Lent

After a thoroughly uneventful Shrove Tuesday (except for a change in hair colour, but technically that happened on Monday) which I spent at the office (yes I'm back at the office again, temporarily), and then cleaning up our apartment, scrubbing the bath (green everywhere, heh) etc, I feel like I should still make some sort of commitment for Lent. I thought about it for a while. Alcohol is always a great idea, but as I'll be spending next week with a group who will definitely place a glass of wine in front of me every evening, no matter what, and there's several birthdays coming up as well, this one seems a little hard to do. Going off Facebook also seems neat, but as there's several people who only ever contact me via FB, and I sometimes need to check on things my computer game-developing clients (hehe, 'clients'...) post, this is also not as feasible as I would like it to be.
Instead, I chose, maybe somewhat cowardly, coffee and chocolate. Cowardly because I'm already trying to avoid them anyway. And because I don't desperately need my morning coffee like some do. Still, it might help. I'll try the Quit Sugar thing again come spring, so this should prepare me somewhat as well.

What I'm also trying to get rid of (I can't avoid it per se, but I really don't want it) is all that anxiousness about people's reactions towards me. My hair is now an anime-worthy shade of emeral green and basically looks like I'm test-driving a wig for Comic-Con. People WILL react to that. I generally have this instinct to try to hide, and to fret endlessly about what people will say. And you know what? So far my colleagues have said nothing but "Ooooh, great! Awesome! Keep it like that! Great colour!", and even if they didn't, what would it matter? Instead of worrying I should rather go out there with a big smile. So that's what I'll try to do. After all, it's not like this is going to wash out tomorrow. ;)

And maybe I'll manage to get back to getting rid of some unnecessary stuff every day. You know, throw away some redundant paper stuff (old magazines, study materials I will never again need or even look at, random papers), get rid of old cosmetics, register some books for Bookcrossing (and set them free), stuff like that. A little every day, and suddenly there's a whole lot of space on all the shelves - at least that's what I'm hoping for. :)

January Reading

Sooo, January seems to be over. The sun was out and the weather was really nice today, and yesterday too (I just spent yesterday mostly asleep or reading, while lazily admiring the bright blue sky I could see through my windows while today I actually ventured outside). I'm all for clouds and loads of snow and cold, because, let's face it, it's winter, and that's where these things should occur. But I'm also all for stormy nights which clear the skies and the sun putting a hint of spring in the air. Because, hey, it's February. :)

Anyway, on the 6th I put down a tentative reading list for January:
All Manga Power
As much Dresden Files as I manage
Humble Bundle - Signal to Noise, xkcd, SMBC, maybe more
Michelle Goodman - Don't just read, WORK!
...which I then swiftly forgot about, and only really kept to in one point. You'll soon notice which.

So, here's what I read last month...

Cornelia Funke, Tintenherz 
 I've been meaning to read this one for ages. And I borrowed the book from a friend I think in February 2012. So, high time I finally got to it. I read it the first days of the new year, which was great...two days of just lying back and read. After the stressful time I had before, during and right after Christmas, it was bliss.
I admit that I watched the film maybe 2 years ago, maybe a little less. It's nice, but it's also nothing like the book, no matter how much I may like Helen Mirren. Although maybe I'll watch it again now and see whether I like it any better.
The second in the trilogy is already on my shelf...soon...soon. :)

Anthony Horowitz, Groosham Grange
This was...odd. The cover claimed it to be something akin to Roald Dahl. And to be funny. But as it happens, it turned out to be neither. If it's anything at all, then it's one the books J.K. Rowling must have used for inspiration. Kids mysteriously receiving mysterious letters from a mysterious school. Three of them travelling there together by train. Teachers being mysterious (werewolves, ghosts etc). Mysterious mirrors. Etc. Just that...it was neither fun nor really exciting, there was a lot of sort of senseless violence, and...I really didn't care for it. Maybe I was too old, I suppose younger readers might enjoy it more. Who knows.

Jim Butcher, Fool Moon
Ah, the Dresden Files. After telling my boyfriend for a long, long time that I would most probably not read them, I turned around that decision over the past couple of years, listened to some of the audiobooks a year or so ago...and now decided to take the plunge and make my way through the books. Since the first one (Stormfront) is currently with my aunt, and I pretty much know it by heart anyway (audiobook plus reading the graphic novel version several times...seems to be enough), I started with #2. I already knew the audiobook, so no big surprises there. But I think I've got a better grasp on things now than when merely listening to the story. Reading really is a very different thing. 

Ales Kot, Wild Children
 Very short, rather odd comic. Not sure I get it yet. Maybe there is nothing to get as such (or so the comic itself claims). A lot of ideas. A lot of playing around with things. Food for thought.

Jim Butcher, Grave Peril


The journey continues. I knew this one as well, but reading really made a difference.

Jim Butcher, Summer Knight


And on, and on. I got a little annoyed with this one (and the ones before), because while reading I noticed some plotholes, some inconsistencies, that I hadn't when listening. In the last one it was mostly switching the names of minor characters, but here a whole subplot is resolved with an explanation that doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I still enjoyed the book, and it didn't take too much away, but still.

Jim Butcher, Death Masks
So, this one was as far as I'd got with the audiobooks. I stopped somewhere around the last third, I think. Idiotic, really. Anyway, reading it was a lot of fun. Finally getting to places I hadn't experienced before was GREAT. :)

Eiichiro Oda, One Piece # 65
And here it is: The culprit which messed up my sleeping pattern (if you can call it that) for the week. The book arrived Monday. I only started reading shortly before midnight. And when I finished it, I did something I had tried to avoid so far: I grabbed my boyfriend's tablet, turned on his manga reading app and read the next several chapters as well (I guess #66 will hold no surprises for me when it comes out  in May :P). I NEEDED to know how the current story arc ended. For SCIENCE. (I kid you not.) Anyway, that kept me up far too long, and I only tore myself away (story arc already being long over, ladeeda) with a lot of self-discipline. And a sort of annoyed look at the clock.
What can I say about #65? Pretty much as expected, it mostly shows off the things the Mugiwaras have learned during their break from pirating. No challenge for them anywhere. But then, there is sudden use of words like "holy war" and their enemies being "hollow" because they only fight because they have been told it is the only way to exist...it is tradition...it must be done...and you get a glimpse of the past where they commit terrorist acts not because *they* have been hurt but because they think it *must* be done...
It made me think about when One Piece had started being social commentary. I always thought that only really started with Enie's Lobby. But then again...what about Alabasta? What about Kokos? It's way more explicit now, of course, which makes it such great material for my presentation, but the basic idea has always been there: "I will protect my friends against bullies/tyrants." And it does not matter who it is, against whom or what...gender, race, species...no matter at all.
I KNOW I will go crazy over writing that paper, because I always go crazy. But boy, will it be fun!

Jim Butcher, Blood Rites
My sleep did not get much better with this one. Great to find out what addiction feels like. Reading while eating. Reading while drinking. Almost reading while cooking. Not sleeping when I should. Grabbing the next book as soon as the last one is finished. Small wonder none of the people I owe some finished work to haven't already strangled me.
I won't say much about the book. But vampires are scary things. Even the pretty ones. :P

Jim Butcher, Dead Beat
Finished this one last night. WOW. Some parts had me a little confused, because certain things just weren't as obvious to me as they were to Mr. Dresden, but hey. Bob the Dinozombie. What else can I say? WOW.
I also really enjoy the fact that after the first three or four books, they are now flowing more into each other. There are more cross-references, you get more of a feel of things from one book having a major influence on another. Nice. :)

And there they are. Ten books in one month. Don't ask me about work, but woooo. 10 books. :D
And the thing is...I really need to finish the Dresden Files (14 books published so far = 7 more to go) before I can read anything else, at least anything longer than...well, one One Piece volume, it seems. So...just don't expect my February list to look very different. And then I'll finally be able to stop clapping my hands over my ears and singing silly songs to myself whenever my boyfriend meets the other avid Harry fan in my circle of friends. Whew!

2012 Book List

So, here is my reading list for 2012, as complete as it gets. It doesn't include some things I read for uni (all those short stories and papers), and probably not all the audiobooks I listened to, but I think otherwise it should be complete. I don't have the author for every book, especially for the beginning months, maybe I'll add those later.
I also started several books and didn't finish them. They won't be mentioned here.

1. The Wee Free Men
2. A hat full of sky
3. Wintersmith
4. I shall wear midnight (all four by Terry Pratchett)
5. The English Patient
6. Return to Harken House
7. 12 balls of yarn for Granny Owl (my own translation)
8. The God of Small Things
9. Midnight's Children
10. Things fall apart
11. Disgrace
X. One Piece #1-61
12. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman.
13. Roald Dahl's Incredible Chocolate Box
14. Neil Gamian, Anansi Boys
15. Neonomicon - Alan Moore
16. The Gift (1st Book of Pellinor) - Alison Croggon
26. Y: The Last Man 1-10 - Brian K. Vaughan (+ various artists)
27. Quite ugly one morning - Christopher Brookmyre
28. The Songs of Distant Earth von Arthur C. Clarke
29. Gamekeeper - Guy Ritchie (Andy Diggle, Mukesh Singh)
30. Elaine St. James - Living the simple life
31. Know Alls Facts of Life
32. Dr. Seuss - Oh, the places you'll go
33. Alina Pete - Weregeek Volume 1 - The Geek Within
34. One Piece #63
35. Roald Dahl - Kuschelmuschel (engl. title: Switch Bitch, 4 short stories)
36. Truman Capote - Frühstück bei Tiffay
37. Michelle Goodman - My so-called freelance life
X. Jim Dodge - Fup (read by Harry Rowohlt) (audiobook)
X.  Banana Yoshimoto - Kitchen (read by Jessica Schwarz) (audiobook)
X.  Giovanni Boccaccio - Decamerone (novella 5, 16, 18, 20 and 28) (audiobook)
X. That scary Neil Gaiman short story (audiobook)
38. Grüne Smoothies (GU)
39. The Anti 9-5 Guide, Michelle Goodman
40. Wishcraft, Barbara Sher
41. Bonjour Tristesse, Francoise Sagan
42. Nero Corleone, Elke Heidenreich
43. Focus on Facts #5 Unsolved Mysteries, Neville Randall + Gary Keane
44. Hubert spannt aus und andere Geschichten aus der Business Class, Martin Suter
45. Your shopping list from outer space and other articles, Rewritten by L.A.Hill
46. Die Schrift II, Grazer Autorenkollektiv (GRAUKO)
47. The Witches, Roald Dahl
49. J.W. v. Goethe, Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (Fassung A+B)
50. Goethe, Die Wahlverwandschaften
51. Still Goethe, Faust I 
52. Mary Poppins, Pamela L. Travers
53. One Piece 64, Eiichiro Oda
54. The Big Five for Life, John P. Strelecky56. Blaue Flecken auf der Seele, Francoise Sagan
57. Ophelia lernt schwimmen, Susanna Kubelka
58. Geschmacklosigkeiten von A bis Z, Karl Shaw
59. Wanted, Eiichiro Oda
60. The Last Hero, Terry Pratchett/Paul Kidby
61. Paul Watzlawick, Anleitung zum Unglücklichsein
62. Literatur für AussteigerInnen, Oder wie sich die Welt ohne Auto bewegt
63. Paul Wilson, Das kleine Buch der Freude
64. Gregory Maguire, Mirror Mirror
65. Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen, incl. Moonlight Shadow
66. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Nachtflug
67. Das kleine Kamasutra

67 books, plus 4 audiobooks that I know of, plus 61 additional books of manga (because I reread all of One Piece). If I subtract the mangas completely, it would still be 64 books, so I guess that's fine.
Now, of course, some of those books were really just tiny booklets, but even if I subtract those, I'm still above 52. So, success!
What I especially like about this list is that I managed to read some of those books I've been meaning to read forever. Tifanny Aching. The Last Hero. Sagan. Ophelia. American Gods. Things like that. And it' been GREAT. I wonder what this year will bring. I think I'm already off to a good start.:)

Working towards resolutions

I'm a little late with thinking about resolutions (or making plans, setting themes, as I prefer to think of it), but I'm not really into saying things like "Oh, I'll exercise more" and then get frustrated because it doesn't happen. Instead, I prefer to think about priorities, about what would really have a positive influence. About a year ago I dyed my hair blonde (or bleached it to death, whichever way you want to look at it) as a sort of sign to myself to be braver, bolder, to reduce fear, and it worked. I think this year should continue in a similar vein.

Then, there's a difference between things that will happen anyway and resolutions. For the past few years, I *could* have written "Go freelance", whereas this year I KNOW it will happen, because I'm on a schedule. Huh.

Anyway, here are some things I'm currently thinking about. I still need to work out more details and make decent plans, but this should be a good start:

• Regular Writing: In the past few weeks, I've been pretty good with this (except for the Christmas holidays...). Ever since I started my new notebook at the beginning of November, I tried (and mostly managed) to write something every day, even if it was just a few lines. It's also helped me think some things through, track the progress I made during those weeks, helped me think, motivated me, kept me on track etc. And while I want to keep writing in my notebook, I'd also like to extend this a little bit. Write a little more each day, for example using 100words or 750words. Write more blog posts than just my monthly book list (e.g. 1 blog post per week, maybe). Finally end the strange writer's block I currently have with letter writing (sorry Carolyne!). And take some of these resolutions to heart.
• Health: Yeah, of course this needs to be on the list. Now, there are several things I'd like to do. Do the Quit Sugar thing again. Eat a largely vegetarian diet. Quit cheap chocolate for good (very dark chocolate and very, very good chocolate for special occasions might be allowed). Work out (running, yoga, gym). Finally return to my ideal weight. Stop doing stupid things like mixing different alcoholic beverages one evening and then regretting it two hours later. Stop drinking almost regular coffee (something I never did until some time in 2012).
• Freelance Success: As mentioned, I'm on schedule to go freelance this spring, and I'm both excited and terrified. I think I need some goals in this area to keep me sane. So, for example, from the time I start to the end of the year, I want to have an average income of at least 600€ per month, which right now seems big and almost unmanageable, but is really very little considering what I should be making to be able to survive. I also want to keep to some regular working hours, e.g. start with 10-16 for a start (which seems manageable), then extend those hours once I'm used to them. And I want to do some sort of further training - depending on what happens with my London plans, either that or some sort of course on Technical English.
• Travel: This year, I want to visit at least one city I've never been to (plans are being made for visiting Amsterdam; I'll also be at a conference in Dortmund) and take one holiday that is at least two weeks long (something which hasn't happened for the past 3 years, ugh).
• Reading: As I think I managed quite nicely with my reading last year - detailled analysis of my 2012 reading not yet done -  I think I should continue with this idea. So, one book per week at least, ie 52 books. Manga only count if I haven't read them before (so rereading One Piece again won't be worth any points, however much it might be worth otherwise).
• Language Training: Relearn English grammar rules (not because I doubt my language skills, but because I would sometimes like to be able to explain why I'm doing what I'm doing), improve my Italian or finally really start learning Japanese? I'm still undecided. All at once might be a bit much. I suppose I'll make a plan once I know where this year will actually take me (Leoben? London?).
• Simplifying: For some weeks this late autumn, I managed to keep to two things: Write something every day and throw something away every day. All that paper clutter that accumulates, you know? However, I'm not sure how to quantify simplifying. Should it be some goal like "Organise uni stuff" or "Throw out all magazines which stay unread longer than 1 month" or "Clear out 50 books from my MTBR" or...something like that? Or should I just generally live in the spirit of simplification?
• Adventure: Watch something like the Leonid shower at least once. Go to a funpark. Attend Gamescom. Go canyoning. Do the adventure tour at Lurgrotte (ie cave exploration). Try paragliding. Try some really bright hair colours (blue, green and violet are all planned for).

This is already a lot. I'm not sure whether I'll come up with yet more (cook from at least 50 recipes I haven't used yet! Read all of Shakespeare's plays! Knit 12 sweaters in 12 months (...)!) or whether that isn't absolutely enough for one year. Guess we'll see.

Finally, here is a neat little article on how to keep your resolutions. 

December Reading + Reading List Update

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.

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!

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.

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

There's nothing I can add to this

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.

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:

• 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) - hahahaha
• Neville Randall and Gary Keane, Focus on Fact #5 Unsolved Mysteries (128) - ehehehehe

And let me just add, because they really deserve to be read after waiting for so long:

• Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero
• Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

Now, this is a long  list, I just realise, because the books piled on top of each other aren't really that high. As you can see, most of them are less than 200 pages, several of them even less than 100. Now, the rule is, either I read them this summer or they go. None of them go back into the shelves I took them from (unless I read them and they are excellent, as I said before). If I start any of them and don't like them enough to continue, they go, and they don't count.
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)

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. ;)

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.

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...

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.

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. :)

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!

Short break

I'll be gone from my suddenly very regular postings for a few days while I finish this semester's exams and

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.

 So, maybe any of this is of some use/entertainment to you as well. :)

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:

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

• exploring the world and finding new/hidden locations
• finishing certain missions
• gaining trophies 
• gaining new talents

Of course, it was the first point in that list which got me really excited. Huge beautiful world to explore, and besides the reward of just having fun looking around, the game even considers this important.  

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).

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.)