vegetable juice (500ml, mixed veggies) - I buy this one regularly, and it's great for taking to class
Evening:
Spelt 'risotto' with some added parmesan
The last bit of the mixed greens salad
1 large cup ginger tea
I wasn't really hungry today, but still, this may have been a little too little. Need to find something I can suitably pack for uni (and which doesn't need too much preparation).
The headache yesterday just wouldn't go away. Almost as bad as a migraine. Then I went to my local sauna, and then drank another load of water afterwards, and...today it's gone. Phew. It had been bugging me for several days. Nothing is as good as when pain suddenly disappears. :)
Week 3, Day 3
"Breakfast":
1 glass of oatmilk
1 cup of Sweet Chai tea
Lunch:
1 croissant with ham, cheese, eggs, lettuce
Dinner:
More mixed greens salad with added cherry tomatoe, macadamia nut oil and herbs
2 slices of bread with grilled cheese
1 small slice of bread with onion spread
Late evening:
1 cup of Vata tea
1 teaspoon cashew butter and one peanut butter as a treat
I am drinking lots of water these days. Some sort of detox headache seems to have set in, and I'm really trying to get over it without any painkillers. I had to take those yesterday, for other reasons, but I'm not going to take any for this headache, annoying as it may be. It should be over within the week, anyway.
1 glass of oatmilk
1 cup of Sweet Chai tea
Lunch:
1 croissant with ham, cheese, eggs, lettuce
Dinner:
More mixed greens salad with added cherry tomatoe, macadamia nut oil and herbs
2 slices of bread with grilled cheese
1 small slice of bread with onion spread
Late evening:
1 cup of Vata tea
1 teaspoon cashew butter and one peanut butter as a treat
I am drinking lots of water these days. Some sort of detox headache seems to have set in, and I'm really trying to get over it without any painkillers. I had to take those yesterday, for other reasons, but I'm not going to take any for this headache, annoying as it may be. It should be over within the week, anyway.
Week 3, Day 2
Breakfast:
2 slices of bread with onion spread
1 large cup of Ayurvedic Vata tea
Lunch:
1 cup of yogurt with a dash of cinnamon, some cocoa powder and some shredded coconut
3 mixed cereals crackers with peanut butter
Dinner:
Coconut-based curry with turkey, brown rice and mixed salad (with some macadamia oil and herbs)
Spent the day at home, resting, knitting, reading. Really needed a break.
2 slices of bread with onion spread
1 large cup of Ayurvedic Vata tea
Lunch:
1 cup of yogurt with a dash of cinnamon, some cocoa powder and some shredded coconut
3 mixed cereals crackers with peanut butter
Dinner:
Coconut-based curry with turkey, brown rice and mixed salad (with some macadamia oil and herbs)
Spent the day at home, resting, knitting, reading. Really needed a break.
Mittwoch, März 07, 2012
Week 3, Day 1
This week I give up ALL sugar, yay!
Breakfast:
1 cup of mate tea
1 slice of bread with grilled cheese
(I almost didn't eat anything, forced myself, exams on empty stomachs are no good)
Noontime:
1 cup of coffee with oat milk
(I had fantasies of visiting my favourite coffee shop, but choosing between normal milk [lactose], lactose-free milk [fructose] and soy milk [whatever sugar they add to that] sort of made that impossible. I know that this programme is mainly about avoiding fructose, but since I'm also lactose intolerant, there's nothing to do.]
Lunch:
ciabatta with goat cheese, watercress, grilled bell pepper, red pesto
Afternoon:
Some peanut butter
Evening:
1 glass of mango smoothie (S)
1 big bowl of salad (field salad, radishes, orang bell pepper) with lemon juice and poppy seed oil,some pieces of feta wrapped in bacon and baked until crispy/soft
I need to explain that glass of smoothie, which was not planned and not intended. Love will be my eternal downfall. ;) The story goes like this: I had my exam, which I was really anxious about and spent the past week and more reading like a maniac for. In the evening, my boyfriend comes home and says: "One day I'll finally bring you real flowers*, but..." and pulls a container of Innocent mango smoothie from his bag. Which I love. All of them, but mango especially. And I look at him with big eyes, unsure what to say, and he remembers that I'm not supposed to drink it, and is completely crestfallen. So I say: "You know what, I'll have one glass. And I'll completely refrain from sugar from tomorrow onwards. And also..." *smooch*
Life is sweet.
*We have this joke going on that I never get flowers but other things instead. It started one day when we were not yet living together and shopping at IKEA, and I was buying some energy saving lightbulbs...and at the checkout, he paid for them despite me complaining and said "For all the flowers I never get you." I then explained that I'm not really the flowers-expecting kind of girl (and I think they're sometimes just used as an excuse for something better, like something you really need, or an apology), and that his idea was genius. So him getting me my favourite kind of smoothie? A thousand times better than any bunch of greens could ever be, never mind the timing. ;)
Breakfast:
1 cup of mate tea
1 slice of bread with grilled cheese
(I almost didn't eat anything, forced myself, exams on empty stomachs are no good)
Noontime:
1 cup of coffee with oat milk
(I had fantasies of visiting my favourite coffee shop, but choosing between normal milk [lactose], lactose-free milk [fructose] and soy milk [whatever sugar they add to that] sort of made that impossible. I know that this programme is mainly about avoiding fructose, but since I'm also lactose intolerant, there's nothing to do.]
Lunch:
ciabatta with goat cheese, watercress, grilled bell pepper, red pesto
Afternoon:
Some peanut butter
Evening:
1 glass of mango smoothie (S)
1 big bowl of salad (field salad, radishes, orang bell pepper) with lemon juice and poppy seed oil,some pieces of feta wrapped in bacon and baked until crispy/soft
I need to explain that glass of smoothie, which was not planned and not intended. Love will be my eternal downfall. ;) The story goes like this: I had my exam, which I was really anxious about and spent the past week and more reading like a maniac for. In the evening, my boyfriend comes home and says: "One day I'll finally bring you real flowers*, but..." and pulls a container of Innocent mango smoothie from his bag. Which I love. All of them, but mango especially. And I look at him with big eyes, unsure what to say, and he remembers that I'm not supposed to drink it, and is completely crestfallen. So I say: "You know what, I'll have one glass. And I'll completely refrain from sugar from tomorrow onwards. And also..." *smooch*
Life is sweet.
*We have this joke going on that I never get flowers but other things instead. It started one day when we were not yet living together and shopping at IKEA, and I was buying some energy saving lightbulbs...and at the checkout, he paid for them despite me complaining and said "For all the flowers I never get you." I then explained that I'm not really the flowers-expecting kind of girl (and I think they're sometimes just used as an excuse for something better, like something you really need, or an apology), and that his idea was genius. So him getting me my favourite kind of smoothie? A thousand times better than any bunch of greens could ever be, never mind the timing. ;)
Montag, März 05, 2012
Week 2, Day 7
(Late) Breakfast:
1 cup of organic yogurt with 1 teaspoon cashew butter
1 large cup of Yogi Tea Black Chai with some oat milk
Lunch:
1 handful of cocktail tomatoes
1 large spring onion
half a cucumber
1 tin of sardines in tomato sauce (S) [I forgot to check when I bought them...sugar in the sauce, of course...]
3 corn crackers
Afternoon:
crisps
2 teaspoons of peanut butter and 1 teaspoon cashew butter (sudden sugar craving :P)
Evening:
2 slices of bread with butter and honey (S) [as a sort of goodbye, because next week I quit completely; and also as a sort of test]
1 glass of oat milk
1 large cup of herbal tea with a dash of cinnamon
I must admit, I was worried. The last few days haven't been too good emotionally. I've slept badly, hardly. Thankfully I remembered today that this might be a side effect of doing this - feeling bad for a while. Lots of things coming up which I haven't thought about for ages. Suddenly crying because I miss my grandmothers. All sorts of regrets, worse than usual. Crazy amounts of anxiety, just when I want to go to sleep.
I thought I was going a little crazy over my exam, and thought that quite weird, it doesn't usually happen. I think I can now safely say that it's withdrawal. And yes, that does make it a little better. Not much, but it does.
Nevertheless, I hope I get over this soon. :P
1 cup of organic yogurt with 1 teaspoon cashew butter
1 large cup of Yogi Tea Black Chai with some oat milk
Lunch:
1 handful of cocktail tomatoes
1 large spring onion
half a cucumber
1 tin of sardines in tomato sauce (S) [I forgot to check when I bought them...sugar in the sauce, of course...]
3 corn crackers
Afternoon:
crisps
2 teaspoons of peanut butter and 1 teaspoon cashew butter (sudden sugar craving :P)
Evening:
2 slices of bread with butter and honey (S) [as a sort of goodbye, because next week I quit completely; and also as a sort of test]
1 glass of oat milk
1 large cup of herbal tea with a dash of cinnamon
I must admit, I was worried. The last few days haven't been too good emotionally. I've slept badly, hardly. Thankfully I remembered today that this might be a side effect of doing this - feeling bad for a while. Lots of things coming up which I haven't thought about for ages. Suddenly crying because I miss my grandmothers. All sorts of regrets, worse than usual. Crazy amounts of anxiety, just when I want to go to sleep.
I thought I was going a little crazy over my exam, and thought that quite weird, it doesn't usually happen. I think I can now safely say that it's withdrawal. And yes, that does make it a little better. Not much, but it does.
Nevertheless, I hope I get over this soon. :P
Sonntag, März 04, 2012
Week 2, Day 6
(Late) Breakfast:
1 large cup of herbal tea
2 small slices of bread with ham and grilled cheese
Afternoon:
All sorts of snacks - salted almonds, crisps, pretzels
Dinner:
2 small slices of bread with ham and grilled cheese
1 large cup of green tea with pomegranate flavour
We had visitors for the afternoon, hence the snacks - and I was tired, and reading like a madwoman for the rest of the day, hence the lack of cooking and vegetables. Will make up for this tomorrow.
1 large cup of herbal tea
2 small slices of bread with ham and grilled cheese
Afternoon:
All sorts of snacks - salted almonds, crisps, pretzels
Dinner:
2 small slices of bread with ham and grilled cheese
1 large cup of green tea with pomegranate flavour
We had visitors for the afternoon, hence the snacks - and I was tired, and reading like a madwoman for the rest of the day, hence the lack of cooking and vegetables. Will make up for this tomorrow.
Samstag, März 03, 2012
Week 2, Day 5
Breakfast:
1 cup of organic yoghurt
"Snack":
1 glass of oat milk
Lunch:
1 croissant with ham, cheese, egg and salad
(one of my go-to-things to eat when I'm at work)
Afternoon:
1 large cup of Caro coffee with half the cup made up of oat milk - tasted tasteless, so I added one small amount of the coconut sugar I'd made around Christmas...which also didn't help (S)
1 teaspoon cashew butter (it really is something of a little treat, every time)
Evening:
2 slices of bread with ham and grilled cheese (prepared by my boyfriend, not healthy, but yummm)
some radishes (which I added to make it seem more healthy, at least)
1 cup of organic yoghurt
"Snack":
1 glass of oat milk
Lunch:
1 croissant with ham, cheese, egg and salad
(one of my go-to-things to eat when I'm at work)
Afternoon:
1 large cup of Caro coffee with half the cup made up of oat milk - tasted tasteless, so I added one small amount of the coconut sugar I'd made around Christmas...which also didn't help (S)
1 teaspoon cashew butter (it really is something of a little treat, every time)
Evening:
2 slices of bread with ham and grilled cheese (prepared by my boyfriend, not healthy, but yummm)
some radishes (which I added to make it seem more healthy, at least)
Freitag, März 02, 2012
Reading update
As previously mentioned, I'm trying to read more, a lot more, than last year. I'm currently deep into a list of books I need to read for an exam, and need to finish 2 1/4 books until Monday, so that should be...easy?
Anyway, what I've read since I finished with Tiffany Aching:
The English Patient
Return to Harken House
12 balls of yarn for Granny Owl (my own translation; a tiny children's book which I won't really count, but it was about a knitting owl <3)
And I'm now on the last 100 pages of Midnight's Children. I currently feel a little behind my goal of one book per week, but if I manage to read those other 2 books (Things fall apart and Disgrace), I'll be way ahead again. Fingers crossed!
Edit: And - Midnight's Children finished. Phew! What a book! Wish I could take a break now to digest it properly...
Edit 2: It seems I entirely forgot 'The God of Small Things'. I finished that just before Midnight's Children.
Anyway, what I've read since I finished with Tiffany Aching:
The English Patient
Return to Harken House
12 balls of yarn for Granny Owl (my own translation; a tiny children's book which I won't really count, but it was about a knitting owl <3)
And I'm now on the last 100 pages of Midnight's Children. I currently feel a little behind my goal of one book per week, but if I manage to read those other 2 books (Things fall apart and Disgrace), I'll be way ahead again. Fingers crossed!
Edit: And - Midnight's Children finished. Phew! What a book! Wish I could take a break now to digest it properly...
Edit 2: It seems I entirely forgot 'The God of Small Things'. I finished that just before Midnight's Children.
Week 2, Day 4
Breakfast:
Some corn crackers (5-6)
some cheese
some radishes (5-6)
a cup of herbal tea
Midday snack:
I cup of yoghurt with one teaspoon cashew butter and one teaspoon linseeds mixed in
Late afternoon:
The remaining pasta from yesterday, with some fresh rocket mixed in, plus parmesan
Evening:
3 rice crackers with peanut butter
2 cups of tea (one was some unlabelled fruit-flavoured black tea, the other was anise-fennel-araway tea)
1 spoon cashew butter because it's so good
Some corn crackers (5-6)
some cheese
some radishes (5-6)
a cup of herbal tea
Midday snack:
I cup of yoghurt with one teaspoon cashew butter and one teaspoon linseeds mixed in
Late afternoon:
The remaining pasta from yesterday, with some fresh rocket mixed in, plus parmesan
Evening:
3 rice crackers with peanut butter
2 cups of tea (one was some unlabelled fruit-flavoured black tea, the other was anise-fennel-araway tea)
1 spoon cashew butter because it's so good
Mittwoch, Februar 29, 2012
Week 2, Day 3
So, back at work! Still a little groggy, but not enough to excuse myself any longer. Plus, it would really be a pity to stay indoors another day with weather as glorious as this. :)
Breakfast:
3 rice crackers with peanut butter
1 glass of spelt milk
(Yay, I managed to eat something! In the morning! Without being late! Success!)
Lunch:
1 chicken kebab
(eaten in the park, basking in the sunshine - the only way to eat really, if I could...)
Afternoon:
1 glass of oat milk
Dinner:
Whole wheat pasta with self-made sauce consisting of tomato sauce, onion, courgette, and yellow bell pepper, smoked mussels for protein, some herbs
See, it's much more fun when I have loads of vegetables at home. No sugar anywhere - and what a difference to the madness of last week.
I think that food and eating it is much more fun when it's quite colourful - so the pasta sauce is red, white, green and yellow.
To vary things a little, I got a glass of cashew butter today, wonder how that'll turn out. And soon, I have to visit the one store I know that has mixed nuts butter, which I know to be extremely tasty. :)
Edit: I must admit, later that night, I had two small spoonfulls of the cashew butter - and, boy, it's one of the tastiest things I've ever tried. Wow. (I also had a cup of herbal tea, but that really pales in comparison.)
Breakfast:
3 rice crackers with peanut butter
1 glass of spelt milk
(Yay, I managed to eat something! In the morning! Without being late! Success!)
Lunch:
1 chicken kebab
(eaten in the park, basking in the sunshine - the only way to eat really, if I could...)
Afternoon:
1 glass of oat milk
Dinner:
Whole wheat pasta with self-made sauce consisting of tomato sauce, onion, courgette, and yellow bell pepper, smoked mussels for protein, some herbs
See, it's much more fun when I have loads of vegetables at home. No sugar anywhere - and what a difference to the madness of last week.
I think that food and eating it is much more fun when it's quite colourful - so the pasta sauce is red, white, green and yellow.
To vary things a little, I got a glass of cashew butter today, wonder how that'll turn out. And soon, I have to visit the one store I know that has mixed nuts butter, which I know to be extremely tasty. :)
Edit: I must admit, later that night, I had two small spoonfulls of the cashew butter - and, boy, it's one of the tastiest things I've ever tried. Wow. (I also had a cup of herbal tea, but that really pales in comparison.)
Dienstag, Februar 28, 2012
Week 2, Day 2
I haven't even mentioned what this week is about. Week 1 was about reducing sugar intake (and I mainly used it to reduce remaining sweets in the house and becoming more aware of where sugar is actually hidden). Week 2 I am supposed to learn how to deal with food cravings by eating more healthy fats, like fish, avocado, nuts and seeds. The theory being that sugar just makes you go on eating, but fat (and protein) fill you up. Of course, the main thing is still eating mainly vegetables and proteins and some healthy carbohydrates - I won't be eating crisps and all that now just stuff myself with any kind of fat.
I think this week is also supposed to teach how to deal with cravings in general. Replacing sweet treats with other treats, like drinking a nice cup of tea.
What did I eat today?
Breakfast:
1 bowl of porridge made with spelt milk, with the last of my frozen berries and a lot of linseed added, also some brown sugar because something went wrong and it tasted awfully watery and I almost couldn't eat it at all :( (S)
Lunch:
2 slices of bread with grilled cheese, plus several radishes (7 or 8 maybe?)
Dinner:
half a chicken breast and three small chicken nuggets (S) (I bought these before I was aware there was any sugar added, now they're gone)
salad made of rocket, radishes and cherry tomatoes, with a dressing made with lemon and poppy seed oil
one cup of Kukicha
I think this week is also supposed to teach how to deal with cravings in general. Replacing sweet treats with other treats, like drinking a nice cup of tea.
What did I eat today?
Breakfast:
1 bowl of porridge made with spelt milk, with the last of my frozen berries and a lot of linseed added, also some brown sugar because something went wrong and it tasted awfully watery and I almost couldn't eat it at all :( (S)
Lunch:
2 slices of bread with grilled cheese, plus several radishes (7 or 8 maybe?)
Dinner:
half a chicken breast and three small chicken nuggets (S) (I bought these before I was aware there was any sugar added, now they're gone)
salad made of rocket, radishes and cherry tomatoes, with a dressing made with lemon and poppy seed oil
one cup of Kukicha
Week 2, Day 1
I must admit that yesterday is slightly blurry. I didn't sleep at all during the night, then had a nap from morning to noon. The rest of the day felt rather dream-like and consisted of alternately knitting and reading books for my exam next Monday.
I think I had these things:
Breakfast:
3 rice crackers with peanut butter
1 large cup of Yogi Tea Chocolate
"Lunch":
1 large cup of hot chocolate (using up the last remainders that were still hanging around) (S)
2 eggs
some dried tomato
some corn crackers
Dinner:
Thai Chicken Masamun Curry (S)
I succumbed. I couldn't face cooking or another slice of bread or more eggs, so I ate something ready-made. I love these things, but I think this has been the last time for quite a while.
Feeling slightly better again today. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be fine again.
I think I had these things:
Breakfast:
3 rice crackers with peanut butter
1 large cup of Yogi Tea Chocolate
"Lunch":
1 large cup of hot chocolate (using up the last remainders that were still hanging around) (S)
2 eggs
some dried tomato
some corn crackers
Dinner:
Thai Chicken Masamun Curry (S)
I succumbed. I couldn't face cooking or another slice of bread or more eggs, so I ate something ready-made. I love these things, but I think this has been the last time for quite a while.
Feeling slightly better again today. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be fine again.
Sonntag, Februar 26, 2012
Week 1, Day 7
Breakfast:
3 rice crackers with peanut butter
2 cups of ginger tea with lemsip (S) and cayenne pepper
Lunch:
5 small falafel
steamed vegetables with some butter
yoghurt dip with herbs, garlic and pepper
Dinner:
Omelett made with 2 eggs, some parmesan and other cheese, (lots of) pepper
1 slice of bread
...and loads of ginger tea throughout the day. Thankfully, the only thing with added sugar today was the lemon drink. (It's not really lemsip, but some lemon drink to be made with hot water...so I just added it to the tea.)
Feeling a little better, but still down with a temperature. :(
3 rice crackers with peanut butter
2 cups of ginger tea with lemsip (S) and cayenne pepper
Lunch:
5 small falafel
steamed vegetables with some butter
yoghurt dip with herbs, garlic and pepper
Dinner:
Omelett made with 2 eggs, some parmesan and other cheese, (lots of) pepper
1 slice of bread
...and loads of ginger tea throughout the day. Thankfully, the only thing with added sugar today was the lemon drink. (It's not really lemsip, but some lemon drink to be made with hot water...so I just added it to the tea.)
Feeling a little better, but still down with a temperature. :(
Week 1, Day 6
This evening will be another sugar fest, the last one though. We're visiting some friends, who today celebrate a tradition from Vorarlberg. There, carnival only properly ends at the Sunday after Shrove Tuesday, with a huge bonfire and large amounts of special donuts eaten with apple sauce. I see this as another experiment, observing what effects this will have. But, I must admit, I'll probably also enjoy eating the stuff. ;)
Morning snack:
1 small cup of hot chocolate made with rice milk (S)
3 rice crackers with peanut butter (made with just peanuts, no additives)
Lunch:
Wild salmon steak with some macadamia oil
Roast vegetables with garlic
Some sweets still remaining from Christmas (S)
Evening:
1 bowl of apple sauce (S)
approx. 10-15 of the donuts (they're quite small) with sugar (S)
3 cups of ginger tea with added lemsip (S) and cayenne pepper [Turns out I fell ill... :( ]
Morning snack:
1 small cup of hot chocolate made with rice milk (S)
3 rice crackers with peanut butter (made with just peanuts, no additives)
Lunch:
Wild salmon steak with some macadamia oil
Roast vegetables with garlic
Some sweets still remaining from Christmas (S)
Evening:
1 bowl of apple sauce (S)
approx. 10-15 of the donuts (they're quite small) with sugar (S)
3 cups of ginger tea with added lemsip (S) and cayenne pepper [Turns out I fell ill... :( ]
Samstag, Februar 25, 2012
Week 1, Day 5
Breakfast:
1 cup of Earl Grey
2 slices of bread with dark chocolate spread (now also used up) (S)
Lunch:
2 different types of bread, one with tiny pieces of bacon added, one with oats and raisins (S)
some cheese
1 egg
(no veggies...all I have at home right now are tomatoes, and I can't face those right now)
2 small pieces of chocolate (now also gone, none left lying around) (S)
Evening (not really "dinner"):
Small bit of gingerbread my great-aunt made (S)
2 small bottles of beer
2 glasses of white wine
Some puffed millet balls (a snack which is just slightly salted)
We visited friends and played Descent, which might explain the beer...
So, no veggies at all - bad. :( And the list of things I did eat sounds...very strange. I need to change that.
But I'm becoming more aware of sugar content, checking everything I buy, reflecting on how things with some sugar make me feel.
Also, the curry things I ate at the restaurant apparently weren't all that good for me. I slept badly and woke up feeling odd. So, I suppose, no more curry at restaurants for the time being.
1 cup of Earl Grey
2 slices of bread with dark chocolate spread (now also used up) (S)
Lunch:
2 different types of bread, one with tiny pieces of bacon added, one with oats and raisins (S)
some cheese
1 egg
(no veggies...all I have at home right now are tomatoes, and I can't face those right now)
2 small pieces of chocolate (now also gone, none left lying around) (S)
Evening (not really "dinner"):
Small bit of gingerbread my great-aunt made (S)
2 small bottles of beer
2 glasses of white wine
Some puffed millet balls (a snack which is just slightly salted)
We visited friends and played Descent, which might explain the beer...
So, no veggies at all - bad. :( And the list of things I did eat sounds...very strange. I need to change that.
But I'm becoming more aware of sugar content, checking everything I buy, reflecting on how things with some sugar make me feel.
Also, the curry things I ate at the restaurant apparently weren't all that good for me. I slept badly and woke up feeling odd. So, I suppose, no more curry at restaurants for the time being.
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